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bored at
    home, staring at the walls.” It was a dumb joke but it was all
    I could think of. I glanced at my seat which was a couple of
    rows from him.

    “Did I upset you Friday when I talked about Alex? I
    know he bothers you.”
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    “You"re his friend. I expect you to mention him.” I
    sighed. “I suppose he shouldn"t irk me so. I mean, it"s not
    like he does anything to me and no one else seems to mind
    his pranks. It probably doesn"t help that I keep calling him
    Creepy Alex either.”

    He chuckled. “He calls you Scary Annie.”

    I frowned. “I"m not scary.”

    “Wel , you did hit him with a broom.”

    I giggled. “That was funny, wasn"t it?”

    “Good for you,” someone interrupted. “I think Creepy
    Alex is an apt term. However, I can"t imagine you being
    scary, even if you did come after me with a broom.”

    I paused and turned around so I could see the
    person who spoke. Dark brown hair, clear green eyes, and
    a great smile. This had to be Kent. And he was handsome!
    I imagined someone from New York would be fascinating
    but he put all of my fantasies to shame. I thought he was
    rude to listen to what Todd and I said, but since he set his
    books on the desk in front of Todd, I realized he couldn"t
    help but overhear if that"s where he had to sit.

    “I"m Kent Ashton.” He kissed my hand.

    I stared at him, bewildered that he could be so bold.
    That must be how New Yorkers were. Bold and charming. I
    cleared my throat. “Todd told me you came here last week.”

    “Yes. My family moved from New York.”

    “I know. He told me that too.”

    “We can always talk later when your family comes
    over to see mine,” Todd said.

    Remembering Todd, I looked at him. “What?”

    His smile faltered. “Never mind. I just wanted to
    apologize for mentioning Alex on Friday.”

    “Oh. It"s alright. I wasn"t upset with you.”

    He nodded and sat down.

    Blushing, because Kent still had his beautiful green
    eyes on me, I shyly said that it was nice to meet him and
    walked to my desk. I had no idea what to say to him. He
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    Falling In Love With Her Husband
    was much more sophisticated than me. To my surprise, he
    followed me.

    “May I hang your coat in the back of the room?”

    My heart skipped a beat. “Uh…” None of the young
    men had offered to do that before. But Kent was from New
    York. Maybe young men did that kind of thing there.

    “I promise I won"t run off with it,” he teased.

    I laughed. “I know.”

    Feeling somewhat awkward and aware that Debbie
    and Rachel watched me with amused expressions, I took
    my coat off and handed it to him. I watched as he put it on
    one of the hooks.

    He returned to me. “I hope you don"t think I"m
    overstepping my bounds, but I think you"re the best looking
    lady in this room.” Then he went to his seat.

    My eyes grew wide. He was definitely bold! I
    numbly sat down and stared ahead at the front of the room
    where the teacher was getting the day"s lecture ready. Kent
    Ashton was better than I thought he"d be. The teacher
    stood up to speak, so I turned to my books and got my
    things ready for the day.

    ***

    Kent turned out to be very charming and attentive.
    He seemed to care for me and we did have fun talking about
    how creepy Alex was whenever he pulled another one of his
    silly pranks. I spent Saturday afternoons in my parlor
    listening to Kent tell me how exciting New York was. He
    even brought pictures of New York and of the people he
    knew there. It sounded better than Debbie claimed it to be.

    “If we get married, I"l take you there so you can see
    it for yourself,” he once said.

    When December came, he asked my father if he
    could court me, and my father said no. This was the second
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    Falling In Love With Her Husband
    him he refused to let Kent be with me. Greatly upset, I
    confronted my father about it that night at dinner.

    “Your mother and I don"t trust him,” my father