Nate, Gillian, and Rudy are all competing with Samantha Hodges for a full-ride local scholarship to college, and she's just as dedicated to them as she is to her work as a journalist for the school paper and yearbook. Her reporting takes an investigative turn when two of her classmates—and candidates for the scholarship—are murdered. Samantha is close to her mother, Emily, who is a guidance counselor at the school.