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"No problem. It's only a few minutes from here. Is it a date? I'll meet you in the lobby just after the bell rings."

"I don't know."

"We'd better start for class," he said, taking my books in his arms. "Come on, I'll walk you."

As the two of us walked side by side down the corridor, we turned a number of heads. His friends all smiled and said hello to me. At my homeroom doorway he handed me my books.

"So?" he asked.

/> "I don't know. I'll see," I said. He laughed and shook his head.

"I'm not asking you to marry me. Not yet anyway," he added. My heart fluttered and I felt as though Philip had been able to read my every thought. I hadn't been able to stop myself from making up stories—my own private fairy tale—before I fell asleep last night. I had imagined handsome Philip Cutler and me becoming the ideal couple, pledging undying love for each other, and becoming engaged. We would live in his hotel, and I would bring Momma and Daddy and Fern, and even Jimmy would come eventually because Philip would make him a manager or something. At the end of my fantasy Philip forced Clara Sue to be a chambermaid.

"I'll be after you all day," he promised and went off to his own class. His blue eyes seemed so sincere. This couldn't be a joke, I thought. Please, don't let it be a trick.

When I turned to enter homeroom, I saw the looks of surprise on the faces of some of the girls who had obviously seen me with Philip. Louise's eyes were as round as half-dollars and I could see that she couldn't wait to ask me questions.

"He wants me to go for a ride with him after school," I told her finally. "Do you think his sister put him up to it?" I asked, fishing for some clues.

"His sister? Hardly. She's mad at him for even talking to you."

"Then maybe I'll go," I murmured dreamily.

"Don't do it," she warned, but I could see the excitement in her own eyes.

Every time I passed from one class to the next, Philip was waving and asking, "Well?" Just after I sat down in my math class, he popped his head in the door and looked at me, raising his eyebrows, questioning. I could only laugh. He disappeared quickly when the teacher turned toward him.

The only sour incident occurred when I found Clara Sue waiting for me at the doorway to my next class. Linda was standing beside her.

"I heard that Mr. Moore is considering you for the solo at the concert," she said, her eyes small and watchful.

"So?" My heart was pounding.

"He's considering me, too."

"That's nice. Good luck," I said and started into the room, but she grabbed my shoulder and spun me around.

"Don't think you can come here and take over everything, you little charity case!" she cried.

"I'm not a charity case!"

Clara Sue inspected me from head to toe, releasing a disdainful sniff. "Stop deluding yourself, Dawn. You don't belong here. You're an outsider. You're not one of us. You never have been and you never will. You're just poor white trash from the wrong side of the tracks. Everyone in school knows that."

"Yeah," Linda threw in. "You're nothing but poor white trash."

"Don't you dare say such things to me!" I protested angrily, fighting back the tears I could feel forming in the corners of my eyes.

"Why not?" Clara Sue asked. "They're true. Can't bear to hear the truth, Dawn? Well, it's about time you did. Who do you think you're fooling with your wide-eyed 'Miss Innocence' act?" she sneered. "If you think my brother is interested in you, you're nuts."

"Philip likes me. He does!" I declared.

Clara Sue raised an eyebrow. "I'll bet he does." There was an undertone to her words . . . an undertone I didn't like. "What are you talking about?" "My brother loves girls like you. He turns girls like you into mothers once a month."

Linda laughed loudly.

"Really?" I pushed my way to Clara Sue. "Well, I’ll just tell Philip you said so." My words wiped away Clara Sue's smile, and for an instant she looked panicked. Without giving her a chance to retaliate, I left Clara Sue and her hateful words.

Philip did sit with me and Jimmy at lunch and spent a lot of time convincing Jimmy he should join the intramural basketball program. Jimmy was reluctant, but I could see that reluctance chipping away. I knew he liked basketball.