Wow. First bit of FanFic in quite a while. I've just been so busy with work and school and my own book and other stuff. Just the stress of it all, I've been a freaking mess lately. So, I thank you for coming and I thank you for reading. I hope this story indulges and pleases you.

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'Fuck.' Dan thought as he heard the first lesson bell ring as he passed through the school gates. 'Late again.'

First Day of the Summer Term and he was already late. Well, you know what they say; Start as you mean to go on. He was at the same school he'd attended since he was 13, except now he was 16 and dealing with 13 year olds. It wasn't fun. He ran in through the front double doors, past the Reception Desk, up two flights of stairs and straight up to the door of his Maths classroom. He froze at the door. He breathed. He tossed his hair and pushed the door forward.

As he walked into the room, most of the class turned to see who it was, but they all turned back around when they realised it was just Dan. Late again. Mr Wallis stopped talking when he saw Dan by the door, waiting for the Culling.

"Mr Howell." The man's American accent was grating on the ears and his suit had the same effect on the eyes. "So glad that you could join us."

"Well, that makes one of us." Dan smiled before kicking himself mentally; every time he did something wrong, he told himself that he was just gonna take the punishment and every time he made a last second decision to be sassy mother fucker instead. Mr Wallis was never amused.

"And that's two Detentions." Mr Wallis smiled horribly, revealing something green stuck in his teeth, drawing Dan's horrid curiosity.

'What is that?' He thought. 'And how long has it been there?'

"You'll have a Punctuality tomorrow morning and a School Detention after school today." He announced routinely. "Am I right in assuming that you know the procedure for both?"

"Yes, sir." Dan smirked bitterly before directing himself to his seat. Walking post the rows of people, Dan eventually found himself slumping against the back corner of the room and taking out a paper pad and a pencil. Dan was just about ready to do absolutely nothing for the next forty minutes when a knock came at the door.

Mr Wallis called for the door to be opened and it was. A head of sleek, straight black hair crept in nervously, followed by a thin-framed body saddled with a heavy backpack on his backpack. The boy was clearly timid and shy, but he looked friendly. He hastily shuffled over to Mr Wallis and handed him a folded piece of paper that the teacher took moodily. He read and nodded as he did so. Then he turned from the board and coughed, addressing the attention of the class. Dan looked up from his half-baked doodles and looked up to the teacher. Dan's eyes shot open as he paid his first bit of attention to the boy in the front; his hair was as dark a Midnight and his eyes were as bright as the Summer Sky outside. His skin was pale, but it just made every darling feature of his stand out even more. Dan couldn't tear his eyes away and for the first time since he'd started this school, he listened to what his Maths teacher was saying. He didn't look away from Phil for even a second, but he listened to his teacher talk to him.

"Everyone, we've got a new student. This is Phillip Lester. He'll be joining us from now on." Mr Wallis looked down at Phil with indifferent eyes. "Tell them about yourself Phillip."

Phillip Lester had the same look that a rabbit does when it's caught in headlights: Absolute Shellshock. He turned to the class and saw two thousand judging faces staring at him in a spotlight, alone on a stage. He felt as if he would be sick at any moment. Time slowed down and he scanned the room for a friendly face.

He found faces that were uninterested, bored, expectant, cruel and sleeping, but he couldn't see friendly. He searched the room as far as he could, but to no avail. Until a flash of light sparkled from the back. He searched again for the light and found its source in the back corner of the room; he found the face of a boy that was looking at him with something in his eyes. Phillip Lester didn't quite have a name for what he saw in that boy's eyes, but it put confidence in his.

"Hi." He began softly. "My name is Phil. I moved here from up North in Lancashire and I am very happy to meet you all."

"Very nice, Phillip." Mr Wallis said boredly, just hoping to get Phil into the class without too much hassle. "Now, how good are you at Maths?"

"Ok, I suppose." Phil shrugged. Mr Wallis sighed before shrugging himself.

"Good enough. Go sit by Tim, he needs help."

"Thanks Sir." Tim droned sarcastically from the other corner of the room.

"You're welcome." He replied, directing Phil to his seat.

The boy walked past the front row and down the aisle to the corner adjacent to Dan. As Phil walked past he glanced back over to the boy with brown eyes, only to find that those brown eyes were still on him, filled with some kind of strong emotion that Phil didn't understand. He liked it though.

Eventually, the forty minutes were up and the bell rang loud and shrill. Upon its sound, everybody quickly stuffed their belongings into their bags and made movements to their next class. Dan was out of the door before anyone else could think to try and stop him, knowing that he didn't want to get caught up in the stampede to his next class. He was already out of the door when he stopped.

'Phil doesn't know about the stampede though.' Came to mind quickly. Dan shook his head at the surprise of what he was thinking. He didn't even know this boy and he was already treating him like he was a lost puppy. No, it was probably best to just let him live and learn. But what if he got lost? What if he fell over in the middle of a stampede; 16 year olds were not the most patient or selfless bunch of people, he could be trampled. Dan turned back to return to the classroom, but what he feared had already come. The teenagers flocked like rampaging sheep as they stormed out of the door and into the hallway, pushing and shoving mercilessly as they went on. Dan was quickly slapped against the nearest wall, but he was still staring out into crowds searching for Phil, but he couldn't see him. The students moved quickly and were gone just as fast, but Dan never saw Phil. Dan sighed heavily with some inexplicable disappointment.

"Why am I even-"

"Hello?" Came a small voice to Dan's left.

He snapped his head over and saw Phil standing calmly in the doorway of the Maths classroom. Dan's eyes went wide and he felt something in his chest tighten, but he refused to admit that it was his heart.

"Hi." Dan replied.

"My name's Phil." Phil extended his hand in a friendly gesture and Dan accepted slowly.

"Dan."

"Nice to meet you Dan."