A 17-year-old small town girl (Julia Stiles) goes to live with her father in Chicago's inner city after her mother's tragic death. She starts over at a mostly black high school, and soon she crosses paths with an African-American student (Sean Patrick Thomas) who had a rough past. The couple share their love for dance (her love for ballet and his for hip-hop) and soon grow closer as they fight the building peer pressure threatening to destroy their relationship.