Randy Dean is a 17-year-old student navigating a fraught final year, juggling poor grades, a lone friendship with Frank, a secret life of cigarettes and marijuana, and a job as a gas station cashier alongside Regina. Shunned by classmates for her tomboyish look and tough edge, she mostly keeps to herself or meets with her partner, a married woman named Wendy, who swings by the station whenever it suits her. Randy’s home life is unstable: her mother left to join an anti-abortion movement, so she lives with her aunt, Rebecca, and Rebecca’s girlfriend, Vicky, plus Lena, Rebecca’s ex, who has nowhere else to stay. The dynamic is crowded and fragile, but Randy clings to the people who tolerate her odd blend of independence and vulnerability.
One day, Evie Roy, driving a pristine Range Rover, pulls into town unsure if her tires even have air. Randy recognizes her from school and starts talking, drawn to a quiet warmth she hasn’t found at home or with Wendy. Evie is an only child living with her cultured mother, Evelyn Roy, who has a tense relationship with her remarried husband. The two girls begin passing notes and spending time together, though Evie keeps their growing bond out of sight from her social circle. At the same time, Ali, a jealous husband who sees Randy as a threat to his marriage to Wendy, confronts her at the station and warns her away from his wife, reminding Randy of the town’s intolerance.
Randy and Evie fall into a pattern of afternoons spent wandering through meadows, trading music—Evie’s tastes in opera and Mozart contrasting with Randy’s punk rock—while they talk about life, belonging, and the future. When Wendy visits again, Randy rejects her, insisting she now has a serious connection with Evie. The relationship deepens as Evie ends her relationship with Hayjay, a boyfriend who senses the growing distance. In a pivotal moment, Evie lends Randy a copy of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, and Randy devours the book, sensing a larger world opening up to her. During a family dinner at Rebecca and Vicky’s house, Randy reveals that she’s been living with Rebecca and Vicky since her devoutly religious mother disappeared from her life, and the pair share their first kiss on the front steps, a moment Evie later records in her diary.
The relationship between Randy and Evie becomes a visible fixture in the town’s chatter, as they test how far they can go in public. They hold hands discreetly at a local diner, aware of the potential consequences in a hostile environment. Evie cautiously shares the news with her three closest friends; one is supportive, while the other two react with outright hostility, one of them sneering, “God, Evie, if you were gonna turn gay you think you could at least choose someone who’s pretty.” This moment underscores the town’s stingy intolerance and the emotional risk both girls take by choosing each other. Meanwhile, Randy’s schooling deteriorates further, and the school warns that she may not graduate, a reality Randy hides from Rebecca.
When Evie’s mother leaves on a business trip, the two girls cook a large meal, pour wine, and smoke marijuana, letting themselves imagine a life together beyond the town’s boundaries. That night, they make love and fall asleep in Evie’s mother’s bed, a tender, risky act that cements their bond. On Evie’s eighteenth birthday, Evelyn returns early with presents but is shocked by the mess and discovers the truth about her daughter’s life. Rebecca, learning that Randy will not graduate, confronts the situation by visiting Frank’s house with Vicky and Lena, pressuring Frank until he spills Evie’s number. Evie and Randy escape, already feeling fugitives, and call Wendy, who arrives, covers the motel room, and tries to comfort them.
The arrival of Ali and a chorus of witnesses—Evelyn, Rebecca, Vicky, Lena, Frank, and Evie’s friends, who have been reading passages from Rita Mae Brown’s Rubyfruit Jungle—prompts a chaotic scene in the motel parking lot. The film closes with Randy and Evie embracing in the doorway of the room, their kiss and warmth framed against the noise and arguing in the background, signaling a fragile new beginning amid mounting external pressures.
