When Emery Whitehill was 6 years old, an alien spacecraft crash-landed in her small town and she met Roman, a 6-year old Atrian boy, who sought refuge with her before being taken away by the authorities. Ten years later, the two are reunited as the first group of Atrian teens is about to enroll in high school in a widely scrutinized social experiment to see if humans and Atrians can live in peace. Both Emery and Roman are surprised at the small-mindedness of their respective communities. Roman’s sister, Sophia, is excited to make new friends, but their fellow Atrians, Teri and Drake, openly distrust all humans. The human students are equally wary of the aliens, especially the school’s queen bee Taylor. Kind-hearted Grayson is drawn to Emery but has a secret that could threaten their new friendship. Only two of Emery’s friends – Julia and Lukas, seem able to accept the Atrians. Emery and Roman find themselves drawn together again but outside forces work hard to keep them apart.

Roman and Sophia prepare for a funeral. Roman is surprised and suspicious when his Uncle Castor shows up in the sector offering to help the family. Meanwhile, Emery tries to talk to Roman about what happened, but he doesn’t want anything to do with her. Upset, Emery turns to Grayson. Meanwhile, the Atrian Seven are invited to the school carnival. However, the fun ends after Drake is kidnapped and Roman finds out the Trags are preparing a hit on Emery and her family at the carnival.

It’s the tenth anniversary of “Arrival Day” and the town is preparing a commemoration for the fallen soldiers. Gloria selects a small group of human teenagers who will spend some time inside the sector to see what it’s like to be an Atrian for a day. In addition, Gloria assigns Emery the task of filming the interactions. While Grayson offers to help her with the project, Roman strongly objects to Emery going inside the sector. Despite Roman’s concern for her safety, Emery decides to move forward with the project. While Sophia is excited to show everyone around her pod, Teri and Drake resent the intrusion and decide to have a little fun at the humans’ expense. However, when Drake is kidnapped during the tour, he’s surprised by who is behind the abduction. Meanwhile, Julia confronts Roman with her suspicions about cyper.