His Safety Net

Chapter 47

Chapter 47

       The last day of school arrived and honestly, it was a bittersweet feeling for me. I was so proud of myself for wanting to go to public school in the first place, despite it being an anxiety-provoking experience for me. I wasn't even sure if I was going to be able to complete the semester after everything I went through, but I was able to pass all my classes.

       And I was actually going to continue going to public school. While I didn't have the best year at the beginning, it was mainly because of Jerome's old friends. But I wasn't going to have to worry about them anymore since they were graduating.

       So was Jerome.

       That was the 'bitter' part of the last day of school. The graduation ceremony wasn't going to be until tomorrow, but this was still going to be the last day at school I could spend with Jerome. No more going onto the rooftop. No more having lunch together. No more hugging him in the middle of the school hallways just because I liked hugging him.

       But it was going to be okay. I was still going to be able to see him. It wasn't like either of us were moving to a different city or something. I just wouldn't be able to see him at school. It wasn't too big of a deal.

       At first, I was wondering who I was going to be able to hang out with at school. Then I remembered that I was a triplet, so I still had two siblings at the school. Well, Orchid would probably be hanging out with Atticus most of the time, but Alan's boyfriend was also graduating so once school started up again, we could be lonely together.

       During lunch, Jerome said he wanted to spend it on the rooftop since it was the last time we would be able to go there together. Unless Jerome could sneak there in the middle of the day without being noticed, which Jerome claimed he would be able to do but I kept telling him it would probably be best not to risk it.

       Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he showed up one day.

       The two of us were sitting on the bench on the rooftop while I was eating my lunch. Jerome wasn't eating anything because he said he wasn't hungry.

       "I can't believe I'm almost done high school," Jerome said. "I can't wait to get out of this hellhole."

       "Meanwhile, I still have two more years..." I said.

       "Hey, you will graduate before you know it," Jerome said.

       "Yeah, I know," I said. "I'm just going to miss you here. We pretty much started talking on my first day of school. Well, second day. We didn't really talk in detention..."

       "You know, I can always sneak on campus," Jerome said.

       "N-no, don't. I-I don't want you to get in trouble..."

       "Meh, I've been arrested before. Multiple times. I could handle whatever punishment the school gives me if I sneak on campus."

       "Please don't..."

       Jerome smiled at me. "I'm kidding. Sort of. I really would just to hang out with you, but I also would rather not be here once I graduate. It's a shitty place full of shitty people. So, any plans for the summer."

       "You mean besides going to Bora Bora?" I asked.

       "Yeah, are you sure it's fine for me to go?" Jerome said. "Don't get me wrong, of course I would love to, but it kind of feels like I'm intruding your family vacation."

       "Of course it's fine," I said. "My parents wouldn't have invited you if it wasn't. We went on vacation last year and while it wasn't a place like Bora Bora, Mae and Atticus came with us. They'll probably be coming with us to Bora Bora, so it's not like you'll be the only one intruding on the vacation."

       "The way you worded that makes it sound like I actually am intruding on the vacation."

       "I'm kidding. Oh, also my grandparents are coming too, and my grandpa said he's excited for you to come. He really loves love."

       "Both sets of grandparents, or just the ones I met."

       "The ones you met," I said. "We don't really talk to my other grandparents..."

       "Oh, I'm sorry," Jerome said. "If you don't mind me asking, why not?"

       I hesitated, not sure if I wanted to tell him. I mean, of course I wanted to tell him because it was always so easy to talk to him, but I also wanted to forget about what happened with my dad's parents the last time we saw them.

       I had just finished eating my sandwich, so I closed the container and put it in my backpack before taking out the container of blueberries I had in there. I opened it up, but I didn't eat one yet.

       Jerome noticed my very evident silence, so he said, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

       "No, it's okay," I said. "I will. I just... Need to ease myself into it. So... They're my dad's parents and his dad, Gary, hasn't really... He just..." I sighed. "He abused my dad. And while they sort of mended their relationship when my dad married my mom, we could always tell there was some tension between them. Especially because there's some of us Grandpa Gary clearly didn't like. Ryder, for example, reminds Grandpa Gary too much of my dad so he either ignored Ryder whenever we saw him, or he was always finding these subtle ways to put him down. And my dad's mom, Gertrude, never really did anything to stop her husband."

       "Yeah, I could see why you don't want to talk to them," Jerome said.

       "Yeah," I said quietly, wondering if I should completely omit the exact reason why we stopped talking to them. "That's... That's not all. The last time we saw them was the first time I was hospitalized and..." I took a deep breath. "Grandpa Gary told my dad that I did it for attention. My dad completely lost it and said he never wants them anywhere near any of us ever again. But it's okay. That was in the past."

       "Nolan, that is not okay," Jerome said.

       I sighed. "I know. It doesn't hurt me as much if I think about it than it did when I actually heard him say that. I mean, there I was, lying in a hospital bed because I lost too much blood and my grandpa said I did it for attention. But after he said that and after my dad told him to leave, my dad kept apologizing over and over again for letting his dad into our lives. But hey, at least my mom's parents love us a whole lot. And our partners." I held out the container towards him. "Blueberry?"

       "No, thanks," Jerome said. "I'm still not that hungry. Is there any chance you can give me your grandpa's phone number or address? Maybe both?"

       "What? No."

       "Damn. I was thinking of taking a trip down there. With a shovel."

       "Jerome, really, it's fine," I said. "It happened almost two years ago."

       "Are you sure?"

       "Yes, I'm sure. Like I said, it hurts a bit to think about, but at least I'm better now because of all the support I have. My family doesn't need him in our lives. It's better that way."

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it was a small mention BUT THE SHOVEL IS BACK. JERLAN'S SHOVEL SERVICES ARE NOW OPEN. SEND JEROME AND NOLAN YOUR REQUESTS AND THEY'LL SHOVEL SOMEONE FOR YOU. after jerome secretly shovels gary.

i mean what?

and this, my friends, is a small introduction to nolan's storyline in the sequel :O jerome's storyline is still being hinted at a bit but it probably won't be revealed until the sequel where we see stuff from his perspective, and because i really want to do more research on it because it isn't something i've written about yet and i want to make sure i do it justice.