After school, Eve Bennett runs into Arthur Tuttle in a grocery store while shopping for avocados. His casual, slightly shabby clothes and tired manner immediately show Eve how much his life has changed since he left Caseham High. Art says he misses the school, confirms that he had to resign after the scandal, and admits he still has not found another job and may have to leave the region.

As Eve talks with him, she reflects on how the accusations began around Addie Severson. Eve remembers that rumors spread after Art spent extra time tutoring Addie, invited her to his house for dinner, and drove her home, all while Addie was seen as a vulnerable student because of her troubled home life and her father's death. Even though Addie never directly accused Art, something happened that ruined his reputation and made him unemployable at Caseham.

Eve tells Art that Addie is now in one of her trigonometry classes. Art reacts carefully, and the brief exchange makes Eve confront her own uncertainty: she feels sorry for him and wants to believe he is innocent, but she also cannot fully dismiss how inappropriate his past closeness with Addie looked. Their formerly easy friendship has been replaced by awkwardness, and Eve cannot bring herself to invite him and his wife over despite feeling sympathy for him.

As the conversation ends, Art gives Eve advice on how to choose a ripe avocado, a small reminder of his old teacherly nature. Eve turns back to her shopping, expecting the encounter to be over. Instead, Art suddenly grabs her upper arm, speaks in a hiss, and urgently tells her that she needs to listen to him right now, abruptly shifting the scene from awkward reunion to threat or warning.