Eliot's story is set in a high school classroom, where the teacher, Mr. Lee, and the student, Sam, are preparing to leave for a summer teaching position at a nearby college. Lee is upset that Sam has not called him back to tell him that he is leaving, and he tells him that if he had picked up Sam's call, he would not have been in such a bad situation. He then asks Sam what he is going to do about the situation at the school, and Sam says that he will not go there because it is "embarrassing" and "unnecessary." He then tells Lee that he has been harassing him since he broke off his relationship with Sam, and that he had to bring it up because he was "left with nothing." Lee then asks if he is avoiding the subject of going to the school because he is afraid that he would be left with nothing. Lee replies that he was afraid because he had been "unsettled heart before anyone got hurt."