Stella was born to sing and her voice has given her the status of "cool kid" at school with everyone thinking she is destined for stardom on Broadway. When a freak accident renders her deaf she cannot hear or even speak, much less sing and is trapped in a strange new world of total silence. She meets Hayden, a lonely outcast with whom she can communicate with because his pronounced stutter makes him speak so agonizingly slowly but makes it easy for her to read his lips. Hayden reaches out to help Stella and a friendship grows to deep connection and an unexpected romance until his insecurities make him wonder if Stella will leave him if she ever regains her hearing and her challenges with her disability force her to create an entirely new life of meaning and purpose.