We Were Both Too Tired.
Dylan was sitting on the end of his bed when he said it.
It was late at night, far too late in my humble opinion, and he was exhausted and sullen. Like most nights, we were arguing about some stupid school thing that will likely never matter in the greater scheme of things.
He was slightly slumped, the way he is when he’s tired and sad. It happens most when he’s thinking about school.
It was too late for us to be talking. But I was grumping about something. I am often either too tired to argue, or too busy arguing at that hour, and couldn’t sleep without saying one last thing.
I don’t remember what we were discussing, but I said something like, “You need to do it to get into college!”
And that’s when he said it. I assumed that, someday, it would come.
Dylan said, “I might not even go to college.”
He said it in a tired way, as if he were too tired to take even one more minute of school.
And of course, college is school.
I didn’t blow up right away. I said something grouchily at him and walked away, went into my room, started to get ready for bed.
But then I went back to Dylan’s room. And then I blew up. i knew better, and I stopped quickly, but I did myself no favors.
Dylan put his head in his hands. I shut up and walked away.
We were both too tired for that conversation.
It’s been many days now, and I am still too tired for that conversation.