After his elderly father dies, Brian Jardine (Greg Kinnear) moves his wife Kathy (Jennifer Ehle) and 13-year-old son Jake (Theo Taplitz) into a Brooklyn apartment they have inherited. The two-story building has a tenant in the ground-level space; a dress shop run by Leonor Calvelli (Paulina Garcia) and her 13-year-old son Tony (Michael Barbieri (actor)). Jake and Tony become fast friends despite having very different personalities. Jake is quiet and reserved and spends much of his time sketching or painting, whereas Tony is talkative and gregarious. Tony is an aspiring actor who attends regular classes at Brooklyn's Acting Out! school and dreams of attending Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School to pursue a performing arts education. Jake decides he wants to attend the same school for his painting. The boys bond through everyday activities like skating around the borough, attending a teen rave, and giving their respective parents the silent treatment when disagreements occur. Tony even starts (and gets the worst of) a fight with his classmates when they insult Jake's sexuality.