In 1961 Long Island, a curious 10-year-old named Alice Bloom becomes infatuated with her neighbor, 17-year-old Sheryl O'Connor Alexandra Roach. She watches her from her bedroom window, trying to copy every detail—from the perfume she wears to the record she listens to—fascinated by the warmth Sheryl seems to receive from her father, something Alice’s own father never shows her.
Alice’s fixation leads her to observe Sheryl closely as she goes about her days. One day at the bowling alley, Alice’s friends mock her, and a confused, charged energy blooms when Sheryl arrives with a group of guys attempting to win her affection. Seemingly innocent and moral, Sheryl rejects their advances and, in the same moment, meets Rick James Corden, the counter boy who becomes a focal point of her attention. As Alice shadows Sheryl’s every move, the quiet tension between Sheryl and Rick begins to deepen.
A page at the desk, a call, and then devastating news: Sheryl’s father has died. At the funeral, Sheryl is visibly upset, and that evening, when she returns her bowling shoes to the alley, she breaks down over her loss. As she and Rick talk, he walks her home and they share their first kiss, an intimate moment that Alice witnesses with a mix of awe and heartbreak. The next day, Rick returns with his gang, and they escort Sheryl to the beach, where they share oysters and tequila, and Sheryl pours out her heart about her father’s death. They spend the entire day and night together, lost in a fragile, newfound closeness.
Yet the relationship faces stern disapproval. Sheryl’s mother forbids her from seeing Rick, and the neighborhood begins to gossip. Despite the pressure, Sheryl refuses to listen to her mother’s warnings. Meanwhile, a bond grows between Sheryl and Alice: while babysitting Alice, Sheryl offers hard‑earned wisdom about boys, and Alice volunteers to help her sneak out to see Rick. The trio spends much of the night together, venturing into seedy places like dive bars and under the boardwalk, and Alice even records a booth‑record detailing everything that happens that night. The circle tightens as Alice continues to help Sheryl and Rick hide their clandestine relationship.
Tensions mount when Alice’s father warns her to stay away from the older Rick. Sheryl, meanwhile, discovers she is pregnant, and her mother sends her to an unwed mothers’ home hundreds of miles away. Rick repeatedly calls Sheryl’s house, only to be met with her mother’s insistence that he stop. The moment culminates when Rick and his gang drive up to Sheryl’s house, pleading to speak with her. A crowd gathers as a heated confrontation unfolds; Sheryl’s mother declares that Sheryl is gone and orders Rick to leave. Refusing to back away, Rick pushes past the door, and a brawl erupts between his group and the neighborhood men. Rick spends a week in jail, and the fallout leaves Alice withdrawn and feeling increasingly isolated.
Driven by a stubborn hope, Rick finds Alice beneath the boardwalk and they talk. He agrees to drive upstate with her to find Sheryl at the unwed mothers’ home. With renewed determination, Sheryl agrees to sneak out at midnight to meet Rick. The two reunite with Sheryl’s resolve wavering between love and a practical future, and Rick offers a glimmer of possibility in the form of an engagement ring, which he suggests she pawn if they need money or options.
Alice questions what happened to true love, and Sheryl admits that Alice is still young and may not understand. Yet the hope endures, and the plan to run away together persists in Alice’s mind. Sheryl, however, insists that she cannot leave her family behind. As Sheryl’s bus departs for Long Island, she and Rick share a final, quiet moment of embrace, leaving Alice to grapple with the ache of a friendship and love she cannot fully possess.
Returning home, Alice finds her parents relieved to have her back, and she carries with her the truth she learned: despite the gossip swirling around Sheryl, a postcard later informs her that Sheryl and Rick are well on their way to the West Coast and thriving in their new life together. The film closes on a note of cautious, bittersweet resilience, leaving Alice to reconcile her vivid memories with the future she will build.
