#8: Aesthetic Moment [dan]


Dan


"What have you got next?" Mariah asks, handing Tulip the hair bobble so she can finish off her French braid.

Chris shakes his head, "You've got the worst memory."

"I do not!" Mariah huffs, "I simply don't see the point in memorising the seven different timetables when I could be storing useful information, like the fact that Tulip's first word was, in fact, some form or the other of 'tulip'."

"Yeah, cause you're totally gonna get held at gunpoint and asked what her first word was, aren't you?" Alonso grins, shaking his head.

Lillith snorts, almost dropping her Yazoo bottle but narrowly avoiding the disaster that would have been, "Imagine if that came up on your exam?"

Dan grins, "She'd have an unfair advantage, duh."

"It could be on one of those 'how well do you know each other' tests." Mariah suggests as Tulip finishes with her hair, making sure Miss Parins doesn't see them.

"What's up with them anyway?" Carter asks, frowning.

Chris narrow his eyes, "Dude, are you telling me you've never done one?"

The six of them stare at him in confusion, wondering how he's managed to evade them when they're literally everywhere. Carter shrugs, "You can show me some other time."

"Oh, I will." Chris winks, his forest green eyes gleaming as he plots away in his mind. Dan grins at them, knowing they'll get round to it soon, both of them being fans of bucket lists and forever roping others into making them as well.

Tulip jumps as Miss Parins slams something onto her table before apologising and clearing her throat, "Right, we'll leave these here. Take them or bin them but don't leave them!" she smiles, referring to the mandala colouring she'd gotten them to do, or pretend to do, for their morning activity.

Dan immediately scrunches his up so she can't tell that it's blank, many others doing the same thing. Of course, some people had gone overboard and made little works of art to pin up around the classroom. The seven of them roll their eyes as they pack up, slinging their bags over their shoulders and heading out of the classroom. All of them split to different lessons, agreeing to meet later if they can.

Dan heads to his computing lesson, a fairly monotonous lesson waiting to be completed. He sighs, speedily making his way through the hundreds of pupils doing the same thing and leaning against the wall outside his room to wait. It's a full five minutes, which seems like a lot more when you're on your own with nothing to do, before Dan's teacher arrives and unlocks the door they'd started locking when someone stole a computer.

Everyone logs in as soon as they enter, having to use the school's excessively protected system to get their work done. He opens up his project from last time, slowly but surely starting to add bits and pieces as soon as he can. It's not to be said that he doesn't like this section of the course, but he does prefer the new, more challenging sections that come later. Mr Cape sets them a target and walks round the room, systematically going to help anyone that needs it.

Half the lesson later, Dan yawns, almost falling asleep in the computing classroom made of what seems like pure boredom. It's almost half term and he feels borderline obligated to try and slack off at least a little to show that. Anyway, it's not like his teachers expect any more of him. This year is meant to be important though, with GCSEs and all.

He's already had to go through the teacher's lectures, the absolutely futile pep talks in assembly and some form or the other of an introduction the syllabus in every subject. Having gotten used to the new timetables that mean he isn't necessarily with the people he can tolerate anymore, he doesn't mind that he doesn't know anyone on his class. At least, not well enough to try and initiate conversation with them, or worse ask them about their coursework.

He shakes his head, steering his mind away from the future that always causes a problem and attempting to focus on the website creator, not that he needs to. He's already made a few different websites, each of them fairly successful. But no-one needs to know that.

Eventually, he finds himself with his head against the window, daydreaming about anything and everything that can distract him, provide him with an escape from the crushing reality of inching towards pivotal exams.

That's when he catches sight of the best thing to ever happen to him.

He catches sight of something that teaches him not to be so negative to himself.

At first, chocolate hair.

Then, the boy.

A boy who's typing something in the classroom opposite him.

The boy, with skin the colour of freshly falling snow, seems to sense him, turning to face him.

Dan feels the breath rush out of his lungs but he beams, an action that he doesn't do easily.

The boy's oceanic eyes are akin to his oceanic hair, the boy's chocolate hair the same richly darkened amber shade as his chocolate eyes.

The boy's perfectly rounded square glasses let his eyes reflect the school's lighting, the black plastic framing his eyes perfectly in Dan's opinion.

The other boy seems to be just as frozen as him, both of them lost in each other's gaze.

Both of them tumbling into each other's essence.

Both of them falling into an instant sense of familiarity.

Both of them mirroring each other's enraptured expressions.

Dan exhales quietly, fireworks of relief spreading inside him like cracks on ice.

He's finally found his match.

He's found someone to be the light in his dark, the dark in his light.

He's found someone, and the boy he's found happens to be a masterpiece.

Dan blushes as the thought crosses his mind but he can't avoid it, the rangy boy's eyes lighting up and shimmering like a true ocean, his long chocolate locks settling as a perfect fringe, his cheekbones reflecting the light of the classrooms and his whole expression adorable to a fault.

But the best part, by far, is that he knows who the boy is.

He's seen him, he's watched him, and he's laughed with him. He's rewatched him, he's shared conversations with him, and he's followed him. He's looked upto, subconsciously copied and admired him for years.

The boy through the doors is AmazingPhil.

His favourite YouTuber, the one he'd only worked up the courage to contact after immense amounts of debating and internal conflict. He's the YouTuber that inspires him to do things he may have otherwise given up on.

He didn't know that he'd been going to the same school as him and he didn't know that it was even possible they'd seen each other before. He definitely hadn't caught on while watching his videos. He'd never known he was so tantalizingly close to the other boy, but at least he knew now.

He's never been surer of anything in his life.

He's found someone who matches.

And he's most definitely already smitten.


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