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it. Anyway, thanks for the plate.” I nodded a more polite dismissal to her.
    She didn’t deserve my anger.
    * * * *
    Months passed, but things only got worse with Grace. On the walks home from school, I stayed as far back from her as possible. She tried to start conversation as if she hadn’t somehow poisoned my food and my mind, then violated my body. Unsure how else to handle her or the situation and keep any sense of self-respect, I ignored her attempts.
    Annabeth spoke to me on occasion, but I kept her at a distance too. I didn’t know how to talk to girls anymore, except Mama. I just became a bundle of nervousness. So I didn’t bother, or if I did, I messed up the conversation.
    I admired Annabeth.
    After months of walking a distance behind her and her sister, I compared the two girls, just by watching their interactions with people.
    They were night and day.
    I sometimes wondered how Annabeth had come from the same family. She was kind to others, always putting them first, loved animals, and became more beautiful as each day passed. Why hadn’t Annabeth been the one to speak to me first? Why hadn’t she wanted to become acquainted?
    Ahh. It didn’t matter. Even if Annabeth had been interested and we had been from the same social circle, at some point, I might have had to pick up and leave in the middle of the night, so making attachments wasn’t a good idea, anyway.
    She always walked with girls who turned off through the woods to go home. Her brown hair shone in the sunlight, and with a carefree bounce, she clutched her speller and chalkboard.
    From behind me, Drew Cobb, with his blond hair slicked back and his finely pressed clothes, slapped the back of my head and ran on past. He caught up with Annabeth.
    I figured he’d head for one of the girls beside her or even Grace. But he didn’t. He slid right in beside the most pure person I knew.
    Annabeth stiffened at his closeness at first, but it wasn’t long before she politely exchanged conversation with Drew.
    I wasn’t very fond of him, but I didn’t hate him, either. He just wasn’t the type I would be caught fishing or doing anything else with really.
    Drew was from a prominent family in the town. Socially, he would be a good match for any of the town girls, but he wasn’t the most respectful person I knew. And that was putting it lightly.
    His conversation was tasteless when the lady folk weren’t around.
    As the parson would have put it, he was foul-mouthed and flesh-driven.
    Drew leaned in and whispered something to Annabeth.
    A deep blush rose from her neck and brightened her cheeks, but she smiled at him.
    Her smile was too bright to be wasted on him.
    Didn’t she see the way he talked up all the girls at school?
    I walked a little faster.
    Drew Cobb was not going to get fresh with Annabeth Rollins.
    “So I hear you’re going to college.” Drew nudged her playfully.
    A few of the girls turned off the path, and two of the younger ones up ahead kicked up dust as they giggled.
    Annabeth smiled after the girls. “I’m going to try. Men don’t see the value of women researching alongside them, but one day, I’ll be a doctor.”
    Huh. I hadn’t seen that one coming.
    “Talk like that is bold coming from a woman. She has her place.” His fingers twitched beside him as he moved nearer to Annabeth. The closer he got, the more my skin crawled.
    Passing Grace, I closed the gap between us by three more feet.
    “I feel a woman should be held higher than she is in society, but I’m in no way contending that a woman is better than a man or that she can do the things a man can physically. Intellectually, she can contribute just as much to the research of medicine.” Annabeth held her head high.
    That a girl.
    Drew stared off into the woods as if she were a babbling loon. “Women are to run a household and bear children.”
    “Ah, we see things differently there.” She gripped her speller and sped up a bit.
    “So, you still want to have