Esmé Addison is a literature student, majoring in creative writing at the Institute of Creative Writing and Literature in New York. One day, after finishing class early, she waits for her best friend Helen on the side of the street, so she can be dropped back to their apartment. While waiting beside Helen's little vintage Fiat, she notices a boy with fire-engine red hair across the street, in a bus shelter just outside the School of Visual Arts, where she expects he attends. Esme is immediately drawn to him, but he seems almost dangerous...a rebel, like no one she has ever associated with before. She wills herself to stay away from him and his 'emo' type friends, but after a series of chance encounters with him, is that even possible?