Alice exits the bathroom pep talk only to find a girl sitting on a bed in the dim light. The girl’s violet curls, freckles, and easy confidence arrest Alice; a brief, charged exchange ends when the girl slips past into the bathroom without turning on the light, and Alice flees back into the party.

Deciding the interruption was a false start, Alice leans into her “New Alice” plan, taking a drag from a stranger’s joint and downing two shots in the kitchen to mute her anxieties. Drawn by the music and the house’s vivid green hallway, she momentarily hallucinates the wall softening beneath her hands and stumbles—straight into the violet-haired girl, who steadies her and silently invites her to dance.

On the crowded dance floor, Alice and the girl press close. The girl smells of earth, iron, and sugar. They exchange names—Alice and Lottie—just as the music dips, allowing Alice to hear Lottie’s name. Lottie kisses Alice’s collarbone, but a blaring smoke alarm floods the house with light and panic. Swept outside with the crowd, Alice loses sight of Lottie in the crush.

Rain erupts into a torrential downpour that propels Alice into a trance-like state, recalling home and the quieting effect of storms. A rushing night bicycle ride barrels toward her in the street until Lottie yanks her back to safety. With hair dye running like purple tears, Lottie tries to speak over the rain, then takes Alice’s hand and pulls her through the gates into the Yard and under the awning of Matthews Hall.

Under the cover, Lottie closes the distance, asking, “May I?” before kissing Alice. Alice, flushed with want and emboldened, swipes her keycard and leads Lottie upstairs to her suite. The dorm is empty and dark; they shed soaked clothes with uneven ease—Alice awkwardly, Lottie effortlessly—leaving purple-stained trails from Lottie’s rinsed dye.

In the dark room, mutual desire becomes explicit. Lottie waits for tacit invitation, then guides Alice with a steady, confident touch. Alice’s usual self-consciousness yields to sensation as Lottie kisses down her body, and Alice, long used to wanting, feels wanted in return. Lottie’s touch and mouth finally dissolve Alice’s overthinking; the scene culminates with Alice’s release as she “comes apart.”