Do you girls have hope chests?' Lloyd asked. We certainly do.' I don't,' said Betsy. 'My husband and I are going to use paper plates and napkins.' Poor Joe!' Lucky Larry!

It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.

Was life always like that? she wondered. A game of hide and seek in which you only occasionally found the person you wanted to be?

In silence the three of them looked at the sunset and thought about God.

One strain could call up the quivering expectancy of Christmas Eve, childhood, joy and sadness, the lonely wonder of a star

Then he kissed her. Betsy didn't believe in letting boys kiss you. She thought it was silly to be letting first this boy and then that one kiss you, when it didn't mean a thing. But it was wonderful when Joe Willard kissed her. And it did mean a thing.

You might as well learn right now, you two, that the poorest guide you can have in life is what people will say.