“The If”

When I went to school in the morning, there was this one boy named Sebastian, and whenever he asked a question or created an excuse for not doing his homework, he would have a “what if” question. There was this one time in band class when he didn’t do his homework and the teacher gave him a zero for it. This is when he started to say a “what if” statement. “But Ms, what if my house fell down, my dog ate it, or I broke my arm in the process, then would I be excused from my homework?” Sebastian asked. Ms. Sue would always say, “Sebastian, I know this is one of your annoying “what if” questions again, but I would excuse you from your homework. If any of those things actually happened.”  No matter how many times she said this to him, he always forgot.
Day after day, he would create a scenario like “Ms. Sue, what if there was a mistake in the grading of the pieces we played for the solo yesterday?” Ms. Sue responded saying, “Sebastian, it will be fine, and you know how much I hate ‘what if’ questions. The next time I hear you say another ‘what if question’, I’ll just ignore you!” I had to admit that she was very crazy, although Sebastian does say a lot of “what if” questions.  There was one time when Sebastian said something like, “What if this wasn’t true or what if there is another planet.” Honestly, with his “what ifs” they were either off topic, or just one of his excuses. The kids in school would always call him “the what if boy”, which seemed like the weirdest insult I’ve ever heard.
My friend Antonio and I decided to help him out, because he seemed to really struggle with his sentences. So we went to see him after school and talked to him. We both came up to him and said,
“Hey, Sebastian”. He was nervous and he almost walked away from us.
“No we need to talk to you,” I said. Then he asked us if we were going to call him “the what if boy.”
“No we are just here to help you. We noticed that you always ask a “what if” question all the time. Is there a problem?” said Antonio.
“Well, it’s just that I’m really shy in school, and since I can speak a little English, I can only ask ‘what if questions’.”
“Ok,” Antonio said. I pointed out to him that there was a website for people who have a hard time with a language.
“Here is the website, I wrote it on a sheet of paper on the top. I suggest going on the website tonight to check it out.” I said.
“Ok,” said Sebastian. Then the next day came and I went to band class.  Ms. Sue asked us for our homework, and everyone turned it in, including Sebastian. Ms. Sue was impressed and then he asked her a question. “Ms. Sue, I actually had some trouble with the homework, and if it was possible that I can see you after class.”
“Sure Sebastian, and I’m very impress with you not having a ‘what if question’”. He glanced at me and smiled.