This is the story of Simon Herbst, a twenty-five year old self-described "slacker" who lives in a Boston-area house with seven other young singles in order to cope with the region's high rents. He enjoys his work as a video store clerk and has a curvaceous young girlfriend who adores him. Yet Simon feels unsettled. He is fascinated by Melanie Dvorak, a bike messenger who lives across the hall from him. Melanie is an earthy, athletic, and politically-minded woman whose sexual orientation is questioned by her housemates. Over the waning years of the 1980s, Simon is challenged by his urges, fears, and guilt. There are friends, enemies, and lovers among the residents of 20 Fletcher Street, a place that has survived the days of hippie communes into a new age of political conservatism and apathy.