Bernadetta & Dorothea B

Dorothea
Hello, Bern.

Bernadetta
Oh no. What did I do this time?

Bernadetta
Did I offend you? Is this your revenge?

Dorothea
No, not at all. I just want to talk.

Bernadetta
If you promise not to resort to violence, I'll do whatever you want.

Dorothea
Bern, I've just been worried about you. That's all.

Dorothea
When I said I was your friend, you ran away, saying something about your father. Remember?

Bernadetta
Um... Vaguely...

Dorothea
I know you've lived through some bad times. If you could tell me about it, maybe I could help?

Bernadetta
Oh, I don't know.

Dorothea
Please. Your father's not here now. Whatever it is, you're safe to tell me.

Bernadetta
All right...

Bernadetta
My parents told me never to befriend a commoner.

Bernadetta
They said commoners are scum and that they'd crush any that tried to come near me.

Dorothea
Hang on. Scum? They called me—I mean commoners—they called us scum?

Bernadetta
Yeah. But once, a long time ago, I did secretly make friends with one...a boy.

Bernadetta
When my father found out about him, he disappeared the very next day.

Bernadetta
I heard he was found beaten half to death. I never saw him again.

Bernadetta
Since then, I've been terrified of making friends with anyone. Commoners, especially.

Dorothea
I... I never knew that kind of thing really happened. You hear stories, sure, but... Oh, Bern. I'm so sorry.

Bernadetta
...

Dorothea
I'm proud to be your commoner friend!

Bernadetta
Dorothea!

Dorothea
Hey now, relax. There's nothing to bawl about.

Dorothea
If your dad tried to beat me up, I'd return the favor and then some.

Bernadetta
Return...the favor?

Dorothea
When I was in the opera, you better believe I had run-ins with the most wicked, terrible men.

Dorothea
I survived kidnappings, attempted murders, all kinds of stuff. But you know what?

Dorothea
I broke those guys' arms. Snap! It was a thank-you for all the trouble they went through trying to hurt me.

Bernadetta
You're incredible, Dorothea.

Dorothea
So now that you know I can defend myself, can we be friends, Bern?

Bernadetta
All right. Yeah. Yeah!