Phan: Bully Me [Part 6]

Cerise and Lexie texted Dan over the course of the two days he took off school. He decided two days was enough and three was just pushing it; even though his body still hurt when he moved and bruises were displayed in colourful blotches along his tanned skin.
As the alarm on his phone began to ring, he groaned before lifting himself from the mattress, stretching his tired muscles before wincing as he stretched a bruise that lay across his ribs.
He turned off the alarm and hopped in the shower and got ready for school.

School was calm, almost peaceful, the gang members and Phil out of sight as Dan took his seat in English and zoned out, not really caring to pay attention; his attitude to most lessons.
About half way through the lesson the door slammed open, cutting the teacher off mid sentence as she looked up from her gaze upon the whiteboard to the disturbance that walked into her room as if they had done nothing wrong.
"Take a seat," she said simply, giving him a cold glare but only receiving a blank glance of just as cold blue eyes, lips drawn into a line as his dark hair covered half his face. He walked over to the back and sat down next to Dan.
He stiffened in his seat but tried to appear casual about the other sitting next to him; he did not want to alert him of the panic that engulfed him.
Their teacher continued the lesson, continuing her sentence as if nothing happened. Dan tapped his pencil against his open book, debating his actions before deciding he might as well and leaned over slightly to Phil, whispering to him without glancing at him.
"Uh, erm... thanks for, um, you know, last night..." he mentally kicked himself for sounding so scared but shrunk away as Phil turned to him with a menacing glare, irises as cold as ice.
"Don't fucking talk to me," he hissed and turned his attention back to the teacher, not looking at Dan again as he moved away from the older boy and did not speak to him for the rest of the lesson.
He wished he had never said anything.

The bell rang for lunch and Dan skirted the walls of the school, trying to get round to the benches were he knew his friends would be waiting for him so they could eat lunch.
He thought of his English lesson, conflicting opinions battling in his mind about Phil; one minute he was bullying him, the next he was helping him. What were his motives?
As he rounded the corner, the smell of smoke wafted through the air and to his nose, making Dan want to gag as he coughed and looked up, his eyes growing wide as the school's thugs stood before him, leaning casually against the school wall or sitting beneath the large oak tree, Phil amongst them. Cigarettes hung from their mouths or from their fingers as they looked to him with glares and smirks; a punching bag had just walked up to them willingly in their eyes.
Dan stepped back, about to run and go the other way before one of the thugs reached out and grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt, yanking him back and throwing him to the floor. He stood over him and sneered, eyes gleaming with sick ideas.
"L-leave me alone," Dan said, pressing his hands to the dirt ground beneath him, kicking his feet to try and distance himself from the other who simply laughed at his pathetic plea and stepped forward, grinning at him like a mad man struck with an idea.
He crouched down, leaning in close to Dan as the he tried to get away, only to be stopped by a strong body standing before him, blocking his exit. The thug before him leaned in further, faces so close they could feel each other's breath upon their skin. He smirked at Dan.
"You fucking faggot," he spat, making the tanned boy squirm as he raised his hand to his face and tapped his cheek harshly, as if it were a warning.
He contained a whimper as the other stood, watching him with a menacing grin as the body behind Dan moved, making him drop to the ground as he had been leaning on him. He scrambled to stand, glancing to his side to where Phil sat lazily, their eyes connecting quickly before they broke and Dan hurried off around the next corner, feeling Phil's eyes watching him as he ran away.