the quiet ° phan

vi. break

It was Monday. There were only twenty minutes left before Dan's last class of the day, Drama, ended.

After what felt like an eternity, the bell rang. Dan left before he could hear the last word out of his teacher's mouth.

He rushed to his locker, messing up the combination the first time due to being in a hurry. By the time he got his locker open, Phil had reached his adjacent locker and was in the process of opening it.

"Are you free later today?" Phil asked, turning the dial to the right and opening his locker.

Dan shook his head.

I'm going to Zoe's house to work on our English project.

"Oh," Phil said, swinging his backpack onto his shoulder.

Walk with me?

"Sure, but you better hurry up. I'm not waiting forever."

Dan nodded and hurriedly put his books in his bag. He closed his locker and followed Phil out the door.

10 minutes into their walk home, Dan waved goodbye to Phil and turned right on to Zoe's street.

It didn't take him very long to reach the Sugg home. It was white and yellow with gray shingles. The trees swayed in the breeze. Pink and white flowers dotted the bushes in front of their porch. It was a picturesque house, one that Dan envied just a little. His home wasn't homely at all. It was filled with boxes and nothing more.

After taking in the home, he approached the front entrance. He knocked twice before the door swung open. Zoe's smiling face appeared in the doorway ushering him in.

"Why don't we go upstairs?" Zoe said before walking up the stairs without hesitation. Dan soon followed.

By the time he reached the top of the stairs, Zoe was already in her room. He slowly made his way over there, admiring the architecture and decor.

"So, where were we?"

Dan held up seven fingers to indicate they were seven pages into their story. So far, they had introduced darkness in the story and were about to interweave vomit into the story. They unknowingly included their health problems into the underlying theme of the story.

Dan typed the story and Zoe shared ideas. They both contributed almost equally, but Dan wrote his thoughts and Zoe dictated hers.

After nearly an hour of work, the two decided to take a break.

"Do you want something to eat?" Zoe asked, rubbing her palms on her jeans.

Dan shook his head.

"Something to drink?"

Dan thought for a second, then shook his head lightly.

"Okay...how about I tell you a story?"

Dan nodded his head, sitting forward to listen.

Zoe told him about the time Louise split her pants. It was in 6th year during PE class. Louise had to borrow shorts from Zoe, but they were too small. When she bent down to touch her toes, one of the seams split. Her pink and white underwear was on full display. Zoe had to stand behind her and usher her into the locker room before anyone else could witness the tragedy.

It was a particular phrase she said that really pushed Dan over the brink of laughter.

"Her striped shorts were stripped off for all of the class to see! It was positively shameful and borderline sensual."

Her eyes widened as she realized what she said, but that horror soon turned to humor. She let out a loud laugh, her eyes crinkling.

Dan was giddy with his dimples on full display. Zoe's giggles rang in his ears.

As her laughter died down, Zoe looked at him with a smile. Then, she kissed him.

It was meant to be a quick kiss. Just when it felt like Zoe meant to pull away, Dan reciprocated, his lips locking with hers. The kiss became more heated as Zoe draped her arms around Dan's neck.

Dan felt elated. No one had ever felt this way about him and the fact that someone might actually love him gave him hope.

Suddenly, the door swung open. Dan pulled away as a reflex not knowing who it was. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw an angry but familiar face.

"Why did you stop kissing me?" Zoe whined. She sensed the tension and looked over his shoulder. Her face paled.

"Alfie!"

"Zoe, what's going on? Why are you with Dan?"

"Um...he came onto me!"

Alfie's face turned scarlet. This wasn't the kind of flush that you got from a crush or embarrassment. This was anger bubbling in his cheeks ready to explode.

Before Dan could even blink, Alfie was already next to him. Zoe had fallen onto the floor and wore a panicked expression.

"Don't hurt him!" she exclaimed.

Alfie turned back to look at Zoe. He relaxed just a little bit, walking towards her and helping her up.

"I can show Dan out," Alfie told her. "Just wait here."

Zoe bit her lip nervously. She nodded reluctantly as Alfie walked past her with Dan following.

Dan hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath the entire time. He released it in an effort to relax, but the confrontation wasn't over yet.

Alfie turned back towards him, getting even closer than before. He grasped Dan's fingers hard enough to hurt him. Dan grimaced in pain, but that only made Alfie tighten his grip.

"Don't ever mess with my girl again," he said.

His girl.

So Zoe had been playing him the entire time.