As usual, Delilah was waiting for me outside school the next morning. We greeted each other with a smile and a hug, “How are you?” I asked, noticing she looked a little nervous.

But my friend didn’t seem to want to answer my question, and instead got straight to the point, “Sam, I’m worried about you.” I furrowed my eyebrows, not understanding what she meant, so she continued, “We all are; Tom, Suzanne and I. We barely ever see you, and there were days you looked so scared that… Is there something I should know? I wanted to wait for you and ask after Art yesterday, but Mr Way held you back for so long I had to leave!”

I could see that she was genuinely worried about me, and if she had asked only last week, I would say that something was bothering me, but now there wasn’t anything. I was perfectly fine now, but I knew this answer wasn’t going to satisfy her. But what could I tell her? That our Art teacher, who at the time was an awful human being, slept with me? That I had a pregnancy scare? The truth about his parent’s and my uncle’s death? That we had begun some sort of friendship? I couldn’t tell her any of this.

One; she would probably urge me to go to the principle and then to the police, which would mean having Gerard arrested for statutory rape for which he would definitely lose his job and probably go to prison. Two; she would probably stop talking to me. Three; even if those two things didn’t happen, she would never understand it. And as much as I knew I could trust her, I wasn’t going to risk getting Gerard into trouble… Things between us were finally okay.

Instead I just sighed, “There’s nothing to worry about, Delilah. Honest. If there was, I would tell you.” I forced a smile, hating that I lied to the one person who was as close to a best friend that I had. I could see that she didn’t wanna let the topic go, but didn’t say any more… for now.

“Okay then… So, I was thinking was having a sleepover of sorts tonight if you wanna come? Suzanne will be there, and Tom. Though, even though we’re almost technically adults, my mom said he can’t sleep in the same room as us girls.” We both laughed at how ridiculous it sounded, but I understood why her mom would worry.

I thought about it for a moment and realized that it would be a great idea. I did feel incredibly guilty for not spending time with them, and they were my friends. I at least owed them this. I nodded, “That sounds great! We’ll talk more at lunch?”

.

Art was the class right before lunch the day after my evening with Gerard, and I was shocked to find that I was looking forward to it, to the point where I practically ran from my other class to get there before anybody else. I surprised, yet happy, to see that he was already in the room, “Hi.” I greeted him with a smile.

Gerard spun around in his chair and gave me a smile in return, “Samantha, hi. You’re early, for once.” He stood up from his desk and closed the door to his room. I glanced at the clock, noticing there was still two minutes until the start of class.

“What are you talking about? I am never late to class.” I feigned my offence, knowing full well that that was a lie, thinking back to when I first joined this school. He opened his mouth to talk, but I cut him off, “I know, I know!”

He smiled again, something I was getting used to him doing around me, and something I liked him doing. Gerard looked so different when he smiled, when compared to the angry state I was more familiar with. It made him look a lot younger, and definitely much more approachable.

After a moment of silence, I decided to say something that I thought Gerard needed to hear, as well as it being the truth, “I, uh… I really enjoyed talking with you yesterday… It was nice.” I blushed a little, though I didn’t know why.

The look on his face said it all; his whole face lit up at my words, with a wide grin and wide eyes, “Really?” I nodded with a small smile, “Thanks… I liked it, too.” We continued to smile stupidly at each other, not really knowing what to say next. It was strange, for me at least, to seem so normal with Gerard, but I found myself wanting to spend as much time with him as I could, wanting to know more of this side of him.

.

The class went by quickly, with not much happening. Delilah and I talked a little over the hour about what was going on later, what we should do, what movies to watch, and whether to order food or have fun making something ourselves. We came up with some ideas, but would have to speak with Tom and Suzanne.

As with yesterday, Gerard asked me to stay behind with Delilah saying, “Damn, girl! Did he not keep you long enough yesterday? What is his problem?” I merely shrugged and told her I would meet up with her in the cafeteria.

As usual, Gerard closed the door, “I was wondering if you wanted to hang out tonight. Mikey, Frank and I were gonna order some Chinese and maybe watch the new Batman movie that’s now out on DVD.” He rushed his words, and I almost didn’t catch what he said, “I think my brother and Frank sorta miss you, a bit. They thought you were cool.”

I blushed, for the second time that day, but not because these guys thought I was cool, but because Gerard reached out to tuck my hair behind my ears. Weirdly, I felt my heart drop, knowing I would have to let him down, “I can’t… I’m hanging out with some friends tonight. Sorry.”

Gerard shook his head, “Nah, that’s cool. Another time maybe, huh?” I nodded, “Who are you hanging out with? Anyone from class?” He didn’t sound like he was interested, but for some reason I felt like there was more behind his questions.

“Uh, Delilah.” I answered, “And Suzanne and Tom Greene… they’re twins but not in this class.”

He nodded, still as though he wasn’t really paying attention, “Delilah… Hudson?” I nodded, “You talk to her a lot. Suzanne and Tom I don’t know… Is he a… boyfriend, or…?”

Why did he want to know? “No, definitely not. He’s just a good friend. Why do you ask?”

Gerard shrugged, “Just curious, is all. You interested in anyone?” My eyes squinted, not really understanding why he was asking. He noticed this and elaborated, “What? We’re friends now, right? Isn’t this what friends talk about?” I still said nothing, feeling as though there was more. Gerard rolled his eyes with a sigh, “Fine.” With his hand, he flipped his hair and gave a scarily accurate female impression, “So, like, do you find any guys cute? I mean, have you seen the hottie in Math! Talk about yum!”

I started laughing hard, tears welling up in my eyes, “That’s hilarious! How can you get your voice like that?”

He shrugged, and gave an arrogant smirk, “It’s a gift.”

I wiped my eyes when I calmed down, “Well, to answer your question; no. I’m not interested in anyone.” I true as that was, I couldn’t help but feel that I was lying somehow, but I didn’t know why.

Gerard nodded again, “Okay… You better get to lunch. I’ll see you around.” With another smile from each of us, I left the classroom, feeling rather confused about some things.