On the first evening of Percy’s summer in Barry’s Bay, Charlie drops Sam off at her cottage, and Percy nervously talks with him in her room while her parents insist the door stay open. Sam quickly puts Percy at ease by asking about her unusual name, joking about his own, and noticing the friendship bracelet on her wrist. When Percy admits that girls at school have turned against her, Sam compares her experience to bullying he has seen and makes clear that he does not approve of cruelty. Percy explains how much the bracelets matter to her, and Sam asks her to make him one like hers, giving Percy an immediate sense of being seen and valued.

The next morning, Percy takes her embroidery kit to the dock and continues working while waiting for Sam. He swims over, admires the bracelet, and begins teaching Percy how to do a flip off the raft in exchange for it. During their conversation, Sam reveals that he wants to become a cardiologist and studies on his own because he does not want to be trapped by the limitations of his small-town school. Percy, impressed by Sam’s intelligence and confidence, also reflects on the school fallout that sent her to Barry’s Bay feeling rejected and ashamed.

While they spend time together on the raft, Percy asks about Sam’s family and accidentally learns, in a painfully awkward way, that Sam’s father died a little over a year earlier. Sam defuses Percy’s embarrassment with teasing, then tells her he prefers honest questions to the pity he gets from other kids. From that point on, Percy and Sam fall into an easy routine, moving between their cottages, swimming, reading, and watching movies together. Sue visits Percy’s parents with homemade pierogies, welcomes Percy into the Florek house, and helps normalize the growing friendship.

As the summer continues, Sam and Percy grow closer through shared habits and small acts of care. They watch horror movies in the Floreks’ cool basement, and Percy tells Sam how a disastrous screening of The Evil Dead led to Delilah humiliating her and turning their friends against her. Sam listens without mocking her, calls Delilah a jerk, and tells Percy that being weird is not a flaw. He also wears Percy’s bracelet constantly and reassures her about the freckles she hates, making Percy feel accepted in ways she did not at home.

Their closeness is tested lightly by Charlie’s teasing, especially when he jokes that Percy is Sam’s girlfriend and flirts with her at lunch, provoking Sam’s visible discomfort. Near the end of summer, Percy dreads returning to Toronto and the loneliness waiting there. On a final boat ride, Sam opens up properly about his father’s heart attack at the family restaurant and admits he is afraid of forgetting him. Percy offers to listen whenever Sam is ready to talk, and when Percy confesses that she does not want to leave, Sam answers that he does not want her to go either, confirming the depth of their new bond.