Clique // Phan High School AU

"In the end, we're all just animals."

Ah yes- America, he thought with a sort of warm contented feeling in his stomach. Since he had been quite young, he could remember a constant nagging at the back of his head, to go somewhere. Not that London wasn't lovely; it was perfectly adequate in every way. Still, he had wanted to leave to somewhere more exciting, with more  opportunities and things to do. Perhaps it was simply that innate yearning to be away from his birthplace, regardless of how central that place may be. At any rate, he was very excited to be departing Europe and studying abroad.

His mother had informed him worriedly the previous year of this change in plans, and he had been looking forward to it ever since. His mother, of course, was always worried, the kind of bustling sort of woman that would string your nerves out and leave you with an inexplicable feeling that you had forgotten something. Not to say that he didn't love his mother; Of course, he loved his mother, it was just that he found her distressed demeanor somewhat exhausting at times.

Such times were most pronounced when he was attempting to do simple tasks, such as iron a garment, or fix the undersink pipe that so often leaked. Some people were simply too bothered about all things in general, and his mother was definitely a member of that population. His father, by contrast, was not particularly inclined to be overly anxious, but was nonetheless always busy; Extensively so, in fact, to the point where Daniel did not see him much at all over the course of an ordinary day. He had heard some call his father "absent" but he did not think that was truly justified. His father was around enough to be included as a part of Daniel's life, and he was overall doing a relatively good job of being a parent, as far as he could see.

Some nights the entire family would come together for dinner, and this was his favorite kind of meal. There was something about the warm, family atmosphere that conveyed a certain sense of togetherness that he felt he lacked. Most days, dinner was just him and his mother in the kitchen, as his father was always flown off to some place or another. The silver counters and white walls of the kitchen did little to counteract the gloomy atmosphere, and he preferred to spend as little time there as possible.

He did not want to think about the kitchen, though, as a dark depressing atmosphere would not be well suited to his current purpose. He was revising for the following year, and poring over his new chemistry textbook. It wasn't difficult to understand, but he thought that some of the concepts would take time digesting. Electron shells were admittedly quite daunting, and he thought that perhaps it would be better to take a break; After all, he didn't really have to learn all of it right now, as that was what school was for. He could not be sure that he would have competent teachers, and he recalled that his eighth-grade teacher hadn't been as good as expected. Still: This was a top notch institution after all, and based on the prestigious reviews that colleges were giving, he gathered that he was not likely to have a teacher that was too terrible. 

That being said, he always liked to be prepared. He settled against his beanbag and opened a world history textbook. 'The people of ancient Aztec traditionally sacrificed those who performed well in their ball sport known as pok to pok.' He wondered what life would be like in America. He wondered how quickly he would make friends, and if he would make them at all. He was studying precalculus over the summer, and he hoped that he could make his way into the honors calculus class for the following semester. 'The people of ancient Aztec traditionally sacrificed...'  He tried to put it out of his mind, he knew that worrying would only make things worse. Worrying was one of his worst flaws, he knew, and it had become a real problem as of late. Worry had a way of worming its way into his mind at the worst of times, and nesting there like some kind of revolting insect. '...who performed well in their ball sport known as pok to pok...' But no, he was sure of it this time. He would not allow himself to be victim to the anxieties that his mother so often had, especially now that he was fully aware of their dangers. Anxiety, according to Health For Life: A Guide, constant worrying could even cause a person to die sooner. He most certainly did not want to die sooner; Death was one of those strangely daunting things that tended to linger in the back of one's mind. He was much too young to be personally familiar with it, and he understood the concept, but something about it was inexplicably uncomfortable. '...in their ball sport known as pok to pok...' He closed the textbook, letting it slide off his lap into the sheets. There was simply no point in studying anymore. He couldn't read a word more of it; He was much too excited to be going to school. 

The summer was very nearly over, and just under a week remained before his departure. He'd be leaving before that, in America for three days before the start of school in order to get his bearings. He'd be staying on campus for the next three years, as this was the sort of fancy preparatory school where all of the young people attending would be staying there, he supposed, to not be distracted from learning by things like their families. He wondered if he would miss his family, and how it would feel. He'd never been away for that long before, so he was actually beginning to get quite nervous when he decided to put an end to his thinking. He would think about it tomorrow, tomorrow when he would continue his reading. He slid off of the bed, pulling off his socks and feeling the carpet against his feet as he walked to the bathroom to prepare for bed. Still, deep in the back of his mind despite tucking the thought aw he couldn't help but wonder: What would the following year hold for him?