Leah is in the stairwell of the Havenwood Arms apartment complex with Michael, a classmate she barely knows. Michael has been flirting with her in their sociology class, and she finally agreed to hang out. They had coffee at a campus cafe and he walked her home, but when they reached her building, he suggested they take the stairs instead of the elevator. Now they're kissing in the dimly lit stairwell, between floors. The concrete walls amplify every sound, and the emergency lighting casts everything in a sickly orange glow. Leah is trying to participate in this make-out session because she thinks this is what normal twenty-somethings do, but she feels disconnected from the experience and is simply going through the motions.