A Tale of Two

With a strange grin and sigh, Hank Harrison looked over to Bethany and winked, "One for one-you give me the pudding and I trade you the fries." He held up the tray of fries-that he had traded his friend down the table for-so Bethany could smell them in full.

Bethany, intensely dissatisfied with school mandated cafeteria lunches-which even here, in the 24th century seemed to still suck-rolled her eyes. This was strange boy even if she did kind of find him...fun to be with. She nearly hated to admit it, but he was so kind hearted. She rarely heard a mean word for him and even though his friends didn't like her much-she was only a 7th grader-he still hung out with her just the same.

"Fine."

They commenced the trade and Hank smiled gamely, "I got my puddin' and you got your fries. Winners all around!"

"Your puddin'?"

He smiled wider, "Sometimes hard to hide the accent. It's a family thing-it's like genetics really. My family has been based in the South forever it seems...which doesn't surprise me really considering my grades."

She laughed at him, "Last I heard it was...what, the battle for 16th in the class?"

He nodded happily, "I'm movin' on up. Before this year is out I may crack the top 15 and maybe, just maybe, be within shot of that smug little midget."

She laughed again. The "smug little midget" was none other than Hank's arch rival and regarded as the cream of the crop, Marshall Edwards. Marshall was an arrogant little boy; he always thought he could get the better of everyone. "What is it with you two?"

Hank laughed, "Well...the story of our impeccable first meeting. He came-he saw-and I conquered."

"I believe that's a bad paraphrase."

"What's a paraphrase?" He said while feigning ignorance, which just made her laugh more. "It was my 7th grade year and he and I got into a reading competition. You know how the teachers offer a prize for the kids who read the most each year?"

"Yeah...some lame party at a holodeck."

He looked at her in shock, "Lame?! It's THE party for any 7th grader."

Bethany looked at him amused, "Maybe when you were here, but not now. Holodecks are so...old."

"They aren't that old!"

"Well, they're boring now. The teachers never give any good programs."

Hank proudly puffed up his chest. "Mine did. The Klingon battle of Kalanar."

She looked at him surprised. No teacher would use a Klingon holodeck program-far too violent and not educational enough. "You're lying!"

"Am not!" He smiled," It was between me and Marshall towards the end of the year. Mono a mono-"

"I don't think you said that right."

"-and we were neck and neck. I was ahead by only 2000 words and we had three days left. I needed to build the lead to huge proportions, but couldn't risk Marshall catching up and passing me. It went down to the last day..."

She shoveled the fries in her mouth, her Andorian metabolism quickly converting them to energy. "So?"

He laughed at her.

"What?"

"You got a fry...right there..."

She looked to her right side and saw a fry hanging out her mouth. She grabbed it and ate it defiantly, "There," she said while chewing.

Hank just shook his head, "I won. Ever since then...he really hasn't forgiven me."

She blinked, "What does it matter? It was just a stupid contest."

"Marshall thinks everything is a competition and he thinks he has to win them all. I'm one of his few glaring marks on an otherwise undefeated record."

She finished her drink, "I guess. You're weird, you know that?"

He nodded with a grin, "Yes, ma'am, I sure am."

She just rolled her eyes and smiled. But the conversations humor had run its course and Bethany felt compelled, while there was still time, to get her new friend's advice. "Hank...my parents keep arguning a lot. It's actually grown worse."

Hank put down his sweet tea and looked at her kindly, "I'm listening."

The fact that he was surprised her. Most boys would just go on about how parents always argued, but Hank was a listener as much as he was a talker. She shifted awkwardly, "Well...I don't know what to do. I wake up and they argue, I go to bed and they argue. I don't even know if they stop!"

He leaned a little forward, "Well, parents argue...though it sounds like yours do it a lot."

"They do. I don't want them to divorce...but...I don't know..."

He looked at her, "Well, here's the plan; ask them to go get counseling. Or get some help or something. The arguing can't be good for them," he smiled, "or you."

She sighed, "What if they say no?"

"They might-but at least you tried, right?"

She took in the words carefully and nodded. "All right. I'll try."

He held up his sweet tea and smiled, "Cheers!"

The ride home was quieter than usual and Bethany didn't know why. Usually her mother would be bombarding her with questions, but this day she wasn't. When they got home she left for her room and her mother went about the house doing chores. It was a rare day where her mother was in a good mood.

She felt more confident as the afternoon dragged on and soon her father was home.

She approached them both before dinner, unsure of herself, but hoping. "Mom...Dad...I wanna talk."

Her mother shot a curious glance at her, "All right."

Her father looked at her with a small grin, "Sure, go ahead honey."

She felt a little more relieved. "I want...I want you two to consider...counseling."

It was like someone dropped a bomb on the house. Her mother and father both looked at her shocked.

"Bethany...that's impractical. We argue...but we're not that bad off."

Her father shook his head, "Look at this. Our own daughter recommending counseling..."

"It's not like you've done anything to help!" her mother's tone rose, "I stay here, look after her and the house and your stupid pets-"

"They're not stupid! They're delicate experiments-"

Her mother's face turned a dark blue, "You are so full of it! Don't start throwing out your ‘experiment' excuse! I doubt the institute would allow it anyway-you're not one of their top scientists."

Her father looked hurt but he rose from his seat, "I do plenty on my own that's important and it's not your concern what the institute thinks of me!"

She rose as well, "I'm tired of always hearing that you're ‘making progress' and are closer to assuming a more prominent position-face it, you can't go any higher!"

Bethany, slow tears streaming down her face, didn't stay for the rest of it. She went into her room, turned off the lights and climbed into bed. She wished Hank had been right but she realized her parents might really divorce.

That saddening, sickening thought in her heart, she cried herself to sleep.

In the background her parents continued to argue.