Maybe He Just Likes You

Mila is unnerved as she takes to the stage with the other trumpet players. She knows that Callum was trying to upset her and make her think that all of her practice wouldn’t matter and that “all anyone will notice is what’s under [her] shirt” (241). Mila can’t get past the comment, and as the concert begins, she decides to use her voice. When Callum stands for his trumpet solo, Mila blasts a loud note on her trumpet. Callum is shocked, but he tries to continue. Mila interrupts him again, and the audience is confused about what is happening. Samira joins in and blows her own note, followed by several other band students. The concert comes to an abrupt end, and Ms. Fender is furious.

Once the seventh-grade band is off the stage, Ms. Fender demands an explanation. Dante complains that Mila was “being psycho” and “overreacting the way she always does” (245). However, Ms. Fender demands to know what Mila was reacting to. Mila admits that Callum said something inappropriate before they walked on stage. Callum, Leo, and Dante say it was “just a joke,” but Samira and Mila tell Ms. Fender that the boys have been bothering Mila for a while now. Ms. Fender dismisses the band but wants to “speak to [Mila] in private” (247).

Mila tells Ms. Fender everything “about the fuzzy green sweater, the hugging and the grabbing” (248) and everything that happened on the bus, at the lockers, and in the band room. To Mila’s surprise, Ms. Fender listens to Mila and believes her, and she tells Mila that this behavior is sexual harassment, which is “something [Ms. Fender] take[s] very seriously” (248). She tells Mila that it happened to her, too, and although she isn’t happy that Mila wrecked the band’s performance, she understands why Mila did it. Ms. Fender apologizes for not noticing what was happening and admits that this harassment slipped past her. Ms. Fender encourages Mila to tell her mom about this, and she decides to take some time to decide what to do about the boys who have been harassing Mila.

When Mila gets home, she tells her mother everything she told Ms. Fender. Her mother is angry at the basketball boys for treating Mila so poorly, but Mila begs her to let Ms. Fender handle it. Mila apologizes for keeping this secret from her mother, and her mom says that she is “glad [Mila’s] back in karate” (254). The next morning, Max, Omi, Zara, and Jared hug Mila and congratulate her for what happened at the band concert. Zara is proud of Mila for “making [Callum] look stupid in front of everyone” (255), but Mila explains that she wasn’t trying to do that. Mila feels bad about ruining the concert and doesn’t even like the idea of her bullies being suspended, despite how “angry and frustrated and hurt” (256) she feels about everything.

Mila is told to report to the band room, and Ms. Fender shares her idea. She wants to have a community meeting where Mila would have the chance to confront the boys, with Ms. Fender there to support her. Ms. Fender explains that the boys need to understand how their actions have affected Mila and the rest of the school and sitting down with them in a controlled setting will give them a chance to “hear [Mila’s] perspective, in [her] own words” (257). Mila doesn’t like the idea and is unsure whom she could invite for support, but she promises to think about the offer.

At the end of the day, Liana—another band student—approaches Mila and asks to talk to her. Mila agrees to walk into town with Liana, and once they are away from school, Liana admits that something happened to her at the town pool over the summer, “like maybe what happened to [Mila]” (261). She explains that some of the boys from school harassed her, pulled on her swimsuit, and made inappropriate comments about her body. When Liana tried telling people what happened, she was ignored. Liana admits that she was afraid to speak up when she saw the boys harassing Mila because she thought they might start bullying her again. Mila decides that she wants to do the community meeting, and she wants Liana to be there, too.

Ms. Fender arranges a small circle of chairs in the band room for the community meeting. Mila and Liana attend, along with Ms. Fender, the new guidance counselor Ms. Habibi, Mr. Dolan, and the basketball boys: Leo, Callum, Tobias, and Dante. Mila notices that the boys seem scared when they enter, and as the meeting begins, Ms. Fender explains that Mila is the one in charge. Ms. Habibi instructs Mila to begin a sentence with “I feel” or “I felt,” and the boys must repeat after her to show that they have listened. Mila explains that she felt “angry when Callum made that joke before [they] went onstage,” she felt “helpless when [she] heard about the scorecard,” and she felt “furious when Callum said [she] couldn’t play untag” (270). At this, Callum protests and tries to make excuses, but Mila responds that she feels frustrated when Callum takes over like he is doing right now.

After Mila shares her feelings, the boys have a chance to respond. Leo tries to dismiss Mila’s feelings by saying that it was “never personal” and that they were “just fooling around” (272). However, Tobias starts to cry and admits that he knew it was wrong to mess with Mila, but he went along with it because he was so worried about being kicked out of his friend group. One by one, the boys reluctantly take turns apologizing to Mila and admitting they were wrong. At the end of the meeting, Ms. Fender announces that Mila is being promoted to trumpet section leader instead of Callum to recognize “Mila’s focus and hard work these past few weeks. Despite everything she’s been sharing with [the group]” (274). During lunch, Mila notices Callum sitting by himself on the blacktop. Callum is upset that he lost his title as section leader, and Mila tells him that she didn’t know Ms. Fender would do that. Callum is short with Mila, but he promises that the basketball boys didn’t mean to hurt her. 

Mila’s bullies are kicked off the basketball team, and they get three weeks of detention. Mila apologizes to the band for ruining the concert, and the boys have to apologize for “unbandlike behavior” (278). The school counselors start hosting assemblies about consent, boundaries, and sexual harassment, and Mila dives into her new role as section leader and into her karate studies. One day, Mila is shocked to see Callum enter the karate class. Ms. Platt pairs Mila up with Callum, who is trying to stay in shape so he can try out for basketball in the spring. Mila is nervous at first, but she decides that she doesn’t want to be afraid of Callum anymore. She teaches him how to bow correctly and walks him through the motions. Mila notices that her authoritative voice “[doesn’t] sound like [her],” but she wonders if it might be her “actual voice” (282-83).