Chapter Text
It was the end of class, and while most students got out of the class towards their next class or simply stayed in the hallways, Nebula Galaxius stayed after class per the request of her teacher.
Apparently it was about her genealogy essay. The prompt was to describe the family history of the student writing the essay. Nebula didn't know what she did wrong. She wrote the essay, multiple pages in fact, and turned it in on time.
Maybe there was something wrong with it? Maybe a grammatical error or maybe a major problem with the stories told? Whatever it was, it had to be something important.
Nebula finished packing her school bag and walked up to the desk of Mrs. Diamond, who was waiting patiently for the young student. Once seeing the student walk up, she only smiled softly, placing her hands elegantly on her desk.
“Good evening, Nebula,” Mrs. Diamond greeted quietly, her eyes looking up at the young celestial animatronic, “Have you been having a good day so far?”
Nebula nodded, fidgeting with the strand of her backpack with some anxiety while looking away, “Yeah, everything's been going okay,” she replied but soon turned her attention towards her teacher, “But you needed to see me after class for?”
Mrs. Diamond nodded, “Correct, I did. Please give me a second.”
She then scooted her chair away from her desk, looking and shuffling around for the student’s essay paper. When she finally found it, she scooted back towards her desk, tapped the papers on said desk to get them all aligned, and looked back at Nebula.
“I wanted to discuss about your essay,” Mrs. Diamond then turned her attention to the essay papers, flipping through them while skimming through carefully and analytically.
Nebula stood there for a moment, feeling awkward and a little embarrassed. She didn't know what she could've done wrong. She reread it and reread it, and everything seemed fine. She even had one of her best friends read it, and even though he did state that it was ‘boring,’ he didn't see anything wrong with it as well.
Nebula only just looked at her teacher for a moment, noticing how intensely she read through it. It sort of scared her, but she brushed it off by breaking the tension, “Did I do something wrong, Mrs. Diamond?”
Mrs. Diamond shook her head, “Oh, no, absolutely not,” she looked up at the young student and smiled, “It's just-” she paused, “I have a few questions I would like for you to answer.”
Nebula only nodded as Mrs. Diamond settled the papers down on her desk gently, making sure not to ruin any of the pencil or crumple it.
“For starters, the essay seems paradoxical. There are some things I read in there that seem highly exaggerated or just fictional. Did you by any chance add hyperboles or any elements of fiction into it?”
Nebula shook her head, “No, ma'am,” she stated firmly, “No, I didn't. Everything that happened is true.” She then scratched the back of her head, a blue blush appearing on her face, “Now, of course, maybe I exaggerated some things,” she stopped scratching her head before going back to her hands, “But I promise I didn't lie!”
Mrs. Diamond just nodded her head and went back to the paper, “Another thing I would like to note is your ending,” the teacher started again, looking at Nebula with concern, “You said that ‘this will soon be your story,’ and I can't just help feeling a little concerned. Your essay contains heavy themes of abuse and stalking, especially the part where you talk about your mother. I can't help but worry. Is there someone out there hurting you or at least being weird towards you in any way?”
Nebula shook her head, “If you count my friend, Essence, then no,” her last bit of the sentence was harsh and firm, “No, no one is harming me. I just put the ending part of the essay to show that I, too, will be just as strong and courageous as my mother.”
Mrs. Diamond nodded, “Yes, I understand that, and that is a magnificent goal to achieve. I believe you can be whoever you want to be, and I don't want you to feel discouraged by any one in the entire world,” Mrs. Diamond’s tone suddenly took a dark tone, speaking in a way that sounded strict and doubtful, “But the ending to the essay is misleading and can have the reader infer that the events in the papers are what happened to the author.”
Nebula looked down onto the floor, fidgeting with her hands still. Man, after the countless beta readers, critiques she received, and help she had gotten, she couldn't see the lying problem under her nose. She felt ashamed and embarrassed in that moment, oh, how could she be so dumb.
Suddenly, a hand was placed on Nebula’s shoulder, making her look up and see Mrs. Diamond smiling gently at her. It was almost like a comforting smile, a smile to tell the student that despite the trouble, everything was okay.
“Now, don't let this talk make you doubt yourself, Nebula,” Mrs. Diamond spoke reassuringly, almost like a soft mentor with their mentee, “You are a great student, so eager to learn and full of life. Your essay is fantastic, and I want to see more of your writing assignments. There's just those two concerns I wanted to address. I'd prefer you change the ending to something less misleading, okay?”
Nebula looked at Mrs. Diamond for a minute before smiling, scoffing lightheartedly. Hearing that at least her essay was fantastic made her worries fade away, “Okay, thank you, Mrs. Diamond.”
The teacher only nodded, grabbing the paper and handing it to Nebula, “Of course, I'm happy to help! Thank you for your honesty, Nebula. Have a nice day!”
“You, too!” Nebula replied giddily, grabbing the paper and putting it in her bag, zipping it up before heading out of the classroom.
Once she got out of the classroom, she saw a familiar face outside of the door. It was Essence, who was twirling a pencil in his hand before stopping once he saw Nebula's presence.
He put the pencil in his bag and started to walk alongside his best friend, looking at her with confusion.
“What took ya’ so long, mothball?” Essence asked, his antennae twitching, his tone nerdy and a little rough. He wasn't the type to sugarcoat his words. He says what he thinks and doesn't think twice about it. Sometimes it would come across as rude or bizarre, but Nebula didn't mind. After all, what's a friendship without being a little weird?
“Oh, nothing,” Nebula replied, “Just had to talk to my English teacher about my essay.”
Essence scoffed, chuckling cheekily, “Oh, did she talk to you about how boring it was?” This was followed by laughter. Not serious, mean laughter, but joking, teasing kind of laughter.
“Oh, shut it, Es!”
“Yeah, yeah, I hate you, too.”