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Show 78 Karl had forgotten that from the front row, his every sound would be audible to the teacher, his every move visible. Still, it was worth it. After lunch, Miss Petrov would come back to teach literature. Kathleen was waiting to walk home with him at lunchtime. Since they had to walk a mile and a half to their house, eat, walk a mile and a half back to school, and have it all done in the space of an hour and ten minutes, they moved quickly. The sun was hot overhead. Karl felt his underarms grow damp as he hurried across the vacant lots they cut through to save time. At home, he'd have to sprinkle talcum powder under his arms so he wouldn't smell disagreeable all afternoon, seated as close as he'd be to Miss Petrov. "What did you think of Miss Petrov?" Kathleen asked, as though she'd read Karl's mind. "Isn't she peaches and creamy? It's so nice to have a young teacher for a change, after all those old biddies in our school. The kids all liked her, even though she's kind of... different...in some ways. It's a good thing the kids like her, because the teachers are going to give her trouble." "What kind of trouble?" Karl asked. "Oh, I was in the principal's office this morning before school started, getting some pencils for Professor Dowling, and I heard Miss Croft and Mr. Barney talking about her. They didn't know I was there, or else they wouldn't have said what they did." Kathleen paused, waiting for a reaction from Karl. "Well, go on. What did they say?" "Miss Croft said, 'How did a Hun...' I could tell she was going to say 'Hunky', Karl, but she caught herself and changed it to |
