short brown hair cut in a pixie. The blonde had narrow blue eyes, and the pixie’s eyes were large and brown. The two girls differed in every feature, but they moved together as if they were one girl. “All right, class, get your Think and Do books and work on pages twenty to twenty-five,” said Mrs. Murray. The two girls still looked at Nancy. The “Marsha said, teacher and Gloria, start work.” your Nancy denoted something in the teacher’s voice that sounded as if she’d said the same thing many times before. pixie The blonde pony tail flipped around and immediately after, the 4 looked to the front, also. Nancy stuck her hand under her desk top trying to feel a workbook. flat glob. She slid her fingers along the cold slick aluminum and felt a moistsaw a pink She pulled her hand away quickly. She looked in her desk and her skirt. mass. Nancy wiped her hand on the wooden desk top then on little. She a her sickened gum bubble chewed freshly of smell sweet The had heard giggling and looked on the next row. The two girls the teacher Nancy looked called Marsha and Gloria were looking at her with sly smiles. She realat her desk and rubbed her sticky hand along the wood grain. she did. ized the girls had put the gum in her desk hoping she’d do just what but she They started to whisper and she strained to hear what they at in California. didn’t look up. One of the girls said, “My Aunt Louise lives . She’s very rich. I wonder if that Nancy knows her.” “T don’t know,” said the other girl. She paused. Davis say that she was president of her class?” “Ya,” said the other voice. “She must’ve had ‘Did you hear Mr. a lot of friends.” “Via,” said the other, “Marsha! Nancy heard the teacher’s voice from the front of the room. and Nancy Turn around and get to work!” Her voice sounded threatening, through the looked at the girls. Their notebooks fluttered as they flipped pages. Nancy was glad that the principal had mentioned her being president me betof her class, even though it had embarrased her. “Maybe they'll like | thought. she ter now,” on his She looked around the classroom and saw everyone scratching ll die workbook with pencils. She realized she had to have a workbook. to walk if I have to walk up there and get one,” she thought. I’ll have heads past those two snobs.” She looked at the two girls. They had their work to bent down with their noses close to their workbooks and seemed diligently. “There’s something different about those two,” she thought. “They haven’t She squeaked out the word.in a voice that didn’t sound at all like her own. “Well, why didn’t you tell me, Nancy? I have one right here for you.” Nancy looked up the row next to her. The large brown eyes of the pixie and the narrow blue ones of the pony tail seemed to criticize her for not speaking up to the teacher. _ She looked at her desk top. Heavy shoes clomped down the aisle, and in a moment Mrs. Murray stood by her desk, holding out a workbook and a pencil. “I thought I had put a workbook in your desk this morning, Nancy,” said Mrs. Murray, “but I must have forgotten.” Her sweet perfume permeated the air. Nancy took the book and pencil from the thick fingered hands. “Now, turn to pages twenty bo twenty-five and do as much as you can until 11:30. That’s recess time. Then bring it up to my desk. Id like to see what kind of work you can do.” Nancy looked up at her teacher’s smile and her tenseness eased a little. “O.K.?” asked Mrs. Murray. “O.K.” said Nancy softly. Mrs. Murray’s smile broadened, and she turned and waddled back up the aisle. Nancy flipped through the pages of the book until she found page twenty. Black heavy letters Spelled out “WORD EXERCISE” at the top. She moved her eyes, without moving her head, and looked at the two girls up the row next to her. The blonde girl leaned forward in her seat as the pixie, who had turned around to face her, whispered something. Nancy tried to hear, but she couldn’t. The blonde girl nodded, and they both looked around at Nancy. The pony tail flipped back, and the two girls giggled softly. Then the pixie turned and they both picked up their pencils and started writing. Nancy looked back at her workbook at blurred letters. She raised her hand slowly and wiped the wetness from her eyes before it could drop onto the page. She thought, “I hate this stupid town. Everyone looks at me and talks about me as if I were some kind of monster. I wish I was back in California. I hate those two snobs.” She swallowed hard and looked up to the blackboard at the front of the room. She saw a clock above it and looked at the time. It was 11:25. Her eyes widened as she realized she only had five minutes to work on the exercise. She read the directions and started working as fast as she could. She had completed a full page when she heard a sharp ring. She put her pencil down and looked up. Rustling and clicking noises filled the room as the children put away their work materials. Voices buzzed and feet shuifled towards the door. Little girls gathered in groups of five or six as they She hates them. I hate them! Well, they’re not looking at me, now.” | looked around the room. “Nobody’s looking, now.” She slid the top of her legs slowly over her chair until her red shoes looktouched the floor on the aisle. A round-faced boy who sat next to her Nancy ed up from his work and criticized her movement with his eyes. the corlooked back at her desk top. She saw the boy look down again out of stood she if her at look would class whole the if as felt She eye. her of ner up. She scooted her legs back under her desk. “Nancy,” said Mrs. Murray. Nancy looked up to the front at her plump gray-haired teacher. “Is there a Think and Do workbook in your desk?” Heads bobbed around and thousands of little eyes stared at her. “No.” waited for the small crowd to move through the door. Nancy grasped her workbook and stood up by her desk. “What am I going to do for recess?” she thought. “I can’t go out on that playground all by myself. I quess I'll just sit in the room.” _ She looked up to the front of the room and saw the blonde girl and the pixie side by side. They stood separate from the other groups of girls and talked softly to each other as they looked down the aisle at Nancy. Her face grew hot again and she looked at her red shoes. She walked slowly towards the front, then over to Mrs. Murray’s desk. Mrs. Murray smiled at her as Nancy looked wp. She handed the workbook to her teacher and said, “T, I only got one page done.” “That’s just fine, Nancy. Now, you may do what you like for recess.” She turned around to walk back to her seat. The room was empty except for five girls who walked up to her. She didn’t recognize any of them. 28 29 talked to anyone but each other ever since I’ve been in here. I bet everyone