In the early stages of their friendship she had looked at him under half-closed lids and waited to see whether he intended stopping to say a word with her when they passed each other or came down the halls together.

She knew that their acquaintance would be noted and commented upon, and she knew how ready the other girls would be to say that she was bold and forward, so she was careful to let Donald make the advances, until he had called to her so often, and had dug flowers and left his friends waiting at her door while he delivered them, that she felt free to address him as she chose.

He had shown any interested person in the high school that he was her friend, that he was speaking to her exactly as he did to girls he had known from childhood.

He was very popular among the boys and girls of his class and the whole school.
His friendship, coming at the time of Linda's rebellion on the subject of clothes, had developed a tendency to bring her other friendships.
Boys who never had known she was in existence followed Donald's example in stopping her to say a word now and then.

Girls who had politely ignored her now found things to say; and several invitations she had not had leisure to accept had been sent to her for afternoon and evening entertainments among the young people.