7. Pete drinks green tea.

I spent all of Friday at work, and to my relief, Gabe's next vision didn't come true. I didn't even like green tea - why would I drink it? I spent the day delivering pizza, eating more than my fair share of it, and drinking coffee, water, soda - anything but green tea.

I had a shift on Saturday afternoon too, but right before I left for work, Gabe called me. As soon as I picked up the phone, Gabe said, "Hey, Pete. Do you want to come over to my house sometime today?"

"I'm working until seven," I said.

"That's not a big deal," Gabe said. "You can come over after you're done at Fall Out Bros. You could probably even walk to my house."

He was right. Gabe's house was in the same neighborhood as Fall Out Bros. "I'll come over after work then," I said. "See you later, Gabe."

With the DeLorean still at the mechanic, Mom drove me to work. She agreed to pick me up from Gabe's house later, but my mind was already focused on delivering pizza.

Mom pulled up in front of Fall Out Bros., and I immediately jumped out of the car and headed into the back of the restaurant. Billie Joe walked up to me and said, "Hey, Pete. I have a few deliveries for you and Joe to make." Joe and I loaded the pizza boxes into the Fall Out Bros. car, and we spent the rest of the afternoon making deliveries. Nothing particularly interesting happened, and in my opinion, that was a good thing. There had been too much excitement over the past few days, and no matter how many times Billie Joe told me to take advantage of my youth, this was too much. I needed a break. Besides, if going to bookstores and listening to Ryan argue with Brendon's mom would eventually kill Gabe, it wasn't worth it.

When Joe and I returned to Fall Out Bros., it was nearly the end of my shift. "I'll let you go a few minutes early," Billie Joe said. "Don't forget to take a slice of pizza on your way out."

Billie didn't need to tell me twice. I snatched a piece of pizza and devoured it before I left Fall Out Bros. Pizza. As Billie Joe's cassette deck blared The Ramones, I headed out of the restaurant and headed straight toward Gabe's house.

However, something distracted me. I passed by Tea Monkey, the shop next to Fall Out Bros., and spotted a teapot with tiny pizza slices painted on it. A sign sat beside it, proclaiming "40% off all teapots!"

My better judgment told me to just walk away, but I was too curious. I had to get a better look at the teapot with the pizza slices on it. Besides, Gabe's vision hadn't mentioned anything about teapots. As long as I didn't drink any green tea, I would be fine.

I opened the door to Tea Monkey and stepped inside.

I didn't even make it to the teapot display before I saw him. The cutest boy that I had ever seen was standing at the counter, brewing a cup of tea for an old woman. He had the most beautiful eyes - I couldn't tell from my angle whether they were blue or green - and he was wearing a Tea Monkey hat on top of a fedora, which I thought was the most adorable thing ever. He gave the old woman a semi-sweet smile as he handed her a cup of tea, and my heart just about melted.

From that moment, I knew that he was the sun and I was just the planets spinning around him. I imagined him as my new partner in crime, the American beauty to my American psycho.

I used to waste my time dreaming of being alive, but now, I knew that I would only be wasting it dreaming of him.

That was when he noticed me. "Can I help you?" he asked.

How long was I staring at that guy? I wondered. "Uhh...yeah..." I said as I stepped to the counter, flooded with embarrassment. I had to make up some excuse as to why I was staring at him for so long. "I was...I was...just wondering if you had any recommendations?"

The boy thought about it for a moment, giving me enough time to look at his nametag. It said that his name was "Patrick" - a cute name for a cute guy. I then looked back toward his face, but I still couldn't determine whether Patrick's eyes were blue or green. Realizing that I was staring again, I looked away as he began to speak.

"I think you'd enjoy our green tea selection," Patrick said. "We have a lovely matcha blend, or maybe you'd like our jasmine green tea. Of course, there's always the gyokuro. It really is up to you. I've tried all of the green teas here, and they're all excellent. There are also some very tasty oolongs."

"What about that one?" I asked, pointing at a random tin on the wall.

"Oh, that's our America's Suitehearts Blend," Patrick said. "We made it for Valentine's Day - it's really just green tea with a few spices thrown in there. It's actually on sale now. I would highly recommend it - it's one of my favorites." He pulled the tin down from the shelf, and opened it up so that I could smell the tea. It wasn't bad, but I found myself craving pizza (and perhaps a few more moments with this very attractive barista) instead.

Patrick's eyes met mine, and I imagined us being wild like young volcanoes. I don't know where you're going, Patrick, but do you have room for one more troubled soul? I thought as I looked into his eyes. "I'll take that," I said, against my better judgment.

"Would you like it for here or to go?" Patrick asked.

"To go," I said. Although I would have liked to stay, if only to spend more time with Patrick, I had to get to Gabe's house.

"Can I get a name for your order?" Patrick asked as he poured hot water into a paper cup.

"Pete," I said.

I watched Patrick add in some tea leaves, and he soon handed the cup to me. "Here you go, Pete," he said, leaning in just close enough for me to imagine kissing those ravishing lips of his. "Have a nice day."

"Thanks, you too," I said. Patrick gave me a wide, genuine smile, and I nearly broke down in the middle of the store. It took every bit of strength I had left to walk away from Patrick - it was all fire alarms and losing him.

I couldn't get him out of my head as I left Tea Monkey. "I can help the next person in line!" Patrick exclaimed as I closed the door, but his face was etched into my brain. Even if I never saw him again, I knew that I would never forget the way he smiled at me that day.

I looked down at my cup and saw that Patrick had written my name on it, followed by a smiley face. I grinned when I saw it, but I soon realized that it was probably something that he did for everyone. Patrick didn't have any special affection for me - to him, I was probably just another customer, even if he wasn't just another barista to me.

About halfway to Gabe's house, I realized that I had done exactly what I had sworn not to do. I had bought a cup of green tea. I knew that I had to get rid of it before I arrived at Gabe's house. As I searched for a trash can, I sipped on the tea. I didn't like green tea, even this one, but I wasn't about to let food go to waste.

I continued to walk toward Gabe's house, trying to drink the tea as quickly as possible. However, I couldn't find a trash can. I wandered all around the neighborhood, but it was all in vain. There wasn't a single trash can in sight. I walked back and forth in front of Gabe's house, desperately trying to finish the tea before I went inside. I couldn't let him see me drinking green tea.

All of a sudden, the door to Gabe's house swung open, and Gabe poked his head outside. "Pete, you know you can come in, right?" Gabe said.

I swallowed the last of the tea, but it was too late. Gabe had already seen me drinking it. I shamefully clutched the cup from Tea Monkey and headed inside. "I'm sorry, Gabe," I said.

"Why were you even at Tea Monkey?" Gabe asked, noticing the logo on the cup as I was about to throw it out.

"It's a long story," I said.

"I have time," Gabe said, and I told him everything that had happened. Gabe then looked toward the cup and asked, "Can I see that?"

"Sure," I said, uncertain why he would want to see it.

I handed the cup to Gabe, and he said, "He drew a smiley face next to your name."

"I know," I said. "That doesn't mean anything. I'm sure he does that for everyone."

"Drawing smiley faces isn't exactly standard business practice, Pete," Gabe said. "I think Patrick From Tea Monkey likes you back."

Gabe winked, making me blush. As much as I wanted to think that Patrick liked me, I found it hard to believe. It just seemed too unlikely. "I still shouldn't have bought green tea, Gabe," I said. "I made one of your visions come true just because I was distracted by some cute guy."

"Don't worry about it," Gabe said. "If Patrick From Tea Monkey is as cute as you say he is, I probably would have done the same thing. Besides, there are plenty of visions left."

"What's the next vision?" I asked.

"Brendon getting cast in The Sound of Music," Gabe answered.

"That's easy enough to prevent," I said. "As long as Brendon doesn't audition, everything will be alright."

"I thought I saw a poster for it," Gabe said. "Auditions are tomorrow."

"Again, as long as he doesn't audition, you should be fine," I said. "We'll have all of this resolved by tomorrow."

"I hope so, Pete," Gabe said as he rested his head on my shoulder. "By the way, I really do hope that I'm right about Patrick From Tea Monkey. You've been single for far too long."

"You don't need to remind me, Gabe," I said.

"I just think that it would be good for you to have a girlfriend or boyfriend or something," Gabe said. "You know I don't care who you date. I just want you to be happy."

"Maybe I'm happy being single," I said.

"I can tell that you're not," Gabe said. He knew me too well. "I don't know Patrick From Tea Monkey, but maybe he's worth a shot."

"I don't know," I said.

"Pete, have I ever steered you wrong?" Gabe asked.

"Yes," I answered. "You got us kicked out of the Art Institute, you read a map wrong and took us to that really shady neighborhood in Chicago, you didn't tell me that one of your visions was me writing down the visions, and that's just in the last week..."

"Okay, I get it," Gabe said. "I still think that Patrick From Tea Monkey likes you. That being said, if he ever hurts you, I will totally kick his ass."

"I'm sure that won't be necessary, but thanks, Gabe," I said.

"You're welcome," Gabe said. He turned on the TV, and the two of us watched a rerun of Amber Wallace: Consulting Detective.

"I still can't believe that she died," I said, thinking of the tattoo on my leg. Gabe just laughed, and although my eyes were focused on the TV screen, my mind was elsewhere. Patrick was still in my head, and I could see us in the wake of Saturday. Even as I was curled up on the couch next to Gabe, I imagined him smiling at me with that Tea Monkey hat perched on top of his fedora. I closed my eyes and dreamed of Patrick.

Later that evening, my mom picked me up, and I still couldn't stop thinking about Patrick. "Honey, what's going on?" she asked. "You seem distracted."

"I'm okay," I insisted, but I wasn't. Thankfully, Mom didn't press further, and I stared out the window, dreaming about Patrick.

All I could do was hope that I might see him again.