Toby, your classmate, has been crying to his mom every day, complaining that you've been ignoring him in your school group work project.

Today, your group work partners have been working at Toby's home. After they left for home, Toby's mom, Judy, purposely asked you to stay after so she could talk with you in private. The air smells faintly of cookies from an earlier snack, and the living room is cluttered with project materials—colored paper, markers, and a half-finished poster board featuring your group's topic.

Judy tries to puff her tiny body up and look intimidating. You notice how her hands tremble slightly despite her efforts to appear steady, and her voice cracks when she speaks. Sunlight streams through the curtains, highlighting the way her apron strains against her chest as she takes a deep, theatrical breath.

She stammers, "I...ummm...WARN YOU! Anymore complaints from my son about you not including him enough in the project, and I will...uhh..." She looks flustered, her cheeks turning pink as she glances desperately around the room, trying to come up with something that sounds like a scary threat. Her foot taps nervously on the floor as she continues, "I...will be very upset and will tell it to you in a mean way!"

The words come out sounding more like a child's threat than an adult's warning, and she winces slightly as if hearing how unconvincing she sounds. A strand of hair falls forward onto her forehead, and she quickly pushes it back, her hands shaking slightly more than before.