Z

Beth: Josh, come down and eat.

Fine.

Yo. Eat up, buddy.

-You do you're homework? -Yep.

Of course he did. He always does.

Hey.

Okay, keys.

Keys. Where are my keys?

-Seriously? -What?

-You're ridiculous. -See -- yeah.

I was testing you. -Hmm.

-That was a test. -Hmm.

-You failed. -Aw!

And you -- thank you.

Okay.

I'm out. Knuckles. Pound it.

Boom. Nice. Thank you.

-'Kay. -Love you guys.

-Bye, Dad. -Come on.

Hurry up. They're gonna be here soon.

Hey. Hey.

Hey, Daniel.

Hey, Josh.

Looks like you finally gave in.

Yeah. Well, it keeps him quiet on the drive, at least.

So are we still on for girls' night next week?

Anything to get away from this little monster.

Right? All right, hey.

You guys be good at school.

-We know. Love you, Mom. Bye! -All right, bye.

Good luck with that. All right. Bye.

Teacher: I saw some of you guys were answering the questions

with numbers, some had happy faces.

I like all the answers,

but how many muffins are we gonna eat?

Okay, go ahead.

Hey. Sorry.

Shh.

Hear that?

Hold on.

Josh: What?

Here, uh, you can move your guy.

Here. I'll let you go first.

Okay.

Uh, then we set them up in a line.

And you're like, four -- four, five, or six each.

Yeah, sure, but how many do you want to put on first?

Six? Yeah, sure. Here.

I'll have six, too.

I think Josh has an imaginary friend.

Ah, that's cute.

I guess.

Okay, time for your ni-nights.

Good night, Mom. Good night, Dad.

And goodnight, Matchie.

Mm. Anybody else?

Goodnight, Chewie!

Mm-hmm.

Okay, give me a kiss.

-Goodnight, Mom. -Love you.

You want it open or shut?

-Open. -Okay. Night.

Bye, Mom! Bye, honey.

-Good morning. -Seatbelts?

-Yep. -Okay.

Thank you.

Shit.

Hey, Mom.

How you feeling?

Where's your sister?

Uh, yeah, she should be here soon.

Can I get you anything?

I saw your father.

He looked just the same.

He hadn't aged a day.

I could smell his cologne.

Ah.

Is that for your new friend?

I don't think we've formally met, Josh.

What's your new friend's name?

Are you gonna tell us?

He doesn't want me to.

-Oh. -Okay.

Hmm.

They want to know your name.

Okay. Yeah.

Okay, sounds good.

"Z"?

Yep.

Nice to meet you, Z.

He says, "Nice to meet you, too."

Oh, wow.

He's very polite.

Mom, no! The floor's hot lava! Stop, stop, stop!

The floor is hot lava.

Only step on the rocks.

Yeah, okay, good. Come on.

Let's go. It's time for bed.

No, no! You're melting! You're melting!

Aaaaah!

No! No!

Come on. It's time to brush your teeth.

Let's go.

Come on, Z, let's go.

Okay.

Make one more move. Just come on.

Oh! Oh. Whoa, whoa. This floor is hot.

So, now -- ha!

You're stuck, Z!

Okay, Josh, come on now.

Fine.

Good night, Mom. Good night, Dad.

Good night, Matchie.

Good night, Chewie.

Mm, sweetie, you sure you still want to say good night to him?

Just because he died doesn't mean he can't hear me.

Okay. All right.

Love you.Love you, too.

Wait. Close it.

Are you sure? Yeah.

Z likes it dark.

So, what are we gonna do about this?

About what?

What do you think?

What, his creepy imaginary friend?

I don't know.

He'll grow out of it, I guess.

Yeah.

Yeah, probably.

Did Daniel say anything?

That they weren't gonna come today?

Josh, did Daniel say anything?

Beth: All right, have a good day.

Love you.

Hello?

This is.

This is never an easy conversation to have.

I just don't understand. Suspended indefinitely?

Listen, Josh is one of my favorite students.

Well, what did he do exactly?

I don't even know where to start.

Um, the language is unacceptable,

and now he's started hitting his classmates.

What? Hitting?

This was all detailed in the red cards I sent home with him.

W-What red cards?

This is your husband's signature isn't it?

Sorry, Beth.

Until Josh can behave in a classroom setting,

I -- I just don't see any other options.

"Josh left class without permission

and refused to come back when asked."

"Josh was caught harassing other students,

both verbally andphysically."

"Josh has been using vulgar language repeatedly,

was asked to stop but continued."

Sh-- shall I keep going?

Okay. I'm sorry.

It's just, kids get into trouble sometimes.

It's what they do.

Well, our kid just got suspended, Kevin,

so great job.

That's good parenting.

And he refuses to take responsibility for any of it.

He blames all of it on his new best friend.

Okay. So what do you want to do?

Dr. Seager: Having an imaginary friend

can come from several things --

boredom, loneliness, a need to establish boundaries,

and sometimes means acting out.

So, does he need to be on something?

Beth.

Jesus. Were not medicating our kid.

No, I don't think that's necessary.

A lot of children develop imaginary friends,

and oftentimes it can be a positive experience.

So, is there anything we can do to help him be less...

you know, destructive?

Well, you could try playing with him more at home.

You could be there for him like his friend is,

help him see that it's all right

to be himself around real people.

Okay.

So, that's it?

I think so.

I think he's a perfectly normal 8-year-old boy.

Okay.

Nice to see you again, Beth,

although I wish it was under better circumstances.

-Oh. Yeah. -Josh, let's go.

Come on, Z.

Z?

Yeah, that's what he calls it.

Listen, thanks for everything.Uh, yeah.

We'll follow up in a couple days.

-Of course. -Okay.

-Thank you very much. -Thank you.

Okay. Hey, Josh.

You know, you really gotta go see Mom.

She's -- she's looking rough.