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Fifteen-year-old Dan Howell has a devil-may-care attitude. Since his dad left the family three years ago, he's turned into a rebel. He doesn't spend much time with the family anymore; just shrugging on a jacket and grabbing his phone and sunglasses. When he is alone, he is softer. He lets the walls come down and he cries. But around anyone even his mom and little brother he keeps those walls standing. He blasts them away with Muse and MCR, grabbing a cigarette and lighting it.
His mom doesn't approve of him smoking in the house, so he wanders around. He wanders around whatever neighborhood they've pulled up to. They live in a mobile home, so when he expectedly gets pulled out of another school, the house moves with him. He is about to attend the nicest anti-bully school in the state. They allegedly have a prayer time for all religions and special classes where anyone can be. Freshmen can be classmates with seniors.
He is a sophomore and has already been to five other high schools. Fall break has just ended while they were moving. Now, he lives a seventeen-minute walking distance to the school. Dan decides to test just how anti-bully the school is by breaking in and wandering around the halls. Just as he begins to fiddle with the back loading door, a firm hand slams against it. Dan jumps back, surprised. An older student is standing there, glaring down at him. Dan jumps to his feet to take him on, since he is a bit shorter, but he also notices how muscular the boy is.
"What is it, jock?"
"Whatcha doin', punk?" The boy questions roughly. "You don't go here."
"How would you know? It's a fucking school."
The boy shocks Dan then. He unexpectedly bops the new kid hard in the mouth. "We don't cuss here, Howell."
"How'd you know my" He starts, going over his bottom lip with his tongue.
"Word is we're getting a troublemaker tomorrow by the name of Dan Howell. Listen here. We don't cuss." He smacks the cigarette away and stomps on it. "We don't smoke. At our school parties, we don't drink. We don't pick on people due to race, sexual orientation, religion or"
"What the hell is this? Are you reciting the fucking manual?"
The older boy bops him harder in the mouth and socks him in the stomach. Dan doubles over, holding in tears. He is thankful the shades are still on his face to hide his expression.
"We don't steal. We don't cheat. Most of all, we don't bully."
"Isn't that what you're doing now?" Dan questions, careful to avoid all cuss words.
"I'm the student advisor, bitch." He answers, putting a hand on Dan's head and shoving him down. "And school i'nt in session yet."
When Dan finally returns home, he has another cigarette lit in his mouth. His glasses are crooked but he hardly cares. Here, he has a tree just outside. He immediately climbs up and just relaxes on a supporting branch, thinking about what he has gotten himself into. The next day comes far too quickly for his liking. Dan decides he can take a break from the smoking and possibly stop swearing so much.
He treks to the school and immediately sees the boy from yesterday. He is wearing some sort of junior officer uniform and Dan shudders a little. He heads to the main office for his schedule. There surprisingly aren't too many students in the corridors, Dan notices. He doesn't see anyone in uniforms and it is actually hard to separate teachers from students. He walks up to the main desk with a friendly-looking woman behind it.
"Daniel Howell, I presume?"
"Wow." He laughs. "How small is this place?"
"The school itself is actually rather large. Most classes are interactive, so the students need the extra space. We offer different courses that are urged to be expressed emotionally, rather than written on paper. Every upperclassman is assigned an underclassman to share classes throughout the year. Currently, we have one upperclassman who hasn't had a classroom buddy since May."
She politely asks him to sit while she calls for said student over the PA system. Her voice is soft and melodic "so as not to disrupt the students". Dan gets lost in his thoughts, wondering who this mysterious kid is that he'll be with in every class. He secretly hopes for some girl or an apathetic guy. Instead, a happy-go-lucky boy actually skips into the office. He is wearing the brightest pastel colors, as well as a flower crown. His eyes shine bright against his soft, pale skin and surprising black-as-night hair.
"Phil, this is Daniel."
"Dan." He corrects her.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Phil, this is Dan. He will be assigned with you this year."
"Hi."
He smiles so brightly, Dan is actually overwhelmed. Dan awkwardly feels a tug on the corners of his mouth. They drop again when he realizes Phil is leading him out the door by holding his hand.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What're you doing?"
Phil smile falters just a tiny bit. "I asked if you knew where things were, you didn't say anything. I asked you if you were coming, but you were still standing there. So, I'm leading you to our first class."
"Oh." Dan blushes. "Where? I mean, what is it?"
"Spiritual science."
"What the actual fuck?"
Several students nearby suddenly shove Dan against a solo locker and walk away. Phil winces in sympathy.
"You shouldn't cuss, Dan."
"Yeah, I got it. Geez, how is that not bullying?"
"It's citizen's discipline. The majority of the school decided they didn't like swearing in an educational environment, so people are allowed to do as they see fit if anyone breaks one of the main five rules."
"Bullying, cussing, smoking, drinking," Dan lists. "And what else?"
"Cheating. My last underclassman had to leave to plagiarizing my essay."
"What kind of grades are you making?"
"Straight As since my conditioning."
"Your conditio"
"Oh, look. Here we are." Phil points out a room that looks like a sauna. "No talking. Take off your shoes and socks, and grab a mat when you walk in. Find an open space on the floor. Alright?"
Dan rolls his eyes. "Whatever."
The classroom is dark and smoggy. There are various sizes of vanilla candles flitted around the room. A man in a brightly colored cloak sits on his own mat in front of the class of ten. Everyone is on their own mats, mimicking the man's breathing patterns, expressions and positions. Dan simply sits cross-legged on his mat, glaring around the room. He isn't doing that without a fight.
After class, Dan asks Phil what sort of classes he's been doing the past three years. Ignoring the fact that Dan hadn't tried in the first class, Phil brightens up on a chance to talk about past classes.
My freshman year, I had Tarot, Recycling, Android Intercourse,"
"What?" Dan asks in disbelief. "You got graded on playing with cards and talking about sex?"
"Interspatial intercourse." He corrects him. "Also, tree-climbing and street-altercation mathematics."
Dan's jaw drops. "That was your freshman year? I had biology and algebra and English and shit."
Again, a couple students throw him against a wall. His elbow smarts against the brick and he yelps a tad in pain. Instead of voicing this, Dan asks Phil about his sophomore year.
"Superhero physics, punk aesthetics," He pauses to lightly smirk at Dan. "Global warming care, embodied culture, and"
"What's that?" Dan interrupts. "Embodied culture?"
"Studying body mediation in different cultures. Like perms, tattoos, piercings,"
"You got any?"
"Any what?" Phil stops in the hall, confused.
"Any tats? Any piercings? I got my ears and lip pierced, but they won't let me wear 'em to school."
"We're here." Phil responds instead, deflecting a question for the second time.
"Where is here this time?"
"Taboo Enforcement and Violations."
"That does not sound right for this school."
"Not a lot of people signed up, but it fascinates me."
Dan looks around. Only two other people are in the classroom, relaxing on the floor next to one another.
"What exactly do we go over in here?"
"Anything from sexuality, madness and cannibalism to witchcraft and death." He answers, all with the same mesmerizing smile on his face. "Come meet the class."
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