Switch Up | Amblynch

T W E N T Y - T W O

Everyone could hear the nervousness in her voice. Dean and Becky followed the teacher's instructions, ready to hear what was going on.

"Mason, Dylan. Your parents are here," Mrs. Harding says. Neither of the boys did anything. Just continued to glare at each other. "You took my crayon," Mason yells. "No, I didn't. Your stupid crayon was on the floor and I picked it up!" Dylan yells back. "Liar! I gave my crayon to William and then he gave it back to me. I put it in my pencil bag and you took it out!" Mason yells back.

"What's going on?" Dylan's father asks Mrs. Harding. "I would like to know the exact same thing," Dean says. "Daddy, I hate Dylan! He's a thief and a liar! He keeps taking things that don't belong to him. He almost took my crayon home with him today," Mason says, finally acknowledging the fact that his parents were there.

"He's lying, daddy! Mason's such a liar! He always lies to Mrs. H so that I can get in trouble! He's a big stupid idiot," Dylan says. "That's because you do bad things! You hit my cousin! You're a big giant bully," Mason yells.

Mason turns around to face his parents. "Mommy, he's always hitting Adrielle and Savannah, and then I get in trouble for standing up for them. He hits everyone and I get in trouble because I'm doing the right thing," Mason says. Dylan kicks the back of Mason's leg. "That's because you're a big baby," Dylan says. Mason turns around and punches Dylan in the chest. "Mason!" Becky exclaims. "Excuse us for a second," Dean says picking Mason and walking away while Dylan's dad does the same.

Mrs. Harding sighs. "The boys can't be near each other any point of the day. They are constantly fighting over things and sometimes, things can get a bit physical, as you just saw," she explains. "Have you seen who usually causes it?" Dylan's mother asks. "Most of the time, it is Dylan who starts becoming physical and it is Mason who starts the yelling," Mrs. Harding says. Becky glares at Dylan's mother.

"That is a complete lie! My son is nowhere near physical. We taught him to use his words, not his fists," Dylan's mother exclaims as she glares at Becky. "Well, I taught my son to use his words as well. And if someone decided to get physical, he should get physical as well. It looks like you're also a liar. I wonder where your son got it from," Becky stands up.

"Ladies, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Mrs. Harding says. "My son came home every day last week saying that your son continuously decided to hit him," Dylan's mother stands up, completely ignoring what Mrs. Harding has said. "Hey, hey, hey," Dean says coming to stop Becky from doing something's she'll regret or doing anything that'll hut herself even more.

Becky continued to glare at Dylan's mom, whose husband was also trying to calm her down while she was doing the same thing back to Becky. "Don't do anything. It's not worth it. We'll just call it a day and go home," he whispers in her ear, wrapping his hands around her forearms, while she does the same. "She is so lucky that I have this broken leg," she mumbles back.

"Sweetheart, I can't hear you," Dylan's mother, whose name is Katie after her husband repeated many times, remarks. "Oh, I'll show you something you can hear and feel," Becky says making her way to Katie, but Dean pulls her further away. "Rebecca. Stop it. I told you, she's not worth it," he whispers. His hands were now on her ears, so that way she can only hear what he was saying. She takes a deep breath in.

"Fine. Only because you said so," she whispered back. "Stay here while I go talk to Mrs. Harding, OK?" He whispers back. She nods. Dean walks away and talks to Mrs. Harding. They talk for about 2 minutes before Dean walked away.

"C'mon, Mas. Get your backpack," Dean says. Mason follows his dad's orders and goes to get his backpack from his hook. As he was walking towards his parents, Dylan stook his foot out, trying to make him fall, but Mason kicked his foot, pushing him out of the way.

"Mason. Apologize," Katie says. "No. Why should he apologize?" Becky says. "Are you blind, Rebecca? He kicked Dylan," Katie says. "Are you blind, lady? He wanted me to fall flat on my face," Mason defends his mom. "Don't talk to my mom like that," Dylan says getting in front of Mason. "Well, tell your mom that she needs glasses because she can't see right from wrong, like you," Mason glares at Dylan once more before he takes his mom's hand and walks out the classroom.

***************

Becky got Mason situated in the car while they were waiting for Dean. "I told you, mommy. Dylan is a liar," Mason says. Becky sighs. "I know baby. I'm proud of you for not starting the fights. You have to be the bigger person in life, sometimes. And other times, it's OK to act petty," she explains to Mason.

"Act pretty? How do you act pretty?" Mason says. "No, baby. Petty. It's pretty, but without the r," Becky smiles. "What does that mean?" "It basically means that you aren't being the bigger person," Becky says. "Oh. So, Dylan was being petty?" Mason asks. "Yep, just like his mommy. If your daddy wasn't there and I didn't have this broken leg, I would've gone all Irish Lasskicker on her," she smiles making Mason laugh.

956 words

Edited: 8/15/18