Gabriel laughs, startled. "You had to take Latin? You weren't even a Catholic school." He shakes his head, grinning shyly. "I was-- I was good, but I wouldn't-- I got distracted by some other things, for a while. And Ma was always asking how this boy was doing, or that one, saying I could be better."

He shakes his head. He'd lost a friendship that way.

"That's the way of it though, isn't it? Learn this because you must, never mind why. I knew I wanted to go to university, that was motivation enough to try to take my A-levels again."