Jean and Johnny Read Online Free PDF Page B

rooting section or ask me to dance Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines in the variety show.”
    â€œI would like to be more…a part of things at school. And to have a boy like me,” said Jean, reaching for another peanut.
    â€œThe trouble with us is that we are the salt-of-the-earth type,” said Elaine gloomily. “The type that gets married someday and makes some man a good wife.”
    Jean laughed at her friend’s gloom. “I don’t think that is such a terrible fate.”
    â€œWell, you know,” said Elaine vaguely. “Dishpans, mops…”
    â€œDiapers, budgets,” added Jean, thinking that all these things were part of the life she wanted for herself. That was one reason why she was struggling to learn to sew. Still, she understood what Elaine meant. They were girls whom no one would ever expect to dance a ballet, fly an airplane, run for Congress.
    â€œThe only thing wrong with us,” said Elaine, summing up the situation, “is that we are a couple of late bloomers.”
    And so, on the day school started after Christmas vacation, Jean, with her bangs cut short and without her glasses, got off the bus with Elaine, walked up the blurry steps, and entered a fuzzy school building.
    â€œCome on, let’s go upstairs,” whispered Elaine. “If he’s a senior, his locker is up there, and if we walk along sort of casually we might see him.”
    Jean hung back. “Oh, Elaine,” she protested, without much conviction. “If I did see him I think I would die .”
    â€œNo, you wouldn’t,” said Elaine, taking Jean by the arm. “Come on. We don’t have much time.”
    Jean allowed herself to be led up the steps to the crowded corridor on the second floor. “Now act as if we were really going someplace,” directed Elaine, “and pretend you aren’t looking for anyone.”
    Jean laughed nervously. “I don’t have to pretend. I can’t see very far.”
    Timidly the two girls patrolled the length of the corridor.
    â€œCome on, let’s go back,” said Elaine when they had reached the end. “He must be up here someplace.”
    Jean knew it was useless to protest in the face ofElaine’s determination. And she did not really want to protest, because she wanted to see that boy again. Halfway down the length of the hall, not far from the trophy case, Elaine suddenly clutched her arm. “There he is!” she whispered.
    Jean’s nearsighted eyes swept the faces around her. “Where?” she asked.
    â€œPretend you aren’t looking,” advised Elaine.
    â€œI’m not,” said Jean. “I can’t.”
    â€œOver there against the lockers,” whispered Elaine. “In the green plaid shirt.”
    The plaid shirt emerged from the blur and above it a face, a good-looking face that Jean had seen before and that she now felt too timid to look at for more than an instant. Blushing, she quickly looked away.
    Elaine, still clutching Jean’s arm, giggled nervously, and the two girls hurried to the stairs, where they ran down the steps to the first floor.
    Jean put on her glasses and found it a relief to be once more in a world with clear-cut edges. “Do you think he saw me?” she asked anxiously.
    â€œI don’t know, I think so,” said Elaine, with her nervous giggle. Then she sighed. “He’s so good-looking in that plaid shirt.”
    â€œI don’t care,” said Jean. “I’m going to pretend Inever saw him before in my life. If he did see me and remember me, he didn’t bother to speak. I am just going to forget the whole thing.”
    Jean did not forget, however, and she found that with careful timing she could make her path cross that of the boy several times a day. Each time she snatched off her glasses just before they met, looked straight ahead, and wished she could control the blush that rushed to her