Dan prepared for school the next day like a robot, doing everything in the same motion he did every morning. His mother had suggested he stay home that day because he was still fragile from the news and he would need time to recover. He respectfully declined, saying he didn't want things to be any different now than they were before. His mum had only sighed at his stubbornness.
Dan walked through the halls of his school, getting sad stares from the people he passed. He sighed and walked faster, trying to get away from the prying eyes; how could they know already?
Even though Dan was walking faster than he had been previously and he had his head kept down, people still came up to him, said they were sorry, and hugged him. Dan didn't even know any of the people who came up to him, and he couldn't exactly believe that they knew him, either.
Stepping into his first class, the teacher pulled Dan aside. "Dan," Mr. Davids said. "Your mother emailed all of your teachers about your... ah... condition. If you like, I can excuse you from future assignments."
Dan hesitated. On one hand, it would be nice to be free of homework (it wasn't as if he ever did it anyway), but on the other, he didn't want another reminder of how is life had gone off the rails in the past twenty four hours. "No thank you, sir," Dan told his professor. "I can't promise that I'll ever do the assignments, but I don't want to be pardoned. I don't want it to seem any different from normal life."
Mr. Davids nodded. "I get that, but if you change your mind, just let me know." Dan nodded and went back to his seat.
Dan was just getting settled when the classroom door busted open. A boy with raven black hair, pale skin, and piercing blue eyes comes in. "Sorry I'm late," said the boy breathlessly.
The professor waved his hand in indifference. "Nonsense, we were just about to start." Mr. Davids gestured to the boy. "This is Phil Lester. He is a new student here, and it would be much appreciated if he could be greeted with a warm welcome. Phil, you can take the seat next to that boy, Dan, over there." He pointed to the seat next to Dan.
Phil sat in the desk and pulled out everything he needed for the class. Throughout the class, Dan stared at Phil and admired everything admirable about him. His lips, hair, frame and build, skin, everything. And his eyes. Oh, his eyes were the most beautiful thing Dan had ever seen. They were blue and green and yellow somehow all at once. Phil's eyes reminded Dan of the ocean, so deep and blue he could swim in them for hours. All Dan wanted to do was stare at Phil's eyes.
Unfortunately, while Dan was fantasizing about Phil's eyes, Phil looked over and smiled kindly at Dan. Dan's cheeks burned red and he looked away.
When class ended, Dan stood up from his desk in a rush to leave and knocked everything off his desk.
"Shit," he sighed. He got on the floor to pick up all of his belongings. He was startled when Phil knelt down next to him and helped him gather everything. Dan watched how Phil's ghost-like fingers moved across the floor. To Dan, it was mesmerizing.
Once everything was back in Dan's arms, the boys stood up and shook hands. "I'm Phil," Phil said with a smile.
Dan smiled back. "I'm Dan."
"What class are you going to next?" Phil asked, trying to make conversation.
"Maths. You?" Dan replied.
"Me too." Phil's smile widened into a delighted grin.
They walked to the maths class together, awkwardly silent.
"Don't you have any other friends you'd like to walk to class with?" Phil questioned, breaking the silence. "You don't have to stay with me; I'd hate to keep you from anyone else."
Dan hesitated before answering. He didn't know Phil that well. He seemed nice, but what if he thought Dan was uncool or lonely and didn't want to be seen with him anymore? He didn't want to lose the one person who had been genuinely kind to him, especially since he was the only one who didn't know Dan had cancer.
"I... I um... I don't really have any other friends. And even if I did, I don't mind walking with you at all. I quite enjoy it, in fact." Dan burned red and wanted to melt into a hole in the ground. Did he actually just say that? Phil definitely wouldn't want to hang out with him now.
"Oh," Phil said softly.
"I know."
"But... How could someone as amazing as you not have friends?" Phil asked incredulously.
Dan was taken aback. Amazing? Him?
"Oh well," phil said with a smile and a little skip. "No matter, because you've got one, now."
Dan and Phil grinned at each other before entering the classroom and taking seats right next to each other.
Word count: 850
