(Pete)

Mr. Stump and I didn't finish studying until after seven-o-clock. And I'm pretty sure nothing we studied stuck with for longer than ten minutes. School just wasn't my strong suit. I wrote the last bullet point down and dropped my pencil on the table dramatically.

"My hand! It hurts!" I gasped.

He laughed. "I need your brain to feel the burn. Not your hand."

"Well both do! But mostly my hand."

"Poor hand. I'm sure it gets too much exercise as it is." I coughed. Did my teacher just make a jerking off joke. His eyes widened when he seems to realize what he said. "I'm sorry! I forgot who I was talking to. That was highly inappropriate."

"It's okay." I laughed. "It was just a joke."

"I think I need to get you home." He stood up and I did too. "Andy, I'll be right back for dinner. I just have to get Pete home."

"Okay." Andy smiled at me. "It was nice meeting you."

"Like wise, dude."

Andy was a man of few words. Mr. Stump was a man of two many words. Maybe that's why their relationship worked out so well. Three years is a long time. Mr. Stump didn't speak the entire way to my house. Maybe he really did feel weird about that joke. He finally spoke up when he parked in the parking lot next to my car. Well the car I shared with my brother.

"I want to come in and meet your parents."

"So soon? We've only just had our first date." I joked.

He laughed and jumped out of his car. I'll never understand why such a small man had such a big car. He followed me to the house. I opened the door and noticed all the lights were off. Was everyone already in bed? I flicked the light switch.

"Mom? Dad? Brendon?" I called out, walking into the kitchen. There was a note attached to the fridge.

Peter, your mother and I took Brendon out to dinner. He did a good deed today and deserved to be rewarded. Pizza money is in the cookie jar.

I snatched the paper down and tossed it on the kitchen island. What good deed could Brendon have possibly done? If anything, he should be punished. He skipped school for the first time today and wasn't there to pick me up afterwards. Mr. Stump grabbed the sheet and read it.

"So you're here alone?" I nodded. "I could stay here with you until they come back if you want."

"I don't know how long they'll be."

"That's okay. I love pizza." He smiled.
****
Patrick was awesome. We ordered two pizzas. One for him and one for me. I ordered extra cheese. He ordered grilled chicken and pineapple. Why someone would ruin a pizza with fruits, I have no idea. We watched Spongebob in my room as we ate. And he genuinely laughed at almost all the jokes. Which is ridiculous.

"You're so mature." I said to him.

"Oh shut up!" He laughed. "That was funny."

"No, this is funny." I peeled the cheese off my pizza and pressed the crust and sause against his face. He gasped and peeled it off. Leaving a red mess on his cheek. He wiped a bit of it with his finger and put it in his mouth.

"Now." He lifted a piece of his pizza out of the box. I thought he was going to hit me with it, but he moved the rest of the box from his lap. "You must pay."

He tackled me onto my back and tried to stuff the pizza into my mouth. I began laughing uncontrollably. Twisting my head wildly to prevent him from getting it past my lips. "No!" I yelled out through the laughter. "I won't eat your healthy pizza!"

He was straddling me. Stuffing the mangled pizza into my face. "Eat it."

"Never!" When I screamed never he pushed the pizza into my mouth. I reluctantly bit a piece off. Chewing and swallowing it. Hmmm. That was actually pretty good. I bit another piece and another piece until only the crust was left in his hands. He pulled his hand away and I pushed him off of me. Laughing harder than I had in a while.

"Its good isn't it?" He asked, using a random shirt from my floor to wipe his face free of the sause.

"Yeah." I grabbed another slice from his box. "Delicious."

"Hey!" He grabbed it back and bit it. "You eat yours. I'll eat mine."

"But you wanted me to taste it." I snatched it back and bit it. Right over where he did. His eyes darkened. I licked my lips.

"Taste." He took it back. "Not eat all of my pizza." And then he bit it again. Over where I bit it. It was like some weird, modern day lady and the tramp scene. I let him finish off his pizza. "You owe me a slice of yours." He said when he finished.

"No way, you forced your slice into my mouth."

"But you bit my other one."

"So?"

"You owe me a bite." He said as I bit into another slice.

"Just take one."

"I'll just bite this one." He took the pizza from my hands and bit it. I'm starting to think he just liked sharing food with me.