Patrick Stump and the Flying Car Brigade

Chapter 47

Chapter 47

"What's going on, Pete?" I asked, looking into his deep brown eyes which were, as usual, rimmed by a whole lot of eyeliner. A little miracle of sunlight landed on his eyes, but even though the eyes were supposedly the windows to the soul, I still couldn't tell what he was thinking.

Pete sighed and said, "It's not me, it's you. Actually, it's the taxidermy of you and me..."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

All of a sudden, Pete began to cry. His makeup streamed down his face. I tried to put my arms around him, but he pushed me away. "It's okay, Trick," he said. "I can do this. We need to break up, Lunchbox."

I didn't know what to say. My worst nightmares had finally come true. It truly was an impossible year, and Pete and I wouldn't be together for it. I stared at him in shock for a second before I finally willed myself into asking him my biggest question, other than why he had just called me "Lunchbox" if he was breaking up with me.

"Why do you want to break up?" I asked.

"It's complicated," Pete said, looking up at me. "The biggest reason is that I don't want you to get hurt. You almost died today, and I can't go through that again. These are troubled times, Trick, so it's best not to get too emotionally attached."

"So you don't love me like you did yesterday," I said bitterly.

"No, that's not true at all," Pete said. "I still love you. I just can't be too close to you right now."

"I love you, Pete," I said. "I'm trying to picture me without you, but I can't."

"You'll get over me someday," Pete said. "If we get through this, then you'll find someone else, or maybe we could even get back together. I just can't be with you right now."

"I don't think this is the way to do this," I said, hoping to change his mind. "I need you."

"Trick, I love you, and I'm sorry that it has to be this way, but I can't do this anymore," Pete said. He shook his head, dried his tears, and started reapplying his eyeliner. He slowly began to walk away, ignoring me even as I called his name. This is it, I thought. It's over. Two years of a beautiful relationship had been washed away by a hurricane. There was nothing that I could do to save it.

I trudged down the stairs, still shocked and saddened by everything Pete had said. What was best for him was certainly not what was best for me. Even though Pete seemed to be almost as hurt as I was, it seemed that none of my dreams could ever come true. Nearly all of them involved Pete in some way. We would never get married, have a family, or grow old together. I couldn't imagine doing any of those things with anyone else.

All of a sudden, Joe came up to me. "Patrick, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Pete broke up with me," I told him.

"Why?" Joe asked. "You two seemed to be doing fine."

"He's scared that something's going to happen to me, and he doesn't want to be too close to me when that happens," I explained. "I just miss him."

"It's going to be okay," Joe said. "I'll always be here for you, along with the rest of the Flying Car Brigade."

"Thanks Joe," I said.

"You're welcome," Joe said. "It's what friends are for. You've had a rough day. Do you want to go to the library? If not, we could go to the Quidditch field and fly around."

"No, I think I'm going to bed," I said.

"So long and goodnight, Patrick," Joe said. I waved to him and continued down the staircase. When I got to the bottom of the staircase, I crossed through the Great Hall and went to the stack of barrels that marked the entrance to the Hufflepuff Common Room. I tapped the centre barrel in the rhythm of "Helga Hufflepuff," and the passage to the common room opened. Finally, I crawled into the common room.

Once I was in the Hufflepuff Common Room, I went straight to the dormitories. It was just past eight, and I should have been feeling young and reckless, but Joe was right. I had certainly had a long day. I had found out that I was wanted by the Ministry of Magic, I was nearly killed by a mirror, and my boyfriend had broken up with me. It was a wonder that I was still alive after all of this.

Miss Jackson stopped me on my way to the dormitories and asked about what had happened. Once again, I explained it all. She tried to help, but at this point, nothing could help. I was hopeless.

After a short conversation with Miss Jackson, I entered the dormitories. all I could think about was how much I missed Pete. As I pulled my patchwork quilt over my body, took off my glasses, and lay in bed, I could only see his face. Already, I only wanted him back. The pain was too much to bear.

I shut my eyes, hoping that the horrors of the night would melt away. Maybe sleep would give me some sort of refuge from the terrible things that were happening in the world. As I drifted off to sleep, I promised myself that I was not okay.