The Emo Trinity/Quartet Book 2

Band Shorts: FOB Swimming Session

It was a cool evening in Chicago.  Patrick, Pete, Andy, and Joe had just finished a great concert, and were now relaxing in their hotel.  Specifically, the pool.

"Remember how Joe spun around? He almost ran into my drum set," Andy recapped.

"Yeah," Pete laughed, his voice echoing in the small room.  "It was like Thanks for the Memories or something."

"Thnks Fr Th Mmrs," Patrick corrected, pronouncing it without the vowel sounds.

"Yeah, yeah," Pete shrugged.  "Hey, our voices echo."

"Don't do it-" Patrick warned, but was cut off as Pete shouted, "ECHO!!"

"Echo, echo!" the room 'spoke' back to him as the sound reflected off the walls.

"Haha, that's fun!" Joe smiled.  "ECHO!"

Pete and Joe continued to yell out words, such as "HELLA MEGA!", "KERFLUFFLE!", "BAMBOOZLE!" "PATRICK STUMP IS AWESOME!", "SO IS ANDY HURLEY!", and various other phrases.

Patrick and Andy just dunked their heads underwater to block out the noise.

"Hey, Joe?" Pete asked, a knowing look on his face.

"Yeah?" Joe asked.

"I have a dare for you -- you're the only one of us who hasn't put his head underwater, so... I dare you to do a handstand underwater."

"I... but... my fro!" Joe protested, fluffing his hair with his slightly wet hands. 

"A dare IS a dare," Andy reasoned.

"Fiiiine..." Joe groaned, doing as Pete requested.  When he came up, his fro was, obviously, soaked, plastered to his head.  Pete let out a laugh, not used to seeing Joe's hair so damp.  Despite themselves, Patrick and Andy couldn't help but chuckle as well.

Joe gave an angry sigh.  "Alright, then, if that's how it's gonna be, then... Pete? I dare you to crabwalk underwater!"

"I... what? Okay," Pete shrugged, took a deep breath, and then plunged underwater.  After several minutes of struggling to stay under, he finally surfaced. 

"Geez, I can't," he gasped.  "It's impossible to stay under for that long, in time to get situated! It's like the water's pulling me up."

"That's because it is, technically," Patrick explained.  "It's a little thing called buoyancy."

"Since humans have air pockets in them -- as in, our lungs -- we're lighter than water, and tend to float up," Andy added.

"Since when did you two become scientists?" Joe asked.

"Since they realized how dumb you were," Pete teased.  "For all that hair you have, there's very little brain."

"Hey!" Joe lunged at Pete.  If the bassist had been further back, the water would have broken Joe's momentum, and he wouldn't have made it.  However, Pete was close enough for Joe to leap a short distance and tackle him through the water.

Pete landed on Joe and dragged him under.  Joe pushed him away, kicking Pete as he swam for good measure.  Pete ducked under the water and shot off the wall, grabbing Joe's legs.  Joe ducked underwater and attempted to pry Pete off.

"How long do you think this is going to last?" Patrick asked Andy.

"30 minutes.  Bet me.  If I'm right, you owe me $10." Andy said.

"Okay," Patrick said. 

Now, Pete and Joe had resorted to verbal insults.

"You fight like a... a weak person!"

"Oh yeah? Say that to my face!"

"I can't -- you're too short for me to see your eyes."

"OH, THAT DOES IT!"

Pete and Joe continued to wrestle.  At one point, Pete even climbed out of the pool and jumped onto Joe. 

"Here we have two emo men squabbling over petty reasons," Andy remarked, as if he were on a nature documentary.

"The rare Peter Wentz and Joseph Trohman," Patrick added.

Joe and Pete weren't even swimming at this point, just fighting each other in the water.  They started off just slapping each other like children, but moved on to scratching and biting.  Finally, Joe grabbed Pete from behind, but the bassist kicked him in the stomach and swam off.

"Where'd you learn that?" Joe asked, impressed but also rubbing his stomach in pain.

"A certain 'sweet little dude' taught me," Pete winked.

"Hey, hey! Do you two hear that?" Andy asked.  "It sounds like music."

Sure enough, it was.  Over the speakers, the boys could hear a familiar song playing.

"Had to have high high hopes for a living," Patrick sang quietly, althought it was louder due to the echo of the walls.  "Shooting for the stars when I couldn't make a killing."

"Didn't have a dime, but I always had a vision.." Pete joined in.

"Always had high, high hopes," Joe sang as well.

"Mama said, fulfill the prophecy, be something great. Go make a legacy, manifest destiny, back in the day, we wanted everything, wanted everything." Patrick, Pete, and Joe were surprised to hear Andy's melodic voice join in.

Soon, all four of them forgot their troubles and began to sing Brendon's song. 

After High Hopes concluded, Patrick asked, "Feel better now?"

"Yeah," Pete and Joe agreed, hugging each other in reconciliation.

"Hey, anyone wanna go back to the room?" Andy asked.

"Sure," Pete agreed.

Joe: "Alright."

Patrick: "Why not?"

The four climbed out of the pool, dried off, and headed back to their room, peace restored at last.