secret soulmates // phan

eighteen.

Dan
I take a deep breath and open the bathroom door next to the principal's office. I walk inside.

The bathroom is quite dark, considering it's the middle of the day. There's a figure standing against the wall.

"Pj?" I whisper, cautiously. I don't know why I'm whispering, or why I'm scared.

The figure turns around and walks up to me.

"Dan!" a cheerful voice says.

I let out a sigh of relief. It's Pj.

"Why did you ignore me?" I ask.

"I'm honestly so sorry, Dan. I had to. I didn't want to get hurt." He responds.

"Hurt? What do you mean, hurt?"

He takes a deep breath.
"Basically.. when I was on my way to class, some guy suddenly appeared and held me against the lockers. He told me to not talk to you ever again, or he would beat me up. I really didn't want to ignore you but I had no idea what to do, and.. I figured if I left you a message I could explain it, you know..?"

"Someone threatened to beat you up because you talked to me? What did he look like?" I have no idea why I asked that. Of course I already know who it was.

"He looked slightly older than me, he was wearing too much aftershave, his hair was styled with too much gel.."

"Joel." I whisper, not realizing Pj heard it.

"Joel? Who? What?"

My eyes start tearing up. Don't be a pussy, Dan. You don't have to cry. Grow up.

"You okay?" Pj asks.

"Yeah." I respond, but my voice breaks. I try to swallow the lump that's forming in my throat.

"It's okay. Take your time."

After a few minutes, I've calmed down. It's time to explain everything to Pj. I've never told anyone this, besides Sun. But Sun is my soulmate, they can feel what I feel. It would've been impossible to hide it from them. In real life, it's different.

"Joel is in lead of the football team. Everyone from his year adores him. He, uh.. he beats me up.. a lot. I- I don't really know why b- but he has done it for like a year, I think. I'm used to it now, I guess I'm just an easy target.. But I don't need help or anything and it's not his fault okay just so you know it's probably my fault because I do everything wrong but that's just me I totally get why he hates me and—"

"Dan! Calm down, please." Pj suddenly says.
Oops, I was rambling a lot at the end.

"First of all, it's totally his own fault. It's his own problem. I'm 100 percent sure he has a lot of problems and he's letting it out like this. It's not your fault, okay? And you don't do everything wrong. You're such an amazing friend, I honestly don't understand why he beats you up. Maybe you should go to the principal—"

"No! I don't want to get help!" I yell, immediately regretting it afterwards. I flinch when Pj puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Ssh, calm down Dan. It's okay to get help. It doesn't make you vulnerable. It makes you strong, because you talked to someone about it. The principal can do something and Joel won't beat you up anymore. And then I don't have to ignore you. I really don't want to ignore you Dan, please go. I'll go with you if you want."

It's silent for a while.

Should I agree? But what if Joel finds out and will beat me up even more? What if the principal doesn't care? What if—

Please. Do it, Moon. Go to the principal. It will help you. Joel will stop beating you up. He won't find out it was you. The principal does care.
Go.

"Okay."