A Boy and A Girl

Chapter 4 ゜ ✭ ・.

Point of View: Bailey

"Amelia, please..." Bailey shook his head as he sat at the dining room table, holding his baby sister. He'd been trying to feed her the bottle of baby formula he had... but she just kept crying.

As she did it for the fifth time, he slammed his fist on the table out of frustration. When that only made her cry louder, he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry, Amy." He said quietly, rocking her back and forth in his arms. She quieted down, though she was still making upset baby-noises. Bailey smiled. He was still extremely disappointed that he wasn't going to be able to go to the party, though. Allen would probably be disappointed. The tall, pale-skinned boy may not have acted like it, but he and Bailey were best friends. They had been since fifth grade. Sure, they had fights sometimes, but all friends have fights. They always ended up missing one another. But Bailey just... couldn't go to the party. His mom had ranted to him about how hard it was to care for little Amelia as soon as he walked in the door, and asked him to hold and feed the baby. He did, no questions asked, since his mom was cooking dinner. She'd been doing so since before he got home, and Bailey felt bad. His dad was asleep, so that meant his mom had been taking care of the baby alone.

Bailey's dad worked as a police officer, but it was a very new job, and really stressful. He was always tired when he got off from work, and Bailey rarely got to see him anymore. Though he did try to make time for his family on the weekends, every weekday was the same. Bailey walked into the living room to get ready for school, and his dad was already gone. He walked into the kitchen as he got back from school, and his dad was already asleep. Which left Bailey and his mom to take care of the baby alone. The blond boy sighed and stretched out his legs as his mom walked into the dining room from the kitchen.

"Hey Mom... dinner ready?" Bailey asked. He intended to sound cheerful, but his voice just came out as blank and sad.

She narrowed her eyes. "Yes, but... okay, what is it?" She asked. He frowned, tilted his head, and opened his mouth, but she saw the 'nothing' coming from a mile away. "No, no, don't do that, don't make that face. There's something wrong, and I want you to tell me what it is!"

He shook his head again, smiling. "I'm fine, Mom."

"I said tell me." She demanded. "I'm not an idiot, I know when you're upset!" He looked away.

He sighed. "I'm fine. It's just... Allen's girlfriend was having a party tonight, and he really wanted me to come. But I know you need a break from taking care of the baby!" He exclaimed. "I wasn't even gonna bring it up."

"Bailey!" She rolled her eyes. "God, Bailey, you act like I'm an incompetent old woman. I'm capable of taking care of my own daughter. You should've told me sooner!" Her voice was calm, but her face was aggravated. "You are going to that party." She smirked. "Besides, I bet Ginny will be there. When's the last time you hung out with her?"

'Years ago.' He thought, but just shrugged. "No, mom. I'm staying home- you need help."

"Absolutely not, Bailey!" She shook her head. "I am going to watch Amelia, and you are going to go to that party! I will not take no for an answer, young man!"

Maybe it was his mother's stubbornness, or maybe it was the fact that he had really wanted to go anyway, but Bailey nodded in response, finding himself incapable of forming an argument. When he found his words, he sighed, "Alright mom. I'll go."

Bailey walked to his room, ashamed at his decision but glad he was getting to go to the party. He sifted through his closet, finding the light blue and white suit that he was going to wear for the school dance before Ginny told him she couldn't go, and he decided it was better to stay home than to go alone.

As he was walking out of his room, he brushed up against his nightstand. There was a sudden clink noise. He glanced at the ground and saw a pair of pink clip-on earrings. "Oh wow." Bailey muttered to himself. "I forgot about those." He had bought them a while back when he had to go shopping for his mom's birthday present, and discovered them in the 'young girls' section of the store. He had liked them at the time, and now blamed his ADHD for the fact that he impulsively bought them.

As he stared at them, he made another impulsive decision; when he picked them up off of the floor, he shoved them into his pocket rather than putting them back up on the dresser. "I might wear them later..." he muttered to himself. "In the bathroom... where no one can see..."

Bailey climbed into the car, which was a horrid shade of green. "So close to being blue." He shook his head. "So close, yet so far." He sighed and turned the key to start it up, and after a moment, began the drive toward Daisy's house. He felt the clip-on earrings in his pocket and winced.

Bailey had always been intrigued by things that were stereotypically feminine. Necklaces, earrings... makeup... not that he was gay. No, he definitely was not gay. How could he be? That would make him a disgrace to his entire family. Their golden child, their handsome, popular son, one of those queers? Never. Not that he had an issue with gay people... but he wasn't one. He was just interested, nothing more. Besides, there were plenty of straight guys who loved necklaces and earrings and makeup.

But Bailey wasn't allowed to be that either. The idea of a man wearing makeup was enough make Bailey's father go off on an enraged tangent for an hour and a half once... so obviously, if he meant to keep favor with his family, he had to be normal in every sense of the word.

The only problem was, normal felt boring.

He glanced at his phone when he was stopped at a light, attempting to stop his train of thought before it got too far and led to trouble again, and picked the phone up. He scrolled for a moment before clicking on the messaging app and texting Allen. 'I'm coming after all. See u there.' He set his phone back down safely in the passenger seat before he continued driving, focused on the road.

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Word count is 1075 this time... and I feel really guilty for not posting in so long. I've had so much school stuff going on, but now that it's winter break, maybe I'll have time to work on the story again..? Wouldn't count on it though.