classroom?”
I was not sure.
“I think so.”
Mrs. Darby gestured to another girl about my age with white-blonde pulled back in a ponytail wearing an off-white Gunne Sax dress.
“Winnie,” she said, “this is Etoile. Etoile, this is Winnie Wickham who is in your class. Winnie, would you mind showing Etoile the way to Mrs. Spenser’s class?”
I remembered the girl’s name from the poster in the hall. She looked at me curiously for several seconds before breaking into a big smile.
“Come on,” she said taking off. I raced through the throng of children to try and keep up with her.
“What kind of name is that?” she asked me on the stairs.
“French.”
“I like it.”
“What kind of name is yours?”
“English. It’s really Winifred, but please don’t ever call me that or I’ll have to kill you.”
She looked dead serious, but then she broke out in a wide grin, tilted her hair back and laughed.
“In that case,” I said, “do not ever call me Toilette or I will have to kill you, too.”
She grabbed me by the arm and dragged me up the stairs. Mrs. Spenser introduced me to the class again. I glanced around the room and my eyes paused at the boy with the bright red hair from the doctor’s office, Dale Batchelder. He was chewing on a pencil eraser when our eyes met. Before I could look away, he took the pencil out of his mouth and snapped it in half.
***
School was very different here than in Cote Nouveau. Instead of the entire class sitting quietly and listening to Mrs. Gordon as she told us about things, Mrs. Spenser broke us into different groups and let us do a lot of work on our own. I was grateful that Winnie Wickham and I were in all of the same groups except for math.
My math group was with two other students, a shy girl with braces named Lisa, and Dale Batchelder. Dale scowled when Mrs. Spenser led me to his table. I could not imagine what I had done to him to make him dislike me so.
Mrs. Spenser came over and sat down with us to show us how to work some of the problems in our workbook. As she spoke, I could not help but study the creases of her hands again with the dark black lines running through them. I looked down at my own hands to see if the creases were a different color, but they were not.
“Etoile? Did you understand that?”
I stared at the problem for several seconds as I tried to make sense of it all.
“I think so.”
She laid her brown hand on my white arm and said, “Why don’t you try some problems on your own while I help the others?”
Without even realizing what I was doing, I took my other hand and placed my fingertips on her skin and traced the creases to see if the dark color felt any different. She did not pull away. I suddenly realized what I was doing and quickly withdrew my hands to my lap. As soon as Mrs. Spenser left, Dale Batchelder leaned forward and said, “Are you going to kiss her, too?”
My face flushed as the heat rose in my cheeks.
I could not wait for math to be over with and was grateful when we switched to reading. Winnie was in my group and we soon realized that we had both read many of the same books.
“I have read all of Anne of Green Gables ,” Winnie announced.
“I am starting them.”
“And Little House on the Prarie .”
“So have I,” I said.
“Which do you like better, the show or the books?”
“I used to like to watch the show at my Maman’s, but now I don’t think I’ll get to see it much.”
Winnie twisted her ponytail and looked at me.
“Why not?”
“Jean says TV does little to stimulate the mind.”
“Who’s Jean?”
“She is… my cousin’s friend.”
Winnie shook her head. “I really dig The Bionic Woman . Have you ever seen that?”
“No.”
“She has all these far out super powers. And, she’s the girlfriend of Steve Austin, The Six Million Dollar Man . She’s sort of like Wonder Woman, but different.”
Again I shook my head.
“You’ll have
I was not sure.
“I think so.”
Mrs. Darby gestured to another girl about my age with white-blonde pulled back in a ponytail wearing an off-white Gunne Sax dress.
“Winnie,” she said, “this is Etoile. Etoile, this is Winnie Wickham who is in your class. Winnie, would you mind showing Etoile the way to Mrs. Spenser’s class?”
I remembered the girl’s name from the poster in the hall. She looked at me curiously for several seconds before breaking into a big smile.
“Come on,” she said taking off. I raced through the throng of children to try and keep up with her.
“What kind of name is that?” she asked me on the stairs.
“French.”
“I like it.”
“What kind of name is yours?”
“English. It’s really Winifred, but please don’t ever call me that or I’ll have to kill you.”
She looked dead serious, but then she broke out in a wide grin, tilted her hair back and laughed.
“In that case,” I said, “do not ever call me Toilette or I will have to kill you, too.”
She grabbed me by the arm and dragged me up the stairs. Mrs. Spenser introduced me to the class again. I glanced around the room and my eyes paused at the boy with the bright red hair from the doctor’s office, Dale Batchelder. He was chewing on a pencil eraser when our eyes met. Before I could look away, he took the pencil out of his mouth and snapped it in half.
***
School was very different here than in Cote Nouveau. Instead of the entire class sitting quietly and listening to Mrs. Gordon as she told us about things, Mrs. Spenser broke us into different groups and let us do a lot of work on our own. I was grateful that Winnie Wickham and I were in all of the same groups except for math.
My math group was with two other students, a shy girl with braces named Lisa, and Dale Batchelder. Dale scowled when Mrs. Spenser led me to his table. I could not imagine what I had done to him to make him dislike me so.
Mrs. Spenser came over and sat down with us to show us how to work some of the problems in our workbook. As she spoke, I could not help but study the creases of her hands again with the dark black lines running through them. I looked down at my own hands to see if the creases were a different color, but they were not.
“Etoile? Did you understand that?”
I stared at the problem for several seconds as I tried to make sense of it all.
“I think so.”
She laid her brown hand on my white arm and said, “Why don’t you try some problems on your own while I help the others?”
Without even realizing what I was doing, I took my other hand and placed my fingertips on her skin and traced the creases to see if the dark color felt any different. She did not pull away. I suddenly realized what I was doing and quickly withdrew my hands to my lap. As soon as Mrs. Spenser left, Dale Batchelder leaned forward and said, “Are you going to kiss her, too?”
My face flushed as the heat rose in my cheeks.
I could not wait for math to be over with and was grateful when we switched to reading. Winnie was in my group and we soon realized that we had both read many of the same books.
“I have read all of Anne of Green Gables ,” Winnie announced.
“I am starting them.”
“And Little House on the Prarie .”
“So have I,” I said.
“Which do you like better, the show or the books?”
“I used to like to watch the show at my Maman’s, but now I don’t think I’ll get to see it much.”
Winnie twisted her ponytail and looked at me.
“Why not?”
“Jean says TV does little to stimulate the mind.”
“Who’s Jean?”
“She is… my cousin’s friend.”
Winnie shook her head. “I really dig The Bionic Woman . Have you ever seen that?”
“No.”
“She has all these far out super powers. And, she’s the girlfriend of Steve Austin, The Six Million Dollar Man . She’s sort of like Wonder Woman, but different.”
Again I shook my head.
“You’ll have
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