A/N There's like the tiniest amount of swearing in this chapter (and I mean one-word kinda tiny) but just thought I'd warn you guys. Enjoy!

Dan stared at the note for quite a while, trying to comprehend why it was lying on his bedside table. Questions floated around in his head and the more he tried to answer them, the more confused he became. Why was this note on his bedside table? Why didn't he remember putting it there? Why on earth was there a stump-necked giraffe drawn on it? And, most importantly, who was the mysterious Phil?

Dan sighed. Overthinking this wasn't going to get him anywhere, and if he didn't get his ass out of bed he was going to be late for the bus to the leisure centre. Much as he disliked working part time there, it did bring in a little extra money and there weren't many opportunities for lazy 17 year-olds to make any kind of salary, especially when the said 17-year old had spectacularly flunked all their GCSEs except English and Drama. So, despite his still rather large sense of confusion and general apathy, Dan swung his legs out of bed and got up.

A voice floated in through the door.

"Dan! Are you up yet? You're going to be late!" his mum's voice called.

"Yes!" he yelled back. "I'll be down in a minute!" Dan rushed around the room, putting on yesterday's clothes that he'd discarded on the floor in a heap and pulling on some mismatched socks. He picked up his backpack that was lying crookedly on the floor and stuffed his phone in his pocket, pausing briefly to check for any notifications and tapping out a few quick responses to his messages. The phone screen was cracked all the way across after an unfortunate incident involving an overfilled locker and Dan's complete and utter lack of coordination and reflexes, but luckily the phone itself still worked (which was really the only important thing). As he turned to leave he paused for a second and looked back at his bedside table. The note was still sat there, its edges fraying slightly and the strange cartoon still just about visible. It was like it was asking Dan something. Like it was saying "Well? Are you going to pick me up or not?"

"Oh, what the heck," Dan muttered. "It can't do any harm," He grabbed the note and shoved it into the pocket of his coat, then ran out of the room and shut the door behind him, the loud slam echoing down the hallway. As he came down the stairs, his mum protested half-heartedly at the state of Dan's top, but there was no real conviction behind the words. She knew her son couldn't care less about his appearance, much less be bothered to change after he'd already got dressed.

"Relax, Mum, it'll be fine," Dan said, proving her correct. He was about to leave when his mum's voice came again from behind him.

"Have you got your pass?"

"Yes, Mum," Dan sighed, turning around slightly on his heel.

"And your lunch?"

"Yes, Mum,"

"And you'll be back at three?"

"Yes, Mum, like always! I am seventeen, not seven, you know,"

"Go on then," she said, shaking her head. Dan turned around once more and headed out the door, rolling his eyes. His mum was far too overprotective sometimes.

The bus was packed when Dan got on, panting slightly from the exertion it had taken to get to the stop on time. There were no seats anywhere, so he manoeuvred his way to the side of the bus and grabbed hold of one of the bright yellow handrails. His hand came into contact with something sticky and he gagged slightly. Wiping his hand off on his jeans, he held on to another part of the rail and was relieved to find that this section was clean – well, as clean as it could be on a public bus. There wasn't any half chewed gum on it, anyway. Using his other hand to sweep his brown fringe away from his eyes, he looked out the smeared window at the passing fields. It wasn't a long journey into town, which Dan was thankful for, as he didn't want to be stuck on this bus that stank of body odour and McDonald's burgers for too much longer.

Soon enough, the rolling green pastures melted into streets of shops and Dan shoved his way through the crowds to get to the doors, using his bag as a convenient device for making a pathway. Jumping down the steps and onto the pavement, Dan checked his phone and realised that unless he were to run, he was going to be late.

"I'm too unfit for this shit," Dan muttered as he set off at a jog towards the leisure centre.

Dan arrived at the centre on time, but with a heart rate that was far too fast to be healthy. He signed in at the reception desk and was just looking around, trying to figure out what to do, when a voice called from across the lobby.

"Howell!" The manager who'd been put in charge of giving Dan something to do every day strode over. His ill-fitting suit unfortunately gave him a rather square-looking shape and his lanyard hung loosely round his neck. "P. Jones, Manager" it read. In all honesty he wasn't a bad person, but he had better things to be doing than shepherding around a lackluster work experience student who rarely said anything. This meant he didn't really engage with Dan apart from to bark instructions at him.

"Yes sir?" Dan asked.

"You're at the pool today, helping out the lifeguard. Quickly!" he said, then walked off. Dan groaned internally. He'd done this yesterday, and quickly discovered "help out" meant stand by the chair and watch the pool. With no other choice, however, Dan wandered towards the pool area. As he pushed the door to get in, he was greeted by the familiar, overpowering smell of chlorine. He dumped his bag at the back of the room and walked over to the chair. There was no one there.

"Typical," Dan muttered, then slouched against a wall, unsure of what to do next. He stood there for 10 or 15 minutes, thinking up theories for how on Earth that bloody note had got on to his bedside table, and was just about to go and look for the missing lifeguard when the staff door next to him opened. A figure stepped out, the bright red and yellow outfit of the lifeguard marking him as the person Dan was looking for.

"Hi! Dan, right?" said the lifeguard. Dan nodded. "I'm Phil. Sorry I'm late. Lifeguarding involves more paperwork than you'd think," he chuckled. Dan paused. "Phil," he thought. Could it be the guy from the note? No, it wasn't possible, surely. He'd never seen this guy before in his life. Although, there was something about that swooping black fringe that was familiar, even if Dan had no idea why. He recognised the eyes too, an intriguing blue and green mix with flecks of yellow. In fact, Dan faintly recognised the entire person, but he still had no clue why this was.

"You OK?" Phil asked, a concerned look crossing his features. Realising he had been staring, Dan shook himself slightly.

"Yeah, sorry. Really tired," Dan replied. There was a pause, then Phil nodded his head.

"Right, OK then. Well, I guess we'd better start…what exactly is it that you're supposed to be doing?" he asked. Dan snorted.

"Honestly? I have no idea," he said, still giggling slightly. Phil smiled, then also started laughing, shaking his head.

"It's ridiculous, isn't it? This place's organisation skills are shoddy," Dan nodded, then looked at Phil. He definitely recognised him. Only vaguely, sure, but something about Phil was just…familiar. He was about to ask whether they had, in fact, met before, when a voice echoed across the room.

"Howell! Change of plans. You're helping set up equipment in the gym," Mr. Jones' voice was unmistakeable and sounding more cross than ever, so Dan reluctantly stopped what he was going to say. Maybe he'd get to talk to Phil again later, but for now it wouldn't do to anger the manager. As he was leaving, Phil tapped him on the shoulder.

"You forgot this," he said, handing Dan his bag and smiling.

"Oh, thanks," Dan replied, smiling back awkwardly and looking down at his feet.

"See you around!" called Phil as he walked back to the edge of the pool.

"Yeah…see you…" Dan said quietly.

"Come on, we haven't got all day!" Mr. Jones sounded on the verge of really having a go at Dan, so he picked up the pace a little and half jogged over to the door, wondering what fresh delights the leisure centre had to offer.

The answer was – well, not much. Sorting out hula hoops and skipping ropes, although better than standing idly by the side of the pool, still wasn't that exciting, and Dan couldn't wait for the day to be over. He couldn't keep his mind off that note – well, the note and the new lifeguard that he somehow recognised. Dan had a gut feeling they were connected, but he dismissed it as ridiculous. It's not like Phil was an uncommon name, and who's to say the person that wrote the note really was called Phil? They – whoever they were – might have made the name up. Plus, the note might not have been for Dan at all. Maybe it had floated in through the bedroom window by accident (Dan chose to ignore the fact that there had been no wind at all last night). Maybe Dan had simply forgotten that he picked the note up off of the ground the day before, however unlikely that was. Whatever the reason for that note being there, it must just be a coincidence that the new lifeguard happened to have the same name as the author of the note. They weren't connected.

But Dan couldn't help wondering.

Dan had arrived home from work tired, but still pondering the note. It was such a weird occurrence that he just couldn't help theorising about it, so much so that even his parents had noticed he was distracted at the dinner table. It was at this point that Dan realised he needed to stop thinking about it. He had somehow picked it up from somewhere, forgotten why, and was now stuck with a random cartoon that wasn't for him. The end. Just another of life's funny little stories he could have a laugh about with his friends when he finally got back to school at the end of this mind numbingly dull week (Dan couldn't believe he was actually looking forward to going back to school).

Now that he'd had this realisation, he was finally able to get on with his evening like normal. Message some friends, scroll through things on his phone, and, most importantly, play on the Xbox. As usual, 1 hour of Halo turned into 4 and it wasn't until around half midnight that Dan realised he should probably go to bed if he didn't want to be acting like an ogre at work in the morning. Saving his progress and switching off the console, he changed in to his pajamas and got into bed, switching off the light as he did so.

As he lay in the dark, Dan realised he'd been an idiot and never thought to do the obvious thing – call the number on the phone. That way, he'd know who it belonged to and solve the mystery of why it was even there in the first place. It was too late to ring it now – even Dan the night owl knew that – but he decided he'd try it in the morning, mentally kicking himself for not doing it sooner. Having satisfied himself with his plan, Dan rolled over and went to sleep, safe in the knowledge he'd sort out this whole thing come the morning.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the case.

A/N Dun, dun, dun! Ok, that was a pretty awful cliffhanger, but we'll run with it. Thank you so much to everyone for your lovely reviews (keep 'em coming please, they make my day!) I also guess I should say something about posting schedule, so my plan is to upload at least once a week on Sundays, but maybe also on Wednesdays if I've been particularly productive. Thanks again for reading and hope you enjoyed!
PS: I know the setting for the next meeting, but I'm stuck between two ideas for the one after that so help me out - secondary school or runaway?