Joe Noel and his family's constant moving around the New Jersey area was nothing new for him. A teenage kid with little in the way of a future, he flounders through high school and friends. He manages the best he can until he meets Hope - a vibrant and spirited school girl who shows him his strength. But just when Joe gets cozy with his newfound crush, his family decides to move (again) to a small coal town in the mountains of Pennsylvania - PHILIPSBURG. But this time, it is going to be different as Joe carries Hope's lessons of life with him. He befriends another "come here" Gust Anderson whose family owns a small coal miner bar in town. They begin to roam together. Gust introduces Joe to Tim Silver, a local football hero who has had enough of his berating coach and small-town football. Tim joins the group and brings with him long family knowledge of the town's elite and not-so-elite. Next comes Barbara Young, a brilliant and intense town girl who quickly becomes the heart of the coterie and the final member of the gang. The four embark on the usual and not so usual exploits of a small town. Indulging in their bonded friendship, music, drugs, and sex, the coterie grows thick as does the mischief and the problems they had never anticipated. Along the way, they realize that life is full of complicated, beautiful, and flamboyant people. But more importantly, realizing that their friendship will last till their last breath.