1979

Jim’s routine is disrupted when he meets DENISE MILLER, an aspiring art student from Los Angeles visiting for the summer. Sophisticated, artistic, and hailing from a world of neon lights and concrete, Denise is everything Madera is not. Despite the warnings of his best friend TOMMY, Jim falls hard. He navigates the daunting drive over the Grapevine to visit her in L.A., bridging the gap between his rural roots and her city life. For a while, their romance flourishes through mixtapes and trips to Yosemite, where the differences in their worlds seem to vanish.

However, the pressure to fit into Denise’s fast-paced Hollywood lifestyle proves too much. During a party at a wealthy producer's home in L.A., Jim—desperate to prove he isn't just a "farm boy"—snorts cocaine to impress Denise’s friends. The night ends in disaster when Jim overdoses, crashing through a glass coffee table and convulsing on the floor. Humiliated and fearing for her own reputation and future, Denise visits him in the hospital only to break up with him, telling him he is dangerous and needs to leave.

Jim returns to the Valley broken, sinking into a deep depression. He isolates himself in his room, haunted by the breakup. It takes the intervention of Tommy and his friends to drag him back into the light. Slowly, Jim begins to heal, finding solace in the garage and in his friendship with CAROL MEDINA, a grounded, intelligent classmate who has quietly loved him from the sidelines.

Jim reclaims his confidence through his mechanical skill, tuning a 1969 Mustang Fastback to win a high-stakes drag race on "The Strip" against a superior Camaro. As he reconnects with himself, he realizes that Carol offers the stability and genuine love he was chasing. During a senior trip to Santa Cruz and a tender moment in the back of a car listening to Boston’s "More Than a Feeling," Jim and Carol’s relationship turns romantic.

Months later, Jim proposes to Carol in the middle of a mall. They both plan to attend Arizona State University, but they face a final obstacle: their strict fathers refuse to let them live together or marry before graduation. In a final act of rebellion and commitment, Jim and Carol convince a sympathetic priest to marry them in a secret midnight ceremony just hours before they leave for college.

As Jim and Carol drive off into the night to start their new life, Denise—having realized her mistake—drives up to Madera to win Jim back, only to find she is too late. She returns to New York, channeling her heartbreak into a successful art show. Back in Madera, the parents discover the secret marriage but agree to keep it hidden to ensure Jim’s tuition is not cut off, quietly accepting that their children have grown up.