A series of events brings together these siblings with their widely scattered interests, forcing them to deal with each other :

Brian lands a spot on the high school varsity basketball team. The attention he receives for being the only sophomore starter and black player makes an enemy for him out of Danny Willis, the senior veteran, who was primed for a season as the star player. Soon things turn ugly on and off the court as Danny tries to make Brian angry enough to do something stupid and get himself thrown off the team and out of his (Danny's) way.

Pat begins her freshman year at the same high school feeling overshadowed by her brother's attention. She blames him and his popular friends for "ruining" her social life, and vows to make a life completely separate from Brian, only to find herself involved in his situation anyway.

Twins Troy and Yolanda land parts in a play their intermediate school is putting on with Brian and Pat's high school. In spite of themselves they get interested in the doings of their older brother and sister, while they navigate the clash of seventh grade and high school politics in the cast.

Melissa is the new kid in a sixth grade class and magnet program for gifted and talented children. She also finds herself at odds with a star incumbent, Aimee Bidarka. Aimee, who is used to getting all the attention as the smartest in the class, isn't quite so nice to Melissa when she learns that Melissa has skipped the fifth grade and is a year younger. A misunderstanding provides a prime opportunity for Aimee and her friends to make Melissa a class outcast. When the class gets assigned a research project in social studies, Melissa throws herself into it, hoping to be the best, proving once and for all that she belongs in the class.

How it all comes together: Melissa begins to take note of the daily lives of her brothers and sisters. Her research project is on teen suicide, and her original idea is to study her family of "normal teens" to compare and contrast with the victims in her research books. But since she doesn't have a lot of inside information on his life, Melissa begins to mistake Brian's actions for the warning signs of a troubled teen. Soon Melissa becomes convinced that Brian will try committing suicide. She is so adamant that the twins begin watching him as well, and the trio's strange actions start even Pat wondering.