When twelve-year-old Casey came home to an empty apartment, she didn't think much of it. But when she wakes up the next morning, and her stepmother, Sylvia, still hasn't come home, she knows that something is wrong. Casey doesn't have any other family--and she's afraid that the police will put her in foster care, so when landlord's teenaged son offers to help, Casey is more than willing to accept. Until, she learns that his help comes at a price. If Casey says yes, she'll be breaking the law. If she says no, she doesn't know how she'll survive.