In an affluent San Francisco high school, Flannery Culp's group of friends, known as the Basic Eight, are dismissed as a pretentious clique. Disdaining the jocks and cheerleaders, they maintain a level of sophistication which raises them above the rabble. Whether hosting glitzy dinner parties, quaffing absinthe or playing croquet, Flan knows that the Basic Eight are something special. But when a teacher is murdered, people start looking to Flan and her Basic Eight for answers. And when the most gorgeous boy in school spurns her advances, Flan's enchanted life starts to sour. All of a sudden things have turned serious.