Timmy glowed at the praise; he felt the back of his neck warming. It was fun helping her out, no matter what the other kids said or thought. He scuffed the toe of his sneaker against the heel of the other one. "Well, I guess I'd better be getting home, Mrs. Taylor. Mom usually wants me to run to the store for her after school."
"All right, Timmy. Good night."
"Good night." He lingered in the door for a last smile from the woman, then ran down the stairs to the lockers on the basement corridors. He stowed his books in his locker, then twirled the dial on the combination lock, bought with money saved out of his allowance.
Timmy started towards the exit, when suddenly he heard voices coming from the boys' shower room.
"Aw, come on, Janie! What's the harm in having a little peek?"
"With your big eyes, Danny Grissome, a lot!"
Raucous laughter. "I guess she told you that time, Danny boy."
"Yeah? Well, I'm gonna see what I came down here to see, whether you like it or not, Janie. Now come on!"
"No! Keep your dirty hands off me, Danny Grissome!"
Heart pounding in his breast, Timmy edged towards the door of the shower room. From the voices, he knew there were at least half a dozen boys inside. The door was slightly ajar; the school was supposed to be empty, so the boys had been careless. Placing his eye to the crack, Timmy tried to make out what was going on, but his field of vision was too limited. All he could get were vague impressions of bodies moving back and forth.