MaryJames is a bright and intelligent - but rebellious - teenager who doesn't like to stick to the rules. She is eventually thrown out of the family home on the notorious Crescents estate. She soon learns how tough life really is. With her jobat Henshalls factory under threat she accepts the offer of a room in the flat of her older and more spohisticated  colleague, Lynne.

Factory floor gossip has it that Lynne has a seedier means of supplementing her factory wages. While Mary stays on the stright path, Lynne trawls the streets to earn extra money. Then, one night, she brings two men - Ali and Raiz - back to the flat. They both needs alibis for the time of a murder. Suddenly, Mary finds herself involved in a far more serious game.

Mary's old childhood friend, Jane Bates, is shocked at the change in Mary when they are reunited years later. Bad men and bad drugs have taken their toll on her friend. Is Mary already lost - or can Jane's risky scheme save her...?