Just Friends (Dan Howell)

Chapter Five

I spent the next day relaxing and trying to get over jet lag. Around 2, Jenny dragged me out to go shopping. I found a Firefly shirt (it read, "Like a leaf on the wind watch how I...." Then on the back, "nope, still too soon.") and a cute black hoodie. Then I got several pairs of jeans, a couple pairs of cutoffs, and some sweats. Finally, around 4, I managed to convince Jenny to go home.

The next morning, I woke up to Jenny knocking on the door.

"I want to make sure you wear something appropriate!" She complained.

"I'm not five, mom," I teased her through the door. "I can dress myself!"

"At least take a bath first!"

"Uh duh," I retorted.

Then, I turned around and prepared a bath. As soon as it was full, I pulled off my pajamas and climbed into the warm water. I opened up the book I was reading currently, which was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

I had to be at the theater at 3. Currently, it was 10. I had tons of time. I kept telling myself that as the hours ticked by. I had plenty of time. Plenty of time. Of time. Time....

I walked down a long, dark corridor. Clocks were on each wall. Click, clock, click, clock. The clocks seemed to have faces. They laughed at me as I walked. Hahaha, silly girl, not this way! Hahaha....

Leave me alone! I told them. I know what I'm doing!

Ha ha ha, the clocks chimed. You're late! You're late, little girl! Ha ha ha... do you really think you can fit in here? You're nothing! Nothing! Ha ha ha... NOTHING! Ha--

I screamed, and smashed in a clock. The laughing, chiming, ticking noises continued.

Ha ha ha. Click clock. Ha ha ha. Click clock.

I ran down the hall, punching every clock I saw.

Smash.

Ha ha ha. Click clock.

Smash.

Ha ha ha. Click clock.

Smash.

Ha ha ha. Click clock.

I sank to my knees, sobbing. Leave me alone! I shouted. What have I done!?

Ha ha ha. No one cares about you. You have no real friends. You're going nowhere in life. Ha ha ha. No one cares about you. You have no real friends. You're going nowhere in life. Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha. HA HA HA. HA HA HA! HA HA HA--AAAAARGH!

Splash!

I woke with a start, floundering in the tub. My book flew out of my hands, landing with a thud on the bathroom floor. I grabbed my phone from beside the tub, frantically checking the time.

2:14

"Agh!"

Quick as a flash, I was out of the tub, yanking on a towel. I dried myself quickly, then pulled on a bra and underwear. I dove into the closet, grabbing random clothes. I yanked on a pair of jeans and an oversized t shirt, then shouted, "Jenny!"

There was a loud thud from out in the living room. Then a clatter, loud footsteps, and Jenny slammed open my door. Her brown hair was in a mess, her eyes wild. "What?" She panted. "What is it?"

Jenny pulled up short when she saw me and arched an eyebrow. "What are you wearing?"

"I fell asleep in the bath!" I shouted at her, still shaken by the dream. "Please, just help me find an outfit! I have to be there in forty five minutes!"

Jenny opened her mouth to respond, but saw the look on my face and just nodded. She pushed past me and into the closet. "Go eat," she ordered me. "I'll take care of it. You're auditioning for the role of a comedic sidekick, right?"

"Yeah," I said, towelling my hair dry. "Her name is Rachel, and she's the funny one. It's an action, though, so she's also pretty badass."

"Got it," Jenny nodded, then disappeared my closet.

I threw the towel onto my bed, and ran to the kitchen. I grabbed a piece of bread and shoved it into the toaster. It chimed, and I slathered some peanut butter onto it. I shoved the toast into my mouth, trying to eat it at record speed. Just as I took the last bite, Jenny cried, "Okay, Lil, it's ready!"

I dusted off my hands, and ran into the bedroom. Jenny had laid out an outfit on the bed. I examined it.

A pair of light wash cutoffs, and a yellow t shirt with a v neck. The t shirt was well-fitting (I knew from wearing it before), and it helped with the whole "funny girl" thing. She'd also given me a pair of red converse.

"Great!" I clapped my hands.

"Also, I'll be doing your hair and makeup," Jenny told me, leaving the room. "Tell me when you're dressed!"

I quickly threw on the clothes. Then I called Jenny back in.

"Sit down," she told me. I sat on the bed.

Jenny applied some mascara, then a little bit of eyeshadow and liquid eyeliner. She gave me a soft lip color, and then added a tiny bit of foundation. Then she stepped back and examined the makeup. "Good," she said. "Turn around."

I did.

She pulled my hair back in a black scrunchie. She made sure that the ponytail was up high, and that my hair was silky and smooth. Then she said, "Okay, where is the theater?"

"A five minutes walk from here," I replied, and I couldn't help but smile. Jenny had done amazing.

"Get going then!" Jenny cried. "You only have eight minutes until your audition!"

"Right!" I yelped. "Thanks, Jenny!"

Then I grabbed a grey jacket, and ran out the door.

~~

"Hey, Dan, guess what?"

Dan glanced up. He was sitting in his sofa crease, and was quite immersed in tumblr. "What, Phil?"

"Did you know that Lillette is an actress? She has an audition today! Jenny just told me." Phil was holding his phone.

"Cool," Dan muttered, and went back to tumblr.

"Dan," Phil groaned.

"What?" Asked Dan, a little impatient now.

"Don't you think we should go and meet her when her audition is out?"

Dan was startled at the thought. He didn't really know Lillette that well yet. Sure, she was very pretty, and nice. They seemed to have a lot in common, and she seemed to honestly want to be friends with him and Phil. But he just met her! Surely you don't do these sort of things for girls you've only known for a day... Right?

"Dan, you never answered me."

Dan was snapped back into reality. "Um, well, we just met her...."

"Oh, well, Jenny was gonna go, and she said we should come too," Phil said, his cheeks flushing a little.

Dan knew about Phil's little crush. Phil hadn't exactly told him outright, by it's pretty easy to put two and two together. He wasn't all that subtle, after all.

"Well, I guess if she invited us we could go," Dan said, rather lamely. "When's the audition out?"

"She said around 4:45," Phil replied promptly, smiling a little. "So we're going?"

"Yeah," Dan nodded. Secretly, he was excited. True, he barely knew Lillette, but part of him wanted to get to know her better. Her heart was in the right place, and she seemed to really be trying not to fangirl to much. Whenever danosaurs squealed and treated him like a celebrity, he felt uncomfortable. After all, he was just Dan.

And she was just Lillette.

Dan shook himself. His thoughts were starting to get a little too deep. Watch out, Dan, he told himself. You don't wanna send yourself into an existential crisis!