Phil hated the start of a new school year. Everyone was so fake in the beginning, new clothes, new shoes, new hairstyles, and much like Phil himself, new students that didn't go there the year before. This would be Phil's first time at a new school, well it could be worse, he could start school months after everyone else. It's still terrifying though, to mention he was an easy target to pick on, new and a mute. It's not like he couldn't talk he just preferred not to. A certain event scared the words out of Phil a long time ago.

Phil took off down the hallway, not once looking up from his schedule unless he had to check a door number. His first day at school and he was going to be late for class. Brilliant. He finally found room 127, but just as the bell rang he slammed the door open and everyone looked up from putting their stuff away just to look at Phil's mistake. He felt his cheek burn. in that moment all he wanted to do was crawl in a hole and die.

The teacher, a women, smiled and welcomed him. "Phil, I believe is is, just next to Louise, the blonde haired girl in the back."

Phil didn't even nod he just rushed to the back, shoved his binder in his desk, and buried his head in his hands.

"Some entrance there, kid." The girl next to him giggled.

Phil wanted to groan but he kept it in for his own sake.

"Hey, I'm just playing," she told him in a soft voice. "I'm Louise."

Great, greetings weren't really his thing, everybody expected his to actually say his name, not spell it out in a piece of notebook paper. "You're Phil, right? I heard Mrs. Collins say your name." Phil finally looked up from his burrow of shame to look at Louise. She was pretty girl with a bright smile and a cute little tooth gap.

"You don't talk much, do you?"

He shook my head.

"Do you talk at all?"

He was hesitant about shaking his head once more but he did it anyway. She shrugged looking up front at the teacher. "Thats okay, that means you can't be annoying like the rest of my friends." Phil smiled a little as Louise giggled. Phil liked her, he just wishes that all the other kids are nice too.

First and second period were math and science so they didn't do much in those classes except go through the lesson plans for the first quarter. He was in third period now, and the class was buzzing. "A year around project." One of the boys whispered to his friend. "My brother says in this class we get this epic year around project, it changes every year and they always have a partner for it." Even Louise, whos side Phil had clung to the whole morning, was excited. "We can be partners Phil, it'll be fun!" She exclaimed. The teacher came in, a young women with bright red hair and headphones hanging around her neck. She turned around and wrote one word on the board. STORIES. It said in all capitals, big and loud. "Hello, I'm Miss. Marie, most of you have already heard of me correct?" Each student gave different versions of their own yes, expect Phil. She smiled brightly at all of us. "I know everyone is excited for my project, yeah?" The students whooped making Phil wince in his seat. Louise giggled next to him. "Aww, little precious ears." He scrunched up his nose, Louise's girly giggle erupted once again. "Right, so I'll just cut to the chase," she grabbed a yard stick that was leaning on the chalk board and smacked it against it. She was a terrible aim so she just ended up covering half the word. "We all have our own stories, some of them are sad, or happy, or just filled with pure anger, but we all have stories!" She said in an excited tone. Phil liked her already, she was bouncy and flamboyant and she never skipped a beat when she talked. "So this year's project is going to be about stories." She put the stick down and came around the front of her desk to lean on the edge. "You'll all be writing four stories this year, one for each quarter and each one is due by the end of each quarter." This seemed to capture the students attention, how would they write a full honest to good story in nine weeks? "You will all have a partner to help of course," Phil already saw people turning toward their friends whispering, Louise grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "But, I will be choosing your partners of course." A chorus of groans erupted around the class. Miss. Marie seemed to ignore them with a sweet smile. "You'll be given a theme, and this quarter's theme is fantasy." Phil perked up immediately, he loved fantasy books and movies, this should be easy for him. "But I want something original, I'm sort of over all the wizards and aliens people used throughout my three years of teaching so come up with something new." Phil liked this idea, making up something of his own, his own species or his own plot. Not something taken from a movie. "At the end if the year I will choose my favorite book of all ones you and your partners have written over the year and you will be given a prize." The students started to whisper and cheer all at once. "Now, here are some ground rules," She spoke toward the class. "Number one, you must have at least ten thousand words no less, number two, I want no less five chapters and finally number three, no plagiarism, I will be able to tell if you copy someone else's work." She gave the class a stern look them picked up the clip board. "Alright the partners are..." Phil tried his best to drown her out till she got to his name, but then Louise began to speak to him. "Oh god no!" Phil's neck almost snapped because of how fast he turned towards her. "I'm put with Zoe, little Miss her majesty, I hate her." Phil gave her a puzzled look, one that said 'why do you hate her so much?' She saw the look on Phil's face and sighed. "We used to be friends in primary school but she just started to change, she left me behind Phil, just so she could catch up with the other heel clomping girls." Phil felt like hugging her and he thought he was about until he heard the teacher call his name. "Dan Howell and Phil Lester." Now who in gods name is that. He turned to Louise to see her give him a sympathetic look. "I feel a bit sorry for you Phil," He gave her puzzled look, why? Was Dan bad? "He's, well, he's deaf, like he can't hear at all." Phil honestly didn't get why she felt so sorry for him, sure someone deaf big whoop. "He has like no friends, and I would talk to him but well you know..." She trailed off and Phil didn't mean to but he gave her a look of disgust. She must have saw him because she was suddenly very interested in her notebook. "I know I sound like an asshole Phil, but nobody talk to him and wouldn't be like weird I'd I hung out with him?" Phil just shrugged getting out of his seat taking all his stuff with him. He heard Louise call after him but he continued walking, what would he say anyway? He plopped himself on the empty seat next to Dan, tore a sheet of paper out of his notebook, and started to write.

Hi I'm Phil

He slide the paper across the desk toward Dan, he witnessed Dan look up at him with wild wide chocolate brown eyes. He looked down at the paper, took his pencil out of his desk and wrote in messy handwriting.

Hey, My name is Dan.