The Bad Boy Experiment

10

A/N: So this is it. This is the end. I'd like to thank everyone who's reviewed this. It's been a lot of fun and I loved the journey. Thank you so much for reading this and forcing me to go on!

"I guess the whole world is made up of things coming together and things falling apart,"
― Emily Wing Smith, Back When You Were Easier to Love

One week and a weekend later. November 29th, Monday.

Dan and Phil hadn't spoken in a week and everything was going downhill. At the start, Dan was sure this was a waste of time and now this experiment was everything. Tomorrow it would all be gone. Dan's secret had been saved and now it was almost time for the big reveal. Phil's secret had been exposed and now no one knew what to think.

Phil had almost dropped off the radar for that week and a weekend. Phil hung low, while Dan on the other hand, soar higher than before. Maybe it was his anger and frustration of not being able to meet with Phil, maybe it was just really good acting. Dan was a jerk.

Sex-crazed, druggie, hot, romantic, secretive, dangerous... jerk.

Words that played over and over in Dan's head as he read through the notecards that Zoe had given him to memorize for tomorrow.

Be polite

Show who you really are

Explain the experiment

Give a speech on the findings.

So far Dan had numbers one and two down by default. Number three was easy enough, 'I was pretending to be a so-called bad boy for the last month.'. Number four was where he was stumped.

Dan had written speech after speech but he just couldn't find the right words to explain everything that had happened this month. He knew how it started, he knew how it ended, but what he didn't know is everything in between. There was no way he'd get through every detail and everything he wanted to say in the allotted time.

Suddenly Dan's phone vibrated against the wood of his desk.

Zoe: hows things goin?

Dan: not too fond of the speech tbqh

Zoe: thats my grade ur working on

Dan didn't reply to that last text. He figured he'd just wing it or write it in first period as the assembly wasn't until 2nd.

A spark of inspiration and Dan was woken up from his dead sleep, frantically scribbling down notes and ideas as if his life depended on it.

Morning came too fast. His walk to school went by too fast. Everything was racing by way too fast. Everything was about to end and it was going by too quickly. He thought that things were supposed to slow down before a big event such as this, but to no avail.

Dan picked his head up on the final trip to 1st period as the bad boy version of himself. Catching glimpses of people as they made a quick dart of the eye from their friends to him. Teachers looking over like they admired him for something even though he did absolutely nothing.

It was something good to take in before this facade came to an end. Before they knew he wasn't really what they seemed to think. That in reality, Dan was a nerd, a shy kid who likes wearing ties and doing his homework, a kid who found drama to be annoying, and much rathered to stick to one person than float around with others.

He took his 1st period seat casually, like nothing was about to happen. Just a regular assembly, something to get out of class for.

Fast. Everything was fast. Even 1st period which was usually long, especially because a.) it was morning and b.) it was history class. As if he didn't already know enough about the past.

Instead of going to his usual 2nd class, he went to the auditorium along with the other students. Dan slid back stage and found Zoe rather easily. Even she looked nervous. It wasn't her reputation that was about to fall though, so Dan dismissed it.

Together they made distracting small talk about how it's been fun and a real exciting month.

A loud voice rang over the speakers, commanding silence and introducing Dan and Zoe to the stage, being vague but letting the students know why they were present.

Dan rubbed the sweat from his palms onto his jeans and looked over at Zoe who nodded reassuringly, almost as if to say, 'let's do this.'.

For some reason, these three steps to the stage were the hardest Dan had to take. There was a single microphone on center stage and a plastic chair.

Zoe walked ahead and took the microphone which left Dan with the crappy plastic chair.

"Hello classmates, friends, teachers," She began.

Dan could tell she was nervous from the slight shake in her voice. He scanned the crowd, looking for familiar faces when his eyes locked with Phil's.

Phil stared back blankly.

"For the past month, I've been using Daniel Howell as a human guinea pig for a social experiment. I feel like it would be more genuine if I let him explain for himself."

Dan stood up and switched places with Zoe.

"Thanks.. On the last few days before November Zoe approached me asking if I wanted to be a part of her experiment. Now most would refuse and believe me, I refused, but after some persistence, I gave in because I was weak."

The crowd laughed.

"It started off to be a fun little experiment but then Phil Lester, began to question me. Eventually he found out the truth, that I was not really what I claimed to be. I'm guessing that would have been cooler if I'd said I was a psychic."

Dan's eyes landed on Phil while the crowd laughed some more. Phil was stone faced.

"I needed some dirt on him so I found out the truth about why his girlfriend broke up with him. He was gay before I came in the picture. Somewhere along the lines, things got a little out of hand. Lies and rumours spread like wildfires in our school. Things went too far. So I guess that after coming clean and getting this all off my chest, I realize that all anyone cares about in this school is popularity and who has the most dirt on who. If you're good you're popular because the slightest thing can off you. If you're bad you're popular because nothing can off you."

Dan paused dramatically. The silence that blanketed the crowd of students was eerie, but filled with his own words in a powerful way.

"Over this month, I've learned that we are, every single last one of us, including me, are nothing if not hungry. Hungry for the truth, the lies, the romance, whatever it may be. Without it, you are nothing here. I'm no bad boy, I do my homework, dress neatly, the basics. I was nothing and now you all know my name. Thank you for being there for my journey but if this is what it takes to be popular, I'm done."

Silence. Dan made his way off the stage, feeling the heat of every eye on him. The a clap. Dan looked over his shoulder to see Phil, standing up. A clap followed by more. More clapping that led to cheering, screaming. Zoe ran off the stage to join up with Dan; a huge smile was plastered onto her face.

"Thank you Dan!" She said with the utmost sincerity.

Dan felt a pat on the back and went to greet the giver. Phil stood there happily.

"That was brilliant Dan."

Dan didn't know what to say, so he simply continued to smile.

Phil pulled Dan in for a kiss but was stopped by Zoe who suggested they wait until after school.

It was all over. The experiment, the lies, the secrets. Over.

Now that it was, Dan was able to accept that. He did so happily, hand locked in with Phil's as they openly walked down the halls together ever after.

The End.