Dan hunched his backpack up on his back and began to make his way to Drama. This teacher was, as far as he knew, the only one he had yet to encounter. Little did he know, this one would be the worst of all.

He was usually very early to his classes, and often he would be the first one there, but this time, he was taken by surprise. For there in front of him, sat on the floor on top of his bag, sipping a carton of juice through a straw, was the very boy with raven-dark hair who he had just spotted in the playground. Those warm but strangely distant ice blue eyes glanced up at him and the straw disappeared from the mouth to be replaced by a smile. He stood up, and Dan was surprised to realise that they were about the same size. The other boy extended a hand. "Hi! I'm Phil Lester. You're the new kid, aren't you? What's your name?"

Dan took his hand. "Dan. Dan Howell." Phil grinned, and it was like a ray of sunshine had shimmered from the heavens. "Nice you meet you, Dan. I'm Phil! Oh, wait - I already said that, didn't I?" He chuckled softly, and Dan realised that his laugh was even warmer that his smile. He laughed gently too.

More people started to arrive. Almost everyone was there, talking in their private groups, when a tall, menacing woman strode out of the drama room. Her hair was shoulder-length and black, but not the shiny raven-feather black of Phil's hair. Hers was the black of a moonless night, when you're lost and can't find your way. Dan's heart sunk.

"Line up! Now!" She barked, and her voice was so sudden and so sharp, Dan visibly flinched before scurrying into a line behind Phil. The rest of the class, which he was grateful to notice, included Alfie Deyes, bumbled into a quick line behind him. The teacher looked down her nose at them, as though they were a nest of particularly disgusting maggots, before snapping, again so abruptly that Dan jumped, "Inside!"

The group filtered in swiftly and sat on the floor, seeing as there didn't seem to be any desks or chairs in the room. Dan found himself between Phil and the odd Swedish boy, Felix.

She strode in, face a thundercloud. "Today we're going to be studying drama techniques."

Funnily enough, the lesson contained no practical work. The class just copied work the whole time. After what seemed like an eternity, class was dismissed and nobody could get out fast enough.

Phil turned to look at Dan with his big sky-blue eyes. "So, what are you doing?"

Dan was taken by surprise. "What?"

He giggled slightly and Dan went a little pink. "I mean what are you doing for lunch?"

"Oh. I have a packed lunch, so I usually just sit somewhere on my own and.. people-watch." Phil burst out laughing again and Dan went red, feeling indignant. "Hey! Don't laugh!" Phil immediately sobered. "Sorry. It's just.. that's what I do at lunchtime, too! Could we people-watch together today, do you think?"

Dan smiled from ear to ear. "Definitely."