A tall-majestic apple tree manages to grow in Jenna Durstine’s apartment complex, where even blades of grass are at a premium. Nearby in third-period English at Grayson High, where Jenna is a freshman, her infatuation grows for someone who her mother has warned can only lead her to heartbreak. Jenna’s journey to present day has not been easy. Born to teen parents. Along with her mother, a victim of a neglecting and abusive father. Forced to be her own caretaker at a pivotal time in her life. Back to relative normalcy and stronger for the experience, the time is ripe for Jenna to focus on herself—and on coming clean about her feelings, despite her mother’s warnings, to the object of her affection. A once ordinary, overlooked tree now becomes a symbol for Jenna’s desires. Even in her dreams, the perfect apple lingers just beyond her fingertips as she searches for a way to say, “I love you.” But when an intruder invades campus, putting Jenna’s newfound love in the center, Jenna must face her haunting past, must forgive her mother for the unforgivable, and must ultimately decide if love that is out of her league is worth the climb.