Between Friends Read Online Free Page B

speaking at the Pine Ridge Emmanuel Church on September 6th and I told Mom I’d like to hear what he has to say. She didn’t think that was a good idea because it wouldn’t be right for a Catholic girl to be seen inside a Protestant Church. Although Mom said I couldn’t go, I had the feeling she’d like to attend the meeting herself. If I had my driver’s license and a car, I’d do it. Jillian’s taking Driver’s Education this summer. She thinks her parents might buy her a car. As it is now, her mother drives her to school every morning and her father picks her up every afternoon.
    I hate being fourteen. I want to be sixteen and to be able to drive and hear the people I want to hear and meet the people I want to meet.
Jillian’s Diary
    November 22, 1963
    President Kennedy was killed today. Lesley and I were in Religion Class when the news came over the loudspeaker that the President had been shot. Sister Dorothy immediately had us get down on our knees and pray. No one knew then how serious it was.
    It wasn’t long before we were released from school. Lesley and I went right over to church and it was already full of people pleading with God to save our President. By the time I got home, I learned he was dead. I can’t stop crying. Even my dad had tears in his eyes.
    Poor Jackie. She’s the one I’m crying for. I can’t bear this. It’s so terrible. Everyone is watching television. Everyone is weeping. I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. I can’t believe President Kennedy is dead.
***
Goodbye Mr. President
by Lesley Adamski
    I was in school
When I heard the news
Such an ordinary Friday
Without any clues
Of what was to happen
Or the reasons why
Oh, dear John Kennedy
Why did you have to die?
    As the tears flow from my eyes
And I pray
I know that forever
I’ll remember the day
Our country wept
Our country mourned
It felt as if
Our flag was scorned
    Our country will remember
Now and forever
You were so young
So handsome, so clever
It’s a loss for the USA
And the whole world, too
Nothing ever, John Kennedy
Will be the same without you
    Caroline and John-John
You’re much too small
To be without a father
A leader to us all
And dear Jackie
What can I say
My heart aches
With no words to say
    Goodbye, President Kennedy
Goodbye
1965
Holy Name Academy
January 20, 1965
    Demerit Slip
    Student: Jillian Lawton
    Offense: Rolling up the uniform skirt above the knee.
Holy Name Academy
230 First Street
Pine Ridge, Washington 98005
January 20, 1965
    Dear Judge and Mrs. Lawton,
    Enclosed is the demerit slip for Jillian, which I have had no choice but to issue. She has had repeated warnings about the length of her uniform skirt. Several of the Junior girls have defied the rules and each will be obliged to remain after school the first Friday of February to polish the gymnasium floor.
    I appreciate your cooperation in this unfortunate situation.
    Sincerely,
    Sister Agnes, Principal
Jillian’s Diary
    January 23, 1965
    This whole detention thing is juvenile, and all because I rolled my skirt up. First, I detest wearing a uniform. I told Mom how much I hated it but she didn’t care. She says that a lot. “I don’t care” and “We aren’t going to talk about it.” Sometimes I swear she treats me like I’m ten years old. The other day I wanted to stand on my chair at the fancy new dining-room table and scream to get her attention. How else can I get her to recognize that I’m sixteen years old?
    The state of Washington trusts me enough to give me a license to drive a motorized vehicle. Dad even bought me a car to go back and forth to school. It seems that if the government thinks I’m mature enough to drive, I should be smart enough to figure out what to wear to school. Apparently they think that if I had a choice, I’d wear something obnoxious like jeans and a sweatshirt. The truth is, my choices have been completely taken away from me, since I’m forced into a ridiculous school uniform. My closet is full of dresses I never