Chapter 1: Hi, I'm Dan

So this is I Will Always Keep You Safe. It's the same story as I Will Always Protect You apart from one thing…. It's in Dan's POV! Yay! So if you want to know about my inspirations and shit then go read I Will Always Protect You if you haven't already. It tells you all that at the start. So here you go… Enjoy!

I Will Always Keep You Safe

I made my way through the gates, Starlight playing through my headphones. Head down, I didn't look at anyone. Not that anyone would look at me anyway. I wasn't that exciting, just another face in a crowd of people.

I fucking hated this school. It was full of chavs and couldn't care less teachers. I had to put up with it though. One more year. I could probably survive. I hope anyway.

I went straight to the nearest toilets, my usual hiding place. It's not that I didn't have any friends. I talked to a few people occasionally. Ok, I had no friends. And that's fine. I had lasted this long with having no one to share secrets with. I'm sure I could last one more year. It's not like I was missing out on anything. I didn't think I was anyway.

In the boys' toilets, I looked in the mirror. My reflection was the same as me: boring. Life was boring and so was I. I accepted that.

I started singing along to Supremacy out loud as soon as it came on. Luckily, no one was in here. Guys aren't like girls. They don't hang out in the toilets every chance they get. That was a bonus to this crappy school. I liked being alone and standing on the edge of the playground, looking like a loner, wasn't such an appealing idea.

As soon as the song finished, I turned off my music. Wondering why the bell hadn't gone yet, I checked the clock on my phone. Form was five minutes in. Shit! I knew that song was long but I forgot how long!

I dashed out, into the empty hallway. Then it occurred to me: why was I rushing? I didn't care if I was late and I wasn't bothered enough to run. Also, I was the wrong side of the school and I wasn't running that far even if I decided to. I wouldn't though. I wasn't fit enough to run. I walked out of the Science block and walked across the playground. A teacher passed me and eyed me up. I gave her a sweet smile which she returned when she passed me. Well, that got me out of trouble.

I finally made it to my form's door. I was now more than ten minutes late. It didn't help that I had dawdled all the way.

I walked in and a couple of people glanced at me as always. I made my way to the table I usually sat on. A couple of guys sat on it too but they were from the year below. They never really talked to me. Suited me.

No more than two minutes later, the bell signalled for first lesson. I got up and was about to leave when my form tutor called me over to him.

Sighing, I went up to his desk.

"Do you realise how late you are?" He asked, pushing his glasses up which were resting on the end of his nose.

"Yeah, I'm sorry Sir," I apologised.
"Sorry doesn't really cut it," He said.

Ugh! Couldn't he just let it go? I was here now wasn't I?

I didn't say anything so he carried on, "Look Howell, you've done this before and I've let it slide. But now… You've never been this late before. I'm going to have to issue you a detention."

Dammit! My mum was not going to be happy about this. She had warned that if I got one more detention, I would be grounded.

"Please Sir, just give me another chance!" I begged.
"You know I can't do that, Howell," He replied.

I didn't understand why he called me by my last name. He didn't do that to anyone else.

"Can you just this once?" I pleaded, "I know I'm not much of a model student but I'll try to be. Just give me another chance and you'll see. I'll get my act together, I promise."

Ok, I know I sounded like a kiss-ass but I didn't want a month with no technology and a pissed off mum.

Mr Turner thought for a minute and then said, "One last chance. Only one. I mean it Howell. You better sort yourself out."
"I will! Thank you sir!"

He shrugged it off and went back to his computer. I left the room, realising that I was late to English. I didn't really care though.

I hummed Starlight as I walked down the corridor.

When I was outside the door of Mr Griffin's room, I stopped. I could hear him shouting at people. He must be doing the register.

I hated English but since it was part of the curricular, I couldn't really avoid it.

I opened the door and went inside. Mr Griffin eyed me up. He really didn't like me but then again, not many teachers did.

"Ah Daniel! Thank you for finally gracing us with you presence! You do know that we don't wait just for you to start the lesson. Tuck in your shirt and sort out your tie! You're not in a zoo!" He moaned.

I rolled my eyes as I tucked in my shirt.

"Sorry I'm late, Mr Griffin," I replied. I sorted out my tie and looked at him. He glared at me before going to write something on the board. As he did this, he muttered something under his breath. It sounded something like, "Stupid chav…"

Rude. And anyway, I wasn't a chav. I didn't speak or behave like those wannabes. I smiled as I thought about this.

I started walking to my seat when I saw him. There was this guy in the seat next to mine. I usually sat alone so I wasn't used to company. He was looking at me. He had jet black hair and really pale skin. And his eyes. His eyes were amazing. They were the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. They were a deep blue, beautiful. The bluest eyes on the planet as far as I was concerned.

I grinned at him as I sat down next to him. As soon as I was sitting, I decided to play it smooth since he was obviously new; I wanted to make a good impression on him, "Hi, I'm Dan." I actually winked as I said this. I don't know why and I mentally facepalmed myself.

He blushed instead of wondering what the hell was wrong with me. Well, I'll take what I can get.

"Um hi… I'm Phil," He was obviously nervous. Well, he was new. I would get nervous talking to a stranger in a new school too.

I liked his name. It somehow suited him.

I smiled at him to show him that he was doing fine. "Welcome to Hell," I said as I took out my book and pencil case.

I looked back at him, hoping I hadn't worried him. Sure enough, he looked a little concerned.

"Is it that bad here?" He asked.
"Nah, it's ok. As long as you don't get involved with the wrong people. You know what Manchester's like," I replied.

He nodded, understanding what I meant.

We were silent for a second so I said, "So how come you've come here? Did you move house?" I hope I didn't seem too nosey.

He didn't seem to mind when he said, "Yeah. Third time in three years."

That shocked me. I'd only moved once in my whole life.

"Seriously?" I looked up from my book.
"Yeah." He said, writing his name on his new book.

He has an older brother called Martin, his middle name is Michael and he has been to four schools in three years.

We had talked all lesson which was something I didn't usually do with someone I'd known since I was five, let alone someone I'd just met.

I don't know why but I just seemed to open up to him. I even told him about the no friends thing. As soon as I did, I knew that he felt sorry for me. I didn't blame him. I would too. In fact, I kinda do already. I even tried to make it sound better than it was but that just made it sound worse. I didn't care anymore though so I just changed the subject.

There was something about him that I knew I could trust him. He obviously felt it too because he told me all about his old schools and that he was picked on a bit at one of them. He had moved though before it had gotten too bad. I was glad about that. For some reason, I got a little annoyed to hear that some people had tried to upset him. I wondered if they had and he just didn't mention anything. I hoped not.

When the bell rang, I was almost disappointed.

"Hey… uh… Can I walk you to your next class?" I asked. It didn't come out as smooth as I had intended.

"Yeah thanks," He grinned.

His smile made me smile. It was a contagious smile. I'd never met someone with one of those before.

I took him to Maths which was the other side of the school so I got to talk to him a bit more. I was grateful of that.

Sadly though, we were in different sets. I said goodbye to him and walked up the stairs to my classroom.

I actually sat by someone in this class. But that was only because the teacher had organised a seating chart. My partner never talked to me anyway so it was a waste of time.

I kept thinking about Phil as my teacher droned on. Was he my friend now? Or was he just being polite because he pitied me? I had genuinely enjoyed talking to him today and I hoped that I'd have more lessons with him.

So there you have it. I hoped you like it. First chapters are always the hardest to write. Well, for me anyway. If you can relate, then right on! I hope to upload the next chapter in a couple of weeks. It will probably take that long because I write a chapter of I Will Always Protect You at the same time. So you'll get two chapters instead of one. Yay! I hope that makes up for the length of time between updates. Please review because I'd like to see your thoughts on it. I have a lot of ideas for this story and I can't wait to share them with you guys.

Beth