Not On Fire (Phan AU)

04 | promises

Louise is standing outside of the door, off to the side, when Dan's mom pulls up and drops him off. She's wearing her blonde hair up in a ponytail with a look of disappointment on her face. For the most part, she always keeps her hair down, and she only puts it up when she's mad. Dan's not sure why she does this, but he briefly remembers it having to do with her mom. He wants to say it's because her mom always did it to annoy her grandma as Louise's grandma always believed that girls should wear their hair down, but maybe that was a different thing that he's confusing it for.

The closer he gets, the more obvious it is that she's clearing mad. Well, she's as mad as she can get. Louise reserves being full-blown mad for little things, namely her parents, but with Dan, she's more likely to be highly disappointed than mad.

"You told me you were going to give him a chance," she says. Disappointment rings in her voice, but Dan takes a second to realize it. He's gotten too used to it to point it out immediately as he pretty much hears it at least once a day.

"I did," Dan says, shrugging indifferently. "It just didn't take very long for him to bother me."

"That's what you always say."

"Because that's how I always feel."

"How can you be sure what you feel when you literally didn't even give him two seconds of your time?"

"Two seconds can say a lot about a person."

Louise gives him her signature look. It's a cross between annoyed and disappointed and it always makes him feel guilty. He huffs in defeat, something he typically does, which is a sign that he's close to giving in.

"Please, I know it doesn't bother you, but I know it makes your parents sad that you don't do anything besides go to school and laze around on your computer all day. So, please, for the love of God, give him a chance. He's actually really nice," Louise says. The parent card is what makes Dan feel the worst about how he acts. Louise's parents don't care what she does with her life like Dan's do, and for a while, he had thought that was the best think, but now, it just doesn't seem as appealing as it once did.

He sighs again, drawing it out. "What's giving him a chance going to do?"

It's obvious his resolve is wearing thin and has been since she gave the look. His shoulders are slumped and his posture has relaxed, no longer stiff like it had been when he was still annoyed.

"It might make you feel better about yourself," Louise says, a large smile on her face. She clearly knows she's won this time—like always—so there's no point in arguing any longer. It would just be a waste of time.

"Fine," Dan says, "but I want you to know that I won't enjoy this and I'm only doing it to make you happy."

"That's what you think now, but eventually, you'll be glad I had you do this because you'll really start to like him."

"I doubt it."

The ten minute bell rings loud and clear, despite the fact that Dan's not inside the building, but it's just the excuse that Dan needs to leave Louise. They have the same first block, but their lockers are in two separate directions.

Dan's locker is the main hall, which sucks for a number of reasons, but the main reason is that it's always crowded and he has to push his way through to get to his locker which doesn't help with his plan to stay invisible. Sure, it's not out of his way as he passes by it between almost all of his classes, but the main hallway is where everything happens because it's the largest hallway, and—just like Dan—most people pass it on their way to their next class.