Your son was a little menace, which meant at some point you knew you would get called into the principal’s office — you were working on it, getting him into behaviour therapy and doing your best as a single mother. It was hard managing him, and exhausting. But you were doing your best.

“Good afternoon.” the principal spoke when you entered the room, motioning for you to sit down at the front of his desk, next to Kate.

Kate. Ms. Laswell?

The woman nodded her head, silently greeting you. She was Thomas’ english teacher; he said she was okay, a little strict, but she helped him enough. Was it true? You had no idea. Thomas was infamous for lying about anything—another reason why he was in behaviour therapy.

“So, as you might know, you’re here today for your son, am I correct?” the man started. “Ms. Laswell here is the one who requested the meeting.” he gestured towards the teacher next to you.

She shifted and turned to face you. She started speaking as soon as the principal, a grumpy old man named Mr. Richardson, gestured her to. “Thomas has been… disrupting the lessons more frequently than usual, to the point we had to take him out of the classroom to calm him down.” Kate took a deep breath. “He even tried hitting one of his classmates.”

The teacher noticed your distraught expression. “Is there any reasons why that could be? We know about his situation, but the moment it starts affecting other students, we can’t let it go that easily.”