My situation.
My kid’s life is a gossip topic.
“We’ve had this conversation before, Carol. I’m not interested in your opinion of me. What I care about is my daughter. And your son?—”
“My son is a good boy,” she snaps.
My hands curl into fists at my sides. I keep them there.
“I see that the conversation with Principal Jenks did little to open your eyes.”
“If Sadie’s uncomfortable,” Carol continues, ignoring me, “maybe that’s something you should address at home.”
I step closer. “Are you suggesting my daughter’s feelings are the problem?”
“I’m suggesting,” she says, her smile turning sweet and poisonous, “that children from… unconventional households sometimes struggle socially.”
I feel heat surge up my throat.
“Say that again,” I warn.
Carol lifts her chin. “Boone?—”
A door opens behind us.
“Is there a problem here?”
Principal Marla Jenks steps outside, calm and firm. She takes one look at our faces and reads the whole situation in a heartbeat.
Carol turns, immediately composed. “Oh, Principal Jenks. I was just explaining to Boone that children’s interactions can be misunderstood.”
Jenks’s gaze shifts to me. “Boone?”
“You know my daughter is being teased,” I say flatly. “Repeatedly. And now I’m being told that’s my fault.”
Jenks’s mouth tightens. “Carol, we’ve discussed this.”
Carol stiffens. “And I told you, Eli hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“Multiple children corroborated Sadie’s account,” Jenks says evenly. “Including my nephew.”
Carol’s cheeks flush. “Micah is overly sensitive.”
Jenks doesn’t blink. “Micah is observant.”
The air between us is sharp enough to cut.
Jenks takes a breath, then says, “We’re going inside. All of us. Now.”
Carol hesitates. Glances toward the watching parents. The audience again.
Then she nods, clipped. “Fine.”
The office smells of disinfectant and paper. The posters about kindness are still in place, like a joke.
Jenks sits behind her desk. Carol sits with perfect posture, hands folded. I sit, trying not to break the chair.
“This isn’t about blame,” Jenks begins. “It’s about behavior and its impact.”
