Bad Boys (A Dan and Phil story)

Six

On Saturday, Avery decided to take me over to the park so that she could take some photographs for her art class.

"Hey, I want you to be in some of these photos!" Avery said.
"What? No! I'm not a model!" I claimed. "I would've dressed better!"
"What you're wearing is fine!" Avery assured me. "And besides, it's only for one or two photos."
I sighed, "alright, what do I do?"
She pointed over to the pond, "just stand over there." She demanded.

I walked over to the edge of the pond, where I realized the sun was no longer blinding my eyes. Several of the rays however were showing through the trees.

"Now put your hoodie on and face the other way." She demanded.

I turned around and faced the trees. Within a few moments, I heard the sound of a camera clicking.

"Perfect!" Avery cheered. "Thanks model!"

I rolled my eyes as I finally turned around.

As I turned around however, I noticed Dan and Phil biking really fast past the park area. Right behind them were the guys from the cafeteria chasing them. They were also throwing stuff at them, they looked like rocks.

"Yikes, that doesn't look good." Avery said.

I suddenly watched as a rock hit the back of Phil's head and he fell off of his bike and tumbled down the hill and laid there completely motionless.

"Phil!" I exclaimed.
"Emma! No!" Avery shouted.

I completely ignored her and ran over by Phil's side and ran down right next to him. He was completely knocked out.

Dan right over to him as well in a panic.

"Oh my god! He's unconscious!" Dan panicked.

I then looked up at the group of boys who were just standing there, looking at us. After a moment, they finally walked away.

I then looked over at Dan.

"We need to get him to a hospital!" I told him.
"We can't! Not the one in town!" Dan claimed. "They won't do anything to help!"
"Dan, the next hospital is miles away from here!" I explained to him. "And who knows how badly he injured his head?"
"I-I just can't go there, Emma!" Dan cried. "I can't trust anybody there! None of us can anymore! They think we're the criminals still! How will they be able to help us?"
"Dan, if we don't get help soon, Phil's condition could worsen!" I exclaimed to him.

Dan was silent as he looked down at Phil, rubbing the part of his head that got hit with the rock. As he looked at his hand, he noticed drops of blood on it, which made him panic even more.

"A-Alright, fine!" Dan finally said.

I had Avery go and call for help. Eventually, an ambulance arrived and brought Phil into the ambulance. Dan and I both went in with him.

Before I climbed into the ambulance, I looked over at Avery.

"Tell my parents I'll be home in a bit. Everything is fine!" I told her.

Avery didn't say anything, she only nodded.

The door then suddenly closed and the ambulance began to drive off.
---
We waited in the waiting room as the doctors and nurses took Phil back to the ICU area.

"That actually went better than expected." Dan mumbled to me.
"I told you it would." I responded.
"It's just that... like I said earlier, nobody trusts us anymore." Dan explained. "Whenever we go anywhere in town, we're treated disrespectfully and are known as the criminals in town. Even though we haven't done anything for months..."
"We'll straighten this all out, Dan, I promise." I assured him.

The two of us were silent for a moment before I spoke again.

"W-Where were you guys this past week?" I asked.
Dan sighed, "We were hiding... from those guys."
"Why?" I asked. "What happened?"
"I-I'd rather not say..." Dan murmured.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because... you'll laugh..." Dan responded.
"I won't laugh." I promised him. "You know you can trust me."

Dan was silent for a moment and then sighed.

"Those guys saw me and Phil... holding hands."

My eyes widened at the thought. But I kept the surprised feelings to myself. I never thought the two "troublemakers" in town, would be two people who were in love with one another.

"H-How long have you two been together?" I asked.
"We've been together ever since this whole thing with us started." Dan explained. "We decided to become the bad boys of the town because we didn't want anybody knowing that we were in love."
"Why couldn't you two have just come out?" I asked.
"Because we would be laughed at and scolded by everybody." Dan said.

I then thought of the kid Tyler, who Avery told me was in the Gay-Straight Alliance club.

"What about Tyler?" I asked. "Isn't he gay?"
"No..." Dan said.
"What?" I asked. "Then how come he told me he was?"
"He's in a club... but not that sort of club... it's a club that's basically against us. Everybody is in it, including your friend Avery." Dan explained.

My eyes widened. That was the club Avery convinced me to join! It was a club that was against Dan and Phil? And the school allowed this type of thing? Then again... it didn't surprise me...

"I can't believe it..." I mumbled to myself. "I-I've been lied to this entire time..."
"I-I'm sorry Emma..." Dan said.
"How the hell am I going to look at her the same way again knowing she has done all this shit?" I asked.
"Listen to me, you can't tell her what I told you. She'll be pissed, everybody will! Then more bad things will happen to not only me and Phil, but to you too!" Dan explained to me.
"How in the hell will I be able to do that?" I asked.
"We'll help you..." Dan assured me. "Just like you are helping us."

I looked over at Dan and smirked a smile. I never thought this would happen. Everything I thought in the beginning about the two of them originally were now the exact opposite.

They weren't criminals... they were two misunderstood boys with hearts of gold.

And one way, or another, I was going to prove it to everybody else.