A few weeks later Phil had traded out his blue blazer and tie for a red one with his new school emblem. He tried to appear confident on the way to Westville but in truth he was a nervous wreck. The thing about betas was that it was harder for them to pick up on subtle scent changes, an alpha or omega on the other hand would be able to notice it right away. Phil was silently thankful for his parent's weaker noses.
"Alright, here we are." His mother smiled as she pulled up to the massive school. "It is a lot bigger than Eastbrook isn't it?" She said softly while Phil nodded from the passenger seat. "If you have any problems just call me alright, I don't have to work today so I'll be home all day."
"I'm sure everything will be fine." Phil said, more for himself than for her. "I can probably walk home, it's closer than I thought."
"Oh honey are you sure you want to do that. It's not a problem for me to pick you up." Phil looked around the school again and decided that it just wasn't cool to have your parents dropping you off and picking you up.
"I'm okay, I think it'd be good for me...or something." Phil didn't see how but he went with it for the sake of not hurting her feelings. "I'll see you after school." He mumbled, trying again to smile and hide his inner fears. He grabbed his backpack and hopped out, sending her a small discreet wave.
She waved back before driving off and Phil became terrifyingly aware that he'd didn't actually have any real social skills. It was too late though, he was in the lion's den and there wasn't anything he could do about it.
Somehow he managed to find his way to the office and collect his schedule, of course the whole time he was getting looks. 'Stop being scared. They're gonna pick up on it.' He thought to himself as he willed mind to have positive thoughts instead of the fearful ones.
His first hour had been English, something he'd always been good at it. The class was the main building on the third floor in room K22. His old school only had one floor and not nearly as many class rooms or halls. Again another miracle that he'd found the room at all. He walked in not knowing what to expect.
The class was half full but the bell hadn't rung yet so he figured there would be a few more piling in in a couple minutes. "Um..." He mumbled, unsure of what to say to the woman at the front of the room.
"You must be the new student, its Phil Lester isn't it? Welcome!" The women smiled brightly and held out her hand for him. "My name is Mrs. Barr and I'll be your English teacher, this will also be your home room as well. Give me a moment and I'll find you a syllabus." Phil shook her hand slowly, she was an alpha. She wasn't young but she wasn't exactly older either. She had blond hair with friendly eyes, Phil was surprised to find she wasn't intimidated in the slightest.
"Thank you." He said softly as she shuffled around her desk until she found what she was looking for. He shifted awkwardly as he looked around the room. Nobody seemed exactly interested in him but the scents he was use to was suddenly mixed with that of alpha, beta, and omega. He knew that was going to take some getting use to.
"Alright, have a seat. We should start here in a couple minutes. Don't worry, we're starting a new unit so you've came at a great time." Phil nodded before turning back around. There were a couple empty seats but each on was had someone sitting on either side. Slowly he made his way to the back of the class, taking a seat next to another brown haired student. It was clear that he too was an alpha.
As it turned out the class was pretty normal, he took a couple notes and listened to her lecture. He'd already covered a lot of what they'd gone over at Eastbrook but he wasn't complaining. It just meant that he should have a better shot at getting a decent grade. Mrs. Barr assigned a chapter of reading but again, Phil had already read the Grapes of Wrath so he wasn't too concerned.
Just before class was dismissed though it happened. Phil referred to 'it' as when Mrs. Barr stood at the front of the room and did the unthinkable. "Dan, would you mind showing Phil around? You've got similar schedules."
Now that wasn't the problem, if Phil was honest he was a little bit relieved to have someone there to maybe help him out. What happened next was the real issue.
"Oh come on, pick someone else." Dan huffed, shaking his head. "I don't have time to show him around."
Phil bit into his bottom lip as he tried to disappear into the chair. Mrs. Barr sighed before she brushed a lose strand of hair away from her face. She was in no mood to deal with Dan and his antics, why couldn't they just got through a class period without him having to reject everything she said?
"Let me rephrase that. Dan show Phil around." 'Oh god, please don't make it him do it.' Phil thought to himself as he glanced over at Dan who was giving the teacher a disbelieving look. Everyone's eyes were on them as they waited for the outcome.
After a few seconds of silence and a stare down between the blond and the brunet Dan finally broke the quite that had accumulated in the room. "Mrs. Barr, I don't want to show him around." Dan challenged but Mrs. Barr wasn't having any of it.
"Show him around or detention...indefinitely." Her eyes narrowed and Phil could understand what his old teachers had meant by 'power struggles.' After another couple of unbearable moments of Phil hoping that one of them would change their mind, he sensed Dan giving in.
"Fine, I'll show him around." The younger alpha bit through clenched teeth. Not once though had he even looked over at Phil. Phil hadn't even been sure that Dan knew he was sitting there. 'Kill me now.' He thought to himself as the bell rung, students mumbled under their breath as they exited out of the class room, no doubt talking about what had just happened.
Phil slowly and hesitantly looked over at Dan, his eyes full of question as he waited for some kind of introduction. Dan eyes finally met his and Phil felt his stomach flutter uncomfortably. Not a good reaction seeing as how Phil was currently scared of Dan.
"Schedule." Dan snapped, holding his hand out. He didn't say anything else and Phil instantly became confused. This wasn't how Eastbrook described how the 'proper and charming' alphas were going to talk to him.
"Um sure, yeah uh here you go." Phil stumbled over his words as he pulled out the folded piece of paper and handed it to him. Before he knew it the paper was snatched out of his hand and Dan was holding it up to his face, his eyes scanning over it.
"History, second floor, let's go." His tone was sharp and left no room for question, Phil winced before nodding. The last thing he wanted to do would be to upset the already angry alpha who was meant to be showing him where to go.
Dan walked fast and if Phil didn't know any better he could have sworn it was to make it harder for him to keep up. He swerved in and out of students awkwardly while Dan had at least some grace about him, getting close but never actually bumping into anyone. Phil on the other hand was blurting out 'sorry' and 'excuse me' every couple of seconds. He couldn't slow down though because there was a good chance that Dan would disappear and Phil would never find history. "Hurry up!" Dan barked, already half way down the stairs. "I'm not going to be late for you."
'Six months, six months and you can leave and never look back.' Phil thought to himself as he practically jogged down the stairs. Of course though jogging down the stairs is never a good idea, especially when there are fifty other students trying to get down the same staircase.
Phil didn't know how he ended up falling, more than likely though he'd tripped over his own feet. It wouldn't be the first time it had happened. It could have been worse he figured, he could have fell down the whole flight instead of just landing on his ass a couple steps down. "Phil for fuck sake!" Oh great, just what Phil needed, Dan yelling at him. "Can you not even walk right?" Students talked carefully around, a few giving them strange looks.
"Come on get up." Dan hissed, grabbing his arm and yanking him off the dusty stairs. Phil's first instinct was to pull away but Dan had already hauled him back into a standing position. "We're going to be late because of you." His eyes narrowed and Phil frowned, ducking his head.
"You're not very nice." Phil said, finally picking his head back up as he ignored the slight ache of his wrist. If Dan had been phased by what Phil had said he sure wasn't showing it.
"I don't have to be, I'm showing you around today and then after that, you're on your own." Phil raised an eyebrow but decided not to say anything. He wasn't going to sink to the other's level, whatever level Dan might be on.
"Fine." Phil mumbled as readjusted his bag. He'd spent nearly his whole life at Eastbrook, he learned how to be proper and decent. Apparently Dan hadn't learned nearly half of what he had. Phil had already made up his mind that he didn't want any part of that.
"How was your day?" His mother asked as soon as he walked in. "Was it okay?" Phil thought for a moment, if her definition of okay was being bossed around by an alpha who thought more of himself than Phil ever would, then sure it was okay.
"It was...enlightening." Phil answered after some thought. He set his bag down by the door as loosened his tie.
"Well did you learn anything?" His mother asked and Phil could tell she was eager for him to fill her in on the new details. He'd certainly learned how get on Dan Howell's nerves, that was one thing.
"Not too much, Westville is a bit behind Eastbrook so you know." He said before picking his bag back up. "When's dinner, do you need any help?" He didn't want to talk about it anymore. In all honesty it hadn't been the best of days. His hope for tomorrow wasn't much better but at least he wouldn't have to deal with Dan, who clearly didn't want to deal with him.
"That's not bad! It just means you won't have an excuse for getting a bad grade." She smiled knowingly before glancing back towards the kitchen. "I Just started cooking so it won't be for another couple hours. I think I got it, I'll let you know if I need help." Phil nodded as he returned her smile, already making his way towards the stairs.
"Right, gonna go start on my English then." He held up his novel before nodding his head towards his room. Regardless of how much he disliked Dan he couldn't shake him from his thoughts. While they were negative ones like 'stupid' and 'cocky' they were still about him.