Tom thought that the lunch recess would never come. The air in the classroom was utterly dead. Not a breath was stirring. It was the sleepiest of sleepy days. It took all of Tom’s strength just to stay awake. His hand wandered into his pocket, and he pulled out the tiny matchbox which held the tick he had traded his tooth for. Tom released the creature and watched it crawl along the long, flat desk.
Joe Harper, Tom’s best friend, sat next to him. Joe, too, was grateful for the diversion of a tick
In a few minutes, Tom complained that they were interfering with each other, and neither was getting the fullest benefit of the tick. So he put Joe’s slate on the desk and drew a line down the middle. One side was to be Tom’s territory and the other side, Joe’s.
The poor tick scurried from one tormentor to the other, and the two boys bent their heads over the slate, giving all their attention to the game. It didn’t take long before they began to argue, and Tom reached over into Joe’s territory and poked the tick with his pin.
“Tom, you let him alone!” shouted Joe.
“Look here, Joe Harper, just whose tick is it anyway?” answered Tom.
The boys were so involved in their game that they didn’t notice the hush that had come over
When school was let out for lunch, Becky was waiting for Tom. The two walked off together to a secret place in the yard behind the school.
For a while, Tom drew on his slate as Becky, obviously impressed, watched him in silence. After some time, Tom looked up and asked, “Were you ever engaged, Becky?”
“I don’t know,” she answered. “What’s it like to be engaged?”
“Well, you just tell a boy that you won’t love anyone but him, ever, and then you kiss. Anyone can do it.”
At first, Becky hesitated, but Tom explained over and over again the importance of the kiss and the pledge of undying love.
When Becky agreed, Tom kissed her. Then he relaxed and told her of the rest of the agreement.
“We’ll always walk to school together, and at parties you choose me and I choose you. We’ll always be together, when nobody is looking, that is.”
“It’s so nice. I never heard of being engaged before,” whispered Becky with a sigh.
“Oh, it’s a lot of fun! Why me and Amy Lawrence…”
Becky’s wide eyes filled with tears, and Tom realized he had made a terrible mistake. He tried to comfort Becky and explain that he had no feelings for Amy anymore. But Becky would hear none of it. She turned her face to the wall and went on crying.
Tom got up and walked around the schoolyard for a while. Then he returned to Becky’s
Tom reached into his pocket for his most important treasure—a brass doorknob. He passed it to Becky and said, “Please, Becky, won’t you take it?”
Becky threw the doorknob on the ground.
Tom got up and stomped out of the schoolyard. He headed for the hills outside of town and didn’t return to school at all that afternoon.
Becky soon regretted her actions and began looking for Tom everywhere/She called his name over and over, but there was no answer. She had no companions but silence and loneliness, so she sat down to cry again.
As the rest of the students filed back into the school, Becky looked hopefully for some sign of Tom, but it was too late. Her heart was broken, and she was sure she had lost him forever.