Author's Note: I'm really trying to pull the story together. It makes sense to me, but if it doesn't make sense to you, send me an e-mail that way I can try to edit it. Also, I'm really not going to include a lot of dialogues that take place in the classroom, except pertinent information. Some of the parts may seemed a bit rushed, but I'm just trying to get to the nitty gritty of the story.

Setting: Outside Miss Liza's Hotel and restaurant

Josiah grabbed Marita's suitcases right out of her arms before she had a chance to speak. "Where you headin?" Josiah asked.

"Thank you but, I can manage them."

"My mama always taught me that I should always help a lady, specially one as pretty as you."

"Okay well I'm just going up the road."
"No problem," Josiah says as they start walking. "So, I saw you in Lexington. You from there?" Josiah asked

"Yes, yes I am."

"Are you gone be goin' to the college here?"

"Yes....I am."

"Good then maybe we can get to know each other," Josiah said with a big smile on his face as they reached Miss Liza's.

Marita not wanting to be rude says, "Well, I doubt that we'll have the time."

"Well, you can bet that Josiah Lewis is gonna get to know you, Miss......Miss"

"Marita...my name is Marita. Well thank you for your help, but it's late and I really better be going," Marita said as she took her suitcases from Josiah and walked into Miss Liza's.

Josiah runs after Marita, "Marita, Marita wait, I want to know"

"She's got business to take care of," a woman with fiery red hair yelled back.

Marita was now face to face with the red-haired woman. "Hello, I'm Marita"

"Yes Marita Peters, I've been waiting for you to get here. Here's a key to your room, it's 212. There are seven other girls from the college staying here, and your roommate is Anne. Go ahead and go up and get some rest. When you're finished with class tomorrow, you'll come here and I'll fill all of you in on your duties. Marita unlocked the door and went into the room. As soon as she walked in, Anne jumped up. "Is that you Marita?"

"Yes, it's me," Marita responded.

Marita and Anne made their introductions, and Marita went to put on her nightgown for bed, and just then she remembered Sean's shirt. She had second thoughts about putting it on, because Anne might ask why, but right now she really needed a taste of home, better yet, she needed to feel Sean. Marita put on Sean's shirt and slipped the silver ring onto her left ring finger and settled into bed just after midnight. She could smell Sean's manly scent, and this made her long to be with him even more. That night, Sean also went to bed thinking of Marita. He also put the ring on his left ring finger.

The next morning, Marita along with all of the other girls, ate breakfast and began their walk to the school. Marita walked at the back of the pack and didn't really engage in conversation with the other girls.

"Uh, excuse me," Marita turned around to see a young, white man talking to her.

"Yes?" Marita said

"Are you headed to the college?"

"Yes"

"Good then, I'm going the right way." Marita was a little puzzled as to why the young white man would even be going to college.

"May I ask why you are going to the college?" Marita asked

"To become a teacher"

"Yeah, but it's for coloreds"

The young man burst out laughing, "What, I'm not colored enough for you?"

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't tell."

"It's alright. I pass for white all the time. My ma is half, and I'm a quarter, but that's enough to get into the college. Just yesterday, I rode in the "whites-only" section of the train. So, where are you from?"

"Lexington, Kentucky" Marita responded.

"What a coincidence, I'm from Richmond, Kentucky which is only about 30 miles from there. My father does business with some people there. What's your name?"

"Marita Peters," Marita responded

"Hmm, I don't know any Peters, but I'm Shawn Ferguson, nice to meet you," Shawn said as he extended his hand.

Marita's eyes popped open when she heard his name, "What a coincidence," she thought to herself. She extended her hand, and they shook briefly. They were just about to the school. Marita took a minute and took a short glance at Shawn. He was very tall, about 6'5. His complexion was a little bit lighter than Sean, and he was a little bit heavier than Sean in weight. Marita could also see that he had very large muscles and unusually large hands. He had hazel-green eyes, and his hair was blondish, and it had a slight wave to it. He really didn't look colored at all. Marita had to admit, that he was actually very handsome, of course in her eyes, he didn't hold a candle to her Sean. By the time that they made it to the school, all of the other students were there waiting also. Then the doors opened and they were led into a large classroom with black chalkboards all around the classroom.

Location: Classroom

The woman spoke first, "Ladies on the right side, and gentlemen on the left side. We want all of you to have your attention on the subject at hand, and not the person sitting next to you. I am Miss Thomas and this is Mr. Harper. We will be your instructors for the next three months. If there are any questions or any problems please don't hesitate to come and speak with us. We will have office hours before class from 7:30 am - 8:00 am, and after class from 12:15 pm - 3:00 pm."

Marita listened to the way that Miss Thomas spoke. She didn't even sound colored. Marita assumed that this was because of her education. Marita thought about all the times that other colored people had told her that she didn't talk like a colored or act like a colored, they all said that it was because she was raised with the Logans. "Hmmm" she laughed to herself. "They're really gonna think that I'm `white' now.

Miss Thomas is still talking, "This will be a very intense course. Your work placements really should not hinder your performance in this course. You will work in your placements as needed from 12:15 until no later than 7:00 pm everyday. Today, there will be a general introduction, but tomorrow we will get right into the meat of it all. Now, posted on that board at the back of the room is the schedule for the next three months." Marita kept looking around the classroom of 30 students. There were 16 ladies and 14 gentlemen. After making introductions and going over the requirements, the instuctors allowed for a 15 minute break.

Everyone got up to go and use the restrooms which were outside. Marita was second in line to use the ladies restroom. While Marita was in the restroom, Shawn was standing waiting in line for the men's restroom.

"Man, you see dat that girl?" a young man asked another guy in line.
"Yeah man, she gone be my wife by the end of this semester," the other young man said back

Marita is now walking out of the restroom.

"Well, it sure is a shame dat she gone be your wife since you don't even know her name and I already done got her," Josiah said as he approached Marita.

"Hello beautiful Marita, you sho do look purty tuday," Josiah said loudly enough for all the other young men to hear.

"Thank you, Josiah. I better be going back to class now," Marita said as she promptly exited the scene and as all the young men watched her leave, including Shawn.

"See there, she couldn't wait tu get away from you," one of the young men told Josiah

"Naw, yall watch and see. If you pay close attention, yall gone learn more than teachin' this semester. Josiah knows what a lady likes."

Location: Lexington, KY: Ned's office

"Good morning Vivian, how are you?" Ned asked politely.

"Oh, I'm very well, I just thought that I'd check in to see if I could be of any assistance," Vivian responded sweetly.

"Assistance with what?" Ned asked back

"With filing, drafting, or anything else that hasn't been done since Marita left."

"Well, Marita's only been gone for a few days, so there's not that much to do, but I think that I can manage it," Ned said.

"Oh nonsense, Mr. Logan, I've got a great deal of experience in this area, and I insist that you let me help. Besides, I'm sure that you've got other matters to attend to. Just show me where to begin," Vivian said.

"Well, here's a list of correspondence that needs to go out, you can sit in Marita's desk."

"Great, I'll get started," Vivian said as she sat down at Marita's desk. She noticed that Marita's things were still there. "Why hasn't he moved her things?" Vivian wondered. Looking at the desk, Vivian was able to tell a lot about Marita. She could see how neat and orderly everything was. There were also several personal items left on the desk. There was a Christmas ornament that had "Merry Christmas from Lexy" on it, and there was a painted rock that was engraved, "Happy 15^th Birthday, From Sean" that was being used as a paperweight. Vivian opened the drawer to pull out a piece of parchment. There was a small box in the drawer that had a lock on it. "Wonder what's in there?" Vivian wondered. Vivian worked on the correspondence and by the time that she finished it was just before lunch.

"Well, what else can I help you with?" Vivian asked

"That'll be all Marita, you can go to lunch," Ned replied.

Vivian gasped, "Excuse me, you called me Marita."

"Oh I did, I'm sorry. I'm just used to her being here," Ned laughed lightly.

Vivian was really aggravated by Ned's little slip, but she reminded herself, "I've got to be better than Marita."

"You've done good work, I really do appreciate it. I'm sure that you've got better things to do with your day. I can handle it form here," Ned said nicely.

"Are you sure?" Vivian asked again as she stood up to leave

"Of course, thanks again Vivian," Ned said as he walked to the door. When he went to open the door, he saw Sean coming towards him. "Pa, I went to see Ted Livingston, and he said that," Sean stopped talking when he saw that Vivian was there.

"Hello Sean," Vivian said oozing with sweetness.

"Hello, Vivian," Sean replied back.

There was a dead silence for a while before Vivian spoke again, "Please Sean, don't stop on account of me, I was on my way out. I'll see you tomorrow Mr. Logan," Vivian said as she breezed through the door and out of the house.

"Tomorrow, what are you gonna see her about?" Sean asked

"I have no idea. She came by here today insisting that I needed some help. So, I let her prepare some correspondence for me, but I really do need to go ahead and hire someone. I can't let dated materials stack up. But, I have no idea of what she meant tomorrow. I guess, we'll see tomorrow," Ned said.