He picked up another stick.
"My dad says she's seeing a counselor."
Maya did not know what to say.
"So?"
"I don't know."
"Okay."
They worked.
After several minutes, Parker said:
"I didn't know wheelchairs were that expensive."
Maya looked at him.
"Mine cost more than your mom's handbag."
He stared.
"Seriously?"
"Probably."
"How much?"
"None of your business."
He laughed.
"Fair."
By the end of class, their bridge held eighteen pounds.
Best in the room.
Parker fist-bumped her.
Something normal returned.
Daniel heard about it that evening.
"You were nice to him."
Maya shrugged.
"He didn't take my chair."
"True."
"Also he understands triangles."
Daniel nodded solemnly.
"Essential friendship quality."
She smiled.
Three weeks after the incident, Lauren requested a meeting.
Not with Maya.
With Daniel.
He refused initially.
Dr. Grant called.
"You are under no obligation."
"I know."
"She asked through the district mediator."
"Why?"
"She says she wants to apologize."
Daniel looked through the kitchen window.
Maya was in the living room drawing.
"To me?"
"Yes."
"Wrong person."
"I told her."
"What did she say?"
"She wants to start with you."
Daniel did not like that.
But after thinking about it, he agreed to a mediated video call.
Lauren appeared on screen without the cream jacket.
No sunglasses.
No polished pickup-line confidence.
Just a tired woman in a gray sweater.
A mediator explained the rules.
No interruptions.
No accusations.
No discussion of pending district review outside agreed topics.
Lauren looked at Daniel.
"I was wrong."
He waited.
She seemed to expect something.
He said nothing.
Lauren continued.
"I shouldn't have touched Maya's wheelchair."
Daniel's face did not change.
"I shouldn't have moved it."
Silence.
"I shouldn't have argued after she asked for it back."
Still silence.
Lauren swallowed.
"I've been thinking about why I did it."
Daniel finally spoke.
"Okay."
She looked uncomfortable.
"I thought of it as a seat."
He nodded.
"That was part of the problem."
"I know."
"No."
Daniel leaned slightly toward the camera.
"I don't think you do yet."
Lauren's expression tightened.
The mediator watched.
Daniel continued calmly.
"It wasn't wrong because the chair was expensive."
Lauren listened.
"It wasn't wrong because Maya was upset."
Silence.
"It wasn't wrong because people filmed you."
Lauren's eyes lowered.
"It was wrong the moment my daughter said, 'Don't touch that,' and you decided your judgment mattered more than her answer."
Lauren blinked.
Daniel continued.
"Everything after that was escalation."
She nodded slowly.
"I see that."
"Do you?"
"Yes."
He waited.
Lauren exhaled.
"I thought because she wasn't sitting in it, it wasn't being used."