Sanity (Peterick)

13

Pete's POV

I have to tell Brendon. I know I told Patrick I wouldn't but I have to. It's been eating me away inside and I'm worried sick that Patrick's still doing it behind my back. I trust Patrick and all, but what he's doing is something you just can't "stop". Not all at once.

I search for Brendon in the hallways. I find him at the vending machine getting a snickers bar.

"Oh hey Pete, want a bite of my snickers bar?" He says as I approach him.

"No thanks man, but I gotta talk to you is that alright?"

"Yeah, but let's go to my office,"

We head back down the hall towards his office and through the doors.

"You like the new walls? I think it's fabulous," he said as he shut the door.

"Yeah, it really brings a nice vibe to the room,"

"Yeah that's exactly what I was thinking. Anyway, what's on your mind, bro?"

"Well, it's about Patrick,"

"Mm hm, go on,"

"Have you noticed his eating habits lately?"

"Um, no, I though he was fine. He never brought up anything like that in our sessions together,"

"He's been skipping meals a lot lately, and at times when I make sure he eats he's been throwing it back up."

"Oh my god, really? I really should have been paying attention Pete, I'm sorry,"

"It's alright, man, but he said that this has only been going on for like a week, so we can still stop it without being too intense,"

"Yeah I'm glad you told me, I'm gonna schedule another session real soon and we'll talk about this."

"Wait, Brendon, please don't mention that I was the one who told you. Patrick was afraid I would tell you, just incase you got angry,"

"Why would I be angry? I deal with this kind of stuff all the time, and I understand the struggle,"

"I know, Patrick's been trying to hide it from everybody, and he even thought I would be mad, and I'm his best friend,"

"Don't worry I will figure something out with him, okay? But I'm gonna need you to do me a big favor and keep a close eye on him at all times,"

"Will do, thanks Beebo,"

"No problem,"

I leave out the door and head out to lunch. In case you haven't noticed, there is really not much to do around here. Except there's the art room, where these two friends named Tyler and Josh always hang out. Like seriously, all the time. They only have that room because people kept complaining that it was too "boring" here and I wouldn't disagree. So far there have been no such incidents to occur there, in terms of people getting hurt. Honestly though, I'm not a huge fan of crafting.

Patrick POV

I've totally gotta start working on Pete's Christmas present soon. I'm thinking I should paint something. I don't really know how to paint, but maybe it won't be so hard. I start toward the art room, and I run into Pete.

"Oh hi, 'Trick, I was just heading to lunch, wanna join me?"

"Uh, I'm alright,"

"Patrick, we talked about this,"

"I know, but this time I've actually got something I gotta work on,"

"You're sure?"

"Yes,"

"Okay, but you are coming to dinner, understand?"

"Yes, mom,"

He laughs and he's off. I continue my way to the room and I'm greeted by to guys in the craft room. Ones got dyed red hair and small gauges, the other with brown hair and a button up shirt. They looked like some pretty "artsy" fellows.

Of course in the corner of the room are the supervisors, to make sure no one gets into trouble. But I'm more interested in these two art guys.

"Um, hi," I tried to greet the as I approached them. God, why am I so awkward.

"Hi dude, what's your name?" The red haired one said."

"Patrick,"

"Sick dude I'm Josh, and that's Tyler," he said pointing to the boy next to him. Tyler reached his hand out to shake and I politely did so. Same thing with Josh.

"So did you come here to paint?" Tyler said.

"Yeah, a Christmas present for a friend,"

"Is that friend anyone at the ward?" Josh asked.

"Yeah, it's Pete, do you know him?"

"Ohhh, Pete, yeah he's cool," Tyler said.

"Yeah we don't really know him too well but he seems cool," Josh said. "What are you thinking about painting, anyway?"

"Hmm.. I don't know yet, I gotta think.."

"Well I got the perfect canvas for you to start on, let me grab it," Josh said. He got up and went to the back of the art room, where there were several cabinets. He searched through them while Tyler continued to paint.

"What are you painting?" I asked him.

"I don't really know, I just like to paint how I feel, you know?" His painting had colors in all different shapes on it, it was really abstract. It was filled with mostly blues and reds, really makes me wonder how this dude feels.

"I know what you mean,"

"Found it!" Josh said shouted from the back.
Tyler and I turned around. It was a blank canvas that was roughly 2 feet tall.

"Yes, that's a good one," Tyler said.

Josh set it on an easel and told me to sit down. There was already a pencil set on the easel, so I picked it up and started to think.

I thought about what Pete likes. He likes the color black, I know that. I guess he might like "hardcore" things, but how could I ever paint something "hardcore"?
Just a bunch of blood and monsters and stuff? I don't know.

The I remember that little bat thing he drew on my hand that one time. That might be a nice thing to paint. And it's not that difficult, I suppose.

I don't really like to draw in front of people, but I did anyway. Not like I could draw anywhere else.

I started to sketch out the bat-heart from memory. It kinda looks lop-sided at first, so I tried to shape it up. I finished the sketch up and it was pretty simple looking, I might want to add something else later.

Tyler leaned over to see, "Oooh, I like it," he said,

"Me too, it's so dark and mysterious looking," Josh said whilst smiling. It was kind of funny to me the way he described it. 'Dark and mysterious' does kind of remind me of Pete, so maybe I was heading in the right direction.

*****

I held the finished product in my hands. Though I was unsure, I put it under my bed, in a box that I found in the art room. I wrote a note on it that read "do not open before Christmas" just in case Pete found it.

Authors note

Sorry that this chapter is not as long as it could've been, I rushed a bit because I need to get the Christmas chapter done fast, before Christmas is over. Next chapter should be here shortly.

Xoxo