Valentin's nostrils flared. "It's funny how you keep pivoting back to me. Both of us behaved poorly, but you expected better of me?" Valentin rose to his feet. "That is you, admitting you're applying double standards. You have a ton of excuses for James' behavior, but at some point, that shouldn't matter. You reap what you sow, right? But he had a bad childhood, so that makes it okay?"
Valentin gestured to the space to the right of him, progressively more angry as he talked. "Perhaps it would have been constructive to have James sit in on this conversation, so I could defend myself to him. So he could provide his own reasons for treating me like dirt at every corner, instead of having you fill in the blanks. But I suppose that would have made you face up to your own hypocrisy. My words were harsh, yes, but my actions do not exist in a vacuum. I was not unprovoked and for you to heap all the blame on me..."
Valentin shook his head, stepping back, not sure if he wanted to end this conversation like this. His respect for Mr. Farrowe had already taken a big hit after the teacher immediately sided with James last time, but he had tried to hold on to what was left of it. Mr. Farrowe was his Head of House after all. Valentin rubbed his eyes, realizing it would not be long before he would start crying out of frustration. "If I am James' mentor and he is mine, shouldn't he have acted as my mentor too?"