The only child of a workaholic Arrow Motors executive and a fundraising powerhouse, 27-year-old Donald Donovan has never aspired to much except getting high. Even after he's finally kicked him out of house and moves to the U.P. to be with his best buddy Nick, nothing changes. Two years later, Don's content to party on, be underemployed and take an occasional class at the local college when the mood strikes. Then he falls for fellow student Cassandra Nouri, a divorcée 13 years his senior with an autistic daughter. At the same time, an accident thrusts Don into the life of Silvio Wood, their unusual professor. Both give Don reason to do some self-examination; the real wake-up call comes when Nick is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Suddenly wasting his life getting wasted doesn't seem like such a good idea. While Don struggles with Nick's impending death, he finds himself becoming deeply involved with the professor-- and Cassandra. As Don and Cassandra work together to learn what the professor is hiding about his past in a bid to help him, the closer they become. But what they discover forces Don to choose between friendship and love.