Character Analysis
Miss Larkins is a woman of about thirty and David's next serious crush after Miss Shepherd. He meets her at local dances and falls desperately, embarrassingly in love with her. He spruces himself up like an idiot, greases down his hair with bear grease (double ick!), and plucks up his courage to speak to her when he can. Whenever he can't see Miss Larkins directly, he greets her father, Mr. Larkins, on the street. He wants Mr. Larkins to like him because, after all, Mr. Larkins might be his future father-in-law!
And at a ball, David finally admits to Miss Larkins that he wants to dance with no one but her. She is flattered by his boldness – but seriously, David is 17 and she is 30. He's a little young for her. Finally, Agnes breaks the news to David that Miss Larkins is engaged to a hops salesman named Mr. Chestle. David is heartbroken (for a little while).