Behind This Smile

Gerard POV

We decided to go to the cafeteria ten minutes early. I told Sydri that I’d meet her in there and walked to Mr. Warlock’s room. To be technical, I actually knocked on his door and he told me to come in.

He looked kind of surprised to see me. “Gerard? Is there anything you need?”

I sighed. “No. Well, Yes. Sort of.”

He raised his eyebrows. “What is it?”

“Okay, well, um, in counseling, I talked to Sydri about her mom today and she kind of broke down. I just… I came in here to tell you that I’m not going to talk about these touchy subjects with her.”

Mr. Warlock looked at me. “What do you mean, ‘broke down’?”

I shrugged. “Liked, cried?”

“That’s good. Did she actually talk to you about her mom?” I nodded. “That’s good, Gerard. You’re probably one of the only people she’ll talk to her mom about. You’re going to have to talk her about these touchy subjects with her so we’ll see how she reacts to her dad dying.”

I glared at Mr. Warlock in disbelief. “We already know how she’s going to react. She breaks down sobbing talking about her mom and Sydri thinks she didn’t even love her. It’s going to be fucking hell for her when her dad dies.”

Mr. Warlock glared back. “Please don’t use such language in my classroom.”

I ignored him. “She’s not a lab rat.”

“Never said she was.”

“She’s not going to be okay when her dad dies.”

“Exactly.”

I shook my head. This was getting way too confusing. “If you already know how she’s going to react, why am I counseling her?”

Mr. Warlock smiled. What the hell? Why the fuck is he smiling? “I wanted to see how you reacted to me telling you that we need to see how she reacts.”

What the fuck?

“I wanted to see if I could trust you with what she tells you.”

Am I really that untrustworthy?

“The real reason you’re counseling her is because she’s going to need someone to trust when her dad does die. And hopefully you’re going to be that person.”

Hopefully? Was he trying to insult me?

“I don’t want to see her crying.”

Mr. Warlock didn’t do anything but shrug. “That comes with the job.”

“I didn’t want the job!”

He glanced up with me. “Touché.” Then he pointed to the door. “You can leave now.”

I rolled my eyes but left the room. God, Mr. Warlock could be a fucker.

--

Sydri POV

When I walked into the cafeteria, I prayed my eyes weren’t red and puffy. I sat next to Mikey who eyed me.

“You’ve been crying,” he simply stated.

“How did you know?”

“Your face is really red and your eyes aren’t so green.”

I shrugged. “Counseling.”

“Did Gerard hurt you?” Mikey and Frank said almost in unison.

“No. We just… We talked about my mom.”

“Oh,” Mikey said understandably. Frank and Ray nodded.

Ray laughed. “Everyone here cares so much about you.” I smiled at him. “It’s insane.”

Frank shook his head. “What’s not to love about you, Sydri?”

Mikey nodded. “You’re so loveable, Sydri.” He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight. I soon felt two other pairs of arms around me, also hugging me tight.

“Guys, it’s kind of hard to breathe…”

“Nonsense!” Mikey shouted. I could feel people’s eyes on us. “Hey, Gerard!” Mikey yelled. “Come join us in our group hug!” I felt another pair of arms hug me tight.

“Why are we hugging Sydri?” he asked.

“Because,” Frank said. “We all love her.”