Diane Swanson, a freshman at Jordon College, arrives home for Christmas break. Blaine McCall, a friend of the Swanson family, has also returned to the community seeking custody of his eight-year-old daughter, Miriam. A fight erupts between Diane and her mother and Diane suddenly experiences a frightening flashback for which she has no context. She hides this from her mother and returns to school. There, Diane struggles to conceal these haunting experiences from her best friend, Samantha, and her new boyfriend, Joseph. Over spring break the rift between Diane and her mother begins to heal, but immediately upon returning to college she is assaulted by a more terrifying set of flashbacks revealing that Blaine sexually abused her during her preteen years. Driven to the brink of suicide, isolated from all her support systems, including Joseph, Diane telephones Blaine and makes a bargain with him to protect Miriam. Only when she hears that Blaine is no longer seeking custody of the child, does Diane finally admit the secret terrors of her childhood, speak the words out loud, and begin talking steps toward her own healing. Unit set.