Chapter 1 - Look Alive, Sunshine

Daniel Howell woke with a start to the shrill ringing of his alarm. Squinting blearily in the early morning light streaming through the gap in his curtains, he reached over and, after a few clumsy attempts, managed to stop the infuriating nose. Glaring at the offending object, he tried to remember why on earth he might have set his alarm for six in the morning. His sleepy brain slowly pieced together the pieces; it was Saturday the 11th according to his calendar, he could remember there was something important about that. He leant precariously off the edge of his mattress, trying to read the words which were scrawled under 'June 11' and suddenly he remembered and sat bolt upright, adrenaline coursing through him. Or, at least, he tried to, but the abrupt movement tipped him over the edge and he ended up sprawled across his messy bedroom floor.

Scrambling to his feet, Dan dressed himself hastily, grateful to his former self for laying out the selection on his desk the night before. He allowed himself a little longer with his hair however, first impressions were integral today of all days, and he didn't want a single strand out of place. Once he was satisfied, Dan dashed back into his room, grabbed his phone and bag (after checking that he had all the right forms and identification) and made his way to the front door as silently as possible. His parents weren't against the idea at all, their support was unquestionable, however their appreciation of being woken early on his Dad's only day off might be less generous.

Locking the door behind him, Dan stepped out into the frosty morning air. The streets were unsurprisingly empty, considering that most of Berkshire was taking advantage of the weekend's rest. He waved happily to Harry, the local grocer, who was unpacking his truck, arms laden with carrots and potatoes fresh from the market.

"Mornin' Dan! Today's the day then?" Harry was indisputably well-liked by the whole town, especially the school kids, who he would toss spare apples and pears to in the afternoon as they walked home from school.

Dan nodded, grinning eagerly. "Wish me luck?"

"You know we're all behind you!" He salutes to Dan before turning back to his truck, leaving Dan to continue down the main road, heading to the deserted bus stop. Dan's never been one to believe in much, other than the certainty of everything that can go wrong, going wrong. That was how it had worked out for him so far in life, but for some reason, ever since he'd first signed up online, the very concept of today had filled him with such elation as he'd never known before. Dan wasn't into superstition, but a strange warmth filled him, the tingle of possibility lightening his steps and raising his head high.

The icy metal seat was hardly the comfort he would have preferred to wait in for the next ten minutes, but his excitement was now radiating off him in waves that rendered the outside world ineffective in bothering him in the slightest. He even smiled at the surly bus driver as he boarded, to no avail, pulling on his headphones as he sat patiently for the next twenty minutes. The bus driver, almost in defiance of Dan's impenetrable contentedness, brought the bus into every stop along the way, despite the lack of any potential passengers. When the finally arrived in Newbury, Dan thanked the driver and got off, pushing his hair out of his eyes to try and find the street he needed to take him to the train station.

It was still early, only 6:45am, and his train wasn't coming for another thirty minutes, so Dan ambled happily along the street, the first signs of life emerging from houses in the form of small children dragging out less eager parents, sports enthusiasts heading off with their bikes to take advantage of the cool morning. His usual cynicism started creeping back in as he arrived at the car park outside the station to see there were already several cars there and people seated on the benches, waiting for the train. There were so many of them, they looked cool and confident, hanging in small clusters, chatting excitedly. What was he even doing here?

He'd been able to form a thin veil of possibility, not obscuring reality, but painting it in yellow lights, kind and inviting, to shelter his mind. But, as it often is with these things, the smallest idea of failure can chew away at even the most earnestly formed barriers, and with a heavy sigh, Dan fell back into the uncomfortable embrace of pessimism. It was too late to turn home, facing everyone with empty answers would be even worse than what faced him in failure today. There was nothing for it to just go and try not to make too much a fool of himself. He trudged up to the turnstile, pulling out his oyster card, when suddenly a voice called out from behind him.

"Hey, wait!" Dan span on the spot to see a tall boy ambling up behind him, bending over to scoop up a twenty pound note, before holding it out to Dan. "I think you dropped this!" His accent was gently hinting on northern and he grinned widely at Dan, who promptly realised he should say something in reply, as opposed to stand silently before an unexpectedly kind stranger. He reached forward to take the note.

"Thanks, I must have dropped it before, erm, while I was..." He held up his oyster card lamely in the other hand as evidence, mortified at his awkward behaviour. This day couldn't possibly get any worse, and he'd only been up for about an hour! The other boy seemed unfazed and only held out the same hand a second time. "I'm Phil, nice to meet you!" His enthusiasm seemed out of place, but Dan accepted his hand nonetheless, not wanting to seem rude.

"Daniel- but everyone calls me Dan." Phil nods his understanding, "My name is Phillip, but not even my mum calls me that unless she's mad at me," He wrinkles up his nose and Dan can't help but grin at his childish mannerisms, "I mean, most people call me Phil, you can just call me whatever you want I guess.."

The two start walking towards the station again and Dan searches his mind to find something to talk about, but the best he can come up with is- "Where are you heading today?"

"Reading!" Phil giggles happily, "And you?"

"Reading also, I'm guessing most people here are stopping off there, I don't know why anyone in their right mind would be up and about so early, unless they were on their way to-"

"It Takes Two! I knew it! You're totally auditioning right?" Phil has almost entirely turned in his seat to face Dan, who is having trouble understanding his enthusiasm.

"Yes? I'm guessing you are too?"

"Yes! Oh this is great!" They both stand up as the train pulls into the platform and Phil carries on, trailing behind Dan as he open the train door. "I mean, I can't assume too much from someone having such nice hair first thing on a Saturday morning, not that you'd normally not have nice hair! Or, well, I guess I'd have no idea, but I guessed you might be, I was just about to-"

"Dan! Dan over here!" Phil is cut off by the shout and wave, coming from the other end of the train carriage. Dan searches momentarily, and his eyes light up as he recognises his old school friend PJ sitting with another boy, indicating a spare seat next to him. Dan turns to Phil, to excuse himself, but the taller boy anticipates his motion.

"Go join your friends! Hopefully I'll see you around at the auditions? So lovely to bump into you Dan, good luck with your audition!" He turns to leave when Dan calls out, "Wait!"

Phil smiles back at him and Dan tries to work out why he even said anything. He's only just met this boy, what does he have to say that was so important?

"Thanks for handing me back the money, most people wouldn't be half so honest these days!" He tries to laugh encouragingly, but he's certain that he can see Phil's smile fall, just a little, but he nods his appreciation once more. As he turns to leave again, Dan can already feel regret surging right through him. Before his brain catches up with his mouth, it blurts out once more to Phil's back-

"No, wait!"

Now it's up to you! Should Dan:

1) Take Phil's number

2) Ask Phil to come sit with him and PJ

3) Got a better idea? Leave it in the comments and if I like it, I'll use it!

I hope you like this idea! It's like a choose-your-own-way adventure story! It's not planned out, I'm going to write whatever you guys choose so I have no idea where this is going to go, but if I know what we're like, it's most likely gonna have Phan and quite possibly some KicktheStickz! I promise the decisions in the future will be a bit more exciting! This is just the start :P

Thank you so very much for reading and I'll see you soon! xx panfs