Not On Fire (Phan AU)

24 | breathe, I'm suffocating

"Please tell me when I'm going to need to know any of this stuff outside of school?" Chris asks, shutting his book loudly and slamming it against the table.

"You're never going to need it," PJ says. He shakes his head. "I'm pretty sure that's the point. And why other countries have school systems and curriculums that are more catered towards the student's own personal ambitions and career goals."

They're studying at PJ's house today. Apparently, even though there are still a few weeks until finals, and furthermore the last day of high school, it's important to study now so they can get good grades. Or something like that. Dan's never been one to study, but he's trying to be better. At everything. Which is why he's here instead of hanging out with Louise or Phil or keeping to himself--he'd prefer any of those options over what's going on now.

They've been studying together for a few days now, rotating whose house they're meeting at. First it was Phil's, then Chris', and now it's PJ's. Dan figures he'll probably be next, Louise last, simply because Louise has distanced herself further from the rest of them than Dan, which is saying something. Louise, who always pushed Dan to make friends, didn't really do the same; she has other friends. Maybe that's why she wasn't particularly interested in totally befriending them. She's nice to them--close to Phil, probably, but PJ and Chris are a different story. She's only here because her agreeing made it harder for Dan to disagree.

At least, that's what Dan thinks. He was about to say no to the whole idea when Louise said yes, which prompted him to follow suit. Maybe she wasn't being that thoughtful about it, but it's too late to worry about that.

"It helps knowing it if you want to sound like a pretentious asshole who thinks they're smarter than everyone else, but that's it," Dan says. See, he can be normal, participating in a conversation he has no interest in.

"I feel like that would have been better if you had tried to sound like a pretentious asshole while saying it," Phil jokes, bumping his shoulder against Dan's. They're both laying on the floor, stomach down, with books spread out in front of them, right next to each other. Louise is on Phil's side, but further away and more off on her than anything else. PJ and Chris are both sitting at the coffee table in the center of the room.

For the most part they're all working on different things, only talking to more than one person when they feel like complaining or need help with something. Other than that, PJ and Chris talk to each other, Louise talks to nobody (she really doesn't have much to say now that she's not complaining about everything Dan's doing, but it's only been getting worse as the days go on), and Dan and Phil are talking to each other.

"What are you talking about?" Chris remarks. "Dan always sounds like a pretentious asshole."

"Haha, you're so funny," Dan deadpans, looking up from his book to glare at Chris. Chris wears a nasty, condescending smirk on his face. How Dan will ever be truly comfortable around him is a mystery.

"See what I mean?" Chris is laughing slightly, like he's being so original and funny, but Dan just rolls his eyes. Looks back down at the textbook in front of him.

There are a few pages missing from Phil's, so they're sharing his, which has brought them only closer physically. A warmth radiates out from the side that's being touched, the main focus of it being on the shoulder where they are almost squished up together they're so close. It's nice, but also distracting. How is supposed to focus on physics when his heart is racing? This must be some sort of punishment for him taking so long to admit that Phil was his friend--that's the only possible solution. (At least the only one that Dan's willing to consider right now, because his life is a little too chaotic for him to admit that he might be developing feelings for someone he spent so long trying to convince everyone he hated.)