Here are my grade tests for you to sign, Mommy.
Though you and I both know
this is merely a formality.
Ah, yes.
My straight A student.
Tell me, are the other students jealous?
What do they say?
What do their faces say?
… Mmm, yes, that's the same jealous face
I get when I tell people my age.
OK.
"A".
Another "A".
Well, you fail this one.
What?
How did that get in there?
The correct answer is "No".
Even "A" students make mistakes every now and then.
Good thing I caught this one.
In my own kitchen?
Sicily, Is it?
Yes.
It's nice to …
Go wait outside.
I'll call you a cab.
I need to speak with my son.
I told you you weren't allowed to date.
No you didn't.
Well then I'm telling you now.
You are not allowed to date.
But you don't even know Sicily.
I don't need to.
You are not ready to date anyone.
You need to focus on your education.
Girls will only distract you from that,
and then you can kiss those As goodbye.
But that's not fair.
Eddie and Emery were allowed to date
when they were my age.
Oh I'm sorry.
I didn't realize you wanted to
be a rapper-tennis-player-flight-attendant.
And where are those girls now?
Riddle me that.
Well, I don't care what you say.
I'm gonna keep seeing her.
Then you leave me no choice.
You're grounded.
Sicily and I are in the same class,
and you can't ground me from school.
Hey, there's inappropriate touching happening on
school grounds and you need to stop it.
Oh God.
Okay.
Did you see her face?
Could you describe it to a sketch artist?
I'm referring to my son Evan.
I saw him holding hands with a girl student
on the playground.
I see, Ms. Huang.
Mrs. I'm married.
Mrs. Huang, children are allowed to hold hands.
They're middle schoolers.
It's perfectly innocent.
Oh they're too young for that.
They need to be focused on their education.
I wouldn't worry about that if I were you.
Evan's grades certainly aren't suffering because of it.
Now, If you'll excuse me,
I witnessed a brutal fight in the cafeteria today,
and I have to go give a statement.
OK, students, great job on your To Kill a Mocking Bird essays.
Another stellar essay, Evan.
The way you contrasted the snowman Jem built
with the fire at Miss Maudie's house was
so thought-provoking.
Excellent.
A-minus?!
Hi, Evan.
You were right.
Sicily distracted me.
I dumped her.
If you need me,
I'll be studying.
Ciao, Sicily.
This.
This is what I like to see.
What are you studying, Evan?
Pre-algebra.
I have a quiz on Friday,
and I've already lost 78 minutes of study time to Sicily.
Oh, shh shh.
She is gone now.
Let's not even say her name.
I'm so pleased you have come to your senses
about dating, Evan.
In fact, I've decided to reward you by un-grounding you.
No, thank you.
I'd like to serve out the remainder of my sentence to
minimize distractions from my education.
A self-grounding.
He's come back even stronger than before.
Evan, I want to apologize to you for being so strict about dating.
You have nothing to apologize for, Mommy.
You tried to warn me that dating would affect my grades,
and you were right.
Well, that's the thing.
You didn't actually get an A-minus on your English essay.
You got an "A".
I went into the school,
and I changed the grade so you would think
Sicily distracted you and break up with her.
Say that again?
Now?
I went into your school and …
I heard you the first time!
How could you do that to me?
I loved her.
Oh, Evan, I'm so sorry.
I had no idea you would be so upset.
I think it's hard for me to accept that you're growing up.
You're my youngest,
and I want to shield you from all the pain that
comes from being an adult.
But there's a lot of joy that comes with it too,
and I never want to shield you from that.
It kind of seems like maybe
you weren't ready for me to date.
You're so mature.
Aren't you coming?
No, I'm not.
I'll come get you in a couple hours.
Sicily is waiting for you.
Thank you, Mommy.
And … I forgive you.
You do?
You're my mom,
and you should know that no matter how old I get,
I'll always be your little boy.
I'm watching you.