The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know

What is right and what is wrong?

What is right and what is wrong?

A few days went by, and I had no idea what to do about Brendon. I was still performing at the Aubergine, but Brendon and I had hardly spoken since our date at the pool. I had too many questions about who Brendon truly was, and I had to answer them before I could deal with Brendon again.

Shortly before my second Public Policy test, I met with Pete. He was sitting in the library, playing with his purple fidget spinner, and he quizzed me until I could recite every answer, whether I agreed with it or not. I could only hope that the same questions would appear on the test. "You're getting a lot better at this," Pete said.

"Thanks Pete," I said.

Pete laughed and said, "Just wait until you get to the unit on electoral policy. I barely passed that test, and I'm better at this sort of stuff than you are."

"If I remember correctly, that's the next unit," I said nervously.

"Good luck," Pete said. "By the way, I believe that you and I made a deal at the last Guyliner Club meeting."

"Are you talking about my offer to set you and Patrick up?" I asked. Pete nodded, and I said, "I'm still working on that."

"Alright, Ryan," Pete said. He sighed and added, "I just get too lonely sometimes. Frank and Gerard are just so happy together, Laura has a wonderful girlfriend, and you and Brendon make a great couple. I'm the only member of the Guyliner Club who's single, and it's driving me crazy. Sometimes it seems like this whole university has found someone that they love except for me."

"I can understand that feeling, Pete," I said. I didn't exactly want to mention whatever it was that Brendon and I were in the middle of, but I did understand Pete's pain. It was how I had felt before Brendon became my boyfriend.

"I'm coming apart at the seams," Pete complained.

"I think I have a solution," I said. "I'll get Patrick to come to the Aubergine tonight, but then you have to take it from there. I can't make Patrick magically fall in love with you, because love doesn't work like that. I can start the process though. Would that work?"

"Yes, that sounds great," Pete said.

Almost immediately, I began to question my own solution. How would I get Patrick to come to the Aubergine Dream? He wasn't the type of person who would go there voluntarily, especially considering his reaction when he found out that I was going to the Aubergine. I considered telling Pete that I couldn't do it, but I couldn't go back on my word. That would make me just as bad as Brendon. I had to find a way to make it work.

After we finished studying, I returned to Flack Hall and climbed up to Room 27. Patrick was lying on top of his bed, lost in a daydream. Patrick was wearing a Twenty One Pilots T-shirt, a pair of jeans, and a fedora, and his glasses were perched on top of his nose as he stared up at the white stucco ceiling. I briefly wondered what exactly it was that was floating through Patrick's mind. Mind reading wasn't possible, but it was fun to speculate. Was it a brilliant new idea that was making Patrick act like this, or was it a problem in his life that needed to be solved? Perhaps it was a particular person that was on his mind. There was no way to tell, but I could always ask him. "Patrick, what are you thinking about?" I asked him.

"Nothing," Patrick lied.

I still think that it's crazy how easily lies can slip from someone's mouth. For something that we generally consider to be wrong, people tend to do an awful lot of lying. If we consider lying to be so wrong, then why does everyone continue to do it? "I know you were thinking about something," I said.