***COMPLETED*** Around the World and Back [A Patty Walters Story]

Chapter 21: "People can mind their own business."

July 21, 2018

Chicago, Illinois

dereksteez: how's it feel to be in your home state?

averyrochelleohh: sad bc I don't get to go home and see my mom bc peoria is like 3 hours from here :(

dereksteez: can't u facetime her?

averyrochelleohh: ya, but i'm gonna wait till i get off the bus. I want to talk to her about Patty without Patty hearing our entire conversation.

dereksteez: do u wanna get pizza when ur done?

averyrochelleohh: didn't I say yesterday that I wasn't interested? :P

dereksteez: we can't get pizza as friends? :(

averyrochelleohh: as friends, yes, but nothing else!! Let me ask Luke if he's okay with taking over for awhile.

dereksteez: i'll wait by ur tent

I rolled my eyes at how persistent he was, although it was kind of nice to have another friend to talk to when Britt was with Ronnie.

After grabbing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, I went into the bathroom to put my hair up into a bun and throw on a little bit of mascara. Because it's usually so hot, I never wore a whole bunch of makeup.

I grabbed my white and black checkered vans out of the bunk that I never slept in because I've been sleeping in the lounge and slipped them on, walking past Patty to leave the bus. We made eye contact for a solid two seconds, but neither one of us said anything.

"Luke," I said when I got to the tent. "Are you gonna be okay for a bit if I go get pizza with Derek? I promise I'll bring you back something."

"You had me at bringing me back pizza," he laughed as he turned around to grab a shirt for someone. "Go have fun, Avery. You need a break!"

I smiled widely and hugged him, pulling away after a second because neither of us wanted to get too sweaty.

"Thanks, Luke!" I said as I went to go meet Derek. "You're the best!" I called.

Derek walked up to me, smiling when he saw me. He was, of course, wearing a snapback, Ray Bans, a shirt with the sleeves and sides cut out of it and a pair of basketball shorts.

"You know," I laughed as we walked. "I'm starting to be able to predict what you're going to wear everyday. All of your outfits are the same."

"Is that a bad thing?" He smirked down at me as we showed our passes to security before walking out of the venue. "This is kinda my thing, kinda like Fall Out Boy is your thing," he teased.

I rolled my eyes, bumping my hip with his as I laughed.

"Hey, I've been obsessed with Fall Out Boy for years now, you can't make fun of me for that!" I said as we walked across the parking lot to go meet the Uber. "I wish things weren't so far away. I like walking."

"I'll keep that in mind," Derek winked behind his sunglasses as he opened up the door for me, shutting it and going around the other side to get in. "And don't worry about paying, it's on me today."

Because of traffic, we arrived 15 minutes later. The Uber dropped us off and we got out. I stood on the sidewalk and took a photo to put on my Instagram story.

"Awh," I smiled. "This place is so cute!"

"Cute place for a cute girl," he winked as he grabbed my hand, taking me inside. "I know, I know, just friends," he laughed as he watched me blush.