15-year-old Genevieve Gage and her best friend, Tiana Moore, are typical high school students in Helverton, Colorado. The pair spend their idle time listening to music and going online, and Genevieve is a regular visitor to online chat rooms. As the pair are hanging out one night, Genevieve begins chatting with an online friend who goes by the alias of Captain Howdy (Dee Snider). He invites the pair to a party at his house, and although Tiana is reluctant to go to a strangers house, Genevieve insists that times have changed and that she is being overly cautious.