VERONA TAPPED her pencil against the desk. Two more minutes until she was released to her weekend.
Sighing, she gathered her stuff to walk to her car. It was a beat-up old thing, but it was comfortable and had good memories. She had break-ups in there and reunions, and she wouldn't trade the thing for all the shiny cars in the world.
Verona swore softly as she remembered she needed to grab a book from the library. She headed toward the school.
They were reading the Canterbury Tales next, and she still hadn't ordered the book online. The library probably had it though.
Verona ruffled through the shelves, breathing in the lingering smell of books. She liked the smell of bookstores a lot, but sometimes, libraries didn't smell as good.
Verona paused. She heard sniffling from behind the shelf. Debating with herself, she snuck a glance to see who it was.
"Emilia?" Verona crooned softly.
"Verona?' Emilia sniffled, making a hurried attempt to wipe away her tears.
"What's wrong, Emilia?" Verona asked, crouching down on the ground next to her.
Emilia tried to smile, "It's nothing."
"Well, you're crying, so I'm sure it's something."
"It's stupid." Emilia said, "You're probably tired from the week and want to go home. You don't want to listen to me cry."
"If I didn't want to listen to what you wanted to say, I wouldn't be sitting here." Verona said impatiently, "Now start talking."
Emilia held up a paper for Verona to see.
"I got a D on my Trigonometry quiz." Emilia said, "I know it's really stupid to be crying about this, but I feel like an idiot."
"Oh, Emilia." Verona sighed.
"It's just, I'm failing Trig, and I don't know. I feel so worthless. I just don't get why I can't figure it out."
"That's not true." Verona said, "You are really smart."
"No, I'm not. I'm failing a bunch of my classes, pretty much."
"Your grades don't reflect your intelligence." Verona countered.
"They do! Everyone knows you're super smart and brilliant and talented." Emilia sniffed again, "Why is it so hard for me?"
Verona blinked. She wasn't good at emotional comfort, but she could always offer a practical solution.
"It's hard for you because we're two different people." Verona stated factually "But if you don't want to fail Trig, you need a solution. Why don't you ask Roman to tutor you?"
Emilia gazed at Verona with wide eyes, "I can't ask him, because he's already so stressed and has so much on his plate. I don't want to give him more."
"We both know Roman wouldn't mind."
"But I would mind," Emilia replied.
Verona sighed this time. She already knew what she would say, and she was already regretting it.
"I'll tutor you in Trig." Verona offered grudgingly.
Emilia perked up, "Really?"
"Yeah."
"Are you sure? I don't want to give you more to do."
"I said I would tutor you." Verona tried for a smile, "You can repay me by passing with flying colors."
"Thank you!" Emilia jumped up, giving Verona a hug, "You are really great!"
"No problem," Verona replied, wondering why she had even offered.
"You won't regret this!"
She was already starting to.
~~~
dedicated to sedatative, the only reason I updated three times in a row.