Metronome (FOB FanFic ft. Tyler Joseph)

Chapter 9

It was the next day. I knocked on the closed door to Patrick's classroom, a tight knot forming in my stomach. I took a step back and crossed my arms over my front. I knew he was in the middle of one of his classes, but I needed to talk to him.

Patrick's head snapped in my direction, his arms frozen in the air from conducting, and glared at me. He returned his attention to his class and said something to them. I couldn't hear what he said, but the next I know, his students started moving around and he made his way over to the door, ripping it open.

"What do you think you're doing?" He growled at me.

"We need to talk," I muttered in response, my voice soft and vulnerable. I was still trying to process everything that happened last night.

He snickered, "And you couldn't have picked a worse time?"

"Look, just get your ass out here and listen to me. Okay? That's all I ask of you, then you can go back to...to waving that stick in the air."

He glanced back over his shoulder and then back at me, sighing, "Fine. You have two minutes. No more-"

"No less, got it. Now get out here!" I grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him out into the hallway, closing the door behind him.

"Get your hands off of me," He snapped, plucking my hand off of his shirt and pushing it down to my side. "Now what's so important that you needed to take me out of my class to tell me?"

"I don't...I don't need you to teach me anymore," I confessed, heaving a sigh and tilting my head down, hence why I didn't notice his eyes growing wider. "I don't know what your friends told you already, but I only wanted you to teach me how to play so that I could impress my boyfriend. I wanted to try and save his and my relationship, and I thought that maybe if I shared a common interest with him, something that I was good at, that that would resolve everything. But, turns out he was cheating on me."

Patrick remained silent, folding his arms over his chest.

I shook my head and looked back up at him, "And, um, yeah, I no longer need your help. So thank for the memories. I think I'm going to miss you, you asshole." I smiled and punched him playfully in the shoulder, turning on my heel and walking away.

"Evie, wait!" He called out to me. I stopped in my tracks, surprised he didn't call me by my full name. The sound of his dress shoes clicked down the hallway as he jogged up to me, placing a hand on my shoulder and spinning me around. "Are you sure that you don't want to continue?"

"I just have no reason to anymore," I murmured in response, "It's not you, I swear."

"But I was just about to teach you how to play a song," He disclosed to me, a hint of desperation is his voice - which threw me off more than him not calling me Evelyn. "And anyways, so what if he cheated on you?" He slipped his hands into his pockets, beginning to rock back and forth ever so slightly, "People cheat on people all the time. It's a timeless thing, really. But even so, you need to learn to move on. Because if they cheated on you, they don't love you. No matter how much you love them, how much you put into your relationship, how much you want things to work out...if they don't love you, they don't love you."

I stared into Patrick's sad, bluish-green eyes whose gaze was directed down at his feet.

He bit his lip and looked up at me, "What I'm trying to say is, just because he cheated on you, doesn't mean you need to stop learning how to play. You should learn how to play in spite of him cheating on you."

"Why?"

He didn't answer my question. Instead he looked at his watch and shook his head, "Three minutes and twenty-eight seconds. Looks like you've used up more of my time than permitted."

"Patrick..." I frowned, yearning to know why.

"I expect to see you here tomorrow, Evelyn," He told me sternly, his demeanor completely changed, "Remember, we're finally going to work on a song."

"Patrick, wait!"

"I expect you to be prepared," He continued to say, ignoring my pleas as he began walking backwards towards his classroom. He threw his finger in my direction, "And I expect to see you here tomorrow."

"Patrick!"

"You know what time, right?" He asked, opening the classroom door.

I rolled my eyes, "Yes, but-"

He winked at me, "Alright, then. See you tomorrow." And with that, he disappeared back into his classroom, the door slamming behind him and causing me to flinch.