Ocean Avenue

Pry Time

Dan waited anxiously for Phil. He was leaning against the streetlight, his bookbag slung on one shoulder.

The boys had been walking together for a month now and Dan still knew nothing about Phil, though he was sure Phil knew lots about him. Dan always told Phil everything. For some reason, he found it easy. He told him about football, and how he wishes he could actually play. About Adrian and how he's a brat. About how no matter what, his grade average is always a B. About how he wants to become famous for doing something good for the world. About all the different meals he could cook. All Dan knew about Phil was that he was studious, a bit sarcastic, and loved to read.

Dan had wanted to ask why Phil was always so grumpy, but never got the courage.

After ten minutes of waiting, Phil finally came out of his house. "Oh. You waited..." Phil said with a roll of his eyes. Dan chuckled at Phil's usual rudeness and joined him as he approached him.

"I couldn't leave little Philly to fend for himself on these streets!" Dan exclaimed.

"One, never call me Philly. Two, I am perfectly capable of defending myself in any situation," Phil responded with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Hey, you never know," Dan pointed out. Phil shrugged.

Dan didn't know what to do anymore. He wanted to get to know this boy. They lived next door to eachother, for christ's sake!

Dan began losing himself in his thoughts. They reached the crosswalk and stopped. Well, Phil stopped. Dan kept looking down, stepping onto the street.

After being about halfway, Dan was thrown onto the ground of the sidewalk in front of him, something pinning him down.

He craned his neck to see why he just flew and saw Phil staring at him, practically laying in him. "Umm...Phil, what a-are you doing?" Dan asked, confused. He was sure Phil could see his pink cheeks becoming red.

A beep was heard and a man yelled, "Watch where you're going, faggot!"

"Well, as you can probably conclude, that man nearly hit you," Phil explained. Dan nodded, glad that Phil had been paying attention. The taller boy got up and helped Dan.

"Guess you could say I'm the one who needs protecting!" Dan chckled, trying to forget the bubbly feeling of having Phil on him, there faces inches apart. Phil grunted and picked up Dan's bag, tossing it to him. Dan caught it and watched as Phil began walking into school, as if nothing had just happened. Dan, barely being able to put his bookbag on from how much his hands were shaking, giddily skipped to the bench that he reported to every morning with his two best friends.

~~~

Dan sat in French, doodling on his notebook. All day he thought of what happened that morning. The car almost hitting him, Phil saving him, Phil being on top of him, and, the part that really was starting to piss him off, the man calling him a faggot.

Dan despised terms that were used to lower someone's self-esteem. He was hoping the man aimed it at him and not Phil, because Phil was the hero of the story. Dan was just the stupid damsel in distress.

"Daniel! Pay attention!" his teacher called in a thick french accent. Dan sighed and closed his notebook, setting his pencil down.

~~~

"Did you hear? Peter was expelled!" Lily whisper-yelled.

"What? No way! Why!?" Cat whisper-yelled back.

Dan couldn't help but overhear their gossip. Phil couldn't come to lunch because he had some project to work on, leaving Dan with no one to try and pry open.

"Dan, did you know about this?" Cat asked, turning to face the unsually quiet boy.

"Huh? Oh...yeah. I did."

Cat and Lily glanced at eachother and back at Dan. "Is everything alright?" Cat asked.

"Yeah. Everything's fine," Dan told them. He flashed a small grin their way and said, "What's not fine is the reason why Peter was expelled! I mean, who has sex with a girl in these batbrooms? Yuck!"

The girls shrugged off their worries about their friend and went back to talking about Peter. Dan sighed and threw away his half-eaten lunch.

~~~

Dan was sitting in his History class, waiting for the bell to ring. He had made a plan to get closer to Phil: Get his number! Dan would find a way to get his neighbor's number and then text him until he get's information.

The bell rang and Dan raced out of the room to Phil's locker. He didn't like not knowing someone well. It felt wrong to hide yourself from a caring person in Dan's eyes.

Dan leaned against locker 3465 and waited for Phil. After a while, Phil arrived, not questioning Dan's appearance.

"So...Phil?" Dan asked as he moved out of the way.

"Yes, Dan?" Phil asked, opening his locker.

"Do you have a phone?" Dan asked. Phil nodded.

Tugging at his shirt, Dan asked, "Wanna exchange numbers?"

Phil finished putting away his stuff and closed his locker. "What for?"

For some odd reason, that hit Dan hard in the heart. "Well...umm...for emergencies?"

Phil's face softened and he sighed, giving the shorter boy his cell phone. Dan smiled like crazy and he began punching in his number. He have his phone to Phil and Phil hesitantly put in his number.

"Cool!" Dan said, getting his phone back.

"Just don't prank call me or text me out of boredom, okay?" Phil pleaded. Dan nodded, barely containing his happiness.

~~~

Dan scrolled through his phone and stopped on Phil's contact. It was a Friday night. Maybe Phil wanted to go out? Dan didn't really see him go out much. Then again, Dan didn't really see Phil much.

Getting the courage, Dan clicked on the contact and began typing a message.

You: Hey!!

Dan sat his phone down and waited, tapping his foot against the floor. He swiveled his desk chair side to side.

Briing!

Phil: Is this an emergency?

Dan bit his lip, feeling the annoyance.

You: Well, what do you classify as an emergency?

As Dan waited for Phil to answer, he changed the contact name.

Philly: What is it, Dan?

Dan: Are you busy tonight?

Philly: Why?

Dan: I wanna give you an official tour of the city!

Philly: No thanks.

Dan: Please? :3

Philly: I need to study.

Dan: There's no school tomorrow. Study then!

Philly: No.

Dan: PLEASE!

Philly: ...

Philly: When?

Dan felt his spirit fly and do twenty cartwheels.

Dan: In like...10 minutes?

Philly: ...okay

Dan jumped up and began thinking of places to take Phil. He decided that he would take him to eat and then they could go see a movie! But would Phil want to see a movie?

Dan decided they would go to eat and then they would cross the street and watch the sunset. That was more town-like!