New To Me (Phan)

Chapter 3

"AmazingPhil? Really? That's what you're going with?" I asked sceptically.

"Yeah! It's cool! It sounds like a Magician's name. I always wanted to be a magician," Phil replied in defence of his chosen username. "That, or a weatherman," he added seriously, after a moment's thought.

I shook my head, smiling down at my laptop as I typed in the name. "I don't even know how to respond to that."

We were sat on my bed together, and by sat I mean I was in a sitting position while Phil, who had made himself at home, lay sprawled across the covers. We were in the middle of creating YouTube channels for ourselves at the request of our media teacher: the aim being that we would upload all of our assignments onto the site for marking.

I'd never really had a study partner before, usually preferring to be by myself. But it was nice working with Phil. If I didn't understand something or if I missed an instruction I could just ask Phil for clarification. I've always been one of those people too stubborn to ask the teacher for help and, consequently, have had my fair share of stress-related breakdowns. But I didn't mind asking for help from Phil. I didn't know why that was, but it made for a pleasant change.

After finishing creating Phil's channel I started on mine. "So what does that make me, MagnificentDan?" I asked Phil sarcastically, continuing on from the conversation before.

Phil considered this for a second. "No, you're not magician-y enough to pull that off."

"What the hell does that even mean? That's not a word!"

"Sure it is! Magician-y: Having an air of mystique and great magical potential."

"Right, of course," I said rolling my eyes. "My mistake."

"How about... danisnotonfire?" Phil asked.

"Wha- why?" I asked, thoroughly bemused. "Where on earth did that come from?" Phil looked at me, eyebrows furrowed. Why was he the one confused?

"Because," he began with the tone of one explaining to a toddler why 2+2=4, "You're not on fire," he concluded matter-of-factly.

I simply stared at him. I'd noticed that Phil often came out with strange things like this. You'd think it'd be frustrating but with Phil it was more endearing than anything else. In fact, it was probably one of the qualities I liked the most about him. "I'm also not drowning, or being attacked by a swarm of freaking bees. There's a lot of things that are not happening to me."

Phil shrugged. "I don't know, I just thought it had a nice ring to it. Certainly better than Danisnotbeingattackedbybees, don't you think?"

I sighed in mock exasperation, and attempted to hide the small smile that played at my lips as I typed "danisnotonfire" in. "I suppose it does sound kind of cool," I admitted, shrugging. I mean, it was certainly unique and bizarre enough to be memorable.

"Don't you mean it sounds kind of... warm?" Phil asked, poking me in the side and waiting for a response to his joke.

"Jesus Christ," I muttered under my breath. But I couldn't help it: it made me smile once again. This was usually how our conversations went. Phil being a total dork and making lame puns and me pretending that I'm not amused by them.

"You know, your room's very devoid of colour," Phil observed, looking around the walls of the room. This was the first time he'd been over my house, though you wouldn't guess it by his sitting position. I looked up and surveyed my room as well. It was rather dull. Grey walls, black duvet, the occasional poster and the odd trinket. It was basic but I liked it. It felt very me.

"Colour's too cheerful. That's not the kind of vibe I want to be putting out there," I said.

"We're so similar in so many aspects, yet complete opposites in others," Phil noted, shaking his head.

"You mean your room isn't a dark and soulless abyss of sadness?" I asked.

"No, quite the opposite. My bed sheets alone are so bright and colourful. It's like sleeping inside a skittles packet."

I chuckled. It sounded so very Phil. "And isn't that everyone's dream. I'll have to see what that's like."

Phil raised his eyebrows at me. "Inviting yourself into my bed? How very forward of you," he said, jokingly.

"Shut up," I laughed, playfully hitting him in the face with one of my pillows. Although he knew that wasn't what I was insinuating I could feel my cheeks grow warm. And the award for speaking without thinking goes to...

"No, but in all seriousness you should come round some time," Phil said. "Because the house is still relatively new, everything's still relatively clean."

"Sounds good." I smiled.

"We could have one of our games days over there. I'm sure PJ would appreciate not having his house trashed for once."

My smile faltered slightly. Oh. He meant that we, as in me, Chris and PJ, should come over. Although that still sounded fun, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that it wasn't just me he was inviting, as I had initially thought. I think I had subconsciously equated being the first one invited over to Phil's house to being his favourite.

But why should I care if I'm his favourite or not? I know that he was only messing around on his first day when he said that I was the coolest person he'd met so far, but a part of me loved hearing that. And maybe that part of me started to actually believe it.

Perhaps it was the prospect of no longer being"the backup friend"that appealed to me. You know, the one that you're not really that close to but you'll hang out with if the friends higher up in the ranks are busy. I've always been aware of how close Chris and PJ were and recognised that most of the time, I was the third wheel. I didn't think it ever bothered me. But surely it must have, because what other reason would there be for my sudden clinginess? Maybe I just want to be someone's"go-to" friend for once. That must be it.

"Yeah, sounds good," I said again, but with much less enthusiasm than before.

Still it would be nice to see where Phil lived. You can learn a lot about another person based on their house. Whether they're clean or messy, what they like and dislike, how they spend their free time. I might even get to meet some of his family while over there. See how he interacts with his parents and find out if he has any siblings. I really did want to get to know Phil more, and this seemed like a step in the right direction.