The Devil's Gift // dnf

sixteen

He had to return to school that monday. The second he stepped foot in that school he went to go see Mrs. William. She was the only one who seemed to have somewhat good advice.

The comforting scent of her classroom quickly helped George's mind calm down. "Good morning Mrs. William!"

She got up to go greet George. "I missed you last week! What were you up to?"

"Oh I just wasn't feeling too good. Stressful times," George said.

Mrs. William suddenly looked worried for George. She probably noticed the small scarring cut of George's cheek. "Oh, i'm sorry about that. Is there any way I can help?"

"Not really, but i was actually wondering if i could come during lunch to catch up on work and talk."

"I would love some company! You ever don't have to ask," she said, smiling and patting George on his back. Mrs. William returned to her desk to start class and George started on his doodles again.

*+*+*+

He completely avoided the cafeteria that day and decided to just eat whatever he had left in his bag. Mrs. William's door was open when he arrived and she waved him in, holding a new book. "Hey there! So, this is the new book we are reading. I know you have been stressed out lately so I am not giving you a due date for anything you missed."

"I really appreciate that. Thanks!" George went to go sit at the desk next to Mrs. William's and snacked on some pretzels.

"What's been stressing you out? Is there something going on at home?" she asked, pulling her hands from her keyboard.

"Oh, I don't want to get you involved or anything. Just stuff with friends," George replied. He didn't want to slip up and say something that could get anyone into too much trouble.

"I don't mind! If you want some advice I can give it. Whatever you say in here, stays in here."

There really wasn't anyone else that would help him out. After a slight debate with himself, he decided to tell Mrs. William without any obvious details. She already knew he was partnered with Dream so it wasn't any use hiding who Dream was.

"Okay. Well y'know how Dream was my partner for the biology project?"

"Uh oh," she said. "Did he do something?"

"No. Uh, not really. His friends kinda got involved with it all and they dont like me at all, so you can kinda imagine how that went. It all ended in me finding out Dream lied to me. It wasn't like what he said isn't true, it's more like a betrayal situation."

"So... Dream's friends made him lie to you make you look bad?"

George looked down back at his paper. "Well it made me look really dumb. I admitted something that his friends weren't very nice about and then the word spread around the school within like a day."

"Ohh, I see. What was it that they didn't about like? Do you have a bad history with them?" she asked. The teacher seemed genuinely interested. Like she wanted to help.

Should he just say it? If anyone would accept him, it was probably Mrs. William.

"Well, in eighth grade my old friend sorta outed me to the whole school as gay. Obviously a lot of people didn't like that and his friends were some of those people."

Mrs. William's face dropped. "Oh my goodness dear! That is horrible!"

Even though she was one of the nicest teachers at the school, George still didn't expect that much a reaction.

She continued, and her voice got quieter, "I've actually gone through something similar."

Now this caught George's attention. He waited for her to tell the story.

Something similar?

"When I was in highschool, I had a girlfriend. Back in my times homophobia was something praised by adults and it sadly still is sometimes today," she looked sad but then tried lifting the mood. "But, now I'm happily married to the same girl! We've just been through so much because of backlash."

A sliver of a smile formed on George's face. "That is so great for you two. The marriage part I mean, not the backlash."

The teacher laughed a little, "Yeah, I got lucky."

After some passed glaces between them, Mrs. William started talking again. "So, what was it that Dream did to betray you?"

"Well for starters, he has sided with his friends for a while, but I think that got a little better." George blushed a little when he continued the story. "His friends thought it would be funny for Dream to say he had feelings for me... and I thought I did too so obviously I told him."

He wasn't expecting to be giving this much of the story to his teacher out of everyone, but again, she felt trustworthy.

Mrs. William finished George's thought, "...and Dream told them what happened?"
George nodded.

"That is a horrible thing to do. Have you heard from him since?"

"Well he ended up coming to my house to apologize but I don't know if I want to accept it yet. He said he felt terrible and that his friends forced him to do it."

She thought for a second before replying, "It sounds like his friends don't like Dream. I mean, why would they make him do all of this?"

George knew it wouldn't be very nice of him to mention what Dream said later on. That the feelings weren't complete lies.

"I don't completely know. I guess they threatened him into joining their group or else he would be another one of their victims."

"Do you think he's...?"

George caught onto what she was implying. "Maybe. He hasn't outright said anything, but it would make sense because Techno targets people like that."

The teacher nodded. "So, maybe he's in the same situation as you. Being thrown around by Techno except he's agreeing to do it to keep himself safe."

"Maybe. I just don't know what to do. I mean, he was the only person who i've been somewhat friends with in years." George completed one more doodle when the bell rang. "I don't want to make a wrong decision."

"Well, you enjoyed being his friend and sometimes people truly feel bad for their actions. I'd say, if you think he is being truthful, then you can get the Techno situation figured out and try to see his side of things. I am always here to help if you need it though!"

She waved him out of the room and quickly added, "Also, remember what I said about why people can be mean sometimes."

He had a lot to figure out.

*+*+*+

A/N: I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH. I WAKE UP TO 2.8K READS???? WHAT??

but seriously i was shaking while reading the 136 notifications from this story this morning.

i love all of your comments and i appreciate the support because i really never expected people to enjoy this so much :))) 

i love seeing yall's funny comments and guesses

you guys also got the lesbian teacher you wanted ;)

now make sure you are eating !!

(Words: 1,173)