The novel's main character and narrator, Jeff Mead, is a recent high-school graduate with no plans for the future.

He is six-feet-two-inches tall, weighs 180 pounds, and has never lost a fight.

He believes that he should not interfere in other people's problems, a point of view that earns him the nickname Philosopher. For Jeff, his job as a vendor at the baseball stadium provides a degree of excitement as well as a second family in the form of his coworkers.

Jeff comes across as having little experience with girls and is unsure of how to approach Melissa Stotts, whom he meets at the stadium. Much of the story focuses on Jeff's insecurities about his job, his parents, and his future—insecurities that seem to arise from dating Melissa. Jeff realizes that his employers care next to nothing about their employees and view them...