Rain

•9•

Pete's alarm wakes him at the ass crack of dawn. He slams his hand on it but it keeps going. Slowly, he lifts his head from his pillow, grabs his phone, and presses the alarm with him finger. Pete flops back down.

"I saw that." His mother walks by, all dressed to go to work. "Get up."

Pete gets up with an unhappy groan. School isn't the worse part about the weekdays, it's literally waking up. Waking up is the worst. He mumbles to himself as he half heartedly picks out his clothes and brushes his hair.

"Pete!" His dad yells from downstairs. "Breakfast is done!"

Pete groans and sets his brush down, trudging out of the room. He perks up slightly when he smells bacon. Upon walking downstairs, his mother is setting a plate of bacon and scrambled eggs in his spot. A small stack of toasts sits next to orange juice in the middle of the table. Pete sits down, grabs his fork, and shovels food in his mouth.

"Hungry?"

Pete glances at his dad and shrugs. He proceeds to grab a piece of bacon and take a large bite from it.

"I hope you didn't miss too much at school. You'll have to make it up."

Pete rolls his eyes. "Don't remind me. He pops the last bite of bacon in his mouth and brushes crumbs from his jeans.

"I'm just saying...maybe your friends can help you. Are they in your class? What about Patrick? He's a smart kid."

Pete just shrugs. He stands and puts his plate in the sink. "I'm going to go brush my teeth." He mumbles.

"He's just grumpy from waking up early." Pete's mother mutters quietly downstairs.

He doesn't like when people talk about him.

But what his mother said was true.

So he can't technically get mad.

Pete finger brushes his hair again, sprays a bit of cologne on, and grabs his bag.

"Bye." He yells as he heads out the door, trying to sound a little cheerier.

"Have a good-"

He shuts the door. The morning dew is still on the grass and his car. Pete grumbles in annoyance, his hand got wet from touching the door handle. He frowns for a moment. Patrick wouldn't be able to touch this door handle. He wipes his hand on his jeans and slides into the car, tossing his bag in the passengers seat. His car roars to life and he pulls out of his driveway. School starts in 15 minutes so there's a possibility he will be late.

He gets to school with 5 minutes to spare. Instead of rushing, he casually makes it to class. He sticks his foot in the door as the teacher is closing it.

"Pete Wentz...please go get a late pass."

"I'm inside the room." He points to the top of his shoe, inside the room.

"Technically he is!" Someone yells.

The teacher looks at him for a moment. "Your logic is different than mine." The teacher steps away and let's Pete in.

"There you go Wentz."

His current seat has someone already in it. He frowns at them, they shrink in their seat but don't move. He takes the first seat in the front next to some red headed dude. He's got pen writings up and down his arms, mostly reminders of tests and homework. A small amount of stubble grows on his cheeks and chin. Pete doesn't recognize him. Must be one of those good kids who is top of his class. Pete stares at him, the kid turns, his eyes widen, and he quickly goes down toward his phone. Pete's own phone dings. He slides his phone into his lap and hits the home button. A message is displayed on top of Instagram notifications.