Stepping Stones (Phanfic)

Chapter One

Dan walked swiftly around the corner and then stopped outside the music room. The lights were off, the school day had ended, he'd been waiting all day for this. Dan carefully opened the door and slipped inside, making sure the door didn't slam shut. His eyes swept around the room searching for the instrument that almost every school had. He found it quickly, in the back of the room surrounded by other various music stands and instruments. Walking slightly fast, Dan slid across the bench to the middle.

             He swept his long fingers delicately across the keys,wiping off the dust. It had taken weeks for him to build up the courage to sneak in here after school, it had been too long since he had played. He searched his head for the perfect song to play, it didn't take long. And he played. He played till his hands cramped up.

            Dan went out the back door of the school,to the bike rack. He unlocked his bike and quickly rode home. It wasn't that late, school had only gotten out a few hours ago. When arriving a his house and and parking his bike in the garage, Dan opened the door and stepped into the house. Making sure to take his shoes off and hang his coat up,he walked into the kitchen. Dan couldn't help but notice the height chart on the inside of the doorway, it almost looked like him and his brother were racing to be the tallest, but Dan was always taking the lead. If he kept growing at this pace, Dan might have to duck when walking into a room.

"How was the library Daniel?" his mother asked sincerely.

"oh," He paused, "It was great. I got a lot of homework done." Dan said casually.

"That's good." She smiled then continued reading her magazine. Dan had lied of course, he had finished his homework during lunch so he could go to the music room after school.

               Homework wasn't really a problem for him, it was mostly easy, and so far since he moved he had gotten straight A's and the occasional B. God knows what he would do if he was forced to talk to the counselor about bad grades. He had the courage of a fucking chicken nugget and just the idea of talking to adults made him want to curl up into a ball and cry. It was easier to just do what was asked of him.

               Dan pulled out his headphones and sat down on his bed. Right now he just wanted to block out the world so he blasted MCR at full volume. He knew His mother was going to ask him about his day so he started to make up a story that was just the right mix of boring and fun to be convincing. He started doing this when his mother first noticed that he was depressed and tried to pull him out of school.

                He wasn't really sure why he wanted to stay at his school though, it's not like he had a real friend. But the bullying was starting to lessen. The usual group of jocks that cornered him when teachers weren't there were starting to get bored with him. Calling the same kid an emo fag everyday and throwing rocks at him had to get dull after a while.

                Dan glanced at his nightstand where he kept his "box of secrets". Even though it was closed he knew exactly what was inside. He felt the key that he kept on a necklace around his neck and all times and lifted it over his head. For a moment he stared at it in silence. He felt the ridges of the key in his palm then silently placed it back around his neck.

                "Deep breath." He said to himself. Now was not the time. His mother could walk in at any second and if she saw that... He couldn't do that to her again. He gingerly pulled it back around his neck and tucked it down his shirt. Maybe later tonight when he was the only one awake...