His Safety Net

Chapter 26

Chapter 26

       I barely got any sleep last night so I had no idea how I was going to be able to function properly in school today. Mom and Dad both told me that I could take a mental heath day if I wanted to, but I've taken way too many. If I kept taking one, then I'd never get used to still trying to go out and function when I was feeling this way.

       Though because I've had to take so many mental health days, I was really considering taking online classes again in September. 

       Once I got into the school, I made my way to my locker and grabbed my notebook and textbook for first period. There was still a bit more time before class started, but I decided to head to my class anyway to wait near it. People normally didn't wait outside of their classes before first period, so it wasn't going to be too crowded.

       As I was towards the classroom, I noticed a large group of people surrounding a few lockers, chatting about what they were looking at. Even though I was the slightest bit curious as to what had caused this group of people to gather around the lockers, I just wanted to get to where my classroom was and not get caught up with the crowds.

       Until I realized exactly whose locker was there.

       Jerome's.

       I didn't know if it was Jerome's locker they were looking at. It could have been one of the lockers beside his since I couldn't really see through the crowd to see exactly what was happening.

       But whatever it was, I didn't have a good feeling about it.

       Jerome and Brandon suddenly walked over to the crowd and pushed their way through it so Jerome could get to his locker. And judging by he just stopped and stared at it, it was his locker that was causing all the commotion.

       Brandon got a good look at it after Jerome did, and he was the one to vocalize his anger over what was happening. "What the actual fuck is this?" He then turned to look at the crowd. "There isn't anything to look at. Just get the fuck out of here."

       The crowd slowly dispersed and once they did, I was able to see exactly what has caused the crowd. Written in bright, red letters was the derogatory slur used against gay people.

       Either Jerome didn't seem to care or he was just trying to hide how he felt about it because he just opened his locker to get his supplies, as if that word wasn't even there to begin with.

       And even though it wasn't directed towards me, I was starting to feel my chest clenching tightly, causing my breathing to get a lot more difficult. I was trying to control my breathing, but it wasn't working. Why would someone do something like that? Why would they try to diminish and discriminate Jerome's sexuality when it never harmed anyone?

       I didn't know if it was because of the shock from seeing that word or because of my impending anxiety attack, but I ended up dropping the notebook and textbook in my hands. That ended up getting Jerome's attention, and he was quick to leave his locker to see if I was okay.

       "Nolan, are you okay?" Jerome asked, resting his hand on my shoulder. "What's wrong?"

       I tried to reply but I couldn't, so I pointed to his locker.

       "Oh," Jerome said. "That."

       "W-why... W-who...?" I couldn't even form a single coherent sentence because of me struggling to breathe. Tears were forming around my eyes, soon blurring my vision.

       Jerome led me over to a nearby bench and sat me down on it. "Look, whoever painted that is nothing but an jackass."

       "Th-that... I-it's... Not okay."