Coláiste St Helena in Emo, Co. Laois, Ireland. Gearóid Way is a wannabee rebel but it's hard to stand out from the crowd in a small Irish secondary school. He spends his days getting told off for dying his hair, listening to music in class and helping his best friend Bairille with his complicated love life. Exchange student Frank Iero has just arrived from a big city in America to attend Coláiste St Helena for a year and finds it hard to adjust to life in the Irish countryside. To make fitting in even more difficult, he is the very definition of badass, from his piercings right down to his black converse which don't go down well in the old-fashioned school. All of the teachers hate him except for music teacher Gareth, who connects with him on his taste in music, and Mr. Fountain, who wishes he could be as cool as Frank. Gearóid develops a crush on this badboy instantly but thinks Frank doesn't even know he exists and decides to avoid him. But Frank actually has noticed Gearóid and has fallen madly in love with him. Gearóid is the only person keeping him from returning back to America but he refuses to have anything to do with Frank. With the help of Gareth and Mr.Fountain, Frank sets out to win over Gearóid's heart. But will he succeed before the end of the school year???