The Garden of Eden || Canis Canem Edit / Bully [ #WATTYS2018 ]

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Broken Boy Named Gary Smith

Eden sat comfortably on her cherry-stained chair, perched up with one leg crossed over the over, eyes focused on the despondent boy before her. The usual carefree and cynical Gary Smith was reduced to a nervous wreck. Hands clammy, a sheen of cold sweat above his brow - he had never been this anxious in his life. Because of an old hag, the Gary Smith that was usually playful and condescending was fearful. Fearful of Eden, of her reaction. Fearful of the words that had laid dormant on his tongue for so many years.

Eden's serene emerald eyes scanned his form, offering him a small, genuine smile. He couldn't will himself to return it, his lips curled into a permanent scowl.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to Gary," Her words flowed elegantly from her lips to his ears, dripping in pure sweet honey. "Either way, I'll still be here for you."

Gary couldn't look at her, his eyes averting from her unintentionally piercing gaze. Gary felt sad, but sad wasn't the right word to use. He felt as though he was two seconds away from breaking everything in sight. Destroying it all with his bare fists. Two seconds away from exploding in a violent cascade of tears, just like he watched Eden do many times. Gary was sick of hiding his emotions, hiding behind a constant façade. He couldn't understand how Eden did it, every day.

"It's nothing major, Eden." Gary croaked out, waving dismissively at his girlfriend.

A lopsided frown marred her lips, lines of worry appearing on her forehead. "You don't need to tell me but please don't lie to me. I know this is something that you've kept bottled up for a long time."

Silence fell over them. He hesitantly met Eden's gaze. She was patiently waiting for him to say something. 'If I don't say anything to her, I'm just proving Bif right. Eden isn't one of them, she's my Eden.'

"My mum was an alcoholic," He spat out as if the word we laced with poison. "She had good reason to drink herself stupid."

Eden hesitantly leaned forward, tracing soothing circles on his hand. "What was that reason?"

A sardonic chuckle erupted from his throat, his head tipping back in laughter. "My dad beat her, every damn day Eden. She wanted to pain to go away."

His laughter subsided, replaced instead with an uncharacteristic grim line. His iconic cheeky smirk was nothing but a distant memory. A strangled gasp left her lips unwillingly, her guts turning to ice water. Wide eyes glanced at Gary in disbelief, watching as he hung his head in shame, tangling his fingers in his mocha hair. Gary Smith was ready to burst.

"He was a little bitch." He growled out in a low tone, knuckles blanching white. "My mum suffered every single day, she almost died. I couldn't stop it no matter how hard I tried."

"I'm sorry, Gary."

"Don't be, it made me who I am today." Deep umber eyes darkened sinisterly. "I'm in charge here at Bullworth. No, not yet. I will be soon. Darling Jimmy won't be able to do a single thing about it. He wants to stop the bullying, the only thing separating the weak from the strong. I'll encourage it."

"No Gary, that's not right at all." Eden's voice cracked, a hard lump stuck in her throat. "You should be protecting the weak..."

"Hell no, I'll laugh in their face. My dad laughed when he beat my mum into a pulp."

"Are you your father, Gary?" The words left her lips before she had a chance to think.

"Do I look like him, Eden?" He had jumped to his feet, shouting in Eden's face as he trembled with rage.

"No, you don't. So don't act like him." 

Her words were harsh, but it was the reality check he needed. The pressure of the raging sea inside his brain broke him down.

"I-I... I don't want to!" He crumbled to the floor in front of her.

Wordlessly, she joined him, wrapping her arms around him tight. Not an inch of space was between them, as he snaked his arms around her waist. She was his support system and he was hers. They couldn't last without each other, no matter how headstrong they appear to be.

"Then Gary, why do you want to take over the school?" Gentle whispers echoed in his ear, heartache pouring through every word. "What do you want to achieve by this?"

"This is all a message to him and to everyone else at this damn academy. I'm superior. I'm stronger than him. This will show him not to lay another hand on my mum."

'This all makes a little more sense now.' Eden mused to herself, running her fingers through his hair. The 'like' she had for Gary, was slowly evolving into love, dare she say it. She felt this emotion for him with every fibre in her being. There was no point in arguing with him, he didn't need that. He needed her, and her support. Jimmy needed her support as well.

'I'm going to have to choose between them eventually, and I know it.'