Empathy No. 070
LLOYD: Nice to see everyone down here in a timely manner. Dinner will be a little bit delayed tonight - Ellie is still at the store, she will be picking something up.
JASON: So why'd we have to get down here early?
ALLISON: Oh God, I know what this is: Midterm status update time.
LLOYD: Or report cards, as they called them in my day.
BROOKE: Oh, sucks for you guys but not me! We don't get those.
LLOYD: That's right, this is high school only. So since we have a little time, let's take a look at how everyone is doing.
ALLISON: Dad, I already know my grades are gonna suck this term, do you have to humiliate me too?
JASON: Shouldn't we wait anyway? I mean, we'll have to go over Roderick's twice when his Mom comes back. That's not fair to him.
RODERICK: It's okay, you don't-
ALLISON: Oh please, we all know how Roderick did. He's not gonna have to deal with any shame.
LLOYD: Well, you never know, which is why we're going over there. Jason's on top, and we have...a 3.2 grade point average.
ALLISON: Get out of here! 3.2? How? How did you swing that, you worm?
JASON: Um...I'm smart?
ALLISON: And you're still sitting over here trying to stall when you're swinging grades like that?
JASON: I wasn't stalling! I really did want to be fair.
LLOYD: To be totally fair, that 70 in Algebra was cutting it really close.
JASON: Yeah, I had a couple bad tests - but I'm working on that, trust me.
RODERICK: I can probably help him with that.
LLOYD: And I appreciate that, but let's hold off on that until we see how...
BROOKE: Allie! Do Allie next!
ALLISON: Knock it off! What did I do to you?
LLOYD: Everyone settle down. Allison has a...2.9 GPA.
ALLISON: That's not so bad, especially with teachers that hate me.
JASON: And all you do is whine about how hard everyone is-
ALLISON: Shut up, Jason. You complain the same about your math-
LLOYD: Knock it off, both of you! Now, you both did fine, doesn't mean there's not room to improve, but you're not competing, got it? I do this for accountability, not to see you bicker.
BROOKE: They're like little kids, huh?
LLOYD: Okay, that leaves Roderick. Now, you're new to this, obviously your Mom never needed to do anything like this, so we can skip you this time.
RODERICK: Go ahead, it's fine.
LLOYD: All right. And...you have a...
ALLISON: 4.0.
LLOYD: Thank you, Allie, I wish you would put those number skills to use in your Calculus class. Congratulations, Roderick, you have straight As so far.
RODERICK: Thank you.
BROOKE: So we're done? We don't really have to sit at the table until Ellie gets here?
ALLISON: Like you're busy?
BROOKE: Yeah, I'm busy. I'll be in my room, call me when it's dinner.
ALLISON: In that case, I'm getting on chat. Something I need to do.
LLOYD: That's fine. But Roderick, could you stay put for a minute?
RODERICK: Wh...why?
LLOYD: It's nothing bad. Jason, can I have a minute alone with Roderick?
JASON: Um, sure, I'll just be out here.
LLOYD: Thanks. So we haven't really talked in a while, have we?
RODERICK: I guess not.
LLOYD: You can loosen up, you're not in any trouble at all. Really, it looks like you're doing great, really getting used to life here. You agree, right?
RODERICK: I don't know, I mean...it's better.
LLOYD: Still some late nights, though?
RODERICK: That's just the way I am, really.
LLOYD: Yeah, and you still haven't gotten the hang of beating those three to the bathroom, have you? Again, I'm not grilling you here. The report card says a lot about how things are going at school.
RODERICK: It's okay. I'm not having any problems.
LLOYD: No problems? Because I've have people from Redgrove ask me why you're not going out for any activities. Now, you're probably sick of hearing this, but from their perspective - and, yeah, from mine a little bit - you haven't given a good reason.
RODERICK: I'm just taking more time for myself.
LLOYD: Okay. I know you've been spending a lot of time with Carlie Anderson. I know as well as anyone that a girlfriend can really take up your time.
RODERICK: It's not-
LLOYD: If you need to discuss this kind of thing, I know there are topics you might not want to bring up with your mother-
RODERICK: Please, it's not Carlie, I mean...I have a personal project.
LLOYD: I see. Anything I can help you with?
RODERICK: Not really.
LLOYD: You don't need to keep secrets here. We're family.
RODERICK: I understand, but this...it's not that big a deal, it's just something I've wanted to do for a while.
LLOYD: Okay. But if you do have any problems, I want you to feel comfortable coming to me, okay?
RODERICK: Yeah, I get it. I'm just going to put my bag in my room if that's okay.
LLOYD: No one's stopping you. And thanks for the talk.
RODERICK: Yeah, thanks.