Polaroid;《Phan》

《1.》

《1.》

Daniel James Howell had just woke up, when he remembered he had to buy a few things from the store nearby his house. One of his friends asked him to buy a book as a favor. Reading books wasn't in Dan's interests list, but he was curious to know what was the book about. So without hesitating anymore, he decided to leave his thoughts behind and go to the store.

He really wasn't that hungry, so he didn't have any breakfast.
"Mum would have been so angry at me" he thought to himself as he laughed.

Whenever he left his apartment, he always looked at everything which surrounded him, being self-conscious of his own existence. Dan liked the color mixture of the flowers when he walked pass by them and the blurry images of people walking quite fast. It felt like he was on his own world but at the same time he was conscious of his surroundings. He didn't like the thought of aging and death whatsoever, but he found it oddly fascinating.

Before he even realized it, he was already inside the store. He looked around himself, to see what was new. Everything looked quite the same, except for the people inside the store. The cashier was the same as always; an old man, with white hairs on his head and wrinckles all over his face. Dan thought he looked scary, but he was actually a good chatter.

Looking through the store's shelves, there was a young man with black, straight hair. He was slightly smaller than Dan, which wasn't really a surprise, since he was told very often how tall he was. The man looked quite sweet, friendly and his voice was deep and relaxing.

Dan started to look through the shelves for the book his friend wanted. After a few minutes trying to find it, he decided he needed to ask for help. He looked around him, but apparently, the only person who could help him was the cashier. And of course, Dan's social anxiety stops him from talking to most people, especially strangers. He started to think an excuse to tell his friend since he didn't think he was brave enough to ask for help when, suddenly, someone stood just right next to him. At first, Dan didn't dare to look at the person's face, but after thinking a little bit, he thought he had nothing to lose. Dan was surprised. It was the young, black-haired man he saw before.

"Why are you looking at me so surprised?" The man asked.

"Oh sorry... I was just... I'm looking for a book" Dan answered awkwardly.

"Which book?" The man asked while looking through the shelves.

"Hm... It's called 'Ready Player One' by Ernest Cline" Dan said, quite shy.

"Oh! I've heard that's a really good book! Are you into video-games?" He asked. He got something from the shelf and he hid it behind his back.

"Yeah, what about you?" Dan asked nervously, he really wanted to know the stranger's answer.

"Of course!" He said. "Here you go, the book you were looking for" He showed Dan what was behind his back.

"Oh, thank you so much! I don't know if I could have found it without your help" Dan looked at his blue, deep eyes. "I'm Dan, by the way. What's your name? I'm not a stalker, don't worry. I just... Wanted to know" He said awkwardly.

"Oh, hello Dan! I'm Phil!" He said.

Phil shook his hand. Did Dan make a new friend? He wasn't sure whatsoever, but he didn't want to think too much about it. They didn't say anything else. Dan walked to the cashier and Phil kept doing whatever he was doing before.

While walking to the cashier, something caught Dan's eyes; a Polaroid camera. It was squared and really pretty. Oh, and of course, it was black.

"Just like my soul" Dan said to himself and laughed as he kept walking.

He finally got there and handed in the book to the cashier.

"Oh! Nice choice, boy!" The old man said.

Dan didn't really answer anything, he just nodded and tried to smile. He felt someone behind him, which made him a little anxious.

"It is a good choice, indeed" a familiar voice said.

Dan turned his head and found Phil right there, with something in his hands. Dan smiled and then turned again to pay the book.

Just when Dan was about to go, someone called him.

"Dan! Dan! Wait!" It was Phil's shaking voice from running.

Dan looked at him quite surprised.

"Yeah, I know, I'm not good at P.E." Phil added when he stopped.

Phil got something out of his back, which Dan guessed by its shape and colour, that it was the Polaroid camera he saw before.

"Look what I bought" Phil said. "I saw you looking at this and I decided to buy it"

Dan looked at Phil's bright, blue eyes and smiled.

"Here, for you" Phil said a he gave Dan the camera.

"Phil, I... Eh... Thank you so much, but... I can't accept it" Dan said, while giving it back to Phil.

"I thought you would like it!" Phil sadly said.

"No, no! I do love the Polaroid camera Phil" Dan smiled as he looked into Phil's eyes. "But it is worth a lot of money, so I think it's fair you keep it. OK?"

Phil looked at him, waited a few seconds, smiled and then answered.

"Oh, of course. But if you don't want the camera, at least I can ask you for something. Right?"

Dan opened his eyes widely, he was scared.

"Y-yeah?"

"I want a picture with you" Phil said as he pulled the Polaroid camera out of his back.

"Oh... Is that it?" Dan asked surprised.

"Yes? Could I ask for anything else?"

"Let's just take the picture" Dan said as he moved next to Phil.

Phil pressed the button and the picture revealed in paper came out from the bottom part of the camera. Phil shook it and smiled.

"Thank you, Dan"

"You are very welcome, I guess"

And after the last goodbye was said, they both went on their own way.