"Why are you staring at me?" she demanded.

"I'm sorry," I replied, "I didn't mean to be rude. I've never seen a nun up close before."

The police put the thief in the back of the squad car and took our statements.

"Word to the wise," the first policeman told me, "It's not a good idea to tussle with bad guys. You could have gotten hurt."

"I didn't tussle," I told him, "I was just trying to keep from falling down."

The second policeman laughed, but the first silenced him with a look. Then he asked me, "What school do you go to?"

"BYHS," I replied.

"Huh?"

"Blessed Yvette's," I said in an undertone. He nodded.

Mom and Dad were quiet at dinner. I don't think they knew what to say.

Finally I said, "Can you see now that things really do just happen to me?"

Dad cleared his throat. "They never used to happen to you when you were a boy. Why is that?"

"I don't know."

"It's as if one day you stepped into a crazy teen-spy movie."

I laughed, but they didn't.

"It's unnerving," Dad said.

"It's frightening," Mom said.

"I don't look for it," I told them.

"Let's talk about something else," Dad said.

It was a nice dinner. After two glasses of champagne they began to relax and have a good time. I tried to keep my mouth shut, so they could talk and be all mushy with each other. It was kind of hard to watch, and — I couldn't help it, but I kept picturing the sleeping arrangements back at the apartment. They had given me the tiny bedroom (with its single bed), while they shared a queen-sized sofa-bed in the big room. I hoped (with a shudder) that the lovebirds could behave.

When we walked home afterward, they each took one of my arms. They said it was so I wouldn't fall down, but I know it was some sort of protectiveness. I felt like a prisoner, but I understood why they were doing it.

The next morning my alarm woke me at six. To my inner clock, it was three in the morning. "I can't believe it," I groaned to myself. I crawled out of bed, and made my way on hands and knees into the bathroom. Once the shower warmed up, I lay down and let the spray rain over me.

After probably twenty minutes the water woke me up... somewhat. Awake enough to wash my hair and get ready for my appointment. The reason I started so early is that we only have one bathroom, and I wanted to be absolutely sure I got all my stuff done in time, without a rush. I needed to make a good impression on this principal. If she was even half as bad as Mr. Bryant and Maisie told me, it was best to stay on her good side.

I took my time with my hair, and decided to wear no makeup or jewelry at all. While I was studying my reflection, Dad knocked on the door, so I left the bathroom to him. "All yours!" I announced.

"Your mother is still sleeping," he warned in a low, sleepy voice. "Good Lord, it's like a sauna in here!"

I put the uniform on again, this time adding a camisole under the blouse, so my bra wouldn't be so evident. Somehow the skirt looked even shorter today, though I knew it was impossible. I experimented with letting down the zipper so I could bring the hem down an inch, but it didn't work. The blouse isn't long, so it hung sloppily and showed a little skin (which is also against the dress code!). Plus, the skirt could easily fall down, since the zipper doesn't hold unless it's zipped all the way up.

There was nothing for it except to go with the non-dress-code, too-short skirt.

It seemed like a weird thematic destiny of mine.

Dad and I quietly ate breakfast together. Then he kissed his still-sleeping wife and left for work. At quarter to eight I woke her. I began to wish I'd woken her sooner! She was moving so slowly I was afraid she'd make us late.

"How long does it take to walk there from here, Mom?" I asked, as an indirect hint.

"I don't know," she replied in a lifeless tone.

"In the snow it might take a little longer," I added.

She stopped putting on her mascara to look at me. "We'll get there on time," she said.

"I just want to make a good impression!" I told her. "Maybe we should call a taxi?"

Mom stopped again and glared at me. I made the motion of zipping my lips. If I didn't talk to her, she wouldn't keep stopping.

We did make it on time, but just barely. When we got in the door of the school, I took my uniform shoes from a shoe bag and changed out of my boots into the shoes.

"Aren't you prepared?" Mom commented, in a tone of approval.

As soon as we entered the principal's outer office, the principal herself came to meet us. I almost laughed at first. Maisie should have warned me. Sister Honororia was tiny, like an elf, with small, round, wire-rimmed glasses. Her face had only a few wrinkles, but those wrinkles were deep and sharply defined. She was shorter than me, and she was in heels!

She wore the whole black outfit that nuns wear, the white bandeau across her forehead, the black veil, the black long-sleeved tunic, and the scapular, which is the long strip of cloth that rests on the shoulders, like a narrow poncho. I learned all those terms later on, and I also discovered that Honororia was the only one who wore them all. Most of the other nuns just wore simple dresses. They looked like ordinary women, except that their clothes were much plainer than an ordinary woman's.

"Why are you staring at me?" the nun demanded.

"I'm sorry," I replied, "I didn't mean to be rude. I've never seen a nun up close before."

"I assume you've never spoken to a nun before, either?"

"No."

"No, sister," she corrected. "You should address a nun as sister."

"Yes, sister," I replied.

Honororia walked around me, looking me up and down. When she returned to her original place, she asked, "Do you know why I asked you to wear your uniform today?"

"Perhaps you thought it would show my attitude, sister," I replied.

"And what attitude would I see?"

"You would see a willingness to comply, even if I am a little unprepared."

"In what way are you unprepared?"

"My skirt is an inch too short."

"If you knew it was too short, why did you wear it?"

"I only received it yesterday, sister. I'll make sure it's fixed before Monday."

"Do you know how to sew?"

"No, sister, but I can learn."

She was now standing very close to me, studying my face. "Good answers," she commented. "You should know, Marcella, that you have an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on your point of view. I already know all the other girls in the school, so I'll be able to devote more time to getting to know you. I'm interested to see whether you answer so well because you're clever or because you're good."

"Both, sister," I replied, "I could be both."

© 2007 by Kaleigh Way