A Ghost In The Closet. Mabel Maney

about so urgently?” Jackie pumped her chum.

      Midge shook her head. “I don’t know anything that goes on around here,” she admitted. “But I do know someone stayed up pretty late last night,” she teased, adding hastily, “not that I was eavesdropping or anything. It’s just that when I got up in the middle of the night to get Velma a glass of water I heard voices coming from the porch. Frankly, it sounded like an astronomy lecture out there—” Midge stopped kidding when she saw the glum expression on her friend’s face. “Didn’t the date go well?” Midge asked.

      “It was the best time I’ve ever had!” Jackie exclaimed, adding, “That is, until we got home. I don’t know what happened! We dined and danced and talked for hours—long enough to make me certain that Cherry’s the girl for me! When I brought her back here, we sat on the swing for an eternity, but each time I got up the nerve to kiss her, she’d start pointing out constellations,” Jackie lamented, adding, “Although last night wasn’t a total waste. I did learn everything a girl could ever want to know about the Big Dipper.”

      She put her head in her hands and groaned. “Now I want her more than ever,” Jackie admitted. She was beginning to think she would never get to Cherry, at least not while they were under Nancy’s roof.

      “You mean you two were together practically the whole night and you still haven’t even kissed her?” Midge cried in alarm.

      Jackie nodded gloomily. “Pathetic, isn’t it? How long were you alone with Velma before—you know—”

      “Ten minutes,” Midge grinned.

      Jackie’s jaw dropped open. “You kissed Velma after just ten minutes?” she cried.

      “She kissed me,” Midge set the record straight.

      “And you let her?” Jackie gasped.

      Midge coolly lit a cigarette. Then a big grin lit up her face. “I could tell the minute I met Velma that she wasn’t just any girl. As far as I was concerned, she could do whatever she wanted.”

      “Cherry’s not just any girl, either,” Jackie cried. “Why, you could safely say, when it comes to Cherry, there’s no one else like her!”