Friday morning Evelyn had come home early with a stack of paperwork to fill out. She alternated the sheets with her preparations for whatever too-large dinner she was making. Jack hadn't gotten out of bed much before his mother had gotten home, let alone done anything useful with the first half of the day. He lay on the couch all morning plucking away at his guitar.

When the phone rang around one o'clock he had every intention of ignoring it until he heard "Jackie could you get the phone please?"…but the tone of voice he heard was basically Evelyn's version of 'get your lazy ass off the couch and do something to help around here.' So, setting his instrument aside he walked into the kitchen for the obnoxious piece of machinery. He hated answering the phone, he never knew how to start the conversation. Knowing full well Evelyn would scold him for his greeting he grumbled "Yeah?"

"I'm bored out of my mind, please break the rule!"

"Are you shitting me, Chick?" he was warned to watch his mouth but didn't pay much attention. "No, I can't."

"Liar. I know you don't have anything better to do."

"Yeah, you're right, but I'm not allowed."

"Since when do you follow rules Jack Mercer? Wait, is she there? Is that why you won't?"

"Possibly," toying with her was so much fun.

"I'll talk to her, put her on."

"You're obsessed."

"I'm bored, there's a difference."

"Not much in your case."

"Come on you know you wanna come out and play. Let me talk to your mom."

"Hang on a sec." He lowered the receiver and looked over at the curious old lady. "Cal want's to talk to you." That immediately made her glance at the clock. "She's gonna try to convince you to allow her to skip the rest of her classes."

Evelyn snatched the phone away from her son and calmly lifted it to her ear. "Cal?"

"Miz Mercer please let him come. I promise I'm not skipping anything important. I've got study halls the rest of the day, and I've already finished most of my homework for the weekend. I'm so bored, you have to understand. I'm sitting here letting a random girl French-braid my hair… and I don't even know her name!"

Evelyn was chuckling lowly and watching Jack become as curious as she'd been. "Are you lying to me, young lady?"

"No, I swear! I can come over and show you my schedule and my finished homework if you want. I'll beg you if I have to, I can't stand being here like this when I know I can be doing something else. Please, it's not like we're doing anything bad. I promise I wasn't lying the other day about us not doing anything. We'll probably just grab something to eat and sit around talking for a few hours…." Suddenly she'd either run out of things to say, or run out of breath with which to speak, and her end of the phone was filled with normal classroom babble.

With a smile and a sigh she nodded her head. "Alright," Jack's jaw dropped, "but just this once, do you understand me?"

"REALLY?!" Evelyn had never thought she'd hear this girl squeal like…well, like a girl, but she just had, and she continued. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Yes, but tell me you understand it's only this once."

"Yes, I completely understand. Don't worry, it's getting closer to finals time, I'm getting more and more homework to do, I promise I won't do this gain."

"That's good to hear. Now, I'm going to give the phone back to Jack, but why don't you two stay here. I've got plenty of food so you don't have to spend any extra money. I just won't have that. I've got a few pieces of pie left…" Jack's head was shaking as he held it in his hands, she was totally embarrassing him, and loving every second of it… "And do you want a sandwich, dear."

"I don't want to put you out or anything."

"It's nothing, dear, is ham and cheese alright?"

"That would be outstanding, thank you so much again."

"Of course, now behave yourself. I'm handing over the phone now."

The first words out of Jack's mouth were "How the hell did you do that?"

"I have no idea, but I've apparently talked to the point where I'm out of breath if that makes any sense."

"You're psychotic, why do I agree to hang out with you?"

"Because I'm a fun psycho and I buy you stuff… Did she really agree to let you come?"

"Well, since she's actually making you a sandwich, I'm gonna assume yes."

"Right…wow… I really did not expect that."

"Neither did I. Now if you'll excuse me, I haven't showered yet so I'm gonna go do that before you hurry your ass over here." He was scolded for his language again but he was again too preoccupied to care.

"That's alright, I've gotta sit here and let this girl finish doing my hair before I can get outta here."

"What exactly is she doing with your hair?"

"Aww, Jack are you scared I might ruin my lovely tresses? Don't worry, it's all still here, it's just being braided."

"Good to know. I'm hanging up now," he said, slightly embarrassed that he actually cared what was happening to her hair.

"K, bye." She hung up first. Jack rolled his eyes.

"She seems like a good girl." Evelyn mentioned.

"She's psychotic, and I think she's stalking me." He said jokingly as he headed toward the stairs. "How is it she managed to get hooked on ME? Do I put off the 'follow me around' vibe? Where does that come from, and how can I kill it?"

"She likes you Jackie." She'd had to yell a little to make sure she was heard.

"Don't say that Ma!"

She was still laughing as he tried to drown her out with the shower.

………………………………………………………………………………………

Jack sighed and stomped out his cigarette as Cal's car appeared. She pulled into the driveway and walked over to him smiling like she was impressed with herself. He shook his head and stepped aside to let her in the door. They walked into the kitchen and Jack noticed Evelyn was a little bit shocked at the sight of the girl. Obviously she wasn't what his mother had expected him to bring home, but she was shocked in a good way because, well, she'd pretty much been expecting a tramp to be the only one willing to follow around her baby boy. And the whole 'bartender's daughter' knowledge probably hadn't helped.

Wiping her hands on a dish towel Evelyn finally managed to walk over and give the girl a hug in greeting. Jack saw Cal flinch a little and knew immediately that his mother would pick up on it. But she was holding the girl gently and inspecting her.

"Here, let me take your jacket," she said finally. Cal probably hadn't even remembered that she had a jacket on, but she smiled and slipped it off. Jack got his hands on it before Evelyn.

"I got it Ma." He disappeared into the other room, wondering if he might find Cal's breaking point of fear today. If she flipped out on him, now would be the best time for it that was for sure. Evelyn always knew how to handle stuff like that.

But he could hear the two talking now as if they were friends. Fuck… she was befriending Mom… that meant even if he ever wanted to ditch her she'd be asked about. He slowly made his way around the house into the dining room where he knew they were headed. Evelyn being the prefect homemaker that she was, the sandwiches were already laid out on plates, one at the end of the table, one on the edge next to it.

"I apologize for my mess," Evelyn began, "I brought my work home with me never expecting company."

Cal shook her head as she sunk into the seat Jack pointed her toward. "It's not a problem. Your house is spotless compared to mine."

Oh boy, Evelyn always prided herself on her housekeeping skills. Cal was being a kiss-ass and she didn't even know it. Her motherly-approval points had just skyrocketed…well maybe, except she was claiming to not be a good housekeeper herself. Holy hell, why was he paying attention to what Evelyn thought? Cal wasn't his girlfriend, she didn't have to worry about that kind of approval. He dug into his sandwich, realizing he used food to shut his mind up a lot around Cal…

She was eating too, though not quite as hastily and rudely. She was behaving herself. Damn, she was TRYING to impress Ma. Suddenly he noticed her wrist. She was wearing a light brace on it instead of the simple wrap.

"Your wrist alright," he swallowed a mouthful of sandwich as his mother frowned up from her work.

Cal was caught off guard. "Yeah, it's…" she was gonna say 'fine' but stopped when she remembered who she was dealing with, "it's sprained, but it's better than yesterday."

"And I see you're nose didn't swell up or bruise."

"Just the bridge of it," she admitted. "But it still hurts to the touch."

"Yeah, falling into a car'll do that."

She nearly choked on a bite of sandwich as she laughed. "Indeed."

Jack laughed as well, but noticed Evelyn watching them and waiting patiently for an explanation. "Alex didn't bother you again last night did he?" He was hoping that was enough for his mother, but it appeared to only have deepened her curiosity.

"He called, but I was busy so I didn't have to talk," she took finished off her sandwich and muttered, "luckily."

Jack nodded and suddenly pushed his chair back. "Mom where's the pie?"

"Back of the second shelf." She looked over at Cal as she continued. "There's a slice of apple and a slice of blueberry."

"I call the apple," Jack said as he closed the fridge again.

"Jack!" Her being upset just made him laugh.

"She wants the blueberry anyway, don't worry about it."

Both of them looked over at him in confusion. "Cal if you want the apple feel free to steal it from him."

"No, he's right, I want the blueberry. I just don't quite know how he knew that."

"You looked at the pies at Joe's. He has everything except blueberry because he's allergic to them. I," he looked at his mother, "assumed that since you didn't order anything from there that that's what you were looking for."

Cal was shocked and impressed. She nodded her head slowly, but then snatched the tin pie plate away from her friend and forked the slice onto her plate. "Blueberry pie happens to be my favorite." She admitted as her first bite hovered in front of her. Her eyes crossed in pleasure as she tasted it. She hadn't had real homemade pie in ages! She heard Jack laughing at her the rest of the time they were eating.

……………………………………………………………………………………...

Evelyn snatched up the dishes, despite Cal's attempt to protest and take on the chore. "Nonsense, you sit and chat."

"Chat, huh," Jack thought up some small talk just to be annoying. "So how did you're little poetry reading go?"

He was being glared at, but she replied "It was alright. I remembered all of it, but I got a ton of points off for talking too fast and not 'looking at the audience.'"

Jack clucked his tongue and shook his head causing her to look away in embarrassment. She began playing with her hair. She took the ties off of the braided pigtails and one by one undid them up to the base of her head. Then even as she tied them off she ran her fingers through it. While she was sidetracked he reached over and grabbed Evelyn's work cell phone. She only had it when she was on duty, and she rarely used it. He figured using it wouldn't hurt. He flipped it open and snapped a picture of Cal. The sound made her turn fast.

"Did you just take a picture of me?"

He smiled. "Maybe."

"Why?"

"Because Bobby still doesn't believe you're a girl," he said.

Cal laughed, but Evelyn was returning from cleaning up the kitchen. He sent the pic as fast as he could, closed the phone and put it back where it had been. He played all innocent when Evelyn looked at him in irritation. "What?" But her look made him give up, like it always did, "I had to try and see if it would shut him up."

"It's not going to work," she said knowingly, "and I could get into trouble for that."

"I'm sorry, I won't do it again, I promise." He was trying not to smile, but he still found the whole thing entertaining.

Cal glanced at her watch to make sure she still had time. She had plenty, but she still looked a bit nervous. Slapping the table a little Jack suggested, "I should ride with you to the bar tonight, it makes sense."

She nodded, "Yeah." She didn't want necessarily want to leave yet because she knew leaving meant going home, but Jack knew she was nervous around family.

"I'll go get my shi…uh…stuff ready." (he almost forgot to censor himself…) He was leaving her with Evelyn again and was a bit afraid for her, but he didn't really have much choice. Evelyn wouldn't want the girl following him up to his room.

………………………………………………………………………………………

"So what exactly happened to you yesterday?" Evelyn asked the question with sincere concern.

"Nothing, really. It's just one of the guys in the band used to be my boyfriend and he got jealous because he though Jack had taken his place."

"But he hasn't?"

"No." Evelyn recognized a tidbit of regret in the short answer, and even more as the girl explained. "No, Jack and I just hang out. It's weird, I didn't think that was possible for guys and girls to do. But really, there's nothing happening between us."

"Are you sure?"

Cal blushed profusely and was looking for a way out of the question. "I…um…well I'm still 17 so really that's stopped everything so far."

"And when will you 18."

"Um, two and a half weeks actually." She was still blushing.

"Oh? So what happens then?"

She was asking extremely calmly and gently but the girl was shaking a little under the pressure of the interrogation. Evelyn knew she had that effect on people, but she also knew she had to try to find this girl's breaking point before her son stumbled upon it.

"Hey," Jack leaned against the frame of the living room doorway. As soon as Cal turned to look at him he said, "Don't let her scare you. She's a pushover."

"Jack!"

"Ma!... You're freakin' her out and she's not even my girlfriend. And you wonder why I never brought girlfriends home in high school. Come on Chick, lets get outta here."

The girl had regained a little of her composure with her friend around to back her up. She said thank you to Evelyn, and waved goodbye like their conversation had really been at an end. The older woman sighed and replied kindly. She really didn't have a choice. As the two youngsters walked out the door Evelyn wondered how long it would be before she got to approve of Cal as a real girlfriend of her son's.

………………………………………………………………………………………

Cal jumped as her cell phone began ringing. She picked it up and glanced at the id. "I do not know this person." She said. Jack leaned over to look and she turned it for him.

"Holy shit, it's Bobby."

"What? How the hell did he get my number?"

"I have no idea, but I'm answering it."

"Put it on speaker," she said, trying hard to keep her focus on the road.

"Yeah, I got it, just keep driving before you get us killed Chick." He flipped open the phone and clicked the appropriate button. "What do you want Asshole?"

"Oh you're not her boyfriend but you answer her phone now?"

"She's driving and I recognized your number."

"Whatever, just tell me, was that really a picture of her?"

"Yeah, it definitely was."

"Then why the hell are you not her boyfriend, Faerie?"

"Because I'm still 17 Bobby," Cal cut in, glancing over at her friend.

"Well when the hell are you gonna change that?" He was not at all disturbed by the fact that he was on speakerphone.

"Two and a half weeks, and counting." She blushed as she realized what she was saying.

"Whatta ya think Jackie, can you make it that long."

"Fuck you, man. It's not like that."

"No? Man you really are a Faerie."

Jack was about to yell at his brother, but Cal again took over. "Bobby, trust me, if your brother was remotely gay I wouldn't have had my ex-boyfriend beating me up in jealousy yesterday."

"Woah woah woah, what?"

"You know that jackass Alex, I told you about him."

"I vaguely remember that, yeah."

"He used to date Cal. He came after her yesterday while we were sitting around."

"So which one of you girls did the most damage."

"Fuck you, Bobby. I kicked his ass." Cal cleared her throat reminding him to add, "And Cal got a pretty nice shot in too when he was on his knees begging for her help."

"She can fight, and take a hockey-hit? Damn kid, I don't know whether to congratulate you on good taste, or keep searching for evidence that she's actually a man."

"Yeah, I can assure you there is no physical evidence that I'm a man." Cal defended.

"I don't believe you."

"Fine, don't." she was getting as irritated as Jack. "It doesn't matter what you believe. All that matters is what can be proven."

"What you mean like the fact that Jackie's gay?"

"Shut the fuck up!" But before he was done with the statement Cal reached over and turned off the phone. She was as pissed off now as she had been with Alex. "Sorry." Jack wondered if apologizing was really worth it, but she just kept her staring out ahead of the car and didn't say a word.

The phone rang a few seconds later. "Don't answer it." But Jack ignored her, opting to answer without the speakerphone option instead.

"What?"

"Did she just hang up on me?"

"Yeah, she did. She's pissed Bobby. Like the same amount of pissed as she was at the bastard that beat her up yesterday."

"Spoiled brat, who does she think she is?"

"Bobby, is there a point to you calling back or are you just gonna keep whining like a little bitch?"

"Watch it, Faerie."

"Goodbye Bobby." He closed the phone again, but it rang almost instantaneously. With a sigh he answered again. "One more chance man."

"Why are you not fucking her?!"

Jack hung up without a word. His jaw clenched in anger.

"What did he say?" Cal asked.

"He just asked why I wasn't fucking you…again…"

She laughed a little, but she was still not cooled down.

The phone rang again. Same number. Jack opened the phone but held the power button to turn it off.

"Thank you," she sighed.

"No problem."

They sat in silence for a while, each fuming until they couldn't really remember what they were angry about.

"We're gonna be early." Jack pointed out. "You don't have to go back now if you don't want to. I was just trying to get you away from Mom's scary talk."

"I appreciate it greatly. It seems all your family cares about is whether or not we're having sex."

"Oh god! She was asking about that?"

"Yeah, except the question your brother was asking you, she was asking me."

"Fu…uck." He drew out the word almost separating it into two. "If I'd known that I'd never have left you in there."

"It's alright, you showed up to stop the worst of it."

"Good. God, I'm sorry about them."

She shrugged, but he knew she accepted the apology still in need of more.

"Hey I really did mean we don't have to go back yet."

"There's not enough time to do much of anything. We might as well."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. You should call Alex when we get there though, just to let him know you don't need a ride."

"Yeah…" He wasn't looking forward to that conversation. Come to think of it he wasn't really looking forward to most of the night either.

………………………………………………………………………………………