One Way || Phan

Part 10.

*Phil's POV*

God, Dan just wouldn't leave me alone. It wasn't like he kept stalking me or kept sending me messages on all my social media platforms, but it was pretty obvious he wanted my attention, and I had no intention to give in to his pleads. Every time he tried to make his move I was faster than him and already somewhere else or talking to someone who wasn't him.

But I think he gave up a few days ago. He hasn't bothered me since then anymore. In fact, he kept his distance from me and I wasn't sure why. I kind of got used to him being there constantly so not seeing him felt... odd. Like almost in a bad way.

Believe it or not, but I kept thinking about Dan. I felt bad for what I did, but it was for the best. I had to protect myself and my secrets and Dan wouldn't be very helpful because I knew I would let him in to see the truth. For some reason, I still felt this weird feeling whenever I was around him, something I couldn't exactly explain.

Whatever it was, I couldn't give in to it. Dan couldn't be a part of my life, so the decision I made was the right one. It had to be.

And besides, I had more important things to think of. My father, for example. School felt like heaven if your home was like hell. Things with my father only had gotten worse over the time. He had become even more violent than he already was which resulted in me not going to school as much as I used to in order to hide my bruises. That meant spending more time at home – with my father – and slowly becoming crazy. It was a never-ending road of pain and isolation. It was reaching its limit, but I had to be strong. Just a few more years to go and then I could leave this place forever.

Even though I felt safe at school, I couldn't help but startle every time someone waved his hand in front of my face or did anything else to get my attention. This time wasn't an exception. 

I turned my face towards the boy, who was saying something to me. I blinked a few times, before finally snapping out of my thoughts and realizing Chris was right in front of me.

"Oh, eh, C-Chris! Hi." I muttered, feeling blood rush to my cheeks, turning them red.

"Phil, what is wrong with you? You're not really here with your mind, are you?" Chris asked me, voice soft and friendly.

"Just... Tired." I responded simply. I hated to lie to him, to keep him out again.

Chris sighed and looked at me, expression full of disbelief. He didn't say anything about it, though.

"Okay then. Now, something else." Chris said and stared down, fiddling with the sleeves of his hoodie.

I sensed that whatever Chris was going to say, wasn't something I wanted to hear. There was some strange kind of tension in the air all of the sudden, causing me to shift in my seat and nervously bite my lip.

"Listen, don't blame me for what I'm going to say, it wasn't my idea. Dan-"

Fuck, no.

I didn't let Chris finish his sentence. Dan had talked to him. So that was Dan's plan. Well, it wasn't going to work, I wasn't that stupid.

I quickly stood up and grabbed my backpack. I almost stumbled over my own feet in my hurry. I quickly regained my balance and walked away with large, loud steps. The whole classroom had fallen silent and everyone was staring at me. I felt the piercing gaze of the students burn as I left the classroom and smashed the door shut. 

"PHIL! WHAT THE HELL?" I heard Chris yell. He had run after me, I realized. His face was full of confusion and anger. I couldn't let him stop me, though. I felt bad for doing this but I had no other choice. I just hated Dan for involving Chris in this.

"Leave me alone, Chris!" I yelled back. 

He didn't, but grabbed my wrist instead. I struggled to get free, but he was much stronger than I was and he pinned me against the wall, holding both of my wrists tightly to prevent me from escaping from his grip. 

"Oh my god, you're acting ridiculous. Just listen to me!" Chris growled, making sure he kept a firm grip because I was still struggling, trying to free myself.

"I don't care what Dan told you, okay? Just let me go!" I yelled, directly in his face.

"You don't have to scream at me! Just listen, then I'll let you go." He said, extremely calmly.

I did two more pathetic attempts to get myself free from his grip, but failed and then gave up. I decided to just listen to what he had to say because this wasn't getting me anywhere.

"Come on Phil, don't you see that you're overreacting right now? Nothing's wrong, I'm not going to hurt you so I don't understand," Chris sighed. "You're never telling me anything, while it's quite obvious something's wrong." 

"Nothing's wrong." I snapped at him.

He smiled at me. Not a happy smile, but one filled with sadness. I felt so bad for him, knowing he was right and me still acting this way.

"Of course nothing's wrong," Chris said, disbelief and sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Now, let me tell you what Dan told me."

I gasped. Did Dan know? Oh god, how did he find out? I could feel the panic building up in my chest and my heart beating like crazy. This couldn't be happening. He wasn't allowed to know.

"Dan told me you're ignoring him," Chris started. "You know that is not the right way to handle your problems, right?"

Thank god, it was about me ignoring Dan. Not something else. I relaxed a bit, letting out a deep sigh to try and calm my body down.

"I think you should go talk to Dan. He's upset about it and quite worried, too. He really is, Phil. And besides, you can't keep on ignoring him. The art project, remember? I'm sure you want a good note for that." 

I groaned. I completely forgot about the bloody project. How much time would there be left to finish it? A couple of weeks, maybe less?

And Chris was right, I did indeed want a good note for it. Not because I was such a good student, but because my dad forced me to get good grades and I knew what would happen if I didn't.

"Come on, Phil. Just talk to Dan, sort things out with him. This isn't the right way to tell someone to stay away. You should do the project with him and then tell him you don't want him to be anywhere near you. In a nice way, of course." Chris looked at me, still using all his strength to keep me in place and to be honest, it started to hurt a bit.

"Just let me go." I finally spoke, after a minute of silence.

"Promise you'll talk to him, Phil." I had to admit, his voice was quite convincing. What could go wrong? I could just do the project with Dan and then never speak to him again. It seemed innocent, and some part of me actually looked forward to talking to Dan again. I mentally kicked myself immediately after thinking that. 

I sighed. "Okay, fine."

"I said, promise me," Chris said, raising an eyebrow.

"I promise."

Then he finally let me go. It was quite unexpected so I almost lost my balance. His grip on my wrists had been so tight that my hands were tingling because my blood hadn't been able to properly stream through my veins to my hands while he had pinned me to that wall.

"Just the project," I spoke, more talking to myself than to Chris.

"That's fine." Chris smiled, relieved. 

[A/N: I'm updating frequently, be proud]

Edited: 19/2/2018