For ten years, she tried to find the perfect moment to confess her feelings, rehearsing every word in her mind. But when she finally gathered the courage to tell him, his response was something she never expected. In that moment, everything changed.

‘SPOILER ALERT’

After a boy named Bryce moves to a new neighborhood with his parents and sister, Lynetta, he sees a girl named Juli looking at him strangely. Interestingly, Juli happens to find Bryce’s eyes attractive, and as she keeps staring at him, he seems quite confused because he doesn’t even know who she is. Just as Bryce and his family arrive at their new house, he joins his dad, Steven, in unloading their things from a truck.  

While they’re at it, Juli enters the truck and tells them her name. Steven doesn’t get this, and as he looks confused, Juli says she just wants to help them carry some of the boxes. Steven says she doesn’t have to help them, and that he’s sure her mom would be worried that she’s not at home.  

Juli says that her mom knows she’s there to help them, but Steven still wants her to leave, so he complains that they can’t all stay inside the truck because it’s not spacious. Juli doesn’t seem to mind, and as Steven realizes that she won’t leave easily, he tells Bryce to go inside and help his mom. As Bryce leaves, Juli follows him closely, and they eventually end up holding hands.  

While Bryce seems disgusted by this, Juli looks pleased and continues staring at Bryce happily. Suddenly, his mom, Patsy, sees them holding hands, and she assumes that Bryce already has a new friend. However, Bryce runs to hide behind his mom, and as Juli looks at him, she thinks he’s just being shy. The next day, Bryce resumes at his new school, but as he enters his class, he looks shocked to see Juli, who immediately runs to hug him. Bryce cannot believe this, and before the day ends, he hears some of his classmates calling Juli his girlfriend.  

As they also joke about him being with her, Bryce looks pissed because he doesn’t even like Juli. He eventually has to deal with being called Juli’s boyfriend every day, but when he gets to the sixth grade, he comes up with a plan. One day, when he arrives at school, Bryce goes to meet a girl named Sherry and asks her to be his girlfriend. Sherry seems happy about this, and she agrees to be his girlfriend. Unfortunately, Juli sees Bryce asking Sherry out, and she looks pissed because the boy she likes is now dating a girl she hates.  

Shortly after, Bryce starts spending more time with Sherry, and Juli remains unhappy about their relationship. A week later, Bryce’s best friend, Garrett, starts talking to Sherry because he likes her. He eventually tells her that Bryce is only being nice to her because he wants to make Juli leave him alone. Sherry is unhappy about this, and she breaks up with Bryce after slapping his face. Juli sees this and looks happy because she now has a chance to be with Bryce again.  

The next day, at school, Bryce greets Juli as he gets to the class, and she assumes that he’s being nice to her because he likes her. Juli seems really happy about this, and she even sniffs his hair because it’s one of the things she likes about him. Bryce looks pissed by this, but he doesn’t say anything because he believes that things will change when they get to seventh grade.  

A few months later, Bryce’s grandfather, Chet, moves into the house to start living with the family. Bryce doesn’t seem to understand Chet because he barely talks to anyone and stares out the window regularly because he misses his wife, who died recently. Elsewhere, Juli watches her dad, Richard, painting while he’s in the backyard.  

As she admires his work, Richard asks if there’s anything between her and Bryce because she talks about him a lot. Juli cannot believe that her dad noticed it, but she says that she just likes Bryce, probably because of his eyes. Richard then asks what she thinks of Bryce as a person, but she doesn’t understand his question.  

He then says that she has to think of the whole landscape. He adds that a painting is more than the sum of its parts, and that a single thing isn’t special, unlike when it is put together with other things. Juli doesn’t understand this, but when she sees an old sycamore tree at the bus stop, she takes an interest in it.  

As she climbs it and sees how beautiful the town looks from the top, she thinks about what her dad said and eventually understands what he meant. Shortly after, Juli becomes obsessed with the tree, but Bryce finds it weird and constantly refuses to climb it every time she tells him to join her. One day, just as they’re about to enter the school bus, Juli asks Bryce if he thinks the tree is beautiful, but he says it’s ugly.  

Juli doesn’t get mad at him, but she says he’s just visually challenged if he can’t see the beauty of the tree. Bryce finds it weird that she’s talking about beauty and him being visually challenged when her house has a dirty front lawn and backyard. Interestingly, Juli’s house has been a topic in Bryce’s house, with Steven always getting pissed whenever he looks at how dirty the surroundings look.  

He also constantly criticizes Richard for always spending his time painting instead of doing something else. Patsy thinks Richard is just a dreamer, and she mentions that after speaking to his wife, Trina, she learned that he actually makes money from selling the paintings. Steven doesn’t seem to get why anyone would pay for what he believes is a bad painting, and he also keeps complaining about how the house looks.  

A few days later, as Bryce is heading to the bus stop, he sees some men urging Juli to get down from the tree because they want to cut it down. Juli refuses to get down, and as she sees Bryce, she tells him to climb the tree because she knows that the men won’t cut it if they’re sitting on it together. Bryce doesn’t seem to care about this, and he just enters the school bus. Juli feels betrayed by what he did, but she still refuses to leave the tree. After a while, Richard arrives at the scene and begs Juli to come down with him.  

Juli looks really sad, but she eventually agrees to head down with Richard. The next day, Bryce gets to the bus stop and sees that the sycamore tree is no longer there. He also notices that Juli didn’t come to the bus stop, and he realizes that she must’ve been really hurt by what happened.  

When Bryce gets to school, he sees Juli sitting alone, and even though he should be happy that she’s not disturbing him anymore, he feels sorry for her. However, he refuses to talk to her because he doesn’t want her to think he’s missing her. When Bryce returns from school, Chet speaks to him for the first time and asks about Juli.  

Bryce says she’s not his friend, but Chet doesn’t get this. Bryce then mentions that she has been stalking him since second grade, but Chet believes there’s nothing wrong with her. He also shows Bryce a newspaper article about Juli and her refusal to leave the tree when the men wanted to cut it. Chet thinks it was brave, but Bryce still doesn’t get why his grandfather is so interested in her.  

He then gives Bryce the newspaper and tells him to read the story about Juli without prejudice. However, when Bryce gets to his room, he throws the newspaper on his bed and decides not to read it. Elsewhere, Juli still looks sad about what happened, but Richard cheers her up by giving her a painting of a sycamore tree.  

Juli looks happy about this, and Richard says he doesn’t want her to forget how she felt when she was on the tree that day. Juli then puts the painting in front of her bed so that it will be the first and last thing she sees every day. As the painting also reminds her of what happened on the day the tree was cut down, Juli starts wondering if she still likes Bryce as much as she used to.  

A while later, Juli checks on her chickens in the backyard and sees that they’ve started laying eggs. After a few days, the chickens start laying more eggs, and as Juli wonders what she’ll do with them, a neighbor named Mrs Steuby shows up at her fence and offers to buy some from her. She also tells Juli that she knows some other neighbors who would want to buy from her.  

Juli is happy about this, but as the eggs keep multiplying, she’s forced to consider giving some out to Bryce’s family. The next day, she heads to their house, and Bryce shows up at the door. She then gives him the eggs and tells him that she got them from her chickens. She also reminds him that the chickens are the same ones she hatched at the science fair to win first place. Bryce says he remembers them, and he takes the eggs inside the house.  

Later that night while Bryce is eating dinner with his family, Patsy says that Juli was really kind to have given them some eggs. Bryce doesn’t seem to care about this, and he says he’s still going to have cereal before school the next day. Steven then asks if they’re even sure that there are no chicks inside the eggs.  

Chet ignores the question and talks about how he used to eat farm-fresh eggs when he was a kid. As he says they were delicious, Steven still talks about his concerns, but Chet says it’s unlikely that there’s a chick in one of the eggs unless Juli has roosters. Patsy says she’s sure Juli doesn’t have a rooster because everyone in the neighborhood would’ve known about it.  

Steven still sounds concerned, and Patsy tells Bryce to ask Juli if she has a rooster. As Bryce says he’s not sure he can do that, Lynetta jokes about how he’s likely scared of talking to her. Bryce says he’s not, but Steven just tells him to talk to Juli. The next day, Bryce asks Garrett what roosters look like, and he describes them to his friend. Bryce then tells Garrett that he needs to find out if Juli has a rooster without talking to her.  

Garrett agrees to help him, and the boys inspect the chickens by peeking through a hole in the backyard fence of Juli’s house. As Bryce asks Garrett if Juli has a rooster, he says she only has chickens. Bryce asks how he knows, and he says that none of them is strutting like a rooster. Following this, Bryce heads home and tells his family that Juli only has chickens. Chet says he’s proud of Bryce for talking to Juli, but he mentions that it was nothing.  

Just then, Steven asks if Juli was the one who told him that they were all chickens. Bryce says it’s what she told him, but Steven finds this weird because a rooster is also a chicken. As he mentions that Bryce was supposed to find out if she had hens or roosters, Bryce realizes that Garrett misled him.  

He then asks if roosters strut, and as Chet says they do, Bryce mentions that Juli’s chickens are all hens. Patsy says it’s good to know that the eggs are good, but Bryce still says he won’t eat them. As Patsy asks why, he tells her that Juli’s backyard is always muddy and never clean. Lynetta thinks they could have salmonella poisoning if they eat the eggs, but Patsy doesn’t sound sure about it. Chet also says it’s unlikely, but Steven says it’s not worth the risk.  

He then tells Bryce to return the eggs to Juli. Bryce looks shocked by this, but Steven says it shouldn’t be a problem for him since he already spoke to her earlier. After dinner, Bryce can’t seem to bring himself to return the eggs to Juli, so he just throws them into the trash can outside the house. Interestingly, though, Juli shows up at his house the next morning to give him more eggs. Bryce is shocked by this, but he accepts them because he doesn’t want to hurt her feelings.  

After she leaves, though, he throws them away again. Over the next few days, Juli keeps bringing more eggs to the house, and she notices that Bryce is always waiting for her at the door, even before she knocks. Juli finds this weird, but she doesn’t say anything. A while later, Juli brings Bryce another batch of eggs, but before she leaves, he asks when she’ll start following the school bus again. Juli says she doesn’t know yet, and as Bryce goes back inside, she starts wondering if he has been missing her.  

Shortly after, she sees him coming out of the house with a bag of trash. He looks shocked to see that she’s still in front of his house, and as she looks inside the bag, she sees her eggs. She asks if he’s throwing them away, and Bryce confesses that his dad thought they weren’t worth the risk. Juli sounds shocked to hear this, and as she asks what he means, Bryce talks about how his family thought they could get a salmonella infection from eating her eggs because of how dirty her yard looks. Juli doesn’t get this, and she says that she cleans her chickens every day.  

She eventually collects the eggs from him and says she can’t believe he has been throwing them away. As she says that some of the neighbors have been paying her for the same number of eggs, Bryce says he’s sorry, but she says he’s not. Juli then walks away sadly to her house. Later that night, while she’s eating dinner with her parents and brothers, Matt and Mark, Juli says she’s thinking of fixing the yard by planting some grass and flowers.  

As she adds that she might also put up a fence and use her egg money to pay for everything, Richard tells her not to do it because the landlord is the one supposed to take care of the yard. Juli seems bothered by this, but as Richard asks if there’s anything wrong, she says it’s nothing. Trina then encourages her to say what the problem is, and Juli tells her family that Bryce’s family had been throwing away her eggs because they were worried about how the yard looked.  

Trina asks if Patsy said that, but Juli says it was Bryce. As Matt and Mark say they don’t care what anyone says about them, Trina says she does. She also says she’s tired of living miserably while Richard continues to spend a lot of money on his brother, Daniel, who is in a private care home because he’s mentally ill.  

Richard says he’ll never send his brother to a government facility, and as they keep arguing about it, Juli tells them to stop. They then say sorry to her for making her watch them argue. The next day, Juli starts working on the yard, and as she struggles with trimming some flowers, Chet shows up and offers to help her. Juli thinks he’s there because of what Bryce did, but Chet doesn’t seem to know what she’s talking about. He then says he actually read about her in the newspaper, and that he’s sure his late wife would’ve done the same thing.  

As he says that she reminds him of his late wife, Juli looks happy and watches Chet as he trims the flowers. Meanwhile, Bryce arrives home and sees Chet working with Juli in front of her house. He looks shocked by this, especially because Chet seems happy talking to her. Later that night, Chet comes to Bryce’s room and says that Juli already told him about the eggs. He then tells Bryce that he needs to work on his character before it’s too late.  

The next day, Bryce tries to talk to Juli in school, but she keeps ignoring him. A few days later, while she’s watering her lawn, Bryce goes to meet her to say sorry for what he did. Juli asks why he couldn’t just return the eggs, and Bryce acknowledges that he made a mistake.  

Bryce then commends her for the work she’s doing in her yard, and she says that Chet did most of it. She then says that Chet often talks about how she reminds him of his late wife, and Bryce finds this surprising. He eventually wishes her good luck with the lawn, and she thanks him. Before he walks away, though, Juli stares at him and realizes that she no longer feels attracted to him like she once was. The next day, Steven sees Chet rubbing his hands together and asks if Juli has been overworking him.  

Chet doesn’t seem to mind, but Steven sounds pissed that he’s spending more time with a stranger than with his grandson. As he insults Juli’s family, Chet asks if he knows why Richard doesn’t have enough money to take care of his yard. Steven jokes that he’s likely wasting his money on a painting kit, but Chet says he’s actually using it to take care of his mentally ill brother.  

Steven jokes about this again, and Chet sounds angry as he says that Richard’s brother wasn’t as lucky as Bryce. Patsy looks sad as she hears this, and she angrily heads to her room. Steven also follows her, and as Bryce asks what’s going on, Chet says he would’ve had the same condition as Daniel when he was a baby, but he was saved before things got worse.  

That night, Chet takes Bryce out for a walk, and they stop at the place where the sycamore tree used to be. Chet then tells Bryce that he thinks Juli is a really special girl. As he gets home, Bryce can’t stop thinking about Juli, and he even reads the newspaper article about her.  

The next day, Juli sees Richard leaving the house to visit Daniel because it’s his birthday. Juli says she wants to come with him, but Richard doesn’t know how she’ll react when she sees Daniel, so he just tells her to stay at home. Juli says she really wants to see Daniel, and Richard agrees to take her with him. When they get to the care home, Juli meets Daniel for the first time, and he also looks happy to see her. Richard then takes them to an ice cream shop to celebrate Daniel’s birthday.  

While they’re there, Daniel’s ice cream falls on the ground, and as he tries to pick it up, he keeps dropping it. This gets him frustrated, and he causes a scene at the shop that makes Juli realize the extent of her uncle’s illness. When she and Richard eventually get home, Trina tells them that Patsy has invited them for dinner at her house the next day.  

Juli and Richard don’t seem interested in going because of how Patsy’s family has behaved towards them in the past, but Trina says she really wants to go, and they support her. Elsewhere, Patsy tells Steven and the kids that she has invited Trina and her family over for dinner. Steven doesn’t seem to like this, but Patsy says she feels bad that they’ve been neighbors for years and have never done something like that before, even though Trina has always been kind to her.  

Bryce also looks worried because he still hasn’t spoken to Juli in a while. The next day at school, Bryce can’t take his eyes off her while they’re in science class, and a girl named Dana catches him looking at Juli. Since he can’t stop thinking about her, he decides to talk to Garrett about how he feels.  

While they’re in the library, Garrett says he cannot believe that his friend has fallen for Juli. As he talks about her dirty lawn, Bryce explains that her dad actually uses his money to take care of his mentally ill brother. Garrett then jokes about this and says that Juli might just be like her uncle. Bryce looks pissed as he hears this, and he even thinks about punching Garrett, but he just laughs instead. Coincidentally, Juli is also in the library with Dana, and she hears their conversation.  

She then looks sad because Bryce seemed to like Garrett’s joke about her uncle. Later that night, Juli’s family arrives for dinner, and Bryce is there to welcome them in. As he greets Juli, she says that she heard him and Garrett in the library, and that she never wants to talk to him again. Bryce looks sad to hear this, and he realizes that he made a mistake by laughing at Garrett’s joke. He then tells her that he really wanted to punch Garrett, but he didn’t do it because they were in the library.  

Juli thinks he’s just making up an excuse, and she calls him a coward before heading to her seat. During dinner, Steven makes an insensitive joke about the sycamore tree, and as Richard corrects him, Bryce just sits silently and wonders if he’s truly a coward like Juli called him. Shortly after, Steven asks Mark and Matt what they plan to do after high school, and they mention that they’d like to focus on their music instead of going to college.  

Trina says they’re quite talented, and Lynetta also mentions that she has heard their demos. Patsy then tells everyone that Steven used to be in a band as a saxophonist when she met him. Mark and Matt are impressed by this, and as they invite him to play with them for a day, Steven looks sad as he says he’s no longer that person.  

As everyone continues talking, Steven stays silent, and Bryce notices this. Juli also senses that Steven looks sad because Mark and Matt remind him of how much he regrets not living up to his full potential as a musician. After a while, the dinner ends, and Juli’s family seems really happy about how it went. Before she leaves, Juli says sorry to Bryce for being angry earlier. She then says that everyone enjoyed the dinner, and that Patsy was nice to have invited them over.  

Shortly after, while Bryce and his family are cleaning the table, Steven talks about how he thinks Mark and Matt likely stole their studio equipment to be able to record a demo. Lynetta finds this weird, and as she insults him for even thinking of something like that, he slaps her. Patsy can’t believe this, and she asks what’s wrong with him.  

While they all leave the kitchen, Bryce feels bad about what happened, but Chet consoles him. The next day, Bryce sees that he has been selected to be one of the basket boys who will be auctioned off to other students as part of the school’s annual fundraiser. He doesn’t look happy about this, but Garrett shows up and tells him that he just heard that Sherry and another girl named Melanie want to bid for him at the event.  

Since they’re the prettiest girls in the school, Garrett praises Bryce, but he doesn’t seem quite interested in this. On the day of the fundraiser, Juli decides against taking her egg money to school so that she won’t be tempted to bid on Bryce because a part of her still likes him. On her way to school, though, Mrs Steuby sees her and pays for the last eggs she delivered.  

Juli tries to reject the money, but Mrs Steuby insists that she take it. Shortly after, as the basket boys are about to climb onto the stage in the auditorium, Garrett shows up and tells Bryce that he saw Juli counting some cash by her locker. Bryce is shocked to hear this, and he starts wondering if Juli will bid on him.  

When the event starts, the basket boys are introduced to the other students before a bid is placed on them. As it gets to the turn of a boy named Eddie, who is standing in front of Bryce, no one bids for him. Juli feels sad for him because he’s friendly, and even though she really wanted to bid on Bryce, she eventually spends her money on Eddie.  

Bryce cannot believe this, but when it’s his turn, Sherry places the winning bid for him. Shortly after, the basket boys head to the cafeteria to have lunch with the girls who placed the highest bid for them.  Even though Bryce is seated with Sherry, he keeps staring at Juli, who is having lunch with Eddie. 

Suddenly, Bryce stands up and goes to Juli’s table to drag her away while saying he needs to tell her something. As she wonders what’s about to happen, Juli sees Bryce leaning toward her, and she looks shocked because she wasn’t expecting him to try to kiss her. Everyone in the cafeteria also sees this, but Juli quickly runs away and leaves the school.  

Garrett then scolds Bryce for ruining his date with Sherry, but he says he doesn’t care. As Garrett says it might be best if they aren’t friends anymore, Bryce gladly accepts this and walks away. He then goes to Juli’s house and knocks on the door, but no one answers it. Interestingly, it turns out that Juli is already at home, and she has told her mom everything that happened. As they hear Bryce knocking, Juli tells Trina not to open the door.  

Trina says she still has to talk to him about what happened, but Juli looks sad as she says she can’t. The next day, Bryce goes to see Juli again, but Trina shows up at the door and says that her daughter has locked herself in her room. Bryce is disappointed to hear this, and he doesn’t know what else to do.  

The following day, Juli looks relieved that Bryce hasn’t come to her house to check on her again. As she sits down in the living room, though, she suddenly sees Bryce digging a hole in front of her house. She looks pissed by this, but before she heads out, Richard says he was the one who gave Bryce permission to dig the hole.  

Juli cannot believe this, and as she continues watching him, she sees Bryce bring a small sycamore tree to the front yard to plant it. This makes Juli smile, and she heads out to meet him. As Bryce sees her, he looks happy and just stares at her without saying anything.  

Juli then asks if he needs help with planting the tree, and he says he does. Just then, they kneel on the lawn together and gently add more soil to cover the tree’s roots. While they’re at it, their hands touch, and they look into each other’s eyes with smiles on their faces.  

Even though Bryce initially had no interest in Juli, she continued being kind to him with the hope that they could still become friends. Bryce didn’t want this, and he ended up hurting her in different ways because her feelings didn’t matter to him. However, he eventually realized that he liked her more than he thought, but by then, it seemed too late because Juli now saw him as a bad person. Instead of giving up on trying to win her back, Bryce showed her how he really felt about her, and he even planted a sycamore tree right in front of her house to make her happy again. Sometimes, we only realize the value of someone when they’re no longer by our side.  

Flipped 2010 .