Could This Be Home? (Beyril and Lani; Private)

Tien slowly picked up her food and began eating again. Every bite was nervous, hesitated, like it would be taken from her.

Evelyn merely let her be, chasing ketchup around her plate with a single fry, determined to use up all of the condiment and allow the new, foreign girl to enjoy her own food.

Tien looked up from her food, eyeing the woman before her, "Are you married?"

Evelyn froze, looking at her with a brow raised, staring before shaking her head, "I have a boyfriend, but I am not married, no."

"Can I... tell truth?" Tien asked, nervous, shifting back and forth in her chair with increasing anxiety.

She nodded, not seeing any harm in the gesture.

Tien fidgeted with her hands, "I am... supposed to get married. Back home. I ran here."

Evelyn raised a brow, "Do you want to marry him?"

Tien shook her head, "No. I have to, or he takes farm. Family starve, and die. He is... important man." She sighed, "I will marry because is best for family. But stop be weapon first. He can not know."

"You don't stop being a weapon," she stated, shaking her head, "you control it, and I can help your family. I am important."

Tien didn't know how to properly ask how or why, but sat still, setting a ring on the table in front of her, "He does not know where I go."

"Do you want your family here?" She asked simply, "In America?"

She paused, thinking, "I do not know. They would be mad. Father would beat me."

"They could farm here. Live here. You would not have to live with them either." The words were insistent, though her tone seemed almost to not change.

"They do not speak any English." She fidgeted, "I learn from my...." she stumbled trying to find the word for fiancee, "That is why I no read. I am not allowed."

"You are, now." Evelyn said, voice firm. "And they cannot take that away from you."

Tien paused, "I... I need rest, I think."

Evelyn fell to silence quickly, nodding in a calm submission as she gestured for the check.

The waiter brought it over, handing it to Eve, Tien's hands trembling in her lap.

She grinned, checking it once before pulling out her card, handing it back pleasantly. "I'll bring you to your dorm room, Tien. You'll have it to yourself in one of the 'exchange student' sections. We can look for furniture and decorations tomorrow."

Tien nodded, standing and bowing before Eve, the other patrons looking on, confused. "Thank you."

Evelyn offered her a kind, tender smile, gesturing back towards the seat. "You don't have to bow here, Tien. You only have to say the words."

Tien hesitated, looking around at the people staring. "I-I...." she stammered, cheeks going red as she looked at the floor.

Eve stood, hands on both of the girl's shoulders, eyes gentle. "Tien, don't be embarressed. You're not the first person in town that's not from America. It's okay. You just need to know that you don't have to act the same way here. No one will make you."

Tien nodded quickly, anxious and silent.