Little Red and the Big Bad Wolf

All day, I was nervous, my knee jumping up and down as I was in class. I didn’t know exactly how I was going to bring up the ridiculously sensitive subject that was accusing Callie of being a liar.

“God,” Sam started when he pushed his desk against mine so we could work on some worksheet together, “you look like you’re going to face death or something.”

“Nothing that dramatic,” I responded, checking the clock again.

Sam waited for a second, watching as I tried to focus on the paper, but instead tapped my pencil quickly against the top of my desk and looked back at the clock. Finally, he asked, “Are you going to tell me what’s up?”

“I’ll give you the gist. I basically have to ask someone that I don’t know too well a very personal question.”

That just made him more confused, but he just shrugged and turned back to the paper. I let out a long sigh, totally thankful that Sam was willing to let the whole thing go. If only Puck were like that sometimes, instead of being a badgering annoyance.

Glee Club was no different. If anything, I was even worse than I had been earlier. The difference was, Puck was there, and he looked like he wanted nothing more than to slap me upside the head.

“Will you stop? You’re going to tip Callie off early that you’re going to accuse her of something. Or give her other crazy ideas of what you’re going to say that’s making you crazy.”

“I can’t help it,” I whined. “I’ve been trying all day to calm myself down, but it’s. Not. Working.”

Puck rolled his eyes at me (very encouraging), and watched Mr. Schue walk into the room.

He grinned at all of us and asked, “Who wants to go first?”

* * *

If I was nervous before Glee Club, it was nothing compared to after. Puck basically had to push me down the hallway, since I was just about frozen. Which as embarrassing as it was for me, I was sure it must have amused the other people who had after school activities. “Maybe this is a bad idea,” I muttered. “I should just mind my own business.”

“So now you choose to stop being nosy? That’s just not the Ellie way,” Puck reminded me. “Plus, if you really care as much as you say you do, then it’s what you have to do.”

I hesitated for a second, thinking about it. “What if I puke on her because I’m so nervous, and then she thinks I’m gross, so she never talks to me again, and then I’ll never find out the truth?”

Puck turned me around to face him, his arms still on my shoulders to make me look him squarely in the eyes. “Ellie, you are being really dramatic. Just do what you gotta do, and it’ll be okay.”

“Okay,” I agreed before taking a big breath. I could see through the glass door that Callie was already sitting at a table, her eyes fixed on a book that was lying open on the table in front of her. “I can do this.”

Puck rolled his eyes and walked away, clearly out of pep talking. I watched him for a second before finally mustering enough courage to throw open the door and step inside.

Callie looked up immediately and smiled. My stomach clenched, thinking about the fact that her smile was going to be completely gone in a good second.

I sat down across from her and played along with the charade for a second by pulling my giant history book out of my bag. “So,” I started, “my test is on chapter three tomorrow, so we should probably start there.”

“Alright.” Callie opened up her textbook and flipped through the pages until she got to the start of chapter three. She looked up, her mouth already opened to fill me with knowledge or ask a question about how much I knew, but I cut her off.

“Did you lie to me?” I blurted. Shocked, I slapped my hand over my mouth and felt my face burn with embarrassment.

She stared at me for a second, probably trying to figure out what the hell I was talking about. “Did I lie to you about what?”

“You know…” I leaned in closer and whispered, “About you being pregnant.”

Callie looked at me for a second, having about as much emotion as a stone. Finally, she replied (again, with no emotion), “Yeah.”

A huge weight was lifted off my shoulders, since I wasn’t falsely accusing her. “Why would you do that to me?”

“Because you were sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong,” she shot back. “If you hadn’t been a nosy bitch, then I wouldn’t have had to lie.”

I stood up, taking my book into my hands and holding it in front of my chest, probably as a defensive measure. “I wasn’t trying to be nosy. I was trying to help you.”

“Yeah, well give you help to someone who wants it.” With that, she gathered her stuff and stormed out of the library.

“Well,” I muttered before clearing to my throat, “that didn’t go quite as well as I planned.”

Biting my lip, I walked out of the library and headed toward the football field, where I could wait for Puck to finish practice.

* * *

“Wow. That sucks,” Puck expressed after I filled him in on the scene that unfolded when I tried to ask Callie about what happened. “It kind of shows that she seriously needs help, though.”

“I know. I’m thinking about going all after-school-special and going to the guidance counselor or something. She’ll probably hate me…which, now thinking about it, isn’t a much worse situation than I’m already in.”

He shrugged. “Well, I don’t know what to do. I haven’t really had this situation before.”

“You know, guys can get eating disorders, too, ya know.”

“…They can? I thought that was a girl thing.”

“They’re different, but yeah, they’re still eating disorders. Google it if you want.”

“Don’t care enough,” he told me with a grin.

“Good to hear that you’re so involved with the people of our community that are in need.” I rolled my eyes and got into the passenger’s seat of his car. “So do you want to hang out this afternoon? Aileen’s working late.”

“Sure,” he agreed, smiling at me cheekily.

“Shut up,” I laughed, pushing his face away with my hand.

“I didn’t say anything!”

“You inferred it. You know that’s not what I meant. Like I said, probation.”

“All probation’s gotta end. Trust me, I know.” He grinned at me, which made me roll my eyes again.

For a while, goofing off with Puck, I totally forgot about the whole situation with Callie. But, unfortunately, that didn’t last too long.