Anastasia
They both start to open up to each other.
Gerald
hello, ma'am
i have a question about the paper again
Anastasia
Hi, Gerald!
What about the paper?
Gerald
i'm not sure if you mentioned this when you assigned it to us
and i apologize in advance if it was mentioned and i missed it
but i was wondering if there's a word or page limit to it
Anastasia
I didn't mention that, no
I didn't really have any kind of limit set for it 🤔
Since you're asking about a limit and not a minimum, I'm assuming you're worried you'll go over it?
Gerald
yes...
i'm currently at 2 pages
but i think i might end up going over 3 by the time i finish
Anastasia
Oh my
I see you've got a lot to share for this one!
Gerald
kind of, yes
it's a lot of reflection and sharing of some personal experiences
if 4 pages is too much, please let me know
i can probably cut some of it out and lower it to 3 pages
Anastasia
You’re very thoughtful, Gerald
But don’t worry
I can handle reading 4 pages perfectly fine
In fact, if you need it
You can go beyond that and write 5
But I have to ask you to stop there as a maximum
Gerald
of course, ma'am
i'll try to limit it to 4 pages max
and i'll edit it well so it's as easy a read as possible
Anastasia
I'd be grateful for that 😌
I do enjoy reading, especially papers written by students
But sadly there are only 24 hours in a day and we humans need to eat and sleep 😅
Gerald
yes, of course
i'll keep that in mind, ma'am
Anastasia
Great!
Gerald
by the way, ma'am
i just wanted to say i'm really thankful to you
Anastasia
Oh my
What for?
Gerald
honestly, ma'am
i've still been having some trouble fitting in here
but your class especially has helped keep me from overthinking that issue
of course, i knew that starting over in a new school would be difficult
but i guess it's proving to be a bit harder than i thought
i don't regret it, of course
what i'm experiencing here is worlds easier than what i had to go through in my last uni
but it's still been hard
Anastasia
Aww 😔
You know, Gerald
I understand what you mean
Gerald
you do?
Anastasia
I do
Of course, the situations are different
In your case, it's transferring schools and struggling to start over in a literally new environment
In my case
\My divorce was the real turning point
Gerald
oh...
that was before Dan and i met, right?
Anastasia
It was
It was a mutual decision as well
No one else was involved in the decision, nor did anyone else cause it
But Dan's father and I had built a life together for years
That ending...
And the ache of rebuilding everything pretty much from scratch
Gerald
i can only imagine...
Anastasia
But like you
I don't regret my decision either
The loneliness I felt afterwards
The hard times I faced post-divorce
They were undeniably difficult
But I comfort myself with the thought that if I stayed in that marriage
If I had not gone through with the divorce
Things would've likely been harder for me
Do you think that could be true for you too?
Gerald
i honestly never thought about it before
but i think you're right
Anastasia
Then
Hopefully that thought will help you get through this 😌
For now though, I have to go
I have some errands to run
Gerald
of course
i'm sorry for holding you up, ma'am
Anastasia
You didn't, so don't apologize!
And in response to the gratitude you expressed
You're welcome 😊
I'm definitely looking forward to reading your paper, Gerald
Gerald
i appreciate that, ma'am
i hope it ends up being a worthwhile read for you
Anastasia
Considering your previous outputs, I'm sure it will be 😌
Gerald
thank you for your time, ma'am
take care
Anastasia
Thanks!
He doesn’t know why, but he keeps this a secret not only from Daniel…
Daniel
hey, man
can i crash over at your place today?
Gerald
hey, Dan
i’d say yes but
i’m not home right now
Daniel
that’s fine
unless your mom minds me coming over without you home?
Gerald
i’m sure she wouldn’t mind
you’ve done it before
Daniel
good because i’m about to head over
Gerald
you can’t
Daniel
why not?
Gerald
because mom’s not home either
we’re out doing groceries at the moment
Daniel
damn it
you gonna be home soon?
Gerald
not sure
but mom mentioned we’d be going on a few errands
so chances are it’ll be at least a few more hours before we do
Daniel
how many we talking?
Gerald
i’d guess like 3 or so
less than 3 if you’re lucky
Daniel
damn it
Gerald
why?
what’s going on?
Daniel
just annoyed af at mom
Gerald
what did she do?
Daniel
she kept nagging me
Gerald
that’s nothing new though? lol
Daniel
i guess but
nagging at me when i was a kid and nagging at me when i’m in freaking college are 2 very different things
she keeps fussing over how i’m doing in school
whether i’m studying or not
even yapped about what one of my profs told her
Gerald
what did your prof tell her?
Daniel
that i fell asleep in his class
which i didn’t!!!
i was visibly sleepy, sure
i’ll give him that
and idk how he worded it to mom but
she acted like he told him i laid on top of the tables and passed out cold while class was going on
DON’T LAUGH
Gerald
oops lol sorry
it’s a funny visual
why would that prof make it sound that way to your mom anyway?
Daniel
beats me, man
i swear that guy has it out for me and i have no idea why
that’s not even the biggest issue
Gerald
what is then?
Daniel
that she still can’t leave me tf alone
sure, i’m not a star student by any means
but i’m not flunking any of my classes
not even close
at the very least, i’d say i’m average
Gerald
i never imagined your mom to be like that
she’s really nice and warm to her students
she was super nice to me before i became her student too
Daniel
ofc
parents are always nicer to your friends than they are to you
Gerald
hmm
Daniel
what?
Gerald
i guess you have a point
Daniel
ofc i do
anyway
i’m gonna find some other place to hang out
might still go to your place though so lmk when you get home
Gerald
sure, man
…but also from his mom.
Gerald's Mom
Hi, dear
I'm going to be home a bit late today
Gerald
okay, mom
Gerald's Mom
I haven't asked recently
Gerald
huh?
Gerald's Mom
How's school going?
Gerald
oh
it's been going fine
Gerald's Mom
Have you made any friends?
Gerald
not really friends
but i've met a few people
Dan introduced me to some of his friends too
Gerald's Mom
So you've made acquaintances
That's a good start
Gerald
yeah
Gerald's Mom
You are trying to make friends though, right?
Gerald
i try
Gerald's Mom
Are you sure?
Gerald
huh?
Gerald's Mom
You're not isolating yourself or anything like that?
Gerald
no
Gerald's Mom
Are you sure?
Gerald
lol yes i am, mom
Gerald's Mom
And no one's being mean to you or starting to bully you?
Gerald
no, mom
if it happens, i'll tell you
Gerald's Mom
As you should, dear
Please don't wait until you have no choice but to transfer to tell me
Gerald
i won't, mom
i promise
Gerald's Mom
Alright
Do you want me to bring anything specific for dinner later?
Gerald
maybe next time, mom
there's still some leftover pizza in the fridge
Gerald's Mom
Okay, dear
All the while, he continues to talk to her outside of classes, eventually feeling comfortable enough to share more personal things about himself to her.
Gerald
hello, ma'am
are you busy right now?
Anastasia
Hello, Gerald!
I have some free time
Do you have questions about the homework due tomorrow or something?
Gerald
i do
when are we required to finish reading Poor Economics again?
i have the deadline written in my notes as next week, but i'm not sure if you mentioned which day next week exactly
Anastasia
I did, but I think I said it more like an afterthought
Make sure you finish reading it by Thursday!
Gerald
so by our 2nd class, okay
Anastasia
Yup
Was that all?
Forgive me if I'm assuming things, but I feel like you have more to say
If you have other questions, feel free to ask them 😌
Gerald
actually...
it's not a question
more like a confession...
you asked if i was having trouble in my last uni
i said it wasn't a big deal
that was a lie
and i feel pretty bad about it...
Anastasia
What actually happened in your old school, Gerald?
Gerald
i was bullied
i don't really want to go into the details of what they did
but i thought i could grit my teeth through it til i graduated
but i couldn't take it
Anastasia
Gerald...
Gerald
i know i didn't have to take it
but i didn't really want to cause trouble
and the sem had already started, so i couldn't just pull out of school
so i tried to get through it and maybe it'd get better
but it didn't
Anastasia
Does your mom know about your real reason?
Gerald
she does
of course, she wasn't happy about it either
but i asked her to not make my transfer a big deal
so i just left that uni and transferred to this one, hoping for a fresh start somehow
i didn't tell mom how i felt about it and why i waited though
you know more than she does right now and i feel bad about that too...
Anastasia
Don't beat yourself up about it, Gerald
From the looks of it, you're slowly gathering your courage
I'm sure you'll tell her eventually
Gerald
i plan to, yeah...
Anastasia
And that's what matters
You're doing your best
Gerald
thank you, ma'am
i appreciate it a lot
Anastasia
Of course 😌
Gerald
i hope i didn't bring your day down with this talk Gerald: i should've asked if it was okay to talk about this first 😅
Anastasia
Don't worry about it
You gave me enough time to stop you if I didn't want to hear about this
You still seemed shy despite initiating the topic yourself 🤭
Gerald
umm thanks? 😅
anyway, i have to go help my mom with chores now
thank you again, ma'am
Anastasia
All right, I have chores to do myself
You're welcome, Gerald!
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