Just This Once

by amiablehacker

Susie's friend moves away. The grown-ups are telling Calvin to be nice to her. Now how the heck is Calvin going to do that?

When you're six years old, sometimes you stop throwing water balloons at girls and actually start conversing with them. Unfortunately, since you're only six years old, conversing is a difficult thing to accomplish. Especially if this girl really needs someone to talk to.

Calvin recently discovered that his next door neighbor, Susie Derkins, was actually an interesting conversationalist. She liked ice cream and pizza just as much as he did. She also liked to read comic books sometimes. Calvin didn't even know that girls could like comic books. However, Susie was still a girl, which put twinges of awkwardness in Calvin's stomach whenever he talked to her. He was afraid she might say something that only girls understand and be at a loss for words. And what if he said something that only boys understand? It was complicated.

So when Susie approached him at the bus stop one morning, Calvin wasn't sure how to handle it. Something seemed to be wrong. She didn't say "good morning" like she usually did, and she didn't make eye contact with him. It was dreary that day, and somewhat misty, but she refused to put her coat hood up. Calvin knew that when Susie was upset about something, she gets mad when he tries to talk to her. He didn't say anything.

At school, Susie didn't participate in classroom discussion. When the teacher called on her, she gave the shortest possible answer. Calvin couldn't find her during recess. Her usual group of friends liked to hang out by the swings, but none of them were there today. The last thing Calvin wanted to be seen doing was looking for girls, so he continued imagining he were Spaceman Spiff, zooming through the vast unknown.

By the time Calvin got home, Susie had been on his mind all day. A few months ago, this would have been appalling, but he didn't mind so much anymore. Hobbes pounced on his best friend as usual, but Calvin wasn't in the mood to get angry about it.

"What's going on? Why aren't you mad?" Hobbes crossed his arms. "You know, it's no fun if you don't get mad."

Calvin trudged up the stairs. "Shush Hobbes. I'm thinking." He tossed his damp coat on his unmade bed.

"About what? That book report about that book you haven't read?"

"What book report?" Calvin looked at Hobbes.

"Never mind. Just tell me what you're thinking."

"It's about Susie."

Normally, Hobbes would make some remark about how Calvin and Susie were meant to be (which they were), but Calvin looked upset. "What about her?" he said simply.

"She looked upset today, and I couldn't find her at recess."

"Well, just ask her what's wrong."

"The last time I did that, I got mud shoved in my face."

Hobbes laughed. "That was because you called her a smelly pig-head and told her to go away. That doesn't count as asking her what's wrong!"

"Stop laughing! This is serious!" Calvin crossed his arms and scowled.

Hobbes regained his composure. "I am serious. You should call her. Maybe your mom can talk to her mom if Susie doesn't want to tell you."

"Ok." Calvin went downstairs and found his mom in the kitchen. "Hey Mom, can I use the phone?"

"What for?" she replied, chopping vegetables as she spoke.

"I wanna call Susie."

His mom turned around and looked at him stiffly. "You aren't going to prank call her, are you? I've just about had enough of that."

"No, no. Geez, Mom! She was upset at school, so I wanted to see what was the matter."

Calvin's mom smiled. "Oh, how nice! Sure you can use the phone."

"Ok. What are you making for dinner anyway?"

"Um…just some stuff."

Calvin made a face. "That means I won't like it!"

"Go use the phone before I revoke your privileges," she said firmly and turned around again.

"Fine…" Calvin obeyed.

The phone in Susie's house rang twice before Susie's mom answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi Mrs. Derkins. Is Susie there?"

She immediately recognized Calvin's voice and became suspicious. "What is it you want? Susie's had a hard day, and I do not want you bothering her."

"I was just going to ask what was wrong. She seemed upset at school."

Her tone changed. "Oh, is that all? Well, I don't think she'll mind me telling you. Her good friend from school moved last week. She's down about it."

"Oh ok. I guess I don't need to talk to her then. Bye."

"Wait…Calvin?"

"Yes?"

"Could you try to make Susie feel a little bit better? She is quite upset about this whole situation. This is the first time any of her friends have moved. I think it would do wonders for her if you comforted her a little. At least be nice to her for a while, ok?"

"Um…ok. Bye."

"Goodbye dear."

Calvin walked back through the kitchen to go to his room.

"What's wrong with Susie?" his mom asked.

"Her friend moved. Mrs. Derkins wants me to make her feel better."

"Oh that'll be nice."

"Yeah, I guess." Calvin was confused. How on earth was he going to comfort a girl? What was he supposed to do? He didn't know what she liked. He wouldn't have to kiss her would he? That's how boys comfort girls in the movies.

This was going to be harder than he thought. He knew the best thing to do was to go to Hobbes. Hobbes always knew what to say.

Calvin opened the door to his room to find Hobbes reading. "Susie's friend moved. Mrs. Derkins wants me to…is that my comic book?"

Hobbes quickly shoved what he was reading under the bed. "Um…no…." he said nervously, "What…what did Susie's mom say?"

"Give me my comic book back now." He glared at Hobbes until he handed it to Calvin. He returned it to his stack of comic books (which had just alphabetized!) and turned back to Hobbes. "Susie's mom wants me to make Susie feel better. How the heck do I do that?" Now he was irritated and didn't even want to comfort Susie.

"Well, maybe you could give her a kiss!" Hobbes' eyes sparkled and he grinned. Calvin grimaced and tackled his tiger angrily. The two wrestled for a while before Calvin got bored and let Hobbes win. Or at least, that's what he said when Hobbes had him pinned to the floor two minutes later. His tiger was smug.

"I won. That means I get to read your comic book." He extended his paw.

"No. Now tell me how to comfort Susie." Calvin sat on the bed and sulked. He only asked how to comfort Susie because he felt obligated to.

Hobbes became serious again. "I don't know. Ask her if she needs anything."

Calvin threw up his arms. "Oh great! Just great! Why don't I just ask her to marry me while I'm at it?"

Hobbes laughed. "Asking her if she needs anything is not the same as asking her to marry you! You're so immature Calvin! You don't know anything about girls."

"I'll show you! I'll ask her if she needs anything. She'll get mad, I know she will!"

"Yes, she probably will. But she'll still appreciate it. She just won't tell you."

"What's the point of being nice to her if she's only going to get mad?"

Hobbes shrugged. "I dunno. But girls are always freaking out over nothing." He crossed his arms. "I don't know how humans can date each other if relationships consist mostly of one person trying to read the other's mind."

Calvin got off the bed. "That's why I'll never date! Girls are so weird anyway. There's no way I'm ever going to kiss them!" He gagged. "That's just gross."

"Nope. You'll meet a girl. And you will do everything in your power to stay with her," Hobbes said, "Which includes doing everything she says and trying to read her mind when she gets mad over nothing."

"You don't know me at all Hobbes, do you?" Calvin scowled.

"Oh, I know you all too well, my friend," Hobbes replied.

He was tackled again.

Susie Derkins was awoken by her mother the next morning. She snuffled. Her nose was stuffed up. That happens when you spend a good portion of your bedtime crying.

Lacey had been her best friend, now she was gone. Susie gave Lacey her phone number, but Lacey was getting a new number. Susie wasn't sure if she'd ever call, even though Lacey had promised she would.

Down the street, Susie could hear Calvin protesting about going to school, as he did every morning. She was already getting a headache from thinking about listening to her neighbor's supposed complaints that consisted of nothing more than vanity.

Susie felt as if she lost a part of her heart. Maybe she was overreacting. Her mom said it was perfectly normal to feel sad. But Susie didn't think she'd feel this sad. Maybe she was too sad. Her mom also said that the worst thing to do was to keep all her feelings inside and never talk about them. But Susie didn't want to talk to her mom. She wanted a friend. And the only friend she could talk to was gone. What was she supposed to do?

She didn't make eye contact with Calvin when she reached the bus stop. She didn't feel like talking today. Sometimes it felt good to be alone and let thoughts overwhelm her.

Calvin was unaware of these feelings. He thought Susie always wanted to talk. Maybe if I talk first, she'll be normal again, he thought.

"Good morning, Susie," he said politely.

What is he doing? Susie thought, Is he setting me up to tease me again? I don't want to deal with this right now. But I have to say something. She sighed. "Good morning."

That wasn't good enough for Calvin. "Um…how are you?"

Susie rolled her eyes. Calvin was definitely setting her up. "I'm fine Calvin. Could you be quiet? I don't feel like dealing with your insults right now."

"Insults?" Calvin exploded, "I never insulted you at all! I was trying to be nice!"

Susie turned. "When are you ever nice to me? I know what you're up to Calvin and I don't want to deal with it! Now be quiet!" She faced the street again and sighed angrily.

Calvin wished he knew what Susie was talking about, because he wasn't up to anything. He was trying to do what Mrs. Derkins said to do. What was her problem anyway? Calvin didn't feel like being nice anymore. He also sighed angrily and neither of them said a word until the bus came.

Susie's thoughts were whirling. Although she still thought that Calvin was being nice so he could tease her, she still felt slightly appreciated. He noticed her. Lately, she felt as if the whole world was against her. What kind of system would tear a little girl away from her best friend? She felt like this world was trying to make her feel as bad as possible. Suddenly, she had the overwhelming urge to give Calvin a huge hug, and she didn't know why. She'd never wanted to hug Calvin in her life. Besides, Calvin would freak out if she hugged him. But she still wanted to. A lot.

The approaching bus quickly diminished Susie's desire to hug her mortal enemy. She tried not to think about Calvin during school. She did anyway.

"I don't know Hobbes! I tried to be nice and she about tore my head off! Girls are so weird…"

Calvin paced back and forth in his bedroom, unable to get Susie off his mind. Hobbes watched Calvin intently, trying to figure out this conundrum with him. It's hard to be nice to someone when they reject you.

"Maybe you should wait until she asks you to be nice," said Hobbes.

Calvin threw up his arms. "Oh great, just great! Like Susie's gonna come up to me and say 'Hey, can you be nice to me?' Yeah right!"

"It was only a suggestion," Hobbes replied.

"Well, your suggestions stink!"

Calvin was tackled. Again.

"You did what?" Susie shouted.

Susie's mother didn't appreciate her volume. "I told Calvin to be nice to you. There's no need to shout. I think it's perfectly reasonable to ask that he not tease you while you're going through a tough time such as this. That's why he asked how you were doing today. He's making an effort."

"I can't believe you Mom!" Susie was nearly in tears, but she didn't know why. "This is only going to make him tease me more! Now he knows why I'm upset. Now he knows what will get under my skin. He knows, Mom! He knows!"

"Susie, you're overreacting. Go into your room and cool down, ok?"

She huffed off to her room and slammed the door. She heard her mother's protests toward slamming doors, but Susie didn't apologize. She screamed into her pillow and started crying. Really crying. Her shoulders shook. She felt cold tears against her face as they were soaked into her pillow. Everyone she knew was there to make her miserable, she just knew it.

After a few minutes, Susie's mother crept in. The emotionally exhausted Susie had fallen asleep, but awoke when she heard her mother come in.

"Hi honey. Dinner is ready."

"Ok," Susie mumbled.

"Dad and I were talking, and we think you should stay home from school tomorrow. You'll be able to deal with this better if you have minimal stress. Sound good?"

Susie nodded, not really wanting to stay home from school. She liked school. But her mom was probably right.

Not having Susie at school was a weird occurrence for Calvin. Susie never missed school. When she was sick she went to school, even though she had to be sent home once. The class seemed empty without her, even though there were twenty-five more students surrounding him. He usually was distracted by his fantasies during class, but now all he could think about was Susie. What was wrong with him?

By the time the bus squealed to a stop in front of his house, Calvin was worried something had happened to his rival. Because she was still his rival. At least, that's what he kept telling himself over and over again.

Calvin didn't bother taking off his boots after entering the house, even though he knew it would tick off his mother. When he found her, he ignored her irritated glare.

"Susie wasn't at school," he said with more nervousness than he had anticipated.

His mother suddenly became sympathetic. "I'm sure she's fine. If you really want to know how she's doing you could walk over there and see her." She sighed. "Calvin, Susie really needs a friend right now. She just lost hers. I'd appreciate it if you'd go see her try to be nice to her."

"That's what everyone keeps telling me! Why do I need to be her friend? She has other friends, I know she does. Why does everyone keep saying that I should be comforting and stuff?"

Calvin's mother stood up. "Don't raise your voice at me." Then she kneeled before Calvin so they were at eye-level. She sighed through her nose. "It would mean a lot more coming from you Calvin. She needs to know that someone cares. It would be better if it was from someone she hasn't heard it from before." She stood up again. "I'm not going to make you go over there. You should comfort her because you want to. She'll know if you're doing it because you have to." Then she walked out of the room without even mentioning Calvin's boots.

Before he had time to talk himself out of it, Calvin was knocking on the Derkins' door. After he knocked, he almost ran off. But something made him stay.

Susie's mother opened the door and smiled. Calvin's mom must have told her that he was coming. "Hello darling! Come on in. Take your shoes off here and take your coat off here." She gestured toward various doors and hooks.

Calvin took a moment to look around while he peeled off his coat. He'd never been inside Susie's house before and wasn't sure how he felt about it. Her house was very tidy and organized. It reminded him of how her mother acted. He wondered if Susie would grow up talking and acting like she did. He almost didn't want her to. He looked to Mrs. Derkins for instruction. He didn't know where Susie's room was nor if she even wanted to see him.

She understood. "Oh, Susie is upstairs to the right. Don't worry, she is expecting you. I told her specifically not to get upset with you as long as you were nice." She smiled and turned back to the book she was reading.

Nice. Everyone was using that word around Calvin. Why do people's vocabularies shrink when someone is in grief? Be nice. Go talk to her. Give her a hug. Listen. Don't argue. It all seemed ridiculous.

As soon as Calvin stepped into Susie's room she was softly crying into her pillow. Great, Calvin thought, Two seconds in her house and I have to deal with crying. I don't know how to do that!

Susie didn't notice Calvin until he shut the door quietly. She immediately tried to calm down and wipe her eyes. But her eyes were still puffy and red. She knew she looked terrible.

Surprisingly, Calvin sat down next to Susie on the bed instead of standing there awkwardly like she expected him to. Normally she'd wait for him to insult her, but since they were both making an effort to be nice, she wasn't sure what to expect.

Calvin didn't either. This felt really weird. He started to feel sad too, but he didn't know why. He didn't cry, but he frowned. "Why were you crying?" he finally asked.

It seemed stupid that Calvin didn't know, even though Susie, deep down, wanted someone to ask so she could talk. Not talk, really, but vent. She answered bluntly. "My best friend moved away."

"I'm sorry." Calvin had heard people say that in movies, and it seemed to work, although he didn't know why he'd be sorry in this circumstance. He didn't do anything wrong.

His response surprised Susie, but she didn't show it. Neither of them were looking at each other. "I don't know what to tell you," she mumbled, "I don't know what you already know."

"I don't know anything." And because his mom had told him to listen he said, "So you can just talk and I won't say anything."

Susie never expected Calvin to say that. More than anything she wanted to vent, but she was still skeptical about Calvin's presence. She finally looked at him, even though he was still looking at the floor. "Really? You promise you won't say anything? I can just talk?"

Calvin didn't know why talking was such a big deal, but he wouldn't mind just listening for a while, so he looked back at her and nodded.

Before he knew it, she was off. Calvin learned things about Susie that he had never would have known otherwise. He learned that Susie's best friend is named Lacey, and they used to go ice skating every winter. This upcoming winter will be the first she can remember without Lacey. He learned that Susie felt like that everyone surrounding her was against her and wanted her to be miserable her entire life. Susie felt like screaming in anger and crying sorrowfully all the time. She didn't know if she'd ever feel normal again. She felt like no one cared.

Then other things besides Lacey moving came out. Things that made her whole situation a million times worse. Her parents argued sometimes, and every time they do, Susie feels like she'll fall apart. She doesn't feel close to her mom because her mom is so much more eloquent than her, and she feels as if her problems would be too childish and burdensome. Her dad is away all the time. Any time Susie wants to talk to him, he's too busy. Her friends never liked Lacey so she couldn't talk to them about it. She felt like she couldn't talk to anyone.

Finally Susie told Calvin about the day at the bus stop when she really wanted to hug him. Calvin didn't move the entire time she talked. Sometimes she was hard to understand because she was crying too hard, but he got the gist of it. She stopped and looked at him, taking shaky breaths, and waited for him to answer.

Contemplative, Calvin mentally picked through parts of Susie's rant and tried to formulate a proper response. But he couldn't think of an answer that would best fit everything. So he simply said, "You could have hugged me if you wanted to."

"Wait…really? Wouldn't you have pushed me or something?" Susie grabbed a tissue and blew her nose. She sounded like she had a cold.

"Probably not," Calvin answered truthfully, "I was trying to be comforting that day."

"Um…" Susie hesitated, "Would you have hugged me back?"

"What?" Calvin had heard her, but he didn't know what "hugging back" was. How can only one person do the hugging?

"Would you have hugged me back?" Susie repeated, "Hugging involves me putting my arms around you. Would you have just stood there or would you put your arms around me too?"

"Um…I-I don't know." The question was an odd one. Maybe this was one of those "girl" questions. Hobbes certainly wouldn't have asked him this.

Susie seemed disappointed. "Oh."

Calvin didn't want to be dismissive, but he didn't know what to do. He changed the subject. "Moms are supposed to listen to our problems. I think they want to. So maybe you should try to talk to your mom."

Susie smiled. "You were listening."

"…Of course I was. Why wouldn't I? I said I'd listen, right? So I did." He shrugged. Susie was talking as if Calvin had done something profound.

He had. Susie felt so much better, even though Calvin had literally just sat and stared at her for fifteen minutes while she rambled and cried. Her shoulders didn't feel tense anymore. Her head didn't hurt anymore. She had just smiled for the first time in a while, but she didn't tell Calvin that. He already looked uncomfortable. "Do you really think Mom would listen to me?"

"Yeah. My mom listens to me sometimes, and I drive her up the wall on a daily basis." Calvin smiled because he thought Susie needed to know that he was enjoying talking to her. "I mean, moms are still moms, even when you make them mad. But you're perfect so I don't think you'll have an issue with that." He didn't mean to compliment Susie, but he'd always viewed her as perfect. She was a much better kid that he'll ever be.

Susie blushed. "I'm not perfect. I've gotten in trouble before. And I don't have nearly as much imagination as you do. I've seen you play with Hobbes. It looks like fun."

Calvin brightened. "Hobbes frequently suggests that you play with us. But I always say no."

"How come you do that? Every time I try to be friendly, you shoot me down." She frowned again.

"I'm sorry," Calvin said and lowered his eyes.

"I'm not asking for an apology, I'm asking for a reason. How come you're always so mean to me? Just tell me why. I've wondered this a lot, but was always afraid to ask you."

Insults that had been thrown at Susie circled Calvin's mind. Why did he always feel the need to insult her anyway? Was there a real reason? "I…I don't know. I guess because it's funny to see you mad. Your comebacks are amusing. Getting insulted by Hobbes is boring because he's so predictable." Every time he insulted Susie it made sense. It didn't now.

"Oh." Susie was asking a lot from Calvin to expect a rational answer. In reality, she didn't know why she even had comebacks. When other people teased her it really hurt. When Calvin teased her, it was just the way it was. All of a sudden, she started blushing for no reason. Something in the sentence 'It's funny to see you mad,' made her heart beat a little faster.

Calvin saw her blushing and thought he did something to embarrass her. "What? What did I say?" He started grinning like crazy. Something about her blushing made him smile. He didn't know what.

Now Susie was really embarrassed. Calvin had seen her involuntary response and was laughing at her! "Um…" she muttered, "I…you didn't say anything. I…I don't know…"

Both of them looked away. Calvin muttered too. "Um…well…ok…I just thought I'd-uh-said something…or whatever…." Then he started blushing too. This is a disaster, he thought. Susie would surely laugh at him for his childish response.

Neither of them laughed. They both continued to blush and avoid making eye contact. Someone had to say something to break the awkward silence, but no words came to either of them.

Suddenly, Mrs. Derkins knocked on the door and popped in. "Calvin, your mother is on the phone." She saw the look of the two children. "Is everything going ok?"

"Yes," they both said at the same time, much too quickly. Calvin slid off the bed to answer the phone.

"Hello?" he said.

"Hi Calvin. Dad's told you about our camping trip in a week, right?"

He groaned internally. He'd forgotten about that. "Yeah…"

"Well, how would you feel about Tommy and Chuckie coming with us?"

Tommy and Chuckie were two of Calvin's new playmates. They really hit it off last summer, Susie knew them too. Having them with him and Hobbes might just make the camping trip bearable. Plus, they could maybe give Calvin some advice on how to deal with Susie and make her feel better. He became excited.

"That'd be awesome!" he replied enthusiastically, "I'd love to have them come!"

"Great! I'll tell them. I'm sure they'd love to go. How's it going with Susie?"

"Um…fine I guess."

"Are you being—"

"Yes Mom! I'm being nice to her. I'll probably be home soon. Bye." He hung up and turned around. The door was near him. He could grab his stuff and leave right then, but something made him want to say goodbye to Susie. If he left without saying goodbye, she might start crying again. Then he'd get in trouble. Calvin trudged up the stairs. He was much more willing to say goodbye to a girl than he wanted.

Susie was still waiting for him, but she was almost sure that Calvin would leave without coming back up. She jumped up excitedly when he opened the door, but tried to hide her smile. They were still supposed to be enemies.

"Hi," Calvin said, "That was my mom." Of course it was my mom! Mrs. Derkins said it was Mom already. Could you sound any more stupid, Calvin?

"I know," Susie replied, "What did she say?" Wow Susie. Could you sound any more nosey?

"Tommy and Chuckie are going camping with us."

"Oh, that's cool."

"Yeah." Silence. Calvin sighed. "I should probably go home."

"Ok. Goodbye Calvin." She smiled, and he smiled back. He shut the door behind him and was gone. Why didn't you hug him? You wanted to hug him and you didn't. You'll probably never get another chance!

Calvin shivered. It was still cold outside. I should have hugged her. Why didn't you hug her? He put his thoughts behind him and kept walking. He felt like Susie was watching him from her window. He was right.

"Hurry up, Calvin!" his mother called, "We're going to be late! We're supposed to pick them up in twenty minutes!"

Calvin and Hobbes took their time. Although both were excited that they were camping with Tommy and Chuckie, packing was always tedious. "Coming!" Calvin called back. Hobbes sighed.

"Why is your bag so heavy anyway? Did you pack cement in it?"

"Shut up and keep walking! Try and keep up with me, ok?"

"I'm trying!" Hobbes complained, "But I'm carrying your bag."

Finally, they both made to the car. Hobbes threw Calvin's bag in the trunk and buckled his seatbelt.

"Calvin," his mom said, "Hobbes needs to go in the trunk. There'll be no room for Tommy and Chuckie if he sits in the middle."

"What?" Calvin cried, "Hobbes can't be in the trunk! He's scared of the dark!"

"I am not!" Hobbes retorted, "You are! You sit in the trunk."

"You are too! And I can't sit in the trunk, I'm too big! I guess your luck just ran out, Hobbes ol' buddy!" Calvin unbuckled Hobbes and thrust him in the trunk.

"No! This is animal cruelty! I'll suffocate!" Hobbes protested and tried to wriggle out of Calvin's arms. But he fought back.

Calvin's mom was already getting a headache. "Stop yelling! If you don't want him to sit in the trunk, then he'll have to sit in your lap. It's your choice. There is no reason to get feisty over it." She exasperatedly got into the passenger seat.

"Oh…I never thought of that," Calvin said, "I guess that'd be ok. As long as you don't wiggle." He got back into his seat and set Hobbes on his lap.

"I don't wiggle! You try to kill me and I naturally try to escape!"

"I do not! I-"

"Calvin," his mother said in her warning tone, "If you can't be quiet back there, you're both sitting in the trunk."

They remained quiet. Or at least, as quiet as they could be.

"Hiya Calvin! Hi Hobbes!" Tommy said as soon as he saw his playmates. Chuckie waved at them. They were both carrying little suitcases and waiting by the car as their car seats were being buckled in.

Calvin waved back. Seeing his friends made him feel better.

"So, Calvin, what's new?" Tommy inquired as they drove toward the campsite.

"Um…nothing really," Calvin replied.

"Really?" Hobbes said, "We're not going to tell them about Susie?"

"Hobbes! Why'd you have to go and bring that up? I'm trying to get her off my mind!"

Chuckie leaned forward in his seat so he could see Calvin. "What's going on with Susie? You can tells us. We promless not to tell."

"Yeah," Tommy encouraged, "Tell us Calvin."

After glowering at Hobbes for a few seconds, Calvin told them his dilemma. He just didn't know how to be nice to a girl.

"You are being nice to her!" Tommy exclaimed, "You're doing a good job!"

"A great job!" Chuckie piped in, "Alls you gotta do is listen to her."

"That's it? I just need to listen to her all the time?" Calvin asked hopefully.

"Well…" Tommy said thoughtfully, "After my daddy listens to my mommy, they hug. Maybe you should-"

"Eww!" Calvin cried, appalled, "I'm not hugging a girl! That's gross!" He failed to mention that he was willing to hug her when he went over to her house that one day. But that was in the past. There was no way he was going to hug her now. They haven't talked in a while, so it'd be weird.

Hobbes interrupted. "Can I hug Susie? I know she'd love to hug me! I'm so fluffy." He grinned.

"No! No one's hugging Susie." Calvin couldn't believe they brought up hugging. Hugging was for girls and married people. And maybe once or twice during Christmas, but only if you get a really cool present.

"I dunno Calvin. Maybe you should give her a hug. Hugs make me feel better," Chuckie said quietly.

"Yeah, but you're a baby," replied Calvin without thinking.

"I'm not a baby!" Chuckie whimpered, "Why did you call me a baby?"

"Yeah Calvin. Don't be like Angelica. Tell Chuckie you're sorry!" Tommy was becoming irritated, even though he understood Calvin was just angry.

"I-I'm sorry Chuckie." Calvin lowered his eyes. "I didn't mean to call you a baby. This Susie thing is making me on edge."

Tommy looked perplexed. "On the edge of what?"

"Oh never mind."

Chuckie sniffled, but smiled anyway. Rain started pattering on the windows.

"We're here kids!" Calvin's dad said excitedly, "Get ready for fresh air and sunshine!"

"Dad! It's raining! Can't we go back?"

He turned to his son. "Calvin, we just drove for four hours. We are not going back. You'll have fun, I promise."

Calvin crossed his arms and scowled. "That's what you said last time. And I didn't."

"That may have been so, but it built character. Everybody out of the car!" his dad replied with too much enthusiasm.

Huddling in a tent in the pouring rain was not Calvin's idea of a good time, but his dad was determined to make this as fun as possible. Unfortunately, Calvin's idea of fun was tremendously different from his dad's.

"Ok kids! Who wants to go fishing!" he said when everyone was settled into their tents.

"What's fishing?" Tommy asked.

"Ugh, don't ask," Calvin replied, "Only the most repulsive way of catching an animal ever to be invented by man."

"Aw, come on Calvin," Chuckie said, "It can't be that bad! Come with us!"

Calvin groaned. "Oh all right."

Calvin's dad grinned ear to ear. "Splendid! I'll get the ponchos!"

Fishing was supposed to be peaceful, or that's what Calvin's dad had said anyway. This was not peaceful. In fact, it was the exact opposite. The constant sound of pounding rain was in Calvin's ears and he still couldn't get Susie off his mind. The babies were too little to hold fishing poles so they just sat in the boat and talked to each other and Hobbes, who had an umbrella over his head. Hobbes knew Calvin wasn't really listening so he could talk about him, and he knew he needed help.

"You guys, we need to help Calvin. This Susie situation has really messed him up."

"But he looks fine!" Chuckie said.

"Yes, but he…he's hiding what he's feeling."

"How come?"

"I don't know. Older kids do that. Adults do it a lot too. I guess it's mostly because they don't want people to worry about them or something."

"But," Tommy said, "when people know what the problem is then they can get help, right?"

Hobbes frowned. "Yeah. You'll understand it when you're older. I don't get it either. Humans are weird."

Chuckie crossed his arms. "I still think he should hug her. Hugs are good!"

Hobbes nodded. "I completely agree. Susie is going through a hard time, and she deserves a good hug. But how can we get Calvin to do it?"

All three of them thought about it. How does one go about trying to get a six year old boy to willingly make physical contact with someone of the opposite sex that isn't a relative? It was quite the mystery.

"You know," Hobbes said finally, "I think Calvin will eventually come around. He isn't mean, really, and he is trying to make an effort to be nice to Susie. Maybe it'll be better to just let it happen."

Tommy and Chuckie nodded.

Suddenly, Calvin turned his head. "Were you guys talking about me?"

Hobbes shook his head rapidly. "Nope, not at all!"

"We were talking about how you should hug Susie!" Tommy exclaimed. Then his face reddened as he caught Hobbes glaring at him. "Oops. Sorry."

"It's not going to happen! I'm not going to hug her!" he cried.

"Calvin?" his dad suddenly said, "Who are you talking to?"

"What? Oh, nothing…" he turned back to his fishing pole and gripped it tightly.

"Hmm." was the only comment he made after that. He didn't want to get involved in another one of his son's antics. Hobbes and the babies were quiet after that.

Calvin was still cranky after fishing, mostly because he didn't want to accept that the best way to make Susie feel better was physical human contact. It irritated him more as he realized it was true. Hobbes and the babies were right. Calvin didn't know how to hug anyone, let alone a girl. He can't just walk up to her and hug her because she'd probably get really mad or something. The more he pondered how to approach this dilemma, the crankier he got.

"Do you want some peanut butter sandwiches, Calvin?" his mother asked as she popped her head into his tent. The babies, Calvin and Hobbes were all huddled into one tent since they were the smallest. Hobbes about threw a fit after being called "small" but Calvin told him to can it.

He sighed. "No thanks Mom. But Tommy and Chuckie are probably hungry." Both babies looked longingly at the sandwiches.

"All right. I'll just leave the plate here and you boys can pass it around. Let me know if you need anything." She zipped the tent back up and left. The rain was still pouring down onto the campsite and Calvin's mom needed a hat just so she could walk the few feet to reach her own tent without getting soaked.

Calvin sulkily and silently passed around the plate without taking a sandwich. Both the babies and Hobbes tried to get him to eat one, but he wouldn't. He just crossed his arms and scowled. Hobbes shook his head and told the babies to forget it. Calvin was too stubborn. He knew that somewhere in Calvin's heart was niceness, and Calvin would have to figure out how to put it to good use on his own.

Calvin was not thinking about how he could use his niceness. He was thinking about how he could survive this camping trip. How to get Susie off his mind. He had never had a girl circling his thoughts for this long before. Just thinking about hugging Susie made his face get warm. Was that normal? It didn't seem normal. Spontaneously hugging her for no reason didn't sound the correct way to approach the matter. But what was the correct time to hug a girl? Calvin doubted that Susie would ask him for a hug ever in a million zillion years. He became overwhelmed and finally realized that he needed help. Hobbes and the babies were still with him in the tent. Hobbes was reading them a story.

"Guys…" he said quietly.

Hobbes turned. "Ah, are you deciding to join us, Calvin?"

He nodded. "I need help."

"We're here for ya Calvin!" Tommy said excitedly.

Calvin smiled. Tommy was always ready to help out. "Um…how do I know when I should hug Susie?" he asked.

Hobbes put the book down and grinned. "I see you're ready to take our advice. What do you guys think?" He turned to Tommy and Chuckie.

"Wells…" Tommy said thoughtfully, "My mommy likes getting hugs when she's sad. Daddy knows when she's really sad so he hugs her then."

"How do I know if she's sad?" Calvin asked, "She seems sad all the time."

"Maybe if she's really sad, then you should hug her," Chuckie replied.

Calvin thought about the day he visited her. He should have hugged her then. Maybe it was too late. Maybe she'd think he was weird for trying to hug her now.

"You'll figures it out Calvin," Tommy said, "You're nice."

Nice. Maybe he wasn't so nice after all. But Calvin smiled anyway. "Thanks for your help guys. I appreciate it."

Hobbes finally spoke up. "We saved you a sandwich. Do you feel like eating now?"

Calvin nodded. Although he was still a little confused, he felt much better.

"I can't believe it! I just can't believe it!" Calvin shouted. Everyone was packing up the car to leave the campsite. The babies and Hobbes were already in the car. "The day we leave is the day that the sun decides to show up? What a rip-off!"

"I know it's frustrating, Calvin," his mom replied, "But that's how life is. You just have to learn how to cope with the little disappointments in life."

Calvin's dad gripped the steering wheel tightly. "So! We spend an entire week in the rain and then the sun comes out! Why do I even bother? This is the worst camping trip I've ever been on!"

"Dear," Calvin's mom said, "I'm trying to teach Calvin how to deal with life's little disappointments and not get angry over them. Can you help me out here?"

Calvin's dad sighed angrily. "Just get the suitcases in the car and let's get out of here before I rip someone's head off."

The drive back home was quiet. Calvin's dad was still fuming. Calvin's mom knew to keep as quiet as possible when her husband was this irritated. The babies fell asleep almost immediately and Hobbes knew that Calvin was too engrossed in his thoughts to make conversation. Calvin looked out the window the entire drive back. Susie was on his mind the entire time. Well, maybe not the entire time. Spaceman Spiff may have sneaked in there a couple of times, but for the most part it was Susie.

The babies were taken home and Calvin and Hobbes were back in his bedroom. Calvin hadn't been saying much. Mostly incoherent thoughts.

"Maybe I should…no that wouldn't work…that would end badly…she has so much going on…I listened…I'm nice…so many 'what if's'…what can I do?"

Hobbes listened to Calvin. "What do I do to you when you're sad?"

Calvin snapped back to reality. "What?"

"What do I do to help you when you're upset?"

"Um…I don't know. You just listen and I hug you sometimes."

"Exactly. And do you hug me or do I hug you?"

"Uh…I guess I hug you most of the time."

"Right. You're not going to know ahead of time when you're going to hug her. You'll just know. But you have to listen to her vent first. Then you just go from there. You'll know what to do."

"But it's different with you," Calvin protested.

"No. It isn't. You have the same emotions as she does. You like being listened to just as much as she does. You two have more in common than you realize. Now go over there and listen to her. We've been gone a week. Who knows what's happened in that week?"

"I need to go over there now?"

"Yes."

"Right now."

"Now."

"I don't know…"

"Calvin, if you don't go now, then you're going to talk yourself out of it and it'll be too late and you'll never be able to bring yourself to listen to her again."

"Wow, you're so encouraging, Hobbes," said Calvin sarcastically.

"I'm serious Calvin. Go now."

He sighed. "Fine…" He trudged down the stairs. "I'm going to Susie's, Mom! I'll be back later!"

"Ok!" she called back. He could hear in her voice that she was smiling. It felt weird knowing that he was doing something that greatly pleased his mother. He tried not to think about it too much.

Mrs. Derkins ushered him in quickly. "Hello darling. I'm so glad you came to see Susie. She's actually in the backyard right now. I'll bring you over there and tell her that you're here."

Calvin didn't want Mrs. Derkins to tell Susie he was there. He wanted to talk to her alone. She seemed uncomfortable talking to him with her mom around. "No," he said, "That's ok. I'll find her."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. Thanks." He found her quickly. She was sitting in the grass with her face buried in her arms. He sat down beside her.

That startled her. When she saw Calvin she became enraged. "What are you doing here?" she whispered fiercely. She didn't want to become too loud and draw her mom out into the backyard. "I don't want to talk to you!"

Calvin got the hint that he wasn't supposed to yell. But he was still angry that Susie didn't appreciate him visiting her. "What are you talking about?" he said in a low voice, "I'm here so I can listen to you and stuff. I thought you'd be happy!"

"No! I don't need you here! Get out!"

Calvin had the overwhelming urge to storm out when he realized that this didn't seem right. He sensed that Susie didn't really want to be alone. She was just angry. Angrier than she usually was. "Susie," he said seriously, "Did something else happen while I was camping?"

"No!" she hissed, "Everything is so grand right now. Everything! Nothing bad happened at all while you were gone!" She sounded furious, but her eyes brimmed with tears. Calvin was inexperienced in the ways of consoling girls, but he knew something was definitely wrong.

"People aren't supposed to cry when they're angry." He crossed his arms. "Something happened. I'm not leaving until you tell me what it is."

Susie sighed shakily. She was going to breakdown. Collapse. Explode. Calvin was going to have to witness it. She didn't really want Calvin to see her like this. But right now he seemed like her only choice for a friend. She blinked hard. "Lacey…" she began, then the tears overflowed, "Lacey hasn't called me yet and three days ago my hamster died and yesterday I heard my parents yell at each other about money and I'm worried they're gonna get divorced and I really really wanted to talk to you while you were camping but I couldn't and I keep crying for no reason and my friends from school won't talk to me because they think I'm acting sad over nothing and…and…I'm sorry." Then she was crying. Sobbing. She covered her face with her hand.

Calvin knew in his heart that this was the moment. He was supposed to hug her now. But he couldn't. Her hand was covering her face! Now what was he supposed to do? The romantic comedies his mom watched start circling in his head. Then it hit him. He vowed he would never do this, but he figured Hobbes wouldn't make fun of him too much in this circumstance.

He spotted Susie's free hand and grabbed it. Susie stopped crying for a second, surprised by what Calvin was doing. She started blushing. Then Calvin took a step closer. He kissed her on the cheek and stepped back. Susie was shocked. Had her mortal enemy just kissed her?

Calvin lowered his eyes. "There, did that work? Do you feel better now?" He looked so embarrassed that Susie grinned. She took a step forward and kissed him on the forehead. Calvin winced, but didn't reject it.

"Yes, Calvin," Susie said, "I feel much better." She smiled again and wiped her tears from her eyes.

They both realized that they were still holding hands. Both of them blushed and let go of each other. Calvin looked at Susie. "You know," he said, "Life is full of little disappointments. You just have to deal with it."

Susie frowned. "Calvin, that isn't very comforting."

"It's not? Oh, I'm sorry. I just mean that these kinds of things happen to a lot of people. It's not like the whole world is against you. Your parents aren't going to get divorced. All parents argue sometimes. You can get another hamster if it makes you feel better. And Lacey will call you soon I'm sure. And you aren't sad over nothing. Your friends are acting dumb."

"That's better." Susie giggled.

"What? Why are you laughing at me?"

"I'm not. I just…" she giggled again, "I just really like that you listened to me."

"Why is that such a big deal?"

"Not everyone is a good listener."

"Oh."

Then Susie hugged him. It was then Calvin discovered what "hugging back" was. It was pretty easy. He kind of liked hugging Susie. But not too much. He wasn't allowed to like it too much.

When they parted, Calvin asked, "So…now what?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, are you still going to be sad all the time, or are you normal again?"

"Well, I'm still sad that Lacey moved. But I'll be better knowing that you're around to listen to me." She smiled again. Calvin kind of liked her smile too. But only a little.

"Ok. I guess I'll get going. Um…I'll see you at school on Monday."

"Ok. See you then." She waved goodbye to him.

He waved back and left.

"No way!" Hobbes cried, "You hugged her and kissed her? I don't believe you!"

"You can ask her yourself. I did it. I made Susie feel better."

"What are you doing?"

"What?" Calvin asked, perplexed.

"You're smiling all big."

"Oh. I guess I like making Susie happy."

"But only a little, right?" Hobbes winked.

Then, once again, they tackled each other.

The next day, Calvin spotted Susie at recess. She was hanging out with her friends again. He guessed she didn't think they were as dumb as he thought they were. They were all laughing together again. Susie was almost back to herself.

Calvin had just turned around to begin his journey through dinosaur times when he felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Susie.

"Hi!" she said happily.

"Uh…hi," Calvin replied, "Where are your friends?"

"Oh, they're over there. But I decided that I'd hang out with them later. What are you doing?"

"Um…I'm a dinosaur."

"Cool! Can I play too?"

His first instinct was to say no, but he figured just this once, he'd let her join. But only this one time. And he wouldn't enjoy it at all.

But wouldn't you know it? Girls can actually be pretty decent dinosaurs.