Bob & Tina's Motivational Talk

Bob and Tina Belcher were cleaning the counter, wanting to make sure that they saw their children, Tina, Gene, and Louise Belcher, coming home from school. Tina was looking down at the ground while continuing to walk into the restaurant while Gene and Louise ran excitedly back into the restaurant. Gene and Louise walked straight to the counter where their parents were while Tina dragged her feet over to one of the booths in front of the counters.

"Hello, my babies! How was school!?" Linda asked, leaning over the counter to give Gene and Louise kisses on the forehead. While Louise and Gene were excitedly telling Linda some stories from their day at school, Bob noticed that Tina was standing in front of one of the booths, looking down at the table. Bob also noticed that Tina's fists were clenched, and her thumbs were rubbing across her fingers.

"Tina, how was school today?" Bob asked. Tina turned around and looked at Bob for a second before taking her backpack off and throwing it down onto the ground, causing her family to jump from the startling noise while her face contorted into an angry frown.

"It was awful! I hate school and I'm never going back!" Tina yelled out, her fists still clenched as she kicked her backpack with enough force to send it underneath the booth table, running up the stairs to her room before her parents could respond.

"What was that all about?" Bob asked, looking over at Linda, who shrugged her shoulders before turning around and facing Louise and Gene.

"Louise, Gene, what's going on? Why is Tina so upset?" Linda asked.

"You know that Fluffy-Butts song that Tina got stuck in her head?" Gene asked. Linda and Bob looked at each other, remembering that Tina had been absentmindedly singing that song since she first heard it on a TV commercial. Bob remembered specifically that the night before at dinner, Tina was singing it under her breath while she was eating.

"Yeah…"

"Well…Tina was singing it in the bathroom, and some girls were making fun of her for it the whole day," Louise explained. Bob and Linda looked annoyed when they heard this, as they knew that Tina was a sensitive girl and that she took a lot of things people said about her personally. Linda and Bob cringed as they remembered the times when Tina would try to change her clothes, her personality, and other things about herself to get other kids at school to try and like her because of some things that they said about her.

"My poor baby…," Linda mumbled while Bob's blood began to boil.

"Didn't any of the adults do anything?"

"Well, Mrs. Baytes let Tina stay in her office for the last hour of school, but other than that, not really," Louise responded, looking irritated that she couldn't do anything herself about the girls making fun of her. Gene also looked annoyed that he couldn't do anything other than offer Tina some words of support. Linda looked furious as she walked to the kitchen with the phone in her hands, with Bob following her to the kitchen.

"Lynn, what're you doing?"

"I'm calling the school. No baby of mine is going to get bullied on my watch," Linda responded as she dialed the number to the school. "While I talk to the school, can you go and talk to Tina?"

"Me?"

"Yes, Bob. Someone needs to call the school, and I don't want Tina to be upset all day."

"What am I supposed to say to her?"

"Bobby, I don't mean this as an insult, but you kind of were lonely as a kid like Tina is in school. So if you talk about this kind of thing with her, she may listen to you about it more than she would listen to me," Linda explained as the phone continued playing waiting music since she was on hold.

"I guess you have a point, but you know I'm not good at this kind of thing," Bob said scratching the back of his head. It was literally the reason Linda was calling the school; he wasn't exactly the best at prolonged discussions, let alone motivational ones. Bob had always been a realist, with a sprinkle of pessimism thrown in there, and never really saw himself as someone motivational.

"I know, Bobby, but I think Tina could use some comforting words from her father," Linda said as the phone finally went on. Linda put the receiver to her ear, mouthing to Bob to go see Tina. Bob sighed and nodded before heading out of the kitchen, putting his apron on the counter, and walking up to the actual apartment of their building. As he was heading up the stairs, Bob thought of something that he could say to Tina, and he was so deep in thought that he almost ran into Tina's door. Bob took a deep breath and knocked on Tina's door a few times.

"Tina, it's Dad."

"Go away!"

"I just want to talk to you, Tina."

"I don't want to talk to anyone! I want to be alone!" Tina yelled out again. Bob sighed before turning the door knob, which was unlocked, and walked into the room. Tina was sitting on her bed, her pajama pants on, a blanket on her head, and her eyebrows furrowed to match her frown. Tina saw her Dad coming closer to her, and rolled herself into the blanket, pressing her face against the bed.

"Tina…Louise and Gene told me what happened at school today," Bob confessed, causing Tina to growl before trying to bury herself further into her blanket. Bob sat down on Tina's bed, rubbing Tina's back like he had seen Linda do to calm her down, and it slightly worked. Tina pulled herself up out of her blanket and in a seated position, though her eyebrows were still furrowed and her arms were crossed over her chest. "I'm really sorry that happened to you, Tina."

"Tammy's such a bitch!"

"Tammy? Tammy Larson? Is she still picking on you?"

"Yeah! She's always so mean to me, and I hate her!" Tina said, breathing heavily as she began getting worked up again, Bob continually rubbing her back to keep her at least on the bed.

"You usually don't let Tammy get to you like this, Tina. What happened today that made it different?"

"The girls she told about me singing in the bathroom were girls I wanted to be friends with! She ruined my chance at making more friends, and I hate her for it!" Tina explained, clenching her fists. Bob looked down to make sure Tina wasn't digging her nails into her fists, but much to his relief, Tina's nails were cut too short to leave any lasting damage on her hands. "I just…I just want more people to like me."

"Tina…"

"It's bad enough that I barely have friends at school, but Tammy's ruining my chances at making more. I…I want people to like me and be my friend, but I just…can't do it," Tina said, tears pooling at the corners of her eyes, her body shaking as she tried to keep herself from crying. Bob's heart broke when he saw Tina move her glasses so that she could wipe away her tears before they could fall down her cheeks. "What am I doing wrong?" Tina mumbled, as tears quickly came back in her eyes. Bob stopped rubbing her back, and pulled Tina into a hug, running his hand through her black hair.

"Tina, I know how you feel. When I was in school, people used to think I was weird for working at my Dad's restaurant. I didn't have a lot of time for friends, and even when I tried, people thought that being friends with the guy who was basically his Dad's unpaid employee would make them losers too," Bob admitted, with Tina looking up at her father in shock, Bob having to hold back a chuckle at Tina's look of surprise at his story.

"You weren't a popular kid either?"

"Oh, far from it. I was pretty much one of the least popular kids in my class. But you know why that didn't bother me, Tina?" Bob asked, which Tina responded to by shaking her head. Before Bob responded to Tina, he smiled as Tina's angry frown turned into a blank look with her eyebrow raised in curiosity. That meant, in Bob's mind, that Tina was beginning to calm down and feel better, which gave him more confidence before he continued.

"Because I had a few friends who were there for me no matter what. When I was getting called names by kids, my friends would be the ones to make me feel better and just…talk to me. Don't you have friends like that, Tina?" Bob asked, Tina lowered her head while stroking her chin, thinking about friends she had that were like the ones her father described.

"Well…Dillon doesn't go to Wagstaff but talking to her really does help me feel better. Susmita's been helping me a lot in school and is someone I can talk to at lunch, and I really like that. Zeke's well…he's…he's just really great. He even stood up to Tammy for me earlier today, and I really liked that," Tina responded, blushing when she brought up Zeke's name. Bob tried his best to hold in a laugh that threatened to leave his throat as Tina tried to cover up the blush with her hands, knowing that Tina had completely gotten over her crush on Jimmy Jr. and had basically transferred all those feelings to Zeke. Bob didn't mind this, as he saw how Zeke treated Tina, and preferred it to the way Jimmy Jr. would treat Tina.

"That's great Tina, and really, that's all you need. I understand you wanting to make more friends, but if what you said about those girls is true, and they were persuaded so easily by Tammy, then they probably weren't worth having as friends anyway. I think it's better to have a few genuine friends than a bunch of people who will turn on you as quickly as they became friends with you," Bob explained. Tina looked at Bob as if she was in deep thought, putting her head back down before nodding, Bob patting her back to continue showing her support. Tina then put her head back up and looked at her Dad with a smile for the first time since she came back home.

"I…guess you're right, Dad. But…I still want to make some more friends," Tina replied while rocking back and forth.

"And you will. You're still a young girl, Tina, and you have plenty of time to make more friends. You won't be with Tammy and those other girls forever, and you'll have more chances to make friends in the not-too-distant future," Bob further explained. Bob almost jumped when Tina leaned in to hug Bob, something she rarely did, even with her family. Bob smiled down at his oldest daughter, patted her head, and kissed her on the top of the head.

"Thanks, Dad, I…feel better," Tina said, rubbing her Dad's hairy arm, something Bob remembered that Tina liked to do when she was a toddler. Bob let Tina do her thing for another minute before standing back up and patting Tina on the head again. However, rather than get back up to her feet, Tina laid back down on the table, rubbing her cheek onto her pillow.

"I'll see you at dinner, Dad. I just want to spend a little more time by myself," Tina said with a smile on her face while pressing her fingers together. Bob nodded, and kissed Tina on the forehead before walking out of her room, leaving Tina by herself. As Bob walked back down the stairs and to the kitchen, Bob couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment wash over him. Bob had always considered himself someone who wasn't good at comforting people, which is why Linda was usually the one who talked with Tina when she was feeling upset. But seeing Tina start smiling again and appearing to feel better about herself made him feel more confident about his ability to talk to his children.

That confidence increased even more as it was dinner time, and Tina came to the dinner table with a smile on her face. After Linda peppered her oldest daughter's face with kisses to the cheek and forehead and told her that the principal was going to have a long talk with Tammy, Tina sat down, talked to her younger siblings, and even said that she was going to try and talk to some other girls she wanted to be friends with. While Linda and Louise tried to give Tina some plans on how she could talk to the girls, Bob gave Tina a supportive smile, quietly wishing her luck in her attempt at making more friends.