In which my kids are possessive.

So, I've been working one-on-one with Mister En since late November, when he had ISS (In-School-Suspension for the untutored) after...something...and I was available and willing. I'd had him in class a couple of times, and this kid was clearly bright, and clearly a pain in the ass. He was doing the classic teenage-rebellion-as-a-mode-of-finding-your-own-self/space/whatever, which I cannot fault by any means as I and everyone on the planet went through this.

Despite this, however, I liked the kid. I like smart kids, I like the ones who are a little fucked up, and I like the ones who maybe don't have a whole lot of avenues left open. Maybe it's a little narcissistic, being that I was one of those kids throughout my middle-school career, but without knowing anything about these kids' backgrounds, I've consistently picked as my favorites the ones who came from single-parent households, had a recent layoff, were on medication, failing a class, whatever. Something going on that was not optimal.

Mister En and I began working together, and have been about two, three times a week since then. A couple weeks ago, I began working with a few more kids for my Wednesday Group, and I actually decided to keep him mostly separate. He's the only boy, he's terrible in a group, and I figured it was not worth the trouble. When he stays after with me, he stays on a different day.

However, I actually had him for a period with another of my students, Loud Girl. Now, Loud Girl and Shy Girl are actually best friends, and terrible when they're together. When they're apart, though...well. Shy Girl is not terrible. She gets her work done, but she doesn't hand it in, so. We're working on that.

Loud Girl is key to getting my group to like me. Or was key, I should say, because ever since she found out my actual age, she's been all over me. But I'm distracting myself from my point.

I had Mister En and Loud Girl together in a room and Mister En was...polite. I've only ever had him in a situation where he was with me, solo, or with me and thirty other kids, at which point he becomes someone who cannot and will not behave in any shape or form. But Loud Girl engaged him in conversation numerous times - despite my attempts at getting her to focus - and he responded. Politely.

However, Loud Girl is currently under the impression that she's the first kid I began working with, since I started working with her about a week before the start of Wednesday Group. So, I've got Mister En in there with her, and while she's supposed to be working on the first half of a Spanish packet, Mister En and I are just finishing up that packet for him to hand in later.

Mister En: But this is stupid. I don't wanna do this. ("Stupid" is one of his favorite words, and one of my least. It loses all meaning after the millionth time you hear it come out of a student's mouth.)
Me: Aww, too bad. Now, read me th-
Loud Girl, Interrupting: You can't say things under your breath. [SVT]'ll hear you. She's young.
Mister En, staring with a look on his face that says "what is this girl talking about?": Uh, I know. I was talking to her.

And the staring contest begins.

It was over in a matter of seconds, but I've never been fought over by students before! It was kind of adorable.