During her sophomore year at Middlebury College, Emily meets Max--"you" as she intimately refers to him in the book. Not exactly a tomboy, but not quite a girly girl either, Emily is intent on finding a masculine boyfriend to assuage a deeply rooted fear that she may not be quite feminine enough.

Max--a boisterous class clown beloved by his many straight guy friends--has recently come out as gay and is embracing his newly claimed identity. Initially, Max and Emily dislike each other, but end up growing close after a make-out dare on Halloween. Then one night, Max reveals an unexpected physical attraction that catches them both by surprise. The relationship begins, playfully and in secret, and then spirals into something more.

Max and Emily's journey takes many forms--they experiment with drugs; they travel abroad; they try sleeping with other people (together), and everything in between--all in the name of "this bizarre, beautiful thing" they call love.