Chapter 20

The next morning Tom and I walked to school together. He had calmed down about yesterday. He had thought it through and short of physically attacking Bill, he couldn’t have stopped him.

He probably couldn’t have even done that because Bill would have been in Tom’s car and gone by the time he got outside. He was able to reconcile that he had no way to stop the tragedy or even know it was coming.

We didn’t see Eleanor on the way to school. I hoped she was alright.

In homeroom it was announced again there would be no school on Thursday. Steve Hamilton’s viewing would be at Kennedy Funeral Home and Bill’s at Eicholtzs. They were only a few blocks apart on Main Street, so I would walk from one to the other.

While the school atmosphere was still on the somber side it wasn’t as shocked as yesterday. Some of Steves and Bill’s better friends were wearing black armbands. I wondered where they came from. It wasn’t anything you could buy at J C Penny.

I soon found out when I saw a freshman with a box of black armbands, selling them for ten cents each. I appreciated the sentiment but was repelled by the commercialism. It takes all types I guess. I didn’t buy one.

Classes went on as normal. I did hear a lot of kids planning for their day off on Thursday. The funeral homes would only take a little while. I heard Delong’s Record Music shop for records, Don’s for hamburgers and The Holland Theater for a matinee for Elvis’s new movie, “King Creole.”

Actually, Don’s and the movie sounded good. Maybe a stop at Buchenroths, Huber or Wolfeins to see if I could find some more new shirts that fit me. This growth was an expensive business.

At least Sue Barton would speak to me again before Algebra. We didn’t have anything specific to say. We talked about what there was to do on Thursday, but no hint of doing it together. That suited me just fine.

The more of this boyfriend, girlfriend stuff I saw the more it scared me. The progression was scary. First casual dates, then official friends, then going steady which as far as I could see was a practice engagement; next the real engagement then a wedding.

I’m only fifteen for goodness sake. I think casual dates with a little bit of necking will do me for now. Well maybe a lot of necking, but nothing serious. Well maybe a little more fun stuff, but nothing serious about it. Heck, I don’t know! I’m only fifteen.

I also had one of my many letters from Judy. This one got to the point very quickly. She had met this boy. They were dating, more than occasionally, but not going steady yet. She wanted me to know. She would still like to write as pen pals, but that was it. I had to think about that for a while.

I came to the conclusion that it didn’t matter. We never could go on dates, only write so we already penned pals. That sounded good, but for some reason, it still hurt. Only earlier today I was thinking I didn’t want a girlfriend. I was now getting what I wanted and I didn’t like it. Things can be so confusing.

Spanish was fun as usual. Mrs. Hernandez had brought newspapers from Cuba. Actually, a friend in Miami had bought them at a local newsstand and mailed them to her. We would take turns trying to read an article she had selected.

Halfway through the lesson, I realized that Mary would be reading Spanish before she learned to read English!

I worked harder with the typewriter at the keying lessons. I was getting better at striking the right keys without having to look, but I had a long way to go.