The Textbook - Phan

Chapter 3- Lunch with Dan's Crew

Hello all you special little snowflakes. This is the next chapter? Hopefully it doesn't suck, at least I tried. Again, little filler so that I can set up for when Dan and Phil actually meet. It's a little bit longer than the last one, I hope. 

This one is dedicated to the absolutely lovely @mjnarwhal, who has an amazing Troyler fic and is all around fabulous. You should all go follow her.

Dan walked into lunch with Jack Howard and Dean Dobbs after a very long Chemistry period. The three of them were working together as lab partners for the year, and because they had so much in common, they almost immediately clicked. The three slid into seats at their normal table, where Emma, Luke, Carrie Fletcher, and Cat Valdes were already sitting. 

Emma was talking various games to Luke, and Dan immediately jumped in the conversation. Carrie was immersed in music, and she began to energetically tell Jack about her favorite musicals. Dean and Cat talked a bit about school things, both laughing loudly at various points which no one else quite understood.

This seemed to be their dynamic most of the time, switching up the conversation when things got a bit boring, and occasionally having “popular” people talk to them. They were kind of an average group, a little bit nerd, little bit band/ choir geek, and a little bit normal. It suited them just fine.

After a while, Dan heard the familiar squeal of a petite brunette and felt himself engulfed in a hug. “Hey Zoe, how are you?” He muttered a bit awkwardly, and was let go from the very enthusiastic hug.

“I’m pretty good! This morning was rough, but I’m good now. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” She replied peppily.

“Yeah, I guess, if you call since second period Geometry a while,” Dan answered sarcastically, cocking an eyebrow. 

Zoe laughed infectiously, and Dan couldn’t help but laugh too.

Dan’s mind flashed back to French class that morning, and he decided to blurt, “Can I ask you a kind of strange question?”

She nodded and tilted her head, so Dan asked, “Have you ever heard of a senior named Phil Lester?”

“You know, I think I’ve heard Tyler talk about him a few times. He sits over there" Zoe pointed to a table next to her own, continuing "and he hangs out with PJ, Chris, Louise, Ian, and Anthony, I think. He seems like a nice guy. Why do you ask?”

Dan blushed and looked down, sort of choking out a “No reason” before turning back to his sandwich. 

Zoe raised her eyebrows and stood up to head back to her table, calling, “If you say so!” over her shoulder, before turning back quickly and saying in hushed tones, "I can introduce you, if you want. You guys would honestly be pretty cute together, and I know he's bi like you."

Dan shook his head vigorously, with a muttered, "No, thanks, I... um... asked you on a bet from... um... Troye. Yeah, Troye. See you later, Zo!"

"I'm sure that's exactly what it was. I'll tell Troye you won the bet," Zoe beamed at him, before walking away over his muttered protests.

Carrie giggled, and when Dan turned back to his group, all of them were staring expectantly at him. 

Emma broke the awkward silence by saying, “Well? What was that all about?”

“You know Zo likes to come hang out with us sometimes,” Dan shrugged, pulling his phone out of his back pocket. Luke promptly snatched it from him.

Cat waved a cookie in front of his face temptingly, and when he grabbed for it, she pulled it back and took a bite. “Noth that, you idiot. Tell us what that whole Phil Lester thing was! Somehow, I doubt it was a bet” she demanded, staring at him with a locked jaw.

When Dan simply looked down and ignored her, Carrie sing songed, "Somebody has a cru-ush!"

“Danny and Philly, sitting in a tree…” Jack began to sing under his breath, laughing when Dan’s eyes went wide and he shook his head.

"Over Tyler already?" Luke quipped, watching Dan's blush deepen. "Found another boy toy? Thank god, we were beginning to fear for your sanity."

“Guys, its nothing. He just shares my textbook in French, ok? He wrote a note to himself and I thought it was funny so I just wanted to find out a little bit about h-“ Dan stopped in his tracks as Dean giggled, making "awwwww" sounds.

"Stalker alert!" Dean declared after a few minutes of awkward silence, standing up to throw away his tray.

Cat snorted, "Should we look him up? Find his house on google maps? Get his class schedule and follow him around? I can think of so many things we can do to embarass you more, Dan."

Dan sputtered, and the others all burst out laughing. “Looks like someone’s getting mighty upset about this,” Emma commented impishly. 

"Better watch that blush, too, Dan, or pretty soon people will think you're made of flames.  I really don't want to have to go around yelling, 'DAN IS NOT ON FIRE, PEOPLE!'" Jack teased, which only worsened Dan's redness.

The bell rang just as Dan was about to retort, and he quickly stood up, spilling his water on his black shirt. "Thank god, the flames have been extinguished," Emma quipped, patting Dan on the head.

Dan sighed as he made his way to his next class.  Hopefully they would all forget about this by tomorrow, although considering who these people were, he would never live this down. Dan was in for a long day.

Um so that happened. 

Vote, comment, add to your libraries if that floats your boat. I still don't really know how to do the author thing.

Question: Do you guys want me to have them meet soon, or talk via little messages for a while longer? I'm down for writing whatever.