Second day came, nothing unusual except for the fact that they keep on doubting that they are enrolled into the right school.
Math class happened, Patch dissociated herself in a trance, staring out the window during a lecture then, she glanced by her left side, she looked at Queeny, her old classmate, the petite smart kid with the brown silky hair that is always kept in a ponytail. " Hey, do you get it? " asked Patch. Queeny looked back at her, with a surprised look. " You're talking to me? " Queeny whispered. " Yeah " Patch whispered back. " You need help? " Queeny asked and Patch nodded. " I spaced out a bit, it's too early for numbers " Patch said.
Queeny explained the first part of the algebra experience, Patch understood it and survived the seatwork, they later on had a chat about summer and the band click five. " I mean, it's soft rock genius " Queeny said. " I knooow " Patch agreed, they were walking out together by the hallway and bid farewell to each other as they go to their next class. Patch made one friend and she was psyched to tell Jay and Brenda all about it.
Lunch time came, the time when she unite with her friends. She rushed to the cafeteria where they sat on the same table they did yesterday. " Guess what " Patch said as she sat down, getting the attention of everyone on the table, she sat between Jay and Brian. " Well, the junior kids are looking at you Patch " Said Jay. But, of course they are although, she's not very concerned about that. They were aware of something that Patch wasn't, her brother Blue got into a bar fight last night. " How can you tell? " Patch asked as she glanced over the Junior's table. They were staring and whispering to each other.
" I swear we're at the wrong school " Said Brenda. " We're in the right school ...it's just that kids our age are in the middle of adolesence-y " Said Jay. " In fact , I had a chicken little cartoon taped on the back of my uniform for the whole morning " Jay added. " We're basically at the bottom of the food chain " Krish said as she took a sip from her milk box. " I feel like such a loser when you said that " Brenda said.
" Then , whatever we won't be losers forever , this is highschool not a walk in a park. Besides , I'm just gonna report to Jay and Brenda that I made a new friend so, that's one over three baby " Said Patch with exaggerated gestures. Jay and Brend giggled as they watch their proud friend brag. " Who's the unlucky kid? " Brenda asked. " Queeny " Patch answered. Jay and Brenda laughed at her, even hitting the lunch table. " Queeny , the sweetheart. Oh, that's precious " Said Brenda. " She's been with us since we're kids and you just talked to her today, that's good , I'm proud of you babe " Said Jay, with a mischievous look , he raised his eyebrows at Patch.
" Did you just call her babe? " Krish and Brenda, glared at him as they asked at the same time. Patch just glared at him. " That'll be the last time because, the next time he does that, you'll only be a story that was so yesterday " Patch said as she walked away.
Krish gave a puzzled look while, the three just followed Patch with their sight. " Look at what you did Jay " Krish said. " Here's what you're gonna do, get your phone and set the timer to one minute and twenty seconds " He said. " Why? " She asked. " Just do it " Jay said, trying to act cool , eating his fries and silently, hoping that she'd do it. But, Krish did as Jay said. The timer went on as they continue with their lunch, Patch came back to table two seconds before the timer stops. " You guys are so quiet though " Patch said as she returned, taking a bite on the celery she got. " I told you homie!" Jay said referring to Krish. " You won " She said, stopping the timer on her phone. " Please don't tell me that you either tried to sell me or maybe, foretold a tall tale again " Patch said.
" Nahh, Krish got worried that you walked away when he babed you " Said Brenda. Patch giggled and she smiled at Krish " Don't worry about me, my frustrations has limitations " Said Patch.
During the lunch break, there was one particular scene that can be easily noticable. Brian.
He was there extremely quiet and silently observing the scene with a smile on his face, he was similar to Patch. He's friendly, just more social compared to Patch but, he's undeniably awkward although, he looks tough he's actually a nice guy.
What he doesn't know, Jay was also observing him that's why his babe joke, became a habit watching how Brian would react to it. Apparently, Brian was okay with it, he would just laugh at the humourous fellow as Jay likes to joke around and, has a lot of witty comments. Jay thought that maybe, Brian just thinks Patch is plain pretty, the type of pretty that maybe Brian's ideal type of physique. In which, causes a person to turn their heads incontrollably and unexpectedly like a habit. " Patch is pretty, huh? " Jay asked him. They were having a band practice for the worship service every friday and he noticed that Brian kept his eyes on Patch who's dancing. " Huh? Yeah, sure " Brian said, shifting his eyes to Jay, smiling. " Your smile is freaking me out " Jay said.
A month passed, they were surviving highschool so far , accepting the challenges of the elevated subject courses, every assignment , report and even bullies.
" Chicken, bok bok bok " The juniors and seniors made fun of Jay as he walked with Brian in the hallway. " Real classic guys, how is that not dead yet ?" He asked Brian. " That sort of became your title" Brian replied as they went into the room for Literature, Patch was already there noddin to the beat of the song she's listening to, she has her earphones on as usual with fall out boy playing.
It was time to report about a certain countries in literature, it was Patch's turn and she was called out by their professor. she stepped out front.
" So, I got French literature, Is there anyone here who knows any french? " Patch asked.
" French toast " Bill answered, he was from the back, considered the trouble maker in the bunch despite the good record that they have. Brian raised his hand shyly and Patch gestured at him. " Bonjour, Je m'apelle Brian " He said with confidence and feeling embarrassed afterwards. " You speak French? " Jay asked with a surprised expression. Brian nodded at him then he focused back on Patch who's in front. " Yes, Thank you for that Brian . See, French Literature digs more into the poet itself, which makes us discover more about them, what are the hardships they've encountered, heartbreak, pain and even, joy . I chose a poem about love and pain, moreover, it's basically about loving the pain with choosing to stay and wait although, the love you are waiting for, never came back. But, it doesn't specifically mean that, what if the old you never came back or opportunities, we tend to waste and wander, and that wandering makes us literal lost souls that forgot who we truly are and what ground we stand on. I'll read the poem entitled Le Pont Mirabeau by Guillaume Apollinaire which was released back in 1912."
Le Pont Mirabeau
Sous le pont Mirabeau coule la Seine
Et nos amours
Faut-il qu'il m'en souvienne
La joie venait toujours après la peine.
Vienne la nuit sonne l'heure
Les jours s'en vont je demeure
Les mains dans les mains restons face à face
Tandis que sousLe pont de nos bras passe
Des éternels regards l'onde si lasse
Vienne la nuit sonne l'heure
Les jours s'en vont je demeure
L'amour s'en va comme cette eau courante
L'amour s'en vaComme la vie est lente
Et comme l'Espérance est violente
Vienne la nuit sonne l'heure
Les jours s'en vont je demeure
Passent les jours et passent les semaines
Ni temps passé
Ni les amours reviennent
Sous le pont Mirabeau coule la Seine
Mirabeau Bridge - Translated by Richard Wilbur
Under the Mirabeau Bridge there flows the Seine
Must I recall
Our loves recall how then
After each sorrow joy came back again
Let night come on bells end the day
The days go by me still I stay
Hands joined and face to face let's stay just so
While underneath
The bridge of our arms shall go
Weary of endless looks the river's flow
Let night come on bells end the day
The days go by me still I stay
All love goes by as water to the sea
All love goes by
How slow life seems to me
How violent the hope of love can be
Let night come on bells end the day
The days go by me still I stay
The days the weeks pass by beyond our ken
Neither time past
Nor love comes back again
Under the Mirabeau Bridge there flows the Seine
Let night come on bells end the day
The days go by me still I stay
" You like Patch, You like her , you... you weasel why didn't you tell me?" Jay said, catching up to Brian who's smiling , holding onto one strap of his backpack that is clinged to his shoulder. Brian paused from walking, facing the ever so frustrated Jay, wearing his more frustrated expression as if he was betrayed by his best friend. " I would say that to you if it was true... I like Patch " He said, smiling as if he let go of one big debris that has been on his chest for quite some time now. " Why didn't you tell me? " Jay asked, still looking frustrated. " I wasn't sure that I liked her before, I know that you noticed me looking at her a lot cause, I think she's pretty...now, I like her more than that. " Said Brian. " Then, why aren't you doing anything ?" Jay asked, transforming into his normal dorky self, straightening his posture and adjusting his bag comfortably. " Gee, I don't know, ask her out! " Jay said in a sarcastic manner. " You think I should ask her out ?" Brian asked, Jay nodded and he smiled at him. " Brother, we are hunters " Jay said, wrapping his other arm around Brian. " Plus, we're highschool already, man up and ask the girl out " Jay said, leaning towards Brian. Brian didn't say anything but, he thought about it. Patch didn't seem like the girl who would go out on a date with him.
He kept looking at her that it is almost disturbing. Correction, He doesn't keep looking at her like a creepy stalker all the time, it's just that he would always get caught by Patch. And, it wa so obvious like back in lunch time, he kept eye contact with Patch the entire time that he was jamming with jay, it made Patch uncomfortable. Patch kept on wondering why, even looking at the mirror and studying her reflection, her physique, there is no way that he's be into her because of her personality. She poked her face and noticed how open her pores are, her nose is fine but it's not perfect, her lips are small and there's nothing special about it, she even felt her breasts and their not that big to cause someone to look at her with attraction. Her thighs well, their okay but, it does stand out in jeans and she doesn't have a thigh gap. She felt ridiculous as she started to pay attention to the parts of herself that she didn't even cared about before.
It was literature class again, Brian originally chose to sit behind Patch and Jay, he's also band mates with Jay however, he never felt anythig about any affection towards her, maybe she was just thinking about nonsense. But, everyone can tell when someone is looking at you.
" What's up Patchy? you look extra grumpy today " Jay said, as patch ignored him and walked extra lightning fast past Brian, not noticing that he was looking at her until she reached her chair. " For the record I am not grumpy, grumpy and quiet are two different things " Patch said, hanging her backpack behind her seat, having eye contact with a Brian who's smiling at her with cheerful eyes. Patch ignored him, not because she's a bitch but, she was really smiling although, it wasn't a thing that she practiced a lot, smiling physically.
" My friend you are not quiet at all " Jay said, annoying her with messing with her short hair, tangling his index finger in them. Patch shooed his finger away and said " I had big baby blue duties, it was so tiring man, he can't get over this Yeena girl " Patch whined, gluing her face to the desk that she and Jay shared.
" Love is dangerous...what can you say about that Bri-bri?" Jay shifted to Brian, causing Patch to sit up and shift to him as well brought by her curiosity. " What is love exactly, Jay ?" Brian asked.
" Love, my friend, is a vague space in everyone's anatomy that attracts one another and sets the world in harmony" Said Jay, with extravagant gestures as he look up the ceiling, envisioning every word he said. Brian giggled with his explanation but, Patch was too tired to react as much, she just smirked at him. Seconds later Patch's phone vibrated, she received a text from Nicolete informing her that blue almost burned their house down with his lighter. " WHAT THE FUCK " She blurted out. Jay gasped at the same time most of their classmates turned their heads until she realized how loud she cursed. And, what luck? - their professor just arrived and hear the huge F word and asked her student to write Patch's name on the bad list, which means that she has to clean the room for two weeks straight. " Woah " Brian reacted. Which caused the professor to say " The same thing goes for you Mr. Kang for sleeping in class " The professor said. He smiled in disbelief, he is a sleepy fellow and it is something he cannot deny. " Woah ,I don't want to be around you two right now " Jay said. And just like that, the clean record of the batch went into the sewers of everybody's souls. After that class, the news already set off to every classmate and batchmate, everyone kept whispering when Patch and Brian would walk into the hallway, even Jay tried to distance himself. " What are you doing?" Patch asked. " Everyone is talking, It's freaky "Jay said. " It's highschool, everyone does bad things in highschool, not everybody is pristine and everyone should know that " Patch argued as she dumped her books into her locker and, Jay was beside her. " I mean I know that ... You know what? whatever, Let's get wild and party ... maybe bend some rules " Jay said, Patch smiled at his invitation. She looked back at him with approval. " You know you should date sometime " Jay said. Patch giggled at what he said and scoffed. " I will not go out - out with you like that " Patch said. " Not with me but, with someone else ... I might go with someone else too, we're in high school like you said, we should try stupid things " Jay said. " I don't want to go on a date with someone right now or maybe ever " Patch said as she slammed her locker and walked away from Jay.
" YOU KNOW IT'S NOT FUN TO BE ALONE FOREVER " He yelled as she walked away. " I BEG TO DIFFER " She replied.
Patch was okay with the whole cleaning up homeroom thing as she likes to keep herself busy but, blue has gone too far this time. Sure, they can afford a new house and all but, it is the house they grew up in and it means alot to their family but, he is too careless to do so. Lunch time came, classes went on normally however, Patch has her mind in a trance everything was just too irritating. " I'll mop the floors you do whatever " She told brian as she slammed her stuff to a desk. " No, I'll do the mopping, their kept at the other building and that's a bit far " Said Brian. Patch walked up to him , glaring at him, staring right into his very soul, his eyes, his expressive eyes. " You know if only your eyes were dishonest I would say that you're gonna ditch me. But, okay go ahead get the mops...we'll just mop together or I'll come with you but, if you want to go home early fine by me " Patch said.
Brian giggled at her, smiling with this eyes. " Don't you have other stuff to do ?" Brian asked as he walked away and Patch followed him. " I have homework but, everyone has homework, I need to eat and sleep but, everyone does...now, I have to clean up the school and give the janitor a break which is fine by me so, I don't have other stuff to do" She said.
" You seem to be okay by a lot of things " Brian said. " Only with reasonable things, I try not to cause trouble but, I'm still human...like what happened earlier, I was just triggered" Patch asked. "And I'm just a sleepy person " Brian said. " How long have we been talking to each other ?" Patch paused from their walk to the other side of the building. " I'd say three minutes why " Brian said, and Patch didn't state the reason why. See, Patch made this rule with herself about not talking to guys for more than five minutes, Jay is an exception though. " I don't talk to guys for more than five minutes " She said. " You seem to talk to Jay a lot more than that, you like him?" Brian asked, they reached the utility room and Brian entered the room alone and grabbed the stuffs. Patch scoffed " Are you kidding? The boy practically lives next door we're like soul sisters " She said, not that Jay is gay or anything but, they known each other in forever but, not in a romantic way. " Then, what is the rationale ? " Brian asked. " I honestly don't know, I'm just not comfortable with it. That's why I made a stupid rule between me and blue back when I was a kid " She said, grabbing the other mop from Brian. " Blue? " Brian asked. " Yeah, my older brother " Patch replied. " It must be cool to have siblings, I'm an only child." Said Brian, they returned to the room and they started cleaning. " Not, if they are all Insane, and different breeds of Insane " Patch said as she started to mop the floor. Brian giggled with her remark, he then started to keep the conversation going with Patch not realizing that they have been talking for almost thirty minutes now. It was time to go home, they brought back the cleaning materials to the utility room and they bid farewell to each other by the gate and went opposite directions. They both went home with big smiles, actually having a good feeling towards each other, Patch shook the thought off her head though, still bugged about the whole breaking the Batch's legacy of having a clean record. The thought didn't leave her head as she went home to an empty house, she sighed as she entered and loneliness filled her once again.
Brian on the other hand, his smile never left his face. He kept on thinking about why he didn't notice Patch before, was he too busy at school and too busy adjusting to a new environment to notice Patch, true though. As one of the best students in their class, he maintained his marks. He went home to an empty house as well but, he wasn't lonely instead, he was happily tidying the house and making himself dinner before, doing his schoolwork and even, having time to play his guitar and sing by his bed before he retires, he just felt so inspired after the time he had with Patch.
" It's like I'm getting twenty years older as a day passes in this dreaded school" Said Jay. After what Patch pulled up in literature class, the batch got messed up but, in an expressive way. it's like animals broke off their cages, hair colors , kissing and bending the rules. They would smile at Patch as she passes by them, like thanking her for what she did instead of hating her, sometimes it does feel good to be bad. " Hey Dragon " Said Heath. " Hey person that I don't know " Patch replied as the freckly skater boy passed by her. Other than Brian the other people on the table teased Patch. " Ooh Heath Reynolds, hot guy " Krish said, biting her lips as she glanced at him. " I don't know him and I don't care " Brian smiled at Patch's statement. " He's a senior he propably wants your virginity " Krish said that made Jay burst into laughter. Patch had a disgusted facial expression as she took a bite on her sandwich. " It's funny cause it's true and it's funnier cause it's Patch" Jay said, choking from his own laughter. " It's true, seniors are like vultures " Brenda said. " Brenda please don't tell me that you did it " Patch said. Brenda shrugged as she took a sip on her orange juice box. " She's dating a sophomore " Bob said. " How come I didn't know about this? " Patch said, shifting to Brenda's side, all surprised. " Cause it's just new, I was gonna tell you but, you're probably gonna nag me about it." Brenda argued, Patch didn't say anything cause it's true. " Are you happy? " Patch sighed. Brenda raised both her eyebrows with a smirk as she took another sip. Patch smiled at her then, she didn't reply anymore, as she was about to put her earphones on jay interrupted her. " Patch, is there something you want right now? " Jay asked.
" Yeah, A puppy, why? " Patch asked as she clinged one earphone on her right ear. " I'll make you a deal, I'll give you any puppy you want if you survive one month without earphones " Jay said, with his mischievous smile. " Fuck it " Patch replied , putting both earphones on. " You wear glasses even though you already had surgery! You go one month without it and look ugly" Patch blurted out. " Fine, I can do that " Jay replied, all calm, removing his glasses without breaking eye contact from Patch. It was a battle of pride. " I do waaaaant a Puppy " Patch said, finally looking at Jay who's been looking at her. " Then go get one " Brenda said. " My stupid siblings are allergic " Patch said. " I can get you a puppy and it can live at my house " Jay said. " What do you want Jay?" Patch asked, getting annoyed yet about to accept the offer, although she knows that she cannot survive. " How about this, who ever gives up first will not get what they want, okay? If you win, you get a puppy, If I win...you'll be my girlfriend" Jay said, causing everybody to snap their necks, Brian felt nervous as heck, his expression is inexplicable. " Well, that makes me not want to lose...you know that I don't make decisions unless, my mood is fresh " Patch said, about to drawn in her earphones. " You know that I don't make deals in the early morning" Jay replied.
" Is it a deal? " Jay asked, offering his hand. Patch took another look at her earphones and Brenda, she even looked at Brian who's not looking at her. She drawed her earphones, shook Jay's hand. " Deal "