Art Bechstein is floundering in his new-found post-college freedom, opting to take the job with the least amount of responsibility he can find (at the appropriately titled Book Barn), while sleep walking through the Series Seven prep courses that will speed him into a job chosen for him by his father, far away from the security of his childhood Pittsburgh. Art's fortunes begin to change when a chance encounter with freshman roommate and part-time drug dealer Mohammed lands him at a swanky summer party where he falls for the beautifully tipsy Jane Bellweather. The two quickly connect over a late-night plate of pie, but Jane's on-again off-again boyfriend Cleveland has other plans for the pair. Taking Art hostage from the dreary Book Barn, Cleveland threatens to throw Art off the top of an abandoned steel mill, a hideout that Cleveland romantically calls "The Cloud Factory." Suspended high above Pittsburgh, Art realizes that his summer has finally begun, what would become the last true summer of his life.