Re: The Schoolboy/The Witch
"My father believes a good understanding of law is essential to any profession of any merit," he offered blandly, the tone neither denying nor confirming his own feelings on the matter. Truthfully, the book was dull, and his own interest in the book had been only moderate in the first place, and now that they were stopped, that someone had perhaps disappeared, it held even less interest.
In inviting her to join him, however, his momentary anxiety had been pushed to the side by curiosity, which had not yet been stamped out by the uniform exterior, the dully entitled volumes he carried in his book bags, or the expectation of societal interactions in one class or another. She did not pretend, so he did not either; they were both old enough to know that had the train remained in motion, everything ordinary and expected that they would never have spoken. The night's unusual events had perhaps driven additional ones, and as anxiety had faded, anticipation had shifted into its place. Anticipation of what, exactly, Oliver couldn't say, but perhaps out of the eye of his parents, or the Headmaster, despite the badge on his collar that recognized and rewarded his ability to comply with and uphold authority with practiced ease, there was the promise of life - larger than leather bound tomes and adherence to tradition.
He turned his head in her direction, light brown eyes taking in her profile, and the wildness of the hair, and her laugh prompted a smile on his own lips. It was barely there, merely a promise of something that could be realized. "Home-schooled," he repeated credulously. He'd never heard of someone not attending a school, but now that he considered it, there was something in her mannerism that spoke to lacking the inhibitions that might be expected within a classroom. His mind conjured up in quick succession two images, one of someone wealthy enough to have their own governess, learning day in and day out on their own without other children around, while the second contained no one teaching her at all. Yet, clearly she could read, and so the schooling must have had some merit, and neither quite seemed likely to fit the girl next to him.
"I think that I could ask you the same," he tilted his head, his eyes twinkling. "How do you learn to speak to people other than your family if you are only at home? And yet here we both are, clearly able to speak when circumstance provides for it." And bolder yet, even, a question: "Do you like it very - home schooling I mean?"