Hey, everyone! This fic is written as a birthday present for my supah kawaii friend Nikki (idiot-inator). Today is her big day! I've got a foot in the threshold when it comes to writing phanfiction. Of course, this is also a shyland work. I consider myself to be like Shane, and my fabulous boyfriend to be like Ryland. They are seriously our couple goals. As for phan, while I ship them, they hold the best friend goals between me and Nikki. The characters that are not YouTube celebrities are based off a 90s Nickelodeon show.
PHIL'S POV
Here we are, farther than ever before. Me and my closest friends are underground, exploring the old bootlegging caves. This place used to be an old tavern when prohibition hit. Now most of these tunnels have crashed down. Ryland is our navigator. He makes a new map each time we go out, trying to help find our way around. We don't want to hit the same dead ends. I don't know where we'd go if we actually made it through here, though. We have no school, no parents; no plans. I'm the oldest, at fifteen. A cold chill runs up my bones as we pass through a new corridor. Insects and small animals crawl around at our feet. Shane is holding the torch, but he stops.
"Maybe we should go back." He bites his lip.
Ryland agrees instantly, but I shake my head. This is the farthest we've come. I don't see any trouble with trekking a little more. We haven't been gone long. I resume my role as leader, stopping short at a large gap in the rocks. I can't see the bottom, even with the light shining down. I kick a loose rock, and it finally crackles about a minute and a half later. Ryland lets out a low whistle, and I hold my breath. Gathering my wits, I nod to the others and I leap over. Shane and Ryland clasp hands, as they came here together and have been best friends since. Ryland is thirteen, and Shane is fourteen. They hop over as well. Then I notice our thirteen-year-old timekeeper is still on the other side. He's my best friend and I'm not letting him off that easy. Shane and Ryland grip the back of my shirt, so I can reach out and grab Dan. We pull him to the other side and continue our journey. We're able to maneuver through a few more pathways before Dan's watch goes off. It's been synced with the building's clock.
"We got fifteen minutes." He alerts us.
In fifteen minutes, we are expected to be out of our beds and washed for the day. The four of us share a room in this cramped place. Immediately, Ryland makes a mark on the wall, saying we've been here. He takes lead, driving us back the way we came. Shane is on his tail, and I make sure Dan is beside me. In no time, we successfully make it to the sewage ladder we had first scaled down. As we run through the back garden, the sprinkler system cuts on. We deftly remove our shirts and trousers, dodging any windows in case of prying eyes. Ryland almost attacks the greenhouse vines, using them and the grate to climb up the side of the house. We had left a book divider in the window, as we shimmy through the opening. As Dan climbs in behind me, I remove the partition. Shane and Ryland have already tied towels around their waists. Dan and I do the same, just as the watch beeps again.
OMNISCENT POV
Melanie, the house mother, walks in with her clipboard covering her eyes. "All decent?"
"We're fine." Phil assures her.
She lowers the board and purses her lips. "I see that. We'll be having the social in two hours. Now, why don't you boys get dressed and meet Kathy in the gym?"
The boys know it's not a question. Quickly, they do as asked. Entering the gym, the boys bear Pikachu, an eclipse, "I'll go home" and a pastel Britney. Dan and Phil take to the bikes, while Shane and Ryland jump onto the treadmills. Kathy, the gymnasium coach, smiles up at their tired forms.
"You boys ready for the new addition?"
"Sure." Ryland shrugs. "What's so big about another guy in the house?"
Kathy chortles. "Well, that she's a girl."
The boys stop all motions. Dan and Phil look clueless, staring at one another. Shane holds his hands in surrender as he glides off the treadmill. Ryland blinks slowly before speaking up.
"You're kidding. They're adding a girl to an all-boys foster home?"
Kathy purses her lips. "Progress. I assumed you all knew."
Eventually, the boys get through their exercise regimen. They wash their faces and add deodorant before joining the adults in the living room. This foster home was converted from a two-story house. They notice the groundskeeper, Grandpa Joe, asleep on the couch. Michael, the cautious worrywart staff member, is fidgeting in the kitchen not too far off. Riley, the technician and plumber, is having another long-winded conversation with Phoctor, a staff member who was once like them but was never adopted. Dan and Phil have already donned their clip-on bow ties and shrugged on black jackets. Shane and Ryland, on the other hand, have only managed to switch their bottoms from sweatpants to jeans. Soon, the music begins to play in the backyard. Yet another social has started, but this will be the biggest one yet. The boys peer out the window to find Melanie's Russian parents Charnie and Bicha at the stage area. Dr. Jay, the adolescent psychologist, has a glass of wine in his hand, attempting to charm a few younger girls in the circle. Grandpa Joe wakes up and reluctantly joins the party, immediately snarking at Andrea – a notoriously rich alcoholic socialite. Tress is a complete workaholic, as she owns her own company. She walks by the window on her cell phone, deliberately ignoring her ex-husband Bell, who is the house father for the girls' home down the way. He has brought along two girls for the social. As if on cue, as the boys open the sliding glass door, soon-to-be sixteen-year-old Cat comes up to greet them.
"Hello, boys."
She gives them a genuine smile. Despite being adopted over seven times and continuously brought back for whatever reason, Cat has had an optimistic attitude. She remains polite with everyone, although there is one girl she lives with that really taxes her patience. The boys give her mumbled greetings in response, smiling as they walk away from her. She doesn't mind and walks away as well. Her roommate, sixteen-year-old Hazel is leaning against the fence, discreetly sipping something from a flask. The boys search the cozy backyard for somewhere to hide, when they literally run into a goat. The goat is a good-luck gift for the new addition. While Bicha explains this, he hands out four gold coins to the boys. They aren't worth much; maybe twenty U.S. dollars each, but it is more of sentiments. Phil and Ryland grab coffees from a nearby table as they follow Shane and Dan. They've found a pitched tent off to the side of the yard.
"Is she even coming here?" Shane finally breaks the silence.
Phil shrugs. "Maybe. She might come to her room first."
"This just feels like a commercial plot." Dan grumbles. "Look at Cat."
The boys do so. The girl has become the center of attention, singing for the gathered crowd. A band is now here, meaning a drummer and a guitarist. Cat is happily singing like it is a concert. While this particular song is usually very fast-paced, Cat sings it slower, as her own cover.
"One day, run away with me. I know it sounds crazy, don't you see what you do to me?"
As she sings, Hazel watches. She hasn't had too much to drink today. Even still, she doesn't like it when an assortment crowd's attention is on her rival. She waits for the next verse to jump in along with some of her own version of lines.
"I wanna be your lost girl, your last chance. A better reality!"
"You know that I am your girl, in these pants. A bitter reality!"
"One day, we can get away!"
"I promise if you're with me,"
"Say the word; I will find a way."
"I can be your lost girl, your last chance,"
"Cause you know I'm your girl, in these pants,"
"Yeah, everything that I planned. Ohh, somewhere in Neverland!"
A sudden shrill beeping separates the girls and interrupts the song. Accusatory glances are thrown around until all gazes set on Melanie. She is in shock and she whispers something inaudible to Kathy. She, on the other hand, is much more vocal.
"Stations, people! Time to get the new addition! Pups, climb in a car. Everyone else, if you're not coming, get this place cleaned up. Let's go, Mel. Breathe easy."
The boys crawl out of the tent and into Riley's station wagon. He and Bell take the front two seats. Hazel climbs in another car with Tress, Cat and the Russian parents. Grandpa Joe then climbs into the last car with Kathy, Michael and Melanie. The goat knocks into the sprinkler system, causing it to somewhat rain as the cars pull out.
"You sure this was a welcome party, and not a baby shower?" Dan questions, staring out the window.
Shane and Ryland suppress grins, while Phil just covers his eyes and shakes his head. "No, Dan, no. That one made me sick."
The boys remain clueless until nearly an hour later when they reach a hospital of sorts. It is a co-op institution for wild children. The boys communicate silently, with their eyes, wondering what sort of hole they're just dug into. They're told to wait in a blasé room while the adults need to fill out paperwork. Hazel and Cat, though, sit on a bench and wait for either Tress or Bell to take them back to their home. They don't actually have much interest in meeting the new girl since she won't be living with them.
"C'mon guys." Phil jumps to his feet after just ten minutes of waiting. "Let's go check this place out."
The others shrug and follow. There don't seem to be many red lights on what little cameras they spy. A lot of the connected hallways look basically the same. Ryland inwardly wonders if maybe they're just going around in circles. At the end of one long hallway, they come across a set of double doors. Again with the nonverbal communication, the quartet decides to open the doors. Inside, fifteen other teenagers are sprawled out. There are four boys sat in a circle on the floor playing cards. Three boys are competitively completing push-ups. Two girls and a boy are sat at a table, brushing and braiding each other's hair. Three other boys are sitting together but reading separately. Two boys who look younger than the others seem to be asleep together, on a shared beanbag. Phil, Shane, Ryland and Dan separate.
"Hey, guys." Phil greets the trio at the table. "I'm Phil."
The blonde girl with glitter in her hair smiles at him. She pops a bubble and waves her hairbrush. "I'm Louise. This is Marzia and Joey."
Marzia is brushing Joey's hair with an air of focus. Joey is braiding Louise's hair with a lopsided grin. Louise makes a move between Marzia, looking up to Phil.
"You can take a seat. I'll do your hair."
Phil self-consciously touches his emo fringe and backs away with a soft smile. "No thanks."
Louise nods and begins brushing Marzia's hair again. It seems as though they completely shut Phil out. He frowns and walks around again. Shane has sat on the floor aside the circle once a cheer has come from the group and cards are gathered toward the boy with wild green hair.
"Hey, what's up you guys?"
"Deal in?" The guy to his left inquires.
Shane shrugs. "What are we playing?"
"B.S."
Ryland awkwardly drops to the floor beside the guys exercising. They don't stop, but they take him in. The boy with the backwards pink hat seems to want to say something but he keeps his mouth shut. The blonde merely shrugs, while the guy with the pink tinted hair finally speaks.
"Are you new?"
"Visiting."
"I'm Rhinestone."
"Ryland."
As Shane plays cards and Ryland exercises, Dan has crawled upon the resting couple. He sits in the broken beanbag beside them, causing the younger one to stare openly at him.
"You're not from here." He whispers.
Dan shakes his head. The younger boy merely snuggles closer to either his best friend or his boyfriend, but he keeps a weary eye on Dan. Phil notices all his friends have got something to do, so he selects a book from the back table and settles in with the other teenagers. As he takes a seat next to a shaggy-haired male, said boy immediately latches onto him.
"Name's Peej."
"Phil."
"I take it you're not staying? The four of you?"
"You noticed us." It isn't a question. "We're bringing someone back to our foster home."
Peej nods. "Lily. She's the only one missing." He nods to the cuddling boys. "She's Troy's age. Eleven. Good luck."
"Luck? We do we need luck?"
Phil doesn't get his answer, because the doors open. An institution official, Dr. Hattie, walks in. She informs the residents of lunch, knowingly stopping the four that do not belong. It has been some time, and all the necessary paperwork has been completed. The girls have gone back home, and Dr. Hattie escorts the quartet from the former all-boys' home to meet with Melanie and the new resident.
"Phil, Shane, Ryland, Dan." Melanie greets the boys with a much calmer smile. "This is our new housemate, Lily."
The girl has long black hair and, sure enough, is younger than the rest of them. She is a preteen. The boys wave, offering up a varied welcome. She stares back emotionlessly. When Ryland takes a step toward her, she screams. Loud and clear. She darts behind Kathy, leaving everyone to acknowledge pity in each other's eyes.
Well, if you watched the movie in question, you can sort of follow along and have a sense of an idea of where this will lead. Care to take a guess on who the 'wild child institute kids' are? They are all YouTubers. For each correct guess, you win a cookie!