Orra is an undergraduate student at Harvard University. She is complex, seemingly regal, and of a character and sophistication that causes the men around her to experience both feelings of anxiety and mawkishness when in her presence. She is stunningly beautiful, and her beauty is compounded by the aloof, bourgeoise disposition she adopts when interacting with her fellow classmates. She is, as the narrator (Wiley) describes, a “trophy,” something to be admired with a dispassionate affection more than any deeper sentimentality.

However, it is Wiley’s desire to court Orra, and he eventually succeeds in convincing her to join him one night in his room for a night of passionate love making. Although both Orra and Wiley have a reasonable amount of sexual experience, they remain enigmatic to one another, both psychologically and as active bodies. Much the remainder of the story focuses on Wiley’s dual efforts to bring Orra to an orgasm while simultaneously penetrating her outward defensiveness. He believes that at any moment, at the slightest indication that he may begin to take more of a liking to Orra than she does of him, Orra could slip back into her habitual, inner-isolation, abandoning the passion that the two had been working towards throughout the night.

Over time, the two students maneuver over each other’s bodies and within one another’s personalities, and they inevitably fall in love. It becomes increasingly apparent that Orra is withholding her true aspirations for sexual gratification by claiming that she has in fact never had an orgasm, insisting that she tend to Wiley’s needs (such as fetching both of them breakfast the following morning), and maintaining an almost paternalistic attempt to satisfy her lover. Over time, Wiley becomes aware of her sexual reticence, and he begins to resent the seeming artificiality of their body-to-body contact. For him, it is almost as if any particular position that he might try in the moment, any movement or reciprocated sound that Orra may make, is a kind of window-dressing in anticipation of another love-making session that will take place in the next thirty minutes. The dishonesty becomes almost palpable to him.

However, over time, and due to his experience, Wiley is able to win Orra over. As they make love one final time, Orra sinks deeper and deeper into orgasmic sensations, and Wiley is able to bring her to climax. When they finish, Orra feels vindicated: she expresses the sentiment that “I always knew they were doing it wrong, I always knew there was nothing wrong with me!” This statement is a double indication both that Orra was never a bad love-maker, but simply had partners who were unable to fully satisfy a woman’s needs, and that she as a person was not freakish, not hopelessly alien, but rather capable of being loved and accepted. Wiley and Orra cry in one another’s arms upon recognition of their bond.