In this life you have to look after yourself. It's not that your parents don't want to take care of you. It's not that they don't have the best of intentions. It's just that parents have other things on their minds. Nick Geddes's life is a mess. His sister's boyfriend was killed in a school stabbing, his grandmother is descending ever deeper into a world of her own, his mother has a "good-slot" on local radio, and his father is drinking way too much. On top of all that, Nick is madly in love wi th Orla, the sister of the murdered boy. And Orla blames Nick ...