Dreamy and somewhat awkward 15-year-old Erik experiences the first heartbreak of his life when he falls in love with his fun-loving classmate Betsy. Unexpectedly, Betsy invites him to be her date for the Epiphany dance. Erik's proud entrance to the dance with Betsy turns into humiliation as the evening progresses, when Betsy pushes him aside and completely forgets about him. In preparing for the Epiphany ball, Erik has squandered all his savings, so he can no longer dream of a microscope with 250x magnification.