Reviews for K.C. Kassidy

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I watch as Ben towels off his dark shaggy hair, and I can’t tell if he’s letting it grow long on purpose or if he hasn’t been able to get a haircut.

“Ben, I’m just going to be blunt and bring up the obvious. I don’t think you did this to yourself in the boys’ bathroom this morning.” I swirl my finger around in the air toward his damp hair. “My guess is someone, maybe more than one, held your head down either in the toilet or the sink.”

Ben’s hands stall mid-air, the edge of the towel drooping over his head. His eyes pop wide in fear as they peer at me from under the cover. “How…I mean, why would you think that?”

Leaning across my desk, I give him an empathetic smile. I prop my chin in my hands, elbows on the desk, and look him straight in the eyes.

“When I was your age, I got bullied a lot, too. It got to the point in my sophomore year that I would avoid going to the bathroom at all during the day. Sometimes I barely made it home before I peed my pants.”

My smile is warm and self-deprecating and his lips twitch, a thin acknowledgment of the humor in my sad tale and perhaps some camaraderie.

“Ben, I know exactly what you’re going through because I’ve been there myself. I also know that it serves neither of us any good if I ask you who’s bullying you because you probably won’t tell me. You think that, by not snitching, you’re protecting yourself from retaliation. But I promise you, it won’t stop them. They’ll keep coming at you until you stand up to it safely.”

His bottom lip trembles slightly and my heart breaks for his needless suffering.

“I want to help you, Ben. You don’t deserve this. No one deserves to be beaten down and picked on by ignorant jerks. So, what do you say? Will you let me help you?”

The kid seems to think this over, glancing everywhere but at me, and then finally gives me a shrug of agreement.

It’s a start and I can work with it.