Two-way street: Courtney is about to embark on a cross-country road trip to college with her boyfriend, Jordan, when he dumps her. Despite the breakup, they decide to go on the trip together.

Righ of way: Told in their separate voices, seventeen-year-old Peyton convinces eighteen-year-old Jace to drive her from a Florida wedding toward her Connecticut home with the intention of staying in North Carolina rather than face her parents' marital and financial problems, while both avoid the obvious attraction they have felt since they met at Christmas.