double dare ya // peterick

chapter two

the main things that patricia fears in life are 1) men and 2) being seen naked.

the locker room void of men (thank god) but filled with her second fear. the bathrooms are always full and she always feels like passing out when the senior girls flock to her side of the room.

because at her school a flock of seniors is never good, especially when petra is apart of it. all the girls in the locker room are pretty self assured, changing out in the open for everyone to see, but patricia can't work up the courage to get the hem of her shirt over her head. she wants to vomit. projectile all over the floor and then cry. she hates p.e. she hates it so much.

"are you okay? you've been staring at the floor tugging at your shirt. you look pale."

patricia doesn't look up because she knows the voice belongs to andy, the softspoken tomboy with red hair. andy isn't popular, she's just really nice. patricia swallows heavily and shrugs.

"im just shy" she tells her, her eyes still downcast.

andy's brown eyes bore into her still, as if she's searching for a reason why patricia doesn't want to take off her shirt. there's an obvious reason—she's fat and she hates her body. she hates her skin, and she sure as hell doesn't want to share it with the world.

"you can change behind me," andy suggests, "i'll block any on lookers. i promise."

patricia glances up at her, and she's met with andy's soft grin and kind eyes. patricia tries to smile back, and agrees.

"okay! i'm andy hurley by the way." she introduces, while the blonde strips behind her. "i've never seen you here. are you new?"

"no, just invisible," she replies, her voice muffled by the t shirt she's currently putting over her head. "i'm patricia stump, and ive been going her since freshman year."

patricia can feel andy's embarrassment, andy usually knows everyone and everyone usually knows andy. that's how it worked. she not knowing somebody was quite rare.

"oh—i'm sorry! i just th—"

"its okay," the blonde assures, finally fully dressed, "i prefer being a ghost—no second glances are good for the soul."

andy smiles at her, it's a sad smile that screams pity and sympathy. "it was nice meeting you, patricia."

"you too, andy."

*

"line up, girls," coach woods shouts, followed by a shrill blowing of a whistle. it's tuesday—which means cardio under the hot sun. patricia is melting in her sweatpants and michael jackson shirt.

"stump, i want you to push yourself!" coach tells her, in front of the entire class. her face goes bright red and she looks at her beaten up converse. avoiding any eye contact.

the whistle blows are patricia starts jogging, a tune plays in her head and distracts her from her already burning lungs and tired feet.

"you know, you shouldn't let him push you around like that."

andy's back and patricia is losing her patience.

she tries to reply, but her asthma kicks in and she starts having a coughing fit. hacking up saliva and wheezing hard.

"oh shit!" andy exclaims, halting to a stop. her hands are placed firmly on the blondes shoulder, who's currently hunched over and dying.

"she has asthma, hurley!" another voice joins in, a part of patricias brain goes fuzzy when it registers as petra wentz.

petra offers her water and patricia downs half of it. stupid,stupid,stupid! why didn't she take her inhaler?

"s-sorry" patricia says, followed by more coughing. her lungs have betrayed her yet again,god fucking damnit!!

"why are you apologizing?" petra asks, bewildered. her perfectly arched eyebrows are furrowed in confusion. "you didn't do anything wrong?"

patricia calms down a bit, she takes a deep breath and says, "i'm sorry"

petra laughs.

"andy, who is this chick?—she's great!"

andy smiles, "i met her at the beginning of the period, she's the sweetest thing!"

"i'm a junior, not a baby," patricia defends, crossing her arms over her chest.

petra smiles wide at her remark, her signature shark tooth grin that's almost always genuine, "what's your name?"

"patricia,"

the dark haired girl smiles wider, "i'm petra. it's good to meet you, tricia."

oh, patricia hates nicknames. more than she hates anything else, "actually, it's just patricia."

"huh, okay 'just patricia,'"

the blonde huffs, "act—"

"HURLEY, STUMP, WENTZ! QUIT YOUR GAGGLE! TWO MORE LAPS!"

*

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hey guys sorry these are so short I'll try and update everyday!