"We might be through with the Past, but the Past ain't through with Us", Fall Out Boy, Chapter Two
Title: "We Might be Through With the Past, but the Past Ain't Through With Us"
Author: becomingblurred
Pairing: Pete/Patrick
Word Count: 1732
Rating: Currently PG
Summary: Patrick's a single father fresh out of college and sinking in debt. Pete, finally, after twentysomething years, decides that he needs to grow up and look for something more long-term. What starts off as two teachers talking about their jobs and lives becomes a relationship that may just make it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fall Out Boy, The Academy Is..., My Chemical Romance, or Bowie. Title from a movie called "Magnolia." Jamie and Nels are mine, and the locations are actually places in my school and around my town.
Author’s Note: I really don't know why I'm updating this so quickly, but I am! I think it's because of you guys. It really is. Your comments mean a lot. And, you know, happy Valentine's Day. And happy snow day if your school's cool like mine :D
"We Might Be Through With the Past, But the Past Ain't Through With Us"
By Donna
Chapter Two: He’s Just Someone You’re Not
The teachers sat along a table set at the back of the restaurant. They were all very nice and greeted Patrick very warmly. They asked him about college and when he thought about the school so far (“Without the heathens” someone cracked).
He sat next to William, the seat next to him empty. Gerard was already situated. He wondered who’d end up sitting next to the “new kid”, so to speak. “Will, who’s missing?”
“Huh? Oh, Pete. Late. As usual.”
“Pete?”
“Don’t worry. He’s just an artsy English teacher.”
Sure enough, a man entered with shaggy black hair and a messenger bag at his side. “Sorry I’m late!” he exclaimed. He said hi to everyone and sat next to Patrick. “Hey!” he exclaimed, “I’m Pete! You’re the new music teacher, right?!”
“Yeah,” Patrick replied, his voice extremely quiet in comparison to Pete’s. “How’d you know?”
“Well, I haven’t seen you before, and I called Bill and he told me that you were a blonde kid with chops.”
Patrick turned his head toward William. “How accurate.” He turned back and shook Pete’s hand. “I’m Patrick Stumph. I teach high school band, to be accurate. And I also teach music appreciation, and I’m in charge of jazz band and marching band.”
“Ah, we’re being formal. Alright. I’m Peter Wentz,” Pete said, somehow smirking while he talked. “I teach creative writing, American and British literature and I’m in charge of the poetry club and GSA.”
“This school has a GSA?”
“Yep! You can be, like, a co-advisor guy if you want. It’s just me and some cool kids.” Pete drummed his fingers on the table. “Oh! Good luck with the marching band! What’s your show gonna be?”
“It’s a seventies rock medley.”
“Awesome! I gotta hear it. I think I might actually go to see a football game.”
“Good! Support us! I need it! I think the kids like it... but I’m really not worried about the marching band kids. They’re the group that kind of wants to be there.”
“I know what you mean,” Pete said, “I have yet to find a class that actually wants to be learning.”
“Well, in their defense, I couldn’t stand most of the books I read in high school.”
“Aw, come on! I’m sure your teachers were just shitty. I’m the cool teacher.”
William started to sing, “Don’t stand so close to me...”
“Beckett, shut up!” Pete snapped.
“What, you don’t like The Police?” Patrick asked.
“It’s not that,” Pete murmured. He looked at Patrick again. “Where do you live?”
“In town. I’m renting this little shit hole.”
“Ah... nice. Where are you from originally?”
“Chicago.”
“Seriously? Me, too! That’s so fucking awesome! I bet you we passed by each other on the street and didn’t even notice!”
Patrick laughed. “I’m sure we did. But here we are... in New Jersey... of all places.”
Gerard looked up from his conversation with a 3-D art teacher. He leaned into William and whispered in his ear, “Gay.”
“What?” William asked.
“He’s gay. Look at him. Seriously. I got Maja backing me up here.”
William looked up at Maja, raising his eyebrows.
She laughed. “I’m good with these things.”
“Gerard, knock it off... we know that he’s got...” he stopped short.
“He’s got... what?” Maja asked.
“He’s just got a lot right now. And even though he’s not dating at the moment, doesn’t mean he’s gay,” William said, taking a swig of his wine. He knew better than to tell the ever-nosey teachers about Patrick’s daughter.
Patrick didn’t hear them talking. “Do you write?” Patrick asked, looking at a marble notebook that stuck out from Pete’s messenger bag. “I mean, you teach the language all the time... you might as well use it, right?”
“Yeah, I write constantly, but I don’t think any of it will be the next Great American Novel. I got tons of crap in my classroom if you want to see it.”
“We teach next to his room fifth period,” William piped in.
“Is he holding your hand?” Pete asked, leaning his head in William’s direction.
“Yeah, him and Gerard.”
Pete nodded. “Do me a favor?”
“Yeah?”
“Those guys are awesome, I love them to death, but please take me for what I am right now. I mean, they’ll be the first to tell you I did some dumb stuff in the past and I don’t want you, a perfectly good stranger, to judge me because of what they say.”
“I promise I won’t,” Patrick swore, “Just don’t do it to me.”
“Deal.”
***************************************************************
Patrick spent the morning before the “first day of school for students” learning to pronounce student’s names. He blared the radio, still looking for a decent morning station to wake up to, and repeated people’s names over and over. His first period was a band class, and for whatever reason, three freshmen girls decided to come earlier than everyone else, even though they all got out of homeroom.
“Are you the new band teacher?” they asked.
“I think that’s what I was a applied for.”
“Oh, hi! You’re really young!”
“I’d hope so. I’m kind of only a few years older than most of you.”
“Really? What’s your name?”
“Don’t you have a schedule?”
One of the girls laughed. “She lost it already.”
“Well... that’s sort of bad. You’ll learn soon. Wait for the rest of the class.”
They sat where the flutes would sit (“It figures,” Patrick scoffed) and continued to grill him. “What are you gonna do?”
“With this class? Make you play music.”
“Can we have a band bonding day?”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a day that we talk and learn names and stuff. My sister said that she used to have them once a month at least!” for some reason, the girl that was speaking flipped her hair for no reason and smacked her friend.
Patrick laughed. “Sure, we can have one.”
“Yay!” they chorused. “We like you.”
Patrick heard William snort in his office.
The rest of the class filled in their sections seconds before the bell rang. Patrick gulped and said, “Hey, everyone, I’m your band teacher... my name’s Patrick Stumph, so you guys are gonna call me Mister Stumph.”
“Stumph?” someone asked, “Like a tree?”
“Yeah,” Patrick replied, “Like a tree. A dead tree.” He sighed and grabbed a stack of paper. He gave it to the flute section. “Pass this around, alright? It’s just some required school rules. I think you all have been existing long enough to know what’s what. Uhm, this is my first year. Don’t abuse the fact that I’m still easy-going. I graduated from William Paterson, which is close to here. I like classic rock and I play guitar. Oh, and is anyone good with computers?”
Everyone looked at a boy in the lower brass section.
“Can you download Foxfire on my computer before it gets blocked?” Patrick asked. “I can’t even access my e-mail.”
The boy’s eyes lit up. “Of course I can!” He got up and ran to the office to begin working.
“Anyone have any questions?” Patrick asked. “I’ll answer anything, I promise.”
A girl raised her hand. He didn’t even pick her when she asked, “How old are you?”
“I’m twenty-two,” Patrick replied.
“Wow! You told us your age?!” a trumpet player exclaimed. “No one does that!”
“I told you,” Patrick said, “I was going to be honest.”
“So, uhm,” someone piped in, “Can we ask if you’re gay?”
Patrick pulled back. “What?”
“My art teacher and I always guess if the new teachers are gay or something. I wanna win this year.”
“So you’re going to cheat?” Patrick asked, laughing.
“Well, it’s not really cheating. I mean, I have my guess, I just haven’t told my teacher yet.”
Patrick rolled his eyes. “I’m just out of college. So I’m pretty messed up. Come back to me in a year.”
Some people laughed.
“Anything else?” Patrick asked, but the bell went off. “Ah! Darnit! Well, see you guys tomorrow. It’s... band bonding day. So no instruments, yet.” He waved as they left.
William poked his head from the office. “Not bad for a first time, Mr. Stumph.”
“Really?” Patrick asked, getting out of his chair.
“Yeah! You’re going to do great.”
**********************************************************************
Pete stared at his fifth period English II, honors class. “Oh, who the hell decided to put you two in the same class?”
“A goddess one of the boys that sat in the front gushed. “A goddess that understands my love for you and my Jamie.”
Jamie, the boy that sat next to him, sighed. “I really don’t know, man. You shouldn’t have recced us for honors again.”
“I really shouldn’t have,” Pete grumbled. He went through the names on the attendance sheet. “Michelle... Nels... Walker?”
Nels perked his head up, waving. “Hi, Mr. Wentz!”
Pete rolled his eyes. “You already said hello. Shut it.” He looked at the sheet. “James, Zimmerman? And why is it that you two have to be next to each other on the attendance sheet? Go get married. It’s legal now.”
“We’re too young,” Nels said, smirking. “I’m straight, remember?”
Pete rolled his eyes. “I’m ignoring you two now. “So, hi everyone. I’m Mr. Wentz. I’m going to be your teacher this year. We’re gonna be all about British lit this year. So get your Shakespear for simpletons out of the rubble and get ready to read some lovely pieces like Hamlet. And if you quote that ‘To be or not to be’ crap I’m going to take off your head.”
The class nodded.
“We’re also going to be reading a lot of dead guys. So it’ll probably be boring. But, hey, some of the stuff has blood. That might keep you attentive. And we get to do research papers! Isn’t that fun, kiddies?”
The class groaned.
“Anyway, I really am going to try to make this fun. Plus, if you had me last year, you know that I’m insane, so I am going to probably do so many things you’ll forget that you’re even reading boring stuff.” The bell went off. “Okay, guys, bring your books tomorrow because it’s going to be a long day. Hah. Get some sleep. Or try to.”
Author: becomingblurred
Pairing: Pete/Patrick
Word Count: 1732
Rating: Currently PG
Summary: Patrick's a single father fresh out of college and sinking in debt. Pete, finally, after twentysomething years, decides that he needs to grow up and look for something more long-term. What starts off as two teachers talking about their jobs and lives becomes a relationship that may just make it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fall Out Boy, The Academy Is..., My Chemical Romance, or Bowie. Title from a movie called "Magnolia." Jamie and Nels are mine, and the locations are actually places in my school and around my town.
Author’s Note: I really don't know why I'm updating this so quickly, but I am! I think it's because of you guys. It really is. Your comments mean a lot. And, you know, happy Valentine's Day. And happy snow day if your school's cool like mine :D
"We Might Be Through With the Past, But the Past Ain't Through With Us"
By Donna
Chapter Two: He’s Just Someone You’re Not
The teachers sat along a table set at the back of the restaurant. They were all very nice and greeted Patrick very warmly. They asked him about college and when he thought about the school so far (“Without the heathens” someone cracked).
He sat next to William, the seat next to him empty. Gerard was already situated. He wondered who’d end up sitting next to the “new kid”, so to speak. “Will, who’s missing?”
“Huh? Oh, Pete. Late. As usual.”
“Pete?”
“Don’t worry. He’s just an artsy English teacher.”
Sure enough, a man entered with shaggy black hair and a messenger bag at his side. “Sorry I’m late!” he exclaimed. He said hi to everyone and sat next to Patrick. “Hey!” he exclaimed, “I’m Pete! You’re the new music teacher, right?!”
“Yeah,” Patrick replied, his voice extremely quiet in comparison to Pete’s. “How’d you know?”
“Well, I haven’t seen you before, and I called Bill and he told me that you were a blonde kid with chops.”
Patrick turned his head toward William. “How accurate.” He turned back and shook Pete’s hand. “I’m Patrick Stumph. I teach high school band, to be accurate. And I also teach music appreciation, and I’m in charge of jazz band and marching band.”
“Ah, we’re being formal. Alright. I’m Peter Wentz,” Pete said, somehow smirking while he talked. “I teach creative writing, American and British literature and I’m in charge of the poetry club and GSA.”
“This school has a GSA?”
“Yep! You can be, like, a co-advisor guy if you want. It’s just me and some cool kids.” Pete drummed his fingers on the table. “Oh! Good luck with the marching band! What’s your show gonna be?”
“It’s a seventies rock medley.”
“Awesome! I gotta hear it. I think I might actually go to see a football game.”
“Good! Support us! I need it! I think the kids like it... but I’m really not worried about the marching band kids. They’re the group that kind of wants to be there.”
“I know what you mean,” Pete said, “I have yet to find a class that actually wants to be learning.”
“Well, in their defense, I couldn’t stand most of the books I read in high school.”
“Aw, come on! I’m sure your teachers were just shitty. I’m the cool teacher.”
William started to sing, “Don’t stand so close to me...”
“Beckett, shut up!” Pete snapped.
“What, you don’t like The Police?” Patrick asked.
“It’s not that,” Pete murmured. He looked at Patrick again. “Where do you live?”
“In town. I’m renting this little shit hole.”
“Ah... nice. Where are you from originally?”
“Chicago.”
“Seriously? Me, too! That’s so fucking awesome! I bet you we passed by each other on the street and didn’t even notice!”
Patrick laughed. “I’m sure we did. But here we are... in New Jersey... of all places.”
Gerard looked up from his conversation with a 3-D art teacher. He leaned into William and whispered in his ear, “Gay.”
“What?” William asked.
“He’s gay. Look at him. Seriously. I got Maja backing me up here.”
William looked up at Maja, raising his eyebrows.
She laughed. “I’m good with these things.”
“Gerard, knock it off... we know that he’s got...” he stopped short.
“He’s got... what?” Maja asked.
“He’s just got a lot right now. And even though he’s not dating at the moment, doesn’t mean he’s gay,” William said, taking a swig of his wine. He knew better than to tell the ever-nosey teachers about Patrick’s daughter.
Patrick didn’t hear them talking. “Do you write?” Patrick asked, looking at a marble notebook that stuck out from Pete’s messenger bag. “I mean, you teach the language all the time... you might as well use it, right?”
“Yeah, I write constantly, but I don’t think any of it will be the next Great American Novel. I got tons of crap in my classroom if you want to see it.”
“We teach next to his room fifth period,” William piped in.
“Is he holding your hand?” Pete asked, leaning his head in William’s direction.
“Yeah, him and Gerard.”
Pete nodded. “Do me a favor?”
“Yeah?”
“Those guys are awesome, I love them to death, but please take me for what I am right now. I mean, they’ll be the first to tell you I did some dumb stuff in the past and I don’t want you, a perfectly good stranger, to judge me because of what they say.”
“I promise I won’t,” Patrick swore, “Just don’t do it to me.”
“Deal.”
***************************************************************
Patrick spent the morning before the “first day of school for students” learning to pronounce student’s names. He blared the radio, still looking for a decent morning station to wake up to, and repeated people’s names over and over. His first period was a band class, and for whatever reason, three freshmen girls decided to come earlier than everyone else, even though they all got out of homeroom.
“Are you the new band teacher?” they asked.
“I think that’s what I was a applied for.”
“Oh, hi! You’re really young!”
“I’d hope so. I’m kind of only a few years older than most of you.”
“Really? What’s your name?”
“Don’t you have a schedule?”
One of the girls laughed. “She lost it already.”
“Well... that’s sort of bad. You’ll learn soon. Wait for the rest of the class.”
They sat where the flutes would sit (“It figures,” Patrick scoffed) and continued to grill him. “What are you gonna do?”
“With this class? Make you play music.”
“Can we have a band bonding day?”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a day that we talk and learn names and stuff. My sister said that she used to have them once a month at least!” for some reason, the girl that was speaking flipped her hair for no reason and smacked her friend.
Patrick laughed. “Sure, we can have one.”
“Yay!” they chorused. “We like you.”
Patrick heard William snort in his office.
The rest of the class filled in their sections seconds before the bell rang. Patrick gulped and said, “Hey, everyone, I’m your band teacher... my name’s Patrick Stumph, so you guys are gonna call me Mister Stumph.”
“Stumph?” someone asked, “Like a tree?”
“Yeah,” Patrick replied, “Like a tree. A dead tree.” He sighed and grabbed a stack of paper. He gave it to the flute section. “Pass this around, alright? It’s just some required school rules. I think you all have been existing long enough to know what’s what. Uhm, this is my first year. Don’t abuse the fact that I’m still easy-going. I graduated from William Paterson, which is close to here. I like classic rock and I play guitar. Oh, and is anyone good with computers?”
Everyone looked at a boy in the lower brass section.
“Can you download Foxfire on my computer before it gets blocked?” Patrick asked. “I can’t even access my e-mail.”
The boy’s eyes lit up. “Of course I can!” He got up and ran to the office to begin working.
“Anyone have any questions?” Patrick asked. “I’ll answer anything, I promise.”
A girl raised her hand. He didn’t even pick her when she asked, “How old are you?”
“I’m twenty-two,” Patrick replied.
“Wow! You told us your age?!” a trumpet player exclaimed. “No one does that!”
“I told you,” Patrick said, “I was going to be honest.”
“So, uhm,” someone piped in, “Can we ask if you’re gay?”
Patrick pulled back. “What?”
“My art teacher and I always guess if the new teachers are gay or something. I wanna win this year.”
“So you’re going to cheat?” Patrick asked, laughing.
“Well, it’s not really cheating. I mean, I have my guess, I just haven’t told my teacher yet.”
Patrick rolled his eyes. “I’m just out of college. So I’m pretty messed up. Come back to me in a year.”
Some people laughed.
“Anything else?” Patrick asked, but the bell went off. “Ah! Darnit! Well, see you guys tomorrow. It’s... band bonding day. So no instruments, yet.” He waved as they left.
William poked his head from the office. “Not bad for a first time, Mr. Stumph.”
“Really?” Patrick asked, getting out of his chair.
“Yeah! You’re going to do great.”
**********************************************************************
Pete stared at his fifth period English II, honors class. “Oh, who the hell decided to put you two in the same class?”
“A goddess one of the boys that sat in the front gushed. “A goddess that understands my love for you and my Jamie.”
Jamie, the boy that sat next to him, sighed. “I really don’t know, man. You shouldn’t have recced us for honors again.”
“I really shouldn’t have,” Pete grumbled. He went through the names on the attendance sheet. “Michelle... Nels... Walker?”
Nels perked his head up, waving. “Hi, Mr. Wentz!”
Pete rolled his eyes. “You already said hello. Shut it.” He looked at the sheet. “James, Zimmerman? And why is it that you two have to be next to each other on the attendance sheet? Go get married. It’s legal now.”
“We’re too young,” Nels said, smirking. “I’m straight, remember?”
Pete rolled his eyes. “I’m ignoring you two now. “So, hi everyone. I’m Mr. Wentz. I’m going to be your teacher this year. We’re gonna be all about British lit this year. So get your Shakespear for simpletons out of the rubble and get ready to read some lovely pieces like Hamlet. And if you quote that ‘To be or not to be’ crap I’m going to take off your head.”
The class nodded.
“We’re also going to be reading a lot of dead guys. So it’ll probably be boring. But, hey, some of the stuff has blood. That might keep you attentive. And we get to do research papers! Isn’t that fun, kiddies?”
The class groaned.
“Anyway, I really am going to try to make this fun. Plus, if you had me last year, you know that I’m insane, so I am going to probably do so many things you’ll forget that you’re even reading boring stuff.” The bell went off. “Okay, guys, bring your books tomorrow because it’s going to be a long day. Hah. Get some sleep. Or try to.”