Karen looked embarrassedly back at the door. “Well, it was something like that, only worse. She’d use the bedpan, and then when the nurse came to take it she’d make it spill. Over and over. They must have known she did it on purpose. You could see she got a kick out of it. But those nurses just cleaned and cleaned—and I’d have blown my stack.”

“So now you’re taking typing,” Skip put in.

“It’s not exciting, but it’s something I can do,” Karen said.

Skip turned to her and grinned. “You know what I’d have done? I’d have taken the nursing course like Mrs. Havermann wanted. And then I’d have looked around for some rich old geezer to nurse, some old bachelor or widower loaded with dough, not too bright, and I’d have married him.”

Karen was disgusted. “Some sick old man? Oh, heavens!”

“And then, being a nurse, I’d have helped him get sicker and sicker until finally he croaked and I had the dough for myself.”

The thought shocked her. “That’s an awful thing to say.”

He moved closer and put a hand behind her head and pushed her mouth against his own. All of Skip’s kisses had an experimental quality about them, as though the act of embracing contained some novelty he couldn’t get used to. “Now I’ve made you mad.”

“Well, I’m getting over it.” She kissed him in return, solemnly, and as if humbly offering a gift. The buzzer sounded; he yanked her back.

“I don’t think I’m going in there.”

“Why not? You’re doing as well as anybody. Don’t quit just because tonight you’re bored and disgusted,” Karen begged. “They’ll give your place in class to someone else, and then you’ll have to start all over again next semester, just like a beginner.”

“I don’t know——” He seemed to hesitate. “What about afterwards?”

“You asked before; I told you how Mrs. Havermann gets nervous if I’m not there on time. She doesn’t like being alone.”

“Yeah, yeah. She’s crazy about you.”

“No, she’s not. I’m not her child. It’s because of her own feelings.”

“Suppose there was a meeting after class, you had to stay for it?”

“There never is.”

“She knows there never is?”

“Oh, Skip, I don’t want to worry her!”

He nodded indifferently. “Sure. I see exactly how it is. Go on inside then. I’ll see you around sometime.”

She hesitated in the doorway, her expression harried and anxious. “You make it seem as if I’m letting you down.”

He shrugged, turned to lean on the railing, lit a fresh cigarette, and expelled smoke into the dark. The stony eyes looked past her as he glanced into the hall. “They’re all inside. You’d better hurry.”