Strange (Phan AU)

Chapter Two

Okay so chapter two doesn't actually need to be rewritten so here its back

Dan was tired. Not physically (though he did wish he had gotten more sleep the night before), but mentally. After spending most of the summer helping his mom around the house while she worked to keep the bills paid, he did not have the energy to deal with any of this: starting high school, being forced to socialise, the obligatory attempts at homework.

And yet, here he was, in the school halls, already late for class, and just slightly lost. With a huff of slight annoyance, he adjusted his grip so his books were under his arm and he could read his schedule. Scanning the list, he noticed that his first class was film with Mr. Lidall in room 2022. He did not, however, notice the student in his path as he bumped into them. Dropping his papers, he fell, his eyes making contact with the incredibly long pair of legs in front of him. Then to the hand being held out to help him up.

"Sorry about that," came a voice, and Dan was forced to look up. He took in the huge grin and stunningly blue eyes of the stranger in front of him as he introduced himself. "I was in a bit of a hurry. I'm Phil." Phil continued to hold out his hand and smile, waiting for some sort of response from Dan.

Dan, who was completely at a loss for words, stared at Phil blankly. Did he not know they were both late for class? Did he not care? Yeah, this guy probably wasn't a good influence. And yet, here he was, smiling like that's all he had to do to make Dan his friend. And then before he knew it, Dan would be ditching class doing drugs with him or something. Not the kind of crowd he wanted to associate with. Just because this guy could probably get away with murder, doesn't mean Dan had to be nice to him.

Finishing his thought process and catching his breath, Dan scrambled to pick up his papers. Casting one final annoyed look at Phil, he stood up. "Dan." With that, he turned to find room 2022, trying not to be more late than he already was. 1976, 1975, shit. He was going the wrong way. Turning on his heel, Dan started to walk quickly in the other direction (he may be late, but nothing could persuade him to run).

Passing by an open door, he heard a piece of conversation that caught his attention. "You must be Phil. Care to explain why you're late?" This should be good. Dan had a chance to see what such a horrible person would use to excuse his tardiness.

"Sorry, I guess I just lost track of time. It won't happen again." Hearing that, Dan snorted. Lost track of time? Yeah, running into other students and making them late too. What a terrible excuse. This guy was an idiot if he thought it would—

"That's quite alright." What? Maybe these teachers were just pushovers. Still, he didn't have time to figure it out. He had a class to get to. 2020, 2021, 2022. This was it. Taking a deep breath, Dan pushed the door open, hoping his teacher was as nice as Phil's.

"Dan Howell, how nice of you to join us," or not. "I understand it is your first day, but do try to find your class before we're halfway in. Your seat is over there. Please try not to disrupt the class further." With a sigh, he slid into the chair, dropping his mess of papers onto his desk while his classmates snickered. Sorting through to find his schedule, he began to map out his classes, preventing any further embarrassing encounters with his teachers.

The day passed quickly. Dan was on time to all of his other classes, and none of his teachers took much notice of him. It was perfect.

When he got home, Dan dropped his bag by the door and made his way to his mom's home office. Balancing a job, classes, and family related paperwork, she always told him she had an office so she didn't have to be reminded of work to do everywhere else in the house. Hearing the sound of typing, he pushed open the door quietly. "Hi mom, I'm home," he greeted quietly.

At this, she looked up and grinned. "Dan! How was school?" She got up, and moved to hug him. "Did you make any friends?" She held his shoulders and made eye contact. "There's some Maltesers I found at the store in the city. Go grab them from the kitchen and we can talk about your day while I work on this paper, okay?"

Dan nodded. He knew his mom was always working, but she did her best, and even though his favourite candy was expensive and foreign, she always seemed to know when he needed it most. Finding the familiar red bag in the back of the highest shelf of a cabinet, he grasped the bag and returned to the office. "Found them?" His mom asked, already back to typing. Dan nodded, sitting on the small couch in the corner of the room. "Good. So, tell me about your day! How was it?"

"Pretty good," Dan mumbled, his mouth full of chocolate. "The teachers are pretty cool. One of them didn't seem to like me, but I was late to his class, so," he shrugged. "It was pretty normal."

"Did you make any friends?" She repeated the question from earlier.

"No, but..." He hesitated. Was telling her about Phil worth it? He wasn't really a friend, but it was something. "I ran into this guy before class. Like, literally. Fell down and everything."

"Are you okay?" His mom interrupted, a concerned look on her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He waved his hand at her, dismissing her concerns. "He was just weird is all. Tried to act like we were best friends even though we just met."

"And what did you do?"

"I brushed him off. The only word he heard from me was my name, and then I walked away." He chuckled, proud of himself.

"Daniel!" His mom scolded, "You can't do that, it's rude!" She turned away from her computer to look at him. "Maybe he just wanted to be your friend."

Dan shrugged. "I don't think so, he seems like he comes from a bad crowd."

"Don't judge a book by its cover, Dan. Give the poor guy a chance."