Yeah I know I have other stories going, and I haven't updated in a while, but please just hear me out. Between writer's block, getting sick on Valentine's Day, my life sucking, forgetting my homework at home, turning 15, my Mom going crazy at me, my room being a mess, delivering/selling Girl Scout cookies, going on a church retreat, and anything else you can imagine that makes life difficult… well I've just had a hard time getting anything written. So please except my apology to all of you!

Oh! And I made a website, about a week ago. It's pretty much a forum where people who still love DP can hang out, it even has it's own C-box! I just noticed there were no active DP sites (that I could find, if you know of one already then please tell me!) It's called . And if you see big letters at the top that look like ghosts and say "Phandomonium" you're at the right place. So… yeah if you wouldn't mind joining, or at least checking it out, that would be really cool… I'm sure it will be way better after more people join! I'm hoping to add another admin too if anyone wants to volunteer. I'll only pick one or two though!

Warning: Maddie is pretty over-dramatic and upset in this story. This is only because this is the way my mom has been acting, so it's been the only thing I could think about.

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom. All rights go to Butch Hartman.

Troubles

Chapter 1

"DANNY!"

Great, my first weekend I've been able to sleep late, and my parents are going to have to show me some crazy new invention that could and probably would end up hurting me. Hopefully I could go down take a glance at it and go hang out with Sam and Tuck.

"YEAH MOM?" I yelled back down to her.

"COME DOWN HERE!"

Well I can't say I didn't know that was coming, huh? I sighed but walked downstairs anyway. But then I started getting a tense, uneasy feeling in my stomach. I slowed down knowing something was going to go wrong, trying to think of a way to not even get near the invention in the first place. I could never be too careful with instincts could I? But when I turned the corner to head to the lab I was surprised to find my mom in the kitchen. No inventions anywhere, the room wasn't unusually messy or covered in ectoplasm, and we had just eaten about an hour ago. So what did she want me for?

"Daniel James Fenton! What were you thinking!" She said/yelled angrily.

I suddenly missed the whole invention idea. Whenever Mom was angry, well, everyone was going to have a bad day. Lucky for me that doesn't happen too often, but still… "Um… I don't know…?"

She glared at me… great this was one of those rhetorical questions; I guess I just got used to answering them to annoy ghosts or something.

"Daniel, I just got an email from your teacher, Mr. Lancer. He tells me you haven't been turning in your homework lately, when you do it's incomplete, and that you've been sleeping in class! Sometimes you even skip it altogether? He thinks something wrong at home because you were obviously a great student at the beginning of the year and got all A's! Is this true?"

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh crud… this is the last thing I needed. "Yes… b- but, it's not my fault!" I replied. And it's true, I mean unless everyone wants to be attacked by ghosts all of a sudden, there's nothing I can do about it.

She stared at me in disbelief. "Then just whose fault is it then? You're 14 Danny! You should be responsible enough to know you should do your homework! Is it my fault? Am I supposed to treat you like a preschooler and stand in your room making sure you do everything? Do I need to check everything as it goes into your bag, and hand in your papers for you in class? I didn't know how much I was failing at being a mother Danny!" She ranted, ending with tears in her eyes.

I had made my own mother cry. I actually had tears in my eyes too, from fear, stress, and guilt. What a day this was turning out to be… But what was I supposed to do…? Tell her the truth? I couldn't do that, with the way she was acting right now I could end up dead or cut open in a worst-case scenario. I wanted to go over and hug her, tell her everything was alright, but since I was the source of her misery I doubted that would do much good either.

After a long silence, other than sobbing, I responded how I could. "Mom… you're not a failure, Jazz turned out perfect… It's just… I- I didn't have time to… I guess it is my fault, and I should be more responsible, but… I don't know… it's hard to explain…" I was mumbling by the last part.

"Oh and you couldn't have used all that time that you hang out with your friends? All that time you spend at movies, and bowling? And what are you really doing in your room if you're not doing homework? I hardly ever get to see you anymore! You've been telling me you got your homework done! You've been lying to me Daniel! This is really bothering me!"

I opened my mouth to react, but nothing came out. How was I supposed to fix this?

"Just… Just go to your room Daniel… don't come out until every missing assignment is complete. And when you're done I want you to show me each and every one of them, understand? And your grounded; no phone, no TV, no computer, no leaving the house except for school. I just don't know what I'm supposed to do with you!" She turned around, mumbling something about disappointment and talking to Dad about this.

And all I could do was try to sneak back to my room quietly so I wouldn't disturb her thoughts. This has got to be the worst day of my entire life...

Dad called a little later (he had been at the store getting fudge, and probably got sidetracked by a ghost or something on his way home) and my Mom had called me again.

While I was dreading speaking to her I came around to the top of the stairs.

"Danny your father just called, he reminded me that his brother is visiting tonight. We're taking them out for dinner so get dressed nicely and brush your teeth. And please try not to embarrass me like you've apparently been doing at school! I would leave you home, but apparently have haven't raised you to be responsible enough to be able to trust you with the house alone, and I'm certainly not going to punish Jazz for your actions!"

'Ok…" At least it was a break from nonstop homework and ghosts, right? Who am I kidding, it means I have to be around Mom some more. I feel kind of guilty thinking that, but I seriously didn't want to be near her with the mood she was in right now. Right now, Mom was scarier than the ghost king being let out again. She might even be worst then my evil future self… there's an idea… maybe Clockwork could help me out! Of course it would have to wait until I after dinner, actually it would need to wait until after my parents were asleep. Even though going into the ghost zone was a huge risk, it was certainly one I was willing to take.

Thanks for reading this, even if it wasn't much. I just wanted to update with something…

Also I apologize if I sound depressed right now. It's probably because I am, but that's usually when I write better stories/chapters. So… I hope you all are good, and please, have a good St. Patty's!

And has anyone noticed that one of the languages you can post stories in is Esperanto? First time I noticed...

Reviews are appreciated very much, but I won't force you to or anything.

Thank you again,

WoT