Cutler 04 - Midnight Whispers

last day of school. Mommy's afraid of what Jefferson's report card will look like."
    "Mine wasn't too good at his age either," Gavin said. "Anyway, I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your party and, especially, our private dance."
    "Me too," I said. "Thanks again for the wonderful gift."
    We were both silent for a moment.
    "I'll write you every day this week," I promised. He laughed. "I will."
    "Great. Well, I'd better hang up. I can't wait to see you again," he said. "Sleep tight and don't let the bedbugs bite."
    "Good night, Gavin." I held the phone in my hand for a long moment after he had cradled his receiver. It was as though mine still contained his voice, still promised the warmth it had brought. "Good night," I whispered into it again and then hung it up.
    I looked down at the copy of Lady Chatterley s Lover and thought about Aunt Fern giving it to me. She didn't do it because she wanted me to learn about love and how it could be warm and wonderful; she wanted to tease me. She probably hoped I would become like her.
    Well I would never become like her, I vowed. I took her present and shoved it into the rear of my closet. Someday I might read it again, I thought, but not as forbidden fruit, not as something evil from Aunt Fern.
    I crawled into bed and closed my eyes and fell asleep dreaming of the upcoming summer and Gavin's return.
     
    Jefferson wasn't as eager to get up the next morning, knowing we were going to school to get our end-of-the-year report cards. Mommy had to shake him out of bed and he tried to take forever to eat his breakfast. From the look on his face, I assumed his teacher had already indicated some of the bad things that would be put on his report card.
    Unless there was some conflict with guests arriving or going, Julius took all of us to school in the hotel limousine. He always picked us up and brought us home.
    As usual Richard and Melanie wore the same color, he in a jacket, slacks and tie and she in a dress. He was the only seventh grader who went to public school dressed so formally, but I couldn't imagine him dressing any other way. Today, the last day of class, he looked even more prim and proper with his hair brushed and slicked down neatly, his tie knotted even tighter, his shoes polished perfectly, and the handkerchief in his top pocket creased so sharply into a point, it looked like it could be used as a knife.
    Today, Jefferson was unusually subdued when he finally crawled into the back seat with me and sat across from Richard and Melanie.
    "Couldn't you be ready even on the last day?" Richard asked dryly.
    "We've never been late for school, Richard," I replied just as dryly.
    "Only because Julius drives faster. The school bus children always get there before we do," he added as if that were something terrible.
    "And I never have enough time to talk to my friends before homeroom," Melanie added to bolster Richard's complaint.
    "Well, today's the last day of the school year, so you won't have to put up with it again until next fall," I told her.
    "Jefferson probably will still be in the same class." Richard said, a cruel smile on his face. Jefferson looked up sharply.
    "No, I won't," he snapped.
    Melanie's smile widened.
    Jefferson frowned and looked up at me. I closed my eyes and opened them to signal he shouldn't argue, and he sat back and pouted the rest of the way.
    All the chatter at school was about my party. My classmates had really enjoyed themselves. Pauline couldn't wait to ask me about Gavin and tell me how good-looking she and most of the other girls thought he was.
    We had an abbreviated school day, the purpose of which was to conduct the end-of-the-year activities: returning books and locker keys, straightening and cleaning out desks and lockers, returning overdue library books and settling other school debts, as well as getting some preliminary information about the beginning of the next school year.
    Naturally, there was a great deal of excitement in the air as everyone talked about the coming of summer, the places some of them would go to and the things they would do. The school corridors were filled with laughter and chatter, even the teachers happy and less severe about the rules.
    Finally, the last bell rang and we all charged out into the warm, late spring sunshine. There were cheers and screams and shouts of good-bye as friends who wouldn't see each other for a few months parted. I spotted Jefferson walking slowly from the elementary school, his head