“I wish Marjorie were here,” she thought. “I’d love to tell her all about the party, and John’s disappointment at not seeing her.”
And then she began to wonder how it would feel to have a boy really crazy about her; she had always been too fat and unattractive to make many friends among the opposite sex; and being an only child, without any brothers to introduce other boys to her, she always spent much of her holidays alone. And, for the first time in her life, she realized what she had missed; she felt that other girls were enjoying privileges that she had never known. She had scarcely spoken more than six words to any boy at the party, and yet she noticed Doris and Ruth chatting and laughing with almost all the boys as if they had known them all their lives. What was the secret? Marjorie must know; she had a brother—she would be able to tell her what interested them.
Marjorie did not return to the school until the next morning, just in time for opening assembly. Lily did not, therefore, have a chance to talk with her until lunch, and then she suddenly discovered that she was too shy, or perhaps too proud, to ask such a question.
“I thought you’d be back yesterday,” she said, as she was getting ready for lunch.
“I would have, only I knew all my friends would be away at the party,” said Marjorie. “Besides, I wanted to finish Miss Phillips’s camisole.”
“Oh, let me see it,” cried Lily. “When will you give it to her?”
“To-morrow morning, I guess, before breakfast, if I can catch her in time. I would like to wish her a happy birthday the very first thing!”
The girls linked arms, and went into the dining-room together, glad of the opportunity to talk with each other again. Ethel Todd, who sat at the same table with them, leaned towards Marjorie. Lowering her voice, and glancing in the direction of Miss Phillips’s table, she said:
“The scouts are going to give Miss Phillips a surprise party to-morrow night, in honor of her birthday; and, Marj, we want you in it, too. We got permission from Miss Allen. Meet at half-past eight in our room. You can bring a birthday present if you want, but you don’t have to. Then we’re all going over and sing a little song Frances wrote in her honor—a parody on ‘Perfect Day’—and go into her room with our presents and refreshments. Ruth and Doris are buying everything; the tax will be about a quarter apiece. You’re both in for it?”
“Yes, indeed!” answered Lily.