Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.
Exposition
Boy Meets, Uh, Boy
One fateful night somewhere in the NYC 'burbs, a boy named Paul goes to a bookstore to hear a friend DJ. He starts dancing, knocks some books off a shelf, and a cute newcomer named Noah picks up the books and hands them back. They flirt awkwardly, Noah looks over his shoulder at Paul as he leaves, and they have officially met cute. Oh hey title, thanks for laying that one out for us.
Rising Action
I'm Just Gonna Go for It
Having gotten the characters introduced and interested, it's time to get them dating. And guess what happens next? They start dating. In fact, Paul and Noah have the world's cutest first date, complete with a boat ride. They also meet each other's families. Everything's going along just swell, until…
Climax
It's Not You, It's Me
Paul, in a moment of weakness, kisses his ex. Wah-wah. Does Noah find out? Of course Noah finds out—this is the boy loses boy part. There's also a third act misunderstanding, which is that the boy Noah thinks Paul kissed (Tony) is not the boy Paul actually kissed (Kyle). So when Noah tucks a note into Paul's backpack that says, "I can't believe you kissed him," (16.34) he's not talking about who he thinks he's talking about. Ah, romance.
Falling Action
On the Seventh Day of Breakup, My True Love Gave to Me…
Paul pulls out all the stops to get Noah back, which is how boy regains boy. If this book were an 80s movie, this would be the hard work montage. Over the course of a week, Paul gives Noah origami flowers, a scroll of words, notes, letters, a serenade, and twenty rolls of film. On the last day Noah responds by giving Paul a series of photographs saying "wish you were here." Yay—the boys have made up. Paul asks Noah to the Dowager's Dance, Noah says yes, and we just know things are going to work out for Tony too.
Resolution
Dead Can Dance
The storyline of the Dowager's Dance threads through the main (read: love story) narrative of Boy Meets Boy. Paul's planning the thing, and he might not even have a date, but at the very end, everybody goes to the dance with the person they should have, except maybe Joni and Chuck (and by maybe, we mean definitely). The posse descends upon Tony's house to convince his parents to let him go to the dance, and they do, because we've got to see Tony shine at least once here. They make a pit stop on the way to the dance to have their own little outdoor party on the side of a mountain, just to celebrate being friends. Boy Meets Boy's happy ending is a resolution wrapped in pink sparkly wrapping paper, with a pink sparkly ribbon and a rainbow lollipop tied into the bow.