Intro. Marco Vitali is the kind of kid everyone notices — popular, confident, and with a smile that seems to hide something. He is admired by many, but few know how much he struggles to keep up appearances. Since his mother's death, Marco has lived with his alcoholic father and indifferent stepmother. At home, she faces the weight of aggression and silence, enduring everything just to protect her younger sister, Helena, three years old. She is her reason for continuing, the only piece of light in the midst of chaos. At school, he is the opposite of what he is at home—the charismatic hockey player beloved by all. It was there that he met Adrian Blake, the young boy who treated him as an equal and became his best friend. Adrian is the only one who knows what really goes on in Marco's house, the only one who knows the true side of him. But... he is unaware of his crush on Adrian's younger sister.