After his and Penny's first date, Leonard is in denial about what Penny's non-committal attitude toward a second date means. In reality and what Penny divulges to Sheldon in confidence is that her non-committal attitude is due to feeling intellectually inadequate, so much so that she even lied to Leonard about finishing community college. She is afraid that Leonard will ultimately get bored with her. The problem with Sheldon is that she told him this information before she vowed him to secrecy. Knowing that there is no way he can keep this secret from Leonard, Sheldon takes extreme measures to ensure that he keeps his promise to Penny. But these measures have a profound effect on both Howard and Raj, who may force Sheldon back to the situation of telling Leonard.