94

You briefly share a look with Tobias, who doesn't quite seem to know what to say; and for a little while you sit in silence, thinking through what Rana said. At last, though, Tobias turns to you and says:

"I never even thought about any of this, like, political stuff before. I never thought I would care about whatever the Town Council was doing, 'cause I mean, who cares about anything like that in such a small town? But…I don't know. I guess I've kind of realized how much it can actually affect stuff. And, y'know, even though I'm going to college, I think I want to try and find out more about it all. I don't think I could do the kind of stuff Rana does, but I don't want to just ignore everything that's going on either."

He lets out a breath, and gives a slightly hesitant smile. You get the feeling he's a little embarrassed to say what he just said, as if some part of him is worried somebody might scoff at him for caring about something like that. But even if he is worried, it hasn't stopped him from saying what he really feels.

After a few more moments, Tobias looks out at the coffee shop full of people, his eyes a little heavier.

"It's gonna be really weird leaving Silvertree," he murmurs, glancing toward the window and the busy street outside. "It kind of doesn't seem real that I'm going to college. I want to, but—I still can't get it out of my head that I'm gonna fail everything, or they're gonna kick me out after a few days. I've never really done anything like that on my own before, I guess. I sort of had it in my head that I'd never be able to handle it; but I think a lot of that was just me being scared of what would happen if I did anything wrong. And I know stuff might not work out sometimes, or I might not always be perfect, but that's the same for everybody, right? That doesn't mean I can't, like—live my life, right?"

He bites his lip, and looks at you uncertainly.

"Do you think I'm doing the right thing? What if I should just stay here and get a job, and see how I feel about college in a year or something?"