His Safety Net

Chapter 13

       "I could call the secretary for you," Jerome said. "After all, they already love me at the city hall."

       "Really?"

       "Okay, so they don't really love me but they know me well enough. If you really want to give the mural a try, I'll call the secretary for you."

       I gave it a bit more thought, trying to decide if this was something I should do. Of course, this seemed like an amazing opportunity and it would help me feel some sort of purpose, which was something I really needed right now. But... I didn't know if I'd be able to actually go through with all the painting, only because I felt so exhausted all the time. 

       I still didn't want to pass up this opportunity. And maybe the mayor wouldn't give me a deadline for it, which would help me not feel stressed to finish it. There was no reason why I couldn't just give it a shot, right?

       "I... I think that I want to do it," I said. 

       Jerome smiled softly as he tapped my nose. "You'll do great. I can call the secretary right now if you want." I nodded. "Let's go outside to make the call because you know how loud the hallways get after school. It's like people think they can do whatever they want."

       "Don't you think that?"

       Jerome opened his mouth to object, but no words came out when he soon realized I was right. "Let's just go outside to make the call."

       "I just have to finish grabbing my stuff."

       As I was taking the books I needed out of my locker, Jerome's friends decided to walk over. And not just one or two of them. All of them. All the ones that were in detention with him.

       Thankfully, they just completely ignored me. They were too concerned on talking to Jerome.

       "What have you been up to these past couple weeks?" Anita asked.

       "What do you mean?" Jerome asked.

       "Well, there was missing Anita's party," April said. "And the field trip to the beach. And when just us wanted to go to the beach."

       "Don't forget the school dance," Dirk said.

       "Right, there's that too," April said.

       "There was also the movies, the concert, karaoke night at the diner, oh and mini golf," Cheryl said.

        "I've been busy," Jerome said. "Work and stuff."

       Nobody could reply and even though my back was facing everyone as I grabbed what I needed from my locker, I could feel their eyes on me as if I was the reason Jerome had missed all those plans.

       Well... I could have been a slight reason. The main reason was because he was getting tired of them trying to get him to hook up with Anita, but he was normally hanging out with me when he missed those plans.

       "Why are you talking to him?" Anita asked. "Isn't he, like, a sophomore?"

       Jerome wasn't the one who said anything to Anita's question. He was about to, but Brandon beat him to it. "Yes, he totally can't talk to anyone else just because he's a senior." Brandon snorted. "He could talk to whoever he wants, Anita. Weren't you talking to a freshman at lunch?"

       "Yes, because she bumped into me and I was trying to get her to apologize," Anita said. "Anyway, Jerome, we're planning on going to the beach. Care to join us? Especially since you didn't join us last time?"