Monday morning: Molly, Mary, Margaret, Catherine and Mr. Fuzzums left the Bloom house at eight o'clock. A few minutes later, they met Roderick at the corner of Elm and Fourteenth.
Molly greeted Roderick wordlessly, with her eyes, as she always does. Roderick and Molly know each other so well that they seldom greet each other in ways visible to others; but if you watch closely you can see that they instinctively mesh or unmesh, as the situation warrants.
"Hi, Roderick", said Mary, waving shyly. Roderick waved back. He was pleased to see Mary; she's a nice girl.
Mary, Roderick and Molly walked three abreast. Now that Mary is in Beauneville Latin, Roderick and Molly let her walk beside them. Mary wore her "schoolgirl" outfit: white blouse, plaid kilt, woolen knee stockings and penny loafers. Roderick wore his customary white button-down shirt, khaki pants and Dockers. Molly wore a t-shirt and cutoffs, with nothing underneath. Molly is small-breasted, svelte, and doesn't jiggle.
Margaret and Catherine walked together several paces behind the others (Mr. Fuzzums rode secretly in Catherine's backpack). Catherine spoke in great detail and with considerable animation about her day so far. Margaret pretended to listen.
It was a lovely September day.
As they approached the campus, the five scholars and one stowaway split up; Catherine and Mr. Fuzzums headed to Beauneville Grammar; Margaret to Beauneville Academy; Mary, Molly and Roderick to Beauneville Latin, where they signed in and mingled with friends.
Beauneville Latin is not a large building. To enter, you go up a flight of stairs to the main entry. Over the doorway, inscribed in the stone arch, you can read the Latin expression Quisquam Est Licitus, Quoad Est Sapor (Anything is Permitted As Long As It's Tasteful). Inside, there is a main hallway with a wide staircase leading to the second floor. The first floor holds a small auditorium, the library and headmaster's office. On the second floor, there are five large classrooms (one each for Latin, English, History, Math and Science and a teacher's room. On the ground floor, there is an art studio, music room and a few small seminar rooms.
A few minutes before nine, Mary, Molly, Roderick and their schoolmates walk up the stairs to the second floor. Molly and Roderick have American Literature with Mr. Cooper; Mary has English with Mr. Swift.
As Mary enters her classroom, Mr. Swift is writing on the chalkboard. She waves shyly: "Good morning Mr. Swift".
Mr. Swift pauses to return the greeting. "Uh, good morning Miss Bloom".
Mary digests his greeting. Cold, distant and professional. Good. Needs to be that way. He has to protect his position.
Molly and Roderick sit together in Mr. Cooper's American Literature and listen to him lecture about smutty plays in the Colonies. Molly thinks about the fugue in the Hammerklavier. Roderick thinks about smutty plays and bond interest, but mostly about smutty plays.
At ten, Roderick and Molly move to Mr. Gibbon's American History class, and Mary to Mr. Clio's World History class. Mr. Gibbon lectures about killing Native Americans. Mr. Clio lectures about some ancient civilization; Mary thinks he is deadly dull.
To some, the hour from eleven to twelve is the longest hour of the day. Roderick is inclined to agree with this; he likes Latin, but Mr. Horace's class is very hard. The best part: sitting next to Megan Cupcake, who is buxom and bubbly. The topic of today's class is Ovid's Ars Amatoria, the first two books of which they read over the weekend. At one point during class, Megan whispers in Roderick's ear. Something about how she might understand better if Roderick could come over after dinner and so they could try some of the techniques in the book. Roderick thinks that sounds grand, although he was planning to read some more about investing in preferred stock this evening.
Noontime at last, and none too soon, because Molly's stomach was growling so loud during art class it was distracting to the students, who were attempting to draw her sleek, svelte, curvaceous, gorgeous and completely nude figure. Molly quickly threw on her shirt and cutoffs, and ran outside to meet Roderick under the Eating Tree, a great spreading Chestnut tree so named by Beauneville students because it provides a great canopy over the picnic tables.
Mary, Molly and Roderick all sit together with Megan Cupcake and a few other students. Molly has three sandwiches; Roderick has tiffin from the Red Trolley; Mary has a little container of cottage cheese and fruit, which she eats quickly. She puts the empty container in her backpack and tells Molly she has to go see Miss Agassiz. "Goodbye, Roderick", she says, shyly, as she leaves the picnic table. Roderick waves, and feels a little buzz. What a nice girl.
Rene Agassiz, twenty-four years old, recently completed her graduate work at the University of Lake City; she is new to the faculty of Beauneville Latin, hired to replace Mr. Darwin, who retired.
Miss Agassiz is a knockout. Today, she wears a brightly colored floral Hermes blouse, a short black skirt, and black boots; her long black hair is tied back with a clip.
Miss Agassiz agreed to meet Mary Bloom at quarter past twelve; it is now sixteen minutes past. Miss Agassiz expects her students to be on time.
At seventeen minutes past, Mary knocks shyly on the door. "Enter!" calls Miss Agassiz crisply.
Mary meekly opens the door and steps just inside the office, clutching her notebook in front of her. "Um, hi Miss Agassiz, it's Mary..."
"You're late".
Mary blushes slightly. "I'm sorry, Miss Agassiz, I was eating lunch, and.."
"Sit down."
Miss Agassiz points to a chair in front of the desk. Mary sits gingerly on the edge of the chair, still clutching her three-ring binder in front of her chest, as if for protection.
"What do you want?"
"Well, um, Miss Agassiz, um, I was wondering if you could help me with the assignments because I try real hard and...."
As Mary spoke, Miss Agassiz stood and walked around the desk. With her left hand, she grasped Mary's right arm in an iron grip, pulled her to her feet and glared directly into Mary's eyes.
"Shut up!"
Mary looked as if she were going to wet herself. "What?"
"You want special treatment, so I'm going to give it to you. From now on, in my classroom, there will be special rules for Mary Bloom. You will be silent at all times. You will not speak unless spoken to. You will turn in your assignments on time, and you will do them perfectly. If you make any mistakes, I will punish you. Do you understand my rules?"
Terrified, Mary nodded that she understood. "Good. Now get out of my office." Miss Agassiz released Mary's arm and returned to her seat.
Mary beat a hasty retreat from the office. She stood in the hallway for a few minutes to catch her breath. Her blouse was crumpled and her right arm hurt where Miss Agassiz had held it. She rubbed it slightly.
Secretly, she felt a little thrilled.
That evening, after dinner, Roderick weighed whether to read about investing in convertible preferred stock or to go and "study" with Megan Cupcake when the doorbell rang. He answered; it was Mary Bloom.
"Hi Mary", said Roderick. "Would you like to come in?"
Mary stepped inside, wordlessly, and looked at Roderick kind of shyly, as if she wasn't sure what to say.
"Um..I was wondering..can you help me with my History homework? I tried to do it, but it's really hard..."
Of course, said Roderick, and he led her into the kitchen to work at the table. What a pleasant surprise, he thought to himself. Mary is such a nice girl.
