*Phil's point of view*
"Why don't we invite the new kid... Dan?" Louise suggested. I ignored the groans that came out of my friends' mouths' and nodded. "I have him in my next class, should I ask him?"
"Yeah, sure," I grinned. Louise smiled, nodded, and then walked off to her next class. I turned to my friends who were all staring at me as if I had just thrown up on myself. "What?" I wondered.
"Dan? Really? Why do we have to invite him to your party?" Luke was probably the most upset. His bushy eyebrows were pointed down and his mouth was the same. Even his blue eyes looked mad at my suggestion- well, Louise's suggestion.
"Why not?" I shrugged. I hadn't actually met Dan yet. All I knew about him was what he looked like. So far- I didn't have a single problem with him. His jeans were ripped and light and high-waisted and I had seen his white crop top from a mile away. He had curly brown hair and the cutest smile. Alright, fine maybe the reason I didn't mind him was that, as I said, he was cute.
"Because he's weird. Look at how he dresses," Luke scoffed. I thought about it and realized that, sure, it was feminine, but it wasn't weird. It was different, but he looked amazing.
"So, what? Why do you care?" I frowned. He rolled his eyes at me like I was a complete idiot.
"Because it's weird. He dresses like a girl."
"And it bothers you?" I raised an eyebrow. "Are you jealous of his outfits? I'm sure he'd help you if you wanted to change your look." I patted Luke on the back. He narrowed his eyes at me.
"No, I don't want to wear that!" He growled. "It's just... it's just..." He stammered.
"Is it hurting your masculinity?" His mouth dropped open, but before he could say anything I kept going. "Because if it does then don't come," I said simply. He looked back at Chris, Pj, and Jack, the other three people in my friend group. They didn't seem to have a problem with Dan, well at least Chris and Pj. Jack just stared at the ground, not saying anything.
"You're going to pick that gay over your friends?" He stared at me. I clenched my jaw at the word gay. It's not like it was bad- I actually was secretly gay at the time. I just didn't like that he said it like it was an insult. I also didn't like that he assumed Dan was gay just because he dressed more feminine.
"I'm choosing to invite somebody who doesn't have a lot of friends to a party so he can hopefully find some. I'd be fine if you both came, but if you only go to call him gay then don't come," I laid it all out in front of him. He seemed to think for a few moments before he rolled his eyes again.
"Whatever." He started to walk off, his brother Jack following behind him- looking just as mad.
"I'm serious," I said before he was out of earshot. He turned to look at me one more time. "If I hear you call him anything homophobic I don't want you coming."
"And if I'm already there?"
"Then I'll make you leave."
..........
"Maybe you should go over and talk to him. I'm sure he's sick of just talking to me over and over." Louise came up to me. I looked to where she was pointing. Dan was wearing the same thing he had to school, only now he had a silver loop earring in and he was wearing a black jacket over his shoulders. He was leaning against a wall watching people dance and talk in the living area. He had a cup in his hand, but he was only taking small sips. He looked bored, to say the least.
"Who could get sick of you?" I smirked at her.
"You know what I meant," She hit me lightly on the shoulder. "I can't be his only friend at this school," She pointed out.
"Yeah, I'll go talk to him," I smiled.
I walked over to where he was standing. It was quiet, thankfully, because he seemed to be avoiding the music and dancing. He barely seemed to acknowledge that I stood next to him. But, he wasn't walking away, so I guessed that was a plus.
"How's the punch?" Was the first question I decided to ask him. I probably should've introduced myself, but he wouldn't remember my name if I said something so boring. He snorted and looked down at his cup.
"Bloody awful," was his response. "Whatever it's mixed with is gross." Before I could defend myself, he offered me his cup. I had already taken a drink seeing as I was the one who made it, but I decided to go for it. I took a drink and immediately tasted the bitter alcohol on my tongue.
"What the hell, it's spiked?!" I coughed. Of course, I had a whole table full of alcohol and I put out one large pitcher of punch that non-alcoholic, but somebody poisoned it. I wanted to go figure out who it was, but Dan's laugh kept me there.
"Exactly," He smirked. Now I realized why he had only been sipping it.
"So, why aren't you out dancing and socializing?" I looked at the crowd.
"This doesn't count as socializing?" He raised an eyebrow and pointed in between us. Before I could explain, he laughed again. "I'm joking, I know what you mean." He took another sip of the punch. "I just don't like parties. I think they're gross. This music is so loud and bad and everybody is just grinding and drinking until they leave and go have sex with each other."
As the host, I was a little offended, but I could see what he meant. I only threw parties because I liked to hang out with people and I thought drinking and music was part of the regime. It never bothered me, so I just didn't really care what other people did. I decided not to mention it, though, because spending this time with Dan was so far was way too fun.
"Why come then?" I wondered. He seemed to think for a few moments, and then he shrugged.
"I'm already the weird new kid, so I figured maybe this way I'd be able to talk to someone other than Louise. Don't get me wrong, she's great, but I don't want to be too clingy, you know?" He finally looked at my face and I'm pretty sure my heart completely skipped a beat.
"Yeah, I get what you mean. You seem pretty cool though." He smiled and nodded.
"So, who's hosting this dumb party anyway?" He suddenly changed the subject.
"Me," I answered simply. Dan's response instantaneous- his mouth falling open, his eyes wide, his face as red as the Solo Cup he was holding- and he immediately started stammering out apologies on insulting my party. "I see why you're not socializing, you're not very good at it."
Dan seemed like he was about to say something in either defense or more apologizing, but he realized I was kidding and laughed. "Seriously though, I'm sorry. I just don't enjoy parties too much and needed to rant."
"It's fine, I don't mind." I smiled.
..........
"You actually invited him?" I was interrupted from getting a drink by Luke and Jack. This time Jack was the one speaking. They weren't looking at me, though, they were looking at Dan. Dan was currently waiting outside on a few of the chairs sitting there. We wanted to get away from the crowd and actually talk, and there were only a few people scattered outside.
"Yeah, I told you I would." I shrugged. "Do you have a problem with that?" I wondered. They both looked like they wanted to say something, but didn't. "That's what I thought. I'm going to go talk to him and if either of you wants to join..." I thought about how a conversation with us three would go, "just don't."
I ignored whatever they were going to say next and walked back over to Dan who was sitting peacefully on the chairs. I handed him the drink of water he asked for and then sat down next to him. We both sat for a few minutes before Dan spoke.
"Did they tell you not to come by me?" He asked me. I looked at him for a few moments and shrugged.
"They told me I shouldn't invite you, but..."
"But you did anyway," Dan pointed out. "Why?"
"Because. You're new and seemed nice and I wanted to get to know you more." When I looked over he was staring at the ground and kicking a small rock with his shoe.
"So... you're actually friends with them?" Dan wondered, switching the conversation back to Luke and Jack.
"Not really. I'll talk to them, but they get annoyed with me because I call them out for being dicks a lot. My better friends are Chris and Pj."
"So you're like them... nice?" He finally looked back at me. I smiled at him.
"I think so, yeah. Why?" I hoped Dan was asking because he wanted to be friends with me and not because he was just making small talk.
"Because you seem nice, but I don't want to talk to someone who is just going to give me shit for being gay." Dan shrugged nonchalantly, but he was holding his breath- nervous that I was just another jerk.
"That's not what I would judge you for." Dan frowned, wondering what I was on about. "The only thing I would judge you for is who you're into." I smiled. Dan finally let go of a breathy laugh. "So, who is it? Any guys here that you fancy?" I wondered with a smirk.
"Well, I don't know anyone, really, so it's hard to judge," He laughed again, his eyes scanned the inside of the house and the few people scattered around.
"What do you like?" I wondered.
"Somebody... nice to start out with. But not so nice that it's annoying." I nodded and looked around. "Chris and Pj are both super nice to everyone." I rambled out a few other names that came to mind and pointed them out in the groups of people.
"Funny," Dan threw out.
"The only person to kick off would be John Melson. He's super kind but has almost no sense of humor." Dan laughed and nodded.
"Single and into guys would be on my list." He narrowed his eyes at me and I winced.
"Okay, that kicks a lot of people off. Chris and Pj are only into guys' whose names' are Pj and Chris," I smirked at Dan, "and the only other nice and funny guys that are into guys are Blake Quill and..." me, "someone else."
"Alright." Dan didn't push, but I could tell he was curious. He leaned forward slightly and it was then that I realize how close we were and the lack of people there was all of the sudden. "My dream guy is tall... blue eyes for sure... black hair looks amazing... pale skin..."
"Well Blake has brown eyes," I mumbled, suddenly distracted by Dan's lips that were so damned close.
"Then he's out, I guess. That just leaves our mystery man, but I don't know who he is."
"Well... he likes boys... he thinks he's funny and nice... he's your type... and," my breath hitched as I realized how I could feel Dan's breath, "and he definitely likes you."
"Do I get to know who it is?" Dan fucking smirked at me and I wanted to kiss him so hard it would be wiped right off.
"I think you already know," I muttered, and then I did exactly what I wanted and pulled him in for a long kiss.
Dan's reaction was adorable- his hands wrapping around my neck and I swear I heard him whimper when I clasped our hands together and rubbed my thumb across his cheek. And then as I deepened the kiss he hummed and I knew right then and there that I wanted nothing more to kiss him over and over again, but he pulled away.
"I have a curfew," He sighed. I nodded and let go of his hand, but he immediately grabbed it back. "I need a ride home." His eyes pleaded. I looked inside to see Louise sitting at the kitchen counter. She hadn't even had a drink yet, and I trusted her more than anyone to watch over the house while I was gone.
"Alright." I took Dan's hand and we walked to my car. And if we accidentally spilled Dan's water and my punch on Luke and Jack's seats... oh well. I guess they deserved it after all the mean stuff they said to everyone.
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Thank you leighisnotfunny for the inspiration of this chapter!!