Leaving Waden

Jake Barnes suffers from severe depression, although the young artist will do anything but admit it. Instead, he claims to be haunted by a never-ending, addictive sorrow-a sorrow somehow both comforting and oppressing. Until he meets Smoke, that is.

Wild and seemingly carefree, Smoke's chain-smoking, rebellious posturing captivates Jake. When she suggests a spontaneous road trip, Jake, mere months from high school graduation, feels compelled to accept.

Bouncing from destination to destination in Smoke's beat-up band van, Jake and Smoke embark on an odyssey of self-discovery, their newly found friendship precariously balanced between happiness and obliteration.

As Jake confronts his all-absorbing depression, he realizes Smoke may be a way out of his sadness-a realization that terrifies him. If he hopes to survive and heal, he can't afford a dependence on any addiction, even one as alluring as the girl who asked him to leave Waden.