FicWad

I turned into a teenager the next couple weeks as the kiss, or the lack-of-kiss played over and over in my head. I wasn’t entirely sure about a lot of things after that, wondering what exactly Pete was thinking. Was he as obsessed over it as I was? Did he even care he had managed to make his way back into my brain so quickly? Andy didn’t mention anything about my personality change, but I could see it in his eyes that he knew that most of the time I was thinking about that night.

Regardless, Andy and I continued to casually date, and while I searched for a new job to obviously replace my old one, I struggled to make payments on my apartment. Instead of freaking out however, I decided to try and find a roommate and get a permanent visitor for the guest bedroom. The glory in all of this was that I had a few friends to choose from. For starters, Ashley was willing to drop everything she had going on down in Arizona and move up here; even switching schools in the middle of the year. Izzy seemed interested at first, but hesitated as soon as she learned there was one bathroom. Joe wanted in as well, but seeing that he was only 17, he wasn’t allowed to sign the lease. Patrick had the same reasons, though he was not interested at all. I dared not think about Pete or Andy, for obvious reasons. After this however, I started to worry about the looming week that brought the first of the month.

-

I found myself at the diner across the street from the high school again Tuesday morning. Tomorrow was the first of November and I was dreading it. Suddenly, the (almost) kiss was pushed aside by potential homelessness. The front door dinged and I soon saw a body enter the other side of the booth.

“Evie,”

It was Patrick, and when I looked up, he didn’t appear to look happy. I tilted my head a bit to the side and raised an eyebrow.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. Patrick seemed to frown even more.

“Is my pain that visible?” he mumbled, shedding his jacket and throwing it beside him. I skewed my mouth to the side as he poked at the silverware in front of him, wrapped in a napkin. I pulled it away from him and he chuckled lightly.

“What?” I asked. Patrick took a deep breath and looked over his shoulder at the door.

“I asked Izzy out…” he whispered. He trailed off and I widened my eyes, my hand pausing from stirring my drink with my straw.

“/What/!?” I hissed and leaned over the table a little bit more. “Wh-”

“She said no,” he cut me off, turning back to lock eyes with me. My grin instantly turned into a frown.

“I guess that’s where the pain comes in, huh?” I asked. “Why?”

“She’s dating Kevin,” he simply said. “I don’t know, she seemed sad that I had asked her,”

I was about to respond when my phone began to buzz across the table. Patrick eyed it and I paused to see Pete’s name flashing across the screen. The (almost) kiss was back and Patrick nodded, letting me know it was ok to answer. I hesitated at first, but caught it right before it went to voice mail.

“Hello?” I asked, as if I didn’t know who would be on the other end. There was a long silence before Pete let out a low sigh. I copied, without really realizing I had been holding my breath.

“Hey Ev,” there was some shuffling in the background. “How are-” he paused. “What’s up?” he asked.

He whispered something I didn’t catch. Ignoring it, I looked up at Patrick who was peering at his hands.

“I’m with Patrick, just hanging out,” I answered. Patrick raised his eyebrow and I smiled, mouthing ‘It’s Pete’. He nodded before looking even more perplexed, knowing we hadn’t been talking that much the last few weeks.

“Oh, ok,” he cleared his throat and became quiet again for a few moments. “Um,”

“Yes?” I interjected, leaning my elbow on the table in front of me. Pete sighed.

“Evie, I need to talk to you,” his voice faded. “Face to face,” he added. I understood immediately.

“Well…” I too paused nervously. “When?” I pondered.

“Tonight?” he questioned. “I get out of class at 7. Can you meet me at the campus?” he asked. I looked up at Patrick and sighed, closing my eyes.

“Yes,” I finally answered. Pete let another one his long sighs go.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “I’ll see you then,”

After hanging up, Patrick leaned over the table and became the concerned one.

“What?” he asked. I avoided his eyes.

“I’m meeting Pete at seven at the NIU Chicago campus,” I responded. Patrick hummed lowly.

“Don’t let it end in the disaster I experienced today,” he joked, a small smile appearing on his face. I licked my lips nervously.

“I’m sorry Patrick, again,” I spoke, in regards of Izzy. He shrugged, grabbing his jacket and shuffling a bit.

“You’re not the person who needs to apologize,” he mumbled, looking at the door again. “I’m gonna go before I undoubtedly get seen by her,” he semi-joked. I nodded and watched him sulk across the room before the door jingled once more and he left.

I sunk into the booth some more and looked down at my phone before peering off outside at the sunset. It was going to be cold tonight and didn’t want to risk being awkwardly cold in the presence of Pete. Noticing it was getting late, I picked up my tab and headed for home.

-

My breath appeared before me as I stood outside the English building on campus, my knees knocking against each other every once in a while. It had started to snow as I was driving from my house and while it was barely the start of winter, it was well into the 40s, lower than it ever was in Arizona. My hands were fists in my jacket pockets and still, my pinkies were chilled to the bone. With my teeth chattering, I looked up at the building again and the sky that was a very mystical midnight blue, stars twinkling in the distance while more snow slowly drifted the earth.

“I thought you were passing me up for a while there,” I heard Pete’s voice behind me and turned slowly, seeing him in his own hoodie, a backpack slung over one shoulder. I raised an eyebrow.

“It’s seven,” I answered. Pete laughed.

“Have you factored in that daylight savings time ended?” he asked. I blinked.

“Arizona doesn’t observe daylight savings time,” I mumbled. Pete laughed a little before stepping closer to move out of somebody’s way.

“Don’t worry,” he assured. “It’s only been an hour,” he joked. I skewed my mouth to the side.

“I’m sorry,” I frowned and Pete shook his head.

“Make it up to me,” he spoke and I widened my eyes slightly, skeptical. He smiled. “Wanna go to the skating rink?” he asked. I shook my head.

“I don’t know how to skate,” I paused. “I live in Arizona,”

“This is Chicago, remember,” he corrected, being a smart ass. I rolled my eyes before gulping.

“Is this what you wanted to talk about?” I asked. Pete’s smile diminished for a moment.

“We can talk at the rink,” he suggested. I nodded and slowly, we began to walk towards my car. Upon arrival, he ran ahead to the driver’s side. “Let me drive,”

After watching him extend the seat back a little, laughing at how short I was compared to him (though he was short as well) we were on our way. Outside was beautiful as the snow started to stack on the sidewalks and lightly on the main road. A few minutes of driving and Pete pulled off onto a residential street before pulling into a small parking lot where only a few cars were. In the distance, I saw an ice rink with a few people enjoying the night.

“Come on,” he urged, pulling the e-brake and getting out. He handed me back the keys and walked ahead of me a bit, up the hill till we got to the ticket booth. “What size shoe are you?” he asked. I smiled at the concession worker.

“Seven,” I responded to him instead of Pete. Pete pulled out his wallet and I sighed, noticing that he was paying without even asking if I wanted to chip in. Noticing, Pete shook his head.

“Don’t worry,” he assured before looking at the guy again. “Ten,” he spoke, getting the skates.

I carried mine to the bench next to the rink and shook my head at what was about to happen. Either I was going to get hurt or I was going to die. At this point, with the (almost) kiss still in my head and I was nervous of Pete’s intentions. He soon was sitting next to me, replacing his Vans with skates. Then, it was time to fall flat on my face. He stood up and was about to go through the gate onto the ice before looking at me.

“Need help?” he asked. I felt my ears heat up.

“Yeah,” I admitted, looking down at my shoes.

He reached out for my hand and I reluctantly let it curl around mine and pull me up. Awkwardly, I began to walk, Pete next to me as I took baby steps towards the ice. He stepped on before me and laughed as I reached out for the wall, holding onto both him and the ledge as I slid a bit. Pete moved his hand from my hand to my arm and I felt my footing fail again, my knees buckling as I fell, kind of. Pete caught my just before I biffed it and I gulped as his mouth appeared right out of the corner of my vision. Once I was up right again, He went back to holding my hand and I sighed, still holding the wall.

“You have to let go sometime,” he said. I stared, taking that in a different way.

Again, he pulled me away from the wall and I reluctantly let go, gripping Pete’s hand tighter as we slowly moved across the ice. He moved himself forward a bit and I felt my heart race as I too, picked up speed.

“Ev,” he started, looking at me. I shifted my eyes in his direction. “I’m sorry,” he spoke, smile faltering a bit. I raised an eyebrow, but then understood.

“I know,”

Pete nodded and cleared his throat. If he knew any better, that would be end of the discussion for tonight. He did, for now.

“Why did you come here?” he asked. I looked at him stupidly as we skated a bit more and he laughed as I awkwardly tried to pick up my foot.

“You made me?” I smirked and Pete shook his head.

“No, I mean why you came to Chicago?” he asked again. I looked at him.

“Haven’t I already answered this?” I paused as he started to pick up his skating pace. I struggled to catch up. “I guess I just needed to get away and start fresh,” I winced as my arm stung. “My luck hasn’t been that great,” I joked. Pete nodded.

“Are you having a fun time?” he asked. I shrugged.

“Not at this moment, but in general,” I looked at him as he produced a smug smile. “Yeah,” I finally answered. Pete nodded, getting the drift of things. Cautiously, he guided me back to the gate and we sat on the bench for a bit as it got darker and the snow fall slowed down a bit. Replacing the skates with my flats, I watched him as he leaned back, looking up at the sky.

“Do you want me to take you home?” I asked. Pete nodded and then widened his eyes.

“You haven’t even seen my house!” he exclaimed before shrugging. “Doesn’t matter though, I’m not going to be there much longer,” I raised an eyebrow as we walked back to the car and again, he decided he wanted to drive.

“Why?” I questioned. Pete sighed.

“I’m trying to find a place closer to campus and the club,” he answered. My eyebrows perked up and my heart slowed. My impending doom of homelessness was stalled and yet, my brain screamed at me. Before my thought had a chance to be processed, I looked at him as we situated ourselves in the car.

“I’ve been looking for a roommate,” I spoke. Pete looked at me questionably.

“What?” he asked, skeptic, I’m sure. I closed my eyes tight, regretting it already.

“Well,” I tried to think it though and sighed, knowing there is no way out. “I can’t really afford it by myself and am not getting checks from my dad anymore,” he looked at me again.

“I thought your dad was-”

“Don’t worry about it,” I cut him off and gulped as we started driving towards the freeway. “Rent is due tomorrow and I don’t feel like being homeless,” I attempted humor. Pete glanced at me.

“Well, are you sure you are comfortable with this?” he asked. I shrugged

“I’m not sure yet, but nobody else has really shown interest,” Pete nodded and then smiled softly.

“How much?” he asked. I sighed, knowing it was not the end of the world.

After dropping off Pete, he disappeared into his house before handing me some cash, calling it his gig fund. I hesitantly hugged him goodbye and began the journey home, still needing to use my phone for crappy GPS. When I found myself slipping the rent though the front office’s mail slot, I thought again to myself how crazy this decision might me. Instead of dreading it, I decided to ignore it, knowing there wasn’t much I could do now.

-

Andy looked over at me as we sat in the booth at Veg-Out, the burger joint we frequented on a weekly basis. I paused from dipping my fry into some ketchup to glance at him as well.

“Yes?” I questioned.

Andy smiled. “Will you be my girlfriend Evie?”

I dropped my fry and felt my tongue push against the roof of my mouth, a nervous trait of mine.

“You sure know how to move the plot forward,” I whispered. Andy raised an eyebrow and cocked his head slightly before inching his hand closer to mine. I stared at his hand and smiled.

“We’ve got something going on here Ev, and I’d like to be able to call you babe from now on,” he joked. I felt my neck turn red and my ears flinched. I looked at Andy and his nervous grin. “So…” he clenched his teeth together and I leaned towards him a bit before nodding.

“I’d like that, /babe/, “I spoke. Andy’s shoulders must have been tensed up because instantly they relaxed and he leaned into the booth some more before inching his hand over, clenching mine. I smiled before frowning.

“What?” he asked, his grin faltering slightly. I gulped and gave a nervous smile.

“Pete’s moving in,” I simply spoke. Andy looked at me a little crazed. “I can explain,” I assured. Andy nodded and I looked down at my food and then our clasped hands. “I didn’t want to be homeless and nobody else could move in and then he told me he was looking for a place and I remembered that rent was due this morning-”

“Evie, it’s ok,” Andy interrupted me and we lightly laughed. I breathed out and locked eyes with him.

“Are you sure?” I asked, licking my lips nervously. Andy picked up his sandwich and looked to the TV hanging in the distance, showing the football game.

“As long as he doesn’t see you naked,”

My heart stopped again but when Andy looked at me, I faked a laugh. He looked away again and I silently gulped, my head pulsating with fear and sudden regret. What had I gotten myself into?