Phil's hair always seemed to be in her way no matter what she did with it. She liked her hair and she liked it's length but it was just always in the way. If she tied it up, it would just fall out again. Maybe not the whole thing but as she walked little strands would slowly start to wriggle free and before she knew it she'd have to re-do her hair again. She didn't even like tying it up. She was self-conscious about the way her ears stuck out slightly too much and because of that she always wore her hair down. Well, always apart from when she had just had enough of it and needed it out of her way.
She sighed softly as she opened her eyes to see another strand had joined the already lose one dangling in front of her. Who knew having hair that reached just past your shoulders could be such a pain?
She tucked the lose strands behind her ear and closed her eyes once again. She tried to imagine what it would be like if she were on stage just now. To see all those eyes watching her, expecting her to do something amazing. The way they gasp almost silently as they watch the single girl on the wide stage pirouette on point looking as elegant as ever.
She liked to imagine people were watching her as she practiced her ballet. It gave her some sort of adrenaline that made her want to actually practice. She could be pretty lazy and skip practice simply because she didn't feel up to it. But over the years she had found if she put on her ballet shoes and just stood slightly raised on her feet with her eyes closed, she could do anything.
Her eyes opened with a new determination as she jumped into action from her pose. One leap to the left as she moved her arms above her head elegantly. Another to the right, building up her confidence for her final move. Another leap as a smile crawled onto her face. She could do, she knew she could. Another step, onto point and pirouette-
"You mother fucker!"
A noise which could only be described as something between a yelp and a cry escaped her lips as she fell to the floor. As she sat there on the floor in a daze, wondering what had happened she heard another shout.
"Are you fucking kidding me!?"
Of course, the games club.
Phil knew this club all too well. For some reason the games club -which was basically a group of people who sat playing video games all day- had decided they would move their 'play zone' to the room right next to the main gym hall. Phil would have been understanding. She knew how frustrating games were, especially the kind she knew those guys played. But she had run out of patience and the will to understand since this had happened at least five or six times now.
She picked herself up off the ground, brushing herself off before looking at the entrance to the gym with nothing short of a glare. She'd had enough of this. She had to say something or she knew she'd go absolutely crazy. Normally she didn't like to confront people and shyed away from any sort of confrontation. But today, that rule had gone out the window.
She stormed out of the gym, wincing slightly as her now sore feet hit the ground with thuds of anger and frustration. She was beyond pissed at those selfish people who would distract her from something she needed to practice for. Her final show was in a month and she was nowhere near ready thanks to the stupid games club interrupting her.
Before she could even stop to think she had basically thrown the door open and began shouting into the room.
"Could you please keep it down a bit!? I'm trying to practice and all I can hear is you guys screaming so can you not-"
She had expected to have been met with the glares of typical gamer guys slouched on bean bags with headsets on as their gazes flickered between the screen and her. However, that isn't what she found at all.
There in the centre of the room sitting in a black puffy chair sat a girl about the same age as Phil with brown wide eyes. Phil had expected to be snapped back at but she could see that the girl before her was way too startled to even say a word to her.
"Oh, uh" Phil rung her hands together as her cheeks turned a light tint of pink in embarrassment "Uh, sorry. I didn't mean- I mean, I thought there would be- I" She sighed, hanging her head in shame as she mentally kicked herself for not being able to form a single coherent sentence.
"…Hey, it's okay" came a voice that she recognised instantly as the voice that had indeed put her off. Although she thought that would set off another spark of aggression and anger, it actually made her feel a little more guilty than she already did. She lifted her head to see the brown eyed girl had set the white controller in her hand down on the seat and was now standing awkwardly looking at Phil.
"Sorry…I shouldn't have come barging in here shouting. I was just annoyed, you know?" Phil tried to say as she rubbed the back of her neck, looking just as awkward as the slightly shorter girl in front of her.
"It's fine. Sorry for putting you off. I guess I got a little carried away with the game. You know how it is" the girl said, stopping as she seemed to notice for the first time what Phil's attire was. She looked puzzled for a moment before that same uneasy look made it's appearance again "…Or not. I can see by the outfit you're not a gamer"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Phil answered, maybe snapping a little bit. She couldn't help it really. She didn't like when people made judgements by just looking at her. She may have been in a pink leotard and ballet pumps at that moment but that didn't mean she wasn't a gamer at heart.
Okay truth be told Phil was anything but a gamer. She had tried to play a few games but had never been that good at it. She could play the old sonic the hedgehog games and that was about it. She had tried all these modern games like COD and Halo, but she just wasn't any good at them. Her friends who had watched her play them had just laughed and said first person shooters were definitely not her thing.
"I mean, you don't really look like a gamer" The girl replied quietly as if she was scared to speak at a normal level "I mean, you're obviously a dancer and- I don't know. Sorry, I'm really bad at this whole talking to people thing"
"No, no" Phil sighed, uncrossing her arms that she hadn't even realised she'd crossed "It's fine. Sorry for being so snappy"
"It's fine" the brown eyed girl replied quickly with a small nervous smile as she glanced back at the screen and then back at Phil.
"Sorry I shouted" Phil said sheepishly, taking another step into the room as she realised she had been standing in the doorway the whole time they'd been awkwardly staring at each other. "I'm Phil, by the way. Well, Phillipa officially- but please don't call me that"
"Danielle, but please call me Dan" replied the girl as she moved her pink dyed hair tips off her shoulder and gave Phil another gentle smile.
It was only as she watched Dan move her silky brown hair with pink tips off her shoulders and let it fall behind her, that Phil remembered she still have her hair up in a messy pony tail. It took everything in her not to shriek and run away as her hand flew up to her hair in some sort of vein attempt to cover up the hideous odd hairs poking out everywhere.
"Oh god I'm sorry I swear my hair isn't like this all the time. It's normally down and fine but I tied it up to practice my routine and I just remembered and- oh god I'm so sorry you had to see me like this" Phil tried to explain as her cheeks turned bright red.
At first there was silence and Phil couldn't bear to look up at the grossed out expression Dan probably held. After a moment, Phil realised Dan was laughing gently. She looked up to see Dan with her hand over her mouth, her eyes twinkling as she obviously tried her hardest not to laugh.
Phil's blush just increased as she realised she had embarrassed herself a lot more now that she'd pointed out the fact her hair had been messed up. "I'm weird, I know. Sorry…again"
"Stop apologising" Dan managed to say between giggles as she tried to calm herself and looked Phil in the eye "I'm the one that caused you to come in here, so lets just say we're both sorry and call it quits at the apologising game, yeah?"
"Yeah" Phil replied with a smile, attempting to hide her now very red face from those brown eyes there were still twinkling away. "Sorry I interrupted your game"
"Sorry I interrupted your dance practice"
Phil couldn't help but smile as she tried to shrug off Dan's comment as if she didn't really care that her practice had been interrupted. It was only as she actually took her eyes off Dan that she realised the TV which Dan had previously been looking at before Phil had burst in had a pause screen which she slightly recognised. Phil really wasn't a gamer at all but she had a feeling she'd seen that pause screen before.
"What game is that?" she wondered out loud, feeling embarrassed once she realised she had indeed just said that out loud and Dan had heard her. She was trying to make a good impression (if you ignore that fact she barged in screaming) There was something about that shy smile that Phil liked a lot and although they had only met Phil had a feeling Dan was a nice girl and probably a good friends to nice people.
"Bioshock infinite" Dan simply replied with a smile as she turned back to the chair, looking over her shoulder as if to invite Phil to come closer, before taking the controller in her hands and sitting down.
"My friend played that. He tried to get me to have a go but" she paused, her gaze moving from Dan to the screen and back again "You don't need me going on about some boring story-"
"No, continue…please?" The brown haired girl asked as she tipped her head slightly to the side slightly.
Phil shuffled closer, looking at the different options on the screen before finally making eye contact with Dan again. She had to admit she felt a little bit intimidated being here with a gamer when she hardly knew a single thing about games.
"I um, yeah. Basically he made me have a go and I was okay exploring the city but then the fight bit started- you know, when all the police guys come at you get the- you know, that spinny thing?" Phil tried to explain, holding her hand up and moving it in some sort of hope Dan knew what she meant.
"You mean like right back at the beginning at the raffle where you first get the sky hook?"
"Sky hook, that's it!" she exclaimed before remembering this wasn't something to get that excited about "But yeah, I'm really terrible at first person shooters so the fighting bit is a bit of a nightmare"
"The whole game is fighting" Dan pointed out as she held back another laugh, obviously imaging Phil trying to play the game but failing miserably. "I can imagine that your friend got pretty annoyed. I mean, I get pretty pissed when I know where to go but I'm watching someone who has no idea what they're even doing"
"I guess you'd hate to play anything with me then" Phil joked as she flashed Dan a small teasing smile.
Dan looked at Phil then, her brown eyes scanning over Phil's blue ones as they stood there staring at each other. "I could probably stand it. I mean, as long as you don't mind me bossing you around to tell you what you're supposed to be doing"
"That's what happens every time I play any game with anyone" Phil answered with a laugh, her tongue poking out slightly as more giggles escaped her lips. She placed her hand over her mouth hoping that Dan hadn't seen what was an incredibly bad habit which had stuck over the years. No matter what she did her tongue always liked to make a little appearance when she laughed and it was just damn weird.
"Do you really wanna…you know, come here to play some games?" Dan asked, clasping her hands together as she tried to look anywhere but Phil's eyes. It was pretty obvious she was nervous for some reason. The reason probably being that Phil could easily reject her. Not that Phil planned on doing that any time soon.
"Sure, I guess it could be fun. I have to warn you though, I'm the worst person at playing any game ever"
A grin broke out on Dan's face she gently twirled the ends of her hair between her index finger and thumb "Yeah?"
And although in Phil's mind she knew she should really get back to practicing because she needed that practice. Yet somehow her brain managed to push those thoughts to the back of her mind and only one phrase pushed through the mess that was her thoughts.
"Yeah"
/
It had been a week after their first meeting before Phil saw Dan again. It was a Thursday afternoon and Phil was on her way to the gym hall to get in at least half an hour of practice before she headed home. Her parents always worked late, not coming home until about seven or eight, so she never really needed to be home early. She seemed to spend most of her spare time out of her house practicing her routine or aimlessly wondering around since she had long ago grown bored of what her house had to offer.
She hummed some mindless tune to herself as she made her way towards the large gym hall, her thoughts fading back to storming along this very corridor just last week ready to kill someone for putting her off. She wouldn't have even needed to walk along here right now if the usual changing rooms she used to get changed in hadn't been closed for cleaning. She was about to walk in when one of the schools janitors had said they were cleaning them now and flashed her an apologetic smile. She had tried to give the balding old man a sincere smile back but she was aware it probably looked incredibly fake. So having her usual spot for getting changed taken, she knew she had to head the smaller changing rooms that were situated on the other side of the fitness block.
After the struggle of actually getting into the changing room (thanks to that stupid lock that reputedly got stuck so many times a day it was a wonder students still used the room) she was finally changed into her pink leotard and ballet pumps and making her way down the corridor that today seemed to be never ending.
"Phil! Wait up"
She stopped dead in her tracks, flinching by habit rather than actual fear. She was used to tensing up and waiting for impact after hearing her name. The physical bullying had pretty much stopped last year since most of the idiots in her year left for college (or more got kicked out by the school for failing their exams)
She reluctantly turned around as she heard the gently thuds come to a stop a few meters away from her. She half expected to see one of the girls from her class who still wasn't the nicest too her, even if what she did wasn't classed as bullying by the teachers. There was a group of girls in Phil's classes which -although there were supposedly no 'popular' groups once people reached A levels- definitely seemed to be in this popular group category. They never actually said anything mean directly to her like called her names or anything, but they'd ask her questions then snigger in that annoying way they did. Teachers would pass it off as normal girl behavior. But they'd been doing this for so long that even the sound of laughter made Phil feel nervous and incredibly anxious when she couldn't tell if she was in the presence of someone she classed as a safe person.
Phil was surprisingly pleased that in fact not one of those blonde girls standing before, but indeed Dan. The brown haired girl was smiling at her sweetly as she held a white carrier bag loosely in her left hand.
"Dan, hey" Phil said as she visibly relaxed, a small smile tugging at her own lips as she saw the girl standing there in her school uniform.
"You on the way to practice?
"Why else would I be dressed like this?" Phil asked as she raised an eyebrow at Dan jokingly. It might have been Phil's eyes playing tricks on her but she swore she saw Dan's cheeks colour slightly as her comment. She felt bad for a moment, worrying she'd actually embarrassed the girl or hurt her feelings. But that thought didn't last for long as she saw Dan's lips curve into a soft smirk.
"I don't know. Maybe you've got a weird kink for dressing up as a ballerina all the time"
"Of course I do. It's exactly like your weird kink for staying after school to play some game about a guy rescuing a girl from a giant mechanical bird"
"Ah hah! So you have played it!" Dan beamed stepping forward with enthusiasm and pointing a finger towards Phil to emphasise her point.
"When you have a friend who's played the game about seven times through, you get to know the story from watching him play it"
"Yeah, I guess you would. He must really like Bioshock"
Phil smiled, leaning against the wall as her eyes met Dan's once again "Like isn't the word. He is obsessed with all the games. I swear, he never stops playing them"
As silence fell between them Phil wondered if she had said something wrong. She knew she had a terrible habit of just going on and on and annoying people. She really hoped she hadn't done this now. Phil never would have guessed she would have even talked to a gamer never mind saw one as someone who could possibly be a potential friend. Then again, Dan hardly even an acquaintance so there might not even be a chance of them becoming anything more than that. But there really was something that Phil just couldn't shake off about Dan. Not something that made her feel uneasy like most people at this school. Something unique and quite nice and enjoyable.
"I know you're on your way to practice, but do you maybe wanna hang here a while. We could play something apart from Bioshock since you seem to know the plot inside out"
Phil wasn't sure how to respond at first. She did need to practice but since today was her short practice day and the fact she had had quite a successful run of her routine yesterday. Maybe she could spare a little time to spend with Dan. Not that playing games sounded like the most thrilling thing in the world, it did waste time and even just having Dan to chat to seemed to be a good enough excuse in her mind.
"Sure. I mean, why not"
Dan's smile widened as she happily glided past Phil to the door to the games room, which admittedly Phil hadn't realised they were so close too. They both made their way inside, Dan moving to sit down on the dark coloured couch that was behind the chair she had been sitting on last week. Phil made her over and sat down beside the brown eyed girl, staring at the black screen as if waiting for something to somehow magically appear on it.
"What do you want to play?" Dan asked, crossing her legs at the knee as she leaned back "Or watch me play? I mean, I'm happy enough to play and just have a chat"
"I don't mind really. I mean, I suck at pretty much all games so- I'll just watch you play"
"Really? You sure you're okay just watching?"
"I do it enough with Liam, so I'm sure"
Dan nodded in acknowledgement before she reached into the carrier bag she'd placed on the floor beside her as she had sat down. She pulled out the same white controller that Phil had seen Dan using last time they'd spoken -which on closer inspection Phil could tell was one of the more expensive models.
She connected the controller to the console and opened the tray, cracking open her Bioshock case and placing the game in the tray then closing it. She sat back down beside Phil as they both watched the opening logos appear on the screen.
"What bit are you at?" Phil asked more out of habit as Dan pressed the start button and clicked on the 'play game' option. She really did know this game pretty well since she'd sat with Liam when he'd done a complete run through of the game as fast as he could.
"Finkton. The bit just before the handyman first attacks you. I left it there so I could try get the achievement for killing a handyman by only shooting his heart"
"Heartbreaker" Phil replied, watching the loading screen as she absent mindedly hummed along with the loading music.
Dan raised an eyebrow, taking her eyes of the screen for just a second to give Phil a little sideways glance. "You really do know your Bioshock stuff, don't you?"
"I only know that achievement because Liam never manages to do it" Phil admitted with a small laugh, falling silent as the screen finished loading and Elizabeth slowly walked in front of Booker, stopping and looking back as she always did. Sometimes Phil had to remind herself that game developers had a hard enough job making a game to actually add in some different animations. Or maybe Elizabeth really did have a good amount of idle animations, but since Phil have watched Liam play the game so many times she'd just gotten used to them.
"Okay, time to do this" Dan said more to herself that to Phil as she changed her weapons and vigors as if to see her controller was working properly. She was about to move when Phil's voice interrupted her.
"Pick up the pistol on the work bench there" Phil said, pointing to the right side of the screen. Dan looked a little taken a back, confused even as she looked to see Phil's eyes on her "The hand canon and pistol have the best precise aim" she explain, turning to look back at the game.
"Are you sure you're not a gamer? You know way too much to not have played this" Dan asked, doing as she was told and swapping her carbine for the pistol.
"Like I said, when you watch someone play it over and over again, you learn a few things" Phil replied with a slight smirk.
Dan exited the building, tensing up slightly as the handyman jumped off the skylines and appeared right in front of Booker. She backed up, aiming for the handyman's heart and hit it. She did the same again, hitting then switching to the hand canon for greater damage. She repeated this several times before making a run for it and changing back to the pistol.
"Only like one more hit until he's dead" Phil beamed excitedly as she leaned forward in her seat to see Dan lining up hopefully the last shot. Dan couldn't help but smile at Phil's excitement, still concentrating on the screen as she shot the gun. Her smile widened as she watched the animation of the handyman falling too his knees and dying.
She paused the game after watching the achievement 'Heartbreaker' pop up on the top right hand corner of the screen. "I did it. Like, I actually did it"
"I can't wait to tell Liam a girl beat him at Bioshock. He's gonna be so jealous"
It was only when Phil realised that Dan's smile had gone that her own smile disappeared. Maybe she had been too cocky there and done that annoying thing where she talked too much again.
"Hey…Phil?"
"Yeah?" Phil answered, shuffling over slightly so she was closer to Dan. Mainly doing this because Dan's words were quiet and she didn't want to miss anything the younger girl said.
"Is Liam your boyfriend?"
Phil knew she shouldn't have laughed but she did. She couldn't help it. Dan looked at Phil, her expression even more confused now the dark haired girl was laughing at her question.
"Oh god no" she said as she tried to calm down and get her breathing under control "He's a gay gamer geek. Like he is legit one of those gay gamer geek forms"
"Oh" was all Dan could get out as her cheeks coloured slightly as she realised how wrong she was with her thoughts of Phil being with this guy "He's gay then?"
"The gayest guy I know. He's great company. We're gay best friends"
Dan cheeks just brightened in colour at this new information. She sure got that one wrong. Phil realised how awkward the atmosphere was since she'd let that one slip. Gay best friends? Well that was a new 'worst ways to come out to someone' to add to her list.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to tell you that" Phil half mumbled ash she kept her head down and focused on her hands that were clasped tightly in her lap "I get it if you don't wanna hang out anymore now. I mean most girls don't, it's fine-"
"Phil, It's okay" Dan interrupted, showing Phil a small smile "I'm bi, so it's no big deal"
"Oh"
Dan smiled, watching Phil make the same expression Dan had only minutes before "Yeah, I know. I'm too pretty to be bi, right?"
"Straight guys give you that one too huh?" Phil responded, getting over the shock pretty quickly since a lot of her friends were bi and it wasn't exactly a new concept since she was gay herself.
She's believed she was bi a few years ago too. Back where she wanted to be at least a little bit normal and like guys. But after trying to date a few and just not feeling that spark, she'd given up on trying to be like everyone else and slowly began to accept herself.
"Whenever they can't have you they try to guilt you into not liking who you are" Dan admitted, catching Phil's eye as she made a face which made a batch of small giggles escape from both of them.
Sensing that the atmosphere was still a little awkward Phil quickly took it upon herself to change the subject "So, where are the rest of the club?"
"We only meet on Mondays and Fridays. No one else comes here apart from me any other day"
"That explains the extra noise last Monday then" Phil thought out loud, smiling sheepishly when she realised she might actually offend Dan if she managed to say something bad about one of her friends.
"You should come along to meet them all. Maybe you could tell them to keep it down so you can practice your routine in peace" Dan suggested, placing the controller that was sitting on her lap onto the floor.
"Meeting your friends already? Next you'll be introducing me to your mum" Phil joked with a teasing smile which made them both laugh gently.
Phil moved her hand, meaning to bring it up to her face to move her hair -which was actually cooperating quite well today- out of her face. Her fingertips brushed over Dan's and instead of moving her hand the rest of the way up she stopped. Silence hit them as they were both made aware of what had just happened. If they were guys they would have probably made some stupid 'no homo' joke and laughed it off. But it felt different and neither of them laughed as their eyes locked.
Dan was the first to crack a smile as she tilted her head to the side slightly "You're eyes are really pretty you know" she stated as though she were talking about something as plain as the weather.
"Are you flirting with me, Dan Howell?" Phil asked with a nervous smile, hoping she appeared as confident as she wished she was.
"I might possibly be, Phil"
/
This was it. The way she moved made her feel alive. The rush of adrenaline that coursed through her veins as she twirled elegantly. She was practicing her routine again and it was actually going pretty well. She'd decided during yesterdays practice that although her routine was pretty good, it wasn't perfect. It needed some tweaking just slightly to give it that all round good feeling.
She'd been doing this for years. The stress and joy that came from her final show of the year always made her like this. Although this one was slightly more special as this was her last year as part of the minors group. She would be eighteen by next year's show and knew that that meant she would be in an adult company. She'd already looked into several groups as her mother had pretty much told her she needed to continue with her dancing. It wasn't like she had parents that had a whole plan and future set out for her. Her mum just believed Phil was talented when it came to dancing and wanted her to continue no matter what happened.
Phil couldn't honestly complain though. She did enjoy dancing, as stressful as it became at this time of year. It was usually her thing she did when she was stressed to try calm down. It was sort of like those people who went to the gym to de-stress, except her dancing just made her body incredibly sore and worn out.
She was broken out of her thoughts as she stumbled slightly as she was about to go into her final pirouette. She cursed under her breath before deciding she needed to get this part perfect. She back tracked a few moves, taking a deep breath before bursting into action again. Her movements were done with such power and grace now that she felt so motivated. She could do this. She knew she could.
She did her final step sequence, striding into her pirouette and nailing it perfectly. She grinned excitedly as she stopped spinning, slightly panting as she tried to catch her breath.
"I didn't know you were en point yet"
Phil span around to see Dan leaning against the door frame with a small smile spread across her face. "That was pretty incredible though"
"Thanks" Phil answered as she stood up straight with a smile on her face.
"I never knew you could look so pretty en point like that. I mean, I never thought I could ever do that so I guess that's why I quit and-"
"Wait, what do you mean that's why you quit?"
Dan smiled, standing up straight before making her way into the room and over to Phil. Phil's eyes studied the younger girl as she slowly walked towards her.
"I did ballet once" Dan stated as she came to a stop a little away from Phil "My mum forced me to go when I was little because she wanted her daughter to be a cute ballerina"
"I guess that didn't work out then" Phil said gesturing to Dan's grey boy-ish top and skinny jeans.
Dan shrugged, crossing her arms across her chest as her eyes met the older girl's "I guess it didn't"
Phil bit her lip as she sensed the atmosphere being slightly awkward between them. She had a feeling this wasn't exactly something Dan liked to talk about. It probably wasn't something she even liked to think about. Phil could see just from Dan's expression that even thinking about it had some affect on her.
"Do you…want to talk about it?"
Dan shrugged again, forcing a smile as she looked to the floor. "I don't know. I mean, it's not a big deal"
"Is it not?" Phil said before she even realised she had opened her mouth. "I mean- sorry"
"No, it's okay" Dan quickly replied before Phil could have anymore crazy thoughts "I just mean it's a boring story"
Phil just stared for a moment before carefully taking a hold of Dan's hand and leading her over to the wooden benches at the side of the hall. She dropped the younger girl's hand as she sat down, patting the spot beside her as if to tell Dan to sit down as well. Dan did was she was told, sitting down beside Phil and looking at her lap.
"I don't even know why I want to know, but I do" Phi said softly as she gently lay her hand on Dan's leg comfortingly "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I just want to talk to you and I suck at starting conversations"
Dan laughed, moving her hand to cover Phil's as she glanced sideways at the dark haired girl. "I started ballet lessons when I was about four. You know, the ones you go to where it's more just for the mums to help their cute little kids"
"Yeah, that's how I started too. My mum just thought I looked cute with my little pink tutu"
Dan smiled, her eyes still on her lap as she remembered those past memories "Yeah, my mum thought I would be the perfect little ballerina. And I guess I did try to be. I mean I wanted to make her happy but when I was about nine I told her I couldn't do it anymore. I'd never really enjoyed it I guess. My favourite part of those lessons were getting to watch the other girls perform. They all looked so beautiful and elegant" Dan squeezed Phil's hand slightly, finally looking away from her lap to Phil. Their eyes met and Dan was surprised to see Phil with a gentle smile on her face.
"Do you still think ballet dancers look beautiful and elegant?" Phil asked gently as she watched Dan's expression turn to confused at her words.
"Of course I do" Dan said, furrowing her brow as she wondered why Phil would even ask that question. "Ballet is so amazing and people who can do it always look so beautiful and elegant"
"So by default, I'm beautiful and elegant?" Phil asked as her smile grew into a teasing grin. Dan just blinked at her as the older girls words started to make sense in her head.
"I…I guess?"
"You just admitted I was beautiful" Phil announced excitedly as she stood up and turned towards Dan.
"I guess I did, didn't I?" Dan replied with a smile and also standing up to join Phil.
Phil took a hold of Dan's hand, feeling more confident than ever as she gently tugged her friend away from the benches. "Come on"
Dan let herself be dragged to the middle of the large hall before raising her questions of what they were doing exactly. Phil just smiled and told her to wait and see.
Phil raised herself on her feet before closing her eyes for a couple of seconds then leaping into her routine once again. She kept a close eye on Dan as she moved carefully around the room. The brown eyed girl's eyes had grown in size as she watched Phil's movements. Phil looked even more amazing up close like this. It was when he watched ballet dancers that she wished she had been good enough to continue. She loved playing video games and she was definitely a lot happier having that as her hobby, but she really did miss the ballet sometimes.
Although she felt bitter about the whole thing, she couldn't actually feel anything but awe as she watched Phil move. If she said she wasn't at all attracted to Phil in that moment she'd be very much lying.
Phil stopped just before her final pirouette and made a leap towards Dan, nearly stepping on the poor girls toes. Dan let a quiet sort of shriek as she jumped back. Phil's smile grew as she took a hold of Dan's hand once again and raised both their hands in the air slowly.
"What are you doing?" Dan asked through a giggles as Phil raised both their arms into the air and moved them to the right.
"Dancing, of course" Phil replied raising herself on her feet so she was now even taller than before.
"Are you trying to get me to do ballet with you?"
"Well that was the plan" Phil admitted, planting her feet firmly on the ground and looking into Dan's eyes "Unless you'd prefer ballroom dancing, although I have to admit I'm not so great at that"
Dan laughed, ducking her head slightly as she felt her cheeks heat up slightly. It was when she did this that she realised just how close Phil was. Her hair brushed against Phil's neck as she pretty much accidentally lay her head on Phil's shoulder. Since Phil was acting the way she was and wasn't exactly telling her to get off so Dan kept her head there for a few second before speaking once again.
"You're so weird" she mumbled as she kept her head leant against Phil's shoulder "What happened to that shy girl I met a few weeks ago?"
"That shy girl is only shy when she isn't dancing and with someone she likes" Phil said as a light pink tint appeared on her cheeks.
"With someone she likes?" Dan asked as she raised her head and met Phil's eyes.
"What can I say, you're a likable girl Dan"
"You're a likable girl too Phil, I have to admit"
"I'm glad we both have mutual feelings on this then" Phil replied, squeezing Dan's hand properly now she had a proper hold of it. Dan just raised an eyebrow at the older girl as she squeezed Phil's hand back.
In that moment Phil honestly felt so content. Her fears and stresses about the show seemed to disappear as she held Dan's hand in hers and looked into the slightly shorter girls eyes. It was like Dan was some sort of comforting item that made Phil feel as though she could do anything. As if she were invincible.
"You're final show is soon, isn't it?"
Dan's voice broke Phil out of her thoughts. She jumped slightly, her eyes moving to the door then back to Dan again. Dan just giggled in response, watching Phil and waiting for a response.
"Yeah, it is….How did you know though?"
"You wouldn't be practicing this hard if it wasn't. You do know you've been here everyday after school practising right?"
Phil looked away awkwardly, using her other hand which wasn't still holding Dan's to move her fridge out of her face. "I need to practice though. I mean, it's my last year and my last show with them so I have to be the best I can-"
"Phil, you already look amazing. Trust me on that one, okay?"
"I don't think I do…" Phil mumbled as she focused on the large double door which led out of the hall.
"Well believe me, you really do. Like I've seen a lot of ballet and you look great. So trust me when I say you look amazing"
A small smile tugged at Phil's lips as she looked back to Dan to see the brown haired girl also had a smile on her face "I guess I'll just have to believe you. I mean, I have no other choice, do I?"
"Nope, no choice at all"
There was a silence for a few seconds as they stared into each others eyes. Phil feeling as content as ever and Dan slightly nervous. For some reason she just couldn't relax fully around Phil. it wasn't in a bad way, more that- she really didn't know. She just couldn't settle and it felt strange since she was always relaxed. She wanted to blame it on the fact she was used to being on her own. But deep down she knew there was a much bigger reason than that.
"Hey…Dan?"
"Yeah?" Dan answered plainly. Not even really focussing on Phil. Way too lost in her own thoughts to even notice the way Phil was nervously looking at her.
Phil let go of Dan's hand and wrapped her arms around her friend gently "Thank you"
Dan didn't respond for a moment but soon returned the hug, wrapping her arms around Phil's shoulders. "Thank you for what?"
"For being a friend. For just kinda being there generally. I've never had anyone like you before"
Dan sighed, a smile tugging at her lips as she moved her hand to gently run her fingers through Phil's hair. "You're cute, you know that?"
"So I've been told"
/
It was only half way through her final show that the nerves caught up with her. The first part was her group performance and she was fine with that. But now at half time she stood nervously at the side of the stage listening to the audience chatting excitedly. For the second half the younger group did a sequence together and the it was time for the older ones to do their solo routines. There was one other girls apart for herself that had to do their solo sequence and from seeing the look her face, Phil could tell the girl was just as nervous as she was. But really, who wouldn't be nervous dancing in front of hundreds of people. She knew her life would be over if she messed this up at all.
So with her head up high and her thoughts clear she waited for the lights to dim and the audience to silence before she stepped into the wings of the stage. She watched the younger group perform, smiling softly as she watched them stumble and giggle. Everyone in the audience seemed to find this the cutest thing ever and all had massive smiles on their faces when Phil glanced in their direction.
It wasn't long before they scurried off stage and the girl standing beside her -Phil believed her name was Annabelle- walked onto the stage. Phil watched in awe as the girl sat down centre stage and waited for the music to reach the point where she started. Annabelle lifted her arm up above her head as she stood up, looking out towards the audience with a pure look on concentration on her face. She continued her dance, looking so amazingly graceful.
As Phil stood there watching the girl on stage she started to understand exactly what Dan meant. Ballet really was such an elegant sort of dance and it really did look amazing. Phil had of course always admired the other girls but it wasn't until now that she really did truly appreciate how beautiful they all looked.
She was broken out of her thoughts by the sound of clapping coming from the audience. She looked to Annabelle who was holding her ending pose while looking directly at Phil as if to tell her it was her turn. Phil gulped nervously, trying to push away her nerves as she nodded at the girl on the stage. Annabelle smiled at the audience before prancing off stage and leaving it open for Phil.
Phil took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment before walking to the centre of the stage. As got into position, waiting for the soft tones of her music piece to start before opening her eyes. The first tinkling note of her music piece started and she burst into action, keeping her gaze focused on the floor in some attempt to concentrate. She didn't dare look up at the audience even though she wanted to so badly. She wanted to see their looks of amazement as she moved elegantly across the stage. She really did want to but on the other hand she needed to concentrate and didn't want to distract herself by looking up.
As the minutes passed by of her erratic fling of arms and legs as she pranced around the stage, her confidence began to build. She knew she was the ending act of the whole show and had to end this perfectly. Although she knew she shouldn't she couldn't help but have a small peak at the front row of the audience where she knew her family was. And sure enough there they were, her mum and older brother sitting there looking up at her with such pride and happiness in their eyes. Her mum looked close to tears as she gazed up at her youngest daughter looking absolutely stunning on the stage where she belonged. Phil's dad looked close to tears as well, not that he'd ever cry since he was a man and knew he'd be teased for weeks about it if he did.
Phil was filled with a great adrenaline rush as she realised everyone was enjoying her performance. She knew then that she had to do this perfectly. Her final pirouette was coming up and although she was nervous she was also determined that it would go perfectly. She took one last look at the audience before moving into her last part, almost tripping up as she noticed a certain girl who was sitting a few rows from the front.
Dan was sitting there watching her, a grin on her face as she caught Phil's eye. For a moment The world seemed to freeze around them and they were the only two people in the building. Phil all but stopped as she tried to get over that fact Dan had come to watch her perform. A girl she'd barely known for a month who had flirted and joked with her, but all in school. She never thought for a minute Dan would have actually come to see her out of school.
Dan just nodded, her smile widening as Phil stared at her. A look as if to say go on, you can do this. And Phil knew she could do this. Everyone was staring at her and she knew she had to get this right.
She made a final move and performed her pirouette en Pointe absolutely perfectly. As she stopped, breathing heavily she looked out to the audience. People were applauding loudly, smiling happily as some people even stood up. Her family of course stood up and embarrassingly shouted her name and cheered. Although all these people were clapping and cheering for her, only one person had her attention.
Dan was standing clapping softly as she just smiled up at Phil. There were no words said between them but Phil could tell Dan was proud of her. Proud and happy to have been able to see her friend do something so amazing. Phil just blushed a dark shade of red and she did a small courtesy, noticing the rest of her company were coming onto the stage to do their bows.
The whole building shook with the applause and it was then that Phil felt the tears threatening to fall. she had done it. She'd actually done it and she was so incredibly happy. She made her way off stage quickly with the others, happy tears making their way down her cheeks as she smiled. She felt so alive and she loved it.
After changing into her normal clothes and saying goodbye to everyone in the dressing room, she made her way out to meet up with her family who she knew would be waiting outside like they always did. She wondered briefly if Dan would be waiting for her but quickly dismissed that thought.
As she opened the stage door she had all but a second to brace herself before someone hugged her tightly. A small yelp of surprise escaped her lips as she was nearly knocked backwards from the strength of the hug.
"You looked so amazing up, you know" Dan mumbled softly as she tightened her grip around Phil.
Phil smiled softly wrapping her arms around Dan and returning the slightly shorter girl's hug. Dan pulled away after a few seconds, still with that same smile on her face that Phil had seen before.
"Well, aren't you going to thank me for the compliment" she teased as she gently nudged Phil arm. Phil laughed, glad to see Dan was still her usual self and hadn't turned into some mushy emotional parent type person after seeing her dance.
"Of course I am. Thank you for that compliment, Danielle" Phil answered as a smirk tugged at her lips.
"The one time you use my name it just had to be in a condescending way, didn't it?"
"You know me so well" Phil replied as her smirk turned into a soft smile. "Did I really look that good up there though?"
"Amazing, like I said"
Phil thought for a moment, knowing what she wanted to say next but not knowing if it was a good idea to actually say it "My dancing was amazing, or I looked amazing?"
"I mean your dancing was okay, but you kinda just looked amazing"
"Are you flirting with me Howell?" Phil asked teasingly, using Dan's surname as if it held some sort of power over the younger girl.
"Maybe, it depends" Dan shrugged, pretending to not care but Phil would see that little smile shining through "Do you like it when I flirt with you?"
"Possibly, maybe just a little bit" Phil answered, her own smile growing.
"Good, because I think I would like to flirt with you a lot more"
"Really?" Phil asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Really"
They stood there for a moment, just looking into each others eyes with matching smiles on their faces. Phil just felt so happy. And maybe that was from the accomplishment she'd just made, but she was pretty sure it was because of Dan. A girl she very much had a crush on and was sort of hoping liked her back.
It was only when Phil's vision focused on the clock behind Dan that she realised just how long she'd been standing there. Her parents would come looking for her soon if she didn't hurry up and she didn't particularity want that.
"I um, I have to go. My mum and dad are waiting for me outside and you know I better not make them wait too long"
Dan looked a little disappointed but nodded, a smile soon appearing on her face again as she pulled Phil into a quick hug. "Okay, I'll see you around, yeah?"
"Yeah" Phil simply answered, already missing Dan's hugs as she took a few steps in the direction of the exit.
"Hey, Phil"
Phil tuned around to respond but before she could get any words out Dan's lips were on hers. She closed her eyes, mirroring what Dan was doing as they shared a short sweet kiss. Dan was the first to open her eyes and pull away, leaving Phil lingering with half lidded eyes as her lips tingled with a feeling that felt like magic.
Dan laughed, gently pressing her lips against Phil's again then stepping back with a small smile on her face "See you on Monday in the games room then"
"Oh, um yeah" Phil mumbled , her cheeks bright red as she lifted her hand to touch her lips. Who knew a gamer would be such a good kisser.