In Sweet Apple, Ohio, all the teenagers are catching up on the latest gossip about 15-year-old Kim MacAfee and Hugo Peabody going steady ("The Telephone Hour"). Kim reflects on how happy she is with her maturity, believing at 15 she has fully reached adulthood ("How Lovely to Be a Woman"). She quits the Conrad Birdie fan club over the phone because of the new milestone happening in her life. Her best friend Ursula is shocked. Kim reconsiders when, after a lengthy phone conversation with Ursula, she receives the phone call telling her that she has been chosen to be Birdie's last kiss before going into the armed forces.