Accepting Average ((((phan))))

1: Hello Internet.

Dan was a peculiar boy to say the least. However, if you asked him he would beg to disagree on the basis that he was Dan Howell. Just plain old average joe, Dan Howell. In fact, that was the vertex, the very birthplace, of his peculiarity.

You see, Dan Howell was no ordinary kid. He was in the top 10th percentile of his graduating class. He'd scored no less than a B on his A-levels. He left all his teachers amazed with how such a carefree, lackadaisical looking young man could be so knowledgeable, philosophical, and articulate. He could have gotten into virtually any Uni that he had wanted; on scholarship too. He could recite Shakespeare more smoothly and passionately than anyone else in his entire school—or not even school, but town. He had the ability to play Ingenue in his sleep and his ear was so well balanced that if had been born with the talent of an equally exquisite voice, he'd without a doubt be the next Adele.

He looked down at his report card. It was his last report card. The last report card he'd ever get in college. It was a report card that many would die for. Nearly all straight A's, with the exception of the B's in Maths and German and the C in Physical Education. He didn't want to have to show it to his parents. He knew how they'd react. It was the same every year.

He didn't mind showing his dad, if he was honest."You've done well son." His dad would say, smiling at him and ruffling his hair then going back to drinking his coffee. "Now go show it to your mum, I'm sure she's interested in it too." Dan would comb out the ruffles on his brown hair with his fingers and proceed to drag himself to his mother's study.

Knock.
No response.
1...2...3...
Knock.
Still no response.
1...2..

"Come in." Came his mother's voice from the other side of the wooden door. On the side he was on the door was all scratched and the originally dark red, now turning brown, paint was threatening to peel off. His mom had told his dad countless times to repair it, but he guessed his dad never got around to it. He couldn't help but wonder if it was in the same condition on the inside that it was on the outside. Dan didn't spend too much time in his mum's study. Him and his brother were never allowed in there much; too many important papers that their hands weren't allowed to touch.

His hand took the shape of the rounded golden knob as he turned it to his left to open the door.

"Hey mum." His voice was sheepish, sullen, as if he was breaking some sort of devastating news to her. He'd say he was but, was he? His grades were basically the same as they'd been all his life. Perfectly Average. Surely, she should have accepted that by now.

His mom swiveled her chair around to face him, brown eyes widened in mild surprise. "Dan! I didn't expect it to be you. Hello, how was your day?"

"It was...it was pretty good, the usual." He hated small talk like this. He never felt as if it was genuine, no matter who it came from.

"Well then what are you here for? What can I help you with?" She smiled at him. The same cheeky smile she gave her customers, when she wanted to reel them in.

"Uhh...I got my report today. I was wondering if you'd like to see it." That was bullshit. He wasn't wondering, he was certain of it. Additionally, it wasn't even his idea to show it to her in the first place.

"Right, it's report day today. How could I have let that one pass. I could've sworn I'd makes it on my calendar. Strange." She glanced at the white calendar hanging on her wall, directly above her computer. "Give it here."

He moved closer to his mum, putting the paper in her reach so that she could do her ever so anticipated Analyzation of Dan's Average Grades. He loosened his tie, readying himself for what was to come. He saw the door from the corner of his eye. He'd wanted to catch a glimpse at the side that was kept hidden from him, but it seemed like he himself deprived him of the opportity because he left the door wide open. Dan could go and close it, like perhaps anyone would do, but unlike his belief, Dan Howell wasn't like anyone and he reckoned that it was too late to close the door. It would make everything awkward and suspicious if he made an effort to close it now.

"Daniel James Howell." She had put on her pair of squarish pink-rimmed reading classes by now and had returned to facing him. "You did good in this report card." She smiled. He awaited for her to finish the response, needing a release from the confines of the small office her mom had set up in what used to be the laundry room. The smile dropped. "But not good enough. You got what? Only 2 A+'s? Then 2 B's? I'm not even going to bring up gym but Dan this is not what I expect from you. Anyone could get these grades. I shouldn't even see a B on there, much less a C. Why didn't you get A+ in German? or Maths? Why B's? Why not straight A+'s in all your classes?"

He'd heard this speech so many times before that he had it memorized. He let his mum nag and question him on his grades as he nodded and waited to mediocrely defend himself. She was right, he was average. Painfully Average. Anyone could get his grades. But he had tried so hard to improve them, he didn't understand how his grades maintained themselves at the same level they were before.

He remembered how it had been when he had gotten his first report. His teacher had congratulated him on being at the top of his class. He'd been ecstatic at the news, running to advise his parents of his achievements as soon as he got home from school.  At the sight of the report card and the knowledge of his ranking his dad had lifted him up and spun him around, given him a peck on the cheek, and congratulated him.

He had then gone on running to his mother, wanting to see her reaction of the good news. "Dan this is good!" She was younger then, but the creases around her eyes were nevertheless evident in her smile. "You're first in your class but by how much?" She asked him.

He didn't know. He was only 5. He had literally just learned how to add and subtract. "I don't know Mummy." He said, his young posh voice resonating in the study. If he remembered well, he was standing in the same exact spot as he had been then. The only difference was that his burgundy blazer had been swapped for a navy one and he was probably triple the size that he had been then.

"You don't know you say?" She clicked her tongue. "Do you at least know the grade difference in between you and the second highest person in the class?"

Difference. dif-er-enss. He had never heard that word before. What did it mean? He was so stupid for not knowing, he had thought. He wanted to know what it meant but the look in his Mum's eyes made him afraid to ask. "No, Mummy."

She sighed. "Okay. Go up to your room and change, then you can play if you want."

He'd run up to his room then. But rather than change his clothes like his mom had said he just threw himself on his bed and cried.

He was so dumb. So stupid. How could he not know what 'difference' means? How could he be the top of his class when he was so stupid like that? He wasn't smart like everybody said. He was just like everyone else. So, he was dumb. Dumb Dan. That's what he should be called. Because Dumb Daniel was too hard for his stupid self to spell.

The phone rang and Dan came back to reality. "Dan, I've got to pick up this call. It's urgent. We'll talk about this later, okay?" His mum said, reaching for her phone.

"Yeah. Okay." He mumbled as he walked out.

What else was there to talk about? For 13 years he'd been getting the same reaction. It was never gonna change. He was never gonna live up to her expectations. He wasn't the genius son he was supposed to be. He was the average teenage boy. The same as most everyone in his school. He was Dan. Just Dan. Painfully Average Dan.

And that was never going to change.

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so, how was that for a first chapter?????  i hope it was good. anyways hope ur all great. bye!!!!