Despite All Obstacles Part IV

Is He In Trouble?

After school.

The whole crew is in the library doing homework and studying. Patt has been real quiet and looking upset all this time. I wonder what's wrong.

"Hey, Patt. What's wrong?" I ask him, holding his shoulder to comfort.

"Everything. This school lets bad things happen to people who don't deserve it, and I'm sick of it," Patt quietly retorts without looking at anybody, because the librarian loves to shush people.

"Man, y'all should've seen him. He went in on Patricia. Exposed," bro excitedly whispers. Really? That was him? I guess Goldilocks set him off and didn't expect him to explode. I get up to hug Patt. He lets me.

"Did he get in some kind of trouble?" Shortcake asks, worrying. I wonder that too.

"I don't know. I hope not," bro says. I hope not too.

"Patt. I think you did the right thing. Even though I couldn't be there, I'll always be here," I say. I rock him to calm him down, like momma did to me when I got constant nightmares in preschool, and he lets me. He's not speaking, and I understand.

When we take a break from doing work, bro shows us a video of Patt speaking up against Goldilocks. They seem a little far away in the video, but bro zooms in to the conversation. It goes from Goldilocks trying to play nice to Goldilocks being completely exposed.

Shortcake and I are shocked, especially when Goldilocks exposed herself of never having a boyfriend, and what's worse is she's proud of being Matt's rebound. This girl has real issues. All three of us peek at Patt while he listens to angry rock music and doing his homework, angrily.

After the library closes, we stand outside in the hall. Patt finally speaks.

"I feel like I should've avoided the situation. I mean, the video does look adorable and sweet. She's not wrong about that. Two outcasts. A band geek nice enough to ask out the new girl from a different setting? Maybe I've overreacted." Patt regrets what he did to Goldilocks at lunch. I feel bad for him. Bro and Shortcake get closer to him.

"Patt bro, it's not your fault. You were annoyed and furious. Patricia is a bully. Did you read the caption?" Bro says to him. He nods. So, did I. It felt like she was making fun of us with her posse.

"What does the caption say? No one showed me the video. Neither did the mafia crew," Shortcake asks us, curiously.

"Their first date. Their first crush. Their first love. Their first kiss. And maybe their first. Awwwww," all bro, Patt and I mock the caption to Shortcake.

"And the title is called 'Young Love'," bro adds.

Shortcake doesn't seem to get it. "That sounds sweet. I know it was your first date that day and then you went on a second date. I know Patt doesn't have a crush on Gracie, but Gracie has a crush on him. But I'm not sure if you two ever kissed or done it."

She stares at the both of us funny. Bro's onto us too. Dang, and this's why Goldilocks need to mind her own business. I wanna yell at her too. "Well, is it true?"

Bro looks at us suspicious, moving beside her. "Yeah. Is it?"

Patt and I glance at each other. If we tell them that we kissed, they may think we have a thing together. The kiss was a one-time thing.

"I don't have a crush on him, no more," I tell both bro and Shortcake.

"We only went on a second date, and I dropped her home," Patt exaggerates.

"And we didn't do that," Patt and I accidentally blurt out at the same time. We even say it in a heartbeat, then peek at each other and turn back to bro and Shortcake.