Martin Wilson's What They Always Tell Us is a story about the lives and formation of brothers who are living through the ordeal known as high school. James, a senior, knows exactly where he's going and who is, and he's happy with this knowledge. Alex, James' younger brother, doesn't and isn't. This vast difference is the main reason James and Alex are no longer close. That is until their ten-year-old neighbor befriends them both and pulls them together with the mystery of who keeps parking outside his house at odd hours.