☆ switch to Phil's point of view
🟄 switch to Dan's point of view
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🟄
Dan considered 16 to be a pretty big deal. Well, it wasn't that big of a deal, but it was still exciting. His birthday was in 9 days. His parents had been planning the party since last year. Sometimes he thought they were more excited about it than he was.
Dan didn't want a big celebration. He just wanted to have a few friends come over and stuff themselves with cake all night, but his parents said 16 was a "special occasion." They called numerous family members and friends to come in town and visit. Dan soon after decided that 16 was overrated and he no longer needed to celebrate it.
There were five things that Dan hated the most in life: trees, moths, family gatherings, parties, and families gathering for a party. He knew his birthday was going to be awful this year.
☆
Phil was 20 minutes late for class. He hadn't meant to sleep so long, but his friends decided to steal his alarm from his room the night before. He's never going to talk with a professor after a lesson again. To make his morning even better, Phil had looked everywhere but could not find the key to unlock his bike from the stand. He decided class wasn't worth it at that point and sat back down on his bed. Holiday break was in one week anyway. He knew he would just forget everything he learned in class by the time he got back. So for now, Phil closed his eyes and slept.
When he woke up (4 hours later.... oops), there was an email waiting for him in his inbox. It was a message forwarded to him from his mum. He clicked on the message and checked to see who it was originally from before he decided to read it.
"M. Howell" - that was a last name Phil hadn't heard in a while.