give me truth.

Betty blinked, genuinely in shock. "Ah, you're----pardon, but you're asking me...?"

“The band room, I guess. It seems that telling the counselor I’ve played before somehow implied that I wanted to join.”

"Band room? Oh! Hey, you've got orchestra with me, then. I can take you there. What do you play, if I may ask...?"

“Nuh-uh. No way. Can you imagine Martha letting you do that? Nope. Textbooks are still banned. You’re lucky we allowed worksheets and essay corrections.”

"Alright, alright, Ronnie, I guess you're right. Don't want another family meeting to debate it, to be honest. Let's head to the library, yeah?"

“Well, let’s see if it’s humanly possible for my day to get any worse.”

"I'm sorry...? Are you okay? Do you need anything?"

Unfortunately, who'd ever he'd shoved out of his way ended up shoving Betty --- books and all --- in his way. "Ah! Oh, I'm sorry--- ! "

“I say we wait five more minutes, then go to the office to let them know Miss Flemming didn’t show up again. I have homework I could be doing right now.”

“Hmm, what do you got left to do? Y’know, I still think textbooks should be allowed on movie night...just once in a while...”

“Easy fix. Take a look at it for you, get a nine in no time. Don’t worry about it.”

“You are, once again, my lord and savior.”

He couldn’t possibly have been talking to her; she didn’t say anything. “---What?”

“Always.”

“It’s nice to meet you, I’m Betty. Erm, what’s your next class? I can take you there, or point you in the right direction if you’d rather not be babied around.” 

“Yeah, no problem! The one about cruelty as a central theme in literature, right?”

“That’s the one! I think my diction is a little choppy or something -- “ 

“Doubtful.”

“ ---If you’re lost....I can help you, if you want. You’re new, right?”

“Unfortunatelly. It bothers me that people in this world can be so ignorant. We came somewhat of a long way, but there’s still much to go.”

“Erm, I suppose so. R-Reverse....? Wow. What does that mean, exactly...? If I can ask.” 

“Oh, it’s for --- well, actually, I think I’ve forgotten. But, erm, don’t worry! You’ll get used to it soon, promise.” 

“Betty, you study longer and harder than anyone I know. Trust me, Lawrence’s Calc test is no match for you.”

“That’s really sweet, Veronica, thank you. But I do like being prepared and all. Oh! I wanted to ask you if you’d look over my essay from last week’s timed write --- if I can study, you can write.”   

“People...think that’s---that’s a thing?” She knew where this was going, and her head still cocked.

“Looks like it. Third time this week now, isn’t it?”

“I think so. What do you think she’s doing...? Hope she’s getting enough sleep ---”