"Why?"

"... What?"

"What did I say that was confusing? What are you trying to figure out about me that you can't?"

"You're having some sort of reaction to my decision to come to Battle School and I don't know what it is or why you're having it."

"Well," she says, "you know a lot more about your circumstances than I do and there might be a very good reason you don't want to go into more detail, but if what I know were all there is to know it still seems like you could have found something better for you to do."

"Something such as what?"

"There are other schools that look at test results like the ones Battle School wants, and even if you were starving you got to take the tests somehow."

"Why would it be better to go to one of those?"

"They might have private rooms or be easier for a very tiny child to get around in. Up here if they find out you need a stepladder for something you can only have one if they launch it into space or already had one around and that's not a problem on Earth."

"I think you are judging schools on the wrong criteria."

"Well, you don't seem to like anything about Battle School, either, so I'm not sure why another school would be worse and you could sleep without having to worry about what if a teacher notices."

"I don't like anything about anything. Other schools would have an easier time getting rid of me and wouldn't feed me as well. I was not, actually, offered a choice of which school to go to; but that is why I didn't ask for one."

Bella nibbles her lip and shrugs.

"I didn't say that," says Bella. "But I would've asked about other places to go if I were him since he is having predictable problems here."

"...What?" echoes Bella.

"Okay," sighs Bella.

And then they have class. Sindri is interested. Oat is... maybe that's what 'bored' looks like; it's hard to tell.

It really is, and Bella has given up on trying to figure Oat out for the moment. Class things!