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David hurriedly washed the paint off his hands as the bell rang. He had a hike to the other side of the school to make it to his Economics class, the joke not being lost on him as to one of the requirements he needed to graduate. After the Roses’ lives had been turned upside down from the embezzlement by Eli, David now was an everyday public high school student. He was still coming to terms with leaving behind the posh boarding academies that served more as a landing spot after the epic weekend parties flung across the globe, beautiful young people acting much older than their age.
As he swung his messenger bag over his shoulder while avoiding the freshman “Art in Our Lives” students filing in, David had to admit though that after the initial crash landing in Schitt’s Creek, the last year hadn’t been as bad as he imagined it would be. David kept to himself, but he had found a home in the art wing and had been working to develop a portfolio thanks to the eccentric yet enthusiastic Ms. Kurtz. Even though her own works were tacky and gauche compared to his own sensibilities, she encouraged him to push himself and often stayed late so David could paint, knowing that he did not have the solitude needed at the motel to be creative.
The awkward pot-induced make outs with Stevie had blossomed into a snarky friendship that had sustained David through some of his darkest days. A dalliance with Jake, who somehow had dated everyone in the school yet didn’t have a single person as an enemy, was a little burst of pleasure to remind David that the people here were not like the users from his past life. This town has softened the Roses’ hard edges and David sometimes, though he would never speak this within earshot of his mother, was glad they had lost the money before he or Alexis continued down an even more damaging path.
David could see the halls were emptying as he approached the front staircase, his dignity not allowing him to move quicker than a brisk walk. The caution tape blocking the steps towards his fastest path up to his next classroom caused his face to crinkle up with annoyance as he rushed down towards the annex and the back stairwell. The late bell clanged as he made it up to the landing, huffing and puffing due to the extra exertion and the heavy sweater he wore even though it was a warm Fall day. He still had an aesthetic that he needed to uphold until he graduated.
As David nearly broke out into a jog to make it to the far end of the hall, he saw another student walking with a purpose, but looking up at the numbers above each door. David nearly crashed into the clean cut, blue button up wearing guy with his preppy backpack over one shoulder as they both apparently met at the doorway at the same time, but with no way to enter.
“Nope, you’re late.”
David’s head reared back at the voice of Ms. Lee, the strict Technology Arts and Woodshop teacher who oversaw the Pride Alliance Club, as she tried to close the door in both of their faces.
“Hi, hello. I’m Patrick and I am new,” said the other guy with a gulp, Ms. Lee’s glare enough to make him pink up in embarrassment as he awkwardly held out his hand to shake before pulling it back.
“Uh, and I had to come from the art wing. And where is Mr. Butani?” David questioned. Ms. Lee had been a silent support to David when he and his sister first arrived, but David knew she took no bullshit and wasn’t going to let him off easy in front of the new student.
“Mrs. Schitt went into labor and he took her to the hospital, so your class has a study hall, but you two couldn’t bother being on time, so go take it up with the principal or go get a late pass.” She shook her head at the two of them, before trying to shut the door.
“But, please Miss, uh, Mrs.—,” Patrick stammered.
“It’s Ms. Lee. And now that I think about it, I’ll let you two off the hook if you go do a little job for me since I have to be here. Drop your bags inside.”
David sighed heavily. He could definitely use the study hall time to work on some homework now versus whenever he got some quiet at the motel. He knew however that Ms. Lee was not going to back down, so he plunked his bag down on an empty desk and backed into the hall, only to have his eyes catch on the nicely fitted denim of Patrick’s ass. Hmmm.
His little reverie was interrupted as Ms. Lee cleared her throat while Patrick walked back into the hall. Patrick gave David a little downturned smile before squaring his shoulders in an act of confidence towards the intimidating teacher who already seemed to have his number.
“Since I have to be here, I can’t be down in my shop for my quarterly supply drop from Elmdale Hardware in 15 minutes. You two are going to go to the loading dock off the back and help get the order in. Then I’ll let you back in here. Here is a key, now scoot.” Ms. Lee held out a carabiner keychain which David took from her before she shut the door and shushed the now-talkative class.
“Well,” David said as he turned to look at Patrick who was biting his lip nervously. “Don’t worry about Ms. Lee. She seems tough, but she is a softie under all of that. She just wanted to make sure to put you in your place a bit, being new.”
“Ah.” Patrick turned around, looking down both ways of the hall. “Like with this room, I have no idea where her shop is, so you are going to have to lead the way.”
“Right, well, since that front stairwell seemed to be out of order, we can cut down the back way,” David turned towards the way he came earlier and walked slowly, feeling Patrick join him at his side. “So. You’re new. What brings you to Schitt’s Creek?” David was surprised by the jovial tone of his questions as someone no one would ever put in charge of the welcome wagon.
“My dad got a job transfer up this way last spring. My mom and I were going to stay back in Willow Grove so I could finish High School, but I—uh needed a change, so we decided to move up here even though school had started.”
“Hmmm,” David hummed empathetically. “Well, my deposit last year into Schitt’s Creek wasn’t by choice, but it ended up being positive for me in the end. So, I hope you get that.” They had traveled down two flights now into the basement level, the scents of wood chips and lacquer wafting through the hall.
“Thanks, David. It has been interesting, but so far okay.”
David pointed to a door on the left, and started fiddling with the uncooperative lock and key. He looked over to see Patrick’s eyes sweeping over the bulletin board next to the entrance adorned with various Pride flags, posted announcements, and event flyers for the Pride Alliance Club. He watched as Patrick’s hand tentatively creeped up as if to take one of tear-off information/sign up sheets before he shoved his hand back in his pocket and shifted nervously before noticing David looking at him.
Thankfully, it was then that the door unlocked. “Ah ha, finally.” David stood upright, trying not to read too much into Patrick’s hesitance as he opened the door before the motion controlled fluorescent lights buzzed to life and he led the way in.
While he wanted to be the last person to judge someone outwardly, Patrick definitely fit the bill of the clean cut, sportsball or icepuck playing, same-girlfriend-all-through high school sort of guy. Not someone that would ever be interested in David, but he seemed friendly so far at the very least. Sometimes David’s body held on to the stress and wary anticipation he had to maintain in his pre-Schitt’s Creek life when meeting people after dealing with so many users and fake personalities. Patrick made him in just the few minutes they had been around each other feel like he could keep the walls he had slowly been deconstructing over the last year down. It seemed like there was a loaded reason why Patrick had landed in Schitt’s Creek so suddenly, and maybe this all was connected.
“Hold button to open garage door,” David read outloud from the faded sign leading to the loading dock. “It’s a nice day if we want to go sit out there and wait?” David asked.
“Sure, that sounds good,” Patrick answered stiltedly, his hands still jammed inside his impossibly tight pants.
David pressed the button as instructed and the motor of the door whired to life, letting the sun stream in. He walked out to the concrete overhang and looked around before carefully wiping any dirt off the metal railing running along the side and lifting himself to sit on it. Patrick followed suit. Neither said much.
“So, Ms. Lee,” Patrick said, looking outward toward the driveway of the school, his eyes squinting from the sun.
“Her bark is worse than her bite. She has always been supportive of me, though I am more committed to the visual versus constructive arts. A little too on the nose for the lesbian shop teacher to be the advisor for the Pride group, ha,” David joked, rolling his lips in. Now was not the time to ramble on and make himself look foolish, he thought, chided himself.
Patrick turned his head to look at David, his barely-there eyebrows knitted together, but said nothing. David let his feet swing from the railing, his lips curling to the corner to stop himself from babbling any more.
Patrick’s quiet voice broke the silence. “Is there a lot of—need for support and advocacy here?”
“Um, not really in the sense of intolerance. I dare say even after living and traveling to some of the most modern urban centers of the world, nowhere has been as supportive and open as Schitt’s Creek. I know how I come across, but no one even batted an eye if I mentioned I was pansexual. The Pride Alliance is more about supporting causes and still having those queer spaces before we all head out into the rest of the world. Not what I was expecting from some backwater town, but a lot of things have surprised me about Schitt’s Creek and the people here.”
David finished talking and could see Patrick's shoulders had relaxed and he started to swing his legs too. David wanted to be daring and invite Patrick to the next meeting, considering if he should add the caveat that anyone was welcome, queer or not, but the moment was broken by the loud rumble of a small box truck pulling in.
Patrick was the first to hop off of the railing, stepping back inside the safety of the garage door as David dutifully followed him. The truck backed in and a friendly older man popped out of the cab before climbing the stairs to the side and rolling the door of the backend of the truck upward. David stayed out of the way while Patrick grabbed a couple small boxes he was handed. The driver rolled an industrial pull cart filled with different planks of wood in, placing it to the side of the garage door, and exchanging it with an empty cart waiting for him. He quickly loaded it back up and within five minutes he was on his way. Patrick pressed the button of the loading dock door as it closed.
“Well, I guess that’s it,” David said as he headed toward the exit, pulling the key from his pocket. Patrick gave David a tight smile and a mumbled “thanks” as he walked out the held open door. As David returned to dealing with securing the finicky lock, he kept his head forward but saw from his peripheral vision as Patrick glanced and then looked back away from the bulletin board again. Just grab the info sheet and give me a sign, thought David.
Unfortunately, the lock was a little quicker this time which Patrick noticed and they both silently started to walk back towards the stairwell.
“Okay, after all that work, I think we deserve a ride up the elevator.” Without thinking, David reached his hand out to grip Patrick’s (impressive and muscular) forearm below the rolled cuff of his blue button-up, pulling him toward the elevator alcove tucked next to the stairwell as he reached to press the call button. He could hear the sharp inhale of breath from Patrick as a zing of electricity shot through David’s hand when their skin touched. Their eyes locked for just a second before the moment was broken by the loud ding of the elevator doors opening.
David’s hand dropped to his side as he shuffled into the elevator, pinning himself to the corner. “You’ve really done it now,” David thought to himself as he watched Patrick lean against the opposite side wall, pressing the button for the second floor. David wasn’t sure if the bubbling in his stomach was from the elevator shooting up or his fear of what Patrick would think or say to him next from the possibly-unwanted contact.
In what felt like seconds, they had arrived on the second floor, Patrick stepping out to reorient himself with David behind him as they began the journey back down the hall. They had only two more classrooms to go by before arriving back at the Econ room when Patrick slowed to a stop. Better that Patrick tell him off here in private instead of in front of the rest of the class they would have to be in together all semester.
“What do you have after this?” Patrick turned towards David.
Not being what David expected, he could feel his face morphing through different emotions. “Well normally I have lunch, but I might go pop a pill and cry a bit. Why?”
Patrick cocked his head at the sarcastic reply, but soldiered on. “You ever tried the High School Cafe? I've heard people raving about how moderately edible the food is there.”
“Well, yes,,” David laughed out, still not one hundred percent sure where Patrick was going with this.
“We could sit together, and you tell me a bit more about the Pride Alliance, and anything else I might need to know to navigate Schitt’s Creek as someone who recently came out as gay and needs a fresh start?” Patrick looked up at David shyly through his frankly enviable eyelashes.
“Yeah, I would like that.” David bit at his lip, trying to contain the smile on his face.
“Well, we better get back to class then.” Patrick’s face glowed as he turned back towards the classroom. As they arrived at the door, Patrick rapped his knuckles on the wood before Ms. Lee swung it open.
“Thought you two got lost, now get in here.”
Patrick and David grabbed their respective bags and shuffled towards the two empty desks in the back corner.
David caught Stevie’s bewildered face in a seat kitty corner to the one he plunked down in as she looked between him and Patrick.
“Where the hell have you been, and who is that?” Stevie’s chin jutted out to gesture towards Patrick. “Not important right now, but do you want to sneak out for lunch after this? I bummed a joint off of Jake.”
David could feel the heat rise on his cheeks as he looked back at Patrick who was trying to appear occupied as he read through code of conduct and regulations in the front of his school-issued agenda planner, but it was hard not to miss the grin threatening to explode across his face.
“Not today, Stevie. I have some other plans.”