High school English teacher Gayle Richardson finds out that her husband is cheating on her with one of her students. She murders both him and his mistress in an outburst of rage, sets their house on fire, and flees into the night. One year later, Gayle has moved to another town and takes a job as a substitute English teacher at another high school under the assumed name Laura Ellington. One of the students, named Josh Wyatt, becomes infatuated with "Laura" and on her first day, he gives her a ride back to her motel room where she seduces him, but discards him the following day.