13 (evans wild ride to turning 16)

Chapter 2 (Patrice)

It had been 2:00 am that morning when I received the first text from Brett. Why would I open a text from Brett? I'd ignored it at first but then he sent another one, and another one. After 3 texts I finally checked what he had to say to me.

"Hey Patrice its Brett. I need to talk to you at school tomorrow."

"I know this is strange, but I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't have to. It's urgent."

"I'm sorry for that stuff in middle school please please just forgive me and meet me at the bathrooms in C hall during lunch."

                                         —

When Evan picked me up for school that morning I barely said anything. If I told him that the person he hated the most in the world had texted me out of the blue, he definitely would've objected to me meeting him.

I had an issue with tending to tell him everything. It wasn't like I meant to, I would just start talking and before I knew it I'd over shared.

I thought about the messages sent from Brett the whole day until lunch. I had decided to go but if anything seemed off I would immediately leave. So I grabbed my bag and booked it to the C hall bathrooms the second the bell rang.

I'd gotten good at weaving and avoiding people in the halls. For the first couple weeks of freshman year I'd spent any extra time I had mapping out the emptier and smaller hallways around the school to use when getting to class. I understood why Brett had chosen the C hall bathrooms, nobody ever went down there.

Brett wasn't as stupid as he liked to pretend he was. While his first instinct was to fight he still had a brain. When Evan had first moved here in 7th grade Brett completely took advantage of him. He had known that Evan was new and desperate, so he would do whatever he asked. By 8th grade Brett and his goons stopped messing with us and became more invested in other things. Thats why I was so curious about the message.

I trailed off on my thoughts as I strategically  made my way through the hallway, making sure to avoid the routes that Archie and Evan followed. It wasn't that I didn't want them to know, I just didn't know how they would react. Neither of them particularly liked Brett, because of certain events pertaining to a punch, a date, and a bar mitzvah. There was absolutely no way that this impromptu meeting was about that.

C hall sort of resembled those scary hallways in horror movies where the lights flicker and the monster comes chasing the character who's about to meet an unfortunate ending.

The bathrooms were empty except for Brett Sampson leaning against the entrance. He'd grown about a foot and a half since 7th grade, but he looked as bitchy as ever.

"You came!" Brett exclaimed as he stood up straighter "I knew you would."

"Brett," I said straight faced as I continued walking to the bathroom entrance.  "talk fast." We stood on either end of the entrance staring at each other.

"I need you to go on a date with Richie." He said the words so fast I almost thought I'd misheard him.

"Excuse me?" I scoffed "What are you even talking about?" Richie was one of Bretts many loyal goons. I had never spoken to him even once. He was fairly popular, a little bit of a class clown and could be pretty irritating.

"I need you to come to his house house on Thursday and be a date for Richie." He looked really serious when he said it "Richie's parents live in London, and he's been telling his parents for months that he's dating you." Brett was spewing his words out at lightning speed, not that it would've helped if he spoke any slower. "The only reason they keep letting him live here in Indiana is because he keeps telling them he's absolutely in love with this girl, and he'd kill himself if he had to leave you." This had to be fake.

"What are you even saying right now?" I said a lot louder than I would've liked "I cant go out with your friend this is nonsense. I have a boyfriend!" It couldn't be true it made zero sense. I had never even spoken to Richie, he wasn't even my type. "I've never even spoken to Richie. Why in the hell is telling his parents he's dating me!"

"Listen Patrice, I don't know what goes on in his brain but I'll do whatever you want. I'll get you literally anything. I really owe Richie I need to you to do this just once or twice." There were things I could get from Brett, things like good clothing and the latest technology. But was I really that shallow of a person? We stood in silence for a moment while I considered the factors. Brett looked truly desperate, I wished I'd known what it was he owed Richie.

"Can I think about it?" I asked hesitantly. Bretts face lit up and he really smiled

"Yes!" He jumped in the air "You're the best." Then his face fell like he realized something. "Oh, thats right." He said, "It would be best if you didn't tell anyone about this."

Evan. That was that was a big factor wasn't it. I wouldn't have a ride to Richies house. I'd have to walk.

"I cant drive." I broke the awkward silence.

"Oh," He responded. "I can just drive you." Of course he could. There was no issue with it really, I mean there shouldn't have been. It wasn't like I was doing anything wrong, or I was cheating on Evan. In fact I wasn't exactly sure what I was doing, I hadn't technically committed to anything yet.

Brett was staring at me I didn't know what to do. Was he expecting me to say something? Or was he going to say something to me? Then he said "Walk with me."

He bent down and grabbed both of our bags and put them over his shoulder .

"I first found myself in the debt of Richie about 6 months ago, when I showed up at his doorstep plastered drunk in the middle of the night." Brett started as he began walking. "I knew if I showed up home I was totally grounded for the rest of my life so I went to the closest place of somebody I knew." Brett liked to drink, noted.

"I've been dropping by his house unexpectedly at least 8 times a month now. I keep saying I'll help him with anything if he ever needed it, but I didn't expect him to actually need my help." He looked down at his shoes while he spoke. When I really thought about it for a second, I'd never had a real conversation with Brett. He'd said a lot of insults and use to ruin my stuff, but that was as far as those interactions went.

"So why are you actually helping him?" I asked looking over at him. "That doesn't seem like something you'd actually commit to."

"He said he'd tell my parents about the drinking if I didn't help him. Then I'd be seriously screwed." He shook his head and sighed. We weren't taking one of my secret hallways to the lunch room, so there was a chance someone could see us walking together but for some reason he didn't seem phased.

"What am I even supposed to say to Richie. Let alone his parents, Brett." I didnt know why I said it but the question was tangled in my brain.

"Honestly I'm not sure." He stopped walking and turned to me "I don't know what you're supposed to say either, he's just so dumb putting you in this situation."

"Could I get his number?" I pulled out my phone so he could tell me his number. Brett nodded then took my phone out of my hands before I could say anything, and added Richies number to my contacts.

"There you go." He said handing my phone back to me.

I felt flustered. Now that was wrong, now I was actually doing something wrong. I had promised myself I would leave if something was off, but he had my bag and it was a long walk to the lunch room. Could I even go to the lunch room anymore? No, I definitely couldn't face Evan after this.

So, I let him walk me to the lunch room doors. He gave me my bag and walked away to his posse of friends. I walked away to the library instead, I figured I could just make up some lie about why I wasn't at lunch and tell the boys later. Something like a late assignment or I lost track of time.