Maya nodded. “I understand. I’m sorry.”
Felix leaned forward.
“We are not asking only about the scissors,” he said. “We want to know why children are being repeatedly humiliated while adults keep calling it teasing.”
The room became very still.
I reminded Susan of every earlier complaint we had made about Maya. Then Maya repeated the things children had said to Liam.
Susan wrote everything down.
Finally, she looked at Maya. “You are right to care about your friend. You should never have felt that you had to handle this alone.”
Then she turned to us. “This is bullying. I will not minimize it. We need stronger reporting, closer supervision, and consequences that actually stop the behavior.”
She asked permission to contact Liam’s parents.
That afternoon, we returned to her office and met Noella, Duncan, and Liam.
The first thing I noticed about him was not his bare head. It was the way his eyes followed every person who passed the doorway, as if he were always preparing for the next comment.
