He stared at the clock.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
A whole class period can be stolen one minute at a time.
Finally he said, “You ever notice how adults call it support when it means waiting?”
I said yes.
He nodded like he had suspected that already.
Tyler came in at the end of the day to ask about a missing homework page.
That was not why he was there.
He stood by my desk twisting the cord on his hoodie.
Then he looked toward Mason, who was packing slowly.
“I owe you an apology,” Tyler said.
Mason kept folding a worksheet in half.
Tyler swallowed.
“For the chair joke. And the other stuff too.”
Mason did not let him off easy.
“What other stuff?”
Tyler’s ears went red.
“Just… looking at you like you were the chair.”
That landed.
Because it was honest.
Kids know when another kid is telling the truth even if he hates how it sounds.
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