Douglass, a lonely high school English teacher with a PhD thinks one of his students, Nicole, is the brightest in his AP literature class at the all-girls school in Manhattan he teaches at. He is the only male teacher and many of the female teachers and students have crushes on him. He doesn't like any of the single female teachers, however, and never goes on dates.

Nicole leaves notes to him on her assignments about the books she reads, one per night, in her free time. In these letters she points out things he considers inappropriate, like noting she saw him by the track and asking how he got a bruise on his ankle. He wrote high praise of her in her college recommendation letter.

One day, Nicole calls him. She asks how his ankle is and makes small talk. He says they can talk in school and tries to end the call.

Nicole gets into Princeton and says her family would like to invite him over as a thank you for writing her recommendation. When he gets there, Nicole is wearing a beautiful black evening gown. Her parents serve drinks. Her father asks him to teach him something. Douglass keeps having and attempting to repress sexual thoughts about Nicole.

To his surprise, at dinner, her parents announce they want him to marry her. She says she wants him to marry her. Douglass thinks they're joking and doesn't know what to do. He excuses himself to the bathroom where Nicole's cat, John Stapleton, exits after flushing the toilet. Then, he asks to be alone with Nicole. He asks her if she loves him. She says she'll be ready to love him in June and tries to persuade him to agree to the marriage. He remembers his boxing days, as a teenager. He asks her to punch him in the stomach.