Coley, Maya Da Costa, a 17-year-old introvert, leaves San Diego for Oregon to live with her father after her mother’s death, and the summer of 2006 stretches long and quiet around her. When the heat becomes almost unbearable, she stops at a local restaurant to cool off, only to be heckled by a group of teens. She meets Sonya, Myra Molloy, who apologizes for her friends and invites Coley to sit with them. Soon the table is crowded with Goose, Hunter Dillon, Alex, Alozie LaRose, SJ, Sierra Sidwell, and Brooke, Sophia Carriere, along with Sonya’s on‑again, off‑again boyfriend, Trenton, Levon Hawke. After leaving the restaurant, Sonya invites Coley to join them for a swim at a local lake, drawing her into a new circle of friendship she’d only dimly imagined.
At the lake, the dynamics tilt unsettlingly. Trenton lifts Coley and throws her into the water, a moment of fear and confusion that leaves her shaken. She bikes away in tears, but Sonya catches up, offers an apology, and hands Coley her AIM ID, asking her to send a message that night to prove she’s willing to try. The next day, Coley wrestles with whether to reach out, and Sonya shows up at her doorstep, inviting her to hang out again. They slip into mischief together, shoplifting alcohol and snacks from a convenience store, where a clerk named Blake, Alexa Mareka, signals she won’t rat them out. Back at Sonya’s house, they drink and trade stories—Coley learns that Sonya is a trained competitive dancer. Sonya performs for Coley in her bedroom, a moment that ends abruptly when Sonya injures her arm during a fall. Coley braves asking to dance for Sonya, but the moment turns awkward as Sonya begins to feel the alcohol, gagging and vomiting in the bathroom. Coley leaves, unsettled but drawn to this new, intense friendship.
Over the following weeks, the bond deepens and grows into something inseparable. One evening, after wandering by railroad tracks, Coley confesses that her mother is gone and that she lives with a father who had once abandoned them. Sonya consoles her with warmth and closeness, and the two share a passionate kiss. They wake to the reality that their feelings have shifted, and Sonya rushes away, promising to message as usual.
But the connection frays as Sonya begins to pull away and stop messaging Coley. At Brooke’s party, Coley learns that Sonya will be leaving for a ten‑week dance camp. A confrontation erupts, and a moment nearly becomes intimate in Brooke’s bedroom before Trenton and Brooke intervene. Coley leaves, and when Trenton attempts to pursue Sonya sexually, she declines. In a charged moment, Coley finds herself kissing Alex, though she stops because her emotions are tangled and unclear. The tension deepens when Alex apologizes for the death of her own mother—something she had told Sonya in confidence—adding a layer of guilt and complication to their circle. Coley’s trust wavers, and she escapes the party feeling more broken.
Before the camp begins, Coley goes to Sonya’s room to reclaim a piece of her past—the mother’s jacket—only to find themselves locked together in a tense stand‑off that ends with Sonya admitting that she treats all her friends the same as she does Coley. The moment shatters Coley’s sense of security, and she flees, heartbroken and disoriented. Back home, Coley sinks into detachment from her father, drifting toward old patterns for comfort.
In a bid to find grounding, Coley reconnects with Blake, the store clerk, and they share a reckless moment that ends with them getting high and having sex. The aftermath leaves Coley overwhelmed with self-disgust, and she returns home to her father, who consoles her with steady, quiet reassurance that her mother’s death was not her fault. He encourages her to see the good in herself, and soon Coley begins to rebuild her life: she finds work as a waitress and starts rebuilding a relationship with her dad.
As summer ends, Sonya and her family come to the restaurant for Sonya’s sister’s birthday. Sonya greets Coley warmly but does not return the same level of closeness, and she asks for a private talk after her shift. In the car, Sonya admits that their bond is something deeper than friendship, but she feels it would be wrong to love Coley romantically as she does. Coley takes these words to heart, feeling used rather than cherished, and she storms away.
A later night finds Coley at the river where Sonya and her friends also arrive. They exchange a brief look, but do not engage. SJ invites Coley to a pool party, explaining that Sonya has been acting differently since their falling out, and apologizes for finally revealing more of Sonya’s personal history. At the pool party, Coley overhears Sonya breaking up with Trenton. A few minutes later, she approaches Sonya, and Sonya admits that all she does is run, while Coley tells her she could choose to stop running. Sonya agrees, and the two lean on each other, sharing a quiet moment of closeness.
In a final, post‑credits note, Coley returns home from the pool party to find Sonya running after her. They meet in the street, kiss passionately, and Sonya makes Coley promise to message her—reminding her that she knows where Coley lives and will track her down. Coley smiles, answering with a hopeful, “I’m counting on it.”
