4. Pete writes down all of Gabe's visions.

In the middle of the afternoon, Mom drove me to Gabe's house. When I knocked on the door, Mrs. Saporta let me in and said, "Gabe, Brendon, and Ryan are in the living room."

"Brendon and Ryan are here?" I said.

Mrs. Saporta nodded and said, "I thought that Gabe told you that they were coming."

He hadn't told me, but it was no big deal. I could still keep the rest of Gabe's visions from coming true, even with Ryan and Brendon around. They might even be able to help me out.

I found the three of them lounging around in the living room. "Ryan, I can't believe that you haven't listened to I Don't Know How But They Found Me," Brendon said as he put a tape into Gabe's cassette deck. "They're such a good band."

"I don't think anyone outside of Shermer knows who they are, Brendon," Gabe said.

"Yeah, I've never heard of I Don't Know How But They Found Me," Ryan said.

"Don't listen to Brendon," I told Ryan as I sat down on the couch next to Gabe. "They're just two guys who go to Brendon's church who make terrible music. Brendon only thinks that they're good because he has a massive crush on the lead singer."

"I do not!" Brendon exclaimed, blushing.

Ryan shrugged and said, "I'd at least like to listen to them myself before I make any judgments."

"Suit yourself," I said. "iDKHOW really is an awful band though."

"They are not awful," Brendon said as he finally got the tape to play. A horrendous clash of guitars, synthesizers, and other assorted noises blared from the speakers, and Brendon started dancing and singing along. To my horror, Ryan seemed to be enjoying himself as well.

"That was a pretty good song," Ryan said. "What's it called?"

"Are you out of your mind?" I grumbled, but nobody seemed to be paying attention.

"It's called Modern Day Cain," Brendon said. "It's one of my favorites by them. iDKHOW played it on Superstar Showcase three years ago."

"That's kind of cool, I guess," Ryan said.

"Dallon looked so beautiful in that red jacket," Brendon said.

"I told you that he had a massive crush on the lead singer," I said.

"I do not!" Brendon exclaimed, still blushing.

"Can we change the subject?" Ryan asked.

"Of course," Gabe said as he turned the music off. Brendon pouted, but Gabe said, "What do you guys want to talk about?"

"Gabe, now that we know that your visions are coming true, I feel like we need to write them down so we can keep them from happening," I said.

"That's a good idea," Brendon said.

Ryan gave us a strange look, and Brendon filled him in on Gabe's visions while I searched for a piece of paper and something to write with. "Gabe, give me a pen," I said. "I wanna blow off steam."

Gabe handed me a pen, and I found a notebook lying on a table in the kitchen. Once Ryan was caught up on everything that had happened, Gabe said, "Pete, you know the first three visions."

"Of course," I said, and I wrote them down on the list.

Gabe's mom makes grilled cheese sandwiches.

Brendon talks to a hobo about popcorn.

Amber Wallace dies on Amber Wallace: Consulting Detective.

"What was the next vision?" I asked.

"It was you writing down my visions," Gabe said.

"Why didn't you tell me that before I started?!" I asked. "I'm making one of your visions come true right now!"

"I figured it was worth making this vision happen if we wanted to keep the other ones from happening," Gabe said.

"You could have at least had Brendon or Ryan write them down or something," I said.

"I would have been more than willing to write," Brendon said.

"I didn't think of that," Gabe said.

"This is why we need to write down the visions," I said as I added "Pete writes down all of Gabe's visions" to the list. "What was the next vision?"

"Your boss...I forgot his name..." Gabe began.

"Billie Joe?" I interrupted.

"Yeah, Billie Joe," Gabe said. "He gave you helpful advice at a bookstore."

I wrote that down, and Gabe continued on to describe Brendon getting cast in a play, the Cubs losing, and strangest of all, me drinking green tea. "I don't even like green tea," I said.

"I know what I saw in that vision," Gabe said.

Eventually, we made it to the eleventh vision. "There was this very sexy stranger at the Sunshine Riptide..." Gabe said.

"Can you give me a better description of the stranger?" I asked. "I need as much detail as possible, Gabe."

"I don't know," Gabe said. "The stranger was kind of hard to describe."

"Gabe, this is a matter of life or death," I said. "What did the stranger look like?"

"He was hard to describe, but he was dancing, and the only way I can think of to describe his dancing is 'white boy James Brown.' Anyways, he was really hot, and for some reason, you were there, and you didn't want me to talk to him," Gabe said.

I added "Pete stops Gabe from talking to a stranger, whose dancing can be best described as 'white boy James Brown'" to the list. However, Gabe looked over my shoulder and said, "Cross out 'a stranger' and change it to 'Sexy Stranger #1.'"

"There's more than one sexy stranger?" I said.

"I'm apparently going to meet six very attractive people before I die," Gabe said. "I'm not going to lie - I'm kind of excited."

Gabe went on to describe Brendon throwing his Walkman against a wall, which seemed to deeply confuse Brendon, and Dallon Weekes ordering a smoothie. "After that, I ended up making out with some guy..."

"Please tell me this isn't another sexy stranger," I said.

"Not quite," Gabe said. "I think it was you, and I think I did it to impress Sexy Stranger #2."

I rolled my eyes and added "Gabe makes out with some guy (probably Pete) in order to impress Sexy Stranger #2" to the list without bothering to ask for more details about the stranger. If we were lucky, we would be able to stop this nonsense before we even got to this vision.

Gabe went on to describe even more visions, each one more improbable than the next. He was right that a number of them happened in New Jersey. "Maybe that makes sense," I told him. "You are going to Rutgers, after all."

"Yes, but you and Brendon were there for all of them, and I don't think that you two are coming to college with me," Gabe said. "I'm pretty sure that if these visions come true, they're all going to happen before I leave for college. Anyways, after Sexy Strangers #4 and #6 get robbed, you and I visit Brendon in the hospital."

"Wait, what?" Brendon said. "How do I end up in the hospital?"

"I don't know, Brendon," Gabe said. "Then, you became Employee of the Month at Fall Out Bros. Pizza."

"That's the most ridiculous thing on this list so far," I said, and that was saying something. Gabe's visions had apparently involved Gabe, Brendon, and I visiting a haunted arcade, one of the sexy strangers throwing a rotten tomato at Dallon Weekes' face, and Gabe ending up on MTV somehow.

"Then, I died in an explosion, with the song that I wrote playing in the background," Gabe said. "That was the last vision, obviously."

I looked at the list one more time - Gabe had apparently had forty separate visions - but it seemed easy enough to keep them all from happening. Most of them were too absurd to ever happen in real life.

Brendon seemed to agree with me. "We'll make sure that none of these really happen," he said. "I don't think you need to worry too much about dying, Gabe. By the way, Pete, I can't wait for the New Jersey trip! We're going to have so much fun!" Brendon was practically bouncing up and down on Gabe's sofa by this point.

"I know, right?" I said, smiling. I couldn't wait to see Mikey, and I knew that Brendon would enjoy meeting my pen pal. I could already tell that the two of them would get along.

All of a sudden, Mrs. Saporta walked into the room. "Gabe, what's this about a trip to New Jersey?" she asked.

"Pete and Brendon are going to New Jersey in August, but I can't go," Gabe said.

"Why not?" Mrs. Saporta asked.

Gabe didn't have a good answer. "I...I...I'll miss too much work," he said, struggling to find a good excuse that didn't involve psychic visions.

"Gabe, you can visit your grandparents while you're in New Jersey," Mrs. Saporta said. "You can take off from work to visit your grandparents, right?"

"I don't know about that," Gabe said.

"You should go on the trip, Gabe," Mrs. Saporta said.

"Are you making me go?" Gabe asked.

"Yes, I'm making you go," Mrs. Saporta said. "You'll have a good time, and I know that Grandma and Grandpa will be happy to see you. Do you boys need any snacks or anything?"

"I think we're good, Mom," Gabe said.

Mrs. Saporta left, and Gabe frowned. "We'll make sure that none of the visions come true while we're in New Jersey," I said, trying my best to comfort him. "Besides, the trip is two months away, and we'll get to spend some quality time together. It will be fun."

Gabe still looked worried. "I don't want to die, Pete," he said as he wrapped his arms around me.

"You won't die," I insisted.

"Now that I think of it, I could use a glass of water," Ryan said out of absolutely nowhere. "Where could I find one?"

"There's water in the kitchen," Gabe said. Ryan stood up and started to open a door, but Gabe yelled, "Don't go in there!"

"Why not?" Ryan asked as he let go of the doorknob.

"That's the door to my basement," Gabe said. "Trust me, you do not want to go in the basement."

Ryan shrugged, turned around, and headed into the kitchen. He came back a few minutes later with a glass of water, and the four of us sat around and chatted for a little while longer, but something seemed off. Now that all of us knew what Gabe's visions were, the mood was a little too melancholy, even for my taste.

Mom picked me up at around six o'clock, and I brought a copy of the list with me. Once I got home, I looked it over one more time. The first four visions had already happened, but it wasn't too late to prevent the fifth one.

5. Pete's boss gives him helpful life advice at a bookstore.

It couldn't be that hard to prevent that one, right? All I had to do was avoid going to bookstores. As long as I didn't go to any bookstores, or at least not with Gabe, I wouldn't run into Billie Joe, and he wouldn't be able to give me any helpful life advice. It was a simple plan, and I was convinced that it could not possibly go wrong.

I picked up a pen and a piece of paper and finally wrote a reply to Mikey, now that I knew for sure who was going to New Jersey with me.

Dear Mikey,

As it turns out, Gabe isn't insane. His visions are coming true.

I went on to explain the trip to Chicago and the bet to Mikey, as well as how I had written down all of his visions.

;

Hopefully, we'll be able to stop the visions from happening now that we know what they are. Anyways, I talked to my parents about visiting you, and they said that I could come and see you in August! Gabe and Brendon both agreed to come along as well. I can't wait to see you in real life, Mikey. It's been far too long.

I'm sorry to hear that your summer has been boring so far. I'm sure that it will get better eventually. To entertain you a little bit, I attached a photo of Gabe and Brendon in the Art Institute (as I mentioned, we got kicked out, but we still got some good photos) and a photo of my new tattoo.

Miss missing you,

Pete Wentz

P.S. Coach Lisa still hasn't changed the uniforms.

I stuck the letter and the two photographs into the envelope and promised myself that I would mail it as soon as I got a chance. However, I knew that I had a bigger problem - making sure that Gabe's visions didn't come true. Then again, how hard could that be? I put my headphones in, knowing that I would never receive any helpful advice from Billie Joe in a bookstore. Gabe's visions wouldn't derail my plans for the summer, at least not if I had anything to say about it.