The Church Boys ➸ Peterick/Brentrick

1: Patrick's First Friendship is Based Upon a Chicken Sandwich

Tuesdays were just like any other day at school, not Monday but not yet the promise of Wednesday. They sucked, and when you looked, acted, and could sing like Patrick Stump, it would be a shocker that you wouldn't want to go. At least, that's how it was according to his parents.

Patrick remembered that fateful day that had decided that he'd be moving schools and joining in the private Lutheran school three miles from his house. It had just been a simple "what do you want to be when you grow up" sort of questions, and he couldn't come up with any lies that time. It was usually "oh, a doctor" or "maybe a teacher", but when he'd finally answered honestly it practically gave his parents heart attacks.

"I want to be in a band, go tour. See the world. Help people get through hard times! Y'know...live a little. Hell, I dunno, experiment, I guess."

His parents took it an entirely different way than he'd thought, and well, now he was going to a school three miles away that he knew nobody from. Well, they'd done him one solid and happened to be friends with the praise band teacher, who had immediately let Patrick try out and take over for vocals and guitar in place of Adam, who was described as having a "generally shitty attitude anyways" and wouldn't be returning to the class. At least he got to play music.

Now, here was Patrick, sitting in his room and staring at the faded and slightly torn Ferris Bueller poster that hung on his wall. It was dark and fairly messy as any normal teenager's room would be, however he kept his messy in certain areas. He had a pile of clean clothes on the chair next to his bookshelf, while everything dirty went in the hamper in his closet. There was no way he was going to convince himself to go to school today, especially with all the drama going on with the praise band.

He'd been at the school for a week, and everyone already knew his name because of Adam- that didn't mean it was positive either. Labelled as a "fag" who sucked off the band instructor, nobody could really pinpoint where that one came from, but Patrick knew full well. 

The soft knock on his door came at 7:02, and when no answer came, Patrick's mother opened the door and slipped inside. "Patrick? Honey...you need to eat before you go to school."

"Do I have to go?"

She sighed softly, her features growing soft as she looked at him. "Yes, yes you do. Is something wrong?"

"Mom, it's just school. Everybody hates school," Patrick covered, getting up and pulling on his shoes. "I have my wallet, I'll pick something up on the way."

"How much money do you have?"

Grabbing his backpack to appease her, he pulled his wallet from the front pocket. "Five bucks. I can just grab an Egg McMuffin or something, I'll be fine." He put it back in, zipping up the pocket and slinging it over his shoulder.

Chuckling, his mother gave him a quick hug. "Somebody should give me mother of the year award. Do you have your guitar?"

"Mhmm."

She gave him one last smile before leaving the room. It was like he didn't have a choice at that, but Patrick still grabbed his car keys and went out front. The pick up truck was a blue-green and old, beat up from when his father used to drive it around. Worked good as new, and he'd been kind enough to fix the air conditioner. 

Patrick tugged at his loose-fitting cardigan, preferring the comfort of clothes slightly bigger than his normal size even if it made him look slightly heavier than he already was. He never liked discussing his weight with people, he was well aware of it himself and didn't want to ever talk about it. Ever.

Which was another reason why he hated school.

He picked up the promised Egg McMuffin and managed to be on time for first period History, sitting in the back where he could eat his breakfast in peace. The teacher never minded anyways. The only time he really looked up from taking notes was to glance at the board, and even then he still caught Adam glancing at him.