Nothing Burns Like the Cold (Phan)

Chapter Nine

The classroom was weirdly quiet, everyone tuning in as Mr. Parker talked about how to control their powers to the best of their ability. Either the class was actually interested in the topic, or they were really tired after a weekend of sleeping in and playing video games. Phil was going to assume the latter.

Dan was sitting beside him, his legs up on the desk and a book resting over his face, much like the very first day Phil had ever met him. He frowned at the brunette, slightly annoyed that they haven't talked since Dan basically cried on his shoulder.

That was nearly two weeks ago.

Every time Phil tried, Dan would simply ignore him, staring ahead as if Phil wasn't even there. If Phil stood in front of him, Dan would simply stare through him rather than at him. It was annoying, and rather hurtful if he's being honest, and it was times like these that he wished he could scream at Dan and tell him he can't treat people like this if he wants to show he cares for them.

But of course, he doesn't. His mum taught him better than that, sadly.

"Now," Mr. Parker began, pausing to look over the class. His gaze lingered over Dan before darting away to another innocent student. "Many of you have heard about ability stones, I assume. So I figured we would learn how to make them today."

The class perked up, everyone suddenly becoming two inches taller in their seats. Dan didn't move, didn't even flinch. He was probably asleep.

"When making an ability stone, you have to make sure that you are thinking of happy things, or are in a positive mindset. If you aren't, it simply won't work. Put yourself in your happy place where you can't focus on anything else. Next, you want to clasp your hands. Focus on your powers and that happy feeling in your stomach. You want to envision your powers being a solid form, something that you can hold and feel in your hands. Eventually, you'll begin feeling an intense heat in your palms and you will know you're doing it right. No magic words, or abracadabra necessary!" Mr. Parker glanced around the room once more, his smile bright. "Let's try it ourselves, shouldn't we?"

Phil let out a short sigh, giving Dan one last grimace at how oblivious he was. But obviously he wouldn't be able to make an ability stone if he had those negative thoughts, so he closed his eyes, clasped his hands, and began to think of happy things.

He thought about his mum, with her pretty blue eyes and blonde hair, reading him bedtime stories when he was a child. Their family vacation to Florida where Phil had flaunted the Sand Dollar he'd found, only to be tackled into the water by his brother, causing him to lose it. He thought about his friends back home, going to see the new Star Wars and coming up with obscure stories about how Finn and Poe were completely and utterly in love. His thoughts then went to Dan, with his head laying on his shoulder, giggling at the stupid water games Phil was playing. He focused on the water in his memory, feeling it flow down his arms and into the dip of his palms. He imagined it hardening, becoming ice, a physical object able to be held.

His hands began to warm, taking him off guard with the intensity of the heat. It was almost as if he had stuck his hands into a fireplace, nearly pulling away from his position to see if Dan was playing games with him, before he remembered what Mr. Parker had said about the intense heat that goes along with this process. Slowly, it began to disperse and Phil finally allowed his eyes to open, along with his palms.

The first thing his eyes processed was a beautiful deep blue colour, as if it had the deep sea and a million constellations thrown all together to make a single hue. It was about the size of a small strawberry, round and smooth, swirled with blues and blacks and silvers. Phil forgot to breathe for a moment in his absolute shock, rolling the stone between his fingers as if to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He wasn't.