the air of the room was thick with nerves. lydia was holding a glossy magazine, flipping through it quickly with manicured hands. james was tapping on his desk neatly, humming soft music under his breath. phil seemed quite calm, a pencil between his pale fingers, a sketchbook in front of him, like usual. dan was sat unusually close to zoe. he kept glancing at her when she wasn't looking. sure, he was nervous himself, but he knew it was likely nothing compared to what she was feeling. she seemed to have a deep-rooted phobia of exposing any parts of her soul to anyone that hadn't proved themselves to her first. dan was worried about her.
"you don't have to do this, you know," he whispered.
she knit her eyebrows in confusion. "what?"
"this." dan gestured vaguely around them. "no one is forcing you."
"i'm forcing me," she said. "do you know how much i hate myself when i get too scared and run away from things? this would weigh on me for months." she turned away from him and slid her hand into the pocket of her dress, pulling out her word list and placing it on the desk in front of her. she took a deep breath and began to read.
"who's ready to start?" mr. levine clapped enthusiastically as he appeared at the front of the class. "come on, let's get in a circle!"
the group slid their chairs into the center of the room reluctantly, keeping their eyes on the floor.
"now, who will get us going?" mr. levine asked.
phil glanced around the circle, eyes catching on each tomato-tinted cheek he saw. upon noticing the fear blaring in everyone else's eyes, he raised his hand.
"phil, yes! wonderful! just tell us the reason why you joined the club, and anything else you may like to add!" mr. levine smiled brightly and took a seat outside the circle.
"well, um..." phil fiddled with a pencil, rubbing the eraser along his palm. "i never have had many friends. i don't know, i guess i'm just no good at putting myself out there. this club seemed like an alright place to make some." his lips curved into a lopsided smile as he looked up at dan and zoe. "and so far, it has been one of the best decisions i've ever made.
"that's really great, phil. really great. is there anything else you'd like to share?"
phil smiled sheepishly and reached to open the sketch book that was sat on his lap. "there is, actually." he flipped through the pages carefully before stopping on one towards the back of the book.
"i drew this when they weren't looking." phil held up his book to reveal a stunning picture of dan and zoe. it was them in their side of the booth at the coffeeshop. zoe was laughing, hair loose around her face, eyes alight with gaiety. dan was grinning, watching her with warm eyes that oozed admiration. the whole piece was alive with some type of desperate, lonely love. from the bags under dan's eyes to the way zoe covered her smile with her hand, it was so impossibly them, so tragically enchanting.
both dan and zoe's cheeks burned sanguine. finally, dan complimented the piece with an awkward cough.
"i'm glad you have made some friends, phil," mr. levine said. then he turned his attention back to the rest of the group. "who's next?"
a/n: please vote/comment/share and check out my other projects!
question of the day: favorite (or current favorite) book? or just one you really like? i just found out this amazing book called "everything, everything" is coming out as a movie in two months!!! i cried!!!!
but as far as favorites, the hunger games series will always have a special place in my heart, and i love every john green book. also "all the bright places" and literally every rainbow rowell book :)
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