silence ; phan

ten

Tyler and I walk into the lunch hall to buy some food, and I pick something out, dropping the cash on the counter and I walk out with no words said, as I'd rather not have to look at one of the member's staff, who really just don't want to be there. Tyler 's talking about something, but I don't really pay attention and just nod, hoping he thinks I heard him. Even if I did know what he was saying, I'd never hear him. I eat my meal as we go to the usual meeting place, practically finishing it by the time we get there, and throwing the packaging in a bin nearby.

My eyes instantly catch on Phil, who I didn't see at first break, as I was getting told off by a teacher for being too loud. Controlling my noise levels has never precisely been a skill of mine. He's wearing a sweater that's pulled up over his hands. 

I look down at my own outfit, a black t-shirt, black jeans, black denim jacket, and black sneakers. I stand out quite a bit, I suppose. Everyone else is wearing colours; Louise in a pink dress, Connor wearing a blue t-shirt. I never note things like this usually.

I shove my hands in my pockets and take a seat beside Phil, mumbling a hello, and he instantly turns his head away from Louise, dropping the conversation he was having, and smiles at me.

"Hi, how come I didn't see you last break?"

"A teacher may have been telling me off," I say, laughing, covering my mouth with a hand in the form of a fist.

"Oh my god, why?" He asks, bringing his hands to his mouth out of surprise.

"I was being a bit... loud," I explain, and he just looks at me, laughing lightly, doing that thing where his tongue pokes out, which I find adorable. 

He pushes his thickly rimmed glasses up, before opening his mouth to talk. "So, uh, what kind of stuff do you like, I mean- uh, fuck, I'm bad at making friends."

"It's fine, I'm shit at socialising. Plus, I'm already your friend. Uh, I guess I like- I dunno, not a lot. Computer games, books, just some stuff." I say, and despite me being awkward, Phil keeps smiling at me. 

"Have you played Undertale before?" He asks, raising his eyebrows slightly.

"No," I answer, as I've been meaning to get it, but never got round to it.

"Do you want to? You could come over to my house," he says. "If you want, obviously, you don't have to." He blurts out in addition.

"Sure, if that's okay; and okay with your parents and stuff."

"They're never home, it's fine. What about your parents? Don't you need to ask?"

"I'll tell my parents I'm going to a friends house, they'll be okay with it. And sorry that your parents are never home."

"It's okay, just means I get to listen to music as loud as I want." He responds, chuckling. Everything is always about noise. I chuckle, too, but just at myself.