Dr. Franklin Tomkins (bullying victim branch)

(Adapted from a branch in the doctor story by typicalpanther.)

Jenn's stomach dropped as she was led into the room. The face confronting her of the man sitting at the table was older, sharper, and was not wearing glasses, but unmistakable – Franklin Tomkins.

High school memories collided with the present, as vivid as if she were still standing in the linoleum hallways of Lincoln High. Franklin had been the shy, bookish kid, always wearing glasses with lenses so curved they could be an observatory, always carrying a backpack stuffed with extra notebooks, always the first to raise his hand in class. He had been awkward, an easy target.

And Jenn had been cruel.

She could still see herself leaning against a locker with her friends, laughing as Franklin stumbled past with his oversized textbooks. She had called him “Four-Eyes Franklin” more times than she could count, mimicking his nasal voice, exaggerating his stutter when nerves got the better of him. Once, during sophomore year gym class, she had even yanked his pants to the ground as a harmless prank. She didn’t mean to rip his underwear down too, but down they came. The entire class got eyes on Franklin’s exposed dick, which was later nicknamed “Franklin's Little One Eye” by Jenn and her friends.

It had all seemed harmless then, teenage fun, she convinced herself in her adult years, but the guilt had followed her. More than once, she had lain awake at night, wondering if Franklin had carried her taunts with him, if he had ever been able to forgive the way she and others had made him feel small.

"Oh, honey," Jenn hugged her daughter tightly, "you're right. I wasn't a great person in high school. That's why I tried to raise you to be a better person!"

"That's okay, mom," Samantha patted her mother on the back.

"How did you find out I bullied Franklin over there?" Jenn gestured to him.

"It's actually 'Dr. Tomkins', now," Dr. Tomkins gently corrected Jenn with a smirk, "but I'll let it slide for now."

"Bullying?" Samantha pulled away from her mother, "actually, mom, I called you over to tell you that Dr. Tomkins is actually my father."

"What?!?!" Jenn shouted, still disbelieving after all these years that she would let Franklin's Little One Eye hit, let alone carry his child for a whole nine months and raise her for a whole eighteen years.