The narrator recalls his life, comparing it with the road. He is trying to understand exactly where on his life's road that turn, behind which the beginning of the path hid. Mentally, he prepares for a conversation with his wife, sleepless nights, recalls details, details, builds from them a bridge to that fateful day.

The narrator met his future wife Nadia at the design office, where they both worked at that time. Nadia captivated him with her sense of humor and spontaneity.

“Sweet childish spontaneity ...” they say about such people. Nadina immediacy was never “sweet” - she was amazing.

The most prominent feature of Nadin's character was honesty. She immediately informed the narrator that she had a heart defect, and doctors forbid her from having children. From this day on, having a daughter became their main desire.

Despite the prohibitions of doctors, Nadia gave birth to a child. When the girl named Olya was born, Nadia wrote a note to her husband: “How could she deceive my and your expectations? Thanks her!". Now the narrator considers this phrase their first mistake.

Sixteen years have passed. Once Olenka went on a hike organized by the classy Evdokia Savelyevna, and her parents calmly waited for her at home. That Sunday morning, for the first time in many years, the narrator noticed that both he and Nadia had long since given up their hobbies. Now Olya has become the "center of the family, her face".

The narrator’s thoughts were interrupted by a doorbell. Evdokia Savelyevna stood on the threshold, Lucy and Borya timidly shifted behind her. The classroom said that Olya was gone, and the narrator hastened to blame her for everything.

Evdokia Savelyevna was 54 years old, but she seemed a woman without age. For inattention to her own appearance and a strange way of dressing, Olenka called her "crazy Evdokia." Following her began to call the classroom and parents.

Her character was of volcanic origin. She spoke loudly, now delighted, now indignant, now amazed.

Its main goal was to unite the 9th "B" class, "so that everyone would be together." In the class, she noticed and singled out the most inconspicuous, and Olenka, who studied modeling in an elite art school, the classroom practically did not notice.

The girl was annoyed by the desire of the mad Evdokia to bring mediocrity to the forefront, to organize meetings with her former students - cooks, plumbers, locksmiths, accountants. Olya's parents were sure that the classroom loves only average grayness and hates talent in any manifestation. Evdokia brought closer to her the most inconspicuous disciples, who after her "did not want to notice what was unusual for them."

Nadia felt sorry for the lonely Evdokia and asked her daughter not to go into conflict. She agreed, but at home she often quipped about the classroom and composed funny quatrains about her classmates.

The narrator remembered all this and decided that in the campaign Olenka was humiliated and insulted, the girl could not stand it, ran away and disappeared somewhere the whole night. The narrator also accused Lyusya Katushkina, who was once the best friend of Olenka, worshiped her talent, dragged a heavy folder with drawings and soap brushes. The narrator knew that Lusin’s mother was seriously ill, and her father loved another woman. Only Olga knew this secret in the class.

Their friendship ended on the day when a meeting with the famous artist was held at the art school. Olya promised to take Lucy to this meeting, but she never did. Olenka explained to her parents that there was no room in the hall. A little later, Lucy was "worked out" because of the deuces at a class meeting. Olya wanted to support her, but Lucy refused her help. Olina's parents decided that Lucy was too proud, and Evdokia began to patronize her and made her the head of the class.

Then I realized that Lucins resentment was just an excuse. She just decided to go in the general order ... And relate to Olenka "according to the system of Evdokia Savelyevna."

The narrator considered the act of Lucy a betrayal. Now Lucy was hiding behind Evdokia's broad back, and it seemed to the narrator that the girl was feeling guilty. Blamed the father of Olenka and Borya Antokhin, the tallest and most beautiful boy, not only in 9 "B", but throughout the school.

Instead of romantic adventures, Borya, terribly shy of his appearance, devoted himself to social activities and became "the main guide to the life of all the plans and ideas of Evdokia Savelyevna." The narrator believed that the classroom instructed Bora to involve Olenka in the life of the class, and he tried with might and main, caught the girl near the art school to take her to the next class event.

Like Evdokia, Borya tried to educate Olenka on the example of the best students of the classroom, most often setting her as Mitya Kalyagin. As a child, during the war, Mitya was not afraid to bring tools and medicine to his uncle for two wounded Red Army soldiers, whom he hid in his basement. Despite the high temperature, the boy managed to choose the shortest path and avoid meeting the enemy. Mitya Kalyagin Evdokia was most proud.

The campaign, during which Olenka disappeared, Evdokia decided to arrange "in the footsteps of fame" Mitya Kalyagin. Two ninth classes had to find that very shortcut. The winners were expected by surprise. Having reached the desired station, the guys settled down for the night, and after a few hours Olenka disappeared.

Entering the storyteller’s apartment, Evdokia Savelyevna started phoning the hospitals, called Mitya Kalyagin, and Nadia, meanwhile, walked from window to window and did not react to anything.

I was silent. Because no one in the world could comfort her voice. In addition to the voice of his daughter, if he sounded on the stairs, in the room, by telephone.

Evdokia Savelyevna needed photos of Olenka, and Borya immediately carefully pulled out five new pictures from his pocket. Lucy ran after Nadia with a vial of medicine and a glass of water in her hands. The narrator looked at this fuss and "was sure that they atone for guilt."

Mitya Kalyagin arrived, and Evdokia sent him along with Borey out of town to look for Olenka, and she herself “re-established a post near the telephone”. About forty minutes later they called from the police and asked to come, to identify ... Upon hearing this, Nadia was numb and dropped to the floor, repeating: "I don’t recognize her ...".

And then a door slammed in the hallway, and Olenka's cheerful voice rang out. From the threshold, she began to tell how she outwitted everyone and was the first to find a short road to Mitya's uncle. Olenka brought a bouquet of daisies and a prize - a photograph of a young Evdokia who hid the cured soldiers.

Only a few minutes later, Olenka noticed what condition Nadia was in - she again did not react to anything and did not even understand that her daughter had returned home. Uncle Mitin arrived, who turned out to be a neurologist. Having examined Nadia, he advised to consult a psychiatrist.

Together, they took Nadia to a psychiatric clinic. On the way back, Evdokia Savelyevna accused herself of what had happened - it was she who raised the commotion. The narrator also tried to justify his daughter, mentioned the quarrel between Olya and Lucy, and Boris’s bad attitude towards her. Here Evdokia Semyonovna could not stand it, and the narrator had to look at the behavior of her daughter from the other side.

It turned out that Olya didn’t even think about taking Lucy to a meeting with the artist. Entering the hall, the girl simply forgot about her best friend. Lyusya stood on the street, heard through Olenka's glittering voice and couldn’t even leave - she had in her hands a heavy folder with Olya’s drawings. Evdokia believed that Olya did this on purpose. Lucy loved Olya, and she decided that "love takes away pride and pride from people."And at the class meeting, Lyusya rejected Olenka’s help not at all because of pride, just Olya, during the whole class, hinted at the difficult family circumstances of her friend, tried to “carelessly, with one hand” to clear her misfortune.

Living only by yourself is half the trouble ... It is much worse than living only by yourself, affecting others' destinies as well.

Olya was always preoccupied only with herself; she had no time to delve into other people's feelings. She did not want to notice the love of Boris Antokhin - it was not without reason that the boy turned out to have so many Olya pictures. The narrator was always glad that Olya had not fallen in love with anyone yet, but now he thought that her love was enough only for herself. The narrator tried to present his daughter’s last act as a protest against loneliness in the class, but Evdokia Savelyevna sharply objected: “Anyone who wants to be the first at all costs is doomed to loneliness.”

Evdokia was not against the talented and gifted, she only wanted humanity to be attached to talent. This is what she tried to teach 9 “B” by arranging meetings with her former students, each of whom had the gift of humanity. In what happened, Evdokia blamed more than one Olya. All those who surrounded the girl and could not instill this gift in her were to blame. She undertook to support Olenka, because without support, "this burden will prove excessive for her."

On the way to the house in which she and Olya will now live alone, the narrator began to rethink his life and look for a moment where he and Nadia made a mistake for the first time.