In 1986, Harry Dunne (Derek Richardson (actor) finally gets his chance to go to regular school. At the same time, Lloyd Christmas (Eric Christian Olsen) has been adopted and exchanged several times until he is finally accepted by the school janitor, Ray (Luis Guzmán). Harry bumps into Lloyd on the way to school, in search for a treasure his mother (Mimi Rogers) asked him to find, and as if it were destiny, the two instantly became the best of friends. Lloyd introduces Harry to his "friend", Turk (Elden Henson), the school bully whose main function in life appears to be making Lloyd's life miserable. After putting Lloyd in a trash can, he hoists the two friends up a flagpole.