His Safety Net

Chapter 39

Chapter 39

       Although I was excited for today, I was also a bit anxious. I had finally completed the mural in the city hall, including the varnish so today, there was going to be an official reveal for it. The mayor had announced that the reveal was going to be open to the public, because the whole point of the mural was for equality. Only opening the reveal to certain members of the public was completely diminishing what the mural was about.

      The main reason why I was feeling anxious for today was because Tamala asked if I wanted to say a few words about the mural at the reveal. Of course, part of me didn't want to. A huge part of me didn't want to because I hated talking in front of people I didn't know, and I didn't even know how many people were going to be there.

       But... The mural was very important to me, so I did want to talk about it. I also didn't want to keep running away from my fears. Besides, if things were to go wrong while I was talking about it, I knew my family and Jerome would be there to help me out, whether it be talk about the mural for me or something else.

       Besides, when Tamala did ask me to talk about the mural, I did tell her that I wasn't that good at talking in front of a bunch of people, so she told me if I really didn't feel like doing it when I got to the city hall, I just had to tell her.

       And because today was a sort of special day for me, I wanted to try doing something else. Something that would help me mentally get better and move on from my dark days. Even if I was a bit afraid to do it.

       However, part of me was kind of excited to tell my parents what I was doing. While I was afraid to do it, I was also proud of myself for being able to convince myself to do it.

       I walked downstairs where both of my parents were. Mom was typing something onto her laptop at the dining table, and Dad was cooking a whole pack of bacon, probably for himself only.

       Dad didn't really like to share bacon, unless he made it specifically for a meal.

       I sat down at the table and Mom immediately looked up from her laptop to smile at me. "Are you excited for tonight?" she asked.

       "Y-yeah," I said. "Both excited and... anxious. A-and... I'm no longer wearing my bandages."

       "Really?" Mom asked.

       I nodded. "Yeah. I don't want to keep hiding from things I did in the past, especially when I'm getting better. I can't just keep bandages on my wrists my whole life when the doctors already cleared me to take them off since the cuts won't be infected anymore."

       Mom smiled at me. "Well, I'm so happy to hear that. You've become such a brave person lately."

       "I'm not brave..." I muttered.

       "No, I have to agree with your mother," Dad spoke up. "You are brave, Nolan. Bravery shows up in many different forms there are so many things you've done recently to show how brave you are. Taking part in the program when you would be in an unfamiliar place for two weeks, coming out to all of us, agreeing to talk about the mural. You really are brave, and we're so proud of you."

       I smiled. "Thanks. Quick question, can I have some bacon?"

       "I'm not that proud."

       "Grayson!" Mom said.

       "I'm kidding," Dad said. "Well, kidding about not being that proud. I really am extremely proud. I just don't want to share any bacon."