St. Peter's Church

12

Paul opened the front door to his house, fixing his hair with his fingers and shutting it behind him.

"Where have you been?"

The sound of his father's voice startled him, causing him to jump slightly.

"Sorry dad, I meant to tell you, but I went home with a friend after school yesterday."

Jim looked him up and down before taking another puff of his cigarette and sitting down on the couch. "Tell me next time, alright?"

"I will."

He went up to his room fast, quick to grab some comfy clothes and go to the bathroom to shower.

While washing his hair, he looked down to notice a purple spot near his groin where John must've left it there.

He hadn't drank much last night, but he supposed it was enough to not notice.

After he had finished his shower, he took a long look in the mirror.

John fell for that face.

He smoothed down and styled his hair with some thick pomade to keep it from going anywhere while he would be out later.

There was a heavy rap on the door. "Paul, I need to piss," said the voice of his younger brother, Michael. "Hold on Mikey, I'll be out in just a minute," Paul called out to him. Mike let out a loud grumble, audibly slumping against the wall.

"What's taking you so long in there, anyways?"

"Don't worry about it," Paul said, opening the door. Mike ran in, and Paul went back to his room.

Laying down on his bed, it wasn't long before his eyelids started to feel heavy.

"Come on, we're about to perform!"

"I know, just give me a moment."

"Do you know how to play this one part?"

"Not yet."

There was the bright shine of stage lights before Paul woke up to the feeling of Mike opening his eyes with his thumbs.

"What the hell are you doing?" said Paul, raising up.

"Dinner's ready. Unless you're not hungry."

"I'll be down in a minute."

He laid out some clothes to wear before he would head out: blue jeans and a white T-shirt, tied together with a brown leather belt, and for shoes, he picked a pair of black loafers.

He went downstairs to make his plate at a normal pace to keep anyone from asking questions, heading back up the stairs.

"Where are you going, son?" Jim asked suddenly.

"To eat in my room. I have homework to do," answered Paul. Wow. His second lie of the day.

"Make sure you bring the plate down when you're done," called Jim, and Paul was most of the way up the stairs by the time he heard him.

Paul dug into his jacket laying in his open closet, digging out a cigarette and a match, both of which John had given him.

"It can't be as bad as it was the first time," he whispered to himself, lighting the cigarette and placing it between his lips.

He inhaled it first into his mouth before sucking it down into his lungs.

It doesn't feel so bad this time around.

In fact, it feels rather pleasant.

He made sure to dispose of it properly and in a way that no one would know about it and grabbed his guitar, strumming freely.

He found a few notes he liked that he had never hit on purpose before, and felt like some of them would be good in the song he wrote with John.

He took a sheet of paper and wrote down the chords, sitting them by his bed.

The sun had started to set by then, and he started to wonder when John was going to come around.

Nearly two hours had passed, and he still wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Another half hour went by, and he started to worry.

He heard someone walking up the stairs and got underneath the bedsheets, trying to make it seem as if he was about to go to bed.

"Goodnight Paul," his father had called out, not bothering to open the door. He was probably a bit drunk.

"Goodnight," Paul echoed, listening for his father's bedroom door to close.

He quickly got out of bed and changed into the clothes he had laid out, smoothing them down on his thin body.

He laid back down and started to nod off a bit without realizing it, but awoke to the sound of something hitting his window.

He opened the window as quietly as he could, seeing John beckon him to come out of his room.

Paul crawled out of the window, letting himself fall when he was close enough to the ground. "You came a bit later than i expected," he said.

"I waited until Mimi had settled for the night to come over," admitted John.

He was wearing something similar to what he had worn when Paul had met him, and while slightly intimidating, it was a very nice outfit.

"Well, come on. I figured somethin' out for us to do."