When Alvera came out of the kitchen with the chicken noodle soup, Roland was sitting on the sofa in the living room.
She walked over and set the soup on the coffee table.
He was looking at a copy of Advanced Mathematics that she had left on the coffee table. She snatched the book away and closed it with a snap. "Don't look at other people's stuff."
"Advanced Mathematics?" he asked. "Aren't you a little old for this?"
Alvera's face turned cold. She picked up the several exercise books on the table and put them to the side. Her voice was tight and cold. "I was in prison at the age I was supposed to read these."
...
Roland frowned unconsciously at the mention of prison.
He looked at her and said with an annoyed face, "It's your own fault for not studying well."
"Not studying well?" Al
