17-year-old Stephen McBride is a small fish and he doesn't much like the pond he's in. After working for two years in boring, poorly paid jobs, he's made the decision to go to college and get some quals.
Stephen doesn't have much spending money. So when he spots a £10 note lying on the floor of the corner shop, he stuffs it into his pocket before anyone can see him.
Life is about choices. Sometimes fortune smiles on you, and at other times that kindly smile turns out to be a mask hiding something nasty. Stephen's well-ordered life spins out of control and he finds himself in a shadow world of criminality and deception driven by fear, naivety and the villainous Archie Stewart and his gang of bullies.