What's in your pencil case? (Patrick Hockstetter)

You Have Me (Part 24)

Now you're never gonna quit it, now you're never gonna quit it (Chocolate)

Her eyes threatening to close any second, she slouched in front of a stack of papers. Of course, with all the excitement about their little date she had completely forgotten about homework. And as soon as she came home she was overwhelmed with all her duties she had procrastinated. It was worth it though. A tired smile stretched across her face.

Finally she had finished all of the assignments. She yawned. Time for bed. But as she changed out of her clothes, a dreaded, crumbled up paper fell out. She had procrastinated looking at it. Perhaps she unconsciously knew that it would change things. Or perhaps it was just that her mind was occupied otherwise. Either way now, she decided with somehow trembling hands folding the paper apart, she would discover what Bowers really thought. And perhaps also why Patrick felt the need to destroy evidence of it.

What a nice bedtime story. She ironically thought, when she cuddled into her soft blanket. Straining to decipher the letters in the dim light her small night-light provided.

Please Miss except these poems, so they are late. Of course I am not your smartest pupil but I try really hard and did all of my work this year. Do not tell but Victor even tootured me like you said.  (He ain't allowed to look over these so, sorry for mistakes)

Except. She cringed, but scolded herself for being that critical soon enough. Actually his words kind of touched her. These sentences painted the picture of an insecure and innocent boy. One that absolutely didn't fit to her perception of Henry Bowers. And knowing that Patrick, no her and Patrick both, would be the reason for his failure only caused a sharp pang of guilt in her stomach. But now she was all the more curious what the poems said. Maybe Henry would for once really open up. She yawned despite herself. Maybe she should just read it tomorrow. That urgent feeling that had gotten her to delay reading it in the first place, made its presence known once more.

However, her curiosity won and left her squinting the paper with exhausted eyes. She was used to this after all. Desperately wanting to read something to the point of physical exhaustion. Her body telling her to stop, but her mind waging war with it. Just a little bit more. She told herself, as she attempted to decipher Bower's chicken scratch.

You wanna know how I am?

Honestly, no one's ever asked.

And jokes on you, you've got no proof that my words'd be true.

After all a Bowers always remains masked.

Really? That's it?  And there she was assuming he'd actually spill something personal. She moved to paper closer to her nightstand with the only light source left to recognize the following letters. I am toll? She vaguely deciphered, before her attention was captured by something else. How had she not noticed the neat package of chocolates on her nightstand earlier on? 

Why was there chocolate in the first place? Really she intuitively knew that it could have only come from one person. And soon enough she found her suspicion confirmed by a small note in a familiar handwriting.

You have me

Just three little words whose extent she couldn't quite grasp yet. She didn't comprehend the bigger context. The commitment behind it. Or what it truly meant that the "you" stood before "me". But even in her shallow understanding of Patrick's antics she sensed that this was more than just a mere present. No one could hold Patrick back, could make him put others before himself, or even possess part of him. She knew that much. Still, somehow she must have accomplished at least a part of that.

Driven from an overwhelming urge she carefully pulled the chocolate to her chest. Her feelings had taken control over her body. Too sweet. She could have sworn she felt her heart imploding in her chest. Spreading all it's warm and unprotected love throughout her body. Until she was reduced to a big mess of fluttery emotions vibrating inside of her.  His romantic gestures lulled her into a sickly sweet sense of adoration once more. Despite countless instances of his facade slipping, she was hooked on the taste of saccharine only he provided her with. Almost like an addiction that consumed her whole soul. And she was never gonna quit it. At least for now she definitely wasn't able to. Furtively, she nibbled on a chocolate bar, she had mindlessly ripped open. Bowers letter on her nightstand forgotten. Her addiction really was all too consuming.

And like a true addict her obsession didn't stop in reality, her dreams were haunted by these sickly sweet instances as well. Not that she would have deemed it that way. For once she fell asleep with an innocent smile playing on her lips, relishing in the sweetness of her seemingly harmless dreams.

The fluttery high of emotions lasted throughout the night, till the next morning with the chocolate bars on her bed the first thing her eyes perceived. The second thing however was her clock. Oh no! Within seconds she jumped up to get ready. Though in the back of her mind she wondered why her mother didn't wake her. However, in her rush she easily condemned that thought to the back of her mind. That was until she walked towards the kitchen. Something was off.

"Mum? Why didn't you wake me?", she called out, genuinely concerned. It was rare that her mother refrained from sticking to her routine. Especially after -

"You're too charming", she suddenly halted, perceiving her mother's laugh. What was happening? Did her mother have a...visitor over night? Her eyes widened at the thought.

"You're right! She should really be down by now, I'll get her", she added to the mysterious person. Curiously, she stuck her head into the kitchen. Her mother was talking to a rather corpulent boy, or man? She really couldn't recognize it just from his backside. But the way he was towering over her mother, admittedly a very petite woman, led her to believe it was the latter.

"Oh look! There she is!", her mother exclaimed in a high-pitched voice, she last heard her use about two years ago. Shoot! She had been spotted. Bringing a tortured smile on her face, she walked closer. At least now, she'd find out who exactly the stranger was.

A.N.: I wish all of you an amazing start in the new year, with much endurance and strength to carry on the good things you started in 2017, much luck for new opportunities for you to seize and of course the strength to leave bad/ toxic things behind! (And even though I'm redundant thank you once again for supporting me with my "second attempt at writing" this year and making me believe it when I say that cliche sentence "if you never try, you'll never know"!)

Also I'm sorry I have to dump all these loose threads at you to advance the plot -they only appear to be out of context now-... and for the sort of cliffhanger, but I'm sure you'll figure out who he is and maybe also why he's there!