Page 15 of Bad Daddy

Danny didn't have anything to say to that. He didn't really have anyone like that in his life.

It was sad and kind of awful, but the person he spent the most time with now was Clint.

Thinking about Clint now, thinking of Clint’s opinion of him, made a harsh laugh bubble out of him, too raw and real for Haru’s silly question. “He’d probably say exactly that. That there’s only one thing I’m good for.”

Haru’s eyes narrowed, and Danny’s brain caught up to his mouth. He seized up. Stupid, stupid— “I just mean—it’s not—”

“Doesn’t sound like someone I’d count on for a good opinion,” Haru said, and his voice seemed deliberately mild. “But I’m being pushy again, and I don’t want to put you off your food. Why don’t we change the subject for now.”

“Okay,” Danny said with relief.

For that he got another smile, but it was clear Haru was slightly unsettled by Danny’s nonsense.

Danny fished for something to say as they began to eat. It wasn’t Haru’s fault that Danny was like this, and Danny was enough of an adult to get that Haru meant well. “So um, did you have something in mind?” he asked as an olive branch.

“In mind?” Haru asked.

“For meeting with me,” Danny clarified. “You… said you’d help me plan? To keep me from falling behind too much.”

Haru nodded, sitting up straighter. “Yes, of course. Which classes are you struggling with?”

“All of them,” Danny sighed. “Except Sign Language. I’m doing pretty okay in that.”

“That’s great,” Haru said encouragingly. “You’re heading toward being trilingual, huh? That’ll really benefit you as a paralegal. In any job, really.”

Yeah, until they find out I can barely read, Danny couldn't help but think. “Maybe.”

“So the law class, the math class, and astronomy?”

“Yeah. Lily’s doing her best to help me in math, though.”

“How’s that going?” Haru asked. “Like I said, Lily said you were really smart.”

“It’s going okay during the one on one,” Danny said, averting his eyes. “It’s a different story in class though.”

Haru nodded understandingly. “Test anxiety?”

“Not… exactly?” The only reason Danny was anxious about tests was because he knew he’d run out of time before being able to finish all the questions. “I’m, um, I’m not good at showing my work. I can usually get the answer but…” Danny shrugged. “Or it’s a problem that has a lot of theory and analysis in it.” Something he had to read in order to figure out what math he needed to apply. “I’m not good with those, unless it’s like a question the teacher presents orally.”

“Wait,” Haru said. “Didn’t you say you were taking statistics?”

“Yeah,” Danny said, admitting, ”They were going to place me in remedial math because of my high school grades, but I was able to test out of it.” By the skin of his teeth, and only because the tester gave him an extra half hour to rewrite some problems he’d only half-finished, but he’d done it. It had been such a relief to not have to worry about needing to fit a couple extra prereqs into his two-year plan.

“So how do you do the math problems?” Haru asked. “In your head?”

“Yeah,” Danny mumbled.

Haru blanched. “Wait, really?”

Danny nodded unhappily.

“You’re doing the math for a college level statistics class in your head,” Haru said slowly.

Danny winced. “It’s easier than trying to write it all down.”

Haru took a deep breath. “I think we might be having two different conversations here, Danny. You’re acting like being able to do algebra and calculus in your head is a bad thing, while I’m over here trying to pick up my jaw off the floor.”

Danny ducked his head. “If it were so impressive, maybe teachers would stop trying to fail me.”

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