Week 11 - UDC 1

51. dawn

As he got to the new locker in an entirely different hallway after last bell and packing up his old one, Nick suddenly realized two things. One: it was right near the School Nurse's office. That... had Pete had this locker the entire school year so far?

Two was that at least three of their fellow JROTC members were close by, jeering and talking to one another but excluding the smallest. Farther down, he caught sight of Bart, who waved him off, and Nick nodded in reply.

"What are you doing here?" Pete wondered when he noticed as he was taking books out and stuffing them in his bag. "Isn't your-"

"It was," Nick told him as he got the paper with the combination out and spun the lock. He got in on the first try. "But this one is mine now. What kind of cookies were those?"

"Peanut butter."

He felt attention on them and glanced that direction. "Campbell, something you need?"

"Heard you mention food. Could eat a horse."

"Has last period PE," Pete muttered under his breath, and Nick chuckled.

"What's so funny? Did Mitchell suddenly gain a sense of humor?"

Nick froze and waited, glancing down and to the side with raised eyebrows, but Pete hadn't moved or even looked. In fact, he was looking at the bag that Jennifer had given him and contemplating how to put in his book bag. "You okay?"

"He's an idiot."

"Ah." Nick put his backpack down carefully and turned to look at Campbell with a neutral expression. "How do you know he doesn't have a sense of humor?" The other student glared at him for a minute and then looked away. "Before you say things like that, think about who you're saying them to or about. What he said was to inform me of your last period PE. Nothing more. Why is that funny? By itself, it isn't. In context, however..."

52. morning

Campbell grunted and slammed his locker door shut, making at least one person in the hallway jump. Then he blinked down at his own backpack and realized he didn't have everything he needed.

The school nurse stepped into the hallway and looked around. "What have I said about slamming your locker doors like that?"

"That we're not to do it, Ma'am," Campbell answered. "Not even while frustrated."

"Exactly. Principal's office, Campbell. Now." She nodded to Nick in acknowledgement. "You're right, you know. By itself, not necessarily funny." When Campbell still didn't move, she glared at him. "I'll call ahead. Get going."

Nick turned back around and studied Pete again as their school nurse went back into her office. Now it made sense. "How long have you had this locker?"

"Since November."

53. noon

They were met at the curb by an unfamiliar older lady and Nick frowned when Pete stopped cold, staring at her in what had to be disbelief and then going to greet her with a smile. "Hi!"

"Hi yourself," she said, looking him over critically and then shifting her gaze to Nick. "Who is your friend, Pete?"

"This is Nick. Nick, this is Lydia Tatham."

At that, Nick studied her a bit more before offering his hand. "Ma'am." She firmly shook his hand with a nod. "How are you?"

"Relieved to see that I think I like you, too," Mrs. Tatham said after a minute as she let his hand drop. "How was school today?"

"Good," Pete enthused, surprising them both.

"Nick?" She prompted expectantly.

"Enlightening," Nick settled on with a shrug. If she was going to randomly show up and claim to like him on sight, why offer her more than he needed to?

"Both good things," Lydia Tatham mused as she nodded and then bent down to Pete's level. "I just wanted you to know that you're always welcome again if you need it. Understood?"

Pete nodded. "Yes, Ma'am."

54. dusk

Homework after dinner was both awkward and quiet as Pete mumbled to himself in random German phrases and Nick contemplated his Spanish language exercises. Was he surprised that Mrs. Tatham had awkwardly said hello the way she had? Not in the slightest. Did he want to mention it to his mother, to see what she'd say on the matter? Yes.

"Das ist so dumm. Ich kann nicht glauben, dass Karen ihn dazu gebracht hat, die Schließfächer nur für mich zu tauschen. Warum ich? Und Mrs. Tatham... Das war komisch. Und dumm."

Nick glanced over at his father, washing dishes at the sink to find him glancing back at them with raised eyebrows. Clearly, Pete didn't realize he wasn't the only one to understand German.

"Warum nicht Sie? Und warum ist es dumm?" His father winked at him and Nick quickly looked down at his own homework.

"Es ist nur ein Schließfach in einem anderen Flur. Ich verstehe es nicht. Mir ging es gut."

"Ist es besser, dass es einen Schließfachschalter gab?"

"Ich denke schon? Es ist immer noch seltsam und dumm."

Walt chuckled. "It's good to have things both weird and dumb occasionally." Nick glanced up at him again and he mouthed 'later.' "Thank you for the language exercise, Pete, it's been a while."

Pete paused. "I said all of that out loud, didn't I?"

"You did. Nick, why was there a need for a locker switch?"

At that, Nick suddenly got the gist of the foreign language exchange. "Actually? I think one of his Geometry classmates saw him with me while her mother was putting her foot in her mouth yesterday and decided she liked me enough to take me to admin and help me switch lockers to be in the same hallway that his is in. If that makes any sense."

Walt nodded. "Actually it does. And really, Pete: why not for you?"

55. evening

After the studying and doing of homework, Walt took his son aside. "He said something about Mrs. Tatham and something being weird. What happened?"

Nick glanced toward the couch where Pete was at last checking out the pictures and the books in the box. "She was checking on him, I think. Nice lady, but awkward. Don't know if I'd classify it as weird, really."

Walt nodded. "All right." They joined him on the couch and Pete glanced up, then handed him one of the pictures. He studied it, specifically the smiling woman with the long hair, and then the man on whose shoulders a much younger Pete Mitchell was sitting on. It hadn't hit him until just now, how deep the loss really went. He passed it to his son, who took it respectfully. "You don't need to go through them all tonight."

"I know," Pete answered. He opened the envelope and shuffled through those, smiling at one. "I can't believe she took that of us." He passed it to Walt, who studied the photograph to find Pete cuddled up to an older man in a hospital bed who didn't look well, a book propped up between them. Walt squinted at the title...

"Mr. Midshipman Hornblower?"

Pete smiled, tears in his eyes. "We only had time for that one. Grandpa kept falling asleep."

Translation from German, courtesy of DuckDuckGo Translate... (Mostly because I forgot to switch to Google.)

1: "This is so stupid. I can't believe Karen made him swap lockers just for me. Why me? And Mrs. Tatham... That was weird. And stupid."
2. "Why not you? And why is it stupid?"
3. "It's just a locker in another hallway. I don't understand it. I was fine."
4. "Is it better that there was a locker switch?"
5. "I think so? It's still weird and dumb."