Tina Kwee was not normally one to sulk. Although she had her share of frustrations—Chaz's constant interruptions and insults, for one, she never let them keep her down. She preferred to face her problems head-on rather than wallow in them. Today, however, an argument with her parents had put her in a bad mood. She didn't even bother to protest when Chaz cut her off as usual during their morning announcements.
The rest of the morning passed her by in a sort of daze, and her mind kept wandering back to the argument, much to her frustration.
Tina was jerked from her thoughts during math class, when Mrs. Ping handed back everyone's test scores. She hurriedly shoved the paper into her backpack without looking at the red number marked on top.
By the time lunch came, her sulky mood had spiraled into a state of frustration, now accompanied by dread. When she finally worked up the nerve to pull the test from her backpack, her heart sank. Great. A terrible score was just what she needed to take home to her parents, on top of everything else.
To her disdain, she felt the wet prick of tears sting her eyes. She couldn't have a breakdown here, in front of everyone! Especially with Chaz hanging around, who would most likely laugh and draw even more attention to her.
Abruptly, she stood and slipped out of the café, not even sure where she was going. Somewhere quiet and close by, where she could take a moment to compose herself before continuing on with the day. Her first thought was the detention room, as it would be empty today. Its usual resident had been absent all morning, who knows what he was doing instead. She plunked herself down into one of the graffiti-decorated chairs, grateful for the chance to be alone. Unless you included the sleeping detention monitor, who didn't really count.
The threat of tears was just beginning to recede when she was startled by a hollow banging from directly above. Tina looked up to see Lee Ping tumble from the vents, landing with an undignified crash. He stood, catching his breath and dusting himself off.
When he turned and saw Tina, he jumped.
"What are you doing here?" they said simultaneously.
"I thought you were skipping school!" Tina exclaimed, crossing her arms indignantly.
"Me? Nah, I've just been… investigating things. I showed up in time for lunch detention but I, uh—snuck out."
"Why am I not surprised," she scoffed. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna rat on you, as long as you don't tell anyone I was here, too."
"Wait—then what are you doing here?" Lee said. "The only way I could see you getting detention is for punching Chaz in the face, or something."
"No! Look, I'm not in trouble or anything, I just… needed to go somewhere quiet for a minute."
"What, you couldn't find the library?"
"Ugh! Just leave me alone," Tina huffed, her eyes beginning to burn again.
"Hey, you alright?" Lee asked, his voice switching from teasing to concern.
"Nothing. I'm fine. Well—okay, maybe I'm not fine," she admitted. "But you wouldn't understand."
"Aw, come on, don't be so sure." He settled into one of the chairs next to her, and although Tina acted irritated, she was secretly comforted. "What's got you down? Was Chaz getting to ya?"
"No. It's my parents," she muttered, not meeting his eyes. They had been on enough adventures together for Tina to trust Lee, at least a little bit, but she was used to dealing with her problems without any help. Despite this, she still found herself able to open up a little more. "They're just always going on about Ruby and how great she is, and it's always "Why can't you be more like your sister, Tina? Tina, you've got to make the Kwee family proud!" Everyone just has all these expectations for me since the rest of my family is so smart, and I'm sick of it!" She stopped suddenly, realizing her face was hot with a few escaped tears.
Lee was silent for a moment. He hated to see her upset, but didn't quite know what would be the best way to help her.
Finally, he spoke. "Y'know, I do understand that. I mean—well, you know my mom. She's always expecting me to make perfect grades and excel in everything I do. She's barely spoken to me since the whole… prank incident, aside from the usual lectures about good behavior."
Tina nodded slowly. She had figured that Mrs. Ping was strict with her son at home, but it was good to know she wasn't the only one with parents like that.
"It's hard because—I do love her, and I want her to be proud of me," Lee continued, picking up speed as he spoke and trying to keep from stumbling over his words. "I just hate feeling like I can never measure up to her standards. I guess that must be what it's like with your parents, huh?"
Tina nodded again. "Exactly. It's terrible, and I hate having all these expectations on me, maybe I'm just not as smart as everyone wants me to be."
There was another moment of silence, as they both mulled over their own thoughts. "Well, for what it's worth…" Lee said hesitantly. "I think you're really smart. And the best reporter any school could ask for. Even if your parents don't see that." He offered an awkward smile, and she smiled back at him gratefully.
"Thanks," she said softly, rubbing under her eyes to erase any trace of tears. "And you're not so bad yourself, whether or not you did the prank."
She stood up and slung her backpack over one shoulder, glancing at the clock. "I'd better get out of here before Barrage shows up to check on you," she said.
Lee stood as well, wanting to add some last expression of comfort to her before she left. Awkwardly, he leaned over to give her a quick side hug.
She was surprised, but the gesture was sweet. She lingered in the hug for a moment, giving him one last smile before exiting the room. Lee's heart skipped a beat as he sat back down, still feeling a bit dazed by the whole exchange.
When Barrage thundered into the room and bellowed his usual dismissal announcement, Ping barely noticed, he was so caught up in his thoughts of Tina.
He was glad that he had been able to help her feel better, but she probably didn't realize that she had done the same for him.