PLOT
A young girl, Nica, is left orphaned after her parents die in a car accident. She is taken to the oppressive Sunnycreek Orphanage, nicknamed "Grave," where she befriends a girl named Adeline. Years later, Nica, now a teenager, is adopted by Anna and Norman Milligan. Before the three leave the orphanage, however, the Milligans take notice of Rigel, a moody teenager who is the pride and joy of the headmistress, Margaret. Although resistant to adoption in the past, Rigel allows the Milligans to adopt him. At their new home, Rigel is hostile towards Nica. Flashbacks reveal that, at Grave, all of the children except Rigel were physically and emotionally abused by Margaret.
On their first day of school, Nica befriends two girls named Billie and Miki, while Rigel gets into a fist fight with another student, Phelps. Later, the students participate in Garden Day, whereby each student gets a rose to give anonymously to another student. Billie receives a white rose, while Nica receives a black rose, signifying a tormented and obsessive love. Nica confronts Rigel about the rose and he denies giving it to her. A student named Lionel asks Nica out on a date, and Rigel looks on angrily, later getting into a fist fight with him. Nica admonishes Rigel for his behavior and he has a seizure, leaving Nica to care for him. The two share a romantic moment.
Flashbacks to the orphanage reveal that on one occasion that Nica was about to be punished by Margaret, Rigel cut his own hand to disrupt her. Adeline suspected that Rigel had feelings for Nica, and Rigel told her to keep this a secret.
Nica finds out that Miki is secretly in love with Billie, and urges her to confess her feelings. Lionel confronts Nica about avoiding his calls and tells her that he still has feelings for her, despite Rigel trying to intervene.
Adeline visits the Milligan home and tells Nica that she wants to press charges against Margaret, and she needs Nica's testimony to build a strong case. Nica declines, unable to face her own past. That night, Nica finds Rigel playing the piano, and the two are about to kiss when Lionel interrupts at the door. Lionel suspects that Nica and Rigel have feelings for one another, and tells her that people would not approve of their relationship. Nica returns to Rigel, but he tells her that he is too broken for her and that she deserves a normal family and boyfriend.
Rigel tells Anna that he is rejecting their adoption, and he packs up his belongings and leaves the house. Elsewhere, before their school dance, Miki confesses her feelings to Billie and Billie storms out of the room. At the dance, Lionel apologizes to Nica and they dance together. He brings her to the science classroom, where he attempts to sexually assault her. Rigel, having had second thoughts about missing the dance, intervenes and fights Lionel off. Nica and Rigel kiss and have sex in the classroom.
After leaving the dance, Nica and Rigel are confronted by a furious Lionel, who berates them and tries to run them over with his car. They escape him by jumping off a bridge into a river. Nica wakes up in the hospital where she is told that Rigel's body broke her fall and that he is in a coma, further complicated by the brain neuromas he suffers from. Nica wishes to see him, but he is now under the custody of Margaret, having rejected the Milligans' adoption. Margaret blames Nica for Rigel's coma and tells her that she will keep her away from him forever. Nica, now defiant, agrees to testify against Margaret. Afterward, with Margaret still in court, Nica rushes back to the hospital where Rigel finally wakes up from the coma.
