Evacuee (Phan Fiction)

Facing The World

I wake up in my bed with Phil sitting beside me. He is in his wheelchair and is reading Alice In Wonderland. "Hey, I thought I was going to read to read that to you." I whine and Phil looks up at me.

"You still can, I was just catching up with where you were." He smiles warmly. "So you're not repeating yourself."

"How far in are you?" I ask, stretching my muscles out on the bed.

"I just finished chapter two." He states.

"How long did it take you?" I ask curiously.

"Um, two hours." He says, looking at the clock on my desk.

I pout. "It took my like eight hours."

"It doesn't matter how long it took you, you persevered and you didn't give up. You make me proud." He says but I frown.

"How can you be proud of me?" I ask, rolling over so I'm facing the wall.

"How could I not?" He asks gently.

"Because I'm weak. I run away from everything. I bring you down with me. I'm doing it right now." I say and turn to face the ceiling, watching Phil out of the corner of my eye.

"Come on, get up." He says suddenly and gets to his feet.

"W-what?" I stutter, sitting up and staring at him.

"Come on, we're going out." Phil says and takes my hand, pulling me up from the bed.

"W-where are we going?" I ask nervously.

"We are facing the world." He states and pulls me through the house.

"Phil, slow down, you should take your chair." I say but he doesn't listen. He throws on a coat and wraps one around me as well before leaving the house.

"Come on." Phil urges and pulls me along until we stop outside of the school. I was only asleep for two hours so it was only four o'clock in the afternoon and school has just finished. He pulls me into the school and over to the reception area. "I would like to speak to Miss Vickers please." Phil says and I pull on his arm. What the hell is he doing?

"If you'd like to take a seat, I'll go and fetch her." The lady on reception points to some chairs in the corner of the room.

"Thank you." Phil says before pulling me along to the chairs and sitting down.

"Phil, are you mad?" I ask as I hear his heavy breathing.

"Maybe a little." He says and grins at me.

"You're insane." I say, shaking my head at him.

Miss Vickers approaches us and Phil gets to his feet, pulling me up with him as our hands are still laced together. "Mr Lester, what can I do for you?" She greets and I hide behind Phil slightly.

"I just want to inform you of a few things I believe I should have mentioned earlier." Phil says and squeezes my hand.

"And what might that be?" Miss Vickers asks.

"Well, firstly, Dan really should receive extra help with his work. Unfortunately he went through some trauma last year and it has left him unable to work at the same rate as his peers. Therefore, I see it unreasonable and unforgivable for Dan to be punished for something that is out of his hands." Phil says slowly and clearly, annunciating each word.

"I see, and what trauma was this exactly?" She asks, narrowing her eyes.

"That is none of your business." Phil says sternly. "Now, if Dan does not receive the extra help that he requires or if I hear anymore of this 'punishment' nonsense then I will be taking measures to a higher authority. If needs be, I will happily provide Dan with his education myself or hire a private tutor."

"Well, I will speak to some of my colleagues and get back to you Mr Lester. As I'm sure you are aware, we are running low on staff and there may be nothing we can do." Miss Vickers tells him, looking annoyed.

"That is fine, so long as I know whether my help is needed or not. I expect to hear word before the evening is over." Phil says before holding his free hand out for Miss Vickers to shake, she does so warily. "Have a good evening." Phil says before walking off, pulling me behind him.

I expect him to head home but he doesn't. "Phil, where are we going?" I ask.

"Pj's house." He says.

"W-why?" I stutter, fear building up inside me.

"Sophie is a private tutor and trust me, we are going to need her because that school is useless." Phil says and I just nod.

"Phil!" A young looking girl, probably around Phil's age, shouts as we approach Pj's house. She is standing in the doorway, glaring at Phil despite the small smile on her face.

"Hello, Sophie." Phil greets as we reach the front door.

"What are you doing here without your wheelchair?" Sophie asks, her voice scolding.

"Just going for a walk." He shrugs.

"I think he's gone insane, ma'am." I say from beside Phil and she chuckles.

"You must be Daniel." She addresses me and I nod. "I'm Sophie, Pj's wife." She extends her arm and, just to be a gentleman, I take her hand and lean down, pressing a light kiss to the back of her hand.

"It's nice to meet you, ma'am." I say when I'm stood upright again.

"Well aren't you a little charmer." She smiles widely at me before motioning for us to follow her into the house. "Pj, Phil's here." She says as we enter the living room.

"Phil, why aren't you in your chair?" Pj asks.

"How can you tell?" Phil asks as he sits beside Pj on the sofa.

"I can hear footsteps and not wheels." He says like it's obvious.

"Ah, well, I actually came to speak to Sophie." Phil says, looking up at where Sophie and I are stood in the doorway.

"Dan, Chris is upstairs if you'd like to go and see him." Pj says.

"Um, I'm okay, thank you." I say awkwardly.

"Oh, go on, he won't mind." Pj insists but I highly doubt that.

"O-okay." I say.

I make my way up the stairs slowly. And just when things are getting better, I have to socialise. I hate socialising.