Pest//phan au

Eight

The next couple of weeks passed uneventfully. There were no more instances with touching. Every now and then, I'd purposely touch Phil just because I could. Phil never mentioned helping me with my touching thing, until the middle of October.

"Okay, I have a plan," he said at lunch, before we pulled out our books.

"Plan?" Cat asked before I could.

"To help Dan with his touching thing," Phil answered happily. "It involves you, Cat."

We both leaned forward, intent on hearing.

"So, we're gonna go somewhere, preferably Dan's house when no one is home. Cat, you are going to slowly break Dan of his phobia, and I'll be there to help you if you freak out again," he explained, meeting both of our eyes as we spoke.

"Okay, when?" I asked.

"Well, your parents don't get home until like six, right?" He asked me. I nodded and said, "then today. I'll drive us over there."

---

We had a substitute in chemistry, which means we did nothing. Phil and I sat facing each other, talking the whole time.

"Have you noticed that Cat stopped pressuring us?" Phil said, breaking away from the conversation we were already having.

"Oh yeah, it's kind of nice," I laughed. "Maybe she realized that we didn't like it."

"I don't know why she got it in her head that we needed to be together," he added.

"She told me 'if I can't be with him, then I can live vicariously through you' or something," I repeated.

A smile crept onto his lips. "She's so weird."

---

We met Phil by his car after school. I recognized the red Mazda from the night he drove me home from the parlor.

"Are you ready?" He said, opening his door. I opened the passenger door and was about to climb in, when Cat jumped in front of me.

"Thanks for opening the door, boo," Cat purred, closing the door. I huffed and opened the back door. I sat in the seat behind Cat and put my seat belt on. Cat turned and gave me a small smile; I scowled back at her.

Phil looked in his mirror and our eyes met momentarily. He flashed a toothy smile, and I couldn't help but let my glare drop and smile back.

He pulled out and drove off. I didn't realize how close my house was to the school, but we got there in less than two minutes. It takes at least thirty minutes to walk there everyday.

I hopped out, unlocked the front door, opened it, and held it for Phil and Cat to enter. Phil stopped inside the doorway, but Cat went straight to my pantry. I saw her pull out a bag of gold fish with a smile.

"Let's go to my room," I suggested.

"Inviting Phil up to your room?" Cat joked. I glanced over at Phil, who was also smirking at the irony.

---

We sat down on my floor, and Phil took complete control of the situation. He pointed at the places he wanted us to sit, and we obeyed. He sat down between us and started to think, staring at the wall.

"Okay!" He clapped his hands together, causing me and Cat to jump. "Cat, scoot closer to Dan."

She scooted toward me. Phil motioned for her to keep going until she was almost touching me. I could feel the warmth of her leg on mine, making my heart start to speed up. I stared at Phil for guidance, but he just watched me as I slowly started to panic.