Good news! I actually know what's going to happen in the next few chapters! Yay me! I'm trying to update faster, but this isolation has not been good for my mental health. But I hope that writing a lot will help. Anyway, enough of my rambling.

Chapter 17 – A Friend in Need

It was a week later on Friday when I got a sudden text from Pete. I was lying in my bed when I got the text.

PETE: Hey Firkle, I need to talk to you. On my way to your house now.

I stared at the message, wondering what in the world he could want to talk about. With a sigh, I put my phone down, deciding not to ponder it too much. Usually, Pete texts when he gets to my house, so I was not expecting it when there was a sudden knock on my bedroom door. Startled, I scrambled out of my bed and went over to the door, opening it just a peak to make sure it wasn't my obnoxious siblings. Thankfully, it was only Pete, and I opened the door to let him in.

"Hey," I greeted, "Why didn't you text me to let me know you got here?"

Pete shrugged his shoulders. "I was distracted, I guess," he replied. He walked over to my bed and slumped down on it. I went over and sat beside him.

"What's wrong?" I asked, "You look bummed out more than usual." He let out a long sigh.

"I messed up, Firkle," he muttered, "I messed up so badly. I'll never be able to be called a goth again without feeling shame."

"What did you do?" I wondered, starting to grow really concerned, "Dance to a Brittany Spears album?"

"No, worse," he grumbled, putting an arm over his face, "I… I slept with Mike."

Immediately, I scrambled off the bed in shock and stared at him, wide-eyed. My mouth hung open and I had no idea what to say.

"Y-You slept with Mike!?" I repeated in surprise, "Why would you do that? We hate Mike!"

"I didn't do it on purpose!" he claimed, "He got me drunk and took advantage of me! It started off as just kissing and before I knew it we were in bed together!"

"That's no excuse, Pete," I scolded, "You shouldn't have been drinking in the first place, especially with a loser like Mike!"

"I know," he sighed, "But now he thinks we're an item or something and he won't leave me alone. I was hoping that if he didn't see me for a few days he would realize I wasn't actually interested. So, um, can I stay with you for the weekend?"

"I guess," I replied, shrugging, "I don't have anything going on."

"Thank you," he murmured. I went over and sat down next to him again. "So, what were you doing before I got here?"

"Nothing," I replied, "I already finished my homework for Monday. Ike is coming over tomorrow so we can work on a project for one of our classes."

"Oh," Pete muttered. I turned and gave him a look.

"Pete," I said seriously, "Do you have a problem with Ike or something?" He stiffened.

"Well," he started, "It's more of I don't trust him. He stalked you and left you weird notes. He seems kind of obsessed with you, to be honest. Not to mention he got you to go to that disastrous party. He just seems to be around you way too much."

I gave him a side look and bit my bottom lip. "He's just helping me with my homework," I pointed out, "As for the other things, I don't know what was up with that. But here's the thing…" I paused a moment to collect myself, "Ike is the only person my age who's willing to talk to me or hang out with me. And I love you guys, but when you get busy with college or other things it can get pretty lonely. Plus, you guys can't be there during the school day. So, it's nice to have someone to talk to and help me."

Pete didn't say anything but simply stared up at the ceiling. I sighed and laid down beside him.

"So, you're staying for the weekend?" I reiterated, "You have any plans?"

"Not really," he admitted, "Usually on weekends if we're not all hanging out, Michael and I just hang out in our dorm room and smoke a lot."

"Yeah, that sounds about right." I got off my bed and went over to my mini fridge. I had shoved various snacks and drinks into it including a few cold coffees. I got a coffee for both of us and walked back over, handing one to him.

"Thanks," he said.

We basically spent the rest of the day in my room drinking coffee and talking about life. When it started getting dark out I went over to my vanity to remove my make-up as Pete watched.

"You know what would probably be a better idea to getting rid of Mike than hiding in my house?" I said to Pete with a sudden thought, "Telling him you're not interested."

Pete scoffed. "Yeah, that's not happening," he huffed, "That would involve talking to him."

"That is generally how these things work, yes."

"Then let me explain to you the ways of an introverted goth."

I sighed and rolled my eyes as I finished taking off my lipstick. "You can't avoid every confrontation with the 'I'm an introvert' excuse, you know," I told him.

"Yes, I can," he shot back.

Again, I sighed. My friends could be really stubborn. I went over to the bed and settled in beside him. "Well, good night," I murmured before turning off the light.

I heard him say something that sounded like "good night," but I wasn't really sure. I was pretty much out the moment my head hit the pillow anyway.

…

Ike had said he would be by in the afternoon. Which meant by the time Pete, and I woke up the next day I only had enough time to put my make-up on before he arrived. I didn't mean to jostle Pete as I got out of bed, but I guess I did, because he yawned and sat up as I went over to my vanity.

"Ugh, it's too early in the morning to be up," he muttered.

"It's the afternoon," I pointed out as I applied my eyeliner.

"It's too early in the afternoon to be up," he adjusted. I laughed lightly under my breath.

"Do you think maybe we should try to have better sleeping schedules?" I proposed to him. He gasped loudly in an exaggerated manner.

"Don't even say something crazy like that!" he breathed. This time I laughed louder.

"Yeah, ok," I chuckled.

I had just finished applying my make up when I got a text from Ike telling me he was on his way over. I texted him back before setting my phone down.

"Ike's on his way over," I warned Pete. He shrugged his shoulders from where he still laid on the bed. I rolled my eyes. "Please try to get along."

"Fine," he said simply. He sat up and looked at me. "What's your guy's project about?"

"Toxic Masculinity," I replied, "We wanted to show those stupid football players that they aren't as great as they think they are. But in a subtle way that hopefully won't get us beat up. It was Ike's idea and I liked it."

Pete bit his lower lip and looked away slightly. "Well ok, if you think that's a good idea…" he muttered.

"It was either that or 'Bikini Girls Gone Wild.' Also Ike's idea," I said. A loud snort came from my friend and a hand rushed to his face. "What was that?"

"A painful attempt to hold in a laugh," he groaned. I laughed at his pain.

A minute later Ike texted me saying he had arrived, and I went downstairs to let him in. "Hey Ike," I greeted, "Ready to get started?"

"Yup!" Ike replied enthusiastically.

"Um, just a warning before we get to my room," I said, stopping in my tracks, "Pete is here, and he's… not in the best mood."

"Why? What happened?" Ike wondered.

"It's complicated," I sighed, "He shouldn't bother us." If he knows what's good for him, I added silently. We climbed the rest of the way to my room. Pete was still on my bed where I had left him.

"Hey!" Ike greeted politely. Pete merely tipped his head in reply. I tried not to roll my eyes. I know goths aren't supposed to be the nicest, but he could at least not act like an ass.

We went over to my couch and Ike pulled out his laptop. As we started researching, I was painfully aware of Pete staring at us from the bed the entire time. I would say it didn't make me nervous, but it made me nervous.

Thankfully, Pete remained quiet the entire time we worked. Frankly, I forgot he was there for a while. At some point my back started to hurt. Even with a table, sitting still for too long was not good for me.

"Hey, I'm going to get something for my back," I informed Ike, standing up, "I'll be right back."

I left the room and snuck into the bathroom where we kept all the medications and over the counter drugs. I popped a few pills and swallowed them down with some water.

When I got back to my room, Ike was packing up his stuff. I gave him a confused look.

"Where are you going?" I asked. Ike gave me an embarrassed look.

"S-Sorry," he mumbled, "My mom called and wants me home ASAP. Um, w-we can continue this in school on Monday. S-See ya."

Then, without giving me a chance to respond, he dashed from my room, carrying all of his stuff in one big bundle. I watched him leave with astonishment. After a moment of silent contemplation, I turned to Pete.

He looked like he was trying to suppress a grin.

And I knew immediately what had happened.

"Did you scare Ike away, Pete?" I asked him, trying to keep my voice casual. He gave me a look.

"Why would I do that?" he wondered.

"I hope you didn't," I warned, "Because we really need to finish that assignment. We only get a short amount of time to finish it."

Pete shrugged and leaned back. "Well, I didn't do anything," he insisted, "Maybe the kid's mom is really pissed at him. If anything, you should blame her."

I felt my anger quickly fading. He was right. It's not like I didn't know how strict Ike's mother was. I decided to believe him for now. Not like I had any proof he was lying.

For the rest of the day Pete and I just hung around my room. Michael texted Pete at some point asking where he was and while he texted back, I gave him a disapproving look. Pete looked up and saw me frowning at him.

"What?" he asked.

"You didn't tell Michael where you were before you came here?" I spoke.

"No. I forgot," was his excuse.

I sighed and lightly hit him in the arm.

After dinner in which Pete and I ordered a pizza with nothing on it, we settled down for the night. I know pizza usually gives people nightmares, but because I'm not a conformist, it doesn't apply to me.

When I woke the next morning, I could feel Pete pressed up against me. I had to suppress the urge to roll over and shove him off the bed. Instead, I took a deep breath and quietly got out of bed.

Pete looked like he was still asleep. So I went down to the bathroom to take care of my morning routine. When I came back up to my room, he still appeared to be asleep. With a sigh, I went over and shook him awake. He let out a yelp of surprise and sat up, startled.

"Huh? What?" He looked around then calmed down when he spotted me. "Oh, hey. What's up?"

"The sun," I answered, "But seriously, dude, I think maybe you should go back to your dorm today."

Pete stiffened at my words. "Why would you think that?" he asked, his voice low.

"You can't avoid Mike forever," I pointed out, "Or Michael for that matter. You need to stop avoiding all your problems, Pete. Otherwise you'll spend your entire life running away from everything."

He let out a sigh. "You're right," he muttered, "I know you are. It's just… running is easier, you know?"

I did know. I had been running as well.

"It'll get easier, you'll see," I told him, "Confronting the problem actually makes the problem go away. Where running away from it… it'll catch back up to you eventually."

Pete looked at me. "When did you get to be so smart?" he asked. I shrugged.

"I was always the smartest," I insisted, "You guys just didn't notice because I'm younger than you. But that's how you know I'm smarter."

"Yeah, that's not it," Pete said with a chuckle.

"Well then, fuck you," I grumbled. Pete couldn't help but laugh at me.

Well this took way too long to finish. In addition to everything going on in my life, I couldn't decide how I wanted this chapter to go. There was a point where I was going to have Firkle kick Pete out and they would be angry at each other. I decided not to do that, obviously. Anyway, please leave a comment! I would appreciate it!