Sam Gardner, a latchkey kid and strait laced honors student, along with his best buddies, Omar and Justin are the favorites in Mrs. Stackhouse's class. Sam's life is disrupted when the mysterious Sadie transfers to his school. She catches Sam's eye and convinces him to sneak into Mrs. Stackhouse's desk and steal lunch tickets so they can eat for free. As Sam and Sadie grow closer, it becomes clear that Sadie is more trouble than he bargained for as Sam struggles with his clashing identities of rule-breaker, wannabe detective and "good boy".