Chapter 11B: Confrontation

I wasn't liking this baby assignment for parenting class. I'd only had the thing for an hour and a half and it had gone off twice at inconvenient times: first, when I was late for class, and second when I was trying to change for gym. I got a small break during Mrs. Bates's class when all dolls had their batteries recharged. It hadn't taken very long for me to start feeling guilty about snapping at Milo. He hadn't made eye contact with me for the first thirty minutes of class. Unfortunately, I couldn't talk to him because Mrs. Bates had us reading silently. And I needed to talk to him. It was my fault I'd hung around knowing that Jame Graham would be there, and knowing that he was going to say things that would piss me off. I hadn't counted on Caleb, but I could fix that later, and it wasn't exactly fair to expect Milo to solve every little problem I had. Besides that, the whole experience had me wondering what kind of shit he took from Jame after hanging out with my friends--if Jame even knew about it.

When Milo had taken to holding his head in his hand, looking like he was tired of holding it up, I wasn't sure if I was what was bothering him, or if it was something else, but I took the opportunity to write a note on a piece of notebook paper and slide it over the table in his direction. Milo eyed my handwriting rather than me--large blue letters spelling out I'm sorry with a frowning face beneath as he pulled it in his direction with two long fingers. When he did meet my eyes, I was a little surprised to find that Milo looked more confused than anything; but when I flashed him an apologetic look to match my writing, his expression softened, he gave me a slight nod, and then went back to his reading.

I watched him through the rest of class, deciding that his mood was no different than it had been the day before. When I asked him if anything was wrong, he told me that he'd had a headache bothering him for the last few days, and he hadn't been sleeping right. I guessed that our parenting assignment had something to do with that last thing. Either way, his explanation seemed to explain enough and as he left at the end of class I said I'd call him.

Haily, who'd been eyeing me all through class, snagged my arm as soon as I was out of the parenting class trailer. She had her assignment--a boy--tucked under her arm, while I still had Milo's carrier. She was frowning at me, and I didn't need to ask to know what her problem was. She told me anyway, though.

"What's going on with you and Caleb?" she demanded. "He was pissy all through lunch; you never showed up; and when I saw him before Mrs. Bates's class he told me that you could go to hell when I asked if you guys were planning to go swimming, like Joe said."

"I don't think we're going swimming anymore, Haily," I replied, and her frown deepened.

"That wasn't my question, Nels. Seriously. What happened?"

I sighed, glancing at her sidelong. "He saw me having lunch with Jame Graham earlier."

Haily's reaction to that was to be expected as she looked at me as if she'd heard something wrong. "You were where?"

"When I went to get this stupid thing from Milo," I explained, tipping the carrier to indicate the baby, "we started talking and I decided to hang around and eat in the cafeteria with him. But Jame was there--and he was being a total fucking prick. I swear sometimes I think we should just let Caleb kick his ass and be done with it."

"Okay..." Haily said slowly. "Then what's Caleb's problem?"

"Milo walked away for something," I explained. I was beginning to feel exasperated. "When Caleb saw me I was alone with Jame. He probably got the wrong idea."

"But you were still at lunch with Assface," Haily pointed out, acting as if she couldn't quite understand the concept as she threw her head back to swing her braid over her shoulder.

"I was having lunch with Milo," I informed her. "Jame was there. And, whether or not I was fighting with him--Caleb's being an idiot. He's acting like I attacked him or something. I was sitting at the same table as Assface. Big fucking deal. I still don't like the guy. I was there because of Milo."

"Haily looked about ready to side with Caleb, but instead, she simply shook her head at me. "Do you want me to try to talk to Caleb for you?"

"I can tell him he's being a jerk myself," I informed her.

"If you say so," she replied, sounding irritated. I could understand why. I was irritated, too. Caleb and I never fought, and even if I believed I could fix this, the feeling still wasn't a good one as apprehension over it worked my nerves.

"It'll be okay," I finally decided aloud. "I'll talk to him."

But I didn't get the chance to talk to Caleb as I'd hoped to when we reached the parking lot. Joe was there, looking as confused as Haily and me as we realized that the spot Caleb usually parked his jeep in was vacant. At least as I took my two remaining friends home, Haily had the good sense not to tell Joe what was going on. I had a feeling that Joe would love a reason to tell me why I shouldn't associate with Milo Trust, and I wasn't in the mood for it. I was more concerned with Caleb now, anyway. At least, the more I thought about it, the more it didn't make sense. I could understand why he'd be upset over what he'd seen. Angry over it. True, when Caleb got angry, he didn't exactly have a tendency to wait for explanations, so I wasn't surprised that he hadn't in this situation. But what he did do, was yell. Or hit things. In my case, I would have expected the former. Not the way that he'd walked away and decided to avoid things. That just wasn't his style. And frankly, it had me pretty damn confused.

I planned to call Caleb to try to talk to him as soon as I got home, but as I pulled down the gravel drive, still wet from the recent snow which was still apparent in places where puddles usually formed, a black Mercedes parked in front of the garage where I usually parked caught my eye, and suddenly, I was dreading my phone call to Caleb a lot less than what I was pretty sure that I'd find in my house.

I had the infant carrier, my temporary daughter strapped into it, and my backpack as I stepped into the house and was greeted my the scent of something brewing in the crock pot and the sound of feminine laughter. I moved far enough down the hall to peer into the living room, horrified as I saw my mom on the sofa with Emily Hill, one of our many photo albums between them.

"Oh, look at that dress!" Emily exclaimed, pointing to one of them. "That's so beautiful."

"Have you thought about what kind you want?" my mom asked her, and I openly frowned into the room. Neither of them noticed me, though. Not before I heard the sound of a knife hitting a cutting board coming from the kitchen and headed to it, where I found my dad chopping potatoes over the island counter near the stove. He must have gotten off work early, because with his glasses perched on his nose his dark, thinning hair looked shiny and damp from a recent shower, and he was in one of the button-up shirts that he favored when he wanted to be comfortable. I marched right up to the opposite side of the counter and placed the carrier with the doll on it, and he looked up, just in time to find my eyes pointedly on him. But his attention was automatically drawn to the carrier and an alarmed look came over his face, not that I made a show of noticing it.

"Is Miss Hill going to have her wedding here?" I demanded.

"What is that?" My dad wanted to know, pointing at the carrier, but before I got the chance to respond, he'd stopped what he was doing, wiped his hands on a paper towel and rushed around the counter to look down at the doll in the pink onesie, still covered in the little frog blanket.

"It's my parenting class project," I explained, noticing the relieved and somewhat amused expression on my dad's face. "Dad, is she?"

He was still staring at the doll. "Huh?"

"Emily, is she... damn it!"

I glared at the doll as it began to make that awful wailing sound, and my dad took a step back.

"What's it doing?" he asked as I lifted the thing up and searched for the key in its back. It didn't work, so I tried the bottle next as I cradled it in my arms. That did.

"I have to feed it," I explained, and frowned at the look on my dad's face. "It's homework!" I said defensively. "So is she having her wedding here, or not?"

My dad just stared at me. Or rather, me holding and trying to feed a plastic doll, for a very long moment before he finally shook his head and went back to the potatoes.

"I'm not sure, Nelson."

"So why is she here?" I asked.

"Your mother offered to show her the pictures from your Uncle Ray's wedding."

"Why?"

"So Emily can see how things could look if she did want to have her wedding here," he said, beginning to sound exasperated.

"Dad..."

"Don't get all worked up about this, Nelson," he insisted. "They're just looking at pictures."

"Fine. But why can't you just tell her she can't have her wedding here?" I asked. "There are plenty of other places..."

"Because," my dad replied, cracking a small smile, "like your mother would say--that would be rude. You really shouldn't be worried about this, anyway."

"Dad, I know she seems nice, but Milo..."

"I know," my dad replied, smiling gently, in a way that at least let me know that he wasn't ignoring my concerns. "But Nelson, there's a possibility that he's just not sure about her. You know, it took work to get along with you boys when I married your mom."

"It was not."

"Well, maybe not that hard," he admitted as a reminiscent look crossed his face and he adjusted his glasses. "But for a while, I remember you and your brother were pretty suspicious of me."

I frowned at that, mostly because I didn't remember. "If we were, we wouldn't have said yes when you asked us if you could marry our mom."

"Before that," my dad explained. "You guys weren't so sure about having a man around the house, especially Chad. It took work--but we ended up okay. It could be the same for Milo and Emily after they spend some time together. Maybe they just need time."

"Okay," I replied. "You have a point... But I'm more worried about Milo now. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get him to come over already? If she starts hanging around here..."

"Nelson, I really doubt that she's moving in with us, okay? I promise, if anything changes, you'll be the first to know. Please stop worrying about it. And... why don't you keep me posted on Milo, okay? If it becomes a problem, I'll talk to your mom."

I sighed, knowing that there was no way that my dad was going to just go get rid of Emily. Hell, if I were him, I wouldn't either. She really did seem nice, but the fact that she was visiting my house didn't help things as far as Milo was concerned. I wasn't exactly interested in upsetting him, but I'd promised to tell him if things changed with Emily. I wasn't sure if this qualified as change or not, but I had a sinking feeling that I should tell him about it, just in case he found out later, which he probably would, like the last time, and end up angry with me for keeping it from him. When I picked up the phone a while later to call him, I just hoped my dad was right, and there really wasn't anything to worry about. But I never got the chance to find out, because out of the four times I called throughout the evening, there was no answer. Having to wait only made what I wanted to talk to him about feel harder.

At least there was no suspense when it came to Caleb. He hung up on me when I called him.

It was snowing again. It wasn't enough to really stick to anything, and wouldn't have been bad if the overcast sky didn't seem so close that it felt like it was boxing us in. The air was still, and students around school were once again busy cramming for finals. It all made for a quiet Thursday, except for when the silence was occasionally interrupted by the sound of a wailing baby, mine included. I was getting tired of my assignment. As it was, it had woken me up four times after I went to bed, and I was ready to get rid of it.

My day wasn't made any easier by the fact that Caleb still wasn't talking to me. Haily and Joe hadn't called me for a ride, but Caleb's jeep was in the usual spot. He just wasn't waiting for me at the stairs like every other day. Haily and Joe were, though. Haily looked concerned, but Joe seemed none the wiser as he spent his time before class flirting with every girl he could after his fallout with Kelly. It really didn't help that my classes were dragging by, and I didn't see Milo at all when I went to his locker. I wasn't trying to pass our assignment on to him early. I just wanted to see him. I was starting to feel a little lonely, not having spoken to Caleb yet. It didn't seem to matter that I talked to practically everyone else I'd run into.

I'd told Haily to try to get Caleb to Hollander's for lunch again, and that I'd meet them there after meeting Milo, but as I waited at Milo's locker again, I had no idea how successful she'd been, and Milo was running late. It made me worry, since I hadn't seen him all day as it was. When the crowds thinned, and there was still no sign of him, the doll started to cry again. I sighed to myself as I placed the carrier on the ground and went to inspect what was wrong. This time, the diaper had turned blue, meaning it was wet and I knelt down to change it before I turned the key on the doll's back, which stopped the aggravating sound in just a few moments. I was settling it back in the carrier when a worn, dirty black tennis shoe nearly hit me as it stepped over the carrier, knocking it completely over. I grabbed for the doll, able to catch everything before it toppled over. I glared up at the perpetrator, not at all surprised to find Jame Graham as he went to open Milo's locker, looking like nothing in the world was bothering him.

To hell with pleasantries.

"What the fuck is your problem?" I demanded.

He glanced down, likely trying to appear cool with that subdued expression that didn't look quite right on his face, given those fat cheeks of his. He looked like a blow fish.

"Get lost, Larmont."

I moved the carrier aside, and made sure it was behind me, and away from Jame as I stood, facing him.

"Why don't you fucking make me?" I retorted, beyond perturbed with him at this point. Seeing how I hadn't seen either of my two favorite people all day, and I could reasonably blame him for one of their absences, it wasn't a good day for Jame to be picking a fight with me.

Jame's brow lifted as he turned to face me, and I found the amusement in his eyes to be infuriating. He looked at me like a pest. Not even a little threatened, like he did when it was Caleb standing in my place. I suppose it had always been like that with Jame where I was involved. I'm not sure why I suddenly found that so insulting. He took a step forward, and my eyes narrowed on him as I wondered where he got the impression that I was actually going to back down. He started frowning when I didn't.

"Get the fuck out of my face!" he ordered.

"But it's so big," I remarked. "Makes it kinda hard."

Jame bit at his lip, and I watched as his face scrunched up into something aggravated. "I am so sick of you and your fucking friends!" he spat, and I actually had to wipe some of it away from my face.

"Well for someone who's sick of my friends you sure make a point to try to get their attention!" I pointed out. "Trust me, nothing would make me happier than getting the fuck away from you, but I'm not doing that until I see Milo, so I can give him our assignment."

"Well you can't, so back off."

"He's my friend too, Jame. I'm not going anywhere." Even as I said it, I found myself frowning, wondering why I was the one who always had to tell him that Milo and I were friends. Hell, the way Milo was hot and cold with me around him, it was no wonder he needed the constant reminder.

"Then you have a long wait," Jame responded, raising his voice as he slammed the locker, now drawing attention from the slow stream of students still moving through the corridor. "Milo didn't come to school today."

He was in my face again as I absorbed this information, looking at me like it was my fault.

"Why?" I asked.

"None of your fucking business."

I glared at that, and Jame smirked triumphantly. But, whatever victory he thought he had over me was short-lived when his eyes widened in shock as a hand met his chest a moment later, shoving his back into the lockers.

I was a little shocked by that myself, and by the shoulder nudging me away. What I wasn't very surprised by, was that it was Caleb with his palm pinning the startled Jame to his locker, nor was I shocked that my best friend was so red in the face that it looked like a vein was about to pop right out of his forehead.

When Jame finally snapped his jaw shut, he lifted his hands to grab Caleb's wrist in a pathetic attempt to get the blond off of him. When Caleb didn't budge, Jame opened his mouth, likely to say something obnoxious, but smartly rethought it when Caleb stepped so close to him that they were practically nose to nose. Looking around at my peers, who were now gathered around us, I reacted as I always did.

"Caleb, stop it," I insisted, reaching up to grab at his shoulder. He didn't budge, but he didn't shake me off, either. He was too busy staring down Jame, who finally managed to find his tongue.

"Get off me!" he shouted.

"Caleb!" I said, raising my voice. "Forget about him, okay? Caleb!"

"Is there a problem?" Mr. Danner's nasal voice demanded, just as I managed to pry Caleb away from Jame. Everyone, including the crowd, turned to face the short, pudgy teacher with a bad black-dye job in his thinning hair. I found myself grateful that it was well known how Mr. Danner hated everyone equally, because when Caleb and I shook our heads, so did Jame as the teacher looked around suspiciously. "Fine, then break it up before everyone here gets to spend lunch mopping up the gymnasium."

People reluctantly scattered. So did Caleb and Jame, after sending one last glare at each other. I lifted the baby carrier, glancing down to see that my assignment was still safe inside it, and rushed to catch up to Caleb. He didn't look at me, but he did slow down and allowed me to match his pace. I kept looking at him as he seemingly led us towards the main entrance to reach the parking lot, but I wasn't sure what to say to him. In fact, I wasn't aware if we were actually talking yet or not, and it made for some awkward and unknown territory until Caleb finally did the talking for us.