The next morning, Dan rolled out of bed at 6 am, already agitated that he had to wake up so early just to go and deal with teenage drama and teacher bullshit. He mumbled all the time it took to get ready and muttered all the way to the school. It didn't improve his mood at all seeing the tall building, other teens and teachers streaming through the front gates.

  Dan grabbed his bag off the seat next to him after he had parked his car, and reluctantly opened the door, stepping out into the cold September air. Dammit, why was it so cold?

  Inside, it was warmer, but the crowds of people flooding the halls just irritated Dan even further. It took all he had not to just shove people out of the way and just push through them. It felt like hours before Dan finally reached his locker, and he opened it hurriedly, stuffing his jacket and bag inside and grabbing the books he'd need for his first class, English.  

  This would be Dan's first look at Phil, his subject. The file hadn't contained a photo, all he knew was that the guy had black hair and blue eyes. Of course, that could be any number of guys in this damn school, but the Highers had said that he would know when he saw him. Some kind of Reaper reaction to In Betweens.

  Dan approached the classroom that was printed on his schedule. Looking through the class window, he saw that it was quite large and full of desks, that were being completely ignored by the thirty or so kids also inside. They were all talking loudly and laughing, yelling across the room to one another. Why couldn't they just be quiet? This is why he hated contact with other people, they just were too noisy.

  There didn't seem to be a teacher, or any kind of adult in there, and that always meant trouble. Dan sighed, pulling the door open and stepping inside. No one even glanced his way, and he was glad because he didn't feel like being 'the new kid' that everyone stared at and whispered about.

  He spotted Philli- er, Phil, immediately. He was sitting all the way in the back, his face buried in a book, and as soon as Dan laid eyes on him, he felt his stomach turn, not in bad way, just in a weird, funny way.

  There was an empty seat next to him, so Dan hurried over and sat down in it. Phil didn't even glance up from the pages in front of him.

  Dan coughed, all cliche like, and Phil finally tore himself from the fantasy world of the book and turned his attention to the boy next to him.

  And Jesus Christ, Dan almost melted. The boy was attractive, he couldn't deny that. His hair was very dark and soft looking, falling into his face. His eyes were blue, so very blue, and Dan couldn't help but feel self conscious about his boring old brown eyes. His skin was pale, almost sallow, but it suited him, made him even more, dare he think, sexy.

  Phil really had it going on, and Dan wouldn't mind having a piece of that. Fuck, what was he thinking?

  Clearing his head of these thoughts, Dan smiled politely at the boy next to him, who also smiled but with a light blush spreading across his cheeks. That was adorable, no way it couldn't be.

  "Hey there. I'm Dan, I'm, uh, new here, thought I'd say hi. Maybe make some friends." Dan said. Phil blushed even deeper, fiddling with the edges of his book.

  "Hi. I'm Phil." he said quietly. "Welcome, and all that." His voice was sarcastic but still soft and nervous. Dan laughed and held out his hand, which Phil shook hesitantly.

  "So, I was wondering if maybe you could help me out? I just, I don't know where any of my classes are, so." And that was true, he would be completely lost if he didn't have someone to help him. The map he had been given was useless.

  "Uh, yeah. Could I, see your schedule?" Dan reached into his bag and pulled out the folded piece of paper that contained his classes, handing it to Phil. He unfolded it, his eyes widening before a smile passed over his face. "We have all the same classes." he exclaimed. Dan pretended to be surprised.

  "Really? Well, that's convenient."

And really, it was.

                    ***********

  Phil definitely wasn't the most popular guy at school. Not that Dan minded, he really preferred to be on his own.

  In every class that they'd had so far, Phil always sat in the back, away from everyone else. Dan willingly sat next to him, as there was always an empty seat. Dan was a bit worried that Phil didn't have any other friends, because that would be horrible. At least he had PJ.

  At the moment, they were heading to Maths, and Dan was trying to get Phil to talk, but the boy was just anti social or something. He just looked at the floor, mumbling one word answers to Dan's questions.

  "You've got to stop this, Phil." Dan said, as they reached the door of class. Phil looked up from his shoes, his cheeks going red again.

  "W-what do you mean?" he stuttered and Dan laughed.

  "I can barely hold a decent conversation with you. You keep blushing and looking at the floor, and no offense, but isn't the new students supposed to be the nervous one?"

  "I just, I'm not good with new people." Phil said. He looked back at his shoes, but Dan reached and tilted his chin up, forcing his blue eyes to look into Dan's brown ones. Phil's face instantly flushed, staining a deep red.

  "Stop being so nervous." Dan said quietly. Phil only nodded, obviously too shocked to speak.

  And at that moment, right then, was when Dan completely lost his temper. Not because of Phil or anything, definitely not. He was still holding Phil's face in place, the bell about to ring, but they just stood there, staring at each other. And then, someone passed by, most likely some rich kid jock, and uttered a single word that caused Dan to lash out violently.

  "Fags" And Dan lost it.

  "What the fuck did you just say?" he said, turning around to face the guy who decided it was a good idea to mess with him today. Behind him, Phil tugged on his arm, trying to pull him away, but Dan shook him off, too angry to let it go.

  The guy he was talking to smirked. He was big, at least three times the bulk of Dan. Any other person would have just backed down, but goddammit, Dan was angry and he really felt like punching someone in the face. And this guy was clearly asking for it.

  "I think you heard me. I said, you and your boyfriend here are a couple if fags." the guy was getting closer to them, still smirking.

  "I think you should shut your fucking mouth before you regret it." Dan said, his hands balled into fists. He was trying so hard not to just beat the living hell out of this guy, and he was shaking trying to control himself.

  "You think you even have a chance against me?" the jock asked.

  The thing was, Dan knew he would win in a fight against this guy. Reapers, they were kind of like vampires in the strength department, when they needed to be. But if he did as he so desired and punched this guy in the face, then he would be called out, and maybe suspended for fighting. That wasn't an option.

  "Just leave us alone, asshole." Dan said, his teeth clenched. The guy smiled at them evilly before turning and waking away. When he has rounded the corner, Dan yelled out and kicked the lockers next to him. He needed to calm down before he hurt someone or broke something.

  He realized that Phil was still beside him, and he looked up at him.

  Phil's eyes were wide, his arms wrapped around his stomach defensively. He didn't look exactly scared, just surprised at what had happened.

  "I'm sorry." Dan whispered. "I lost my temper."

  Phil laughed shakily and walked up to him, placing a hand on Dan's shoulder. "Hey, it's fine. I've just, never been in a situation like that before." He said. Dan smiled.

  "We should go inside." Dan said after a minute. They were very close to being late, and Dan didn't want to risk it. So with a sigh, they pushed open the door and walked in.

  "Glad you could join us, Mr. Lester, go take your seat. And I presume your Daniel?" The teacher said as soon as they walked in. Phil glanced at Dan before retreating to the back. Dan was left up front, facing the class. No other teachers had bothered with any kind of introduction, and Dan knew he was going to hate this teacher.

  "It's just Dan." he said. He'd had to say that too many times in the last 48 hours.

  "Well, 'just Dan', why don't you tell us about yourself. Where did you move from?" Christ, this teacher wasn't holding back.

  "Nowhere special." he muttered. He knew he was already pissing this lady off, but he didn't care. It didn't take much to get him angry, and he could already feel tendrils of rage coursing through him.

  "Well I would think not." The teacher said, smirking. Dan bit his tongue to prevent himself to prevent from cursing out this teacher right here. "Go and take your seat, Dan."

  Dan hurried to the back and took his seat next to Phil, looking at his desk. He was fuming, and he really didn't know why. All the teacher had done was ask him a question, but it was the way she was acting towards him, like he was just some inferior student that couldn't do anything. If only she knew.

  "You okay, Dan?" said Phil from beside him. Dan looked over at him, and when he stared into those blue eyes, his anger quickly dissipated.

  "I'm fine, don't worry about it." He replied. Phil gave him a worried look, but turned to face the front again. They spent the rest if the class in silence, barely even looking at each other.

  It was only just first day, and he'd already gotten into a fight, had a spat with a teacher and, maybe, had a crush. What the hell was he thinking he couldn't like Phil, not like that. He was suppose to be decided whether or not to kill him, for Christ sake. He couldn't let his feelings get in the way of this job.

  He didn't even pay attention to what was being taught, he just stared off into space, lost in his own thoughts.

  "Mr. Howell!" shouted a voice from up front, and Dan jumped, brought back into reality. The teacher, Mrs. Korin, was glaring at him, hands on her hips.

  "Yes?" he questioned, confused.

  "I asked you a question."

  The rest of the class was staring at him expectantly, some laughing. His face turned red, something that had never happened before. Who was this lady, why the hell was she so focused on him?

  "I-I didn't hear you." he said, and just like that, his anger had shown up again. He was shaking, hands curled under his desk.

  "Obviously. Maybe you should spend less time staring at Lester and pay attention to this class."

  Had he been staring at Phil? He hadn't realized. Dan looked over at him and saw that he was also blushing.

  "I'm sorry." Dan said to Mrs. Korin, who huffed and turned back to the board. Phil nudged his shoulder, and smiled apologetically.

  He tried to actually pay attention, and when the bell finally rang, he quickly jumped up and shoved his books into his bag. He waited for Phil, and they left together.

  "I, uh, usually go to the library for lunch." Phil quietly.

  "Why not the cafeteria?" Dan asked.

  "I don't like being around people. Their too loud."

  "Well, that's something we have in common, my dear Philly." Dan said, slinging his arm around Phil's shoulder. Phil laughed and blushed.

  "Don't call me that." he said. Dan just laughed, and they continued on to the library.

  Inside, it was dark and quiet, the only light coming from various lamps around the room. There were book shelves all over the place, standing tall and almost touching the ceiling. The librarian was an older women who smiled kindly at Phil as he passed by. Phil waved as he made his way to the very back if the library, to a table that was in the corner.

  "Sorry if it's a bit secluded. I like it this way." Phil said, sitting in one of the chairs. Dan sat next to him, setting his bag on the floor.

  "Don't worry about it." Dan said. "So, what exactly do you do in here?"

  "Usually just read, or do  homework." He reached in his bag and pulled out the book he'd been reading earlier, flipping open to a dog eared page. He immediately got lost in the words, forgetting about Dan and everything around him.

  Dan was impressed that Phil could just shut out reality by reading words on a page. He'd never be able to do that, have such self control. He was way too wound up for that.

  He stared at the boy for a minute, noting the way his tongue poked out of his mouth and his brow furrowed in concentration. It really was cute, and when some Phil's hair fell into his face, he wanted to reach over and brush it back. But he restrained himself, as hard as that was. Dan sighed, running his hands through his hair. This job, was something.

  "Dan?" Phil said after some time. Dan looked over at him. "I was just wondering... like, why did you choose, me to hang out with? Out of everyone." he looked so nervous, his head still lowered over his book. Dan hadn't really expected him to ask this.

  Originally, he'd only wanted to get close to him for this job, but as the day wore on, he found that Phil was a pretty awesome person. He'd already seen Dan's bad side, and he was okay with it, or at least, hadn't abandoned him. Dan genuinely thought of Phil as a friend, a close one too.

  No matter if they'd just met today, or if Dan had to later decide to kill him off or not.

  He couldn't say all this to Phil, of course, so he said, "I don't know, really. You just seemed the most likely choice, compared to all the other douche bags. Plus, you looked pretty cute sitting all by yourself this morning." Phil blushed at this last part, and so did Dan. He'd never really been this straight forward with anyone before, but it was the truth.

  "I don't want to be offensive or anything, but, Dan, are you gay?" Phil asked, and Jesus Christ, Dan's face couldn't get any more red.

  He wasn't gay. But he was bisexual, like PJ. He'd only just realized this fact about himself about a year ago, when a guy had kissed him, and he'd kissed back. He'd never seen that guy again.

  "Bisexual." Dan said, and Phil glanced up, his eyes a bit wide.

  "Oh. M-me too."

  "Well that's good, I wouldn't want you to be weirded out by my flirting." Dan said, winking at him.

  Right then, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch break. Dan and Phil stood up, grabbing their things and heading off to gym.

  Maybe this job wasn't such a bad thing.