“Un-uh.” Amari wags his finger as the ginger visibly holds himself back. “You gotta finish.”

Jazmine nods vigorously, gesturing at him to continue. 

"Really? I know I’m getting long-winded and–”

“You’re talking to a certified gab. I’m all ears.”

“Oh-okay. Um, should we move out the way?” Cameron motions to the doorway they were still at.

“Fuck we are in the way,” the president snorts. He waves at them to follow, already on the way to a corner with a few chairs empty.  

Plopping on the settee, Cameron takes his time putting his bag down. Between the sudden location change and also not wanting to seem overly eager to finish, even though they did appear to be following along, the ginger felt embarrassed to start again.

“Alright, man, I can’t handle the suspense,” Amari announces as he and Jazmine both cross their legs. The junior props her head on her hand while her friend leans forward. “You left off at inequitable accommodations because of the gap between knowing and understanding. Keep it coming.”

“Right. I do realize that we have to keep in mind this is not the fault of a single person or school district. Regardless, inequitable experiences often force students and their families to pull away from school districts or commit financially to outside resources on top of whatever they already do for basic childcare. What happens as a result? Less funding because they’ve lost another student.”

“Yuuuuh,” the friends chorus. The sound feels so comedic, but the genuine nods tell him they're serious.

“Y-yuuh. Accommodating shouldn’t and doesn’t have to be something that educators and schools dread. And frankly, I, and anyone, can spout all this shit about strategies, but what good is that if families don't understand the power and part they play in this fight in terms of voting for school board elections and participating in their local school systems.”

“Especially in rural areas like this,” Amari agrees.

“Right,” Cameron stage whispers. The ginger knows his hands are getting more and more animated, but he can’t stop himself. “And it’s so frustrating that when students and families seek the needed support, a child’s experience can already be deeply impacted by the time they receive it.”

The taller boy was already nodding before the sentence ended. “Preaching. To. The choir. The kids always suffer when we delay resources."

“It pisses me off. And another thing that doesn’t get talked about enough for me is the distinction between reg-ed and EC teachers, and their training.”

“Oh?”

They gotta stop saying stuff at the same time, Cameron thinks as he tries to bite down a smile.

“Well…Like, if you look at the trends, the reality is more students are qualifying for accommodations every year as more diagnoses are being made. Most will still be in the reg-ed setting, and those teachers are underprepared for developing classroom management and lesson plans with this in mind.”

“Ooouh. So are you saying,” Amari starts slowly, but is gaining more momentum. “That reg-ed path teachers should be required to have more classes in that specialty.”

“In my opinion, yes. An EC teacher has to be able to work in a reg-ed setting, but it's not the same in reverse. Like, yes. EC and reg-ed are two very different things, but they have to collaborate and share strategies. If they’re not going to require more classes in the subject area for a teaching license, then I think we need to look at encouraging school systems to offer it in professional development.”

“With an incentive, hopefully. No one likes PDs,” Amari laughs shortly. “But I really see what you’re saying. There has to be a deliberate, practical instruction for reg-ed on how to deal with these students that's beyond theory and words of caution in passing.” 

“At the end of the day, funding is unfortunately why most of this shit happens in the first place. Can’t give what you don’t have. It requires more research and attention than I can give right now. Which is why the plan is to really start connecting with people during my time here, but looking closer at forensic social work, specializing in victims with disabilities, as a formal career. For now.”

Finally able to take a deep breath, Cameron feels shy once more, but only for a moment. Amari's face lit up like a Christmas tree, while Jazmine’s was a more subdued expression of approval. Not that he needed it because it was a passion of his, but it did make the ginger’s stomach flutter as he got the sense he’d impress her.

“Well, I’ll be. Jazmine, I think I’m gonna steal your guy.” 

Amari looks between the two for permission. Cameron is surprised he warmed up so quickly, but didn’t want to offend Jaz by taking off with her…friend, if she wanted him around. He tried to keep his face calm in case she told him to piss off, and that she actually wanted to stick next to Amari.

Okay, that was unlikely, Cameron admits to himself. But he needed to hold to that worst-case scenario to help him–

“Go for it. However, if you’re going to have riveting conversations on social injustices at eight in the morning for fun, make sure to eat as you do so,” Jazmine says warningly. Her threatening look at Amari makes the sophomore raise a brow in question. “Oh, sorry, Cam. We forgot to mention that Amari has a condition.”

“Oh.” Seeing Jamal’s shamefaced expression, Cameron worried it was something of an eating disorder. Jazmine quickly shakes her head as she catches the growing worry. 

“It’s nothing too serious. You see, he has an issue of chronically eating cold food at every function because his mouth was running the whole time. And you really don’t want to reheat fish and grits, do ya,” she smiles, but all teeth and no games.

Properly chastised, the senior's shoulders sink. “No, Jazmine.” 

“Oh, okay. But what's fish and grits?” Cameron can’t help but ask.