1.Procrastinators on the Internet: Part 16~Dan's POV

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Dan's POV:

I pushed the familiar blue door open and stepped into the crowded shop as the bell chimed just above my head, causing me to duck down a little. I'm very fond of this shop and I know Phil is too. We'd tried making our own milkshakes before back at the apartment, but Phil had dropped the shakes on the floor as soon as they were out of the blender. Of course, I'd cracked up and Phil had turned into a human beetroot in response.

I sidestepped to allow a couple to walk out of the shop, their attentions caught by each other. I frowned at my feet as they passed. I always get jealous of others. Or is it envious? Eugh, I dunno.

Once the door was closed again, I looked up and around for Phil. There is a real advantage to being tall and having tall friends at times like this. I saw my friend standing next to a table near the window, looking nervous and panicky, as if he were a rabbit caught in a car's headlights. Phil isn't the best with new people. Neither am I for that matter.

I could see the back of Chris' and PJ's heads over the top of the booth seats, and I could see a slight hint of blonde spikey hair between them. That could be Chris' friend Mathew. I knew that Mathew was down here to visit with his two friends, Mia and...what was the other one called? Nicola? Nicky? It was something like that...

I waved a hand at Phil to get his attention before slipping through the queue to reach the booth.

When I was only a few feet away from their table, I saw the two girls, both of whom were falling down back into their seats. One of them, a curly haired brunette, had her hand on the other girl's arm, almost reassuringly. I glanced up at the other girl and I immediately wanted to rearrange my hair.

Her dark blonde hair was tied back in some sort of complex woven thing which looked like it could have taken at least an hour to braid. She wouldn't look at me. She hid behind her hair, keeping her gaze on her palms in her lap and occasionally looking up at the brunette with worry. I only caught a momentary glance of her face before she hid behind her hair, but she was nice looking from what I could tell.

I cleared my throat, hoping to catch this girl's attention. "Hello." Did my voice just squeak? Please don't tell me that I have to go through puberty again.

Chris made a minute motion of raising an eyebrow at me. "That's Dan. And Phil already said who he was." He indicated to Phil and I to specify on 'which one was which'.

"Hi," Phil said nervously. To me, he looked flustered and embarrassed. Maybe I should think of a reason for the two of us to step away from this group for a while? I could check my hair in one of the mirrors which were against the far wall whilst we were absent.

"Er, do you guys want another round of shakes? I want to get a milkshake anyway," I said when the idea of such an excuse came to me. I looked around the table, taking my chance to get first impressions of the other new people in the booth. This Mathew guy looked very concerned for Pretty Girl, which made me wonder if they were in a relationship. For some reason, this thought stirred up more envy in me, which took me by surprise. I didn't even know this girl's name yet, why should I care if the two of them were close? PJ was watching the brunette whilst Chris seemed to be watching everyone at once, waiting for something to happen.

Then, everyone at the table, apart from Pretty Girl, replied to my offer with a 'yes'.

Chris drank some of his milkshake, glancing at Pretty Girl and the brunette from under his fringe. "Oh, yeah. Before you go, I should say that this is my friend Mathew, and then his friends Nicole and Mia. You know, the tourists." Nicole. Oh, right.

Chris directed mine and Phil's gazes towards each of these people in turn when he said their names. So obviously the guy was Mathew, then the brunette was Nicole and Pretty Girl was Mia. Mathew waved at us and Nicole smiled slightly before they both started to watch Mia. Mia, unlike her friends, had shrunk down into her seat and was avoiding Phil and me all together. Does she not like people or is she just shy? Hm.

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