“Maybe to you, but maybe she has a reason for being defensive. Think about it from her perspective for a second. She felt like you guys were asking her to change something about herself to fit in, right?”
“I guess,” I shrugged.
“Well, you didn’t exactly explain why you were asking her to not curse so much. You boys were criticizing her without asking her to be mindful of her language at Ha-Eun’s. It might be second nature for you, but Shiloh doesn’t know the rules. You just singled her out.”
“Well, we did try to explain but she didn’t want to listen. She’s really stubborn,” I said.
“Not everyone has parents that show them what it looks like to be respectful or have been taught to put themselves in other people’s shoes. It’s hard to listen and put your own pride aside especially when you’ve never been expected to do so,” my dad explained.
I chewed on my lip in thought before responding.
“I guess you’re right. I mean, she probably doesn’t have any rules about swearing at home, and we could have been more tactful with how we told her the rule,” I finally relented, admitting that I was at fault too. “It probably did make me seem like an ass.”
My dad nodded, satisfied with my response. I rolled my eyes and gave up on pouring a bowl of cereal.
“Don’t worry. You’ll work things out,” my dad said confidently, standing up. He leaned over and kissed the top of my head before ruffling my hair. “Put my bowl in the sink, will ya? Dad tax on the advice I just gave.”
I chuckled at his joke and rolled my eyes. “Sure. G’night.”
???
My mind felt foggy from lack of sleep as I stretched out my tired limbs on the mats. I glanced at the clock and sighed, hopping to my feet to get some water before I started teaching my next class. I chuckled at one of my students who was frantically waving at me from across the gym as her mom adjusted her hair. Her smile widened as I waved back.
I walked down the hall to the staff room to get my water bottle from my bag. I was walking back when I thought I saw a familiar redhead standing at the counter talking to Becca.
Becca and I locked eyes, and she smiled, saying something to Shiloh that made her turn around and find me with her hazel eyes.
“Hey,” I smiled, watching as she wrapped her fingers around the hem of her baggy hoodie. “What are you doing here?”
We stepped to the side of the front desk, so we weren’t in the way of the parents and kids piling in presumably for the class I was about to teach. She sniffled, bringing attention to her cheeks that were probably red from the cold. I couldn’t help but wonder how long she’d been waiting outside for her to wind up with a red nose and cheeks. It wasn’tthatcold in the mornings. She must have been outside for a while. Was she nervous to speak to me?
“I came to see you. I stopped by your house and your mom said you’d be here.”
“Oh,” I nodded, trying not to seem overly excited. “Well, I’ve got to start class in just a minute. If you don’t mind waiting, I’ll be free for an hour afterwards.”
She looked around before meeting my eyes and nodding.
“Okay.”
I smiled and suggested she could watch the class or hang out in the break room. I told her she could use my phone to scroll or watch something, but she declined and decided to observe my class.
I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t distracted by her the whole session. I kept glancing at her from where she was seated on the mats. I was curious if she was here because of what went down last night or if maybe she wanted to tell me she no longer wanted to tutor me.
I was usually ready to have a break from the seven to twelve kids I taught on Sunday mornings about halfway through the session, but today I was especially impatient. When we finally bowed and they were dismissed, I let out a big sigh. I held out my hand for Shiloh to help her up and she surprisingly took it.
“We can talk in the break room,” I offered, and she nodded in agreement.
I put my water bottle on the kitchenette counter and leaned against it, crossing my arms.
“So, what’s up?” I asked.
She cleared her throat looking around the room for a few moments before meeting my eyes. I was captivated by her eyes which seemed redder than normal. Had she been crying? I obviously wasn’t going to ask, but it made me curious as to whether she was upset about last night.
“Um, I just wanted to say that your aunt told me why she made the no cussing rule,” she said.
I nodded, feeling like she had more to say, so I waited.
“Yeah. So, I get why, um, why you guys were asking me to not cuss,” she said, staring at her shoes.
