Madame Bella regarded her younger brother patiently. He had been thirteen when their mother suicided, and had carried that weight on him ever since.
It had been hard on all of them, especially as saying "it wasn't their fault" was a lie. Their mother had killed herself because she had discovered that all her children were mutants. Their father had grown cold and distant towards them as a result. Madame Bella had become a mother to her brothers, and when Genovia became a mutant haven, she gained custody of the younger two from their father, and the four moved to Genovia.
It had been especially hard on Henry, though. As the youngest, their mother had doted on him.
"I'm not going back to school," he said stubbornly.
"Well, you can't can you? Not to this one. Not after informing your teacher that everyone thinks he's a pervert, and no one likes him except for one student who has a crush on him, and that he should go commit suicide liked he planned on doing the other day, and then proceeding to moon him."
Henry looked away.
"Henry," Madame Bella said quietly. "I'm sorry that you weren't happy there but -"
"I've never been happy at school being taught by teachers who's motivations aren't in the right place, and who can't admit it when they're wrong, and you know it."
"You still need your education."
"Why? What good is it?"
"I could come up with a whole miriad of reasons. And they would all be true, but you would know I'm just saying them to placate you."
Henry gave a crooked smile.
"So how about knowledge is power? If you want to make your way in this world, a little knowledge might be useful - not just living on people's personal truths," Madame Bella wagged a finger at Henry, "because you know that if I ever find out you've gotten into blackmailing people..."
She trailed off and Henry knew that although she couldn't form a suitabe threat, that the idea of him ever stooping to that abhored her.
"Please don't send me back. Please Donna?"
Madame Bella sighed.
"Henry... It's only a couple more years. I'm not going to make you go to Uni if you don't want to, but please, at least finish high school. Please."
Two sets of eyes locked.
"Okay, but this is under protest."
"Protest noted. Thank you," Madame Bella nodded, then picked up a pamphlet. "When we first moved here, there was no way I could afford private school. But now, I can."
She gave him the pamphlet.
"It has some extra classes for mutants that you can join - if you want, they're not compulsory. It has both humans and mutants in the teacher and student bodies."
Henry nodded, looking through the pamphlet. There was quiet for a time, until Henry looked back up at his sister.
"Okay." he said.