“I’m to get a thrashing tonight. Then I think I shall be expelled.”
“What about Pierre?”
“He’s gone already. I don’t know where.”
Throughout the day I kept looking at Helen, afraid for my friend. I asked her if she thought I should own up as well; was it right that she should be the only one to suffer punishment?
“Don’t be silly,” she said grimly. “What’s the sense in us both suffering?”
I thought about absenting myself from the evening meal in order that I should not be forced to witness Helen’s punishment. But we were told that all girls must attend, without question. When the appointed time came and Helen was led up onto the stage, I tried to look away, but somehow I could not avoid the drama enacted before me. Helen was bent over the table and her hands held by two of the housemai
