Teenage Life

Patrick was feeling pretty confident about his plan to ask Jade to the prom. He had been planning it for weeks, ever since she had started talking about dresses and hairstyles really. Most of the conversation they had, he had zoned out but he was going to make sure that when he asked her, she was going to remember it forever. Patrick even decided to run it by his best friend Amelia before going through with it.

"So I'm going to climb up the side of her house to her window with flowers and a card asking her to prom. Jade's always loved Romeo and Juliet, so what better way to surprise her?" he asked as he halfheartedly flipped through the script in front of him.

Amelia and Patrick always sat together during Drama class and even though they were suppose to be studying lines Patrick was once again making conversation instead. But Amelia listened, she always did. Their friendship timed all the way back to grammar school, they had been friends for so long that even their families were friends. They were two peas in a pod but so dramatically different at the same time. While Patrick got by on his C's and B's while focusing on the guitar, Amelia always made straight A's and loved working on play's. She would tell you it wasn't because she got 20 bucks for each A but that would be a lie. Money was a great motivator.

"You do realize that story is about two teenagers who were in lust for a day then killed themselves right?" She asked. "Patrick, I've been meaning to talk to you about Jade." Her voice soft now as she looked over at him. She had been wanting to have this conversation with Patrick for awhile but she wasn't sure how to approach it. "Mark Sanders has been going around telling people they've been hooking up behind your back. This isn't the first time either, Sam Gold was doing the same thing last year. I don't think they're lying either Patrick. I think Jade's been cheating on you from the beginning but you're not seeing it. You are letting her walk all over you." Amelia bit her lip and watched him, not quiet expecting his reaction.

"How dare you Amy... I mean really, how dare you," he said in a harsh tone. "Jade and are in love and are even planning to go to school together after graduation. She loves me, obviously more than you do otherwise you wouldn't be spreading those dicks lies. We both know every guy in school wants a chance with her. But she's with me. So of course guys go running their mouths. They're douche bags."

Amelia looked over at him and bit her tongue. The hurt in her eyes evident by the way they glassed over with tears. "Don't you say that to me. I love you more then she ever will. She's just using you Patrick. Name one time you two actually hooked up and she didn't push you away pretending to be this angelic virgin. It's bullshit and the whole school knows it. She's using you to make her look good to her parents and not to mention the stuff you give her."

"Fuck you Amy. You know what.... I'm sick of this. You've been jealous of Jade ever since we got together. She told me to let you go a long time ago because she knew you'd just try to break us up. But I told her no because I've known you forever and you're my best friend. This isn't the first time you've tried to do this. So maybe she's right, maybe we just need to go our separate ways."

Sitting there wide eyed , Amelia looked around to see half the class looking at them. Even the teacher seemed to be taking interest in their spat. "After all these years of knowing each other. Everything we've ever done together. You're just going to throw it out the window because you believe her over me? The one person who has never lied to you? Over one fucking conversation? I.... I hope you see soon what kind of girl she really is Patrick Stump. Because when she breaks your heart I'm not going to be there to put it back together."

Grabbing her books Amelia left the room and surprisingly Mr. Winters didn't try and stop her. Patrick just sat there, shaking with anger and soon enough regret sunk in. He still didn't think Jade was cheating but he did feel like an ass for being so harsh to Amy. Patrick figured he'd give her time to cool down and he'd go apologize. Little did he realize that she wouldn't answer his calls or texts. She even had her brother tell him she wasn't home when he went to see her later. Patrick knew he had really screwed up this time.

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Two weeks passed and Patrick stopped trying to talk to Amelia. It was doing no good and he was pretty sure she had set his number to go straight to voice mail. He regretted throwing her out of his life so easily but she had some fault in it too. If only she could of kept things to herself and just believed that Patrick and Jade were happy, none of this would of happened.

Even at school he couldn't get a moment with his now ex best friend. Any time he saw her she was surrounded by a group of girls who gave him nothing but death looks. Even in drama class she now sat on the other side of the room facing away from him. It killed him to watch her back and have to work with his new partner Sami Porter.

With everything going on Patrick still planned to go through with asking Jade to the prom. He had every little detail worked out. The flowers, the card, even what kind of font he used was planned into his Romeo performance. Now he just needed to wait for the right time. And no time seemed better than one Saturday afternoon when Jade told Patrick she was sick and her parents were out at the movies.

So he climbed into his car, parked on the other side of the street. Psyching himself up before getting out of the car. Patrick didn't think there was any way Jade was going to say no and he felt like he was winning a lot of romance points with this move. He really was the best boyfriend a girl could have, at lest in his opinion.

Grabbing Jade's Dad's ladder out of the back shed he set it up quickly. Making sure the flowers were tucked carefully under his arm, not wanting to crush them. Then as Patrick climbed up the ladder he heard a bang that seemed to come from Jade's room. Worried that she was okay he rushed up and right before his eyes he saw something he thought he'd never see.

There Jade was in all her glory, riding who he could only assume was Mark. He couldn't believe it. All these years of talking about waiting until they were out of high school and here she was bouncing on some other guy.

"What in the fucking hell!" He said, not realizing the words had escaped him until Jade turned her head to look at him.

A look of horror on her face while Mark just looked bothered by being interrupted. Quickly she moved off the bed and moved towards the window but Patrick didn't want this. He didn't want to see her like this, he just wanted to get out of there.

So quickly Patrick tried to move down the ladder, only to have it buckle under him. In his hurry to be romantic he had forgotten to check the supports which sent the ladder and Patrick down at the same time. He let out a yelp before he hit the ground and everything went black.

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When Patrick woke up in the hospital his Father was sitting by the side of his bed while his Mother walked in with two coffees. They were glad to see him awake and when he asked he found out he had only been there a few hours. The doctor said he was lucky to not of broken any bones but now that he was awake he needed to stay up for 24 hours to make sure he didn't have a concussion.

To his surprise Jade was there too. Having waited in the hall until the doctor left. He didn't feel like talking but it didn't mean he got out of listening. One couldn't really turn their ears off no matter how much they might try. Jade admitted about the guys she had cheated with. Explaining that it wasn't that she didn't love Patrick but she wanted to practice to make sure she'd be good for him later. He couldn't believe that was her excuse, out of everything she could of said she went with that?

"We're over," he said. That's all he said and it was all he needed to say. Of course Jade threw a fit but when his parents walked back in she left in a huff saying that she wouldn't let him go so easy. But Patrick didn't care, he saw her for what she was. He just wished he had listened to Amelia instead of believing his blind heart.

And now that he was stuck having to stay awake for 24 hours there was no one he wanted to be with more than Amy. He called and texted, he even tried to sneak out but to no anvil. It wasn't until about 9 O'clock that night when Patrick heard a knock on his window that things changed.

Opening the blinds he saw Amelia standing there, waving for him to let her in. "I got your messages and I'm sorry," she said climbing through the now open window. "I know you really cared for Jade but she wasn't right for you. I tried to be nice about it but I just didn't know what else to do."

Shaking his head Patrick didn't say a word, just threw his arms around Amelia and hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I didn't listen to you. You're the only person I've always been able to trust so I don't know why I was so stupid," he said, slowly pulling back to look at her. "I don't know why I was so blind."

"I was blind for a long time too.... and when I wasn't anymore it was to late," she said softly. Looking at Patrick with that crooked smile she always had.

"It's not to late.... it will never be to late. I guess I just had to catch up. It was you all along. It's always meant to be you," he said. His hand touching Amelia's cheek gently before leaning in to kiss her softly.

She pulled back first, smiling at him. "We've got to be careful about your head. Don't want to damage you more than she already did."

Laughing Patrick rolled her eyes and kissed Amelia again. After all these years, he thought it would of been so easy to see what was right in front of him but life is never that easy. "Amelia, will you go to prom with me? Then maybe thinking about more?" he asked softly.

"I've only been waiting 12 years to hear that, so yes, of course I will," she said. Excited and happy that Patrick finally saw her the way she always saw him.