Hate Me Closer (Phan)

Chapter Sixteen

Dan thought about the performances as he sat in his empty home, the fabric of the sofa brushing beneath his fingertips. He needed the distraction from his surroundings and the uncomfortably silent rooms. He had no clue how he was going to point at something, saying "that can go" or "let's use up someone else's storage so I can hoard this item". He hated it.

So, he thought about the nights last week when he was stood on stage, the recent events pushed behind him as he threw himself onto the stage and played a character he'd grown to love. Mrs Blackwell was concerned his grandma's death would impact his desire to perform, but it didn't and if anything, it fueled it. If he knew how much of a distraction theatre could be, he thought he might have signed up last year.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Chris asked his friend before they went on stage for the first of two nights.

Dan shrugged, "I guess we'll find out after." he grinned, uneasing Chris as they stepped onto stage as the lights blacked out.

Dan stood up when Mrs Blackwell stepped into the living room, smiling at her student as she held a few large boxes stacked into each other, "If you want," she began, "you can just point and say yes or no."

Dan nodded, pointing at the old TV he'd spent so many hours in front of with his late family member, "No." he sighed. There wasn't any point in keeping it when it was out of date already. It was a "no" to almost all the furniture. He had no need and no connection to the dining or coffee tables, and the beds were near broken. He took the board games, and he took his small number of belongings that he was sure his House Mistress was shocked at how little he had. He moved out of his parents' less than a year before, so had gone through most of his items then and thrown what he didn't feel was essential.

He turned around, staring at the piano as his fingers ran over the lid. It was a lovely wooden piece from the fifties, tuned delicately countless times until the day his grandad died. Dan was only four, but he knew how much this instrument meant to him, and now also Daniel himself. His piano books were already at school, but there were a few in the basket beside that he packed into the box on his bed. Dan looked at Mrs Blackwell, a sternness to his features, "I need to keep it."

There was silence for a moment, presumably as she worked out how they could store it in the school, "Okay." she hesitantly agreed, "We'll store it somewhere in Hepburn, we'll tell you where, and then we can see if it can go to your guardian's."

Dan's eyes watered as the nerves rose to his mind, "Do we know who I'm going with, yet?" the Christmas holidays were a month away, yet he had no clue who he was spending them with because Chris was in Australia and his parents couldn't take him as well. In their defence, they weren't paying for their stays so if the company wouldn't pay for Dan's, there wasn't anything they could do.

"We think so, but I won't say anything until it's confirmed. Is that okay?" she asked calmly.

Dan nodded, folding up the boxes and taking one down the stairs. He only filled two; Mrs Blackwell brought six boxes with her.

She sighed, following Dan down the stairs and loading her car with them, "And you're sure everything else can go?"

Dan nodded, holding the notebook they'd written to each other in over the past eleven months, "Yeah. She didn't have much, I guess. And, I didn't even live here a year." he stepped into the front seat of the vehicle, holding the pages of the diamond-patterned journal in his hands and staring outside the passenger's window.

He thought back to the play and how, despite everyone's nerves, the audience loved the performance and how smoothly it ran. He'd not talked to PJ much over the last year and a bit, but he had to give credit to him for his creative genius. He almost admitted to himself he'd like to perform another piece written by the boy.

Now they'd be on to practising Romeo and Juliet. He knew PJ and Chris had the leads, but it wasn't until yesterday that he found out he'd be playing Mercutio, opposite to his dreams of stabbing Phil as the nerdy teenager received Tybalt, so would be stabbing Dan instead.

"At least I get to see PJ stab his best friend." Dan chuckled to himself, the thought passing by until he giggled about Chris playing Juliet.

"Are you alright there, Dan?" his House Mistress asked with an amused smile on her face, "What are you laughing at?"

"Chris is playing Juliet for our next play."

She snickered as well, shaking her head, "Did he choose that?"

"Of course." Dan smiled, proud of the confidence of his friend, "I think he's wearing a dress, too. But, it won't be the first time I see him in one." he wasn't even mocking the younger boy, now, instead he was envying the lack of care Chris must have for others' opinions. He couldn't quite say the same for himself.

"You and Chris are an odd pairing." Mrs Blackwell admitted, continuing through the winding country roads that tore themselves through fields.

"How so?" Dan tucked his hands into the sleeves of his hoodie, letting them sink away.

"Well," she shrugged, "he's probably one of the most well-behaved kids I know. Whenever he does get into trouble..."

"It's because of me." Dan snickered, "I do apologise to him about that, you know?"

"I assumed so. I'm glad you've got him."

"Me, too," Dan admitted, letting his teacher pull up to a petrol station on the side of the main road. Before she stepped out of the vehicle, she took out her mobile, calling back a number she'd been rung by during the journey. Dan waited patiently, taking out his own mobile and seeing a series of spam messages from Chris that he opened one at a time.

Mrs Blackwell turned to her student, smiling widely after the phone call, "We've got a guardian for you, and it's the one I wanted you to have. She took herself off at the beginning of this year because her kid's been having trouble here and she didn't want more disturbance for him. But, I did a bit of twisting and she seemed convinced it would be okay. Now, you know the student so there shouldn't be any issues with-"

"Who is it?" Dan asked, eager but concerned because he didn't like anyone he knew, apart from Chris.

"The Lesters. So, Philip?" she smiled, putting her mobile away. Dan tried not to let his face drop, but Mrs Blackwell saw it, "Dan, I know you're not going to be completely impressed, but if it's not Phil then who'd be better."

"I didn't say-" he tried.

"Your face did." Mrs Blackwell interrupted. She sighed, "You can reject it, but think it over. I'll give you until the end of today." she stepped out of the car to refill the petrol, leaving Dan slumped in his chair with his lip in a pout.