Categories > Celebrities > Fall Out Boy > You Said You'd Keep Me Honest
[Chapter 3] But Me, I'm Just the Covers on Top of Your Bed
1 reviewLinny meets Patrick and Pete.
2Original
Wednesday, June 5th, 1996. 10:43 am. Still in Wilmette, staring at my clock, deciding whether or not to get up.
In the end, I hoisted myself out of bed and into the shower. Throwing on my skinny jeans and converse, I grabbed a sketch pad off my desk and headed out the door before realizing - I had no clue where to go. So I sat down on the curb, leaning against the mailbox. To draw or to go back inside? Pressure.
I chose to draw.
At the end of the street a boy was walking down my side of the sidewalk. Perfect place to start I though. If I didn't know the locals, I could at least draw them. Getting so caught up in sketching to the beat of the music pumping from speakers 4 houses down, I didn't notice a shadow falling across me until it had completely covered my paper.
"Are you drawing me?" a voice asked.
I looked up into the round face of a boy with fair hair and a curious - not scolding, as I had originally feared - look on his face.
"Um, yeah." I stumbled, "Sorry, I can stop if you want."
I shrugged, starting to close the book.
"No, that's okay I just thought it was cool." He smiled "I'm Patrick. Patrick Stumph, I live down the street."
"Um, Melinda Evans - but call me Linny."
"You just moved in, right?"
"Right."
"This house has been empty for like, a year now."
"Yeah, my dad's in real estate. He's always had kind of an eye for the underdog houses."
"Nah, you guys fixed it up pretty well."
"Thanks."
The music coming from down the street suddenly got the slightest bit louder.
"You don't happen to know what's going on down there, do you?"
"It's Pete's birthday." Seeing my confused look, he added, "He's the kid who lives down there. Every year he hosts this huge party in his backyard and pretty much everyone nearby stops in for at least a little bit."
"Sounds like a good way to get a lot of presents."
"Good point." Patrick said, pulling a wrapped gift from his back pocket. "The Get Up Kids."
"Mmm, so he's one of those emo kids, huh?"
"Not so much." Patrick smiled, thinking, "Why don't you come with me? Like I said, everyone will be there. And Pete likes to meet the new kids early."
"I guess, it's not like I've got much else to do today...or for the rest of the summer, really. It'll be nice to meet some people." I closed up my sketchbook. "Let me just go put this up."
I pushed myself up from the curb and ran up the walkway into the house. Entering my room, I tossed the pad on to my bed and turned to the mirror. Not too bad - alright, by first impression standards, actually.
"Ready?" I asked Patrick, standing at the end of the walk, closing the front door behind me.
"Yeah."
It only took a minute or so to get to Pete's house - it was a walk I'd come to know very well in the following years. Patrick was the first up the driveway.
"Aren't we going to knock on the door?"
"Nope. Like I said before, it's in the backyard. Doesn't matter though, Pete has a 6th sense about arrivals. He'll know we're here before I can even find the present's table."
Sure enough, a second after Patrick opened the door I heard a voice calling us over.
"There's my favorite 7th grader!"
"Hey Pete," Patrick said, knocking fists with the guy that suddenly stood in front of us. He was short, maybe 4 inches taller than me, with blonde tipped dreadlocks and a cheesy grin. Quite possibly the most awkward look imagined, but somehow it worked on him.
"Who's your friend?" Pete asked.
"Oh, this is Linny. She just moved in down the street. From..." Patrick trailed off.
"Texas." I cut in. "A few days ago, actually."
"Oh! The house down the street! Man, that thing's been empty, for like, three years."
"One, Pete. You know I can't follow your stories when you exaggerate." Patrick and Pete shared a laugh at the joke I obviously didn't get.
"One, three - it's all relative. Whatever. So you're new. We should talk later."
"Yeah, sounds good."
From the other side of the yard, a pudgy guy with curly, tangled brown hair yelled out for Pete to come see "KTC ding-dong-ditch Charlie R's yard!"
"I gotta go save the world." Pete shook his head, "See you two later."
Seeing Pete run off, I turned to Patrick, who was looking down.
"What is it?" I asked.
"That's my line."
In the end, I hoisted myself out of bed and into the shower. Throwing on my skinny jeans and converse, I grabbed a sketch pad off my desk and headed out the door before realizing - I had no clue where to go. So I sat down on the curb, leaning against the mailbox. To draw or to go back inside? Pressure.
I chose to draw.
At the end of the street a boy was walking down my side of the sidewalk. Perfect place to start I though. If I didn't know the locals, I could at least draw them. Getting so caught up in sketching to the beat of the music pumping from speakers 4 houses down, I didn't notice a shadow falling across me until it had completely covered my paper.
"Are you drawing me?" a voice asked.
I looked up into the round face of a boy with fair hair and a curious - not scolding, as I had originally feared - look on his face.
"Um, yeah." I stumbled, "Sorry, I can stop if you want."
I shrugged, starting to close the book.
"No, that's okay I just thought it was cool." He smiled "I'm Patrick. Patrick Stumph, I live down the street."
"Um, Melinda Evans - but call me Linny."
"You just moved in, right?"
"Right."
"This house has been empty for like, a year now."
"Yeah, my dad's in real estate. He's always had kind of an eye for the underdog houses."
"Nah, you guys fixed it up pretty well."
"Thanks."
The music coming from down the street suddenly got the slightest bit louder.
"You don't happen to know what's going on down there, do you?"
"It's Pete's birthday." Seeing my confused look, he added, "He's the kid who lives down there. Every year he hosts this huge party in his backyard and pretty much everyone nearby stops in for at least a little bit."
"Sounds like a good way to get a lot of presents."
"Good point." Patrick said, pulling a wrapped gift from his back pocket. "The Get Up Kids."
"Mmm, so he's one of those emo kids, huh?"
"Not so much." Patrick smiled, thinking, "Why don't you come with me? Like I said, everyone will be there. And Pete likes to meet the new kids early."
"I guess, it's not like I've got much else to do today...or for the rest of the summer, really. It'll be nice to meet some people." I closed up my sketchbook. "Let me just go put this up."
I pushed myself up from the curb and ran up the walkway into the house. Entering my room, I tossed the pad on to my bed and turned to the mirror. Not too bad - alright, by first impression standards, actually.
"Ready?" I asked Patrick, standing at the end of the walk, closing the front door behind me.
"Yeah."
It only took a minute or so to get to Pete's house - it was a walk I'd come to know very well in the following years. Patrick was the first up the driveway.
"Aren't we going to knock on the door?"
"Nope. Like I said before, it's in the backyard. Doesn't matter though, Pete has a 6th sense about arrivals. He'll know we're here before I can even find the present's table."
Sure enough, a second after Patrick opened the door I heard a voice calling us over.
"There's my favorite 7th grader!"
"Hey Pete," Patrick said, knocking fists with the guy that suddenly stood in front of us. He was short, maybe 4 inches taller than me, with blonde tipped dreadlocks and a cheesy grin. Quite possibly the most awkward look imagined, but somehow it worked on him.
"Who's your friend?" Pete asked.
"Oh, this is Linny. She just moved in down the street. From..." Patrick trailed off.
"Texas." I cut in. "A few days ago, actually."
"Oh! The house down the street! Man, that thing's been empty, for like, three years."
"One, Pete. You know I can't follow your stories when you exaggerate." Patrick and Pete shared a laugh at the joke I obviously didn't get.
"One, three - it's all relative. Whatever. So you're new. We should talk later."
"Yeah, sounds good."
From the other side of the yard, a pudgy guy with curly, tangled brown hair yelled out for Pete to come see "KTC ding-dong-ditch Charlie R's yard!"
"I gotta go save the world." Pete shook his head, "See you two later."
Seeing Pete run off, I turned to Patrick, who was looking down.
"What is it?" I asked.
"That's my line."
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