Tony is a super-confident 17-year-old smart-ass with a good-looking girl on his arm and the ability to charm most of the other females her encounters. He launches a scheme to help his friend Sid lose his virginity before his birthday while making a little profit on the side, but his plan quickly unravels, leaving the friends with a dilemma that requires an urgent solution.

Time to get to know the girl behind the clarinet. The rest of her family distinguish themselves by spitting out rhymes to booming bass beats, but Jal seeks solace from the chaos of life in the classical tunes that flow over her single reed. Although she seems to be trying to keep a considerable distance from the adolescent conundrum that 21st-century teens have created around her, it is not long before she is sucked into the whirlwind of her surroundings. Can the resulting destruction create something better?

Things get dark as Tony's silent little sister, Effy, goes missing. Desperate to find Effy, can Tony rely on any of his old friends, or have they all shunned him forever?

It's Anwar's birthday, but he's still not talking to best friend Maxxie. Sid thinks he might have been an idiot with regards to Cassie. Cassie escapes from the institution. Angie and Chris get an unexpected visit that might swing both ways. Tony and Michelle are still not speaking to each other. Effy's still not speaking to anyone, but she's there to point that out to Tony and support Michelle. Everything comes to a head during Anwar's birthday celebration at Seymour's.

Six months have elapsed and Cassie has moved to Scotland, leaving Sid upset. Tony is still having mood swings and blackouts following his accident and, since his mother is suffering from depression, Effy takes over the reins of the household. Maxxie is having problems with local homophobes and his father's refusal to let him become a dancer but agrees to help Tony.

Feeling lost now that his ex is seeing his best friend, Tony rediscovers himself when he meets a mysterious girl who challenges his beliefs.

Effy, now the lady of the house due to her mother's depression, befriends new naive classmate Pandora, whom she introduce to selling cannabis. She also has a clever plot to help Sid, in exchange for Sid doing her art coursework for school. She also helps her brother.

The day of the A-levels results coincides with Chris' funeral. Barred by Chris' father from attending, Sid and Tony 'borrow' the coffin to pay their own respects, returning it in time for Jal to make a moving oration. After the funeral, the group shares their results and each tries to decide his/her future path.

A new batch of students arrive at Roundview College, friends Freddie, Cook and JJ all falling for Effy's charms. Two identical twin sisters,Emily and the dominant Katie also arrive. Effy sets the three boys a dare with herself as the prize for the winner,which results in her having sex with Cook in the college nurse's office.

Hoping for a night of wild abandon, Cook invites everybody to his birthday party at his uncle's pub but the party collapses after Effy's friend Pandora throws up. Cook manages to persuade everyone to gate-crash a party being thrown to celebrate the engagement of a girl called Kayleigh, but he falls foul of her father John White, a drugs baron to Madame Greta's brothel; he again encounters John White and a fight ensues and White threatens to kill Cook if he sees him again.

Thomas arrives in Bristol from the Congo with his parents to follow him, but after sleeping in an empty flat he falls foul of its owner, John White, who demands money. Pandora takes a liking to him and helps him by giving him dope to sell, but unfortunately they find they are selling it on White's turf. White threatens Cook again, but Thomas steps in to champion him and defeats White in a chili-eating contest. However, when Thomas's mother turns up, she is appalled and demands he return to Africa.

Pandora throws a birthday party, but her strict mother Angela forbids the use of alcohol so Katie makes some cakes laced with ecstasy; unfortunately, Angela eats one and passes out. This leads to a row between Pandora and Effy, and Effy ends up having sex with Cook again. The next day, it's Pandora's turn to enjoy Cook's sexuality, but Effy cottons on to what has happened, while Emily is observed kissing Lesbian Naomi.

Freddie's sister Karen is entering the Next SexBomb contest but he disapproves of her trying to win the sympathy vote because their mother is dead. JJ tells him Cook wants to see him but he is tired of doing what Cook wants and goes to see Effy to reveal his feelings though she rejects him. Despite having turned their shed into a dance studio,Karen loses the contest,thanks to Cook persuading the local pub customers to vote against her. Freddie decides he will definitely explain to Effy how he feels about her but finds she is with Cook.

The affair between Naomi and Emily intensifies. Cook is running for student president and challenges Naomi to sleep with him if he wins. He does win, but they get no further than kissing. Meanwhile, Freddie tells Naomi that he has fallen out with Cook and loves Effy. Naomi resists the advances of her teacher Kieran to have sex with Emily again, then finds Kieran in bed with her mother. She ends up holding hands with Emily through a catflap.

JJ visits his psychiatrist after feeling 'lost and confused' about his life and friends. He is given lots of medical drugs to calm his Aspergers. He finds that Emily goes to the same clinic as him and they spend some time together; Emily calms JJ down,admits to him that she is a lesbian, and offers advice to help him sort out his numerous issues. JJ and Emily then visit Freddie and walk in on him having sex with Katie. During the confrontation, JJ accidentally informs Katie that Emily is a lesbian. Later, JJ visits Effy and asks her to stop interfering in his friendship with Freddie and Cook. JJ then visits Cook and discovers that he is also having casual sex with Pandora. Later, the group goes to a You Love Her Coz She's Dead gig, where Cook is beaten up after getting into a fight with some ravers. Before the chaos Effy and Naomi have a heart-to heart-outside, where Effy reveals that she knows about her and Emily. Naomi is hit by a wave of relief when Effy states that she does not mind if she is gay or not. Cook has taken JJ's Stun pills; they calm him and also make him tell the truth. Cook reveals that Effy loves Freddie back, but she cannot admit it and does not want a serious relationship. He bizarrely even admits to being genuinely hurt by this as he loves Effy too before admitting to having sex with Pandora, which Thomas overhears. JJ invites an upset Emily back to his house for the night, so she does not have to go home and face Katie. The next morning they sleep together; Emily tells JJ it is a "one-time charity event."

Effy is unhappy when she sees that everybody seems to find Katie more popular than herself,even Freddie. Katie is even more popular when she invites everybody to a party - except Cook,who gate-crashes it anyway. At the party Effy gets back her status as the focus of attention when she brings some magic mushrooms,but she ends up taking a bad trip and fighting with Katie,whom she puts into hospital. She tries to visit her but is rejected and wakes up in a stolen car driven by Cook.

Effy and Cook go into hiding with his father, but Effy contacts Freddie, who turns up with JJ, though it is Freddie with whom Effy ends up sleeping. Cook asks his father if he can leave the country with him on his boat but Cook, Sr. threatens him and must be restrained. Eventually Effy and the boys take the boat back up the river after Cook pushes his father overboard. But despite Effy's evident feelings for Freddie, who ends up with whom is inconclusive.

Focuses around Thomas and his coming to terms with life and love in England.

Emily confronts Naomi over her supplying Sophia with drugs. Emily has learned that Sophia was gay and her locker is a shrine to Naomi, who denies any sexual relationship with Sophia. Emily and Naomi then move in together, but at a party where Cook assaults another guest for no apparent reason, Emily gets Sophia's brother to open a box that contains Sophia's hand-drawn account of her affair with Naomi, who rejected her for Emily, hence her subsequent drastic actions.

Cook is remanded in custody following the GBH charge but later released, with an electronic tag, to live with his alcoholic mother Ruth and adoring younger brother Paddy. He's also expelled from college for the assault. Appalled to learn that Ruth had sex with Freddie, he steals her car along with Paddy and trashes it. Then, becoming alarmed that Paddy might turn out like him, he admits to selling Sophia the drugs, takes the rap for Naomi, and gets sent down.

Things are not going well for Katie. Following a pregnancy scare she learns that she is infertile and loses her job as a wedding planner when she gets drunk and aggressive at her client's hen night. To cap it all her father's recklessness has rendered the family bankrupt and they move in temporarily with Emily and Naomi,creating stress all round. Emily and Naomi fight at a barbecue,causing Naomi to admit that it was she and not Cook who supplied Sophia with drugs. The two girls do make up whilst Thomas,learning of Katie's situation,comforts her.

Effy and Freddie are living together but Freddie is troubled by Effy's morbid outlook and her obsession with death. He visits his grandfather Norman in his residential home and the old man tells Freddie that he believes Effy should have psychiatric treatment. Effy then locks herself in a bathroom and attempts suicide, but is taken to hospital and survives. Freddie visits but she rebuffs him, but Cook, who has apparently escaped from custody, turns up and advises him to persevere.

Effy spends some time in a psychiatric hospital and is discharged under the care of psychotherapist John Foster, but her friends are concerned about Foster's influence over her, isolating her from the rest of them. After she freaks out at the scene of Tony's accident, she returns to hospital, where Freddie visits her and encounters Foster, whom he warns to stay away from her. Foster invites Freddie to his house to talk about Effy.

As Emily, Naomi, Pandora, and Thomas make up, the gang become concerned for the absent Freddie and hold his birthday party in his absence. Cook, who has read Freddie's notebook which mention's Foster's obsession with Effy, follows the psychiatric worker home and breaks into his basement, where he discovers a bag containing Freddie's blood-stained clothes. Foster comes in and attacks him but ,with a cry of "I'm Cook" the youngster hits him back with the baseball bat and avenges his friend's death.

Sharing a flat with would-be stand up comic Naomi, Effy is now the office junior at the hedge-fund department of Hewitt Maurice asset management fund. To avoid a friend getting into trouble, Effy stands in for her boss Victoria and takes it upon herself to deal with valued client Max Stibbard, who is impressed. As a result Jake, the head of the firm, gives Effy the chance to be a dealer and, helped by lovelorn Dominic from the research department, pulls off an impressively-lucrative deal. Effy is now mixing with high-flying financiers and Naomi is appalled at her friend's shallow behaviour, especially as Naomi admits to having cancer. But Effy is on a roll and embarks upon an affair with Jake. At the same time it is noticed that market returns are not matching the firm's returns.

Naomi tries to recover from cancer without Emily knowing. Effy is sleeping with her boss and tries to get Dom's help to pull Jake's company out of a slump.

Effy, now the lady of the house due to her mother's depression, befriends new naive classmate Pandora, whom she introduce to selling cannabis. She also has a clever plot to help Sid, in exchange for Sid doing her art coursework for school. She also helps her brother.

Sharing a flat with would-be stand up comic Naomi, Effy is now the office junior at the hedge-fund department of Hewitt Maurice asset management fund. To avoid a friend getting into trouble, Effy stands in for her boss Victoria and takes it upon herself to deal with valued client Max Stibbard, who is impressed. As a result Jake, the head of the firm, gives Effy the chance to be a dealer and, helped by lovelorn Dominic from the research department, pulls off an impressively-lucrative deal. Effy is now mixing with high-flying financiers and Naomi is appalled at her friend's shallow behaviour, especially as Naomi admits to having cancer. But Effy is on a roll and embarks upon an affair with Jake. At the same time it is noticed that market returns are not matching the firm's returns.

Effy is unhappy when she sees that everybody seems to find Katie more popular than herself,even Freddie. Katie is even more popular when she invites everybody to a party - except Cook,who gate-crashes it anyway. At the party Effy gets back her status as the focus of attention when she brings some magic mushrooms,but she ends up taking a bad trip and fighting with Katie,whom she puts into hospital. She tries to visit her but is rejected and wakes up in a stolen car driven by Cook.

A new batch of students arrive at Roundview College, friends Freddie, Cook and JJ all falling for Effy's charms. Two identical twin sisters,Emily and the dominant Katie also arrive. Effy sets the three boys a dare with herself as the prize for the winner,which results in her having sex with Cook in the college nurse's office.

Things get dark as Tony's silent little sister, Effy, goes missing. Desperate to find Effy, can Tony rely on any of his old friends, or have they all shunned him forever?

Pandora throws a birthday party, but her strict mother Angela forbids the use of alcohol so Katie makes some cakes laced with ecstasy; unfortunately, Angela eats one and passes out. This leads to a row between Pandora and Effy, and Effy ends up having sex with Cook again. The next day, it's Pandora's turn to enjoy Cook's sexuality, but Effy cottons on to what has happened, while Emily is observed kissing Lesbian Naomi.

Effy and Cook go into hiding with his father, but Effy contacts Freddie, who turns up with JJ, though it is Freddie with whom Effy ends up sleeping. Cook asks his father if he can leave the country with him on his boat but Cook, Sr. threatens him and must be restrained. Eventually Effy and the boys take the boat back up the river after Cook pushes his father overboard. But despite Effy's evident feelings for Freddie, who ends up with whom is inconclusive.

Effy spends some time in a psychiatric hospital and is discharged under the care of psychotherapist John Foster, but her friends are concerned about Foster's influence over her, isolating her from the rest of them. After she freaks out at the scene of Tony's accident, she returns to hospital, where Freddie visits her and encounters Foster, whom he warns to stay away from her. Foster invites Freddie to his house to talk about Effy.

Focuses around Thomas and his coming to terms with life and love in England.

Naomi tries to recover from cancer without Emily knowing. Effy is sleeping with her boss and tries to get Dom's help to pull Jake's company out of a slump.