The Boy Who's Had Too Many Chances

Suburban Chicago was everything it said on the tin; it was suburban and it was Chicago. One particular suburb is where Pete lived; Wilmette. Located in Cook County, Illinois it was a mere 14km away from downtown Chicago and there was absolutely nothing special about it. It was exactly like every other suburb in America, identical houses lined in parallel rows on a long road. It was just another suburb.

But it meant something to everyone who lived there, it was home. In one house lived Pete Wentz. He lived in the two storey house with his band-mates; Patrick, Andy and Joe. Together they made up the band Fall Out Boy. They had just released their 2nd album, entitled Take This To Your Grave, and started to gain popularity.

Everything was falling into place for Pete; he’d been known to suffer from depressive disorders and anxiety which had always stood his way but it seemed now he was overcoming it. His love of performing and writing music had helped him.

Back in high school Pete went through a period of rebellion. He skip almost all of classes; only showing up for music and English; and the only reason he went to English was because he had a slight crush on his teacher. Eventually his parents had enough of his behaviour and sent him to a boot camp to straighten him out and although they weren’t expecting it to, it worked.

During this time he started writing original songs; though weak at first the more he wrote the better he got. Then he formed Fall Out Boy and life suddenly became a roller coaster that only went up.

He spent everyday practicing with Fall Out Boy or writing new songs; he didn’t mind though, he loved it that way. He didn’t have time for anything else but he didn’t mind. He knew there would be sacrifices involved in being successful and this was just the beginning.

-

‘Don’t you want a girlfriend?’ His sister asked them, one evening when he went to his parent’s for dinner.

‘Not right now… maybe if the right girl comes along.’

‘Oh my god you’re so gay!’ his brother cut into the conversation.
‘You’re in a band! You should be banging chicks all night long dude!’

‘There’s no time for that, Andrew. A lot of hard work goes into the band, there’s no banging chicks… at least not yet.’ Pete winked at his sibling, who just scoffed.

‘You’re so gay.’ Andrew laughed, throwing a sofa cushion at his big brother.

‘Ain’t nothing wrong with a bit of man lovin’’ Pete said to his brother, firing the cushion across the room; though he missed his target and ended up knocking a vase off the windowsill.

‘PETER LEWIS KINGSTON WENTZ!’ His mother cried out as she walked into the room in time to see the vase hit the floor and a guilty looking Pete try to leave the scene of the crime. Although he was 24, nothing terrified him more than the sound of his mother when she was angry.

‘YOU HAD BETTER SWEEP THAT UP THIS INSTANT YOUNG MAN!’

Pete immediately did as he was told, his loved his mom more than anything but she could be terrifying at times.

If she saw the mess his house was in she’d surely disown him.

-

Pete stepped in his front door after spending the evening with his family. Andy and Joe were fighting over what show to watch; Joe wanted WWE whereas Andy was more of a Extreme Makeover: Home Edition kinda guy.

Patrick was locked away in his bedroom; singing blink-182 and practicing guitar most likely. It’s what he loved to do.

Pete always made sure to watch his step when walking through the house, he was in serious danger of stepping on shards of glass, thumbtacks or old Chinese takeaway. He also always wore shoes when indoors, just in case. Joe, on the other hand, decided he could walk around barefoot.

‘I like to live life on the edge.’ He’d tell his friends, seconds before getting a thumbtack lodged in his heel. He had countless tiny cuts along his foot from the damage.

Yet they never bothered cleaning.

‘When we’re famous we can hire someone to clean up for us!’ Pete would explain, every time Patrick tried to go on a cleaning spree, and Patrick always give into his best friends reasoning; because after all they were best friends.

-

As Pete slipped into bed that night, he thought of everything his siblings had said today about him getting a girlfriend.

He did want to find a girl, and he did want to be in a relationship but he knew his focus for now would have to be on the band. Unless of course the girl of his dreams just wandered into his life.

The chances of that were a million to one though.

He began to think of what his dream girl looked like…
Did she had brown hair or blonde hair?
Or maybe she loved dying her hair crazy colours?

Was she a girly girl or more alternative?

Did she like the same music or not?

Was she taller than him? He hoped not.

Would she have tattoos and piercings?

Somewhere during his thoughts Pete drifted off to sleep, still thinking of his dream girl. He spent the night dreaming of her, although he couldn’t quite picture her face but he dreamt of being with her.

Kissing her for the first time.
How her fingers felt interlocked with his.
How it felt to hold her close to him.
He just dreamt of her.