Marina Kazantseva is a third-year student. A romantic girl who read Dumas and Mayne Reid novels while growing up, Marina is in love with her sport's teacher Konstantin Pavlovich, however, while Konstantin is aware of her feelings, he does not take them seriously. Meanwhile her classmate, Varia blames Marina for her abusive childhood and is planning her revenge. Fifteen years ago, Marina's father, Boris had an affair with Varia's mother, Lyudmila. When Boris's wife, Yekaterina discovered the affair, she returned her husband to the family after creating a very public scandal. Yekaterina then used her position as District Public Education Department Inspector to make sure that her husband's mistress was refused employment from every educational institution in town.

Aleksey Temnikov is a renowned ballet dancer and an acknowledged genius whose career was abruptly cut short after sustaining an injury in the 1990s. Twenty years later, Aleksey discovers that his condition is degenerative and that he will soon lose the ability to walk. Aleksey sets out to choreograph a ballet he envisaged long before but never staged for fear of failure. “What will I leave behind after I am gone?” is a question Aleksey feels he must contend with. However, returning to the world of ballet will not be easy for a man who has made so many enemies over the course of his life.