Accidentally on Purpose

Chapter Thirty-One

The next Monday, our favorite teacher held Jonah and me in the room after class.

"So," Mr. Herberg said, clasping his hands together and setting them down on the desk in front of him. "How's your project going?"

"It's going great," I said with a slow nod.

"Is that so?" We both nodded. "How about the home movie? Are you filming your activities together? Have you been hanging out?"

"Yep," I said again, still wondering where the teacher was going with this.

Mr. Herberg smiled at us, and it was the kind of smile that just made you feel like you were being left out of some important stuff. "So you've been getting along with each other well, haven't you?" We both nodded again. "Alright, so how's the baby?"

"A pain in the a—butt," Jonah piped in, a dark look on his face. I tried to hold in my laughter.

"It's his turn to take care of her this week. He's only started yesterday," I explained to Mr. Herberg who looked mildly amused.

"Okay, but aside from that, things are good, right?" he asked. We nodded again. "Alright. You're free to go. Good luck."

We both got out of the class, equally confused by what had just happened. But then I rolled my eyes, because Mr. Herberg had never been a not-weird teacher since he arrived here—his good looking face was just a cover of whatever it was hiding in his mind—and walked calmly toward the lunch room, with Jonah by my side.

I noticed that he was looking more tired and way grumpier than usual, but thankfully he hadn't snapped at me so far—couldn't say the same for another freshman who became his victim after stepping on his foot this morning—so as we both stood in line to get our lunch, I calmly asked, "How was our baby girl?"

He made a sound at the back of his throat, full of disdain. "I tried to find where her batteries are stored so I can plug her off."

I couldn't help but laugh at the look on his face. "Don't. She probably has a self-destruct feature. She might blow up if you dismember her. You didn't throw her at the wall though, did you?"

"No," he grunted. "Not yet."

"That's good, then," I said cheekily. "You didn't forget to burp her after feeding her, right? And I already taught you how to put her diapers on. Oh, and what about the rocking? You didn't swing her too hard, right? Just do it gently, lovingly, and maybe she'll stop crying."

He groaned out loud. "Please, do shut up."

I held up my hands in surrender. "Just making sure you're well on your way toward the Best Father of the Year award."

"Can you take care of her when I'm at work every day, though?" he asked, rubbing his temples tiredly, before muttering to himself, "Does Herberg have any regard at all for people who have a job?"

"Of course, Jonah," I said sincerely. "I'll keep an eye on her. That won't be a problem. Besides, this is just like how real life works, right? If you're a parent who has a job, I mean. You gotta find a way to work it out. It's no problem." 

"Thanks. And, um, it goes both ways. If you happen to have things to do during your babysitting shift, you can just hand her over to me. If you want," he told me quietly, before nodding goodbye, ready to part ways with me to go to his lone lunch table.

I bit my lip, remembering what he'd said about not having friends, and called out, "Hey, Jonah?"

He turned around. "Mm?"

"Do you... want to, um," I started, jabbing my thumb toward the general direction of my usual table, "sit with me and my friends?"

He paused, and he just stared at me with his forehead knitted, his lips slightly jutted out as he considered my offer. I let out the breath I was holding once I saw him nod at me, and he walked back toward me, letting me lead him the way to my usual table where my friends were already sat.