Inspired by words from www / . ()) dictionaryofobscuresorrows / . (()) com

The Definitions and words used in this story are from there. I do not own them. Please don't sue me.

1.

la gaudière

n. the glint of goodness inside people, which you can only find by sloshing them back and forth in your mind until everything dark and gray and common falls away, leaving behind a constellation at the bottom of the pan—a rare element trapped in exposed bedrock, washed there by a storm somewhere upstream.

I'd gone back to Dalton at the request of Jeff who, along with Trent and Nick, wanted to repair our friendship that had gotten damaged in the Sebastian versus New Directions debacle. It meant a lot to me that they were doing that. Blaine had wanted to come but had been forced to stay late to make up a test he'd missed when he was out due to his eye injury.

I was walking out to my car, glad to escape the sea of blazers and promising myself that the next meet up would have to be at my place, when I heard the tell-tale choking sound of someone trying to silence their crying. I knew this sound from when I used to hide in the empty stalls between lunch my freshmen year. I only ever cried once, the guys in the stalls next to me were not always as brave and stubborn as I.

Curiosity caused me to follow the sound and the scene I found was startling. Sitting on the ground near the wheel of a Cadillac was a young boy, perhaps a freshmen. He was sobbing as quietly as he could, his face in his hands. Crouched in front of him, with a hand on his arm, was Sebastian Smythe.

I immediately ducked behind a truck.

"Hey, it's okay." I heard Sebastian's attempt to calm the boy. He was speaking softly, so softly I had to strain to hear him.

"My- my parents are g-going to kill me." The boy sobbed.

"No they aren't."

"I've never gotten a C – a C m-minus before on an-anything."

"Dalton is tough work. It is a hard transition for a lot people. One low grade isn't the end of the world. You'll get into the swing of things."

This was a side of Sebastian I didn't know existed. I didn't know he could be comforting or caring without there being something in it for him. He usually had an agenda. But if he had one now, I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was.

"Go and talk to the professor about how you can make up your grade and if you are still struggling, Dalton has tutors." The boy sniffled.

"Th- thanks, Sebastian."

"No problem, kid. It's my first year here too. Us newbies gotta stick together. From here on out, I got your back."

"Really?"

"Sure thing. Come on. I'll give you a ride home since you've probably missed the bus by now."

I listened to the shuffle of them standing and getting into the Cadillac. I waited until I heard its engines fade until I poked my head back around the truck and wandered over towards were I had parked. The entire drive home I spent attempting to wrap my head around what I had just witnessed.