College freshman Eric has been having an affair with Susan, his Shakespeare professor. He goes to the library to obtain Cliffs Notes for the paper for which she refuses to give him an extension. Jane, an ex-librarian, takes him hostage and threatens to blow up the library.
As the Police Captain outside becomes increasingly and absurdly callous and eventually sets the library on fire with Eric and Jane inside, Eric must confront his own fears and self-doubt as he relives his affair with Susan and deals with the situation inside the library.