Cal instinctively leaned into his sister, his head resting against her shoulder. Just having her hug him made him feel a little better. Jac always knew what to do. It was like, her job. "But why Jac?" He asked despairingly, looking up at his sister at a strange angle, though he didn't want to move his head from her shoulder. "What's so weird about liking school, about wanting to help Mr. Jones grade papers? Why is it that if your teachers like you, everyone else automatically doesn't?" These were questions he'd been pondering for a long time, but he'd never really gotten any closer to an answer. Not that Jac would have one, certainly, but she would at least listen to him rant.
"And it's not just that James thinks rock climbing is deadly," Cal added glumly. "He told Mao that Katie kissing me would be just a step up from her falling to her death." Cal had had much worse insults thrown around about him over the course of his life and he knew that he should just let it go, but that one in particular had really stung. He'd probably never be fortunate enough to kiss Katie regardless of what James thought of him, but it was more than a little demoralizing to think that James would almost rather see her die than be with Calvin. What if Katie thought that, too? He slid closer to Jac and buried his head in her shoulder. He didn't even care if he was being a baby; he needed his sister, and she was there. That was all that mattered.