Carnival Hearts

Getting Permission

      The carnival had been there for a while now and Nathan had really wanted to go. He had not told his mom yet, but his friends had invited him to go and he already said he would. He laid there on his bed, debating whether he should ask to go or to just sneak out on that Saturday he planned to go. He made his decision and went to the living room.
        "Hey Ma," he said to his mom. "The um.. You, uh, you know the carnival's been here for a while now, right?" "Yes.." said his mom while picking up some pillows on the floor. "Well um, you see, my friends, um, invited me to go to the carnival with them and the carnival ends in three days.." said Nathan. "And?" his mom said with raised eyebrows. "Well I was wondering if I could, uh, go with them this Satur-" Nathan got cut off because his little sister, Isa, came running into the room. "Ma! He just wants to see his girlfriend!" yelled his sister, giggling madly. "What? Wha- No I- Ma! Don't listen to that little brat!" shouted Nathan.
       Nathan had a secret he had not told anyone except his best friend, Delaney. The truth was that he was gay. Back in fifth grade when he was 10 years old (he is 16 now), he found himself drooling over a boy named Daniel. Nathan didn't think of himself as normal because he liked boys and not girls, so he kept it to himself. One day, he was drawing a picture of Daniel on a piece of paper and had put Daniel's name on it. His not-yet-best friend Delaney had seen this and started to giggle. "Nathan's got a boyfriend! Nathan's got a boyfriend!" whisper-yelled Delaney. "No! I um yo- n- stop!" stutterer a blushing Nathan as he tried to erase his drawing of Daniel. Delaney stopped immediately. "Oh, I'm sorry Nathan. I didn't think you'd get mad," said Delaney apologetically. "No, it's uh, it's fine," said Nathan looking down. "Do you want to talk about it?" asked Delaney nicely. Nathan looked up. He nodded and smiled. In the end, Nathan built up the courage to ask Daniel out, but sadly, he got turned down. So now Nathan had lived in fear of getting rejected and has tried not to have a crush anymore.
      "It's ok if there's a girl 👧 you like, Nathan. After all, you're in that age of when boys start to, uh, notice girls more," said his mom awkwardly. Isa giggled very loudly. Nathan was about to snap at his mom, but then he remembered he was asking for permission to go to the carnival. "Um, ok.. So Ma, can I go to the carnival with my friends this Saturday?" Nathan asked carefully. His mom thought about it. "Hmm.. Well your father and I are going out on Saturday and someone's going to need to watch Is-" Nathan groaned audibly. "-a." finished his mom, glaring at Nathan. He quickly apologized, looking up at his mom and then down very quickly. "But," his mom sighed, " we can get Cathy to look after her," said his mom. Cathy was their emergency babysitter when Nathan wasn't around to look after Isa. Then his mom said, "Ok fine. You can go." Nathan said, "Thank God," under his breath. "But, first you have to wash the dishes and sweep the house," said his mom satisfactorily. "Ok, I can agree to that. Thanks Ma!" said Nathan as he walked towards his room, shooting a devilish glance at Isa.