"Sneaky caretaking. They don't prepare us for this in school, you know," Brinley shook her head, "but then again, nobody expects their fellow students to suddenly be starving and living off the streets and likely spending their money on alcohol. You know, I've only heard about that happened with old war veterans." She was frowning again and she couldn't help it.
They were too young for this. Too young to see their friends already facing that. Brinley didn't want to see any of her friends dealing with that.
Brinley then winced when Keara shared about her own mistake. "Well, he'll need to get over it eventually. He may not feel like talking to you now, but that doesn't mean he won't talk to you forever, right? He can be quiet and personal, but he's not an asshole." At least not the sort of asshole who completely wrote people off for a slip of the tongue.