Page 13 of Summer Reading

I felt my fingers tighten on my glass.

“But he didn’t push back or engage with her in any way other than to tell her to stop,” Ben said. “Which, quite frankly, is commendable.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. I sank back into my seat. Poor Tyler. I felt my heart pinch. He was in a lose-lose situation. Hit the girl back and you’re an asshole, do nothing and you’re a weakling getting beaten up by a girl. Ugh, no wonder he’d ripped my head off when he saw me talking to Ben. He’d needed to lash out at someone and there I was. “So what happens now?”

“That’s why I’m here,” he said. He looked pained. “As the library director, who is ultimately in charge of the robotics camp, I have to determine the consequence for what happened today, and I wanted to get Tyler’s input on the situation.”

I nodded. I could feel his discomfort. Most places operated on a zero tolerance policy for bullying, so he was likely feeling that he needed to boot this thug Amber out of the program, but as I understood it, therewas scholarship money attached and it was something that couldn’t be done lightly.

“I’ll call him—”

That was as far as I got when the front door banged open and Tyler came striding out. He was already pleading his case, so Ben and I finished our drinks while he spoke.

“Mr. Reynolds, I know why you’re here, but whatever you heard, it’s not true,” Tyler said. He began to pace the length of the short porch. “I tripped, that’s all. There’s no reason anyone should be punished for my clumsiness. I mean, look at the size of these feet. I’m a size twelve and a half. It’s like trying to walk around in a pair of canoes.”

Ben pressed his lips together as if trying not to laugh, and I had to look away for the same reason. Little brother was on a roll. I wasn’t going to stop him.

“I mean, Sam will testify, I’m so clumsy I can barely cross the room without tripping,” he said. He lifted up one foot and pointed to his shoe. “I should have rubber bumpers built onto these bad boys to keep myself from harm when I bump into everything, which I do all the time. In fact, I might look into wearing a helmet for when I fall down like I did today.”

“So, what you’re saying is that you tripped and fell without any assistance from anyone else?” Ben asked.

“That’s what I’m saying,” Tyler said. He couldn’t hold Ben’s gaze and instead looked down at his shoes. Ben and I exchanged a bemused glance. I wasn’t happy thatTy was covering for Amber Davis, but I was impressed that he wasn’t ratting her out, even though she deserved it.

“How do you think the situation should be handled?” Ben asked.

Tyler glanced up. “I wouldn’t kick anyone off the team. I would treat it as the misunderstanding it was and just put it behind us.” His eyes took on an intensity that was riveting. “If we’re going to win the Severin Robotics competition at the end of the summer, we need every person on this team. Each member brings something unique, and we need to tap all of that potential if we’re going to win, and I really want to win.”

Ben nodded. “You’ve certainly got the spirit.”

Tyler gave him a tentative smile, as if he was hoping that he’d won Ben over.

“The robotics camp is meant to be an inclusive, constructive, sharing space with zero tolerance for bullying,” Ben said. His tone was firm, brooking no argument.

“Yes, sir.”

“If I take your word for what happened today and let this episode go, I will expect you, if you experience any bullying or observe it happening to others, to come and talk to me.”

“Absolutely, one hundred percent,” Tyler agreed. He glanced at me, and I gave him a double thumbs-up and smiled.

Tyler rolled his eyes as if I was the most annoying person who ever drew breath, which, for the record, I am not. I’d also had no idea how irritating an eye roll could be. It was big-time irritating, like supersonic aggravating. Before I could share this opinion, Tyler looked back at Ben.

“Thank you, I won’t let you down,” he said. He turned and slammed back into the house, leaving the screen door vibrating on its hinges in his wake.

I glanced at Ben and said, “He does have very large feet.”

“Canoes,” he agreed.

We both laughed and then immediately tried to stifle it in case the teenager was listening.

“Between you and me, I’m on my way to go have a chat with Amber Davis just to make certain we’re all on the same page,” Ben said.

“Oh, good, if you could sweat her a little, that would be great,” I said.

Ben laughed and said, “Consequences will be discussed.”

“Can I ask a question?”

“Sure.”

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