One Good Lie Deserves Another

One off my students had told me ey was moving again and that it would be eir last day in class. Ey was one of the kids that caused a stink preceding Good Friday, so I wasn't exactly disappointed to lose em. Still, I hesitated to believe eir claim since ey was a compulsive liar and didn't plan a party for the occasion until this claim could be confirmed.

After the weekend, the student strutted into my class, tardy as usual. "Are you surprised to see me?" ey asked. "Sure, you told me you were moving," I answered. "I lied," ey said with a grin. "I trusted you," I said, which was a lie in itself. Ey countered, "You should have known I lie."

I decided to give em a taste of eir own medicine, saying, "I really wish you hadn't done that." "Why?" ey asked. I replied, "I threw out all of your work! I didn't even grade it, I thought you weren't coming back."

A flash of panic struck the student's face. "But what... that's not..." Ey was so flustered, ey couldn't complete a thought.

I spared him. "Calm down, I'm just lying to you, too." The student was relieved. "Do you know why you should have known that was a lie?" "Why?" I smiled slightly and asked, "What work do I have from you to throw out?" The class erupted in laughter and scattered applause. I had clowned em so hard, ey turned red and put eir face against the desk.

That day, for the first time in months, I actually received some work from that student.