Chapter 2
Joanie started towards Kate’s house. Though, she hadn’t been there in years she could have walked the two blocks blind folded. As she walked, she took the time to look over her old neighborhood. She was surprised at how little the city had changed. It felt like she was just here yesterday. There were a couple of people out raking up a few errant leaves, which held on longer than the rest. Children darted about enjoying their day off before they have to return to school again.
The air was crisp, yet, you could still detect a faint scent of exhaust, from the nearby factories, with their billowing smokestacks. If you looked in the right direction, you could see them puffing away around the clock. Her father had worked in a factory like that before he was fired for drinking on the job. Joanie turned away in disgust and shook her head, trying to clear her mind of the past.
Kate lived on a block of brick one-story houses. The houses were small and set close together, but Joanie still envied not having to climb all those stairs. Her steps quickened as Kate’s house came into view. She took the porch steps in one leap and knocked on the door.
“Come in!” She heard Kate yell, and she pushed open the door. Kate was a little taller and slimmer than Joanie. Kate’s hair was jet black and hung to her mid back. It complimented her olive complexion beautifully.
Kate came out of the bathroom, to see who was there. A trace of toothpaste was still on her chin. Kate screamed and took just enough time to swipe her chin with her sleeve before grabbing Joanie in a bear hug. The two girls jubilantly hugged each other and jumped up and down in excitement.
“Gosh you look wonderful!” Kate said stepping back and looking over her friend. “You must have had boys swarming all over you in Virginia.”
Joanie shook her head ruefully. “You know I went to an all-girl school. The only time we saw any boys were at dances.”
“That must have been boring! ‘Course there are some boys I’d prefer not to be around.” Kate said thoughtfully.
“Not Marc Johnson I bet.” Joanie said mentioning one of her brother’s friends whom Kate had a crush on since the third grade.
Kate blushed changing the subject quickly. “Come on. Let’s go to my room!” She grabbed Joanie's arm and dragged her into the small back room.
Kate’s room was a mess. As usual, clothes were thrown about, and Joanie swept a load off of the bed and onto the floor as she sat down. Kate sat down next to her.
“I have missed you so much! I was so happy when your mom called me yesterday and said you were coming home. I can’t believe it!”
“I know I can hardly believe it myself! I’m still afraid that I might be dreaming.”
“Alright now that your here spill it!”
“Spill what?” Joanie asked, pretending to be ignorant.
“Oh come on. You’re just shipped home out of the blue. What happened?”
Joanie smiles mischievously, “I was expelled.”
“Expelled?! What did you do?”
“Nothing! Well almost nothing. Last Thursday after classes I headed to my room to change before I went over to the stables. Well Martha, you know my roommate, and her friends were outside the dorm in a huddle. I should have known that something was up; they straightened up when I came by. They were actually nice to me for once.”
“Anyhow, I came back from the stables and got ready for dinner. Everything was OK until lights out. Martha said she was going to the bathroom and never came back. Curious, I looked out the window and saw some girls sneaking off towards the woods. I thought about following them, to see what they were up to, but I didn’t. I heard them whispering about me before, so I knew they were up to something awful as usual. So I decided to cover my butt. Martha was taken off of the swim team last semester because of her grades. So I took her scarf with her initials on it and snuck over to the school’s kitchen. I grabbed some of those jumbo cans of tomato sauce and dumped them into the pool. It was fantastic! They had to cancel the biggest match of the year!”
