it's the end of the world as we know it » peterick

★ f o u r ★

"wentz, my man!"

as pete stepped across the threshold of clifton's lackluster entryway, he was greeted by his fellow jocks as well as his best friend, joe trohman. the football player grinned weakly at them, hoping none would note the lack of a certain presence by his side.

alas, the world was not so fair. as they began to trek down the hallway, kellin quinn - an annoying little freshman who'd barely made it onto the team by the skin of his teeth - clicked his tongue and promptly asked in his squeaky voice, "where's your girlfriend?"

"oh yeah," several of his peers murmured, their eyebrows raising at the sudden realization. pete tensed, unsure if he ought to lie about his situation or come clean with the truth and let the school run rampant with the information.

last time you lied, it didn't work out very well, a bitter thought in the back of the boy's head uttered, and he shook his head, knowing fully that, while lying was the most fun one could have without taking their clothes off, it was not the best thing to do in terms of consequences. with a sigh, pete hesitantly admitted that yes - meagan and him had broken up, yet he did not include the reason for the decision.

"shit," joe declared, stopping in his tracks and facing his friend. "dude, why didn't you tell me?"

pete shrugged, feeling guilty about not telling joe firsthand. as part of their close friendship that they'd had over the course of several long years, the two promised each other that they would inform one another if anything particularly significant had gone down - like for example, a break-up between a high school power couple. seeing patrick must've fucked with my train of thought.

and lo and behold did the photographer appear before them. he was staring down at the ground fiercely, crossing through the intersection of four jam-packed hallways. one of the jocks in pete's posse whistled, bringing in the attention of those surrounding.

"if it isn't the fucking perv of clifton!" the aforementioned football player, bob bryar, exclaimed, earning a laugh from the student body and causing the agitated strawberry blonde to turn red with anger. "hey fucker, you're not supposed to be within five hundred feet of my boy pete here."

"shut the fuck up, dickhead," pete snapped, glaring ferociously at bob. a shocked hush fell over those within earshot, and several onlooker's jaws' dropped. bob raised his eyebrows, taken aback himself, but pursed his lips and looked the other way as pete turned back around, eyes searching for patrick. the boy had stomped off, in the opposite direction, radiating waves of humiliation and infuriation with each vigorous step.

"alright, look, i've got to get to class," pete said distractedly, addressing his little crew. "i'll see you guys at practice?" without another word, he took off after the photographer, failing to see the bewildered reactions of his so-called friends.

joe in particular seemed worried by the way his best friend was acting, watching with vague concern as his figure disappeared amongst the horde of classmates. shaking his head, joe reminded himself to ask pete about the meagan situation privately - without the brash company listening in.

speaking of which, pete was in the midst of weaving through the clogged crowd, barely keeping the view of patrick in his line of sight. eventually the throng thinned out, leaving the jock enough space to catch up to the strawberry blonde.

"patrick - "

the usually timid boy whirled around, seething with pure hatred. "what the fuck do you want? didn't you hear your fucking friend? last i checked, i was supposed to be far away from your sorry ass!"

with his soft voice now raised and hardened by fury, the students surrounding them had stopped all conversation and seemed to pivot as the two enemies faced each other. the air was tense and thick, and it was in that moment that pete almost fleed, practically intimidated by not only the eyes observing them but also the obvious rage flooding from patrick's being.