Everyone's here,' Sister Margaret snapped. She still
had her hand on my shoulder and squeezed so hard, it
sent pain down my spine and through my legs. "I pretended to look around the cafeteria and
then I shook my head.
"'They're not here!' I cried. Tears were dripping
off my chin by now.
"She was fuming. I thought I could see the
smoke she hated so much coming out of her ears. "'Very well,' she said. 'Until your memory
improves, you'll eat lunch by yourself in my office
facing the blank wall every day.' She kept me there
for a week before telling me to return to the cafeteria.
The good thing was they never told my mother," I
said.
"How old were you when this all happened?"
Jade asked.
"I had just turned eleven. I was still in the fifth
grade."
"Girls were smoking in the fifth grade?" she
muttered.
"That's nothing. Kids in my school have been
smoking forever," Star added.
"Terrific. Maybe Cathy's mother is right.
Maybe the country is going to hell," Jade said. "You don't know anything about hell," Star told
her. "Your idea of hell is a bad hair
do"
"Is that so?"
"Girls. Aren't we getting a little off course?"
Doctor Marlowe softly suggested.
Jade threw a look at Star that could stop a
charging bull, but Star waved it off with a smug turn