The narrative flashes back to October 2014 at Finley College, a historically Black college in Georgia. Verity, a junior transfer student, is at a club with her girlfriend, Petra, and their friends, Ezekiel and Gillian. Verity is immediately captivated by Monk, a handsome and talented piano player. She learns from her friends that he is a senior and a musical prodigy with early acceptance to Juilliard. After his set, Petra insists on introducing them. Verity is nervous but feels an undeniable and intense connection to Monk the moment they shake hands. Petra invites Monk to a party at her apartment the next night.

The narrative shifts to Monk’s perspective. He’s intrigued by Verity but hesitant to pursue her because she is in a relationship with Petra. Despite this, he decides to attend Petra’s party, turning down a paying gig just for the chance to see Verity again. At the party, Monk and Verity find themselves alone on the patio. She mentions that her parents are dead, and they bond over their shared artistic passions and family histories. When Ezekiel casually mentions that Petra and Verity have an open relationship, Monk offers only a polite smile and changes the subject. He watches, captivated, as Verity emerges from the bedroom.

The narrative moves back to Verity’s perspective. At the end of the party, all other guests have left, and only Verity, Petra, and Monk remain on the couch. Petra proposes a threesome with Monk, and Verity agrees. Petra establishes rules, framing the session entirely around Verity’s pleasure. During the encounter on the couch, Monk performs oral sex on Verity, and the two share a deeply intimate, non-verbal connection.

After they all fall asleep in Petra’s bed, Monk wakes and prepares to leave. Verity follows him to the foyer, where he confesses he only came to the party to see her again. He admits that while he was grateful for the night, he is not interested in an open relationship. He kisses her forehead and departs, leaving Verity contemplating their intense, brief encounter.

A month later, in November, Monk attends a mandatory campus art exhibit for his African American art class, taught by Dr. Sonya Garrison. He unexpectedly runs into Verity there. He learns she and Petra broke up approximately two weeks prior. Verity is fascinated by a copper sculpture that presents an abstract interpretation of fire, an installation by artist Chap Brody titled Flame. After Monk finds out she is single, he asks her to get food with him, and she accepts.

Verity goes to an off-campus dive called Top Dog with Monk. She explains her passion for her double major in film and African American studies, expressing a desire to tell forgotten Black stories. Monk shares the painful story of his parents’ divorce, which was caused by his pastor father’s infidelity. This experience is why he highly prefers monogamy.

After dinner, they walk through the campus arboretum. In a secluded, moonlit spot, they share their first kiss, which is passionate and intense. Monk stops things from escalating further, explaining that he wants to slow down and build a real relationship because he believes what they have could be special.

The following day, Monk goes to Verity’s dorm. They discuss their expectations for a relationship, and Verity agrees to be monogamous with him. Monk reiterates that fidelity is a “hard line” for him due to his family trauma. After establishing this understanding, they have vaginal sex for the first time. The experience is deeply emotional for both of them.

The narrative moves forward to Thanksgiving break. Monk has a tense holiday dinner with his mother and his siblings, Charlie and Shrieva. His siblings have sided with their father since the divorce, creating a rift in the family. When Monk shows them a photo of Verity, Charlie makes a judgmental comment about them having sex. Monk’s father calls, and his mother makes him take the phone. After a brief, cold exchange, Monk hangs up and leaves the apartment to call Verity, telling her he misses her and is ready to come back to campus.

The narrative flashes forward to January. Verity walks to her screenwriting class while talking on the phone with her aunts, Roz and Grace. They express concern about her new relationship with Monk and her mental health, reminding her to take her medication. They also confirm they are sending her money for tuition as she lost her full scholarship after a difficult period at USC. In class, Professor Rollins berates Verity for her tardiness, but her peers’ encouraging response to her screenplay gives her confidence.

In February, Monk plays a jazz gig. He worries when Verity is late, knowing she has been neglecting sleep to work on a major screenwriting project. After his set, Petra and Randi approach him outside the club before Verity arrives, and Petra warns him that Verity was fragile after her experience at USC. Later that night, Monk wakes to find Verity on his apartment floor, working on her script. She is unusually energetic and talkative.

Monk suggests deferring his admission to Juilliard for a year to stay with her, which triggers their first major fight. Verity becomes defensive and accuses him of not trusting her when he asks about her past. They quickly reconcile and have sex. As she’s falling asleep, Verity mumbles that she loves him. Monk says it back but wonders whether she will even remember saying it. He wakes up later to find her working on the script again.

In March, Verity is rushing to the financial aid office to pay the remainder of her tuition. She feels euphoric, energetic, and invincible. On her way, she is captivated by a bright pink dress in a boutique window. On a manic impulse, she enters the store and buys the expensive dress and a new pair of shoes, spending all the money her aunts had sent for her tuition.

Verity surprises Monk at a recording session, wearing the new dress and heavy makeup. Her behavior is erratic as she tries to perform oral sex on him in the control room in front of the other musicians. Monk, shocked and embarrassed, stops her and pulls her into the hallway. He confronts her about her inappropriate behavior, and they get into a heated argument. She accuses him of not knowing her and storms out of the studio, leaving Monk confused and worried.

After her fight with Monk, Verity goes to Top Dog alone. Still in a state of mania, she feels euphoric and seeks attention. She invites a group of men to her table and begins drinking heavily, which is out of character for her. Her behavior escalates until she climbs onto the table and performs a “flirtatious” dance. Petra and her girlfriend, Randi, are also at the diner and try to intervene, but Verity angrily rebuffs them, dumping a pitcher of water on Petra’s head.

After his session ends, Monk gets a frantic call from Petra, who tells him to come to Top Dog because Verity is drunk and surrounded by a group of men. Monk rushes to the diner, arriving just as Petra and Randi are leaving. He cannot find Verity in the main room. When he calls her phone, he hears her ringtone from the men’s restroom; checking the women’s restroom first and finding it empty, he enters the men’s room. Inside, he discovers Verity in a stall with a strange man—her halter top down leaving her naked to the waist, the man’s hand up her skirt gripping her ass and squeezing her breast. Verity appears indifferent and unashamed of being caught. Devastated and betrayed, Monk tells the man he is “done with her” and leaves.

After Monk leaves the restroom, Verity pushes the other man, Carl, away. He becomes aggressive, revealing that he and his friends had all planned to have sex with her that night. She manages to get away from him, and he leaves. Still feeling no pain or remorse from her encounter with Monk, Verity’s manic energy persists. She returns to the main room, finds the group of men gone, and immediately joins a new group at the pool table, offering to buy them all drinks.

Monk waits for hours at his apartment, furious and heartbroken. When Verity finally returns, he confronts her about her behavior. She offers vague excuses about stress and being drunk, but Monk, whose trust was irrevocably broken by his father’s affair, sees her actions as unforgivable infidelity. He tells her they are finished, takes his apartment key off her keyring, and forces her to leave. Though devastated, Monk is resolute in his decision, telling Verity to stay out of his life for good.

After Monk kicks her out, Verity feels numb rather than hurt. Her mania intensifies, and she runs barefoot through campus, stripping off her clothes. An overwhelming heat consumes her, and she becomes fixated on the Flame sculpture in the fine arts building, believing it to be the source of a fire that will destroy everyone. She uses a rock to smash the glass door and then reaches through the broken glass to turn the knob, cutting her forearm. As she attempts to destroy the sculpture, campus police arrive and tackle her. She fights them, convinced she must extinguish the fire. Dr. Garrison arrives and urges the police to release Verity.

A week later, Verity is in the psychiatric ward of a hospital near her hometown because Dr. Garrison prevented her arrest. Verity learns from her aunts that she has been withdrawn from Finley. A psychiatrist, Dr. Simmons, explains that Verity experienced a manic episode with psychosis. Based on her recent behavior and her past depressive episode at USC, Dr. Simmons gives her a preliminary diagnosis of bipolar disorder. She also suggests that Verity’s father may have had an undiagnosed mental illness, as bipolar disorder is often genetic. Realizing the destructive potential of her condition, Verity believes that her breakup with Monk was necessary to protect him from the same kind of chaos that destroyed her parents.