RELUCTANT PRESS

to like Susie's mother very much. We talked about school and of course, the inevitable question of what I was going to do after graduation.

"What does your mother think?"

"Well, she would like me to go to hairdressing school and join her in the shop, but it's not something that excites me much." Except when I get to work on beautiful young girls like your daughter, I thought, but figured I'd better not say aloud. "You know, maybe after a few years by yourself, you might be interested in a change and then you could go into hairdressing. Either way, I know that you will be very good at what you do."

"There, that's finished," I remarked, putting the blouse on a hanger. "Is there anything I can do for you, Mrs. Wales?" "That's awfully sweet of you, dear, but I think I am all set for now. Why don't you see if Susie needs anything."

Susie was sitting up in her bed and reading Seventeen. I gestured questioningly with the uniform and she pointed to the closet where I hung it up. I got closer to her so she could hear me and asked how much longer she had to go under the dryer. She told me a half hour. Conversation was impossible with the noise of the dryer so I decided to make use of the time and tidy up her room. I picked up loads of dresses, skirts, blouses, slips, bras, and panties from all over the room. I hung all the outer clothing on hangers in the closet and even took the time to arrange the closet with all the same type garments together instead of the hodgepodge method Susie had been using. The underwear I put in the hamper in her bathroom, not unaware of the thrill I got from touching the silky material and the faint aroma of Susie's perfume that remained on the clothes. I could have spent another hour straightening out her dresser top and drawers, all in equal disarray, but the dryer shut off and I was startled by the sudden silence.

"Danny! What have you done?" exclaimed Susie, as if she was unaware of what I had been doing under her constant glances. "Come over here!"

For a brief second, I was afraid that she might be upset but this was quickly dispelled when she threw her arms around me and kissed me on the lips.

RUFFLES & CURLES

By Kammi Morton

"Thank you so much! Thanks for washing and setting my hair" A kiss on the forehead. "Thanks for ironing my uniform" A kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for cleaning my room." A kiss on the other cheek. "And thanks most of all for being so nice."

Another long kiss on the lips.

I disconnected the dryer hose from the bonnet and carefully removed it from her head. Automatically, from my working in the salon, I patted the rollers to make sure that her hair was dry and began to remove them.

"I'm going to leave them in until just before I leave for the game. But I'll let you take them out then, and brush my hair too, if you want," she said with that flirting smile on her face. Before we left her bedroom I exercised some authority and suggested that we make her bed. It was something that my Mom had insisted I do from an early age and now I could not feel right leaving my room unless the bed was made. I normally hated this job, but with Susie on the other side, it was not only easier, but fun.

As we walked out the door I could not help glancing back and taking some pride in the major transformation that had taken place with her room. A little dusting and vacuuming would make the place almost presentable, I thought.

Over supper Susie told her mother what I had been doing while she was drying her hair and Mrs. Wales told Susie what a beautiful job I had done ironing her uniform.

"Danny will make some lucky woman a wonderful husband some day," Mrs. Wales said, causing me to blush a deep red.

Susie just smiled and winked at me."I know."

I offered to help Mrs. Wales with the dishes while Susie got dressed. I was a little uncomfortable when she slipped a white apron with a ruffled border over my head, but she wore one just the same.

Aside from my mother, she was the first adult that I had ever felt comfortable with. She was easy to talk to and several times complimented me on my domestic skills and how great it was to see a boy do these things without a fight. In the course of the discussion I learned that she and Mr. Wales were divorced and I suspected from the things that she said

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