Alex's best friend and constant supporter, Luke, moves away and Alex has to face the school bully T.J. without him. To make matters worse, another boy his age moves into Luke's house, but Simon is geeky, bespectacled, and wears odd looking shoes. He quickly becomes T.J.'s target as well, and defening him puts Alex in an even worse position. Alex's father has just lost his job selling insurance (which Alex thinks might be his fault!) and has taken a position at a local burger joint, which also causes kids at school to make fun of him. Adding to his problems is the fact that he frequently has to babysit his young brother Dylan, who manages to get into trouble constantly, whether it is dumping powered ice tea mix in the kitchen to use as "sand" or keeping Alex awake because there are monsters in their bedroom. While Alex isn't thrilled to be friends with Simon, their mothers encourage them to spend time together, and Alex learns to appreciate Simon's struggles. When Alex overhears a reason that T.J. might be given to bullying him and his new friend, he tries to figure out a way to help T.J. Life improves slowly but surely.