Polaroid (A Phan AU)

Chapter Fourteen

Friendship is horizon - Which expands whenever we approach it.

~E.R. Harlip

Over the weekend, I stayed holed up in my room, not speaking to anybody.

Dad stayed missing. Chris stayed silent. Cassie stayed frantic. Mum stayed distant. My life was becoming an inescapable cycle over those two days, wake up, eat, read, draw, think, cry, eat, read, bathe, sleep.

That's why I was so thankful for school on Monday morning. I had to get out of the house.

Despite the fact that I, once again, spent the whole day alone, it wasn't too bad. I'd always enjoyed my own company, and I hung out in the art room at break, speaking to Mrs Howell.

She was adding the finishing touches to the mural on the wall as she spoke. It was a beautiful woman, painted in all shades of grey, with colour and happy things bursting out from behind her. It was amazing, but for some reason my stomach twisted whenever I looked at it for too long.

Our conversation turned to tonight, when I would be babysitting.

"This is probably a little sudden, but you'll have an extra person to take care of." She washed off her paintbrush and dipped it into the blue.

"The girls have told you many times of my son, Dan, yes?"

"Mmhm."

"He suffers from something called Sickle Cell Anaemia, or SCA. Occasionally he gets these episodes where he is constantly in intense pain, everywhere. It makes him vomit and unable to move. Its not contagious, so you're not in any danger. He's been sent home for the moment,as he is too ill for school. They allowed one person to come with him, as the school knows how busy I am with two jobs. His...special friend, Lily. She has to be home for ten, though, so Dan will be left without anyone to take care of him for two hours until I'm home. Unless of course you'd..." She trailed off, dropping the paintbrush into the water and stepping back to admire her finished work.

"Yeah, I'll keep an eye on him. He's only a year older than me, right? I'm excited to meet him anyway."

Mrs Howell beamed at me, and I couldn't help but laugh at how comical she looked with paint smeared across her cheek and her hands held awkwardly out in front of her. She laughed along and went to get cleaned up, and I started out to my next lesson.

Later on that day, I was stood in front of my wardrobe, searching for something to wear. I wanted to make a good impression on this Dan, no matter how sick he was. I needed all the friends I could get.

In the end I settled on a blue and green checked shirt and black skinny jeans, deciding the safest bet was to just be myself, whilst avoiding the comical t-shirts because it was too cold for short sleeves. And where was the fun in wearing a funny top if it was covered by a jumper? Exactly, there was none.

I rushed with my hair, and was in Kenji's pick up truck by dot on seven. The journey passed with no small talk at all. I was far too nervous for speech; I could feel the butterflies nesting in my stomach, beating their treacherous little wings furiously.

New people, ew.

When I arrived at the Howell household, Mrs Howell was waiting in the hallway with a girl at her side. She was quite tall, but not as tall as me. Basically, not freakish. Her darkish blonde hair was curled and settled around her shoulders, and her hazel brown eyes smiled at me confidently.

Mrs Howell rushed off as the girl stepped forward and held out her hand to me. I took it timidly, shaking it.

"Hi! You're Phil, right? I'm Lily Holmes, Dan's girlfriend. Thanks for agreeing to help look after him! I was worried that he'd have to rely on those neighbours."