“you signing up for the may day races? ” smiles mary louise, only it’s not a smile at all. a dumb question like that doesn’t deserve an answer. besides, there’s just me and gretchen standing there really, so no use wasting my breath talking to shadows. the narrative voice in this passage shows that squeaky has little respect for people she thinks are shallow. thinks mary louise is a worse friend than gretchen. is upset that gretchen and mary louise are unkind. believes that talking to people is a waste of time.