Impulse - Phan (discontinued)

chapter nine - phil

a/n more than 100 reads! thank you so much!

chapter nine - phil

I enter the house, tossing my key into a dish with other keys, and bound up the steps. I discard my backpack in my, once again, messy room. I dash down the steps, turning left at the bottom of the staircase and turn into the living room. I glance at the television, then turn to a stack of dvd's lying next to it, I trace my finger along the list of titles. An assortment of musicals for me, science documentaries for Martyn, family movies for all of us, and taped shows for mum mostly. 

I tap on the one printed: 'The Music Man', and pluck it out. I made mum buy it after that night before Mr. Richards told us about doing the musical. It's makes Les Miserables and The Sound Of Music topple out of the pile, I reach for them quickly, haphazardly placing them atop the 'Leaning Tower of Films'. I stand slowly, making sure no other discs decide to take a nosedive, and return to my room. 

I whip out my pencils and folders, completing my homework and putting it back in their respective places. I stare at my room, raising an eyebrow. I pick up my dirty clothes, put away clean clothes, made my bed, do a general tidying up. I sit on my bed for a moment glancing at the television.

I put the disc in and as it goes through all the commercials and stops at the intro screen. I place the remote on top of a blanket grandma knit for me when I was thirteen. My phone dings across the room and I reach for it pulling it close to me. Dan texted me.

'I'm leaving now,' 

I reply instantly. I retell him my address, going down the stairs to choose a snack. I make popcorn as I hear the now trademark knocking of Dan Howell:

'Knock knock knock, knock knock knock, knock knock knock.'

I yell that I'm coming and jog to the door. I open it and Dan stands awkwardly in the doorway, I welcome him in. He nods politely, shaking off his shoes. I return to get the popcorn and lead him up the stairs and into my room. 

I'm too excited to consciously notice as he idles in the doorway, punching at the door frame. I sit down on the bed and pat it, he comes over and sits. I hand him a bowl of popcorn and turn the movie on. I lean back against the pillows and instantly become engrossed in the film.

They start out on a train, grumbling about how Hill doesn't know the territory. I'm watching partially for entertainment, but mostly to see what I'll sing and what cue's I'll need to know. The first song finishes and then they segway nicely into the song about Iowa stubbornness. I can't help but think about how amazing this will be when we put it on, regardless of whether I score the lead or not.

They continue, and I subconsciously memorize phrases of dialogue. I silently repeat them back to myself, but I can hear my lips and tongue moving around. Dan hums a bit and I shush him playfully, trying to concentrate on the lyrics of the song. Dan goes silent almost immediately. 

The scene changes to the other main character, Marian, singing whilst teaching a piano lesson. Her mother is telling her off because she wouldn't give Hill, hopefully me, a try. Amaryllis is playing the piano and Marian is singing 'Goodnight My Someone' The song is beautiful and I can't wait to gaze at the girl who will play Marian from the wings.

After a small while Hill comes back and sings briefly about how trouble is coming to River City. I smile at the antics hopefully I will do, then breaks into '76 Trombones' and all of the instruments play loudly. There's a bit of dialogue and general banter before a group of men comes in and begins to sing 'Sincere'. "How can there be any sin in sincere? Aren't we sincerely in love?" It's a short but important song.

I feel Dan shift beside me and do his little nod thing. He shifts and nods again. He wiggles his nose and moves around once again, I shoot him a glance and he stills. He clears his throat and grimaces before rolling his neck in a circle. I can see his out of the corner of my eye twiddling with his fingers. I reach for the remote and look at him, pausing the movie.

"Do you want to take a little break from the movie?" His face looks indifferent but his eyes show that he's grateful. I walk over to my desk and pull out a science paper for the Inclinometer project. He scoots across the bed toward the edge and sits there as I sit in the chair. I look at the paper.

"Okay, first, that measurement is wrong." He points toward the length of wire we used, "And that," He's now referring to length of the wood block that we used. I erase the wire issue and look at the paper for a moment, finding the measurement for the wood block. I erase it and hold my pencil trying to remember how long they were respectively. He tears my pencil out of my hand, wipes the eraser off a few times with his fingers and palm before handing it back to me. 

"What did you do that for?" I turn to look at him with a lopsided grin. He looks uncomfortable.

"There was eraser dust on it." He swipes his hand across the desk and my paper, sending what I assume that is excess to the floor. 

"Oh." He proceeds to tell me the numbers that I wrote down wrong and we continue with the worksheet until we're half finished. I lean back in the chair, discarding my pencil. I stand up without speaking and return to the bed, picking up the remote. 

He moves back to his previous position and sits patiently, waiting for me to turn the movie back on. I click it on and we continue to watch. I'm trying to concentrate, but I can only think of Dan. He's sitting there, next to me, with his deep brown eyes that are always pondering something thoughtfully and his hair that sits just the right way even when he's running hair hands angrily through his fringe when something doesn't fit in his mind quite the right way. 

I blinked hard and returned to the movie. We finish the movie quietly, me whispering the words of songs to myself occasionally and Dan humming every so often. The credits roll and Dan gets up, glancing at the clock. 

"I should go," I'm staring at his face. It can only be described as pretty, not handsome, it sounds too harsh, not beautiful, it sounds overpowering. His eyes flick around the room, searching for something to observe. I'd like to observe him.

"O-Oh okay," What am I doing? What am I thinking? I mentally kick myself.

"Okay, bye!" He leaves. I lean back onto the bed. I reach for the popcorn bowl. I hear the front door close. I sprawl out, shoving handfuls of popcorn in my mouth without really thinking. The credits end and it reverts to the title screen. I click for it to start again. I rewatch it, still eating popcorn. 

A/N

Sorry for such a crap chapter. I'm sorry it took so long for me to update, school is so freaking time consuming and annoying. thanks for reading

kenz

2/13/15

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