Thomas Wilkens is a university professor who finds himself attracted to his student Fay Lester. She makes him feel as if he were a boy again, lusting after senior cheerleaders who would never look twice at him. His son, Neil, is now an adolescent navigating puberty, a state which his father treats with distance and awkwardness. Wilkens begins to make excuses to see Fay outside of class. He procures her class schedule and engineers run-ins with her, even as he tries to convince himself that his infatuation is nothing more than an irritation he wants to be rid of. He hears a rumour that another instructor at the college has already had his career ruined over allegations of a relationship with Fay, but even this is not enough to make him stay away. One day Fay enters his office without any motivation to write the final paper. He tries to convince her to do it, but this is of no avail – she seems to sense his intentions and they set up a time to meet in the town where no one will see them. As the meeting draws nearer, Wilkens finds that his longing for Fay has cooled considerably. He goes nonetheless; before they can have intercourse, Fay extracts a promise from him that she need not complete the final exam either. When he comes home, he finds that his son Neil has been charged with rape. They go to the police station with three other boys, but the girl’s father drops the accusation when it is revealed to be false. Wilkens goes home, unable to process what happened, feeling as though the whole day was lived by someone else. Once the semester ended, he begins grading papers. In order not to arouse suspicion, he gives Fay a C. When she hears of this, she barges into his office and demands loudly that he change it – but this proves to be impossible. She lashes out accusing him of cowardice, but he does not change his mind. When Fay finally leaves, the loss is not as painful as he expects. Wilkens knows, with a sinking feeling, that the rest of his life will carry on as it always has.