Andrew is a 15-year-old boy on the autism spectrum who believes that his twin brother was killed by his father when they were five years old. Though his father pleaded innocent, he is serving ten years in jail. His mother, who now suffers from alcoholism, supports her husband, who continues to claim that his son’s death was a fishing accident. Too scared to get in the canoe, Andrew waited patiently sitting under a tree by the edge of the lake. After witnessing from afar what he thinks is murder, he is unable to speak with the investigators. Bruised and scarred, he blames himself and now has to live with the memory of that day and all that has transpired thereafter. Though dealing with past turmoil, Andrew also deals with present issues of bullying and neglect, trying to fit in to a high school environment where he is often misunderstood.
Thirteen-year-old Robbie leads a double life. It's just Robbie and his dad, but no one knows that his dad isn't like most parents. Sometimes he wakes Robbie up in the middle of the night to talk about dying. Sometimes he just leaves without telling Robbie where he's going. Once when Robbie was younger, he was gone for more than a week. Robbie was terrified of being left alone but even more scared of telling anyone in case he was put into foster care. No one can know. Until one day when Robbie has to show the tough new girl, Harmony, around school. Their first meeting ends horribly and she punches Robbie in the face. But eventually they come to realize that they have a lot more in common than they thought. Can Robbie's new friend be trusted to keep his secret?