Betty Lee, Senior

by Harriet Pyne Grove

  CHAPTER VII

  SENIORS!

  Could it be possible that the short summer was over? The Lee family hadexchanged news and experiences and made ready for a busy school year.Dick, whose new name for the family was the "Foxy Five," had changedmost of all since his summer at camp. All at once Dick seemed to havegrown up and to be as old as his twin, who had shown an earliermaturity. He was rather heady and important upon his first arrival, buthad calmed down somewhat by the time of school's opening. He and Dorisrather took the house, to use their father's expression, and regaledtheir parents with stories of camp life. They took a mild interest inBetty's trips and spent some time together in arguing over camp matters,or comparing notes on canoeing, swimming and the like.

  And now here they all were, in the same old scramble to get to school ontime.

  "It seems to me," said Mr. Lee, "that Betty might be more simply dressedfor school."

  He and Mrs. Lee were standing before the wide window of their front roomto watch Betty, Doris and Dick start to school. Amy Lou's active littlefigure had already disappeared around the corner as she hurried off tothe grade school, near enough to be reached by walking. There Amy Louwould be in the advanced class and felt very old indeed.

  The September morning was quite warm. Both girls wore cool, light frocksand had taken great pains with their toilets; and Betty, as Doris hadtold her, did not look as "schoolish" as usual.

  The three were talking and laughing as they swung their books and walkedwith light, rapid steps toward the usual corner, where they would catchthe street car. Mr. Lee sometimes drove them to school; but this morninghe was working out something at home before going to his office. Bettycarried a new, shining brown brief-case. Doris had a gay bag. Dick swunghis books from a strap.

  In spite of Mr. Lee's critical remark, the paternal eyes that followedthe three were fond and smiling. Mrs. Lee laughed a little, as shelinked her arm in that of her husband and smiled up at him. "Betty is alittle more dressed up than usual, Father, I will admit. But there isthe first auditorium session this morning and Betty for the first timewill sit in the senior section!"

  "Ah!--I understand. No further explanation is necessary."

  "She can be a senior only once in this big school," reflectively addedBetty's mother. "I hope the child will have a happy year."

  "And not kill herself with all she wants to do," finished Mr. Lee, "butI insist on the honor roll."

  "Betty's pride will keep her on that. We've talked things over, Bettyand I; but by this time we have found out that there is no way ofsettling things beforehand. I'm not going to waste any time or energy inworry."

  "Good!" laughingly returned Mr. Lee. "See that you keep to thatresolution. Doris is going to be more of a handful than Betty, for shehas great ideas sometimes and is more impulsive--ready to try anythingnew. And Dick--I shall have to be a good father this year and keep aneye upon what companions he has, any new ones. Perhaps I can get out tosome of the athletic events with him. I understand he's going to try toget on some team or other."

  "Is that so?" queried Mrs. Lee, rather dismayed. "Get us an extra supplyof liniment then!"

  Meanwhile, Amy Lou had reached her school and her young friends. Theother three were on a crowded street car, full of high school pupils,sitting and standing. Ignorant of their parents' plans for oversight,they were naturally and properly filled with anticipations of the day ormaking their own plans for the interesting program of events andactivities that lay ahead.

  Betty was not a little excited and happy over her new dignity as asenior. Had she entered upon it unprepared, she might have beenconfused. But three years in the large and well-organized high school ofwhich she was so proud and to which she was so loyal, had made herentirely at home there. Now their classes had the opportunity to leadand give tone to affairs. In some respects they must show what theycould do. This morning, taking their places in the large, central seniorsection was the source of some thrills indeed. And boys and girls whohad successfully passed through the first three years of high school hadsome reason to be proud. Senior complacency is another thing; but lifehas a great way of taking that out of all of us.

  This morning, as the crowds of young people filled the doors and swarmedup the aisles of the assembly hall, Carolyn, who was ahead in Betty'ssmall group of friends, deliberately stepped back at the row of seatstoward the front that was vacant, and gently pushed Betty in first."This is all right for this morning, isn't it?" she asked Kathryn, whowas next. "We want to hear everything."

  Betty gasped a little, for she knew that if she went in first she wouldhave to sit next to some boy coming in from the right hand aisle. It wasunderstood that the boys had the right half of the senior section; thegirls, the left. But the girls were pushing into the seats behind her,so with no choice she obeyed Carolyn. Gwen was there, too, and Kathrynwas sending her in after Carolyn. It had happened, and Gwen was aconditional senior in Lyon High.

  "You clever old skeezicks!--making me go in first!" Betty paused alittle to say this in Carolyn's ear.

  But Carolyn only grinned, then had the grace to change expression as shesaid, "Betty, I'm sorry! Look who's coming."

  Betty looked, glanced back at the crowd of girls following and sat downin a seat not quite midway, only to hop up again as she saw that thewhole row must be filled. "Oh, it's all right, Caro'. I'll not mind."

  Nonchalant, as nattily dressed as ever, Ted Dorrance had appeared in hismost effective suit, better looking than ever. Jack Huxley came towardBetty, stopped in the exact middle of the row and looked down at herfrom a somewhat superior height.

  "'Lo, Betty," said he in friendly fashion.

  "Hello, Jack," she responded. She sat down, tucked her books under theseat and rose again to wait till the principal was ready to lead in thesalute to the flag, with which every assembly session began.

  Carolyn, repentant, began to talk to her, but Gwen was asking questionson the other side of Carolyn. They were early. The room was not yetfull.

  "Have a good vacation, Betty?" asked Jack.

  "Ever so nice," replied Betty.

  "You didn't know that I saw you, did you in the East?"

  "No--where?" Betty looked up wonderingly. It was pleasant to have Jackrather friendly, but the memory of that experience at his birthday partyand of her necessary frankness to him about it later was not a happyone. And for him it had doubtless been more annoying. Well, she couldn'thelp it.

  "I was with a party at an inn on a little Maine lake. We were justleaving when you drove up. I knew some of your girls, but only theDorrances and Larry Waite of the boys."

  "Oh--yes--I remember. But I didn't see you at all. Of course I wasn'tlooking for any one that I knew. I didn't look at you and not speak, didI?"

  "No. One of the boys was out and snapping a picture of you all in thecar."

  "Oh, that was Archie Penrose! Funniest thing--we met the Penroses on theway East. I was with the Gwynnes, motoring. We all got acquainted, ofcourse, and they said they were thinking of moving here. Then we weretogether in a lot of fun in Maine; Kathryn and I motored to Boston withthem, and I never knew at all that Mr. Penrose was considering goinginto the same firm my father's in, not until I was home and Father askedme 'who are these Penroses you talk about? There's a man by that name inthe firm now!'"

  "Probably Penrose was undecided and not talking about it," Jacksuggested.

  "That was it--so Father supposed. And Father was awfully busy in NewYork, too full of his own affairs to listen to my babblings. Andprobably I didn't babble to him much, either."

  Betty was babbling now and knew it. She had always tried to be asfriendly to Jack in public as would ordinarily be natural.

  Some thought of the sort seemed to occur to Jack. All at once he benttoward her and said, "You're a peach, Betty Lee. I've forgiven you." Hesaid it with a laugh and turned to speak to the boy standing on hisother side.

  Betty sighed with relief
and turned to Carolyn; but a hush fell over theassembly and all eyes were on the principal and the flag.

  Busy, pushing hours followed. After all, there was something good aboutbeing at work. You were getting somewhere and there wasn't any timegoing to waste!

  After school some of the girls were playing hockey and a number were atthe tennis court. There, tired after games, a group of the reunitedseniors were gathered. On a grassy elevation, heels dug into the slightincline, Betty, Carolyn and Mary Emma Howland were recovering breathfrom their last effort.

  "One thing," Mary Emma was saying, "about playing hockey with seniors isthat they know how to play by this time and you're not in danger ofhaving some girl swing her stick over her head and give you a sideswipe!"

  That amused Carolyn Gwynne. "Did I ever hit you when I was a freshman,Mary Emma?"

  "Never, Carolyn. _You_ don't get excited when you're learning anything.Who beat at tennis?"

  "Betty beat, you might know," laughed Carolyn, looking at her recentopponent. "But I don't care. I can play tennis all right and Ioccasionally beat even Betty."

  Betty was too pre-occupied just now to do more than give Carolyn asmiling look. The two girls understood each other.

  Kathryn Allen now strolled up with Gwen Penrose and Betty hopped up,saying that she forgot to tell Gwen to save a certain date for"something doing." And as Betty moved toward the girls, near at hand,Mary Emma said softly to Carolyn, "Remember, Carolyn, that we simplymust have Betty as President of the G. A. A. this year. I've got to talkto you about it. Mathilde has something started already about it andthere is another girl that would like to be it."

  "Mathilde! Why, she couldn't do it any more than a--rabbit!"

  "Mathilde has some following, Carolyn, and she is a sorority girl. Idoubt if Mathilde could get it herself, but she might fix it up so Bettycouldn't divide the vote and--you know--get a 'second best' girl in tokeep Betty out, even if she couldn't get it for herself."

  "Does she dislike Betty that much?"

  "She has always been jealous of her."

  "By the way, does anybody know whether Lucia Coletti is coming back ornot? Betty hadn't heard at last accounts."

  "Well, Betty would be the first one. I wish she would come back. She andPeggy Pollard have a good deal of influence with the sorority girls. Isometimes think Betty should have gone in. She had the chance, I know,with the Kappa Upsilons."

  Carolyn did not reply to this, and Betty was turning back with thegirls, who selected a grassy seat and dropped down to join theirfriends. "Can you realize it, girls?" queried Kathryn. "We're actuallyseniors at last!"

  "Let's have a club," suggested Betty. "I was thinking about that justbefore you and Gwen came up."

  "Another club?" asked Carolyn. "Seems to me Lyon High needs mostanything more than any new organization."

  "I didn't mean a big club. I mean a little club of our own, not asorority and not exactly secret; but just to get together sometimes, forfun and to plan things if we want to."

  "A secret caucus!"

  "That's it, Kathryn," laughed Betty, who had no such intention at all."We could have it a hiking club or a swimming club or even a literaryclub--for collateral reading."

  "Now wouldn't _that_ be wonderful!" cried Carolyn, as sarcastically asgenerous Carolyn ever could manage. Betty giggled.

  "Think of the time we'd save, reading together," suggested Mary Emma, inpretended sincerity.

  "No," urged Betty, "but here we are together this year for the last,maybe. Carolyn's going East to school, Mary Emma's folks may move toCalifornia, I don't know _what_ I'm going to do, and anyhow we've thisgrand senior year together. Besides, what's the matter with taking abook along if we go on a picnic together and having--_Carolyn_, who isso _so enthusiastic_ about the literary idea--read us some famous poem,or whatever they give us this year? Somebody think up a name for it,though if you all don't want it, I'm too lazy to urge it."

  "I think that the Hiking Hoodlums or some pretty name like that would beleast revealing of our real object," giggled Mary Emma.

  "Lovely," assented Betty. "We can consider that suggestion. By theway--I ought to get home before too late. I called up Mother at noonabout something very important--a change in my schedule, and she told methat a letter from Lucia had come and was 'waiting for me!' I hope it isto tell me that she's coming back to Lyon High, don't you!"

  The assent was general and emphatic. "I was just talking to Carolynabout Lucia," said Mary Emma. "Do call us all up and tell us the newsafter you have read it."

  "I will if I have time," promised Betty. "Come on, seniors. Let's makeup a senior song of our own and sing it on the first hike of the HappyHoodlums."

  "Oh, Betty!" cried Carolyn. "You wouldn't really have such a name for aclub, would you?"

  "Unless you promise to read poetry to us," threatened Betty.

  "I don't know which would be worse," laughed Carolyn.

  In high spirits the senior girls separated; but Mary Emma caught up withBetty before they left the grounds. "By the way, Betty," said she,"wasn't it terribly dramatic and wasn't Ramon Balinsky simply _thrilled_to find out that his mother and sister were living?"

  It was all Betty could do not to show her surprise and a certain dismayat this speech from Mary Emma. "Gwendolyn Penrose told me _all about it_this noon at lunch," Mary Emma added.

  "Why no, Mary Emma," said Betty. "You would expect it to be dramatic, Iknow. But you see Ramon was so nearly dead when the boys told him,partly to rouse him, Ted said; and when he finally took it in, he was byhimself, I suppose, though the boys would never make a big story of itanyhow. But you must be careful, Mary Emma, not to tell about it,because Ramon had to go after that man, he said, and they might worry ifthey knew. So we're not telling his mother and sister yet, because heasked us not to."

  "I think that's all nonsense," said Mary Emma, "but I won't tell anyhow.I promised Gwen I wouldn't. And isn't Gwen Penrose an addition to theclass and our crowd! Everybody that meets her likes her so far."

  "Gwen is nice, Mary Emma, and you must meet her brothers. One is a realartist already. They're just getting settled now. And what do you think?We may move, the first of the month to a whole house instead of anapartment. Father and Mother are looking, to decide now. It is aterrible undertaking, but it will be wonderful to have more room. If wedo, I'm going to have a party first thing!"

  But Betty wondered, on her way home, how in the world, with all thepeople knowing about it that did, "the facts were to be kept from Mrs.Sevilla and Ramona Rose." That was what Ramon had called his sister,Betty remembered.