One Way || Phan

Part 7.

[A/N: Okay before this chapter starts, just let me say this: you guys are freakin amazing. This story went from 60 to 150 reads in just one day and has over 240 reads atm. Oh my god! Thank you all so much, it makes me so happy! :)

So, finally an update again! Enjoy!]

*Dan's POV*

I kept the promise I made to myself and went to school. I don't think I've ever hesitated this much in my life before. I took it all really slow, procrastinating the moment of entering the school building. It resulted in me almost being too late for my first subject of that day, PE.

I'm not a big fan of PE since I'm the worst at any kind of sports and always embarrass myself in front of my whole class when I'm trying to do anything simple like catching a ball. Most of the times, I failed, tried to hide my mistake but failed to do that as well, resulting in my classmates starting to laugh and make fun of whatever simple task I just failed to complete. It always took me weeks to recover from moments like that. 

Luckily Phil wasn't in my PE class, so I had some time to think about everything that had happened while I was just standing lonely in the field, not paying attention to the game or what I should do to make my team win. I stopped giving a fuck about that a long, long time ago. 

After PE I had maths, together with PJ. He didn't ask anything about me and kept talking about how amazing Chris was and just wouldn't shut up, so I had to put on some music so I could finally concentrate on my work. I really tried to solve some of the questions, but it was just too difficult (probably due to the fact that I never did my homework) and boring so instead, I stared out the window, watching other students walking by and chatting loudly with their friends.

The bell rang and the students started packing their stuff and left the classroom one by one. I slowly picked up my books and stuffed them properly in my backpack. I was the very last person who left the classroom and slowly walked through the empty corridors towards art.

Art was the only subject I liked at school. People said I was pretty good at it and I really liked to draw. It was my way to express myself and I loved how art could carry messages and meaning, so much more than words could.

I entered the classroom and sat down in the back of the class. I had no one sitting next to me since PJ would sit next to Chris all the time.

I took out my sketchbook and started doodling in a corner, waiting for the lesson to begin. The teacher, Mrs. Moore, was struggling to make her laptop work. I grinned at the sight. Miss Moore was amazing at drawing, I really admired her work. But her handling any kind of technology was just the worst.

After five minutes she finally succeeded and the beamer showed a PowerPoint slide which made the whole class burst out in moans of disagreement.

'ART PROJECT IN PAIRS' was written in big, black letters on the first slide. I didn't know if I should like that. I like art and I like to draw, but the idea of having to work with someone else and actually communicate kind of scared me.

"Silence, please!" Mrs. Moore tried to calm the class down, who had started discussing the project already. "We're doing, as most of you already saw, an art project. To succeed, you will have to work together and use all the creativity you have."

Mrs. Moore started to explain what we had to do for the project and gave us a printed paper with all the instructions and guidelines.

"You will have two months to finish this project. Sometimes you will get time to work at it in the lessons, but you have to do most of it in your spare time. I didn't pair you up, but you'll work with the person sitting next to you. Don't complain about your partner, you can't swap partners. Now, let's get to work. You know what to do. If something is still not clear, feel free to ask me."

The class started chatting again en turned to their partner to discuss what they were going to do. Then I realized I had no one to work with, I was the only person sitting alone. So I raised my hand.

"Mrs. Moore?" I asked.

"Yes, Dan?" She came walking towards me, smiling friendly.

"Uh, I have nobody to work with,' I said, referring to the empty seat next to me. "Do I have to do it alone?"

"Oh no, you'll work with... Eh... I forgot his name, but he'll attend this class too, starting today. He's not here yet, but will arrive any moment."

"Okay," I responded, wondering who that could be.

"Ah, there he is!" Mrs. Moore said, pointing at the door. I turned around to see who it was and froze in place.

Phil Lester was standing there, looking just as shocked as I was when he saw me.

He looked horrible. He had bags underneath his eyes, which probably meant he hadn't slept a lot last night. His hair was messy and his skin looked even paler than it usually already was.

Mrs. Moore walked over to Phil and started talking to him, softly. I turned around quickly so he couldn't see my red face.

I couldn't exactly follow the conversation they were having, but I was pretty sure Mrs. Moore was telling Phil about the project. I saw Mrs. Moore pointing at me in the corner of my eye and then it looked like Phil started arguing with Mrs. Moore. I wasn't sure, though. Until I heard him screaming.

"WELL, I AIN'T WORKING WITH HIM! FIND SOMEONE ELSE!"

Phil stormed out of the classroom and slammed the door shut. The whole class fell silent and tears were burning in my eyes. Why was I even here? I wished I could disappear, fall through a hole in the ground and never get out of it ever again. This was way worse than all of my embarrassing PE moments together.

The whole class looked at me. I couldn't see them since I was still looking down, but I just knew. Some people whispered something and others giggled quietly.

I couldn't handle all of this anymore. The classroom's gaze, the silence, Phil. It was too much, too much to handle right now. I swung my backpack over my shoulder and left the class, tears streaming down my face.

-

"Dan? Are you in here?" PJ's voice interrupted my thoughts and startled me for a second.

I quickly stood up, wiping away some tears.

I had run straight to the toilets after I left the classroom and had collapsed in there, sobbing uncontrollably. I thought I was ready for this, I thought I had accepted it. But when Phil stood there, screaming... It just hit me again, my heart had completely shattered again when I heard him say those words.

"Y-yeah, I'm here. Coming." I responded with a shaky voice.

I unlocked the door and opened it slowly, looking directly into PJ's concerned eyes.

"Are you okay? What did just happen, Dan? I thought you and Phil were starting to become friends!" Finally, he wasn't talking about Chris for once. He truly looked concerned. Not that I was going to tell him the truth, though.

"I'm fine." I walked over to the sink to splash some water on my face. The reflection in the mirror showed an exhausted boy, with red, puffy eyes. I wasn't fine at all.

"But Dan-"

"I said I'm fine," I snapped, interrupting him. "Let's not talk about Phil anymore, okay? He's a total jerk and I can't believe I ever wanted to be friends with him."

Lies.

"I'm going home. See you tomorrow."

Then I walked away, leaving an extremely confused PJ behind.

[A/N: Thanks for reading! Please vote? :3 (sorrynotsorry)]

[Edited: 25 jan 2018]