Cutler 02 - Secrets of the Morning

pass even a store window without stopping to gaze at herself.
    "Anyway, this young lady pursued a young man, a rather handsome, debonair young man, until she persuaded him to take her to dinner and then a ride through Central Park, which she hoped would be very romantic. It wasn't and in fact, when he brought her home at the end of the evening, he simply shook her hand and said good night. Not even a quick, good night kiss," Agnes emphasized.
    "Well, my conceited friend was quite upset, as you might imagine. She hurried up to her room to cry into her pillow, but when she stopped to look at herself in the mirror in the hallway, as she always did, what do you think she saw? A piece of spinach stuck right between her two front teeth!" Agnes clapped her hands together and laughed. Trisha looked at me and raised her eyes. I turned toward Arthur who nearly smiled. His lips trembled and he shook his head.
    I offered to help Trisha clear the table, but Agnes repeated how we each had to take our own turn. She practically ordered me to follow her into the sitting room so she could show me her scrapbook.
    "Of course, Arthur can come along, too, if he likes," she said and Arthur uttered his first words of the evening.
    "Thank you, but I have to finish my math homework so I can practice," he said, twisting his mouth on the word, "practice," as if it were a profanity. Arthur stole a last glance at me, and shot off. He couldn't be more shy if he were a turtle, I thought.
    It turned out that Agnes didn't have only one scrapbook; she had five and all full to the last page. She had saved every single word ever written about her, even reports and notes written by her grade school teachers. Sentences were underlined, especially ones like "Agnes shows a dramatic tendency."
    "Here's a picture of me at the age of two dancing on the veranda."
    The picture was so old and faded, it was impossible to make out her little face, but I smiled and said it was remarkable. Agnes had things to say about each and every scrap in the scrapbooks. We had only gone through a book and a half when Trisha returned from her kitchen chores to rescue me.
    "It's time for me to do my English homework," Trisha announced from the doorway. "I thought I would show Dawn what we have done so far so it will be easier for her to catch up."
    "Oh, of course," Agnes said.
    "Thank you," I said, getting up. I shot a look of gratitude toward Trisha and backed away from the sofa.
    When Trisha and I reached the stairs, we rushed up, both of us swallowing our giggles until we closed our bedroom door.
    "I know what that's like," Trisha said. "She tortured me with it the first few nights I arrived. Of course, I was trapped," she added. "I had no one to save me like I saved you.
    "I wonder what's caused this new insanity about signing in and out?" Trisha said. "Agnes was never like that with us before."
    "It's all my fault," I said.
    "Your fault? You mean because you weren't here to be introduced to Arthur. No, I think . . ."
    "It's because my grandmother wrote a letter about me to Agnes and told her some horrible things. Agnes told me I'm already on probation."
    "Probation? Agnes said that? How odd. She rarely enforces any of the rules or cares. Most of the time, she can't recall them herself. But why did your own grandmother do such a thing?" Trisha asked.
    Before I could reply, there was a knock on the door and then Agnes poked her head in.
    "There's a phone call for Dawn," she said.
    "A phone call?" I looked at Trisha.
    "I forgot to tell you that we don't permit phone calls after seven o'clock at night, unless it's a dire emergency or it has something to do with the school. Since this call is long distance, I made an exception and said I would get you," Agnes said. "You can take it in the sitting room."
    "Is it my mother?" I asked getting out my bathrobe slowly.
    "No. It's someone called Jimmy," she said.
    "Jimmy!" I hurried past her and bounced down the steps to the sitting room to scoop up the receiver. "Jimmy!"
    "Hi, Dawn. How are you? I hope I didn't get you in trouble by calling this late. The lady who answered sounded upset."
    "No, it's all right. How are you?"
    "I'm great. I've got some big news to tell you and since I've got to leave tomorrow, I thought I'd better try to phone."
    "Leave tomorrow? Where are you going?"
    "I've enlisted in the army, Dawn. I'm going to boot camp tomorrow," he said firmly.
    "The army! But what about school?"
    "The recruiting officer explained