Dan slid further down into his chair, trying to block out the whispers. He knew that his classmates were talking about him. The news of his outburst had spread all over the school in a matter of minutes, and Dan had found it hard to avoid the stares of curious students lining the corridors.

The tall man at the front of the class approached him with some sheets of paper, a lanyard and a small electronic device. "Dan Howell?" he asked.

Dan nodded, sinking further into his chair.

"I have your timetable, ID and EMD," the man told him.

"EMD?" Dan asked, forgetting to stay silent.

"Electronic Monitoring Device. You'll scan this every time you enter or leave a room, and you might get messages if you're not where you should be. It can give you directions to classrooms as well, for if you get lost." His face implied that getting lost would be ridiculous.

Dan nodded and took the pile from the teacher. He slipped the lanyard over his head and examined his ID card.

As he looked at the EMD, he noticed that the entire class had turned, and were staring curiously at him.

"What do you want?" he snapped. He'd attempted to sound tough, but his voice cracked, and instead he sounded scared.

Most of the class turned away, but one girl stayed staring at him. "Why's your lanyard red?" she asked.

"I don't know."

"Why isn't it green?"

"I told you, I don't know."

She continued to stare at him. "Teachers have blue and students have green. Why do you have red?"

"I. Don't. Know." Dan lied. He didn't want to tell her that it was because everything about him was different. He thought it'd be best to let her figure that out by herself.

She scowled at him, but turned away. Dan sighed, staring back out of the window.

The bell rang and he jumped, then looked quickly around to see if anyone had noticed. Nobody seemed to be laughing at him, so, relieved, he bent down and picked up his schoolbag, slinging it over one shoulder and heading for the door.

He kept his head down in the corridor, staring fixedly at the directions on his EMD.

His first lesson was badminton. Relieved that it wasn't something he was horrendous at, he almost ran into the changing rooms, crashing into a tall boy standing in the doorway.

"Oh- sorry..." Dan said awkwardly, flattening himself against the wall. The boy smiled amusedly and carried on walking.

Dan found the quietest corner possible, and changed into his PE kit. He was glad now that he'd followed Adrian's advice and brought it, because he wouldn't want to spend the entire lesson sitting and watching.

The teacher led them to the badminton courts. They were inside a huge sports hall, with at least twenty courts lined up in rows of two.

"I," began the teacher, "am Mr Slater. I have a ridiculously easy job, in that I don't have to teach you anything. Get into pairs, and go and play."

The tall boy from earlier approached Dan. "Hey."

Dan stared. "H-hey?"

"Don't look so scared! I was wondering if you wanted to pair up?"

Dan's breath caught. He'd known this moment was coming since he'd walked through the gates that morning, but he hadn't realised just how humiliated he'd feel when he had to tell somebody.

"I- I can't play badminton."

"Course you can! You can do anything you like!" the boy laughed, brushing his curly hair out of his eyes.

Dan shook his head. "No, I mean it. I can't."

The boy's smile faltered. He must have sensed there was something wrong. "What do you mean?"

Dan felt sick. "I mean, I-"

Mr Slater came striding towards them. "Is something the matter, boys?"

"Sir, he says he can't play badminton, and I don't know why," the boy said.

Slater looked down at Dan. "What's wrong, son? Are you scared of PJ? Don't worry, he won't bite!" He laughed at his own joke.

"No, I... I can't... That is, I-" Dan stammered.

The teacher looked more closely at him. "Are you new here?"

Dan nodded quickly, looking remarkably like a rabbit caught in headlights.

"Dan Howell?" Mr Slater asked, a sympathetic look now on his face.

"I- yes, sir."

"What is it?" asked PJ. "Why do you know him?"

"Dan..." The teacher looked at Dan for permission to continue. When Dan motioned for him to keep talking, he continued. "Dan had an unfortunate reaction to the Leva. It didn't work."

PJ looked curious. "So you mean he isn't..."

"He's not a Master, no."

"Wow!" PJ said. "That's gotta be really weird!"

Dan looked up at him through narrowed eyes. "What?"

"He can't comprehend a way of life without being good at everything," the teacher said with a laugh, patting Dan on the shoulder. "I know what it's like to have to learn things though, don't worry. I'm not one of those Masters."

Dan smiled confusedly at the teacher. "That's... great, I guess."

"Anyway," continued Mr Slater, "PJ will teach you. Won't you, PJ?"

PJ nodded enthusiastically. "Sure! It'll be fun!"

Dan gave PJ a weak smile, which got him a huge grin back. "Let's get started!"

Dan followed PJ onto the pitch, where he found a racket lying on the floor. They took their places either side of the court.

"Have you played before?" PJ asked.

"Well, I've played practice games in the garden, but never on a real court."

"Practice?"

"Yeah... You know, where you do something over and over to get better at it..."

PJ's confused look said it all.

"You've never heard the word practice?" Dan asked.

"I... I've just never had to use it." PJ said, looking sheepish.

They stood awkwardly, assessing one another.

"Anyway," PJ began, clearing his throat, "do you know the basics?"

Dan nodded. "Yeah. I'm pretty good at rallies and stuff, but I can't play tactically."

PJ nodded and stood up straighter. "Let's start with a rally."

Dan was much better at badminton than either of them had been expecting. He rarely missed shots, and even when he did, his play didn't slip for a second. PJ seemed to find it refreshing to play with someone who wasn't a Master, and he seemed to enjoy being able to coach Dan whenever something went wrong.

By the end of the lesson the two were laughing and talking. PJ had taken an instant liking to Dan. It was an odd feeling for Dan, having someone who liked him. He'd always been regarded as a freak, but now it seemed like someone actually appreciated that not everyone was good at everything.

Dan was in a very good mood by the time second lesson arrived.

A/N
IT'S DAN'S BIRTHDAY
i feel sad watching him get older it reminds me that we're all getting closer to death
Anyway special Dan's birthday chapter for youuuu
Sorry it's not his birthday in the chapter but there's only so much I can do ;)
Hope you enjoyed
Ty for reading
Byee :D