12. Brendon throws his Walkman against a wall.

On Sunday morning, Gabe and Ryan came to my house, and we tried to figure out how to keep Gabe's next vision from coming true. The Uries were at church, but Brendon promised that he would join us after he was, in his words, "done with purging all of that Mormon brainwashing from my head." While we waited for him, Ryan, Gabe, and I played Super Mario Bros. and discussed how to keep Brendon from throwing his Walkman against a wall.

"I might be able to sneak into his room and steal his Walkman," Ryan suggested.

"What if he steals it back?" I asked.

"I think I know a place where he'll never find it," Ryan said.

"How is Brendon doing, by the way?" Gabe asked.

"He was pretty hung over Saturday morning, but he seems to be fine now," Ryan said. "Now, that I think about it, stealing his Walkman seems kind of cruel. Do we have any other ideas?"

"Brendon knows about the visions," Gabe said. "He should be able to keep himself from throwing his Walkman against a wall."

"We thought that he wouldn't get cast in The Sound of Music just because he knew about the visions, but it happened anyways," I pointed out.

"You also know about the visions, and you stopped me from talking to Patrick anyways," Gabe said. "We all need to get better at preventing these visions from coming true. It's been less than three weeks since I had the visions in the first place, and eleven of them have already come true. At this rate, I'm going to be dead by the end of July!"

"Gabe, it's going to be fine," I said. "We'll find a way."

All of a sudden, Brendon ran into the room screaming. "Brendon, what's wrong?" Ryan asked, but he didn't respond. Instead, he kept screaming, lifted his Walkman into the air, and hurled it against the living room wall. The Walkman crumbled into pieces on the floor, and all three of us glared at Brendon.

"Why would you do that?!" Gabe shouted.

"iDKHOW is breaking up!" Brendon screamed. I could see the tears in his eyes as he looked toward the broken Walkman.

"That's a terrible excuse," Gabe said, still glaring at Brendon.

Brendon paused for a moment and then said, "Oh, this was one of your visions, wasn't it? I'm sorry, Gabe." He looked back at the Walkman. "I really shouldn't have done that. I can't even listen to music anymore. It's like somebody stole my car radio and now I just sit in silence."

"How do you even know that iDKHOW is breaking up?" I asked.

"Dallon and I sat next to each other in church today," Brendon said. "I told him about how amazing the iDKHOW show was on Friday..."

"I'm surprised that you even remember anything from that night," I interrupted.

"Shut up, Pete," Brendon said. "Anyways, he said that he didn't think that being in iDKHOW was worth it anymore. He wants to break up the band."

Brendon sat down on the couch next to Ryan and began to cry again. As Ryan comforted him, I saw the way that he looked at Brendon. I had been around enough couples to immediately know how Ryan felt about Brendon. It was a shame that Brendon was too obsessed with Dallon to ever notice what was right in front of him.

"I don't get why this is such a big deal," I said.

"What if the Sisters of Mercy split up?" Brendon said. "How would you feel then?"

"They did split up," I said.

"Maybe that's not the best example, but iDKHOW is my favorite band!" Brendon exclaimed. "They can't just break up like this!" Tears rolled down his face, and instead of listening to Brendon's sobs, I got lost in a memory.

One afternoon, during the spring of our freshman year, Brendon insisted that I needed to come over to his house. "It's urgent," he told me over the phone, and I rushed over there as quickly as I could.

When I got there, Brendon was in rapture in front of the TV. "They're going to be on soon," Brendon said, stuffing popcorn into his mouth. "I just know it."

"What are you talking about?" I asked as I sat next to him on the floor.

"I Don't Know How But They Found Me is going to be on Superstar Showcase!" Brendon exclaimed.

"What's I Don't Know How But They Found Me?" I asked.

"They're a band from Shermer," Brendon answered.

"What's with the band name?" I asked.

"I don't know," Brendon said. "Two guys from my church are in it. The lead singer, Dallon, is easily the most beautiful and talented guy I've ever met. You'll see for yourself in a few minutes."

All of a sudden, the commercial break ended, and the announcer from Superstar Showcase began to speak. "Welcome back to the Superstar Showcase," he said. "We'd like to thank the Glitter Gals for once again appearing on our show. The next act is a music act. We're happy that they're here. Here they are: The I Don't Knows!"

"How dare he?" Brendon said as a tall man in a red jacket swayed back and forth on the TV screen while a blue-haired man sat behind the drumset.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"He called them the I Don't Knows!" Brendon exclaimed.

"That's not a big deal," I said.

"How would you feel if someone called The Cures..."

"Die, heretic!" I shouted.

"I rest my case," Brendon said. He went back to staring at the TV screen, and I decided to see how good this I Don't Know How But They Found Me band really was as Brendon told me all about Dallon and Ryan, the two guys from his church who also happened to be the two members of I Don't Know How But They Found Me.

Less than a minute into their performance, I determined that I didn't understand anything about this band, including how anyone could possibly like them. I didn't get their music, I didn't get their lyrics, and I didn't get their dancing, but Brendon's eyes were fixated on the screen, loving every minute of this torture.

As the show went on, the list of things that I didn't understand grew even longer. When Dallon bit his bass, that was when I lost all hope that iDKHOW might actually be a good band. In fact, iDKHOW wasn't a band at all. It was an idea, it was a travesty, it was the creation of a madman, but it was not a band. Even I could admit that Dallon's solo was kind of cool, but what was he doing with his legs? I couldn't understand why Brendon was still spellbound by Superstar Showcase. Did he know something that I didn't? As the segment ended, I felt like I was missing a piece of this puzzle.

"Wasn't that incredible?" Brendon asked as the presenter of Superstar Showcase introduced the next act.

I shrugged and said, "It was okay." I didn't want to hurt Brendon's feelings.

"Did you see those glitter tears that Dallon put on at the end of the song?" Brendon asked. "They just made Dallon's eyes sparkle."

"Yes, I saw," I said. Brendon continued to gush about Dallon, but I stopped listening to him. I had better things to worry about than some local band that played strange music, or so I thought.

Now, it was clear that the same local band that had baffled me three years earlier was breaking Brendon's heart. "iDKHOW is having one last show at the community theater on July 18th," Brendon said. "I already got four tickets from Dallon, so all of us can go."

"I'll go with you for sure, Brendon," Ryan said.

"Me too," Gabe said.

As much as I hated iDKHOW, I knew that I had to do this for Brendon. "I'll go too," I said.

Brendon gave us all a slight smile and said, "It will be so much fun to see iDKHOW one last time." He then started crying again, and Ryan gave him a hug.

"Brendon, it's going to be fine," he said. "Maybe iDKHOW will become popular again in thirty years or something."

"I'm not waiting thirty years for anything," Brendon said. "I just want iDKHOW to stay together! Maybe I can convince Ryan and Dallon that this is a bad idea. They'll listen to me, right?"

"You can try that, but sometimes, you just need to let go," Ryan said.

Brendon still looked like he was on the verge of tears as he glanced toward his broken Walkman. "I really shouldn't have smashed that against the wall," he said. "I'm going to have to buy a new one, and it costs two hundred dollars..."

"I'll buy a new Walkman for you," I said.

"Really, Pete?" Brendon said. "You don't have to do that."

"I have enough money saved up from working at Fall Out Bros.," I said. "It's no big deal."

Gabe soon told us that he had to get home for dinner, so I drove Brendon and Ryan to the store. Brendon seemed far more interested in chatting with Ryan than actually purchasing a Walkman, so I picked one out and bought it for him. I eventually found the two of them in an aisle filled with hats and cameras, in the middle of a conversation that I didn't quite understand. "Come on, you two," I said. "I already bought the Walkman."

I handed the device to Brendon, and he grinned. "Thanks, Pete," he said.

"Let's go," I said. The three of us left the store, and I swore that I saw Ryan's hand brush against Brendon's. It could have been an accident, but a part of me wanted to believe that it wasn't. Brendon and Ryan would make a cute couple.

We all got into the DeLorean, and I dropped Brendon and Ryan off at the Uries' house. I knew that I was going to pass by Fall Out Bros. and Tea Monkey on my way home, so I decided to stop at Tea Monkey one more time to see if Patrick was there. I parked the car in front of the tea shop and walked inside, and sure enough, he was waiting by the counter. Patrick smiled and waved at me as soon as I entered the shop, and because it was a slow day, I was able to walk right up to the counter. "Hey Pete," Patrick said.

"Be professional, Patrick," Elisa said. I had no idea that she worked at Tea Monkey too.

"Of course," Patrick said. He turned back to me and asked "How may I help you?"

"I'm not here to buy tea," I said. "I just wanted to stop by and see you."

Patrick shrugged and said, "This will probably make me seem like a terrible barista, but I'm okay if you don't buy anything. Just having you around is enough." He smiled at me, and my heart melted. What a match we would make, I thought. I'm half-doomed, and he's semi-sweet. "How are things going?"

"I'm two hundred dollars and a heart down," I said.

"How did that happen?" Patrick asked.

"Brendon smashed his Walkman against a wall and he couldn't pay for a new one, so I bought one for him," I explained.

"Wow, that was really nice of you," Patrick said. "Brendon's lucky to have you as a friend."

"I'm lucky to have him as a friend when he's not obsessing over iDKHOW. Did you know that they're breaking up?"

"I didn't know that," Patrick said.

"Brendon apparently heard it from Dallon himself," I said. "He's really upset about it."

"They are a pretty good band," Patrick said, and although I disagreed with him, I stayed quiet. "Well, that explains the two hundred dollars. What about the heart?"

"I met someone that I really like, and I think that person might be the only hope for me," I said. I looked at Patrick's beautiful blue eyes, and I considered telling him right then and there how I felt about him. However, there were a few other people in line behind me, and although I wanted to scream that I loved Patrick at the top of my lungs, I was afraid that someone else would hear me. "I should probably leave," I said. "There are other people here who actually want to buy tea. I'll see you later, Patrick."

"Bye, Pete," Patrick said. He smiled at me one more time, and even though my heart was pounding just from being around him, I managed to walk out the door and back to the DeLorean.

As I drove home, I realized just how crazy this day had been. I still wasn't sure if Patrick liked me, or if Brendon would ever get over iDKHOW's impending breakup, but I tried to ignore all of my problems and just live in the moment. There was no need to worry and no time to cry. 

A/N: Happy Year of the Killjoys! I hope that you all are having a great New Year, and I hope you're enjoying this story so far. Please don't forget to vote and comment - it means a lot to me when you do. Thanks for your support! :D