In an alternative 1990s a lonely, dinosaur-obsessed boy named Wyrm struggles to complete a unique school requirement in which students wear electronic collars that detach only upon engaging in their first kiss.

Rose, a child of Irish and Italian immigrants in 1968 Brooklyn, attempts to fit in with the boys by joining the game her brother plays with his friend. Their tenement building super, and local Deacon starts preying on Rose, until Mrs. Teruli, an old-world Italian healer breaks his hold.

Beatriz, an immigrant from a poor town in Mexico, has drawn on her innate kindness to build a career as a health practitioner. Doug Strutt is a cutthroat, self-satisfied billionaire. When these two opposites meet at a dinner party, their worlds collide, and neither will ever be the same.