Feeling lonely and friendless at her boarding school, Ann goes to her mother Louise and begs her to let her go to the public school instead. Louise agrees, but she does not want to take any definite steps before speaking to Mac, her ex-husband who is now living with a much younger woman named Paula. The children, Ann and Little Mac, dislike Paula intensely - but Ann's hatred extends to her father as well, while Little Mac desperately wants his approval. Mac does not want Ann to go to the public school. He comes over and accuses Louise of being a bad mother, saying she drinks too much and that if she let Ann stay at home with her, then Ann would grow up overly sheltered from the world and incapable of functioning in society. Louise looks angry and pours herself another drink, asking the children to leave so that she and Mac can talk. Obediently, they go - but Ann and Little Mac argue amongst themselves about their parents on the way to the cinema. Little Mac admits that their mother does drink too much, but Ann loyally sticks up for Louise because her mother promised her she wouldn't have to go back to the boarding school. Despite this promise, she feels a sense of despair as the movie plays, knowing that Louise is both weak and suggestible. When they go home, Mac's car is still there. He sounds triumphant, so Ann knows that her mother capitulated. Mac leaves, and Ann hugs her mother tightly, appealing to her emotions to get what she wants. Inwardly, however, she knows that she hates her mother, and she hates herself.