Chapter Text
The sun was hot on Phil's shoulders. Perhaps too hot for what was supposed to be a cooling November evening; maybe it wasn't even the sun at all, but instead Phil's own nerves that were overtaking him.
The feeling of his mother's lips pressed against his cheek remained engraved into his skin, warm and sticky of lip balm, sticky like the tears that were running down her face as she hugged him close, promising that she would send as many letters as she could. They’d been followed by a pat on the back by his father and a tight smile that showed how much pain he was actually in.
"I'll write to you often," Phil had promised, knowing that they would not have let him go otherwise. Despite the fact that it was literally against the law for him not to, now that he had been identified by the government as 'Special'.
Ah yes, it was no secret anymore. Phil was now known as a special person, one that yielded abnormalities unknown to most other humans. It was rather a mutation, honestly, but there was nothing he could do about it now.
The school loomed before him, white pillars holding up beautiful marble gargoyles. Phil could have sworn he saw the eyes flash red, but he was obviously mistaken, pressing his lips together.
He was forced to come here, to the school known as Dahlia Academy. It was basically a school used to harbor and protect special students up until they reach the age of twenty, with no contact of the outside world until the day of graduation. No parents, no friends. Nothing. All that was allowed were the occasional letters to his parents, but they were strictly regulated.
So what identified a child as Special? The concept was actually quite simple. A Special child must yield a power that no other human should be able to do. For some, this means telekinesis or teleportation; but for Phil? He could control water. This included any object that has a source of water in it; he could easily dissect the water from the source to manipulate it how he likes.
Not very useful in his opinion, other than to make pretty waves in swimming pools.
"Right this way, Mr. Lester," ordered the principal of the high school division, who was leading Phil into the academy. His face was hard, like he's seen many years of hardship. It made Phil feel somewhat uneasy for some reason. "I will get you a uniform and then you will be joining the college division of class B."
Phil nodded, smiling at him widely. He tried to keep the grin on his face despite the fact that his mum's crying face was burning in the back of his mind. It was times like these that he wished he could sit in a warm bubble bath and forget about life for a bit.
The school uniform ended up being a blue undershirt with a white blazer over it and white pants. A blue "DA" was embroidered on the breast of the jacket, a nice contrast to the white colour. However, Phil couldn't help but feel like the white made him look more pale than he already was.
"Here's your schedule," the principal said, giving him a sheet of paper. "The only class you'll be able to make it to today is science. Once there, you will be assigned a single partner for all of your classes to help you through the school year. They will then direct you to your dorm room and show you around the academy. Any questions?"
Phil shook his head despite all of the confusion running through his brain. Who will be my partner? I hope everyone likes me.
"Alright, I'll take you to the classroom then. Right this way."
The halls of the school were gorgeous, with various intricate frescos on the walls, high ceilings and marble floors. It was so high class that Phil had to wonder how much tuition would be if it was just a normal school.
They came to a stop outside of a large mahogany door with brass knobs. The principal gave Phil a reassuring pat on the back that seemed a bit too stiff before he lead the way in.
The teacher, a man with long brown hair and glowing green eyes, stopped mid-sentence and smiled expectantly at the two. "Ah, Principal Glickstern! Is this the new student?"
The principal nodded, nudging Phil forward. "This is Phil Lester and he will be in your care for today, Mr. Parker. He needs a partner assigned who can show him around campus and help him with his studies."
Mr. Parker gave a worried look to the principal that was quickly washed away with another grin. "Very well. The only person who doesn't have a partner yet is Dan Howell," he openly cringed at the name when several students let out quiet gasps. "You may sit next to him for today, all the way in the seat at the back."
Phil followed his pointing finger to an empty space in the back where a guy with brown hair was leaning back in his chair with a book over his face, clearly sleeping. His feet were on the desk in front of him, clad in spiked shoes that should have been against the school's rules.
Shrugging off the feeling of unease, he strode over to the brunette, sitting down confidently next to him. "Hi," he greeted enthusiastically, taking notice of the students who had turned around in their seats to watch the exchange. "I'm Phil Lester. Looks like I was assigned to be your partner."
The brunette reached up a large hand with pale fingers, taking the book off his face with a smooth motion. His eyes opened and focused on Phil's face, and he realized with a clenched stomach that this guy had stunning brown eyes with a tinge of red in their depths.The only problem was that they were ice cold, like he had absolutely no feelings at all. On his ears were a pair of earrings, one black and one red, and Phil realized with a jolt that these were power restraints.
The only way Phil realized this was because he had a power restraint in the form of a bracelet that was clasped on his arm the moment he walked into the academy. They had told him it was for safety reasons, to assure that his power wouldn't be used in such a way that it could be dangerous. When he had asked why he needed such a thing if the only power he had was to control water, the principal had only responded with,
"Did you know that blood is made out of mostly water?"
Phil shivered when he thought of using his power for such an act.
"Shut the fuck up, ugly," the 'Dan' kid snarled, giving him a look right out of the depths of hell.
Phil's stomach sank, but he smiled anyways because his mother always taught him to be nice to people no matter what they say, because you never know what ultimately forms a personality such as this, or why they seem to hate the world.
"I was assigned as your partner," Phil stated, getting a notebook from his bag. "I'm Phil Lester. I assume you're Dan? It's nice to meet-."
"I said," Dan growled once more, "shut the fuck up."
In an instant, Phil's notebook caught on fire, the red and blue flames seeming to represent a part of Dan's soul. Angry, seeming to never rest. Phil was saddened that he could pick up this much from him even though they'd just met.
With a sigh, Phil put his right hand over the flame while his left hand dipped into a water bottle that he never fails to always carry. He shut his eyes, feeling the heat of the flame on his skin, feeling the coolness of the water as it trailed into his fingertips.
The flame disappeared into a mass of steam, and Phil directed it back into his water bottle where it melted back into water.
The entire class was silent except for the teacher, who seemed to have droned on despite the ruckus that was taking place in the back. Phil looked up to find dozens of eyes on his face, a pair of dark burgundy eyes holding cold fire in their depths as well.
"Fire manipulation, huh?" Phil observed, trying his hardest to be nice to this Dan character. "That's cool."
"It's much better than that lame ass water trick you did." Dan looked to a guy beside him with curly brown hair and green eyes the colour of grass "PJ, let's leave. I'm done trying to put up with this utter twat." PJ nodded and they were gone, walking straight out of the class without so much of a glance from the teacher.
"He's like that," a guy whispered from in front of him. This person as well had brunette hair and hazel eyes, but he seemed actually nice. "Don't take it to heart. Dan doesn't talk to anyone other than PJ." He paused at Phil's concerned look. "I'm Chris, by the way. I have the ability to heal people's wounds and transfer the pain to other things if needed. It was amazing how easily you put out Dan's flame. No one could ever really do that."
Phil shrugged, caressing the newly burned corner of his notebook. "It was nothing, really. My ability is only really good for water games and putting out fires."
"You have a restraint though?"
"The principal said it's for the safety of other students. Like water could ever harm anything."
Chris nodded, seemingly deep in thought. "Well, since Dan completely ditched you, did you need someone to show you to your room?"
"Yeah, I do!"
"Okay, I'll do it!" Chris exclaimed. He seemed really excited about it, like he was happy to be talking to Phil. Phil was glad that at least one person was nice. "It's a pretty easy campus to understand. The primary school, secondary school, and college all have different dorm halls so it's pretty easy to find ours."
Class was over relatively quickly, leaving Chris to show Phil around. Chris seemed to be a really nice person, with a large smile and warm eyes that welcomed any person walking past. He could imagine that they would eventually become close friends in the future.
"-And here is your dorm!" Chris finished excitedly, stopping in front of a wooden door labeled Room 334. "The inside is rather empty as of now, but you can always decorate it once you start getting allowance. Allowance starts at about £30 and increases depending on your grades. I believe Dan Howell makes the most right now since he's number one in the class, but nobody knows how much the total actually is."
"That grumpy guy?" Phil mused, cracking open the door to reveal a regular sized room with wooden floors, a big tan rug, a closet, dresser, and a twin sized bed. He remembered the way Dan's eyes flamed as soon as Phil attempted to speak to him. "What's his problem anyways?"
Chris shrugged and came beside him, peeking into the room with an air of nonchalance. "Rumour has it that he burned down his entire town three years ago, which is why he ended up coming to school here. The government hid it by stating it was arson."
Phil remembered faintly hearing about a giant fire a few years back along with a news article about how the arsonist was never caught, but that it had destroyed the town and killed quite a few people.
He wondered if it was the same town that Dan had lived in.
"Even if it was his fault, it's not really anybodies business, though," Phil thought aloud. He ignored Chris' wide eyed look and continued, "He probably didn't do it on purpose, anyways. Kids do things they don't mean to sometimes, and he hadn't had the proper training for his ability back then that he does now. And who knows? Maybe he's so bitter now because of that incident. We should really just stop judging people based on how they act."
Chris' eyes grew ever larger when a voice spoke up behind Phil, cold enough to freeze the blood in his veins. "Stop acting like you know a damn thing." Phil turned to come face to face with the emotionless eyes of Dan Howell himself. "Keep my name out of your damn mouth."
Phil could feel his throat burning with the longing to lash out at him, but his mum's words sliced through his mind like a cool summer breeze on a hot night. Be kind no matter what, and it may change someone's life. He changed his anger into a grin, digging his nails into his palms to stop from biting into Dan's smug look. "Say what you want," Phil commented, "but I refuse to think that you're as bad as you make yourself seem."
Dan's expression turned taken aback for a split second before becoming completely expressionless once again. He scoffed, shoving Phil out of his way with an elbow. His flaming hot skin against Phil's ice cold made a shock run through his body. "Just stay out of my way if you know what's good for you." He then proceeded to retreat down the hall, leaving Phil with a chest full of annoyance and a yearning to just stop being nice already.
He decided right then that he would be nice to Dan until the boy cracked, showing him the layers underneath the cold exterior. That look of shock had told Phil all he needed to know: that Dan was acting like a badass to protect his own vulnerability.