if i think i can figure things out, is that curiosity or arrogance?

Oh, he was weak against puppy eyes, but he also had enough sense to outweigh them. "My spells don't work if I don't really want them to work, and I think maybe you need a reminder of how to keep certain kinds of comments in your head."

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"Look at it this way," Karla said, giving Billy an encouraging smile. "You're making it so I don't have to hit him again later as a reminder. Good on you."

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"But..."

THIS WAS VERY SAD, BILLY.

"Was it really that bad?"

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"Yes!" Karla said, tamping down her impatience. Maybe if she explained it right, Topher would actually get it.

"Topher, Jono didn't always look like that. Something HORRIBLE happened to him--something he's still dealing with. It's changed everything about him, his body, his appearance, how he sees himself...everything. And what did you do? You picked on him. Made him so angry and yet feel so small at the same time. And you did it because you didn't care. You were a bully right there. A cruel, heartless bully who used ignorance to hurt someone for no damn reason."

She looked at him and then shook her head. "I hope you feel ashamed of yourself. You should. I'm ashamed of you. Warren and Tony would be, too."

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Billy was genuinely glad that Karla mentioned Tony, because at least that might get the information through Topher's head. "You've got to learn to stop the first time people tell you you've said something offensive, because yes, it was bad. And for the record, in general, when someone's eyes go red, it's time to apologize." Even if he didn't mean it, geez.

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Topher drew his arms around himself, feeling more than a little bit self-conscious now that all these people were calling him out on it.

"I didn't mean to bully him," he muttered. "I mean. I wouldn't."

He was so, so lucky that none of the people around here had seen him during Weetiny Weekend, or else he would be even more transparent than he already was.

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"But you kinda did. Do you think before you speak?"

Yes, that was a legitimate question at this point.

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"...not usually? Or, like, not for a while, I mean."

THERE YOU GO.

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"Guess what?" Karla said crisply. "Intentions don't always matter; actions do. And insisting on your own way when you could see how upset Jono was getting--that was bullying."

Karla blamed Peter's influence.

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"Maybe that should be the first thing we work on, because that's kind of an important life skill. In terms of keeping your life and all." Unless Topher had a secret death wish he wasn't sharing.

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As far as Topher was concerned, Peter was the be-all and end-all of diplomacy, so you just keep on thinking that, Karla.

"So I won't give nicknames anymore," Topher said with a shrug, even though he didn't really think it was all that easy. "Isn't that it?"

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"Not really," Billy said with a sigh. "Although, that's like the tip of the iceberg. Yeah, you should avoid the nicknames, but really, you need to just be less mean sometimes." That so shouldn't have been asking too much.

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"I'm not mean," Topher objected, though he looked a little unsure.

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"Tell that to Jono," Karla said.

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"You don't intend to be mean, but it still happens, because you don't think about how people are going to react to what you say." When your mother was a psychologist, you picked some of this stuff up without even trying. "Do you like getting slapped all the time? 'Cause the fact that you feel bad now gives me hope that you don't like people being mad at you."

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"...noooo," Topher admitted. Getting hit sucked. "I just didn't remember his name! So... you know, I had to call him something, and I didn't get why it was bad..."

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"People generally don't like being referred to by the color of their skin, especially if it's not a color people normally are," Billy said patiently. "Do you think you can remember that in the future?"

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"But, okay, so, like, people call gingers 'red,'" Topher pointed out. "As like a nickname."

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"Yeah, and not all redheads like that. Plus, hair color is different than skin color," Billy explained. "Like Karla said, Jono wasn't born blue, and even if he was, it's probably not something to call attention to."

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"Yeah, but if I were blue or had wings or something, I'd think it was cool!" Topher protested. "I didn't get that he'd be all touchy about it."

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"So, you don't get that not everyone thinks the way you do?" Billy pointed out. "Or that when Jono was upset, saying you didn't understand why he was upset made it worse?"

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"I just don't get it," Topher said again, unhelpfully. "Like. I didn't mean to piss him off. I'm just saying, like, thinking back, it's not like I was being weird by not knowing. Okay?"

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"I didn't mean to say you were being weird. I just...I'm trying to help to keep you from getting punched again," Billy said.

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"I know," Topher mumbled, looking uncomfortable. "It's just, like... how do you know this stuff already?"

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