Eliaheburgerdown,wipedhishandskin,andlookedstraightintohereyes.Histonewascalm,butcarriedacertaintythatdidn’tallument.
“Usuallyfourtofivehours.Yes,it’sthesamestudioassttime.IfyoutakethebusfromTaipeiMainStation,it’saboutfourstops.Round-tripfareisthirty.”
Cradidthemathinherheadatlightnihirtyfortransportation,plushershareofafour-hourstudiofee—enoughtobankruptabudgetthatwasalreadyscrapingbottom.
She’dbarelystartedtofrown,alreadythinkingaboutwhereshecouldcutcosts,whenEliawordsslicedstraightthroughhertrainofthought.
“Thestudiofee,yourtransportation,andyourafternoonsnack—I’mcitall.Youjustshowup.”
Crafroze.
Shestaredattheboyacrossfromher,wholookedpletelyatease.Shehadn’tsaidaword.Shehadn’tpinedorshownweakness—notevenahint.Ahe’dseen,withunnervingaccuracy,everyexpenseshe’dbeencalginherhead…andthen,withthesamebluntdominancehealwayshad,heseveredherbiggestworryattheroot.
Crawasstillstunned,abouttoaskmorequestions—aboutequipment,aboutthesetlist—whenElianabruptlygedthesubject.
“Midtermsareweek.Whatareyourweakestsubjects?”
kedforhalfased,thenansweredoninstinct.“…Physideseliterature.”
SomethinglikeuandingflickeredthroughElian’seyes.Nowondershe’dbeenburninguplikethatandstillrefusedtoletgoofthateseliteraturereviewcss.
“Okay.”Eliannodded,liftedhisicedbcktea,andtookasip—casuasifheweretalkingabouttheweather.“Mygradesaregoodacrosstheboard,butifyouwaestwaytoraisethosetots,theSundayduringbandpractice,youaskA-PanandXiao-En小恩abouthowtheystudy.It’llprobablyhelpyoualot.Ifthereareproblemsyou’renotgoodat,ythemandaskthemdirectly.I’lltalktothemfirst.”
Helookedatherface—mouthslightlyopenfromsurprise—andfinallycouldn’tstopthefaismilefromtoughislips.
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