"Hey, don't do that," she says, still looking at Steve with care, though her expression has gone lovingly concerned. "You're doing this because you want to, not because you think you have to, and you're bloody smart. You're going to do great."

As he tells her about how it's gone so far, she relaxes into another smile and leans back, head tipped against his shoulder.

"I think that's normal," she says. "College is so different from secondary school. There's nothing to be gained from the teachers being arseholes."