Not only was he in a mood, but this was also the hour he was allotted for video gaming. Unless he was grounded.
“What happened?” Folding my arms, I leaned against the doorframe.
“Nothing,” he mumbled.
My lips drew thin. When had he decided to stop sharing with me? He used to be such an open child. Sometimes these days, I found myself looking at someone I didn’t recognize.
“Where is Melba?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged.
Sighing, I left his room and continued my hunt through the house. Melba, it turned out, was in the kitchen making banana bread.
“Boa noite.” Her hands didn’t stop mashing bananas.
I took a seat at the island. “What did Sebastián do now?”
Wordlessly, she nodded at the slip of paper on the counter. My chest tightening, I picked it up.
With every line I read, my heart sank a little further. By the time I finished, I wanted to put my head down and scream.
“This is the worst one yet.” I gestured at the report card.
Melba shook her head, her lips pursed. “He does his homework. I watch him do it every night.”
I raked my fingers through my hair. During the last parent-teacher conference, I’d been assured by Sebastián’s teacher that she was doing everything she could to help him pull his grades up.
I believed her. She wasn’t the problem, and neither was the curriculum. Heck, Sebastián was a smart kid. For some reason, he’d seemed to have lost all desire to apply himself.
Was I falling short? I made sure to spend time with him. Not only did we take outings every weekend, but I was home for dinner almost every night.
“I will talk to him.” With a sigh, I stood and walked back upstairs.
This time I didn’t bother to knock on Sebastián’s door. Startled, he straightened in his bean bag.
“I saw your grades.”
His shoulders dropped.
Anger and disappointment bubbled up my throat, but I pushed them down. Losing my temper wouldn’t help.
“Talk to me. Please.” I sat on the end of his bed. “Is something going on that’s making it hard to focus in school?”
“No.” He turned his bouncy ball over and over in his hand.
“Then what is it?”
“I don’t know.”
I pursed my lips. Resisted the urge to yell with frustration.
Sebastián finally looked at me. “Are you seeing Georgia tonight?”
“Yes, Georgia and I are going to have dinner together, but please do not change the subject.”
“Can I come?”
“Tonight is just for adults, but if she stays in Rio long enough then we can arrange something.”