Isabel finished her lunch and replaced the napkin in her lunch tin, shaking away crumbs from her dress and lined up with the rest of the class behind Miss. Meredith

“Alright class,” Miss Meredith said as she looked at the watch she wore on a silver chain around her neck. “You may quietly get a drink of water at the water fountain and walk softly to your seat. Take out your history book alone with your assignment,” she added.

“I don’t like studying about war,” Isabel whispered to the girl behind her in line.

“Me either,” Millie said, pulling her long hair to the side as she anticipated her turn at the fountain. “War is boys stuff!”

“I like it,” a male voice chirped in. “We cleaned the Kiser’s clock for good!”

“Yeah,” another boy joined the conversation. “Wish we had been there!”

“That will be enough, children! You know you are not allowed to talk in the hallway,” Miss Meredith said as she arched her eyebrows. “Hurry up now, we are wasting time!”

Isabel quickly sipped tepid water from the fountain, walked into the class, and took her seat. “I hope Miss Meredith likes my report,” she said as she pulled out her history book from the desk and smoothed out the single sheet of paper pressed between the pages, marking the chapter.

“My brother, Jim didn’t have much to say about the war. Not even a page worth!”

“Daddy didn’t say much either, except France must be beautiful with they’re not at war,” Millie said and wrinkled her nose at the boys across the room who boasted of the ways they would have “stick it to the Kiser.”