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Meanwhile on the playground A group of girls were playing jump rope when Ellen; a girl that was always playing jokes and telling fibs to everyone, walked over to another girl named Joanna, who was quietly reading under a tree.
“Whatcha reading?” Ellen asked.
“A book my mother brought me last weekend.”
“Lemme see it!” Ellen said as she went to grab the book.
“No! Ellen stop!” Ellen pulled one end and Joanna held on to the other.
“Let me see it!” They both kept pulling until the book tore and they both fell back. Joanna stared at her dismantled book and tears started to fall from down her face. “Why did you do that?!”
“What is going on here?” Tina asked with a stern voice.
“She started it!” Ellen said quickly.
“No I didn’t!” Joanna said while crying. “She tried to take my book and then it ripped!”
Tina put her arm around Joanna trying to console her. “Ellen is true?”
“No! I didn’t do anything!” Ellen said defensively.
“Yes she did, I saw her…we all did” said Helen, another student at the academy. Ellen shot at look of anger straight at her when she said that.
“Ellen, your behavior is getting a old…it’s time to start acting your age…I want you to go back to your room and stay there until you are told to come out.”
“What?!” Ellen shouted.
“Now! Do not argue with me.”
The little girl stomped off with her arms folded; Tina sighed, because this wasn’t the first time she had to deal with Ellen.

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After dinner was over; the girls had some free time to get ready for bed and chat with their friends in their rooms. While they were upstairs Bette, Tina, and Teresa sat in the kitchen cleaning up the dinner dishes.
Teresa sat their slowly drying the cups, not keeping up with Tina’s pace.
“Aunt Teresa why don’t you go to bed…at this rate we’ll be here until breakfast…”
“Christina I told you I—“this time it was Bette who cut her off.
“You don’t like dirty work, we know.”
Teresa tossed her towel on the table and went off to bed.
“Bette I’m sorry, as soon as we can afford it I’ll be sending her back to the city.”
“It’s alright Tee, I think I can stand it for a little while longer, besides I think we’ll be having a few more students join us next term and we will be able to send her away!”
They both laughed as they finished up with the dishes. Bette looked at the clock on the wall and realized it was the girl’s bedtime.
“Should I go, or do you want to?” Bette asked.
“You go, I can finish up here.” Tina smiled.
“Oh yes, make me the bad guy who makes them go to bed when they’re having fun”. Bette joked. “After they go to bed do you want to take our usual walk?”
“Sure.” Tina said cheerfully. Bette hurried upstairs to get the girls to sleep while Tina moved onto the plates.
Tina enjoyed their walks together after the girls went to sleep. There wasn’t a time she didn’t enjoy being with her best friend whom she had known since they were seventeen.
Tina lost herself in her thoughts and didn’t even realize when Christopher walked in the back door. When Tina turned as saw him she jumped and almost dropped a plate.
“Christopher! You scared me…what are you doing here? I thought you worked on Sundays.”
“Sorry Tina, I thought you heard me come in. I switched shifts with my friend…where’s Bette?”
“She’s putting the children to bed.” Tina said putting the last of the dishes away.
“Ah good practice then for when we have our own.” Christopher said smiling.
The thought of it made Tina angry for some reason. It seemed that whenever he came around her whole demeanor changed. Tina just tried to ignore it, but it was so hard sometimes.
A few minutes later Bette walked back into the kitchen.
“Chris! What are you doing here? I thought you had work.” Bette said before she kissed him.
“I got the night off, so grab your jacket and we’ll head out for a bit.”
Bette grabbed her jacket but then looked at Tina sitting at the table. “Oh, but Tina and I were going for a walk…”
“It’s fine Bette, you two go on, I’m tired…I think I’m going to get some sleep.”
“If you’re sure…I won’t be out too long.”
Bette and Chris walked out the door and into Chris’ car. Tina watched as the pulled off.
When she saw they were gone she put her jacket out and went out for a walk anyway. As she walked she thought about Bette with Chris and felt an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach. She wished very much that Bette was there walking with her.

To Be Continued…