chapter 1

                                    

                                          
Dan impatiently sat in his uncomfortable wooden school chair, tapping his pen on the hard surface in front of him.  It was the last and worst period of the day - physics.  He had two options: listen to Mr. D drone on about wave interference and the Doppler effect, or do the exact opposite and zone off.  The latter interested the teenager significantly more.

                          
Beep!
                          
The boy was interrupted from his short-lived daydream by the vibration of his phone.  He hastily removed the device from his pocket, eyes scanning the message he'd just received.
                          
SnowDude: wat u up to? :)
                          
Dan smiled upon receiving the text, fingers swiftly moving across the letters on his keyboard to formulate a reply.  
                          
Llamas_Are_Life: nothin rly, just in class. u?
                          
SnowDude: just watched another episode of Buffy. things r getting serious
                          
Dan couldn't help but let a small giggle escape his lips.  His Internet friend had quite the obsession with the vampire show, but Dan couldn't blame him - it really was an interesting series.  And it was also cute that he liked it so much.
                          
Llamas_Are_Life: sounds eventful. can't wait 4 spring break so i can finally catch up 2 where u r in Buffy ;]
                          
SnowDude: gl w that haha, it might take u a while :p where r u going 4 ur holiday?
                          
Dan paused.  He didn't know whether to answer this question truthfully.  Instead of heading to a fun and cultural place like Japan or New York City, his parents were dragging him to cold and rainy Iceland.  Sure, it could be beautiful geographically, but there wasn't much he could do except shop around the city, which certainly wasn't his ideal way to spend a week and a half.
                          
Llamas_Are_Life: honolulu, hawaii, baby! where r u going?
                          
SnowDude: shud b awesum! take loads of pics. & im staying in manchester. don't mind much, gives me time 2 marathon buffy
                          
Dan was in the midst of typing a witty reply when he was interrupted by the sound of his teacher's voice. "Mr. Howell, if you could please put away your electronic device and instead focus on my lesson, that would be great.  How many times this year must I tell you my lessons are much more interesting and valuable than whatever you're doing on that screen?" 
                          
The class laughed as Dan reluctantly put away his mobile phone, extending his arm out onto the desk in a position where he could easily prop his head and relax.  He couldn't wait for spring break so he could have hour-long conversations with his Internet friend, as the two often did.  Assuming his cell service would actually work in Iceland.
                          
SnowDude's real name was Phil, and he could easily be described as a young man with a passion for lions, but an even bigger passion for Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  He lived in Manchester, as that's where he attended University.  The two had met in an online chatroom, where they at first bickered quite a bit over little things like whether a tomato was a fruit or a vegetable (Dan was on the side that believed it was a vegetable), but then had a blossoming relationship and even ended up becoming friends.
                          
Dan tried to sound cool when he replied to Phil.  In reality, the teen considered himself to be a major dork - which was exactly why he hid a lot of the truth from his Internet pal.  Online, he appeared confident and funny, when in reality he thought himself to be shy and awkward.  He couldn't let Phil see this side of him, but there was an easy solution to this: make his personal life mirror his online persona.  The only way to do that would be to lie, so that's what he did.  He told Phil his name was Blake since it sounded cool.  He'd lied about other things in addition to his name - his holiday site being just one of those deceptions.  As much as he felt badly about deceiving his friend, he desperately wanted Phil to like him.