Wishes In The Dark - A Peterick Fanfiction

Two

TWO MONTHS LATER...

"Pat, get up."

The sound of my brother's voice is the first thing I hear as I stretch my body and sit up in bed.

"Why?" I ask, rubbing my eyes sleepily.

"Because it's your first day of Wilmette school, silly," replies Kevin.

I suddenly realise - I'm starting my penultimate year of school at Wilmette High School today!

I get up and grab a cereal bar and banana for breakfast. When I've eaten them, I brush my teeth and comb my hair. I dress into a white buttoned shirt, black knee shorts, a yellow knitted waistcoat over the top of the shirt, a black cap that people used to call a "grandpa hat" and trainers. I look nerdy as hell, but that's who I am and I'm going to try not to care what people think of me anymore. Lessons I've learnt from being bullied at my old school:

- Don't talk too much.

- Don't cause a scene.

- Don't make a big thing of yourself.

- Don't think too much.

- Don't be too weird.

But I also need to be myself and not let stuff get to me.

Kevin gives me a lift to school. It takes about ten minutes. During our journey, Kevin says: "So Pat."

"Hmm?" I look at him.

"There's something I need to tell you about Wilmette."

Suddenly his face turns all serious, as if a cold wind blew and chilled him.

"Wilmette can get...quite dangerous," he says sincerely. "Especially at night. A whole load of bad people run round doing all kinds of crazy shit. Just be sensible, okay? I don't want you doing anything dangerous."

"Okay," I say.

I wonder just how dangerous it can be.

Kevin pulls over outside the gates of Wilmette High School. Excited yet nervous butterflies flutter around in my stomach. What if I won't get accepted? What if I get bullied again?

"This is it," says Kevin. "I'll pick you up right here at 3:15. And while you're there, make some friends. You can't be shy forever. Good luck, kiddo."

"Thanks, Kev," I smile.

Taking deep breaths, I get out the car and make my way inside.

As I pass students of Wilmette High School chatting and gossiping excitedly outside the entrance of the school, I notice that only a couple of them look at me weirdly. They don't stare at me and grimace like the people in my old school, though. That gives me a surge of hope. Maybe this school will be better.

When I'm inside, I manage to find my way to a door that says 'PRINCIPAL WAY - PLEASE KNOCK AND WAIT'. This is where Kevin told me to go. Nervously, I knock three times on the door and wait for a response.

"Come in," calls out a man's voice from inside the room.

I anxiously open the door and step inside the office. It's a fairly small, simple room. A desk sits in the middle of the room with chairs at either side. Potted plants are dotted round the room's perimeter. On the desk are piles of paperwork surrounding a large computer. At the front of the desk is a little plaque thing that says 'PRINCIPAL G. WAY'. Behind the desk sits a man with bright red shoulder length hair, who I'm assuming is Principal Way. When I enter, he looks up from his paperwork and smiles at me.

"Ah, you must be Patrick Stump," he says.

"Yes Sir," I say awkwardly.

"Principal Way," he smiles, standing up and shaking my hand. "Welcome to Wilmette!"