The Plastic Age by Percy Marks (best mobile ebook reader .txt) 📖
- Author: Percy Marks
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Prom Came Early In May, And Hugh Looked Forward To It Joyously, Partly
Because It Would Be His First Prom And Partly Because Cynthia Was
Coming. Cynthia! He Thought Of Her Constantly, Dreamed Of Her, Wrote
Poems About Her And To Her. At Times His Longing For Her Swelled Into An
Ecstasy Of Desire That Racked And Tore Him. He Was Lost In Love, His
Moods Sweeping Him From Lyric Happiness To Black Despair. He Wrote To
Her Several Times A Week, And Between Letters He Took Long Walks
Composing Dithyrambic Epistles That Fortunately Were Never Written.
When He Received Her Letter Saying That She Would Come To Prom, He
Yelled Like A Lunatic, Pounded The Astonished Vinton On The Back, And
Raced Down-Stairs To The Living-Room.
Chapter 17 Pg 123
"She'S Coming!" He Shouted.
There Were Several Men In The Room, And They All Turned And Looked At
Him, Some Of Them Grinning Broadly.
"What Th' Hell, Hugh?" Leonard Gates Asked Amiably. "Who'S Coming? Who'S
She?"
Hugh Blushed And Shuffled His Feet. He Knew That He Had Laid Himself
Open To A "Royal Razzing," But He Proceeded To Bluff Himself Out Of The
Dilemma.
"She? Oh, Yes, She. Well, She Is She. Altogether Divine, Len." He Was
Trying Hard To Be Casual And Flippant, But His Eyes Were Dancing And His
Lips Trembled With Smiles.
Gates Grinned At Him. "A Poor Bluff, Old Man--A Darn Poor Bluff. You'Re
In Love, _Pauvre Enfant_, And I'M Afraid That You'Re In a Very Bad Way.
Come On, Tell Us The Lady'S Name, Her Pedigree, And List Of Charms."
Hugh Grinned Back At Gates. "Chase Yourself," He Said Gaily. "I Won'T
Tell You A Blamed Thing About Her."
"You'D Better," Said Jim Saunders From The Depths Of A Leather Chair.
"Is She The Jane Whose Picture Adorns Your Desk?"
"Yeah," Hugh Admitted. "How Do You Like Her?"
"Very Fair, Very Fair." Saunders Was Magnificently Lofty. "I'Ve Seen
Better, Of Course, But I'Ve Seen Worse, Too. Not Bad--Um, Not Very Bad."
The "Razzing" Had Started, And Hugh Lost His Nerve.
"Jim, You Can Go To Hell," He Said Definitely, Prepared To Rush
Up-Stairs Before Saunders Could Reply. "You Don'T Know A Queen When You
See One. Why, Cynthia--"
"Cynthia!" Four Of The Boys Shouted. "So Her Name'S Cynthia. That'S--"
But Hugh Was Half-Way Up-Stairs, Embarrassed And Delighted.
The Girls Arrived On Thursday, The Train Which Brought Most Of Them
Reaching Haydensville Early In The Afternoon. Hugh Paced Up And Down The
Station, Trying To Keep Up A Pretense Of A Conversation With Two Or
Three Others. He Gave The Wrong Reply Twice And Then Decided To Say
Nothing More. He Listened With His Whole Body For The First Whistle Of
The Train, And So Great Was The Chatter Of The Hundreds Of Waiting
Youths That He Never Heard It. Suddenly The Engine Rounded A Curve, And
A Minute Later The Train Stopped Before The Station. Immediately The
Boys Began To Mill Around The Platform Like Cattle About To Stampede,
Standing On Their Toes To Look Over The Heads Of Their Comrades,
Shoving, Shouting, Dancing In Their Impatience.
Girls Began To Descend The Steps Of The Cars. The Stampede Broke. A
Youth Would See "His Girl" And Start Through The Crowd For Her. Dozens
Spotted Their Girls At The Same Time And Tried To Run Through The Crowd.
They Bumped Into One Another, Laughed Joyously, Bumped Into Somebody
Chapter 17 Pg 124Else, And Finally Reached The Girl.
When Hugh Eventually Saw Cynthia Standing On A Car Platform Near Him, He
Shouted To Her And Held His Hand High In Greeting. She Saw Him And Waved
Back, At The Same Time Starting Down The Steps.
She Had A Little Scarlet Hat Pulled Down Over Her Curly Brown Hair, And
She Wore A Simple Blue Traveling-Suit That Set Off Her Slender Figure
Perfectly. Her Eyes Seemed Bigger And Browner Than Ever, Her Nose More
Impudently Tilted, Her Mouth More Supremely Irresistible. Her Cheeks
Were Daintily Rouged, Her Eyebrows Plucked Into A Thin Arch. She Was New
York From Her Small Pumps To The Expensively Simple Scarlet Hat.
Hugh Dashed Several People Aside And Grabbed Her Hand, Squeezing It
Unmercifully.
"Oh, Gee, Cynthia, I'M Glad To See You. I Thought The Darn Train Was
Never Going To Get Here. How Are You? Gee, You'Re Looking Great,
Wonderful. Where'S Your Suit-Case?" He Fairly Stuttered In His
Excitement, His Words Toppling Over Each Other.
"I'M Full Of Pep. You Look Wonderful. There'S My Suit-Case, The Big
Black One. Give The Porter Two Bits Or Something. I Haven'T Any Change."
Hugh Tipped The Porter, Picked Up The Suit-Case With One Hand, And Took
Cynthia By The Arm With The Other, Carefully Piloting Her Through The
Noisy, Surging Crowd Of Boys And Girls, All Of Them Talking At Top Speed
And In High, Excited Voices.
Once Hugh And Cynthia Were Off The Platform They Could Talk Without
Shouting.
"We'Ve Got To Walk Up The Hill," Hugh Explained Miserably. "I Couldn'T
Get A Car For Love Nor Money. I'M Awfully Sorry."
Cynthia Did A Dance-Step And Petted His Arm Happily. "What Do I Care?
I'M So--So Damn Glad To See You, Hugh. You Look Nicer'N Ever--Just As
Clean And Washed And Sweet. Ooooh, Look At Him Blush! Stop It Or I'Ll
Have To Kiss You Right Here. Stop It, I Say."
But Hugh Went Right On Blushing. "Go Ahead," He Said Bravely. "I Wish
You Would."
Cynthia Laughed. "Like Fun You Do. You'D Die Of Embarrassment. But Your
Mouth Is An Awful Temptation. You Have The Sweetest Mouth, Hugh. It'S So
Damn Kissable."
She Continued To Banter Him Until They Reached The Fraternity House.
"Where Do I Live?" She Demanded. "In Your Room, I Hope."
"Yep. I'M Staying Down In Keller Hall With Norry Parker. His Room-Mate'S
Sick In The Hospital; So He'S Got Room For Me. Norry'S Going To See You
Later."
"Right-O. What Do We Do When I Get Six Pounds Of Dirt Washed Off And
Some Powder On My Nose?"
"Well, We'Re Having A Tea-Dance Here At The House At Four-Thirty; But
Chapter 17 Pg 125We'Ve Got An Hour Till Then, And I Thought We'D Take A Walk. I Want To
Show You The College."
After Cynthia Had Repaired The Damages Of Travel And Had Been Introduced
To Hugh'S Fraternity Brothers And Their Girls, She And Hugh Departed
For A Tour Of The Campus. The Lawns Were So Green That The Grass Seemed
To Be Bursting With Color; The Elms Waved Tiny New Leaves In a Faint
Breeze; The Walls Of The Buildings Were Speckled With Green Patches Of
Ivy. Cynthia Was Properly Awed By The Chapel And Enthusiastic Over The
Other Buildings. She Assured Hugh That Sanford Men Looked Awfully Smooth
In Their Knickers And White Flannels; In Fact, She Said The Whole
College Seemed Jake To Her.
They Wandered Past The Lake And Into The Woods As If By Common Consent.
Once They Were Out Of Sight Of Passers-By, Hugh Paused And Turned To
Cynthia. Without A Word She Stepped Into His Arms And Lifted Her Face To
His, Hugh'S Heart Seemed To Stop; He Was So Hungry For That Kiss, He Had
Waited So Long For It.
When He Finally Took His Lips From Hers, Cynthia Whispered Softly,
"You'Re Such A Good Egg, Hugh Honey, Such A Damn Good Egg."
Hugh Could Say Nothing; He Just Held Her Close, His Mind Swimming
Dizzily, His Whole Being Atingle. For A Long Time He Held Her, Kissing
Her, Now Tenderly, Now Almost Brutally, Lost In a Thrill Of Passion.
Finally She Whispered Faintly: "No More, Hugh. Not Now, Dear."
Hugh Released Her Reluctantly. "I Love You So Damned Hard, Cynthia," He
Said Huskily. "I--I Can'T Keep My Hands Off Of You."
"I Know," She Replied. "But We'Ve Got To Go Back. Wait A Minute,
Though. I Must Look Like The Devil." She Straightened Her Hat, Powdered
Her Nose, And Then Tucked Her Arm In His.
After The Tea-Dance And Dinner, Hugh Left Her To Dress For The Dramatic
Society Musical Comedy That Was To Be Performed That Evening. He
Returned To Norry Parker'S Room And Prepared To Put On His Tuxedo.
"You Look As If Somebody Had Left You A Million Dollars," Norry Said To
Hugh. "I Don'T Think I Ever Saw Anybody Look So Happy. You--You Shine."
Hugh Laughed. "I Am Happy, Norry, Happy As Hell. I'M So Happy I Ache.
Oh, God, Cynthia'S Wonderful. I'M Crazy About Her, Norry--Plumb Crazy."
Norry Had Known Cynthia For Years, And Despite His Ingenuousness, He Had
Noticed Some Of Her Characteristics.
"I Never Expected You To Fall In Love With Cynthia, Hugh," He Said In
His Gentle Way. "I'M Awfully Surprised."
Hugh Was Humming A Strain From "Say It With Music" While He Undressed.
He Pulled Off His Trousers And Then Turned To Norry, Who Was Sitting On
The Bed. "What Did You Say? You Said Something, Didn'T You?"
Chapter 17 Pg 126
Norry Smiled. For Some Quite Inexplicable Reason, He Suddenly Felt
Older Than Hugh.
"Yes, I Said Something. I Said That I Never Expected
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