In 1961 Long Island, Alice Bloom (Eliza Dushku) is a ten-year-old girl who is trying to understand how love works. She is infatuated with the girl across the street, 17-year-old Sheryl O' Connor (Juliette Lewis). She often looks at her from her bedroom window. Alice starts to copy every detail about Sheryl, including her perfume and even the record she listens to. She admires the affection that Sheryl's father gives her, as she doesn't receive the same from her own father. She then tells her mother about how amazing Sheryl is but Alice's mother pays little attention.