Dan cringed at the familiar voice. Tatum was nice and all, but Phil wasn't here, which meant Dan would have to make conversation on his own. He wasn't very good at talking to people.
Soon Tatum was at Dan's side. Her short red hair stuck in all directions, which Tatum had tried to fix with a bright blue beanie.
"Hiya Dan"
"Hey, Techie"
"Whatcha doin' ?"
"Just, uh, walkin', I guess"
"Well d'ya wanna come get breakfast with me? Hey, where's Phil?", Tatum paused, looking around.
Dan laughed at how the girl couldn't stay focused on one thing for too long before moving on to another. Tatum sent him a questioning glare.
"Right, sorry", Dan mumbled with a smile, "Phil's at an early morning thing –I was too lazy to get up and go with him. Breakfast sounds great."
Tatum smiled, she grabbed Dan's wrist and dragged him towards the mess hall, where breakfast was being served.
"I'll sneak you some eggs, don't you worry", Tatum whispered as Dan grimaced at the undercooked pancakes.
"Oh God. Thankyou", he replied. He grabbed a pancake (so not to raise suspicion) and placed it on his paper plate. Sitting at one of the white plastic tables, Dan sipped on his orange juice (which he'd grabbed along the way to the table) and picked the burnt mosquitoes out of his pancake as he waited for Tatum to sit down.
Soon the aforementioned had joined him. She happily scraped half of her breakfast onto Dan's plate (carefully avoiding the pancake so she wouldn't contaminate the eggs) and dug into her own food.
"Uh, thanks. Really –you shouldn't have to suffer just because I didn't go gluten free. I'll steal some of Phil's food tomorrow instead", Dan said after he'd finished a mouthful of food.
"Don't be silly! It's no problem. Besides, I have a small appetite. I couldn't eat a full serving even if I wanted to!", Tatum grinned. Dan had gathered that Tatum was an overall happy person. She smiled a lot, and always spoke cheerfully.
"Right", Dan mumbled, shovelling more food into his mouth. He tried to look like a classy gentleman, but he ate like a pig. It was embarrassing, but impossible to avoid.
"So, Dan. Tell me about yourself", Tatum said with her mouth full. Dan held back an amused smirk by filling his mouth with more food.
"Whaddaya wanna know?", he asked after swallowing. Techie thought for a few seconds, before replying.
"Well, um, when's your birthday?"
"June 11"
"Dude! We're twins!"
"Really?"
"Yeah!"
Dan laughed along with Tatum. The sounds mixed in a perfect harmony, echoing throughout the near empty hall.
"I assume you're seventeen, since everyone here is", Tatum beamed. Dan nodded. The two talked until breakfast was over, and they had to go get ready for more classes.
Alas, Dan couldn't focus for the rest of the day. As much as he didn't like it, Tatum had grown on him. He enjoyed her company, and her contagious happiness.
Maybe he could welcome a new friend into his circle.
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this chapter sucks bc writers block sorry
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here's a gif of dan telling phil he doesn't give a shit.
