At Roselia's Expense

"So, you can't help me?" Noah asked with a pout, pointing down at his homework. "Aren't you twenty-one? You can't even answer calculus questions?"

Roselia stared at the strange numbers and letters on the text. Whoever brought in the alphabet in math needed to be put in a mental asylum. She fiddled with the edges of his paper whilst tapping her pen.

"Aren't you turning twenty-two in a few months too?" Noah sighed. "I saw your birthdate on the hospital charts. You should know this material, Lia."

Roselia blinked.

"Never mind, I got it," Noah realized, quickly scribbling down his response. His hand moved automatically. He only wanted to tease her. This homework was child play for someone like him. This wasn't calculus. This was Algebraic Topology, a class that even college students would struggle in.

"It's not like I'd ever need this math in my real life," Roselia finally said to him, her voice low and slow.