Ruthie, 14, limps painfully along a dirt road within a subdivision development in rural Tennessee. The red clay of the unformed road shimmers in the late afternoon sun. Nearby, two young boys occupy themselves with mischief. Older teens cruise by in a beat-to-hell van, buzzing with bass. Alex Parker is supposed to be mowing the lawn, but instead lies in the tall grass staring at clouds. He is surprised to suddenly find Ruthie standing over him after a 3-month absence.

Visibly shaken, Ruthie refuses to explain what she is doing there, or why she is bleeding from the leg. She tries to keep moving, but Alex convinces her to take refuge inside a half-built house within the new subdivision development, where an unknown arsonist has recently set fire to several new homes.

Once inside the half-built house, Alex realizes her injury is more serious than he thought. As the sun sets upon the half-built house, Ruthie still won’t reveal how she got hurt, only that she has run away from home. Before he leaves her for dinner with his family, she makes him promise to keep her presence there a secret. He does so, with the promise to return to her once dinner is over.

Back home, the family dinner is interrupted by a knock on the door. The police are looking for Ruthie whom they suspect of starting the recent home fires. Pressured by his parents to reveal where Ruthie is hiding, Alex must decide whom to trust.