27. Pete, Gabe, and Brendon go to a haunted arcade.

The next day, I checked the mailbox right before I left for work, but it was empty again. There were only ten days left before Gabe, Brendon, and I went to New Jersey, and I couldn't wait to see Mikey and introduce him to my friends. I knew that I would miss Patrick while I was gone, but there would be plenty of time to hang out with him before and after the trip. This was the last summer that I would ever have with Brendon and Gabe by my side, and I had to take advantage of it. It really was the end of eras - in a little over a month, assuming that the world didn't end, we would all be going to separate colleges. However, that was the least of my concerns when we still hadn't stopped the visions. I would deal with college once I had dealt with the visions.

I arrived at Fall Out Bros. a few minutes late, but Billie didn't seem to care too much. He had a cassette in each hand, trying to decide what to play. "I'm leaning toward London Calling, but what do you think, Pete?" he asked me.

"Whatever you want, Billie," I said.

He took London Calling and put it in the cassette deck. "How's your summer going so far?" he asked me.

"It's okay," I answered.

"Just okay?" Billie said. I nodded, and he added, "Y'know, you look tired, and you've worked hard this week. You deserve a day off."

"I'm scheduled to work until eight," I said. "I'd feel bad if I took all of that time off."

"How about this?" Billie said. "Stay here until two, and I'll get someone else to cover the rest of your shift."

"What am I supposed to do with all of that free time?" I asked.

"I don't know," Billie said. "Go to the arcade down the street or something. Just have some fun."

"Okay, Billie," I said.

"Make sure that you deliver the pizzas over there before two, and for the last time, Pete, don't eat them before you deliver them," Billie said, gesturing toward a stack of pizza boxes. I picked up the boxes and stuffed them into the trunk of the Fall Out Bros. car, and until two o'clock, Joe and I drove around Shermer, delivering the pizzas. While I was delivering pizzas, I wondered what to do with all of my newfound free time. Maybe I could go on another date with Patrick. I promised myself that I would go over to Tea Monkey and ask him after I was done with all of the deliveries.

When we got back to Fall Out Bros., I found out that I didn't even have to go to Tea Monkey. Patrick was alone at a table for two, so of course, I sat down and greeted him. "Hi Trick," he said. "What are you doing here?"

Patrick smiled and adjusted the Tea Monkey hat that was sitting on top of his fedora. "I just wanted to see you," he said. "Also, I needed to eat lunch before it got too late."

"I was just about to go over to Tea Monkey and find you," I said, laughing. "By the way, I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?" Patrick asked.

"Do you want to go out with me again?" I asked.

Patrick thought about it for a little bit. "Of course I do," he said. "I can't do anything today though. I have to go back to work in five minutes. I wish I could go out with you today - it would be really fun."

"I could just hang around Tea Monkey all day," I suggested.

"Don't waste your Sunday afternoon," Patrick said.

"I used to waste my time dreaming of being alive, but now I only waste it dreaming of you," I said.

Patrick rolled his eyes and said, "I really do like having you around, Pete, but trust me, you don't want to sit around at Tea Monkey the whole day. We can hang out another time. I could even call you tonight."

"That would be great," I said, already dreaming of hearing Patrick's beautiful voice through the phone. "Will you sing to me tonight?"

"If you want," Patrick said, smiling, but his smile disappeared when he looked at the clock. "I should go back to work," he said. "See you soon, Pete."

"See you later, Patrick," I said. He kissed me with promise and precision and a mess of youthful innocence before he left Fall Out Bros. and returned to Tea Monkey. I wanted to disappear into Tea Monkey too, but Patrick had already told me not to waste my Sunday afternoon, so I stayed put, staring out the window and wondering what to do now that my boyfriend was gone.

All of a sudden, Billie Joe walked up to me. "Was that your boyfriend?" he asked, and I realized that he had overheard the whole conversation.

"Yes," I said as I watched Patrick approach Tea Monkey and hold the door open for a customer.

"You two are a pretty cute couple," Billie said. "Why is your summer just 'okay' if you have him?"

"I'm having some trouble with my friends," I said, trying to avoid having to explain the visions to Billie Joe.

"Maybe you should spend some time with them this afternoon," Billie suggested. "You could go out with Patrick another day."

"I think I'll do that," I said.

"I hope you have the time of your life," Billie said as I left Fall Out Bros. I climbed into the DeLorean and drove home, turning the car radio up to its maximum volume when a song I liked came on. I checked the mailbox one more time on my way inside, but Mikey still hadn't replied. Once I got inside, I picked up the phone, called Gabe, and asked him if he wanted to do anything.

"I'd love to," Gabe said. "What should we do?"

"I don't know," I said. I thought of all of the things that we could do in Shermer, but one possibility kept popping into my head. I tried not to think about it, but telling myself not to think about it only made me concentrate on it more. "We could go to the arcade," I finally said.

"Sounds great," Gabe said. "Are we inviting Brendon too?"

"I'll invite Brendon, but I'm worried that we might make your vision come true if we go to the arcade," I said.

"It's not a haunted arcade," Gabe said.

He was right about that. As long as the arcade wasn't haunted, we were safe. "I guess we can go then," I said. "Should I invite Ryan too?"

Gabe thought about it and then said, "I kind of want it to be just the three of us. Ryan's a nice guy, but I'm sure that Brendon could use some time away from him."

That made sense to me. Besides, it could get awkward if Ryan was there. I thought about asking Gabe if I could invite Patrick, but I remembered that he had work. He would have enjoyed coming with us though - I knew how much he liked video games. "I'll call Brendon and meet you at the arcade at three," I told Gabe.

"See you soon, Pete," Gabe said.

Gabe hung up, and I called Brendon. I asked him if he wanted to go to an arcade, and of course, he agreed. "There's another Sound of Music performance tonight, so I'll just have to be done by six," he said. "What about the vision though?"

I told him the same thing that Gabe had told me: it wasn't a haunted arcade.

After Brendon hung up, I grabbed a pile of quarters and drove to the arcade, and I found Gabe and Brendon there waiting for me. "I'm totally going to beat your high score in Donkey Kong," Brendon said.

"No you won't," I insisted. "You'll just be wasting your quarters if you try."

"Just watch me," Brendon said. "I'll win, and I already have a whole dance choreographed for when I do."

"Can you two please stop bickering?" Gabe said. "Let's just go inside."

Brendon raced toward the Donkey Kong machine, eager to beat my high score, while Gabe and I spent way too much time watching each other get killed by aliens in Galaga. I wasn't sure how I had gotten the high score on Donkey Kong in the first place, and as Brendon screamed while mashing buttons on the machine, I was pretty sure that he would beat it eventually, but maybe not today.

I switched over to Pac-Man after half an hour, maneuvering the yellow character around and avoiding the ghosts to the best of my ability, while Gabe helped Brendon out with Donkey Kong. "You two are ganging up on me!" I whined when I saw Gabe giving Brendon suggestions on how to beat the second level of the game.

"How did you even manage to get that score in the first place?" Gabe asked when he saw the leaderboard.

"I wasted a lot of quarters on that game," I admitted.

I slid a quarter into the machine for Frogger and began to play, but I died almost immediately. Meanwhile, Brendon seemed to be winning for once. "I made it to Level Six!" he exclaimed.

I cursed under my breath and went back to playing Frogger. Almost an hour went by, and while I went back and forth between various games, Brendon just kept playing Donkey Kong. "I think I'm going to beat the game!" he exclaimed as Gabe and I watched him play, his score higher than anything I had ever seen before.

All of a sudden, the lights went out, and all of the screens on the arcade games went black. Brendon swore loudly and then screamed, "I was about to win! That game better have recorded my score." Gabe and I were just trying to figure out what had just happened. It seemed like it was just a power outage - it wasn't anything to be worried about.

"What's that noise?" Gabe asked.

I listened closely, and I heard a strange moaning sound. "I have no idea," I answered.

"You just might see a ghost tonight," Brendon said.

"I sure hope not," Gabe said.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a pale, floating figure, but it disappeared just as quickly as it appeared. "Did you guys see that?" Brendon said. "That was definitely a ghost."

Gabe groaned and then said, "I can't even go to an arcade without something weird happening." However, when Brendon started singing the Ghostbusters theme song, Gabe and I joined in. If we couldn't control Gabe's visions, we could at least have a little bit of fun with them.

After a few minutes, the ghost disappeared and the lights went back on. Brendon put another quarter into the Donkey Kong machine, hoping that it had saved his score, but the leaderboard was exactly the same as it had been before Brendon played. I laughed and said, "I guess I still have the high score on Donkey Kong."

Brendon glared at me and said, "You saw me beat your high score, and I'll do it again if I have to."

Gabe looked at the clock and said, "Actually, it's almost six."

"Seriously?" Brendon said. "I'm going to be late for my play!"

"Break a leg!" I shouted as he ran out the door. I then turned to Gabe and said, "I wouldn't want to be in a play, but Brendon seems to be enjoying it."

"I just can't believe that this place is haunted," Gabe said. "No matter what we do, the visions just keep coming true."

"We'll stop them," I said, but I wasn't sure whether I was trying to convince Gabe or myself.

Gabe and I kept playing for a little while, but it wasn't as exciting without Brendon trying to beat my high score. We both went home after an hour or so, hungry and bored with the games in the arcade.

When I got home, I checked the mailbox, and I was thrilled to find a letter from Mikey. I opened the envelope and read his letter on the way inside.

Dear Pete,

Hopefully, by the time you get this, you will have found a way to stop the apocalypse. I really don't want the world to end. We're both far too young to die. Teenagers may scare the shit out of Gerard, but death scares me, and the number of Gabe's visions that have come true is really starting to worry me. You have to stop them from happening, Pete, before it's too late.

I've been spending a lot of time working at the bookstore lately. I'll give you some book recommendations when you come to New Jersey. I can't wait until you come here! It's only a week and a half away now. Ray came over to my house yesterday, and he's almost as excited to meet you, Brendon, and Gabe as I am. We're all going to have a great time. Just make sure that the world doesn't end before we can see each other.

Shut your dirty mouth, Pete. Unicorns are definitely real.

Running after something that I'll never kill,

Mikey Way

P.S. I'm not sure what to do with this recipe either.

I desperately wished that I had some good news to give to Mikey, but other than my date with Patrick, I didn't. We still hadn't found a way to stop the visions. I quickly wrote a reply, wishing that I didn't have to tell him about all of the visions that had come true.

Dear Mikey,

Four more visions have come true. I don't want to die either, and I hope that we do manage to keep the world from ending, but it seems that the apocalypse is coming closer with each passing day.

I then told him about everything that had happened since Mikey's last letter. I spent plenty of time gushing over Patrick and my date with him, which was the only good thing that had happened over the last few days.

I can't wait until I get to go to New Jersey! I can't wait to meet you and Ray, and I'm sure that Gabe and Brendon feel the same way. See you in eleven days!

Also, shut YOUR dirty mouth. Unicorns are definitely imaginary.

Wanting these words to make things right (but it's the wrongs that make the words come to life),

Pete Wentz

Just as I stuffed the letter into an envelope, the phone rang. I picked it up, hoping that it was Patrick, and it was him. Hearing his voice made my day - it was just what I needed after what had happened at the arcade. Somehow, Patrick made everything better, and at that moment, I knew that although I had troubled thoughts and the self-esteem to match, nobody would ever catch Patrick and I.