Five friends unite to constitute a circle of sneaks and cheaters at a private boys boarding school. A file cabinet containing test papers is found tampered with and the group is implicated as a result of getting top grades for the paper. All A students are brought before the honors council for questioning. One member of the council, Smitty, vows intently to find the cheaters. Someone narcs on one of the Circle, Frazier, who soon expelled. The rest of the Circle agree to give the narc no mercy. They believe it was Faulkner, also an A student but not a member of the Circle. Faulkner is Alex's roommate; Alex is a member and believes he is innocent. Jetson Harlow, another member, sends Faulkner a fake rejection letter from MIT for revenge. Faulkner ends up dead, his death labeled a suicide.