Page 70 of Lost
Instead of making his way toward the Art room for his last period of the day, Lysander made his way — as promised — toward the school counsellor’s office. He still wasn’t happy about having to do it, but he figured he would be better off going to the sessions and putting up with them as opposed to skipping them and having to suffer the consequences.
When he opened the door to find Ethan Masters sitting in the room, he almost changed his mind.
Masters looked just as annoyed to see him. A scowl immediately formed on his lips and he looked like he too was considering leaving the room. Lysander found himself hoping the boy would — the day had been going well despite everything, and with only one period left to get through he’d been hopeful he could make it through the entire day unscathed. Having Ethan Masters around was a sure fire way to ensure that didn’t happen.
The red-headed, middle-aged counsellor was already in her seat. She looked up and smiled as the door swung shut behind Lysander.
“Mr. Maverick. Thank you for joining us.”
Without a word Lysander begrudgingly took the only remaining seat in the room, inconveniently located right next to Masters.
“I’m Mrs. Nielson,” the counsellor said, holding her hand out to shake his. “It’s lovely to meet you.”
“Likewise.”
It wasn’t.
Mrs. Nielson set her notebook aside and positioned herself to face the two boys. They both looked back at her, pointedly avoiding looking at each other, and waited.
The woman reminded him of his sixth grade English teacher. Her smile was thin and she kept her hands folded neatly in her lap; she squinted like she was supposed to be wearing glasses, and her clothes were covered in what was undeniably cat hair. Despite all this, she came across as kind. Maybe somebody he could trust, given a little more time. Even Masters looked at ease around her.
“I’m sure you’re both wondering why you’re here together,” Mrs. Nielson said, “so I won’t keep you in suspense any longer.” She looked between the pair of them. “I wanted to bring you both here today in the hopes that we could work through your issues and regain some sense of civility between you.” Another smile, from one to the other. “Do you think we can do that?”
Lysander doubted it. There had never been a time when he and Ethan Masters had gotten along, and he didn’t see that changing. Nothing could change the fact that Masters was a bully; nothing would ever make Lysander tolerate that type of behaviour.
Masters looked about as hopeful as Lysander.
Nielson beamed at them both. “Why don’t we start by discussing the fight and what it was about.”
That was the last thing Lysander wanted to do. He had spent the day staring down anybody who dared bring up his mother, his sister or his father, and now Mrs. Nielson wanted not only to bring it up but also to discuss it? It didn’t sound appealing in the slightest.
“Why did you start the fight, Mr. Maverick?”
Because Masters was a jackass. That was what he wanted to say, but he held his tongue and stuck to the facts instead.
“He was talking about my family and calling me a fraud.”
“And that made you angry?”
“Obviously.”
She turned to Masters. “And why did you do this, Mr. Masters?”
Masters was silent. He kept his eyes firmly on the scene outside the window and his mouth shut so tightly that Lysander began to doubt that he was ever going to answer. But then he spoke.
“I didn’t know the stories were true.”
Lysander raised an eyebrow.
“The ones about your mother and sister,” he clarified, shooting a glance Lysander’s way. “The other one, I don’t know. I don’t give a crap if you’re a rockstar’s kid or not.”
“Why does it make a difference,” Lysander asked, “if you thought the stories were true or not? You would have used it against me anyway.”
“No,” Masters said. “I wouldn’t have.”
There was a pregnant pause after that in which Lysander wondered what that was supposed to mean. Masters went back to avidly staring out the window, and Mrs. Nielson looked between the two boys with a look that said she thought she was already making headway. She had just been opening her mouth to say something when a cell phone rang from the adjoining room.
“Oh, my.” The woman frowned. “I’m so sorry. I need to take this. I’ll only be a minute.”
