Cutler 01 - Dawn

everything. Do you understand?"
    "Yes, ma'am," I said hoarsely, tears choking me. Coldly Mrs. Turnbell eyed me and shook her head.
    "Going around to class in a gym uniform," she muttered. "You march right out of here and go directly to the laundry and wait for your clothing to be washed and dried."
    "Yes, ma'am."
    "Go on. Get dressed and back to your classes as soon as possible," she commanded with a wave of her hand.
    I hurried out, wiping the tears away as I ran through the hallway and down to the laundry. When I put on my dress again, it was so wrinkled it looked like I had been sitting on it. But there was nothing I could do.
    I hurried up to make my English class. When I got there several students looked disappointed to see me in regular clothing again. Only Louise looked relieved. When our gazes met, she smiled and then looked away quickly. At least for now, my ordeal had ended.
     
    After English class, Louise caught up with me at the doorway.
    "I'm sorry they did that to you!" she cried. "I just want you to know I wasn't part of it."
    "Thank you."
    "I should have warned you right away about Clara Sue. For some reason most of the girls do what she tells them to."
    "If she did this, it was a very mean thing to do. I told her I was sorry."
    "Clara Sue always gets her way," Louise said. "Maybe she won't bother you anymore. Come on, I'll go with you to lunch."
    "Thank you," I said. A few other students said hello to me and smiled, but for the most part Louise was the only raft for me to cling to in unfamiliar waters.
    The cafeteria was fancier than any I'd ever seen. Here the seats and tables looked plush and comfortable. The walls were painted light blue, and the tiled floor was an off-white. The students picked up their trays and silverware at an area just before the serving counter and proceeded to the awaiting cashier.
    I saw Clara Sue Cutler sitting with some of the other girls from our gym class. They all laughed when they set eyes on me.
    "Let's sit over there," Louise said, indicating an empty table away from them.
    "Just a minute," I said and marched up to Clara Sue's table. The girls all turned in surprise.
    "Hi, Dawn," Clara Sue said, with a cat-who-has-eaten-the-canary look on her spiteful face. "Shouldn't you have ironed that?"
    Everyone laughed.
    "I don't know why you did this to me," I fired back in a hard voice as I eyed them all coldly. "But it was a terrible thing to do to someone, especially someone who has just entered your school."
    "Who told you I did?" she demanded.
    "No one told me. I know."
    The girls stared. Clara Sue's big blue eyes narrowed to slits and then widened with an apparent softness. "All right, Dawn," she said in a voice of amnesty. "I guess we broke you into Emerson Peabody. You're forgiven," she said with a queenly gesture. "In fact, you may sit here, if you like. You, too, Louise," she added.
    "Thank you," I said. I was determined to mend fences and not disrupt Mrs. Turnbell's precious little school. Louise and I took the two empty seats.
    "This is Linda Ann Brandise," Clara Sue said, indicating the taller girl with soft, dark brown hair and beautiful almond-shaped eyes. "And this is Margaret Ann Stanton, Diane Elaine Wilson, and Melissa Lee Norton."
    I nodded at all of them and wondered if I was the only girl in the school without a formal middle name.
    "Did you just move here?" Clara Sue asked. "You're not a sleep-over, I know."
    "Sleep-over?"
    "Students who stay in the dorms," Louise explained.
    "Oh. No, I live in Richmond. Do you sleep over, Louise?"
    "No, but Linda and Clara Sue do. I'm going to get my lunch," Louise declared and then pulled herself up. "Coming, Dawn?"
    "I just need to get a container of milk," I said, putting my lunch bag on the table.
    "What's that?" Louise asked.
    "My lunch. I have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich." I opened my purse and found my milk money.
    "You made your own lunch?" Clara Sue asked. "Why would you do that?"
    "It saves money."
    Louise stared at me, her watery, pale blue eyes blinking as she struggled to understand.
    "Saves money? Why do you want to save money? Did your parents cut off your allowance?" Linda inquired.
    "I don't have an allowance. Momma gives me money for milk, but other than that . . ."
    "Money for milk?" Linda laughed and looked at
    Clara Sue. "What does your father do, anyway?"
    "He works here. He's a maintenance supervisor."
    "Maintenance?" Linda gasped. "You mean . . . he's a janitor?" Her eyes widened when I