When five freshmen arrive at Dexter College, a small liberal arts school in the quiet town of Home, Maine, the drama unfolds as quickly as the first keg is tapped. There's Shipley--blonde and beautiful, the object of envy and more than a little lust. Her edgy roommate, Eliza, came to Dexter to get noticed, and she has the attitude and the mouth to prove it. Tom is a jock-turned-artist--handsome, privileged, used to getting his own way. Sensitive Nick is Tom's wake-and-bake, pot-smoking roommate. And then there's Adam Gatz, a freckle-faced local boy and his not-so-little sister, Tragedy.