The Secret Club

During lunch recess, they slipped through the gate and into Dana’s backyard playhouse. We heard that the four boys and four girls in The Secret Club played kissing games! It was scandalous and illicit, and I so wanted to be a member! Returning from recess one afternoon, their eight desks were empty. Those of us who knew feigned ignorance. From our classroom window, the deserted playground looked ominous. Eventually the gate opened, and the club members filed out slowly, heads down. Parents were called, and the gate was chained and locked. Getting caught was surely catastrophic for them, but it offered me a second chance to vie for fourth-grade popularity.