Obviously that would just make him more worried, and Gladion's kicking himself for it. But he can't help it. Talking in this situation is confusing and hard no matter how he looks at it, and he can't explain no matter how willing someone is. He could barely talk about anything when he was talking to his father and they were both in the same confused boat.

"Just forget about it." He crosses his arms as he says it, then looks away afterward, really hoping his teacher will just give up, even though he doubts it.