It is April, 1968, and Faye, a teenager restless within the claustrophobic confines of rural Iowa, dreams of attending the newly-opened University of Illinois at Chicago Circle. Surrounded by girlfriends who dream only of marrying a local boy and then raising a family, Faye reads poetry, weeps at classical music, smokes on the sly, and dreams of broader horizons. She has already been awarded a scholarship. Her parents, however, scare her with stories of how campuses across the country were erupting in violent protests, her mother calls it “chaos in the streets” (260). Faye maintains a tepid relationship with Henry, a mild-mannered farm boy who dreams of being a veterinarian, but she is almost certain this relationship is hardly love. He also wants her not to go to the city—melodramatically he threatens to join the army if she leaves.

Prom night is a disaster. Henry and Faye dance awkwardly and afterwards, at a park along the Mississippi River, Henry awkwardly asks Faye to go steady with him. Faye finds him “adorable” (272) but is hardly swept up in the idea of committing to Henry. She tries to initiate sex, but Henry recoils. A frustrated Faye is crushed: “She is lightheaded suddenly, and hot and tingly and a little outside herself” (274).