Speak [ phan ]

chapter four

***

Dan was nervous.

They were going to ask him stuff, like Alfie did, but what if they found him boring, what if they hated him, what if they found him rude, or annoying, or...

The possibilities of things Dan could do wrong we're endless and Dan spent the entire time leading up to lunch torturing himself with everything he could think that could go wrong and mess everything up.

When lunch finally rolled around, Dan cautiously approached the table, which was abuzz with conversation already. He sat in between Alfie and Joe, Phil was opposite him.

Immediately, after Dan finished eating, Phil passes him what appears to be his biology book, open to a blank page with a question written there an a pen sitting patiently on the blank paper.

Dan pulls the book closer and reads the question.

Favourite animal?

Dan rolls his eyes and scribbles llama. Everyone takes time passing the book around and reading the questions and answers Dan is giving, and it's actually pretty fun. Dan gets a range of questions, serious and stupid ones.

What's it like not speaking?

Frustrating at times, but at least I have my health.

Do you like cheese?

Yeah...

Favourite pass time?

Social media

Why do you wear so much black?

Because black is amazing.

Are you funny?

Yeah I guess so

Describe yourself in five words.

Awkward, tall, mute, sarcastic, nerdy.

That last one made Dan cringe as he wrote it, but there was no erasing it. While those words described Dan perfectly, it wasn't the best words to use, as they didn't reflect Dan as the most interesting, cool person.

When the bell rang signaling the end of lunch, everyone sighed, annoyed at the bell for interrupting them. They all enjoyed getting to know Dan better, and they thought he was a good match for their group, they just needed him to feel more welcome and comfortable, as he was still quite awkward and shy.

"Ready for math?" Phil asks, raising an eyebrow at Dan.

Dan rolls his eyes, sighing and giving a sarcastic, forced smile, showing his non existent enthusiasm, making Phil chuckle at the boy.

"I can see we share the same obvious passion for math. I hate math, it's so boring and mostly pointless, like I won't need trigonometry and pi and all that. I just need my trusty iPhone with it's calculator." Phil rants to Dan as they find seats at the back desk with Caspar, a guy with dirty blonde hair and a seemingly permanent, enthusiastic smile.

"Yeah. We don't need half the school subjects to succeed at life." Caspar inputs, winking at a blonde girl who was staring at him from the front of the room, to which she blushes profusely and ducks her head as her friends laugh.

"So Dan, how do you usually communicate, y'know, with your family and stuff?" Phil asks, turning to Dan.

Dan pulls his black iPhone out of his pocket and holds it up to Phil.

"You text?" He asks, raising an eyebrow, to which Dan nods, "that's genius, like, wow. That's so much easier than writing and instant! Just like actually talking through writing, why didn't we think of that? Can I give you all our numbers so we can all talk? Yeah that's a good idea, I'll make a group chat, if that's okay, can I have your number? I think tha-"