Chapter 85

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Jamie

19:27pm

Patrick pulls up in my driveway and puts his car into park. I haven’t said a word to him on the drive over here. I just wanna be alone, but I already know he’s not gonna leave me. I sigh and turn to face him.

“Go on then.” I say. “Let me have it.”

“I didn’t open my mouth.” Patrick says, turning to face me. I give him a weak smile. He’s been great tonight.

“Well, I cannot wait to get this fucking dress off.” I say, as I unbuckle my seat belt. “You head back to the dance to see Fall Out Boy. I am destined for pyjamas, ice cream and cuddles with Benji.”

“That’s what I thought you’d say.” Patrick says with a smile. “But I care about you much more than I care about seeing Fall Out Boy. And, I have an idea. Let’s go see Bayside.”

I’m surprised by his suggestion, and as much as I wanna just curl up in my bed and forget the world, I wouldn’t mind seeing Bayside. I know their show is in South Bridge too, which means getting out of town. This idea sounds good. There’s just one problem.

“We don’t have tickets.” I point out. “Their shows always sell out, there’s no way we would get in.”

“I know a guy.” Patrick says casually, shrugging his shoulders, and I laugh.

“I don’t know…” I say, but I am seriously considering this.

“Come on, Jame.” Patrick says, “You’re already missing out on seeing Fall Out Boy because of what Noah’s done to you. You can’t let that dickhead spoil your night. Come with me to Bayside. It’ll make you feel better.”

I screw my face up at him, because I’m still not sure about it. One of my favourite Bayside songs is slow, depressing, and about cheating. If they play Don’t Call Me Peanut tonight, it may hit a little too close to home. But god, I would love to see them. I’d love to hear Alcohol and Alter Boys live.

“Come on, I know how much you’d love to hear Alcohol and Alter Boys live.” Patrick encourages me, nudging me gently on the arm. Fuck it. I’m going.

“Okay, let me run in and change.” I smile at him. God, I feel a little better already.

“Cool. I’ll let Benji out.” Patrick says, unbuckling his seat belt.

And in less than fifteen minutes, I’m wearing ripped jeans, a white t-shirt and a denim jacket (Patrick’s in his usual attire now too, we stopped by his place so he could change) and we’re on the road to South Bridge. It’s only about an hour’s drive away, so hopefully we’ll get to the show in time to see Bayside’s full set.

“Here.” Patrick says, handing me his phone with a smile. He always lets me dictate what we listen to in his car.

“It’s gotta be Bayside, right?” I say, unlocking his phone (his passcode is 0214, after his birthday – February 14th) and opening Spotify.

“Absolutely.” Patrick agrees, before turning his head and giving me some serious side eye.

“What…?” I ask him tentatively.

“We need to call Jay.” He says. I knew he was gonna say that. “Or Joel. They’re gonna be freaking out right now, you know they are.”

I sigh. “I really don’t wanna involve anyone else in this, P.”

“And you don’t need to. We won’t get into detail with them, we’ll just tell them everything’s okay. Come on, what if this was the other way around and Jay had stormed off from the dance without telling you a thing, huh?”

He raises an eyebrow at me, and I know he’s right. “Fine, you talk to him, though.”

I dial Jay over Patrick’s cell, and it rings through the Bluetooth speakers in the car. I don’t wanna talk to Jay, mainly because I know he most certainly will be freaking out about the whole thing. He answers the call immediately.

"Dude, where the fuck are you? What happened back there!?" I can hear the worry in Jay's voice.

"Hey, bro. Long story, but listen, Jamie's fine. I'm driving her to South Bridge as we speak -"

Jay cuts Patrick off. "I'm on speaker in your car?"

I frown at Patrick and he shrugs his shoulders at me. "Yeah."

Patrick sighs as I shake my head at him. Great. I don't wanna talk to anyone else about what happened tonight, Jay included. But I can hardly just ignore him now.

"Jamie, what happened?" Jay demands over the car speakers.

"Jay, I'm fine. I don't wanna talk about it." I say, my voice small. "I'm with Patrick, everything's cool. I'll see you tomorrow."

I end the call abruptly. Jay knows I'm okay now, so conversation over.

“Happy?” I say to Patrick.

“Ecstatic.” He says. “Jay will tell everyone else that you’re fine. Done. Now, let’s just chill out and start praying that we get into this concert.” 

“Patrick!?” I laugh in disbelief. “You said you knew a guy?!”

He grins at me. “Yeah, it’ll be fine.”

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