Touch ☞☜ Phan

Chapter Three

I shut my locker and turn around to see a smirking Phil beside me.  "You ready?," he asks.

I nod, pulling my black backpack over my shoulders. 

"Will your family be home?"

I shake my head.  "My parents will both be working."

"Do you have plans for me, Dan Howell?," Phil asks suggestively.

I laugh as Phil and I enter the bus.  We sit together in the back.

"What do your parents do?," Phil asks.

"My dad's an engineer, and my mum's an accountant."

"Are you also good at math?"

I can't help but laugh.  "I'm the worst!"

"Same. If you didn't inherit mathematical skills from your parents, then what did you inherit from them?"

"I don't know. I mean, I certainly didn't inherit my loyalty from my father."

"Why do you say that?"

"My dad's having an affair with his coworker," I say for the first time aloud. My words sink in and drown me with them.

"Oh, Dan, I'm sorry.  Does your dad know that you know?  Does your mum know?"

I shake my head.

"Are you gonna tell your mum?"

"I don't want to mess up my parents' lives, Phil."

"Wouldn't your mum want to know?"

"Probably not."

"Wouldn't you?," Phil asks.

I sigh. "Yeah. Would you?"

Phil nods. "I would, yeah."

"I just don't understand how my dad could ever do that to my mum."

The bus stops. Phil and I thank the bus driver as we get off. We head over to my house. I take out my key and insert it into the lock. Once I open the front door, I say, "After you, sir."

Phil laughs and heads inside my house.

I walk up the stairs and into my room, Phil following. I plop down on the bed.

Phil looks around, awkwardly standing with his hands crossed over his chest.

"Sit down," I say.

Phil lightly sits down beside me on the bed. "Your walls are black," he comments.

"Did you expect them to be a different color?," I ask, laughing.

"My walls are white at the moment. Since my new house is a forever home, I might paint them."

"I wanna help," I offer.

"Okay."

"Mr. Doug is so cool," I say.

Phil nods. "Mr. Doug is my favorite teacher. Hey, I'm going to get you to start talking to people, Dan."

"Why?," I ask. "You're the only person I need, Phil," I joke.

"Just so it's clear, I'm planning on being your best friend, not your only friend. I refuse to be your best friend by default."

Phil is my first best friend. "Deal," I say.

"I also consider myself an introvert, but we're still gonna do this, Dan."

"Okay."

"Let's make a goal."

"Oh?" I laugh.

"We have to make a new friend every day of the school year," Phil says.

"That's too ambitious."

"And we're gonna do it. Dan, being in high school is more bearable when you have friends."

"So I've heard. Okay, I'm in."

"I mean, we've already met our daily goal," Phil points out. "We can do this all year," he says confidently.

"What if we don't succeed one day? Like, what if somebody rejects us?"

"Then we'll become friends with somebody else on that day."

I roll my eyes, laughing. "Sure, Phil."

"Hey, be positive."

"I'm positive that I have depression."

"Well, I'm positive that you'll feel better with time. Becoming my friend is the first step of your journey to feeling better."

"Don't give yourself so much credit, Phil."

"Don't give me so little credit, Dan."

I have a good feeling about Phil. I just met him, and this is crazy, but I can already tell that he's amazing, creative, unique, intelligent, and kind. I hope that he'll never grow bored of me.

Wait, what if Phil is already growing bored of me? I could touch him and find out how he feels about me.

Actually, I don't want to know. I'll never use my power on Phil—

I'll save it for the people Phil and I will meet due to our new goal.