No, please no need to be sorry. Taxes are often confusing even for the best of us. What transpires here in your case are actually 2 different reporting items. The first reporting item is to you, showing the sales proceeds and what, to the broker's best information, is your cost basis. That is what is reported to you on Form 1099-B.
What is reported to the IRS, on the other hand, is just the sales proceeds and the broker is telling the IRS that you will report the basis on your return.
Consider 2 separate 1099-B's: One with both sales proceeds and basis showing that is sent to you, and one with only sales proceeds sent to the IRS. Essentially that is the situation with Box E for long-term sales, and Box B for short-term sales.
If you would like to read on it further, or if you find yourself with a case of insomnia one night, below is a link to the instructions for Form 1099-B. You will find the explanations for the various codes on Page 7 of the instructions.
Form 1099-B Instructions
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