give a girl much choice—one big rat or a lot of little ones."

"I'll give you no choice at all. I'll teach you to play tricks on me! Hurry up and change."

"One of the girls keeps a semi-formal in her locker. I can borrow it and we could go dancing."

"I don't dance. Never learned. Couldn't we just talk?"

"We could, but we won't; you'll never learn any younger. You seem light enough on your feet. Come on, it'll be fun!"

"Tonight I can do anything! You take too long to change, and I'll tear the building down brick by brick with my bare hands, hear me?"

"No, please don't! I'll hurry, I promise!"

He waited impatiently at the door of the locker room. Now that he knew how to talk to a girl, he wanted to talk, and talk, and talk some more. He planned extravagant things to say when she came out, but when she appeared, smiling, he was struck dumb. She took his arm and they half ran, half skipped out of the building to his car.

THE END