A year after their pious dad's death, just graduated bright, erudite but distracted Matt Anderson, an angelic dreamer who talks with dad's ghost and phones with his confident God, moves in with his only relative, prosaic but well-meaning elder brother Michael 'Mike' Anderson, who has a materialist career in advertising in Miami Beach and tries to push kid brother into professional life too. Matt however, who adores thinking in the bath and watching fish in an aquarium despite a recurring near-drowning nightmare, takes a lifeguard job in the municipal pool well below his brilliant degree and only does some copy-writing for Mike's agency as a reluctant favor to big brother, no praise or fat check can make him like the greedy advertising business. Going along with Mike and his sexy girlfriend Natalie, a bookshop clerk who enjoys private tutoring, and standing in when Mike stands her up, Matt discovers she's rather his type, caring and romantic; soon they are irresistibly drawn to each-other, but even after a ball -a success although Matt can't dance- and a kiss she stole he can't risk losing Mike, who denies it when she dumps him. When it seems Tyler 'T.J.', an obnoxious black rascal Natalie and Matt both tried to take under their wing and teach to swim, has drowned when he was late, gentle Matt's tender heart breaks beyond panic...