To impress the girl who got away, a high school journalist writes an article on the school's first transgender student who is running for the title of Snow Coming King at the winter dance but discovers how far his high school will go to make sure this doesn't happen. McCarthy, a writer for the school paper, is getting a premature taste of adulthood.

He's been warned for the second time to keep his articles in the school newspaper less controversial. To cope with this and other pressures, McCarthy's swiping booze from his dad's liquor cabinet and smoking pot with his best friend (and failed love interest) Carmen.

Egging McCarthy on in his rebellion, Carmen suggests that McCarthy writes a full-length feature on Avery Bowen-the first openly transgender student at Lakewood High who's running for the title of Snow Coming King at the big dance. McCarthy navigates his way through the treacherous waters of high school life: locker-room talk, cheating on tests, and a complex social life.

Meanwhile, his home life, which includes an absent mom, a racist grandfather, and a needy father, offers him no real support. Things start to heat up when Carmen suspects tampering with the student vote for the dance.

McCarthy pursues the truth despite facing expulsion, disapproval from his favorite teacher, and blowing his last chance with the girl he loves. .