“Then he said I didn’t understand what it was like when everyone kept staring at something about you.”
“What did he mean?”
“He wouldn’t explain.”
For several days afterward, Emma and Tyler barely spoke outside school.
She gradually stopped checking her phone every few minutes.
She also stopped wearing oversized sweatshirts around the house.
Then, one Friday afternoon, she came home looking thoughtful.
“Mom, can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Tyler has a skin condition.”
I waited.
“He has red patches on his arms. He told me it’s eczema.”
Emma explained that classmates had been making comments about his skin for more than a year.
He wore long sleeves because he didn’t want anyone noticing.
Suddenly, his behavior made more sense.
Not because it was acceptable, but because I could see where some of his insecurity came from.
Emma stared at her forearms.
“Mom, he already knows what it’s like when people say unkind things about your appearance.”
