Dawn (Cutler 1)

"It's what he wants to do, even on a first date," she replied, her eyes big.

"What does he want to do?" I asked. She stepped back.

"What do you think?" She looked to the side to be sure no one could overhear. "He wants to go all the way."

"Did you go out with him?"

"No," she said, her eyes wide. "Never."

I shrugged.

"I don't think you should let people decide what you should and should not think about someone. You should decide for yourself. Besides, it's not fair to Philip," I added, his dazzling blue eyes still hovering in my thoughts.

Louise shook her head. "Don't say I didn't warn you," she advised.

"At least he didn't make me sit alone at lunch." My point, like an accurate arrow, hit the bull's eye.

"I'm sorry I left you . . . can we have lunch together tomorrow?" she asked.

"Probably," I said without sounding very definite about it. I was still feeling the scratches she and her catty friends had drawn across my heart. But that satisfied her enough to give me the benefit of another warning.

"If you think Clara Sue Cutler doesn't like you now, wait until she hears what Mr. Moore said."

"What do you mean?"

"She thinks she's going to sing the solo at the concert. She did last year," Louise said and punctured my balloon of happiness just as it was starting to inflate.

4

A KISS

At the end of the school day I met Jimmy in the lobby. He was very unhappy because his math teacher had said she thought he was so far behind, he might have to take the class over again.

"I warned you about missing all that school, Jimmy," I chastised softly.

"Who cares?" he replied, but I could see he was upset.

While we were talking, all the other students were hurrying out to catch buses or get into their cars. Those who slept in the dorms sauntered out slowly.

"All these rich kids got money to burn," Jimmy muttered, seeing some of them heading for their own cars. "Come on," he said, heading toward the stair-way. "Let's see how long we've got to wait for Daddy."

I followed Jimmy down to the basement where Daddy's office was. There was a workroom right next to Daddy's office, which wasn't a big office, but he did have a nice wooden desk and two chairs in it. There were shelves on the walls and a large, hanging light in a dark blue metal shade draped at the end of a wire and chain just over the desk.

Jimmy sat down behind Daddy's desk and slumped back in the seat. I brought the other chair closer and opened my textbooks to begin doing some of my homework. Thoughts about the day whirled confusingly through my brain, and when I looked up, I caught Jimmy staring at me.

"Did you ever find out who did that to you?' he asked.

"No, Jimmy," I lied. "Let's just forget about it. It was all a misunderstanding." I didn't want him getting into trouble on account of me.

"Misunderstanding?" He shook his head. "They're all snobs here. The girls are stuck up and the boys are jerks. All they talk about are their cars and their clothes and their record collections. How come that guy named Philip was sitting with you in the cafeteria?" he asked,

"Philip? He came over and asked if any of the seats were free," I said, making it sound like nothing, when all along I had thought it wonderful. "When he found out they all were, he sat down."

"Funny, how he got so friendly so fast." Jimmy's eyes grew small as his mind worked overtime.

"He's just being nice." I myself had been unsure about trusting Clara Sue's brother, but for some reason I had to defend Philip to Jimmy. Philip was the only friendly soul at this school so far. I thought of his full lips curving into a lopsided smile and his blue eyes holding my own gaze hypnotically as he'd asked me to ride in his car. Just remembering made me shiver a little.

"Now that I think about it, I don't trust him,"