His Safety Net

Chapter 32

Chapter 32

       "I am telling you all, I'm the champion of this place," Thea said. "No one can ever beat me at any game."

       "Yes, we get it, Thea," Alfie said as he set his controller down on the table before flopping down onto the couch. "You're extremely good at Just Dance and no one can beat you. You don't have to rub it in."

       "Well, I will keep rubbing it in until someone beats me at any game," Thea said. "Which probably won't happen so I will keep rubbing it in."

       "Can someone please beat her at a game?" one of the other people here, Jodie, said. "Any game? I can't take anymore of this. I mean, Thea, don't get me wrong, you are an amazing person and a very sweet girl but is there any chance you can tone down the competitiveness?"

       "Nope," Thea said. "At least not until someone beats me."

       Alfie groaned. "But we all played every game against you. Well, everyone but..." He didn't reply so I looked up from the Rubik's cube to see him looking at me. "You haven't really played any games. Want to try beating her?"

       "No, he won't be able to beat me," Thea said. "No offence, Nolan."

       "None taken," I said, focusing back on the Rubik's cube. "I'm not really a competitive person so I don't care."

       "We care, though," Jodie said. "She won't stop. We need her to stop."

       "My family is going to be here soon for the family counselling," I said. 

       "Sounds like something a chicken would say," Thea said.

       "Calling me a chicken isn't really an insult when I already have a low self-esteem. And I look like a chicken with my skinny arms."

       "All I hear is that you're a chicken."

       Even though I wasn't a competitive person at all and I didn't really care that Thea was calling me a chicken, especially when she had already been so nice to me since I started this program, I kind of wanted to try playing a game against Thea.

       More specifically, I was wanting to play Just Dance against her. I wouldn't care if I lost or anything, but I did missing dancing a whole lot. Just Dance might be what I needed to slowly get back into it, since I already tried getting back into it. I just had to stop again because of my relapse.

       I just hoped if I did play against Thea, I had the energy to do so. Then again, I did regain a lot more energy from being in this program because of all the activities I had to do. 

       I placed the Rubik's cube down onto the table before standing up. "Alright, I guess I'll try one game."

       "Ooh, yay," Thea said. "Pick any game you want."

       "Well, Just Dance is already on so might as well do that," I said as I picked up the controller Alfie put down. "You can pick the song, though."

       "Perfect," Thea said. "Just don't cry if you lose."

       "I cry easily, so I'm making no promises."

       Thea chose the song we were going to play and as soon as it started, Thea started getting suspicious about since I was getting very high scores in the game. "Are you cheating?" she asked while we were still playing. "Stop cheating."

       "I'm not cheating," I said.

       Thea still scowled, being slightly thrown off because she probably didn't expect me to be this well. Yeah, I could have told her that I was a dancer, but where was the fun in that? Especially when she was being a bit too competitive.

       When the game ended, the scores were revealed with me as the winner. "Yes!" Alfie said, throwing his arms up in the air. "Ha ha! She has been defeated!"

       "No, he probably cheated," Thea said. "I don't lose."

       "Cheat? Me?" I asked. "I would never. Although, I probably shouldn't have omitted the fact that I'm a dancer."

       Thea gasped. "So you chose Just Dance because you knew you would beat me? That was unfair. Genius, but unfair."

       "Nolan," Dr. Bahar suddenly said, so I turned to look at the doorway, seeing her standing there. "Your family is here for the counselling. Oh, and Jerome."

       "Awe, yay, Jerome is here," Thea said. "I want to talk to him later. Remind me to tell him that someone is an unfair cheater."

       "Thea," I said, resting my hand on her shoulder. "Don't be such a poor sport. Take in defeat, just like you made everyone else do."

       Thea glared at me and swatted my hand away. "I will get my revenge on you."

        I just smiled innocently as I followed Dr. Bahar out of the gaming room for the family counselling. She led me to the room it was taking place in. My family, Jerome, and one of the other doctors were already in there.

       Jerome was the first one to give me a hug when I walked into the room, which didn't sit well with some of my family members. "Hey, I wanted to hug him first," Orchid said, trying to push Jerome away so she could hug me.

       "You can wait," Jerome said, hugging me even tighter. "He's my baby and no one can touch him."

       "He's my brother," Orchid said. "Let me hug him, please."

       Jerome sighed, pulling away from me so Orchid, and everyone else, could hug me. They always did whenever they came here, despite they came here to visit me every day. I definitely didn't mind. It made me feel loved, which was something I did struggle with. Even if my family showed me and told me they loved me, it was hard for me to believe.

       That was one of the reasons we had a family counselling session while I was in this program. That, and it was to help them understand what they could do to help me if I was ever having a relapse or even just having an off day.

       It really helped a lot. Being in this program really helped. Not only was I getting professional help, but I was also surrounded by people who were experiencing something similar to me. It helped to know that I wasn't the only one who was going through something like this.

       Even though I missed being at home with my family, I knew I made the right choice coming here. I might actually be a lot better once this program came to an end.

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i love seeing nolan so comfortable with other people <3 it really is a lot easier being yourself with people going through something similar to you. 

anyway, you definitely won't see the last of these people when the program ends for nolan. i love them too much already, especially thea and alfie. and somewhat omar, who hates romance just like me :D