Norman Long (Dan Byrd) is a dissatisfied high school kid. He lost his mother and his father Doug (Richard Jenkins) is dying from cancer. He falls for new student Emily Harris (Emily VanCamp) and she's taken with his awkwardness. His teacher Mr. Angelo (Adam Goldberg) is forcing him to do a speech. He has a fight with his best friend James and tells him a crazy lie. Soon everybody at school thinks he has cancer.
I like Dan Byrd as an awkward sarcastic teen and Emily VanCamp is super cute. They're a little old to play high school kids but they could still pass. I like their sweet cute relationship and then there is the lie. It's such a weird thing to say. I wish the script adds more of a prompt for Norman to go to that place. Maybe James should ask if he's sick. Maybe James could find the scans first. I just need him to be guided there a little more. The other problem is that he's lying to Emily. Emily already likes him before the lie. The lie doesn't make her like him more. It just makes everything awkward. It would make more sense that he would tell her the truth. Of course, Norman doesn't have to make sense.