On my prep, I walked by two of my kids sitting in the hallway outside of science class. The Straight-A student was on his knees and leaning urgently over a paper on the ground, looking anxious. The other boy was slumped on the floor against the lockers, in full sulk.

When I asked what they were doing, the first boy said, “Well, I’m supposed to be helping him with science.” He gave his partner a quick glare and then looked back at me helplessly. The other boy ignored him and shrugged his shoulders. He was clearly running low on good excuses for not working.

“Miss, we all know I’m just too fat to learn science!”

Then he grabbed his belly with both hands and shook it, for good measure.