Her green eyes sparkled. “Sounds as if you don’t like it.” It was a party at a sorority house on the Jefferson campus; one of his friends had asked him to come.

“I didn’t say that,” he said. “I like it fine. My name’s Joe Leland.”

“Karen Widener. I’m a guest here, too. Hello. Do you always talk so tough?”

“I didn’t know I did. You’re not from Port Smith, are you?”

“All my life,” she said.

“Well, we all sound the way I sound—except you.”

“I didn’t know I sounded different.”

“Your voice is more musical,” he said. “More polished. It’s hard to believe.”

“Are you saying I’m a phony?”

“Of course not. I don’t even know you.”

“Why did you ask me to dance?”

“I wanted to see what drew the crowd. You’ve had characters around you all night. I could see that you were attractive. It’s the voice. The voice cinches it.”

“Maybe it’s saying something.”

“In this context it doesn’t matter.”

She looked at him. “You like to tease, don’t you? You want to get my goat.”

“No, not at all. I want to hear you turn phrases like ‘get my goat’—tell me how you do it. Tell me your secret.”

“Okay, okay. Now I’ll have to think about it. You may have spoiled my evening.” She leaned back against his arm. “How old are you?”

“Nineteen,” he said.

“I thought I was older than you. I’m twenty. I’ll bet you work.”

“It isn’t supposed to show.”

“Some people around here work, too,” she said. “I know you people from P.S.C. never believe it.”

“I guess that means you,” he said.

“I have two jobs,” she said. She watched him. He didn’t know what she was getting at.

“You have only one,” she said after a moment.

“I’m not trying to get rich.”

She said, “All my money goes toward tuition and expenses. I’m not getting rich, either.”

“You’re not getting help from your family. I see. Sorry to hear it.”

“There isn’t any family,” she said.

“You’ll have to explain that.”

“There never was,” she said. “I moved out of my last foster home two years ago. I’ve said something now, haven’t I?”

He stopped dancing. She pushed him until he started again. She said, “I want you to know right off. God knows why. You wanted to hear a secret—sort of. I’ve never sprung it on anyone like that before. And you’ve tried to keep my attention with a trick right out of Huckleberry Finn. You’re not even handsome.”

“You’re out of order. Settle down.”

“I’m settled. I apologize. Don’t be angry. Let’s have a good time. I want to, I think.”