Gothic Tennessean high school senior and writer Cairo studies literature under Jonathan Miller, an author who turned to teaching when his novels failed to take off. Being a bookworm, she’d already read his assigned reading, leaving him impressed. He takes her under his wing as his star pupil, and the two spend time together outside the school grounds, attending writing events. Cairo's lesbian best friend Winnie – amused by flirting with the school's coach to get what she wants – convinces her to use her writing to seduce the already-wed Miller. When Miller assigns her a midterm assignment earlier than everyone else, she uses his prompt to project her inner desires about him onto the page, catapulting them into a controversial situation.