The student population had shifted drastically since "Progress day." Most of the black and white middle school teens and tweens were still attending their normal classes with only a few having moved away though their exact schedules were shifted to consolidate the smaller classes. For the other former students, only about a third still came to school regularly and none for actual education. For most, the school was simply a safe place for their new owners to stash them during the day when they weren't around to monitor them, having a place where one or two workers could watch a large number at a time via forced exercise, repetitive propaganda recitation, and long stretches of strict silence. Libby was lucky as she was part of the 10% of slaves who were brought to school every day who also belonged to another student. Because of this she wouldn't endure the long hours of mind numbing boredom mixed with physical exhaustion. Instead, she was privileged to spend the day following James from room to room and finding a spot on the floor next to whichever desk he sat at and as the lesson began she would scribble down notes, allowing James to focus all of his attention on the lesson. Of course no student ever spent all of the class paying attention, even less so now that they had official note takers. From time to time James' attention would wander to the squirrels outside the classroom window, or what he was going to have for lunch, or the big test later in the day, occasionally sneaking his hand down to stroke Libby's hair or rub her back a little when no one else was looking.

School wouldn't start for another 15 minutes and the first 30 minutes of every day was spent in homeroom, something the principal deemed unnecessary for slaves so Libby knew she had a solid 45 minutes before James would come to retrieve her and take her with him to first period. Because she wasn't going to spend all time in a holding class she was allowed to wait in what the staff had dubbed the "good girl" room. Here she was able to wait and rest peacefully with the other girls who had an owner to spend most of their days following without being forced to recite propaganda and run endless laps. While in this room she was allowed to chat with friends, gossip, and act like things were normal. For others, this was 30 to 45 minutes a day of deluding themselves into thinking everything was like it was. For Libby, these 30 minutes were just the little extra ray of sunshine in her day. For years she was an outsider, an outcast and even after Molly moved to Brighton most students still treated her like a fringe element. Now, however, she was an equal and even an object of jealousy. Though James did his best to keep his affection towards her under control while in public, it was not lost on any of the other girls in the room that she was special. She always had a little treat to munch on during the homeroom waiting period, she had a little green foam pad that she took with her from room to room to sit on rather than the hard linoleum, she only carried half of her owners books and supplies, James brought both his lunch and hers to school every day rather than forcing her to eat the 4 day old leftover school slop most of the others choked down. Girls in this room looked at her with envy.

Libby had barely said goodbye to James and sat down when the door to the class swung open again. She wondered if perhaps James had forgotten to tell her something and had return and started to stand but sat back down when she heard Andrea's voice.

"Get in there and wait patiently for me to come and get you. And don't embarrass me by acting like… well, like yourself McGee or else you can go back to scrubbing the floors all day at the store. Even your… friend Libby figured out how to behave faster than you so I expect you to make up for lost time." Andrea whined, shoving Molly into the holding room before slamming the door on her. Libby hid her smile as best she could until the door was closed. Not only was she happy to get to see Molly but it was impossible for everyone in the room not to notice how Andrea had to pause and catch herself when referred to Libby. It was clear that she had wanted to use an assortment of pejoratives when referring to the girl she had spent years ensuring was despised by others but now only referred to by name. Libby had assumed that James had said or did something to make Andrea keep her venom to herself and was simply being modest when he told her he hadn't done anything; Libby would never suspect that it had actually been Emilia who had scared the dime store princess into keeping a more pleasant tone.

"Molly, come, sit with me." Libby called out to her friend. Molly rushed over to Libby, hugging her best friend tightly.

"I'm so glad to see you. I wasn't sure if you'd be okay or not after the last time I saw you and that boy I'd never met came to take you away."

"Oh you don't have to worry about me, I'm doing okay. I was pretty nervous when I first met him too but James is so sweet and he makes sure I am safe. It's you I've been worried about. I really thought I would have seen you at school before now, what with Andrea liking to show off her possessions whenever she gets something new. I was scared something bad had happened to you since I hadn't seen you for over two weeks."

"Oh don't get me started about Andrea that little evil bitch!"

"MOLLY!" Libby yelped and squirmed, "Don't call her that. If she knew you were saying things like that about her she'd never let you come back to school again! James had to really schmooze Andrea to convince her to bring you here. You're going to make him look bad if you can't even go a whole day without badmouthing her."

"Wait, James convinced her to bring me? Why would he do that? I've never even met him aside from those five minutes out in the town square…"

"He knew that I've been missing you and wanted to get me something special and this seemed like the only way for us to get a chance to see each other right now."

"Wow, James actually doesn't sound anywhere near as bad as I'd imagine a guy who was ok with owning slaves would be." Molly said softly rubbing her arm absentmindedly as she tried to comprehend her familiar yet foreign environment.

"Technically he doesn't own me or my mom, his mom does." Libby corrected Molly.

"Still…"

"He's actually really amazing. I've been really lucky to get to spend so much time with him. You'll really like him too I'm sure."

"Lucky? Do you really think that, what with everything that's happened the last few weeks?" Molly asked Libby sincerely, "Three weeks ago this was our math classroom and now… now we're sitting in here patiently waiting for other people to come back and lug us around school making us do all their least pleasant tasks."

"Honestly, it's not 100% the best possible situation I can imagine nor is it what I'd imagine happening three weeks ago but honestly I think… no, I'm sorry I'm not going to say it I don't want to be rude. We only have a short time and I want to focus on happier things. So, what is it like living at Andrea's house?"

"No please, if there is something that I am missing that you understand please tell me! This is basically hell to me and you are taking it like it's not even a minor inconvenience. I want to know your secret!" Molly pleaded with Libby.

"I didn't think Buddhists believed in hell?"

"Are you… what? It's not the same kind of thing to them according to my Grandma but… Libby, you know I'm not Buddhist, right? When we would hang out on Sundays I would tell you about what I had done that morning in Sunday school."

"I… I guess I just thought Buddhist had Sunday school too." Libby admitted sheepishly, "But maybe that will be a good thing. Maybe Andrea will take you with her to church with her and I'll get to see you there."

"Libby, you're Jewish, why would you be at a Christian church?"

"James and his mother go to church. They have my mom stay home to run the store but they take me with them or at least they have the last two weeks. I saw Andre and her mother there last week."

"Really? I can't imagine Andrea doing something like that… but I suppose her mom and her were dressed up and leaving last Sunday when Mr. Davenport took me to work with him. But we're getting distracted. I need to know how you are able to handle living like this. What is the secret?"

"Do you really want me to tell you? You promise me you won't be upset?" Libby asked nervously, feeling the tingling around her wrists that forewarned the oncoming of anxiety hives.

"Yes, absolutely! You are my best friend and I could never be mad at you."

"Well, I don't really want to tell you this but… I kind of think part of why you are having such a hard time with all the recent changes is because… you are kind of spoiled." Libby explained, having to work up her courage to tell Molly the last few words.

"Wait, what? Spoiled? Me?" Molly asked confused, "You're joking, right? That's a joke to try and make me feel better? Good one Libby, you really got me with that one. But seriously, what's your secret?"

"No, I'm serious. Look… I'm not saying that you aren't a wonderful person but I just don't know if you've ever really appreciated all that you had before now."

"All that I had? What exactly do you think I had?" Molly asked confused.

"You had a great family for one thing."

"You had a great family too."

"Yeah, but I had a single mom who was loving but chronically overworked. You had two parents and a sibling that you loved and got along with. Now that I have those things I really realize how great your life was!" Libby explained.

"Libby, you don't have a sibling or two… parents… oh my god! Libby, are you counting James and his mom as your brother and second mother?" Molly asked, her mouth a gap.

"Well, not officially obviously…" Libby said softly, her cheeks turning red.

"Libby, look… I'll admit James sounds like a nice guy but… sweet baby corn, his mom is not your mom! His mom owns you and your mom. That is not something a parent would do. That's not even something a decent person would do."

"It's not perfect, but if every pork chop was perfect then we wouldn't have any hotdogs."

Molly and Libby were silent for an awkward few seconds.

"Did… did you just quote Steven Universe?"

"Yeah. It's one of James' favorite shows and we've been watching it before bed the last few nights. It's really helped with my insomnia being able to watch that and being all warm and snuggled. The only thing that would make it better is if I knew that you were warm and safe too…"

"I've really missed you…" Molly whispered, leaning her head against Libby.

"I've missed you too…" Libby whispered back.