Richard is a boffin, a swot; he wears the clothes his mum picks for him and has a boring haircut. He seizes the chance to change when, for a brief time, the school think he has been killed. He's taken up by Steve, one of the cool in-crowd and suddenly he's Ricky, cool, sharp and a bit of a lad. Then in a wild party at his house, a fire develops and Richard has to face the consequences. He sees that he's moved from one person's image of him to another's and that neither are really him. He can't be pigeon-holed into being a boffin or Mr Cool as he's actually a bit of both. All ends happily as he learns to be himself - and he gets a girlfriend!