"Hey, what does your dad do, Fareed?" asked David.

Fareed toyed with his fork. He didn’t want to get into this argument because he knew he would lose. Even though Fareed was born in California, his father had immigrated there from Pakistan and had a heavy Pakistani accent. There was no way his dad was the coolest, he thought.

"Oh, my dad can’t, uh, come next week," stuttered Fareed.

"Why not?" asked Tariq.

"He’s busy…He doesn’t…uh…" Fareed racked his brain for an excuse. "He doesn’t have time for me," he finally blurted out. He felt the uneasiness growing inside his stomach at the lie he just told.

"Really? Your dad? Doesn’t seem like it," said David.

"He hides it really well. He took acting lessons." Fareed felt his face burning. Can they tell I’m lying? Maybe I should just tell the truth. His palms were sweating and his heart was racing.

The school bell rang, and Fareed jumped like he had just been caught.

When Fareed reached home that day, his dad opened the door. "What’s wrong son?" asked his dad in his thick accent.

"What do you mean?" asked Fareed guiltily.

"You look flushed. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, uh…I’m just upset because they canceled ‘Take Your Dad to School Day,’" said Fareed as he fidgeted with the straps of his bag.

"Strange, they didn’t send a letter to say it’s canceled."

"I think they ran out of paper," said Fareed. He ran up the stairs before his dad could ask any more questions.

The next week rolled around, and Fareed was sitting alone at his desk in science class while his friends were with their dads. The classroom door opened, and Fareed was shocked to see his dad with a bowling ball and a rope. Fareed’s dad walked straight to the front of the room.

Fareed’s teacher asked everyone to be quiet and introduced his dad as an engineer.

Oh no, thought Fareed, here comes the accent.

"Good morning, class. I will start with a demonstration on one of the principles we use in engineering, conservation of energy. I’m going to need a volunteer," said Fareed’s dad, tying one end of the rope to the bowling ball and the other end to a hook in the ceiling.

Fareed looked around. No one was laughing at his dad’s accent. In fact, people were raising their hands to volunteer!

"Let me tell you, though, this is kind of a dangerous experiment, so let me volunteer Fareed," joked his dad. The class laughed.

Fareed’s father directed him to stand with his back against a wall, and he brought the bowling ball right up to Fareed’s nose.

"Now, whatever you do, don’t move out of the way," warned Fareed’s dad. Every person in the class watched closely. "You can see why I didn’t pick any other volunteers; I know we have some lawyers in the room, and I don’t want to get in trouble!" The class laughed again.

Fareed’s dad let the bowling ball go, and everyone held their breath. The ball swung to the other side, and came back to within an inch of Fareed’s nose. The class broke out in applause, and Fareed beamed. The class loved his dad!

Fareed apologized to his dad after class, and even though he was grounded for lying, he still had a clear conscience. It was a good thing his dad didn’t buy his excuse. He told his friends the truth, and he realized that even though his dad had an accent, for him, he was still the coolest.