Little Red and the Big Bad Wolf

“You know,” I started, resting my head against Puck’s shoulder as we sat on the couch, watching TV, “sometimes, I wish you were a girl.”

He gave me pretty freaked-out look and asked hesitantly, “Um….is there something you want to tell me?”

I let out a loud laugh, realizing what he thought I meant. “No! Not like that. Just…if you were a girl, you’d be able to give me advice on what I should do. But you’re just like, ‘Not my problem.’”

“Well, it’s not. And technically, it’s not yours either. It’s Callie’s. I don’t see why we should force her to get help if she doesn’t want it.”

“Because, Puck,” I let out a dramatic sigh, “she could potentially kill herself. Do you want her to be dead?”

“No, but-”

“Exactly. So that’s why we have to fix it.”

He was quiet for a second before a mischievous grin spread across his face. “If you want a girl’s opinion, why don’t you just fill Sam in on what’s happening and ask?”

I shoved Puck, laughing, but still irritated. “You’re annoying. You know Sam’s a guy. He’s on the football team, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean much. Like on that show you made me watch once, there was a chick on the football team. They kind of have to let them on the team.”

“Just stop. You know Sam’s not a girl. But anyway, I just don’t want to tell everyone what’s going on with Callie. At our school, the news could be around in ten seconds, and everyone would look at her weirdly. And whose fault would that be? Mine. And she’d know it was mine. I don’t want to do that to her, even if she does hate me.”

Puck was quiet for a second before he said, “You know, you’re not very good at getting people to like you. They all usually think you’re okay at first, and then they change their minds once they get to know you.”

I thought about that. “Not really. Just Santana and Callie. And I guess you can add Brittany to that list, since she just doesn’t like who Santana doesn’t like.”

“You and Finn don’t talk that much anymore. Which I don’t mind, believe me.”

“It’s just slightly awkward between us,” I mumbled. “Ughh…I still have no idea what I’m going to do about Callie. Help meeee!”

“I don’t know either! Maybe you should just go to the guidance counselor like you said before.”

“I feel like that’s so impersonal. I want to try to talk some sense into her or something...”

“Yeah, ‘cause that worked well.”

I shot him a look before opening and closing my mouth, hearing my teeth clack together as I thought. “Maybe impersonal is the way to go.”

“Or you could just write her a note asking to talk before you tell someone about it. Maybe threaten to call her mom or something.” I felt him shrug, like he didn’t really have any confidence in his idea, but it clicked in my brain.

I sat up straight, grinning. “That’s it! I’ll tell her what I’m about to do, so even if she hates it, she can’t do anything about it, and she’ll be expecting it!” Leaning forward without thinking, I kissed him quickly. “You’re a genius!”

Puck looked like he just won the lottery or something. “Does this mean I’m off probation?”

“Maybe. Don’t push it.” Then, without another word, I got up and hurried around the house, looking for everything I needed to write a note.

Finally, when I was all done, I sat back down next to Puck and bit my lip. “Now…what should I write?”

Puck put up his hands and shook his head. “You’re on your own there.”

“Thanks a lot…” Grumbling a little, I cracked my wrists loudly and started the letter.

* * *

“I think we’re going to drown in paper,” Puck announced, looking at the numerous balls of crumpled letters around us. “Maybe this was a bad idea.”

“It’s not the idea that’s bad,” I corrected him. “It’s my brain. I don’t know what the hell to write.”

“Write what?” Aileen asked as she walked in. She raised an eyebrow for a second when she caught sight of Puck, but she must have decided that it wasn’t really worth questioning.

“I’m trying to write a letter to tell some girl that we need to talk, and if she doesn’t, I’m just going to tell the guidance counselor to call her mom about it.”

“So…why don’t you just write that?” She threw her bag on the counter before standing in front of the TV, her hands crossed in front of her chest.

“Doesn’t that sound too…I don’t know, immature? ‘Talk to me or I’ll tell on you’?”

“Well, you don’t have to word it like that,” Aileen chuckled, picking up a couple pieces of paper. “Whoa. How long have you been trying this?”

“An hour,” Puck answered with an annoyed tone. He probably thought that me kissing him meant that we were going to make out or some other high expectation. Instead, he got to sit around and listen to me rant and mumble, occasionally crumpling up paper and tossing it onto the floor.

“Puck, are you staying for dinner?” Aileen asked.

“Sure.” Then, after thinking about all that I’d told him about making sure that he was polite to get on Aileen’s good side, he added, “Thanks.”

She smiled very slightly as she walked away.

Without arguing with myself in my head, I scrawled down a note before ripping it out and throwing it against Puck’s chest with my eyes closed. “Read that and tell me how bad it is.”

It was quiet for a few seconds before he handed it back to me. “It sounds good.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re not lying to me?”

“Okay, you’re starting to drive me crazy. Just give her that one. Seriously.” He took the notebook and pen out of my hand before giving the final draft back to me.

Just taking his advice, I folded the paper into thirds and put a little purple smiley face on it to keep it closed. “Do you think this is going to give her false hope?” I asked, shoving the sticker in Puck’s face.

He rolled his eyes, but shook his head. “I’m not giving you any more guidance because it hasn’t gotten me anywhere.”

I grinned at him before standing up to put the paper into my bag. Behind me, I could hear Puck sigh, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

* * *

“Okay. Just slip it through the slits at the top of the locker,” I whispered to myself, trying to muster the courage. “Really. It won’t hurt you.”

“This is pathetic,” Puck finally intervened, ripping the letter out of my hand and putting it in the locker for me. “Red, you’re over-thinking this way too much.”

“Someone’s life could potentially be in my hands! What if I mess up and she dies?”

“And now you’re being dramatic.” He dragged me away from the locker, stopping in front of mine. “Just get the stuff out of your locker and stop worrying about it.”

“Easier said than done,” I mumbled.

When I turned around, he put his lips on mine. Just like he planned, for a few seconds, I didn’t even remember that there was a Callie.

That was, until a couple football players walked by and whistled. Puck turned around, ready to pulverize them, but I grabbed his arm. “Ignore them.”

The bell rang, and I turned to go down the hallway. “See you at lunch?”

“Yeah,” he agreed.

When I took my seat in class, I noticed that Callie wasn’t next to me. My heart picked up pace, because, of course, I was thinking that the worst possible things had happened to her.

But she was fine, just a little late. From the way she made eye contact with me, I knew that she had gotten my letter.

And from the way she sat across the room instead of next to me, she wasn’t going to be willing to cooperate.