cinder boy [phan]

; five ;

Every student in Wokingham High School were extremely excited for tonight, they all have been anticipating this day for months. The annual masquerade dance. Every year they would have a school dance before football season, and every year has a different theme. This year was a masquerade party. It's basically like prom but with fancy masks, to sum it up.

Everyone was out, probably renting a suit or a gown, or getting their hair and makeup done.

Meanwhile, Dan was stuck moping the floors of 'Rachel's' while quiet tears are streaming down his face. He tried everything to not let anyone know he was crying, but Lana, being his second mother, noticed it quickly.

"Dan, what are you doing?" Lana asked, her eyes softening at the sight of the broken boy.

"I'm moping the floors." Dan said sadly, quickly wiping his tear stained cheeks. 

"Yes, I'm aware of that. But didn't you say that you had a party to attend to tonight?" Lana asked, resting her hand on her hip. She hated Rachel with all her guts for treating Dan this way.

"Rachel needs me here." He sighed, "She told me she would check up on the diner at 12 pm. If she didn't find me here, she'd go mental."

"I couldn't care less about Rachel and her big mouth, I want you to have fun." Lana stared at Dan sternly.

The doors of the diner suddenly opened, and Dan's two best friends came waltzing in wearing tux and masks on their faces.

"Dan! Come on, we'll be late." Niall said, staring at his best friend with a sad expression.

"I'm not going." Dan sighed, keeping his eyes on the floor.

"But you told me that your mystery boy will be meeting you tonight at this dance." Lana grabbed the mop from Dan's hands, and holding his face with her other hand so they could make eye contact. "You've been talking to this boy long enough, don't you think it's time to meet him?"

"I- but Rachel-"

"Oh never mind about Rachel. I want you to have fun, to feel like a teenager and not a maid." Lana pointed towards the door, raising her eyebrow at Dan.

"But Rachel would just pull my hair out of my head, it's not worth it."

"Oh trust me, she won't. She needs you here more than you need her." Lana rolled her eyes, "You've been slaving around all day, go on." Lana smiled, patting Dan on the head which was pretty hard to do considering Dan was a human giraffe.

Dan sighed, "I guess, I mean- fine."

Niall cheered like a lunatic and Troye wrapped his arm around Dan, leading him towards their car.

-

"Are you really sure about this?" Dan asked, adjusting the mask on his face. To say he was nervous was an underestimate, he was pissing his pants.

"Yes, Dan. Now, it's almost 11. Get going." Troye groaned, lightly pushing Dan towards the middle of the dancefloor. It was filled with various teenagers with masks, and you can't really recognize someone at first glance, unless you know them really well.

"But, Rachel-"

"Oh Rachel my ass. Look, if you're really skeptical about Rachel then let's set an alarm." Niall said, taking Dan's phone and quickly setting an alarm.

"An alarm?" Dan asked.

"Yes, it's going to go off at 11:45 so we'd have plenty of time to leave and be back at the diner before your horrid step mum comes bouncing in with her fake boobs." Niall joked, making Troye laugh out loud and Dan chuckle a bit.