Behind the Tide

Cyd Loughlin (Jessie Pinnick) is a headstrong 16-year-old teenager and high school soccer player who is sent away from her home in Columbia, South Carolina to spend the summer in Chicago with her estranged aunt Miranda Ruth (Rebecca Spence), a kindhearted author of religious fiction. Though things are awkward at first, the two gradually become more close. As the summer progresses, Cyd and Miranda get to know each other over various activities, including going out for meals, walks around the neighborhood, and sunbathing in Ruth's back yard or at a local beach on the shore of Lake Michigan. Both women become more like the other, with Cyd becoming more mature and cultured... like her aunt, and Miranda more easygoing... like her niece. Cyd's mother (Miranda's sister) passed away nine years earlier when she was young, and the two discuss whether she is waiting for them in Heaven. Miranda states that she is more or less an atheist or non-religious. Cyd explores her sexuality, developing a romance with a local barista named Katie (Malic White), an androgynous teenage girl with a shaved Mohawk hairstyle, as well as a neighborhood boy. Miranda and her colleague Anthony (James Vincent Meredith) have romantic feelings for one another, but neither are willing to make the first move. Cyd privately suggests to both of them that they should ask the other one on a date. One day, Miranda hosts a large gathering of friends and creatives at her house, where Cyd makes a conscious choice to wear a man's tuxedo instead of something more feminine. After the party, Cyd unwittingly insults Miranda's lack of a sex life, which causes brief friction between the two. Miranda sternly but lovingly states that "It is not a handicap to have one thing, but not another," and that mutual respect is a key factor in any healthy relationship. That same evening, Katie calls Cyd for help after nearly being sexually assaulted. Cyd and Miranda come to her rescue, and Katie comes to stay with them for the remainder of the summer. After a day at the beach, Cyd and Katie make love for the first time. Cyd shares with Katie the story that nine years ago, her mentally disturbed older brother murdered their mother and then took his own life, and that living with her grief-stricken father has not been easy. Cyd discovers that she was named after the lead character in one of Miranda's earliest books, Princess Cydney. As the summer ends, Katie and Cyd promise to visit each other to continue their romance, and they attend an event for Miranda's new book. After one last block party, Cyd returns to Columbia. Some time later, Cyd receives a phone call from Miranda, and the two affirm their love for one another.