Riley

27

Riley put her hands in her hair in anger. "Nineteen?! Are you kidding me?! What did I do wrong this time?"

On the other side of the table, Sally rose from her seat and snapped at her friend. She glanced at the expression, then at the calculations. In the last period, math homework no longer held any secrets for her; doing it was both a moment of relaxation and a moment of fun.

She mumbled something, then said in surprise, "It's strange. If you do fourteen minus two and then add seven, the result you get is nineteen. That is correct."

"But the result in the book is twenty-seven!" replied Riley annoyed. "This is the fourth time I've tried this expression again! I don't understand why I can't get the result right!"

Sally looked briefly at her notebook. "Do you want to copy all the calculations from my notebook?"

Riley jumped up offended; she found that proposal humiliating and slightly offensive. Recopy work done by another person? What's more, done by her best friend? The exercise was simple, so she was able to find the error and get the result in the book!

"I'm not stupid!" she exclaimed. "I made a mistake in my calculations, all I have to do is find it et voila the exercise is over!"

Sally assumed an interdicted look. "Take my notebook, compare the calculations, and stop making this scene? I never called you stupid."

Riley sighed and returned to her seat, after which her friend did likewise and handed her her notebook.

"Sorry I reacted that way," she began apologetically, taking the notebook. "In the last few days, I've been feeling... stupid."

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Sally interestedly. "You know you can trust me."

Riley gave both notebooks a quick read, but could not find the error and slumped back in her chair stymied. She felt a slight wet feeling in her pull-up; peeing would make it easier.

"Mom and Dad are always nervous, school is always more difficult, and Theo is always more distant," she spoke bitterly. "Why is it always like this? I try my best, but it's like it's not enough."

"Are your parents nervous? But every time I come here they are calm and happy," Sally pointed out naturally.

"They are good at hiding their emotions," replied Riley sadly "Mom is very worried about you and Dad is doing everything he can not to get fired. Do you remember the last math test?"

Her friend nodded. "You had gotten, a B right?"

She grimaced. "D."

Sally was astonished by the answer. She wondered how it was possible that her best friend would soon have such a low grade. They often studied together, when she had any problem she would tell her and she would help her. How come she hadn't told him earlier? She told her sorry, "I bet your father didn't take it well."

"Dad is very... strict with grades. And yes, he didn't take it well."

"Geez... what did he say to you?"

Riley was silent for a moment. She remembered every single word, remembered them as if she had been punched in the stomach. Mimicking his tone to the best of his ability, she said, "D?! How did you get a D?! Did you turn in the blank paper! Only a fool would get a D!"

A tear fell from one eye, at the same time wetting the pull-up.

Sally got out of her chair and walked over to Riley. She hugged her, just as she had done the day before with Theo. She found it distressing that her best friends were going through a turbulent and dark time; their problems were more important than hers.