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The chubby girl sauntered over to it and worked the combination. When she opened it, Mrs. Allen made her stand back. There was a lit cigarette burning on the shelf.

"I don't know how that got in there," Clara Sue said, her eyes wide with what was obviously fake amazement.

"Oh, you don't, don't you?"

"I'm not smoking it. You can't say I'm smoking," Clara Sue protested haughtily.

Mrs. Allen lifted the burning cigarette out of the locker, holding it between her forefinger and thumb as though it were a cylinder of disease.

"Behold, girls," she said, "a cigarette that smokes itself."

There was some giggling. Clara Sue locked very uncomfortable.

"All right, everyone get dressed and quickly. Miss Cutler, you and I will have a talk about this later," she said, then pivoted and left the locker. The moment she was gone, Clara Sue came at me, her face red and bloated with anger.

"You stupid idiot!" she screamed. "Why did you tell her?"

"I thought it was a fire," I explained.

"Oh, brother. Who are you, Alice in Wonderland? Now you got me in trouble."

"I'm sorry, I . . ."

I looked around. All the girls were glaring at me. "I didn't mean it. Honest. I thought I was helping you."

"Helping?" She shook her head. "You helped me into trouble, that's what you did."

Everyone nodded and the group broke up so everyone could finish dressing. I looked to Louise, but even she turned away. Afterward, the girls were very standoffish in the gym. Every chance she got, Clara Sue glared hatefully at me. I tried to explain again, but she wasn't interested.

When Mrs. Allen blew the whistle to end the period and send us to the showers, I tried to get Louise's attention.

"You got her in trouble," was all she would say.

Here I was only an hour or so in a new school and already I had made enemies when all I wanted to do was make some new friends. As soon as I saw Clara Sue, I apologized again, making it sound as sincere as I could.

"It's all right," Clara Sue suddenly said. "I shouldn't have blamed you. I just lost my temper. It was my own fault."

"Really, I wouldn't have pointed out the smoke if I'd thought you were smoking. I don't tattletale."

"I believe you. Girls," she said to those nearest, "we shouldn't blame Dawn. That's your name, right? Dawn?"

"Uh-huh."

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"A brother," I said quickly.

"What's his name, Afternoon?" a tall beautiful girl with dark hair asked. Everyone laughed.

"We better get moving or we're going to be late for our next class," Clara Sue announced. It was easy to see that many of the girls looked up to her as a leader. I couldn't believe I'd had the bad luck to begin by getting her in trouble. Of all the girls to get in trouble, I thought, and breathed a sigh of relief, grateful for her forgiveness. I took off my gym uniform quickly and followed everyone to the showers. They were nice showers, clean stalls with flower-print shower curtains, and the water was warm, too.

"You better get a move on in there," I heard Mrs. Allen call.

I stepped out of the shower and wiped myself dry as quickly as I could. Then I wrapped the towel around my body and rushed to my locker. It was wide open. Had I forgotten to lock it? I wondered. I discovered the answer very quickly. Except for my shoes, all my clothes were gone.

"Where are my clothes?" I cried. I turned around.

All the girls were looking my way and smiling. Clara Sue was standing by the sink, brushing her hair. "Please. This isn't funny. Those are my best clothes."