Xandra is pressured into sabotaging her academic record: she deliberately tanks a mock test after someone reminds her "time to pay up." Robert praises her public performance and later demands a reward for making him look good. He arranges a meeting at Greenville Park that night. There Xandra grows suddenly feverish and disoriented; she freezes and, instead of speaking, whispers "Just kiss me." Robert kisses her, she apologizes and admits these weeks were the happiest of her life. Robert then warns that once the exams end, "this dream ends too," leaving the fallout and his demand unresolved.