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"He is Tatterton Toys," I said, surprising myself at how proud I sounded.

"I knew it," Carla Reeve chirped. "My mother knows him. We have three Tatterton collectibles."

"Really?"

"Is he as good-looking as Jennifer claims?" Marie asked, her eyes narrowing. She had a much more mature look than any of the others.

"He's very good-looking, otherwise my momma wouldn't have married him," I said, not meaning to sound as snobby as I did.

"My momma'?" Betsy said. Marie flashed a sharp look at her and she wiped the smirk off her face. Then she turned to me.

"You're lucky," she said. "You're sitting with the best group of girls in the junior high wing. We have our own special club. We stick together. I'm having a party in my room tonight after curfew. You can come."

"But what about the rules?"

"What about them? Don't tell me you believe the things the high priestess told you. She's fast asleep herself by nine o'clock and as far as Mrs. Thorndyke, our dorm mother, goes, you could explode a bomb at her door and she won't stop snoring."

Everyone laughed.

"Don't worry," Jennifer said. "I'll bring you with me."

I had just enough time to finish eating before the bell rang and I was off to my first class. School anywhere was more or less the same, I soon found out. Pages to read, questions to copy from the chalkboard. I didn't have as much to catch up on as I had feared I would. The teachers were nice about it, asking me to describe the classes I had had at my old school and then taking the time to show me what I should study and review. Because our classes were small, there was a great deal more individual attention than I had in the public school.

That evening, when Jennifer and I went to the cafeteria for dinner, there was a rose on the table at my seat. The girls were all chattering about it when we arrived.

"What's that?" Jennifer asked excitedly.

"It's for Leigh," Wendy said enviously.

"For me?" I looked at the card, which I was sure they had read already. It said, "Good luck, Tony." "It's from my stepfather," I explained.

"How thoughtful!" Jennifer exclaimed.

"How romantic," Marie said and gazed at me with a twinkle in her eye. "Why isn't your mother's name on it as well?" All the girls turned to me to hear my reply.

"I imagine he thought of it at the spur of the moment," I said. "And ordered it from his Boston office."

Marie smiled at the others and all of them, except Jennifer, giggled.

"Why is that funny?" No one said anything, but I saw them look at Marie.

"I would have thought he would sign it 'Daddy,"

" Marie said.

"But he's not my daddy. My father is not dead. My parents are divorced," I announced. I was glad Jennifer had not gossiped, but each of the girls stared at me with lips agape, as if I were an apparition straight from the cemetery of bad taste. All of them came from wealthy, upper-class families, families concerned about their lineage. Some had proof their ancestors came over on the Mayflower. Divorces weren't tolerated.

When Jennifer and I returned with our trays of food, we found the conversation at the table more subdued. I could see from the looks on the faces of the other girls that they had been discussing me. The warm greeting I had received at lunch chilled. The girls began to argue about what kind of makeup they liked the best. When I started to offer an opinion, no one but Jennifer seemed to be listening.

After dinner we were all supposed to begin our study hour. As the girls rose to leave, Marie leaned over to me.

"I'm canceling my party tonight," she said. "I forgot I have a science test tomorrow."

I just nodded and watched her join the others.

"She's not canceling her party," I told Jennifer. "They don't want to associate with me because my parents are divorced."

"Don't worry," Jennifer whispered as we started out after them, "they'll get over it."