Another Day, Another Door

Chapter 2

Patrick sat by himself on one of the courtyard lunch tables outside. None of the few friends he had had the same lunch hour he did. He was writing down a few lyrics in his notebook when he saw a big shadow on the table. He looked up to see Dan. "Anybody sitting here?" Dan asked nodding towards the seat across from Patrick.

"No. Go ahead," Patrick answered as he closed his lyrics notebook. It was personal stuff. "Did I see you at the clinic down the street yesterday?" Patrick asked. He knew he had but didn't want to come out and say it.

Dan put on a confused face, "What clinic down the street?" Patrick got the hint that Dan didn't want to talk about it. "Nothing," Patrick answered. "How's your first day?" he asked before an awkward silence could take place.

"Fine. Could be better but hey, it's not a picture perfect life," he answered.

"Have you had Mr. Kiefly yet? His class is like the gateway to hell. He's horrible."

Dan took out his schedule then sighed, "Great, I have him next." Patrick's face brightened. "Hey, I have him too!" he said a little too happily. "Looks like we can go through hell together," Dan laughed.

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After Kiely's class, Dan and Patrick had one other class together before school finally let out. They said their farewells as Patrick walked over to his father's clinic. He couldn't help but think how different Dan looked from when he first saw him yesterday.

Was he bipolar? Did he take meds? Patrick wanted to ask his father but he was under strict patient-doctor confidentiality. He rarely ever talked about his patients anyway.

Patrick walked into the clinic and took his usual seat in the waiting room. A few minutes after he had gotten settled in he saw a familiar face walk through the door. "Dan?" he asked when he saw his friend walk in.

Dan froze when he saw Patrick. Why was he here? Does he have what I have? Dan asked himself. "Daniel, honey, I think that boy's talking to you," Dan's mother said when he didn't answer. "Oh. Hey Patrick. I wasn't... I mean, I didn't expect to see you here," Dan finally answered. He walked over and sat by Patrick while his mom went to the front desk.

"So you come here too?" Dan asked, not figuring someone so optimistic could have depression. Patrick quickly corrected him. "No, no. My dad owns the place. I come here everyday after school." 

Dan frowned because for a split second he thought he'd found someone like him. Someone who had been through the same hell he had been and still was going through.

"Oh," he responded.

They sat in awkward silence. God, it was awkward. 

"You know, it's fine. What you have I mean," Patrick said suddenly.

"I know it's fine. It's perfectly fine," Dan said defensively. Another awkward silence.

"Sorry," they both said at the same time. They laughed and relaxed a little. "I'm just a little...insecure about it," Dan said quietly. Patrick nodded, knowing exactly what IT was. He saw the embarrassed look on Dan's face and changed the subject.

"So...umm, what part of Illinois are you from?" he asked. Dan shook his head. "I'm not from here. I just moved from Las Vegas. But it's, er, nice here," Dan said trying to be polite. In truth he hated it here. It was cold, always rainy and the city didn't have that same lively vibe that Vegas had. Oh, how he missed those Vegas lights.

"You don't have to lie," Patrick laughed. Dan smiled as Patrick continued, "You miss it don't you? Vegas." Dan lit up a little as he got to talk about the city that he held closest to his heart. His mother sat and watched as the two boys talked and laughed. She was surprised at how open Dan was with this boy. He had never talked about him to her before.

"You like them too?" Dan asked as the topic switched to music. "Yeah, I love that band!" Patrick said enthusiastically. Their conversation was interrupted when Patrick's father walked out and called Dan's name.

Both boys sighed. Dan stood up slowly and said goodbye to Patrick. But right before he went down the hall he turned and walked back over to Patrick. "If it's not too much trouble, could you maybe not  tell anyone that I come here?" he asked. "I'll take it to my grave," Patrick smiled.