incunabula: [in-kyoo-nab-yuh-luh]
2. the earliest stages or first traces of anything.
it didn't make sense; he'd been to plenty of clubs and meetings like this before. he never had any trouble talking to others, had somehow managed to evade the monstrous beast of social anxiety that plagued so many of his classmates.
yet there he was, lingering in the doorframe of the classroom, surveying the contents of "shy club" and reconsidering his decision to be apart of it.
a concerningly thin girl sat near the front, fingering her long hair compulsively. across from her was a massive boy, one who you may think plays on the football team. but his features were all too "different"; his nose was a little crooked, eyes small and hazel, fingers too long and narrow, and-
suddenly dan was jolted through the entrance, falling forward and grabbing a table for balance. a rather large book landed near his feet.
"oh my god! i didn't see you there! i am so, so sorry, um-"
dan stretched out and picked up the book, reading the title. looking for alaska.
he turned around, looking for the source of the frantic voice. a girl stood behind him, eyeing her book with nervous green eyes.
"here." dan held it out to her, shuffling his hand through his hair. he was strangely quiet, and found himself focusing on the girl's shoes; brown and scuffed, loosely laced combat boots. they matched her sweater.
"thank you," she said, carefully taking the book from his hands. "sorry, again. for running into you."
she wouldn't look him in the eye. her blonde hair fell across her face in messy waves, but dan could still see the cotton candy blush that spread across her porcelain cheeks.
dan smiled, waving his hand in a don't-worry-about-it gesture. "it's fine. i'd probably have fallen over on my own at some point; i never need anyone else's help in being clumsy."
zoe laughed faintly, her hand darting up to cover her mouth.
"i'm dan." he stuck his hand out awkwardly.
"zoe," she said, eyeing his hand warily before wrapping it in hers.
"welcome, everyone," the teacher at the front of the class beamed at them, "to 'shy club'."
a/n: please please vote/comment/share! i will most likely update this story and "perspective." later tonight! also keep any eye out for my holiday-themed danfic short story "snowflakes."! the first part of that will be posted very soon!! :)))
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quixotic. ↣ d.h.
Fanfiction{ in which dan, a high school boy who loves photography and filmmaking, meets zoe, a girl who loves words (but doesn't love speaking them), in the miserable group their school refers to as 'shy club' }
