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Will, tempted to simply close the door and go back to his work, instead waved De
“This. The work. The Academy. Any of it.” De
“Calm down, De
“I am so far behind,” De
“Can’t argue with that,” Will said with a smile, hoping to cajole De
De
“You need to relax, that’s all,” Will said. “When was the last time you went out and had some fun?”
“There’s no time for fun, Will,” De
Will found himself saddened and appalled at the same time. “De
“I have to, Will,” De
“No it’s not.”
“Easier, then. For you and the others. For Estresor Fil, the course work is a breeze. Even Felicia. But for me, I don’t know, it just doesn’t sink in. This stuff doesn’t come naturally. My dad’s a farmer, you know? Maybe I’ve got dirt in my veins.”
“You have blood, same as everyone else,” Will replied. Then, remembering some of the more alien types around, he amended himself. “Well, nearly everyone.”
“It doesn’t seem like I have much in common with anyone,” De
“Then you have what you need,” Will interrupted, his own work forgotten for now. “You can pick up the rest. You have the drive, the courage, the desire, De
“ Youthink I do. I used to think so. Now I’m not so sure.”
Will threw up his hands. “I don’t know what you want, De
De
“You’re my friend, De
“Thanks, Will.”
“So is there any way I can help you?”
“Well, that’s the thing,” De
“Tutor?” Will echoed. His first thought was just how time-intensive that would be, if De
“You’re the only one I’d even ask, Will,” De
“But—”
“I know it’d take a lot of your time, Will. Too much, probably, to catch me up. You could tutor somebody smart in no time at all, but I’m a losing proposition.”
“That’s not what I said,” Will objected.
“I know. And I do have one other idea. Something that’d take less of your time. It’d hardly put you out at all.”
“What’s that?”
“You could let me cheat off you,” De
Will didn’t even know how to answer that. Never mind that it was impractical. It could be done, he supposed, for some courses, though it’d be tricky and would require quite a bit of advance work. But it was so clearly unethical. ...
De
“De
“I know it’s a lot to ask, Will. Believe me, I know it is. I wouldn’t if I had any other choice. I’m going to fail, Will. I’ve never failed before, really, not at anything important. But I will this time, I just know it. And I don’t know how to handle that. I don’t know how to deal with it.” He paused and angled his head toward the floor. “I’m afraid.”
Will would have liked to have made a snap decision, which he knew would be the right one. He felt like he owed De
But neither did the alternatives. Giving De
And helping De
No, it didn’t take much thought to dismiss the idea of cheating. But the tutoring thing, now, that was harder. Because that made a certain amount of sense, at least from De
For De
This was a situation, Will knew, in which there was no way to win. There were only bad options, and the problem he faced was, which option was the least bad of the bunch? He resented De
As he paced around the room thinking about these things, he knew De