Chapter 1

Danny kept his face down, trying to use his black bangs to cover his eyes as he watched the new science teacher. They were supposed to be coping down their new vocab words for the week, but something was off about the middle aged man in front of the class as he passed through the rows of desks.

The new teacher turned and took a new path, coming straight for Danny. Ok, call it paranoia but it felt like it. Danny quickly went back to actually writing down the long list, glad his cursive made it easier for him to write fast and neat.

"Mr. Fenton, do write quicker." Mr. Ledwidge said, stopping at the boy's desk to get everyone to look at him. "Everyone else has already passed Salinity while you're still on Hydrothermal."

Snickers fed out of a few of the A-Listers, Dash primarily, sending a wave of annoyance through Danny. He glanced up at the teacher, surprised and almost angered to see the hint of a smile creeping out onto his lips.

Danny looked back at the board, searching for the next H word and hoping the teacher would leave him alone.

Thankfully Mr. Ledwidge took the hint, continuing his path down the line of desks. As the man started back to the front, a folded piece of paper landed on Danny's desk. He turned to where it came from to see Tucker giving him a sad smile.

Danny opened the note to see, in Tucker's badly askewed handwriting, "Dude, relax. He's just trying to get a reaction out of you."

Danny repositioned his pen and quickly wrote, "But why me? It's like I'm God's personal Comic Central!" Danny threw the note back to Tucker only to receive a muffled laugh, gaining the black haired boy a satisfied smile.

"Mr. Fenton. Mr. Foley. May I ask what is so funny?" Mr. Ledwidge asked, appearing in between the two desks almost as if he'd teleported there.

"Err-uh, nothing, sir!" Danny tried, his smile quickly gone as the man picked up the mote from Tucker's desk.

Mr. Ledwidge skimmed through the two sentences only to crumple it up and make an awe inspiring basket from the back row to the trashcan by his desk at the front of the class.

A bang got Danny's attention back to the teacher, shooting himself backwards in his chair as the graying teacher leaned close, his hands gripping the desk. "If I catch you slacking off in my class again, you'll wish I'd put you in detention."

Danny gulped, not used to a teacher being this savage. A smirk appeared on the teacher's face almost as if he was glad at the boy's reaction.

"Everyone, back to work." Mr. Ledwidge ordered, staring his almost black eyes into Danny's blue ones before turning around to get back to his desk.

Finally the bell rang, releasing the class for lunch. As soon as the trio made it out of the room, Danny found himself relaxing a bit, glad to be out of Mr. Ledwidge's sight.

"Maybe you were right and he is after you." Tucker said as they headed towards the cafeteria.

"Ya, it's like Mr. Crazy was trying to get you angry or something." Sam admitted.

"Don't I get enough hassle from ghosts?" Danny asked, shaking his head.

"He wasn't a ghost, was he?" Tucker asked.

Danny shook his head. "No, or at least my ghost sense didn't go off."

"Still, he knows something he shouldn't." Sam said, picking up a tray as they made it to the line. "I'd keep my eyes open for anything out of the ordinary."

"Always do." Danny smiled, picking up his tray to follow the girl.

"Hey Sam, pass that pork burger." Tucker called, grabbing his tray and following suit.

"Ew! Tucker! You have any idea what they do to make that thing!?" Sam cried, moving away from the offending sandwich.

Danny looked up and muttered, "A whole new lever to the term Food Fight."

"Ok, that's the second time you've done something like that." Tucker said, reaching in front of the boy to grab his burger.

"Done what?"

"Refer to God." Tucker explained, getting Sam's eye brow to go up.

"I guess hanging around you two so much is finally wearing off." Danny nervously laughed.

"What do you mean, we barely do anything about our religions around you." Sam pointed out. She motioned forward, "Well, besides Christmas/Hanukkah."

"Ya, even my Southern Baptist parents don't say anything about you being atheist." Tucker added.

"I'm not atheist…my parents just never had a religion other than science." Danny tried as Sam paid for her food. He pulled out his wallet and did the same before waiting for Tucker. "And even with my crazy life, I'm not sure if I really believe in anything."

Tucker turned towards his friend, picking up his tray so he could follow them to their table. "You never answered my question." Tucker eyed his friend as they sat down across from each other, Sam sitting next to Danny.

Danny shrugged, opening his mouth to answer only to be interrupted by the collar of his shirt to be pulled back, dragging him backwards off the bench and onto his back on the floor.

"Hey, Fenturd." Dash's voice said as Danny opened his eyes to find the bully standing above him. "I've got a preposition for you."

"Oh, he knows a big word like that." Sam muttered.

Dash growled at the girl, but kept himself together enough not to hurt her. Looking back down, he explained, "Tomorrow I'm supposed to show some new kid around school, but tomorrow morning, I'm not going to be here so I need you to do it. Do that and I might lighten up on you this week."

"Sure." Danny said, nodding his head as well as he could.

"Be in the front office at 8 o'clock sharp." Dash warned before walking away.

"Well, that was new." Sam commented as Danny picked himself off the floor.

"Hey, as long as this new kid isn't a new version of Dash or a ghost in disguise, I don't really care." Danny pointed out as he took his seat back.