The next thing I knew was that I was standing in Patrick's room, which was covered in tons of movie posters like Star Wars, Jaws, and…Moulin rouge…Okay, that was a little on the stranger side of things but I liked the movie too so it wouldn't be that weird. But later on during the nighttime, Andy, Patrick, Joe, Pete, and I were chilling in his room when Patrick suddenly asked, "Have you ever played "I never"?" "No. What is it?" I questioned. He then explained that it's when a bunch of people sit in a circle and take a turn of saying something they never did and if someone in the circle has done that, they have to take a drink. Sounds easy. It wasn't. Patrick then brings out a large bottle of Jack Daniels and pours us all a glass full. "Uh, I'm a light weight though…this could get pretty ugly," I said to Patrick when he got done pouring mine. He smiled awkwardly and sat down across from me. Andy smirked and said to Patrick, Pete, and Joe, "That means you have the right to take advantage of her when she passes out."
"What?" I said loudly, "You're not going to let them take advantage of me, are you?" He had a mischievous look on his face, then he smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't let them do anything explicit…but that doesn't mean I won't let them have fun though."
"Let's start!" Patrick said before I had the chance to freak out. He held his glass up and said, "I've never had a girlfriend that didn't last more than a month!" Pete took a drink. Andy than laughed and said, "Pete, you loser!"
Then it was Pete's turn. He smiled widely and said, "I never lived in Milwaukee!" I sighed and took a drink. Wow, it was really strong. Eek, it was now Joe's turn. He looked over at me and proudly said, "I've never fallen down the stairs!" Crap, I suck at this game. I took another drink and saw Pete do the same, seeing as he knew his stairs were too steep. It was Andy's turn now. He exhaled and said, "I've never had experimentation with my sexuality!"
Pete looks around and notices that everyone is staring at him. Then he sighs and take a drink and mumbles, "You guys suck…" Woohoo! My turn! I smiled and said, "I never caught myself looking at the other people changing in the locker rooms during high school." Every guy takes a drink. I shake my head and say, "Naughty boys! Don't you know curiosity killed the cat?" They all moaned as we continued to play until one of us passed out. Ironically, it wasn't me. It turned out to be Andy and Pete. Ha. But I admit that I was pretty wasted.
My vision had become so messed up that when I tried to stand up, I merely stumbled out of the door. Patrick and Joe both followed me to make sure I wasn't going to fall down any stairs. Later after everyone had gone to sleep and/or passed out, I stayed awake sitting on Patrick's spare bed. I was watching Patrick sleep because I had been so drunk that I basically was having a one-night infatuation, or at least, that's what I thought it was.
I found myself moving closer towards him until I was so close to his face that I could feel him breathing against my cheek. I then started to mumble his name under my breath until he moved off of his side and laid flat with his head towards the ceiling. This made it easier so I could simply lie on top of him and listen to his heartbeat. I had become so comfortable on him that I had slowly gotten closer to sleeping…and that's when I felt his arms around the small of my back, holding me close. It was just like a dream…then I closed my eyes and drifted into sleep.
I woke up the next morning snuggled closely to a pillow that had rainbows and little pink bunnies on it. I poked my head out from under the covers and saw that the room was empty. "Was last night a dream?" I wondered aloud as I scooted to the side of the bed and placed my feet on the floor. I rubbed my head and tried to smooth out my hair as I got up and looked for any sign of life. That's when I heard a familiar voice. It was Patrick…and he was singing! It sounded like show tunes though…
I stepped out into the hallway and walked towards the bathroom and screamed at the sight of Patrick, in a black tee and boxers, brushing his teeth. He paused from his singing and started to choke on toothpaste and spit after being startled by my intrusion to his private morning process. No longer wanting to stand there, I ran back to his room and threw myself on the bed and under the covers to hide my red cheeks. I then peeked out and saw him sit down on the bed and nervously say, "Hey."
There was a few moments of silence that made me feel the need to say something "I'm sorry about how I acted last night…I really don't know you and it was wrong of me to pull stunts like that. I don't want to make it weird for anyone, especially for me and you," I said seriously.
"Don't apologize to me, it's nothing really. Besides, we were all too drunk to know what was going on," he said with a laugh. A smile perked in the side of my cheek as I stepped off the bed and said, "Well, I'm going to go downstairs but before I do, I must say something important," then I looked down at Patrick, and slapped him on the arm and said, "Put some clothes on, mister!" "Yes maam!" he said while saluting me. Then he got up and hopped towards his closet and then turned around and gave me a funny look. Then it came to me that he wanted me to get out so he can have his privacy. I laughed which made him smile and then walked out and ended up in the downstairs living room sitting between Andy and Joe, who were in the middle of a huge battle in Halo 2.
"Oh come on, that was so cheap!" cried Andy in loss after about 3 rounds of losing. I then asked, "Can I play?" Their eyes widened and the room grew silent. I frowned and asked, "What?"
"A girl who likes video games?" Joe asked before surprising Andy with a very interesting comment, "Andy, I'm marrying your sister." Andy then yelled, "Dude, that'd mean we'd be like related! Disgusting!" before punching Joe on the arm. Now remember that I'm sitting in the middle of the two, meaning I have to duck so I don't get beat on the head.
"Hey, knock it off! Which one of you pussies want to go head to head with me?" I said, breaking the two up. Joe then said, "That's some naughty language you've got there. Andrew! Look what you've done!" "I didn't do anything!" Andy yelled in reply and the next thing I knew was the two had taken their shirts off and were on the floor wrestling. I rolled my eyes and said, "Immature boys…" I picked up the controller and yelled, "Who has the guts to try and beat me?"
"I do," said a voice from behind me, which made me look up and into the eyes of Patrick, which startled me a bit, I must say. "Oh, okay then," I said looking down at the controller as he jumps over the back of the couch to sit next to me, but ends up on the floor.
"Wow, that was some great coordination for a musician," I say with a laugh due to the look of his blushing face as he sat on the couch. "Alright, lets get it on!" was all he said before we virtually dueled out for the title of Halo champion. Nearly a half hour later of competitive remarks and serious hand eye coordination, the battle finally came to an end. "Oh my god!" he screamed as he stood up and did a victory dance. Andy jumps up from the floor, where he'd been watching the fight thoroughly, and yelled "Little sister, shield your eyes!" He then came towards me as if he was going to tackle me, but stopped right as I covered my eyes. I peeked through my fingers and saw Patrick smiling with his foot sticking out and Andy on the floor with his face in the carpet. My mouth fell open as I said, "That's mean! Why'd you trip him?" He looked down shyly and said, "He was making fun of my leprechaun dance…" I started to laugh really hard as he smiled casually and pushed his glasses up the rim of his nose.
"I want chocolate milk all of a sudden…" I randomly said as Andy jumped up and screamed, "Oh my gosh! We have to get some!" Then at the same time, we both gave a long stare at Patrick, who awkwardly said, "Guys…? Oh my god, what are you doing?" as we lifted him up and led him to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator revealing no milk or chocolate syrup.
"I demand that you go and buy some!" said Andy. Patrick looked at him like he was crazy and said, "and what makes you think I have money?"
"All my hope just died. I hope you're happy," I said pretending to be angry. Of course, I was just messing around. I decided to change the subject. "So when are you guys going to start having more shows in front of people?" I asked. Andy shrugged and Patrick stared at the ceiling and said, "I really don't know. I'm not really sure if I'm over the performance anxiety thing yet. I've never been the singer in a band before. I mean, I used to be a drummer. Why am I the lead singer now? I've never had voice lessons or anything."
"Really? I cannot imagine that. Your voice is amazing, Patrick," I said out of honesty. He winced, obviously because he wasn't used to compliments, and said, " Do you really mean that? I mean, I heard it from a lot of people but I still find it incredibly hard to believe."
"Yeah I understand what you mean. Um…if you ever get famous, I'd get to be the band photographer right?" I joked around, not expecting him to take anything serious by the remark. Patrick obviously didn't see the joke side of it.
"Oh wow! Yeah, that'd be so cool! So you take pictures, huh? That's really cool. So what are you planning on doing with this hobby of yours? Do you use models or take pictures of landscapes and stuff?" He asked, suddenly enthused by the topic of the conversation.
"Well, I do a little of both. I'm really into conceptual photography because it really deepens the artistic anxiety for the message underneath it all. I mean, you take a simple object or movement and portray it so it has a whole other meaning. It's so…" I trailed off when I noticed Andy staring at me dumbly as if he had no idea what I was talking about. I then looked at Patrick, who was shockingly still listening. I then sighed and said, "Sorry, I'm such a nerd when it comes to my camera…" His eyes widened as he said, "Oh no, I like to hear you talk about the things you love. I mean, if I talked about the things I loved, I'd be afraid you'd be bored to death. It's great that you'll talk about stuff like that." He smiled in a sweet way that made my heart beat faster (corny, I know but it seriously did). We made eye contact for a few seconds while saying nothing, but unfortunately the silence was broken by Andy standing between us and saying, "Well, I hope I'm not INTERUPTING anything but I'd prefer if you don't stare at each other because it's honestly creeping the hell out of me!" I sighed and said, "So, what are we going to do other than hang out at Patrick's house? I personally would like to go on a walk. Do you know any parks around here, Patrick?"
"Yes, I do know this awesome one by the river! The leaves are changing color too so it should make for some pretty pictures," said Patrick. I smiled and said, "Don't forget a scarf! It's a little chilly outside." He grinned and ran upstairs and came down wearing a black and gray striped scarf with a black jacket and Jack Skellington gloves. He flung off his glasses and tossed them towards the table and noticed my questionable look. "I don't want to look any more nerdy than I already do," he said with giddy laugh. I then looked over and saw Andy standing there blankly staring at the door. "Andy, aren't you coming too?" I asked, hoping it'd make him come back to life. It didn't. He shook his head and said, "Wow, I just got a really bad urge to play Halo 2. You two go ahead and have a nice time. Come back fully dressed is all I ask." My jaw dropped at his statement and said, "That's not very nice…pervert." Patrick just laughed, because he hadn't seen Andy wink at me, and walked towards the door, where we walked out and paced a few blocks before I realized that I was really cold. I started to rub my arms to try to keep warm.
"Nathalie, aren't you cold? Here, take my jacket, I'm plenty warm enough," he said while taking off his jacket and handing it to me before I could reject his offer. I giggled after realizing how baggy it was on me.
"Silly girl, how could you not bring something warmer? It's Wilmette weather, come on!" he said with a smirk. I punched his on the arm and rolled my eyes. When we reached the park, I gasped at how beautiful the park was. It was covered with orange and yellow trees that left a remarkable reflection on the glorious river that flowed through. On the top of the hill was an old tire swing that swung in circles every time the wind picked up. All I knew was that I wanted to be up there. I grabbed Patrick's arm and started running up the hill. It was a lot bigger than I thought it was though, because I'd only made it halfway up before I was gasping for air. But after a few rest stops, I made it up there and practically dove at the swing that simply screamed for a photo. "Patrick, go and sit on that swing, okay?" I told him as I ran a little way and picked up my camera. "Wait, you're not going to take a picture of me, are you?" he asked, suddenly cautious. I made a face and said, "Don't mind me, just be yourself. You really do make the perfect portrait." He awkwardly positioned himself on the swing and rocked it a little to make for a better image. He made a relaxed smile as he looked down at me. I took a snapshot of him, and turned my back to see how it looked, when I heard him scream.
"Nathalie, help! Help me!" he cried, as I covered my eyes with my hands, since the sun made it so I couldn't see what happened. I ran towards the swing and saw his legs dangling up and over the tire, and the rest of his body stuck inside of it.
"You klutz!" I laughed and grabbed his hand to help him out. "This wasn't my fault! The wind did it to me! I swear it came out of nowhere!" he yelled at me as the wind became stronger and made it so I couldn't hear him anymore. Dark clouds rolled into the sky as I realized it was starting to rain. Such random weather they had out here. I grabbed Patrick's hand and started to run down the hill, when it started pouring water and it was hard to see anything. The river at the bottom of the hill was making huge waves due to the excess amount of wind that had risen. We ran home, soaked from the rain, and stood on Patrick's front porch shivering.
"Oh god, Patrick, you're going to get sick now!" I said concerned. He shook his head and said, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." But he still shivered ferociously. So I embraced him and tried to keep him warm, seeing as the guys at home thought it'd be funny to lock us out. Assholes. "Thank you," he whispered in my ear.