Chapter 6
"No way," Dad said. "Absolutely not. Don't you remember what happened the last time I let you go to a party?"
"That was not my fault," Ryder said. "He's the one who started it."
"You sound like a child every time you say that," Orchid piped up from the kitchen. "I literally heard Tulip say that yesterday."
Ryder looked at Orchid. "I'm trying to convince Dad to let us all go to the party, not just me."
"Dad, he's right," Orchid said. "Jerome was the one who started it."
Dad sighed heavily. "I really don't want any of my children coming home with bruises because they don't know how to handle things without fighting. So, in other words, that's a no to the party."
Even though Dad kept denying Ryder's wish to go to a party happening tonight, I knew Ryder was going to keep asking. He loved going to parties; same with Alan and Orchid. Every time someone at school was throwing one, they always tried to go.
All while I stayed at home. I definitely wasn't a party person. Crowded places, loud music, even louder people. Don't get me wrong, I loved music. It was a huge part of my life. I just wasn't a fan when it was blaring so loudly that I couldn't even hear my own thoughts.
"If it helps change your mind, I heard that Jerome isn't even going to be there tonight," Ryder said.
"What?" Alan asked, his eyebrows furrowed. "But... Jerome loves parties and it's one of his friends throwing the party. Of course he's going."
Ryder gave Alan a look that told him to shut up as Orchid face-palmed. I loved Alan but he wasn't the sharpest knife in the kitchen.
"So let me get this straight," Dad said to Ryder. "Even though you got into a fight with Jerome last party you went to, yet again, you think I'm going to let you go to another party where Jerome is going to be?"
"You let me go to school where Jerome is," Ryder said. "I've gotten into fights with him there. I don't see you stopping me from going to school."
Dad sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I know you're not going to stop, so fine. You, and your brother and sister, can go. But I want you back by eleven, and I swear if you do get into another fight, you can forget about the next three parties. Got it?"
Ryder nodded. "Got it. Thank you, Dad."
"Yes, thank you!" Orchid said, leaving the kitchen and heading up the stairs to get ready to go to the party happening soon. Alan and Ryder also went upstairs.
"And I swear, if you touch a drop of alcohol, you'll be grounded until you're thirty!" Dad called after them. He sighed, for the dozenth time today, before looking at me where I was drawing in my sketchbook at the dining room table. "I don't even see the appeal in parties."
"Mom told me you used to go to parties all the time as a teenager."
"She's lying."
"She's a horrible liar."
"That's... true." Dad walked over to the table and sat down beside me. "So how has school been going for you?"
"It's good."
"That's it? Just good?"
"It's great? I don't know, it's school. Not much happening but learning."
"Fair enough. So I know your mom already told you this, but I didn't get the chance yet. I just want you to know that I'm so proud of you for deciding to go to school. Of course, there would have been nothing wrong if you chose to continue taking online classes, but you wanted to get out of your comfort zone. It was a brave thing for you to decide."
And also something I regretted so much because of the rumours that started about me almost immediately.
But... Jerome was right that people forget things pretty quickly. All I heard when I was at school was the rumour about Jerome trying to sell cocaine. Nothing about me.
I didn't even see anyone looking at me like they normally did. Of course, I still felt like they were talking about me because that was what anxiety did, but I didn't actually hear anyone talk about me.
"Also, you can always take a mental health day if you need it," Dad said. "Your mom and I will just call the school and tell them you're sick. It doesn't have to be whenever you have a checkup or anything like that. It can just be when you're not feeling well enough to leave the house."
"Thanks," I said.
"It's no problem," Dad said, getting up from the chair.
As he was walking away, I said, "I might go on a walk later. Is that okay?"
"It was okay every other time you've gone," Dad said. "Of course it's still going to be okay. Just call me or your mom if you need anything when you do go."
"I will."
I just hoped my walk wouldn't feel like a complete waste of time...
I've been going for daily walks for a certain purpose but so far, each time coming up as a fail. I doubt tonight would be any difference but might as well try. Besides, it did feel good to get some fresh air instead of being cooped up in the house all day.
I waited until Ryder, Alan, and Orchid left for the party before I went on the walk. I knew this was going to be a long shot, especially since Alan said that Jerome loved going to parties and it was one of his friends throwing the party, but I still wanted to see if he was in that dance studio.
So, yes, I liked talking to Jerome. A lot. And it was easy to talk to him. With him, I didn't feel judged. At all. Sure, he didn't know much about me but... When he found me crying and having an anxiety attack in the library, he wanted to know if I was okay. And he looked concerned. Genuinely concerned.
Not only that, but he purposefully got the rumours off of me and onto him.
How could I not like talking to him?
Once I left my house, I started heading in the direction of the dance studio. I knew my hopes were way too high for seeing Jerome, but might as well try, right?
Then again, every other time I tried, he wasn't there so today wouldn't be any different.
Apparently, it was different.
Jerome actually was in the dance studio right now. It was just him. Nobody else.
He was in the middle of dancing, still with one of his arms in the sling, but he stopped when he saw me. I wouldn't help but smile softly and wave at him. He smiled back and gestured for me to go over to him. I furrowed my eyebrows, not sure if I could.
Jerome noticed my hesitance, so he walked over to the door and opened it. "Come in."
"Am I allowed?"
"I wouldn't be telling you to if you weren't. Okay, maybe I would, but you really are allowed in here. Unless you have something better to do."
I hesitated before following Jerome into the dance studio. Being in here immediately brought back memories of when I used to dance, despite me not being in this studio before. It was simply me being in any studio.
And it did make me miss dancing a lot more.
"You're not at the party?" I asked.
"Nah, not this time," Jerome said.
I sat down on one of the benches. "Alan was certain you'd be there because one of your friends is throwing it."
"And that's exactly why I'm not going."
I furrowed my eyebrows. "Why?"
Jerome didn't reply. He just went to the centre of the studio and did a few turns before looking at me. "Anita's the one throwing the party. And my friends have been very determined to hook us up."
"You don't like her?" I asked.
"I do," Jerome said. "As a friend. But nothing more. She's not my type."
"What is your type?" I asked, even though I did not mean to actually ask him that. Sure, I was curious and sure, I would love it if I was his type, but I wasn't getting my hopes up.
I should know better than to get my hopes up for anything.
Jerome shrugged. "I don't know. Someone... someone less... girl. If that makes sense."
"Someone less girl?" I repeated, but as soon as the words came out of my mouth, I knew exactly what he meant. "Oh..."
I guess it wasn't bad that I got my hopes up right now.
"Yeah, I should probably just tell my friends so they stop telling me to hook up with Anita--" Jerome said, but I cut him off before he could even finish that.
"You don't have to tell them," I said. "Not if you don't want to and if you're not ready, especially because it's not something you can easily tell people."
Trust me. I know.
Jerome smiled softly. "At least you understand that. And that is why I'm going down the avoiding my friends route. Well, not completely avoiding them. Just at parties and stuff. It's easier for them to try to get me to hook up with Anita at a party with all those lame-ass games like spin the bottle and truth or dare."
"Fair enough," I said. "So I have a question. How on earth can you turn with your arm in that sling?"
"Oh, like this?" Jerome asked before doing a few effortless turns.
"Now you're just showing off."
"I would disagree, but yeah, that's true. Can you do any turns?"
"I can, but I haven't in a long time so I don't know if I still can..."
"Why don't you try?"
"I don't know..." I would have loved to but the last time I did, I got extremely lightheaded and almost passed out.
Then again, the last time I did was shortly after I was released from the hospital the second time. I haven't been admitted to the hospital to a while. I've been there for checkups, but no prolonged stays.
So I decided to take the chance.
I got up from the bench, taking off my shoes because it was a whole lot easier turning without my shoes on. I walked to the middle of the studio. "I might pass out."
"Don't do it if you might pass out," Jerome said.
"I was kidding," I said. "I won't pass out. Probably."
I did feel a bit nervous to try to do even one turn, something so small. But I did miss dancing and even doing a few turns would satisfy me. At least for a bit.
However, I definitely should have start off with something small because even though I was spotting during my turns, I got extremely dizzy. I nearly fell to the ground. In fact, I would have if Jerome wasn't quick enough to catch me.
"Wow, you really weren't kidding," Jerome said.
"Sorry," I said. "I just... Sorry."
"You keep apologizing for things you don't have to."
"Sorry."
"You did it again."
"...Sorry."
Jerome chuckled. "You're cute." He tapped my nose.
I could feel my cheeks starting to heat up. Why did I have to blush so easily?
"So want to go do something fun?" Jerome asked.
"I don't know," I said. "My definition of fun is probably different from yours. And my parents probably wouldn't be happy if I got arrested. Wait, why did I say that? I really didn't mean that."
Jerome just smiled. "You know, I actually don't feel guilty whenever you make jokes about that."
"I really am sorry for saying that..."
"Nolan, really, it's fine," Jerome said. "I know you don't actually mean it. So... Wanna go do something fun? We can vandalize police cars or rob a bank or even sneak into the movies."
"Wow, those are exactly my ideas of fun," I said.
"See? I know what you like," Jerome said. "But in all seriousness, I have the perfect idea."
"What is it?"
Jerome didn't reply. He just smiled before walking to the door. I put my shoes back on before following Jerome. Once we were outside of the dance studio, Jerome locked the door. "We'll have to take my car."
"My mom told me never to get into a stranger's car."
"Alright, then I guess I won't take you anywhere."
"I'm kidding." He gestured for me to follow him. "Come on."
He led me to the parking lot beside the studio where his car was. "You're not going to kidnap me, are you?" I asked.
"I would say no, but kidnappers don't admit when they're kidnapping someone," Jerome said.
"That doesn't make me feel any better."
"Yeah, I know. But really, I'm not. I'm going to take you somewhere I think you'll genuinely love."
I narrowed my eyes suspiciously, but only as a joke. I didn't actually think Jerome was going to kidnap me. Well, part of me was but that was the part of my brain that overthought everything.
I already trusted Jerome more than anything.
Which might have been a weird thing but I did.
I got in the passenger seat of Jerome's car, and once Jerome was in the driver's seat, he started up the car and pulled out of the parking lot. The drive to where he was taking us wasn't too long. He soon pulled into the parking lot of what looked like an abandoned building.
Maybe it really wasn't a good thing to trust him so easily...
Jerome turned off the car and looked at me. "Okay, sure, this doesn't look good but I promise you, it's better on the inside."
"You're right. It doesn't look good."
"You like art, right?" Jerome asked as we got out of the car.
I furrowed my eyebrows. "How did you know that?"
"I'm always seeing you sketching at school," Jerome said as he walked over to the trunk. "And you were sketching yesterday when I came over to work on my project with Ryder. I took a guess."
"Well, it's the correct guess."
"Perfect." Jerome opened the trunk and took out a cloth bag. "In here is a bunch of paint and paintbrushes."
"Why?"
"You'll see." Jerome started walking towards the abandoned building and I reluctantly followed him.
"We're not doing anything illegal, are we?"
"Of course not. I don't drag people down with me if they don't want to. What we're doing is perfectly legal." Jerome opened the door to the building, letting me walk inside first. "Some people were always sneaking in here for fun, and a few people decided to do some sort of artwork on the walls. Painting. Graffiti. Anything."
"I could see that," I said, looking at all the amazing art work on the walls.
"The mayor checked this building out once to see if it should be taken down," Jerome said, following me inside the building. "She saw all the artwork and decided to not only keep the building up, but make it perfectly legal for anyone to come in here and do whatever they want to the walls. So..." He dropped the cloth bag in front of a wall that didn't have much artwork on it. "We're going to paint."
"This... actually sounds like a lot of fun," I said. "Better than robbing a bank or vandalizing police cars."
Jerome chuckled as he grabbed a paintbrush out of the bag and handed it to me. "Go ahead. Paint whatever you want."
I couldn't help but smile as I took the paintbrush from him. And for once, this was a genuine smile. I haven't smiled genuinely for a long time. All my smiles were just masks hiding the pain I really felt inside.
But I actually felt happy for once.
Part of me was still the same anxious and depressed self, but having a mix of happiness in it was enough for me to give a real smile.
And I had a lot of fun painting the wall with Jerome. I started with just something small at first, but then I moved into a painting of a galaxy which may have been overdone, but I still loved painting it.
When I finishing adding the stars, the final touch, I stepped back to look at it. Not bad.
Jerome looked at it too. "Wow. You're really talented." He then took his phone out of his pocket. "Can I take a picture of it? Someone might eventually part over it when there's no room, and I don't want your work to be gone forever."
"Sure," I said.
Jerome took a picture of it before looking at me. "I would send it to you, but I don't have your number."
"Oh, what a shame."
Jerome rolled his eyes, but smiled. "It's my way of asking for your number."
"I figured."
Jerome chuckled as he handed his phone to me. I put my number in his contacts before handing it back to him. Once his phone was back in his pocket, he said, "You have some paint on your cheek, by the way."
I rubbed my cheek, but I didn't feel anything. "Where?"
"Right..." He picked up the paintbrush he was using and before I could do anything, he swiped some paint across my cheek. "There."
"You did not just do that," I said, a smile sneaking onto my face.
"I didn't do anything."
I still had my paintbrush in my hand, so I did the exact same thing to Jerome.
Which may have escalated into a full-blown paint fight.
Which I actually had a lot of fun doing, knowing the paint was going to take a while to wash out.
"I had a lot of fun for once," I said as Jerome and I were heading back to his car.
"Yeah, me too," Jerome said. "This definitely beat going to the party. Hey, if you ever want to come here again to paint, just let me know."
I smiled. "I will."
Jerome dropped me off at home, and I thanked him for taking me there, telling him once again that I had a lot of fun. After he drove up, I went inside the house and immediately headed up the stairs that lead to the main floor of the house.
Mom, Dad, Tulip, Rose, and William were all at the dining room table eating dinner, as Dad also fed William his baby food.
Mom glanced at me, her eyes widening. "What on earth happened?"
I furrowed my eyebrows and looked down, remembering that paint was covered all over. "Oh, I, uh... Long story. I... should probably just go and wash this out."
"Bring those clothes to the laundry room as soon as you get changed," Dad said, not even questioning what kind of mess I got into. "So I could get those in the wash as soon as possible. But chances are, that's not coming out."
I sighed. "Yeah, I know."
But honestly, it was worth it.
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okay so i was writing this scene and then i was like wait a minute... painting. ELU PAINT SCENE. I COULD MAKE A GIF.
so i made a gif just to add in here lol. sorry if it's choppy. the program i was using wouldn't stop making it choppy, and no youtube to gif websites was letting me use that url.
anyway, i need to go to bed because it's 4:06 am ahahaha my sleeping schedule is horrible.