Plot

The day Jordin is suspended from school for insulting a teacher, he meets Felipa, a bookish, no-nonsense New York girl who sees past the swaggering facade.

History teacher and guidance counselor Miss Ruiz speaks to a high school gym class made up mostly of Latino kids. She's hoping some of them will listen because few Latino kids in the Los Angeles schools go on to college, their best bet at improving their status in life.

In history class, Jordin makes it clear he's not interested in what Miss Ruiz has to say, and he uses a word that may not be allowed on broadcast TV. Miss Ruiz kicks him out of class.

Felipa, a nerdy but somewhat attractive girl from New York City who moved in with her beautiful cousin Kika and her parents when her mom couldn't handle the responsibility of a child or anything else, is interested in a scholarship. Jordin sees her when he is waiting to be chastised by the school principal, but he doesn't think too much about her. Or does he?

Jordin lost his mother when he was too young to know her. In fact, the truth is that giving birth to Jordin was very risky and some wrong decisions were made. His father, who sells cars along with Jordin's dropout brother, expects Jordin not to end up like his brother, and he is very demanding and borderline abusive. Yet he really cares for his sons.

Jordin has a reputation. He acts very macho in front of his friends and wants to impress them by flirting with as many hot girls as possible, including Kika. And eventually getting some of them in bed with him.

And yet when Kika and Felipa are together, somehow Jordin wants to hang out with Felipa. Just as a friend. It might have been a bet that he could resist the hot girl and go for the ugly one instead.

But Jordin really does seem to fall for Felipa. He just won't admit it to anyone else. And he goes after Kika to show he's still got it. Kika, who is somewhat shallow and not particularly brainy, is actually jealous of her cousin, when one would expect things to be the other way around.

Meanwhile, Jordin makes the discovery that his biological father is a college professor. In the process of going to find out more about the man and about the mother he never knew, he just might be inspired to go to college.

So will things turn out well for Jordin? What about his romance with Felipa?