PATTERSON, Lucas H.M.

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LUCAS HENRY MILO PATTERSON .  24 NEW MILFORD, CT PREVIOUS RESIDENT & CURRENT VISITOR . POET / BARISTA ________________________________________ "I was a miracle baby. Born to Molly and Donald Patterson on the 7th April 1997, I was and am their only child, as before me came a long string of miscarriages. My mom likes to say that this was the very last time she was going to try, that if fate took me from her, she would have finally accepted her hand in life, but I don't believe that for a second. She's a very determined person, my mother. Both of my parents are doctors and took their fertility issues personally, though even they had to accept that one was the most they could ever hope for. Though they were so happy to finally have a baby I don't think it even occurred to them to want for more. Of course, I was spoiled. Though my parents are generally considered a force to be reckoned with in the small town where I grew up, when it comes to me they kinda have blinders on. I definitely got away with more than I would have if they weren't so convinced I was the greatest gift on Earth, I'll tell you that." JUST SOME OF THE THINGS I GOT AWAY WITH DUE TO BEING MOLLY & DON'S MIRACLE BABY  1. If a teacher ever had a bad word to say about me, I learned very quickly that I could convince my parents that they just had it in for me and I had no idea why. Admittedly, this one got harder by the time I had almost finished high school and had used it roughly 80 times, but it wasn't until I fully graduated that they realized the rouse. By then I was free and clear. 2. Wanting to become a poet. Like I said, my parents are no-nonsense doctors. I'm sure when I was born they were already discussing which branch of medicine I'd end up in, so when I told them very seriously one day that the only thing I could see myself doing was writing poetry, it must have been a bitter pill to swallow. But swallow it they did, and as always, they're still just happy that I exist. The rest isn't such a big deal.  3. Stealing the keys to my dad's car and joyriding with my friends after prom. Most of my friends are pretty scared of my parents, since they can be intimidating when they want to be, but of course I just hit them with some BS story about how being an only child made me yearn for friendship and they felt too guilty to really punish me over it. I feel bad about that one now though, it was a cheap ploy and I really deserved to have my ass handed to me. I've apologized since. THINGS THAT NOT EVEN BEING MOLLY & DON'S MIRACLE BABY COULD GET ME OFF THE HOOK FOR 1. The flip side of my parents being obsessed with the mere concept of my existence was (and still is) that they seem more nervous than most that my existence might cease. Even at college, if I didn't call my mom practically every day and go home at least once every couple of weeks, the two of them would literally show up at my dorm, interrogating random students about my whereabouts. The worst time for this was when they barged in on me banging my girlfriend of the time... after that, she was at least more understanding of why I called home so much. 2. One time, not long into high school, I got in my one and only fight. I came home with a bloody lip and a black eye, but Will Henderson was worse off, since I'd finally lost my shit with him. He was always giving Judith and I grief, every single day, but on this day he'd really gone in on her and I'd just seen red. We were suspended and lucky not to be expelled, but even though my parents love Judith like a daughter, they were furious that I'd let myself be pulled down to his level. It didn't happen again. 3. That fight was also what got the attention of Emmy Ramsay. She was our very own Regina George, who happened to be dating Will at the time. Hard to say what twisted logic goes on in that girl's head, but something about that fight put me on her radar and so sparked a turning point for me at school. She dumped Will and we started dating, which was really more aptly described as me turning into her pet project. She chose what I'd wear, the places we'd go and, ultimately, the people we hung out with. I was suddenly in and I'm embarrassed to admit now how much I revelled in it. There was one major casualty though and that was Judith. First, I stopped giving her rides to school since Emmy wanted me to pick her up and she lived in the opposite direction. Then I'd be bailing on our plans after school since Emmy had suddenly sucked up all my free time. Eventually it became me avoiding her at school too, something I told myself I did because I didn't want her to suffer from Emmy's wrath, but in all honesty was just because I'd changed, because I thought I was better than her in some way. That was something my parents gave me grief for every day and they were right to, I was a real piece of shit. Something worth knowing about me, if you want to know me at all, is that I'm a romantic. Less in the red roses and candlelit dinners way, more in the seeing your whole life as a French film kind of way. Growing up in Connecticut and going to college in Boston (no, not Harvard), I've always lived my life season to season, seeing each turn in weather as a new chapter.  Emmy was my spring. You liken a girl to spring and people think she's airy and sweet, but she was neither. No, Emmy was rebirth. Before her I was one person and after I was another, for better or worse. Our relationship was fundamentally transactional, as follows: EMMY RAMSAY Able to benefit Luke Patterson in the following ways: Uber popular, able to change my social status in the blink of an eye Unbelievably gorgeous, difficult both to take my eyes off but also to look directly at Had a reputation for letting the guys she dates touch her bra, allegedly even once letting Will under it for a few seconds Potential downsides: A total bitch, so this all could have easily been a prank at my expense Unbeknownst to me at the time, she quite obviously had it in for my best friend Judith, something that would ultimately ruin my relationship with both girls Fickle as they come, I expected her to move on from me in a few months if not weeks (surprising everyone, we actually dated for almost three years) LUKE PATTERSON Able to benefit Emmy Ramsay in the following ways: Ultimately, I was proof of her godlike status. Here was a total loser, and with her Midas touch, she could make him the most popular guy in school Will had told everyone about her letting him under her bra, so when we got in a fight, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to not only dump him but humiliate him in the process Seeing me defend Judith had set something off in her, something neither of us realized had nothing to do with me. She's never openly admitted it, but I think she was jealous of mine and Judy's friendship, that we co-existed without me trying to make out with her. She was also jealous of someone being so comfortable just being herself. I think she wanted to ruin our friendship (gold star there Emmy), but she also wanted to recreate it, which leads me on to...  Potential downsides: She was no Judith. She did make me popular, and she did let me take her clothes off. We even ultimately lost our virginities to each other, in a moment that was a lot more tender than I think she ever expected for herself. But she had ruined my friendship, or at least made me ruin it, and that wasn't something I ever got over or really forgave her for. As time went on she could tell the shine of popularity was wearing off, that I spent more time looking for Judith in the halls, even offering to start picking her up for school again... by then the damage was done, Judith hated me and Emmy hated me too because of how much I cared that Judith hated me. It was obvious that my parents would never accept her, obvious that we were on different paths in life, and obvious that no matter how much she gave of herself to me, my heart was never fully in it. Over the years I've come to forgive Emmy and see that my decisions were ultimately my own. She was a twisted, vindictive girl, but she just wanted to be loved. She's romantic in that way too.

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