The Christmas Foster Boy

Chapter 11 : Panicky

Chapter 11
   
Later...

Jeff POV

When I woke up, Nick was texting ridiculously fast on his phone. I turned on my side so I could watch him.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, quietly.

"No... I mean yeah, but no..."

He seemed annoyed. But I didn't know what was going on.

"You're not mad at me, are you?" I asked, sitting up.

"No, I'm not mad at you."

"Are you mad at somebody?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"My parents."

"Oh... Is everything ok?"

"Not really, but yeah."

I'm getting really confused.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, I don't think so..."

Nick sighed, and set his phone down on his bed. I was still looking at him, and he looked over at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Do you want to go to a sleepover with me tonight?"

"Where?"

"To my friend from school's house. He's having a Christmas party tonight and a bunch of my friends are sleeping over. It's David from when we went to the movies. He asked if I wanted to come and he said you could come too if you wanted."

"Oh... Yeah, ok."

"Cool. I'm going to go tell my parents."

He left. I was slightly excited but slightly nervous. I never get to go to parties. But I'm also freaked out about it because I'm just scared!

Nick came back up.

"We're leaving in an hour. Let's pack."

I repacked my suitcase. I was bringing Nick's clothes. I basically just wear his clothes now. Nick packed too.

"Nick?"

"What?"

"Can you please just not leave me alone at the party? Because I'm going to get super nervous if you do."

"Yeah, of course. And if for some reason we get separated, you know Trent and David. You can always tell them if you need something. They're my best friends, and they'd do anything you asked them."

"Ok, that makes me feel a lot better."

"You're nervous?"

"Of course I am! People just make me nervous."

"Right... Ok, well don't worry."

"I'll try not to."

Later...

Jeff POV

We were at the party right now. Nick was introducing me to all of his friends. I can't remember all of their names. There were so many people here, and it was kind of crowded.

I was slightly panicky, but I was trying to seem as calm as possible because I just want Nick to have fun and I don't want to weigh him down.

I was basically just following Nick around wherever he went. It was kind of awkward actually. I wasn't really apart of any conversations. I was just standing next to Nick awkwardly.

I couldn't stop thinking about all the things that could go wrong here. I've had so many bad experiences in crowds of people.

I don't have many panic attacks anymore. I mostly got them when I lived with my real parents, but I felt like I was going to have one any second.

I lightly tapped Nick's arm.

"One second, Jeff."

He was deep in conversation about some guy at school. I was trying to be patient, but I felt myself becoming more and more anxious.

"Nick," I said, tapping him again.

"What?"

"Can we please go outside for a minute?"

"Yeah."

Nick took my hand and lead me outside. I sat down on the front step and Nick sat down beside me.

"Are you ok? What's going on?" Nick asked.

"I just feel like I'm going to have a panic attack. I'm sorry."

I was trying to take deep breaths and just breathe slowly.

"Don't be sorry. It's ok. Do you need water or anything?"

"No. I just need a few minutes."

Nick put his arm around me.

"Why do you think you're so nervous?"

"Just all the people."

"Oh... If you want, I can ask David if he has a room you can chill in for a little while if you want to be alone. And I can check on you if that would make you feel better."

"Yes, please. I'm sorry, I just feel so panicky."

"It's ok. Don't feel bad, Jeff. Do you want to go back inside? Or do you still need a few more minutes?"

"No, we can go back in."

Nick kept his arm around me as we went back inside. He got David's attention and pulled him aside.

"Hey. Jeff is feeling super anxious, and we were wondering if you had an empty room he could just chill in for a little while."

"Yeah of course! He can hang out in my bedroom. Is he ok? Does he need anything?"

"No, people just make him nervous."

"Ok, I totally understand."

David led us upstairs to his bedroom. The party was downstairs in the living room and kitchen, so it was a lot quieter up here.

"This is my bedroom. You can watch tv or use my computer. The bathroom is across the hall. Just let me know if you need anything, ok?" David asked.

I nodded.

David left, but Nick stayed.

"Are you going to be ok if I go back down there?" He asked.

"I think so."

"Ok. I'm going to give you my cell phone. If you need anything, text David, ok? I'm going to tell him I gave you my phone and to text him if you need me or need something. I'll come check on you every half hour, ok?"

"Ok. Thanks. I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Jeff. Really. Do you need anything before I go back down?"

"I don't think so. But thank you."

"Alright. I'll be back soon, ok?"

I nodded. Nick left.

I sat down on David's bed. His room was nice. It was clean and his bed was made. I like David because he seems like he's got his life put together. Everything seems organized and there's no chaos. Chaos stresses me out.

I saw the tv remote on his nightstand, so I turned on the tv and flipped through the channels. I put on a cooking show because I discovered I really liked watching food shows.

I was finally starting to feel a bit more relaxed now.