Ashes of the Future

Chapter 1

Dan stood, admiring the door of his best friends house one more time. Clad with blue paint, it's natural wooden coat being hidden. It would be the last time he knocked on said door, and the boy was getting a little nostalgic. Matt, his best friend, had called this building his home for Dan's whole life. Dan even considered it his second home, maybe that was the reason he was getting so upset about the sudden movement of housing.

Matt was to move away just after their last day of sixth form, all the way down to another big city called Birmingham. Their current home city was none other than the notorious London, the place of big red buses and the underground. But Dan wasn't going to miss Matt, not at all. Everyone knows that the two come as a package, wherever Dan goes Matt follows, and vice versa. This was no exception. Both of them are going to live in the same flat, and attend the same university.

Moments of happiness can never be enjoyed for one in a place like London though, as Dan's train of thought gets cut short when a pancake smacks into his face. He looks up, to see the one and only Matthew Chann.

"Oi Dan, why are you just standing there you doughnut. We've got a final exam to be attending to" Matt shouted out his bedroom window, looking down on Dan. Matt's blonde hair sat messily in front of his eyes, making Dan laugh yet again. The boy slipped the pancake off of his chest, and tossed it into the next door neighbours garden in a frisbee like manner. Dusting his uniform down, he proceeded to walk into the house.

"Good morning Daniel, would you like a banana pancake?" Matt's father questioned, the plate being neatly balanced on his left hand.

"Wouldn't be my first run in with these pancakes today, but of course I would love one Dom" He smiled, picking up a pancake off the plate while walking through the living room. With a big grin on her face, a woman comes rushing through.

"Oh Dan, my mexican child. I'm going to miss you" The woman exclaimed, while running her hair through Dan's thick black hair and straightening his red tie.

"For the last time Mrs Chann, I'm not Mexican"

"Hispanic, Latino, whatever. Same difference. Now go and build a wall for that Trump man or something" A blank expression fell across Dan's face, as he was left awkwardly speechless by one of Mrs Chann's remarks yet again. "... I'm joking, honey" Smiling, Dan let his cheeks get pulled and squished around by Matt's mother. She had always treated Dan like a baby, but no one had ever quite understood why. Maybe it was because he was so little compared to Matt, being only five foot six at the age of eighteen. Maybe it was because Matt was so distant, just like his two older sisters Jordan and Karoline. But Dan never questioned it, or pushed her away. Secretly, he liked the attention. That was, of course, when she wasn't making racist jokes towards an ethnicity that wasn't even his own.

"Mum, please let go of Dan" Matt came stomping down the stairs while Dan picked his bag up for him, finally being released from Mrs Chann's hellish grip. Out of nowhere, Dan jumped onto Matt's back, being luckily caught by a startled Matt. "What the hell are you doing on my back" He questioned, trying to turn his head to look at Dan. Dan smiled, peeping his head forward so his head was in line with Matt's.

"Do you not remember? This is how we went into school on our first day of secondary school because I went over on my ankle, so I could barely walk"

"Well surprisingly Dan, we're not eleven anymore and you can walk perfectly fine" Matt spat out, hoping Dan would get off of his back.

"But you haven't let go yet-"

"I will flat out drop you on this floor in a minute Daniel Keyes"

"Oh, using full names are we now?"

"Okay so apparently one of us is still mentally eleven" Matt said as he tightened his grip on Dan's legs and walked out of the door, bidding his farewells to his parents. Dan nuzzled his head into Matt's neck, as he started to fall asleep.