South Paris High School - Chronicle Yearbook (South Paris, ME)

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THE CHRONICLE 31 ered a coke to drink while she was wait- ing for the clerk to put up the ice cream. As she sat there, sipping her coke, her thoughts just drifted. Something made her want to glance up. In the shiny, clean mirror over the fountain she no- ticed a dark, good-looking boy staring at her. She had noticed him when she had entered the store. His dark, wavy hair was mussed, and his open shirt collar added to his dashing appearance. Janet smiled back at him in the mir- ror, and he turned and said, Hi! You're new in town aren't you? She replied that she was, and the con- versation went on from there. She learned that his name was Dick Flyn and that he too was a senior in high school. As she got up to leave, he stopped her and to her amazement asked, How's about going to a party with me tonight? The gang is having a party out to the lake. I haven't a date, and it would be a swell chance for you to meet the gang. Will you go ? Janet was so surprised at the sudden invitation that she hardly had time to think before she replied, Yes, I'd like to go with you. She explained where she lived: the time was set and she started home with a much lighter step than had carried her down town. Janet took extra pains in dressing that evening. Her new green beach suit and skirt heightened the green tints of her eyes, and her creamy white com- plexion was surrounded by a mass of curls, part of which was confined by a white scarf. She was ready when Dick called for her. She introduced him to her parents who agreed that he seemed like a nice boy. It's about five miles out to the lake, Dick explained as they drove along. You'll have a swell time. It's mostly high school kids in our crowd and we have some wonderful parties! Janet grew more excited by the mo- ment. She could hardly wait to reach the lake, for it would be the beginning of a new world for her. A big bonfire was burning on the beach and there were already about eight couples grouped around it. Some were singing while one of the fellows strummed on an old uke. Others were talking and fooling. Janet was intro- duced to the crowd, and they seemed to accept and welcome her. Soon some- one suggested that they go swimming. The girls all dashed up to the camp to change into their bathing suits and for about an hour they splashed about in the warm lake. A cool breeze came up, and the girls went to change back into their clothes. When Janet returned to the beach, she noticed Dick was much absorbed in one of the other girls. Janet remembered her name was Ellen and spoke to her. She dropped down beside him, but he didn't even notice her. She started talking about what a good time she was having and how glad she was that she had come but he didn't pay any atten- tion to her. Janet tried to gain his at- tention again and then gave up. In a few minutes by mutual consent Dick and Ellen got up and walked away. Janet noticed that everyone's eyes were on her, and she had never felt so hurt and humiliated before. Tears sprang to her eyes and she got up and started stumb- ling toward the camp. One of the girls named Dotty caught up with her and took her by the arm. I'm sorry this had to happen tonight,

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30 THE CHRONICLE into a knot. I tried to get up, but my legs wouldn't move! I smelled the same strange odor that I had noticed on the book, but it was coming from the hall. I looked around for the book and it was gone! Then I saw it in the fireplace on the fire. It was not burn- ing! Everything went black, and the next thing I knew mother was laughing be- side me. She said I had fallen asleep. I realized that it was only a dream. The book I had been reading was beside me. I opened it. The edges of the book were burned, and the pages were blank! I still wonder . . . B. Crooker, '54 l l..- . America. Progressive mills and crystal lakes, Huge cities and nestled villages, Wide prairies and snow-capped U l'YlOl1Ilt8lI'lS, Happy people and crowded forests. Progressive mills with machinery and gear, I l k Crysta a es, blue and clear, Huge cities, noisy and tall, Nestled villages, quiet and small, Wide prairies, flat nd old H 3 . Snow-capped mountains, worn out and old, Happy people, some lanky and lean, Crowded forests, sweet smelling and green: America. N. Block, '54 NEW GIRL IN TOWN Why oh why, did we have to move to this horrid town. Janet threw her- self on her pretty pink spread and wept. She was so lonely here, and it was only the beginning of the summer. Perhaps if school had started, she would have met some young people of her own age who would have made friends with her. She thought back to her happy, carefree life in Middleton. There had been par- ties, dances, clambakesg and she had had so much fun. Most of all, there were her friends, but they were two hundred miles away, and for Janet the world had never been bluer. The family had moved there three weeks before, and she still didn't know anyone in town. After a while the tears subsided, and a cheery voice from downstairs inter- rupted her thoughts, Janet dear, will you please go down to the drugstore and get some ice cream for supper? Well, at least it is something to do! Janet sighed. I might as well take a stroll downtown. Maybe I'll trip over someone and we'll get acquainted and- Oh, what's the use! She went to the mirror. Her eyes' were a bit red, but a little cold water would remedy that. She ran a comb through her hair and dabbed some powder on her now shiny nose. Oh, what does it matter how I look, she thought furiously. No one will notice me anyway. On the way downtown Janet looked about the quiet streets. It was really a pleasant looking towng neat houses lined the streets and spreading shade trees bordered well-cared-for lawns. Sometimes it almost seemed like Middle-V ton to her. Two houses down the street from hers, she noticed a slim, blonde girl just entering the house. She reminded her of her best pal, Bunny. and Janet felt another twinge of loneliness. She entered the drug store and ord-

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32 THE CHRONICLE Janet. That is one of Dick's tricks- coming with one girl and picking anoth- er to take home. I was hoping he would be satisfied to stay with you to- night. He is the most conceited imbe- cile in town! He does it to satisfy his ego that he can have his pick. Tears were streaming down Janet's face by now. To think that she had been fool enough to come with him. Now he had made a bigger fool of her in front of the crowd. How could she ever face them again. They probably would never accept her as one of them now. Oh, why did she ever come? One of the parents who were chap- eroning the party came in to find out what the matter was. Dotty explained and they understandingly left the two girls alone. Please stop crying, Jan, Dotty begged. Come out and join the crowd with me. Oh, Dotty, I never can face them again, wailed Janet. I want to go home. They'll laugh and laugh at me and I can't bear it. Of course you can and you're going to, Dotty replied firmly. Now come and dry your tears and let's go out and join the others. When the girls rejoined the group, they gathered around and sang for a while. Janet was watching some of the horseplay of the clowns of the crowd when a quiet blond boy sat down beside her. She recognized him immediately. He was Alan, Ellen's date. He laughed at the two, mimicing characters in a re- cent movie. Those two are good, aren't they? he said. Yes, they are, Janet answered. She felt a little stiff and didn't know just what to say, but she soon found Alan was easy to talk to and the con- versation fiowed easily. She soon found she was telling him all about herself, that they had moved to Newbrook three weeks before and how homesick she had been for her old friends. When it was time to go home, she wasn't surprised when Alan asked her to go home with him. She was really pleased that he had asked her. He wasn't exciting like Dick, but she was glad. That night she thought as she climbed into bed that the evening couldn't have turned out better. She had found two new, wonderfully special friends: Dotty, who lived only two houses away and Alan, with whom she had a date for next week. C. Stone, '53 PAST WINTERS It was snowing hard, and the ther- mometer was hovering at zero when I stepped into the barber shop to get warm. In the chair next to the stove sat an old bald headed man, who looked to be all of eighty years old. His plump body, pug nose, and cauliflower ears would give you the impression of a one time wrestler. As he looked out the window with his dark green beady eyes and chewed briskly on a mouth full of tobac- co, he stroked his long white beard and nonchalantly ejected a stream of tobac- co juice across the room into a highly polished silver cuspidor. He was un- doubtedly possessor of expert marks- manship. One of his fantastic tales still lingers in my memory: