Noah listened to her words with the attention they deserved.
Her story was not what he had expected. Pride and foolishness and the desire to experience something beyond the role she had been assigned, these were motivations he could understand even if he could not entirely relate to them. She had made herself lesser because being greater felt unearned. She had suffered because she refused to admit that her experiment had failed.
He could respect that, even as he refused to follow her advice.
"Where I grew up, there was a private school near the public school I attended."
His voice emerged with calm that matched her earlier composure.
"Vastly different institutions. The private school had uniforms and gates and parents who drove expensive vehicles. The public school had metal detectors and overcrowded classrooms and teachers who had stopped caring years before I arrived."
He observed her expression shift into curiosity at his unexpected response.
