[English classroom, lunchtime (ish?)]

[spoil_the_child]

[Ursula steers Leslie into the English class, closing the door behind them. Sitting the sniffling student in a chair and handing her a box of tissues, Ms. Zandt perches herself on her desk at the front of the room and folds her arms

Comments

[cateyemask]

[Sniffles and covers her eyes.]

I- don't know.

[spoil_the_child]

[She closes her eyes briefly. Where the hell is the guidance counselor when you need her? She knows how to deal with this sort of thing. Taking a breath, she opens her eyes again and smiles slightly. Still dry, but with a touch of humor:]

I've never yet met a crying teenage girl who didn't want to talk about what was upsetting her. At length. Are you afraid I'll be grading you for style and grammar? Perish the thought. [In a calm but 'let's get back to business' tone:] Now, what did poor young Mr. Dreiberg do to get you so agitated?

[cateyemask]

[Leslie holds her breathe for a second to try and calm down. Her mind is still reeling from the last few days and every that had happened.]

I- just- he-

[Leslie pauses again and takes a deep breathe before letting it all spill out in a flood.]

Dan doesn't even notice me! He hates me all he did was go on and on about Laurie and that cow is chasing after Jon. And he still wouldn't give up. And now Dan might like Adrian and this is just causing constant bickering between I and Adrian. And that frog blew up on me in class and I feel like I'm already failing everything. AND RORSCHACH HAS PASTED THE HALLWAYS WITH "LESLIE IS A PROSTITUTE" AND MR. VEIDT AGREES.

And-

[Leslie hiccoughs again and wipes at her face furiously thinking about it all.]

Why is Dan so obvilous to the fact that I love him!?

[spoil_the_child]

[Ursula waits for a moment to make sure the outburst is over, then leans forward to pull another tissue out of the box and hand it to Leslie.]

Let's see here. I'm sorry to hear that the exploding frog incident affected you...quite so much, but I'm sure that Mr. Dreiberg won't let it happen again. I'm certain you're not failing all of your classes; if nothing else, you're doing well in English [she almost mentions homework from the day Leslie missed class, but stops herself] and I've heard good things about you from your other teachers. And I'm sure [she corrects herself] fairly sure that Mr. Veidt did not intend to say or imply that you are a prostitute. I think he was making a joke at Mr. Dreiberg's expense.

[She hesitates for a moment, then goes on] The rest of your concerns seem to focus on young Dan Dreiberg. Hmm. If nothing else, I am fairly certain that flailing and frantic apologies and hugging, however inept, are signs of hatred. [She looks at Leslie to see how she is taking this.]