Euphoric but Empty

Dan

Dan was at his locker, just staring at the dark metal box as if it were a black hole that had been waiting to swallow him for a long time. His best friend Tyler came up to him but Dan, too lost in his thoughts, didn't bother to notice. "What the fuck are you looking at?" Tyler asked, in a rather impatient tone. "My locker" Dan said finally. " What the fuck does it look like I'm looking at?" "Your locker" Tyler replied.
When Dan arrives in his maths class he chooses a seat near his friend, Anthony. Tyler follows quickly behind and chooses the seat nearest to Dan.
"Ah shit!!!!" said Anthony loud enough for Dan to hear but just quiet enough so as not to disturb the teacher. "I didn't do the homework. Yo Dan the Man! Can I copy you please?"
"First of all you know I hate in when you call me 'Dan the Man' Second, I suck at maths so why do you want to copy MY homework? And third, you dug your own grave, so lie in it." Dan said, never looking away from the whiteboard.
"Fuck you dude." said Anthony scowling at Dan.
Dan only shrugged in response. He hates when his friends simply assumed Dan would have all the answers to every goddamn question they had when Dan was still struggling to answer the questions in his own head. He sighed and just went back to taking notes.
Dan had work straight after school. At Asda. He didn't particularly like his job but it paid enough and gave him employee discounts for him to use for food.
"Pick up the pace newbie!!" shouted his boss, Mr. Zasole. (People secretly called him Mr. Asshole behind his back but Dan refused to participate in this because he doesn't want to get fired). Dan's boss has called him "newbie" since he started working at Asda. 2 years ago.
Dan checks his watch and realizes that he only has 10 minutes until he gets a break. He perks up slightly at this news. He begins to think about freedom and the chains of society that will never let us go. Dan really tries not to have existential crises at work but sometimes he can't help it.
He's broken out of his trance by a tender voice, " Um, excuse me? Are you alright?" Dan looks up to see a boy with the palest skin he's ever seen. He has this black fringe that's swept to the right and holy shit his eyes. His eyes are like 2 deep pools of still water that are so deep Dan can't help but want to jump in and get lost in the ocean that is this person. To say the least, he's fucking gorgeous. His outfit consists of a corny T-shirt with a purple dinosaur on it, black jeans (similar to Dan's but without the rips) and navy blue high top sneakers with red laces. All Dan wants to do is sit there and drink him in. But, he has to keep working.
"Hi! Sorry. How may I help you?" Dan says, remembering his training.
"I was just wondering where I could find concealer? My friend was looking for it."
Working in a store made Dan more aware of human interaction. He can read people like books and right now the title of this guy's book is, "I'm lying. The concealer is really for me. There is something on my skin that I am ashamed of" Dan notices but doesn't say anything. He just leads the guy to the concealer rings him up and sends him on his way. As the guy leaves Dan notices something hiding under his sleeve.
Black Ink
The boy had some sort of tattoo. That explains why he needed concealer. Dan couldn't make out exactly what the tattoo was of though. The guy left before he had a chance to find out. The guy didn't seem like the tattoo type. More of an innocent flower. But Dan liked the idea of him with a tattoo. Cute but sharp.
A rose with thorns.
Not too long after he left Mr. Zasole told Dan that he better "haul ass" if he wanted a break. After one last look to see if the guy was still there Dan snuck into the alley for his break.