Waldo attends her first creative writing class with Mr. Korgy and immediately decides she will pursue a relationship with him.

Korgy shows up at Waldo's workplace and invites her to have dinner at his home with his family.

At dinner with Korgy's family, Waldo hints at her attraction when Gwen asks if she is interested in anyone.

On a walk together, Waldo slips on ice, kisses Korgy, and he rejects her, insisting he has no feelings for her.

Waldo and Korgy meet at a café; he admits feelings but insists they cannot be together; Waldo proposes a secret affair.

Korgy arrives drunk at Waldo's apartment and the two have sex for the first time.

Korgy takes Waldo to Alyeska Resort while Gwen is away with her family, and they spend the day together having sex.

While Korgy is away on vacation, Waldo breaks into his empty house and masturbates on his and Gwen's bed.

Korgy returns from his vacation with Gwen and breaks up with Waldo.

Waldo and Korgy have sex in the prom bathroom; he apologizes for the breakup and declares he cannot live without her.

Korgy takes Waldo back to Beluga Point and tells her he loves her for the first time.

Gwen nearly discovers Waldo during sex at Korgy's house; Waldo hides bleeding in the closet while Gwen tries to initiate sex with Korgy.

Waldo ends the relationship with Korgy; he responds by incessantly calling and eventually texting that he is leaving his wife.

Waldo meets Korgy at an expensive hotel, where he arrives weeping over his painful breakup with Gwen.

At the airport for their Hawaii trip, Waldo hides in the bathroom, misses the flight, and leaves without responding to Korgy.

Seventeen-year-old Waldo lives alone in Anchorage, isolated and directionless, until she meets her charismatic creative writing teacher Mr. Korgy and immediately resolves to pursue him. Korgy grooms Waldo through small attentions — dinner invitations, texts, walks — before the two begin a secret sexual affair. Their relationship intensifies through the winter, with elaborate outings that make Waldo feel alive for the first time, even as Korgy's divided loyalty to his wife Gwen keeps her at arm's length. After Korgy breaks up with Waldo following a vacation with Gwen, a string of dramatic reversals — prom, Beluga Point, a near-discovery by Gwen — pulls them back together and pushes them further apart. Waldo eventually ends things herself, only for Korgy to leave his wife and deepen his claim on her life. The novel closes with Waldo's act of quiet defiance: abandoning their planned Hawaii trip at the airport and driving alone to Seward, finally free.

The core affair from first meeting to final departure.

Waldo has sex with her boyfriend Randy Julep, who then casually suggests they break up.

Waldo returns to an empty apartment, heats a frozen dinner, and fills an online shopping cart with clothes she immediately regrets ordering.

At the winter formal dance, Waldo finds Korgy alone in his classroom; learning his father has died, she straddles him until he orgasms.

Waldo tells Frannie about the affair; Frannie demands they report Korgy; Waldo begs her to stay silent because she loves him.

After Korgy breaks up with Waldo, she spends a week moping in bed, calling out sick from school and work.

Classmate Nolan approaches Waldo at her locker, and she impulsively asks him out.

On a double date with Frannie and Tristan, Waldo spots Korgy dining with his family and masturbates in the restaurant bathroom.

Waldo parks outside Korgy's house and watches his birthday party from inside her car, eating chips and berating herself.

Nolan breaks up with Waldo on the way home from prom, saying he cannot be with someone who does not care for him equally.

Korgy moves into a motel room after officially leaving Gwen and beginning to collect his belongings.

Waldo comes home to find her mother cleaning the apartment and newly enrolled in a sex-and-love-anonymous program.

Waldo helps Korgy move into his new apartment; he thanks her for always letting him be himself.

Waldo and Korgy fall into a stifling domestic routine and she begins shopping online again to escape her growing restlessness.

A drunk Korgy scolds Waldo for wasting her potential working retail; they argue bitterly before making amends.

Waldo returns home to find her mother and Tony having sex; she silently gathers her things and leaves.

Before Korgy enters Waldo's life, she is already drifting — cycling through hollow hookups, empty apartments, and compulsive online shopping with no real anchor. The people around her, including her absentee mother, her cautious friend Frannie, and the genuinely kind classmate Nolan, form a backdrop against which the damage Korgy inflicts becomes visible. When Frannie learns the truth about the affair, her horror gives Waldo the first outside perspective on how wrong the relationship is, though Waldo silences her. Nolan's brief, honest relationship with Waldo serves as a direct contrast to Korgy's manipulation, and his clean breakup after prom forces Waldo to register what she is sacrificing. As the affair deepens into a stifling domestic routine — Korgy in a motel, then an apartment, increasingly drunk and resentful — Waldo's sense of entrapment grows. The novel's secondary arc closes not with drama but with quiet inevitability: Waldo walking away from her mother's apartment one last time, finally ready to leave everything behind.

The surrounding relationships and moments that frame Waldo's journey.

Waldo reads her personal poem aloud in Korgy's class, sharing raw details of her difficult home life.

Waldo's mother arrives home drunk, sobbing over Tony dumping her, and promises again that they will drive to Seward together.

Frannie suggests Korgy only admires Waldo's writing because her difficult upbringing gives her a tragic story.

Waldo confronts Korgy in the school library, accusing him of pitying her; he insists he deeply respects her.

Korgy calls Waldo while spending the holiday alone, revealing that Gwen's family disapproves of him.

After the ice kiss, Korgy waits with Waldo for the tow truck but is cold and dismissive, blaming her for jeopardizing his job.

With Gwen away, Korgy visits Waldo's apartment, orders her healthy groceries, and prepares her for their more discreet dynamic at school.

Waldo and Korgy have sex in the school supply closet; another teacher enters mid-encounter but does not detect them.

Waldo performs oral sex on Korgy while he takes a call from Gwen, noticing the stress across his face.

At a fancy dinner, Korgy steps outside to take Gwen's call and stays so long that Waldo's food goes cold.

Korgy announces he is taking a week-long vacation with Gwen; Waldo cries while trying to initiate sex to avoid the conversation.

Waldo lies awake beside sleeping Korgy at the hotel, studying his face and reflecting on finally having what she long wanted.

Waldo realizes she is no longer interested in having sex with Korgy; they discover the pool is closed and silently order pizza.

Frannie hosts a going-away party before leaving for college; Waldo cannot imagine having such certain plans for her own future.

Waldo drives alone to Seward for the first time, feeling free and satisfied as she heads toward her own future.

Waldo's growth is traced through a series of small revelations that gradually expose the gap between what Korgy offers and what she actually needs. Early moments — a poem read aloud in class, a library confrontation, a holiday phone call — establish how deeply Waldo craves respect and connection, and how skillfully Korgy presents himself as the person who can provide both. As their affair progresses, Waldo begins to see through his patterns: the cancelled plans, the calls from Gwen, the spring break announcement that reduces her to tears, the fancy dinner interrupted by his wife. These scenes accumulate into a portrait of a man who controls through false tenderness and manages Waldo's emotions to protect himself. After Korgy leaves Gwen and Waldo finally has him entirely, she discovers that having everything she wanted changes nothing — sex becomes performative, his company becomes suffocating, and her restlessness can no longer be suppressed. The pool closes with Waldo driving alone to Seward, taking for herself the trip her mother always promised and never delivered.