Answer:
Jess didn't see Leslie Burke again except from a distance until the first day of school, the
following Tuesday, when Mr. Turner brought her down to Mrs. Myers' fifth-grade class at
Lark Creek Elementary.
Leslie was still dressed in the faded cutoffs and the blue undershirt. She had sneakers on
her feet but no socks. Surprise swooshed up from the class like steam from a released radiator
cap. They were all sitting there primly dressed in their spring Sunday best. Even Jess wore his
one pair of corduroys and an ironed shirt.
The reaction didn't seem to bother her. She stood there in front, her eyes saying, "OK,
friends, here I am," in answer to their open-mouthed stares while Mrs. Myers fluttered about
trying to figure where to put the extra desk. The room was a small basement one, and five
rows of six desks already filled it more than comfortably.
"Thirty-one," Mrs. Myers kept mumbling over her double chin, "Thirty-one. No one else
has more than twenty-nine." She finally decided to put the desk up against the side wall near
the front. "Just there for now, uh, Leslie. It's the best we can do for now. This is a very
crowded classroom." She swung a pointed glance at Mr. Turner's retreating (disappearing) form (shape).
Leslie waited quietly until the seventh-grade boy who'd been sent down with the extra
desk scraped it into position hard against the radiator and under the first window. Without
making any noise, she pulled it a few inches forward from the radiator and settled herself into
it. Then she turned once more to gaze at the rest of the class.
Thirty pairs of eyes were suddenly focused on desktop scratches. Jess ran his forefinger
around the heart with two pairs of initials, BR + SK, trying to figure out whose desk he had
inherited (received or gotten money from someone who is a relative or a friend who died). Probably Sally Koch's. Girls did more of the heart stuff in fifth grade than boys.
Besides BR must be Billy Rudd, and Billy was known to favor Myrna Hauser last spring.
Have a Nice Day : ) .