School

It was nearly midnight when the Friday night crush was over, and it was spooky, standing by the bus stop. Ruth shivered a little, standing there in her light waitress uniform. There was a big, bright full moon. She felt conspicuous and vulnerable. It would have been more sensible to change into my jeans, she thought. She could imagine a car full of men stopping and kidnapping her.

Finally, her bus came into sight, groaned and sneezed to a stop, and she got on, got into the warm security of the dark steel box with the familiar smells, body odor, diesel fumes, stale perfume, and she could see a few familiar forms of passengers stolid in their seats. In the anonymity of the dark bus, humming slowly through the darkened streets, she finally felt more secure. No one was staring at her. No one was threatening her.

When Ruth got home, Mrs. Pronko had left the newspaper by her door. The headline read, "Student Found Dead." Ruth hurried inside, locked the door, and read all about it. A student