A whole month has now quickly passed since Dan arrived at his new school. Dan was surprisingly catching up quickly, with the help of Phil. Phil was always there if Dan ever needed help with any homework assignments when the teachers weren't there to help Dan. It turned out that Phil was some genius, as Dan liked to call him. Phil was passing most of his classes. Dan didn't know how he did it. Dan and Phil had been hanging out a lot with each other ever since Dan arrived. Dan was surprised that Phil hadn't gotten sick of him yet. Thankfully, they had gotten to know each other though so they were kind of friends now which was all Dan had ever wanted. He just wanted one friend. And he got one. Actually...He got three. Sort of. Dan was friends with PJ now and Chris was still getting used to him. Chris didn't hate him. Dan didn't care though. He liked Phil and PJ.
Luckily; everybody at school had gotten over Dan being a new kid. Jack Howard never tried to beat him up after their first encounter which Dan was thankful for. A couple students found out that he was gay but they still left him alone which Dan was very thankful for. Their school had a strict rule of no bullying. Dan was happy that he could actually walk around school and not worry about somebody grabbing him and beating him up in the bathroom.
Meanwhile, it was a Monday morning. Dan had just gotten to school and was waiting in the lobby with Phil. They had gotten to school early so they had to wait for the bell to ring. Dan had stayed up late playing video games so he was extra tired today.
"Dan, you really should work on going to bed early." Phil chuckled as he watched Dan yawn for the tenth time.
"Shut up." Dan whined. He pouted. "Where are Chris and PJ?" Dan asked as he looked around.
"They're probably skipping today." Phil said. He rolled his eyes. Dan laughed. He glanced around and then his eyes went wide with shock when he saw a boy from his old school. Phil blinked a few times as he looked at Dan. "Dan? Are you okay?"
"Oh no. What is he doing here?" Dan asked nervously.
Luke Cutforth was Dan's worst bully at his old school. Luke would beat him up every single day at school and give him the worst bruises and called him the worst names. Luke was the one who found out that Dan was gay and spread it around the school and made everybody hate him.
"What is who doing here? Dan, will you please talk to me?" Phil asked nervously. Dan quickly shook his head as he continued to stare at Luke who apparently new a lot of people here. Dan turned around and ran straight to the bathroom. "Dan!" Phil called. Phil immediately ran after Dan. Dan was about to run into a stall but Phil quickly grabbed him. Dan stared at him with wide eyes. "Dan…" Phil started to say. Dan's eyes began to water up.
"I can't let him see me." Dan whispered. He took a deep breath.
"Who are you talking about?" Phil asked curiously.
"L-Luke Cutforth." Dan said. Phil's eyes went wide with shock.
"Luke Cutforth? He just moved here. How do you know him?" Phil asked.
"He went to my old school." Phil frowned. Dan took a deep breath. "And he was the biggest bully of them all. He's the one who made my life a living hell and forced me to move schools. A lot of people bullied me but he was the worst. He was the reason why everybody bullied me. People at least left me alone before but then he found out that I was gay and spread it around the school. Everything just went downhill after that." Dan explained. Phil shook his head.
"Dan, you don't have to worry about getting bullied here." Phil assured him.
"Luke doesn't care about the rules. He goes by his own rules." Dan said. Dan and Phil both looked up when they heard footsteps. Dan froze as soon as he saw Luke walk into the bathroom. Luke looked up and smirked when he saw Dan.
"Ah, Dan Howell. Funny seeing you here." Luke said. "We were wondering where you went off to. We've missed you…"
"Yeah, well I didn't miss you at all." Dan mumbled as he looked down at his hands. Luke glared at him. He went to take a step forward but Phil stepped in front of him. Dan's eyes went wide with shock as he looked up at Phil.
"Don't even try to hurt, Dan." Phil said. Luke looked over at Phil and stared at him. Phil sighed. "You won't get away with it here." Luke scoffed. "The school has cameras everywhere and if they see you bullying Dan then you'll get suspended." Phil warned. He reached over and gently grabbed a hold of Dan. "Come on, let's go." Phil whispered. He led Dan out of the bathroom. Luke glared at Dan as he watched him. Dan took a deep breath once they were out of the bathroom. Phil looked over at Dan. "Are you okay?" Phil asked.
"I will be…Just as long as I don't run into him again." Dan mumbled.
"You'll be fine. If he gives you any trouble…Just tell the school and they'll take care of it." Phil told him. Dan nodded.
The bell finally rang for school to begin. Dan first went to his locker to grab some books that he would need for his morning classes and then he made his way towards his first period class. Unfortunately, Dan didn't have first period class with Phil but he did have it with PJ. Though, Dan was sure that PJ wasn't at school today which meant he was all by himself. Dan walked over to the table that he usually sat at and sat down.
"Hey." Dan looked up and sighed in relief when he saw PJ.
"Hey." Dan greeted. "I didn't think you were going to show up today." PJ sat down next to him.
"Yeah, me either. I was running a little bit late." PJ said. He sighed and shook his head.
"Do I wanna know?" Dan asked. PJ also laughed.
"No…Not really. Let's just say I was with Chris last night. Last time I stay with him before a school night." Dan smiled. Dan looked up and his eyes went wide with shock when he saw Luke walk into the classroom. PJ looked at Dan and raised his eyebrows when he saw the look on Dan's face. "You alright, Dan?" PJ asked. Luke glanced over and smirked when he saw Dan again. Dan shook his head and blinked a few times.
"I, um…" Dan started to say. He took a deep breath. "I'm fine. It's nothing you have to worry about." He mumbled. Dan looked down at his hands. PJ looked up and blinked a few times when he saw Luke staring at Dan. So far, almost everyone in the school knew who Luke was and he didn't have a good reputation so far. PJ knew exactly who Luke Cutforth was as he had already tried to beat him up once.
"Dan, do you know him?" PJ asked as he looked over at Dan.
"Unfortunately." Dan mumbled. He looked up at PJ. "He used to bully me at my old school." PJ shook his head.
"Forget about him. The school doesn't allow bullying." PJ said.
"I know." Dan nodded. "Phil told me a little while ago about how someone tried to commit suicide last year or something because they were bullied for being gay." Dan said. "I feel a lot safer at this school then I did my old."
"Wait, did Phil tell you who this someone was?" PJ asked. Dan shook his head.
"No. He didn't give me a name but then again I didn't bother asking as we started talking about Muse." Dan said. PJ chuckled.
"Phil's obsessed with that band." PJ said. Dan smiled.
"One of the many things we have in common." PJ smiled as he looked at Dan.
"Are you blushing?" PJ asked. Dan's cheeks only got redder.
"No. I'm not blushing." Dan quickly covered his cheeks.
"Oh my God. Do you like Phil?" PJ asked. Dan's eyes went wide with shock.
"What?! No! I don't like Phil!" Dan hissed. PJ raised his eyebrows. "I-I don't know what you're talking about." PJ smirked as he looked at Dan. Dan rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Don't look at me like that and don't judge me." Dan mumbled. PJ laughed at him. Dan turned and looked down at his hands. PJ shook his head. Dan sighed. "Maybe a little. But, please don't say anything to him!" Dan begged as he looked at PJ. PJ nodded. "I've only known him for a little bit and I don't want to rush him into a relationship. I don't even know if he likes like that."
"Alright class. Quiet down." Dan immediately looked up at the teacher and sighed.
It was near lunch time when PJ had just caught up with Phil.
"Hey." Phil said as he sat down at the lunch table, where PJ was sitting. PJ looked up at him. "Is Chris not here today?"
"No. He skipped." PJ said. He rolled his eyes.
"He's either brave or stupid for skipping so many days." Phil said. PJ laughed.
"I'm going with stupid." Phil also laughed. "Anyways, we need to talk." PJ whispered.
"Okay, about what?" Phil asked curiously. PJ bit his lip as he looked around. He looked back at Phil.
"You told Dan about someone who almost committed suicide last year?" PJ asked. Phil's eyes went wide.
"How do you know about that?" Phil asked nervously.
"Because I was talking to him earlier about Luke Cutforth in class." PJ whispered. "Dan doesn't know that the someone was you? Does he?" PJ asked. Phil shook his head. PJ frowned. "Are you going to tell him?" Phil sighed.
"I don't know. I only told him that part because he was telling me about everything that was happening at his old school. I just wanted to make him feel a little safer at this school so he wouldn't have to worry about being bullied like he did at his ol school but now that Luke kid is here…" Phil began to say.
"Should we tell someone about him? I don't want Dan to worry either…" PJ said.
"Maybe not right now. Let's just wait and see if anything happens. For now…We should just protect Dan so he doesn't have to go through all that crap again. We both know what it's like to be bullied for being gay." PJ nodded.
"Yeah, totally. Luke's already tried to get me once. Thank God for Chris stepping in." PJ said. Phil shook his head.
"Anyways…" Phil started to say. PJ laughed. He looked over at Phil again.
"So, how do you feel about Dan?" PJ asked curiously. Phil stared at him.
"What do you mean? He's my friend." Phil said. "Or I'd like to think so." He mumbled.
"Oh, trust me…You're definitely his friend." PJ smirked.
"Wait, what do you know that I don't know?" Phil asked. PJ shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm hungry. Are you getting in line?" PJ asked as he stood up.
"Peej!" Phil hissed. PJ laughed and then he walked over to the lunch line. Phil sighed and shook his head.