"Baptizing" Summary

Del is in her third year of high school. Naomi has switched to Commercial classes, while Del continues in her academic-level studies. Naomi has also gotten a job in the office of the creamery. This is the beginning of the final stages of their separation as friends. Their lives are now following two different paths.

Del goes to visit Naomi at work one day and is astonished and disgusted at the transformation in her. Seeing Naomi interact with her colleagues solidifies in Del's mind that they will never again be the kind of friends they once were. To her, Naomi is putting on a "charade," with her nail polish and fancy, adult clothes. Del's feelings toward Naomi's new persona are summed up in one phrase: "I was amazed and intimidated by her as her boring and preoccupied self."

Once again, Del's...