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The Personal Diary of Jasmine Fenton

Saturday, August 23, 2003

1:41 PM

Today, I'm starting a log of my observations regarding my little brother Danny's mental health. He's going to start high school in nine days, and it's a very stressful time for young adolescents. I should know; I, too, was a Freshman, two long years ago. I know it doesn't seem like much, but I feel a whole lot older since that time.

Maybe I feel older than I am because I've been pretty much taking care of my baby brother ever since a few years ago, when our parents started a secret project in the lab downstairs. Yes, we have a laboratory in our basement, and it's filled with broken machines and glowing green goo they call ectoplasm. Nothing they make works.

You see, my parents... are ghost hunters. Crazy, I know. That's another reason I want to keep a close eye on Danny's psychological state - our parents could drive him just as crazy as they are!

So, in summary, Danny and I are the completely normal children of a couple of insane ghost hunters, and we're going to high school in about a week. This will be Danny's first year in high school, and he's going to have a hard time fitting in because of our crazy parents' reputation. Is it any wonder I'm trying to protect his developing teen mind?

Monday, September 1, 2003

6:17 AM

This will be my little brother's first day of high school! While I am excited and proud, I worry that his shyness, coupled with our parents' ridiculous "job", will result in him being an outcast.

In my Freshman year, I was picked on a bit at first, but people stopped targeting me when they realized how intelligent I am - never pick on the person who can tutor you or they just might decide not to help when you're failing.

Danny is smart too, but it's a less academic type of intelligence, and he tends to be really clueless sometimes. I'm not sure that he'll be able to stay out of trouble.

12:04 PM

I'm writing during lunch right now, and it looks like I was correct earlier about my little brother not staying out of trouble. From what another student told me, Danny's clumsiness resulted in a nasty run-in with another, larger student today. I think his name was Dash or something. From what I've heard, Dash is also only a Freshman, but he's built like the Hulk! If I weren't so concerned about Danny, I'd worry about the sort of self-image issues that could make someone as young as Dash feel the need to work out so much.

Anyway, Danny tripped over one of his own shoelaces and fell right into Dash, sending both of them tumbling to the ground. Dash retaliated by shoving poor Danny into a locker! After that, he apparently told Danny that he'd be watching him, like he was some creepy stalker!

At first, part of me wanted to give that Dash kid a piece of my mind for hurting my little brother, but then I realized that Dash probably has his own psychological problems. Maybe I should talk to the kid later and get him to tell me why he did it, instead of pointlessly yelling at him. However, as I said, my first priority is Danny, so I'll talk to him before confronting Dash.

3:13 PM

Oh, he is so infuriating sometimes! I tried to make sure Danny was okay at the end of the day, and he just told me to go away! I'm only trying to look out for his well-being, especially since our crazy parents will probably drive him crazy too if I don't try to help him! Now he's just brooding in his room. I'm afraid that this first day will set the mood for the rest of the year, and then he'll be miserable! I've got to find some way to cheer him up before he starts to suffer from depression!

Tuesday, September 2, 2003

7:28 AM

Maybe Danny doesn't need as much help as I thought. He seemed plenty cheerful at breakfast this morning. Maybe what happened yesterday was a one-time thing, and I shouldn't worry so much. Then again, some depressed people hide their depression... Relax, Jazz, it's only the second day. He can't possibly be depressed that quickly.

8:56 AM

I found out Dash's last name is Baxter. In between classes, I passed by the office, and I saw his name on the sign-up sheet for the football team. Apparently, he's trying out for Ravens captain. While he's certainly got the... physique for it, he's probably too young to consider for the team. Also, judging by his behavior yesterday, I'd say his personality is unsportsmanlike, and therefore unsuitable for a team captain.

9:55 AM

I knew Baxter was bad news! This time I saw it for myself; he tripped Danny in the hall on purpose! One accident, and this kid's got it out for my brother! Forget psychoanalysis, this kid's got some explaining to do!

2:31 PM

Okay, I've probably just had the grossest experience ever! And my parents work with green goo! I tried to confront the Baxter kid, and he started flirting with me! I mean, who does that!? There I was trying to yell at him, and he flirted like it was nothing! Ugh, I think I need to lie down when I get home, I feel sick.

Monday, September 8, 2003

9:51 AM

Okay, it's the second week of school now, and hopefully Danny has a fresh start. Aside from Dash refusing to stop bullying him, Danny seems like he's doing well so far. His grades are reasonably good, and Mr. Lancer especially seems to see potential in him. He told me so himself; I had Mr. Lancer's English class in my Freshman year too, and we still talk in the hall between classes sometimes. He's still one of my favorite teachers, so I'm glad he's taken a liking to Danny as well. If Mr. Lancer provides good feedback on Danny's work, it just might raise his self-esteem and keep him from feeling like our parents' insanity is dragging him down.

12:08 PM

Football tryouts were today. Unfortunately, the coach, Ms. Tetslaff, seems to value brawn over... well, anything else, really. Dash made captain, of course. I'd like to talk to the administration about it, but it's not really any of my business. I guess we'll just see what happens.

3:19 PM

Dash is getting worse than ever. He seems to think that his new status at school allows him to do whatever he wants. He's tripped, pushed, and mocked Danny about ten times today. The worst part is, Dash seems to know where the teachers are when he does it; he's an expert at avoiding them so he can continue his bullying without detection. I've tried telling Danny's teachers about it, but they were so convinced of Dash's innocence - after all, how in the world could such an upstanding person who is captain of the football team possibly be a bully? It must have been a misunderstanding on my part. Yeah, right.

The only teacher I could convince was Mr. Lancer, since he knows how serious I am from being in his class two years ago. Unfortunately, Lancer told me that the school board was hesitant to punish sports team members, especially captains, because a lot of the district's funding comes from sports. They claimed they wouldn't be able to afford the losses.

If only I'd told someone before Dash joined the football team...

6:42 PM

After dinner (exploding hamburgers followed by mediocre Chinese takeout), I tried to talk to Danny again. Apparently, since he's in high school now, he thinks he has to "fight his own battles," so to speak. He's afraid that if I interfere, other people will think he needs his big sister to protect him. While I wish I could do just that, Danny's got a point. If I go about this the wrong way, I could end up damaging his self-esteem even more, instead of building it up. I'll just have to stick to the sidelines for now.

Friday, September 12, 2003

3:14 PM

Danny was in a better mood today. He didn't even complain when I joined him on the walk home! After his friends Tucker and Sam (short for Samantha - I suspect that Danny has a crush on her) split up to go to their own houses, Danny and I walked home together. He told me that his science teacher Mr. Fallucca assigned an Astronomy project, and he was really excited about it. This is his chance to shine! To show people that he's intelligent, and maybe get people (namely, Dash) to back off. I encouraged Danny, assuring him that he'd do very well. Goodness knows he's needed a compliment for a while now...

4:21 PM

Ugh, our parents dragged us down into the lab to show us their secret project that they've been working on for three years. They said they hadn't wanted to reveal it until it was done. It's a giant octagonal metal tunnel embedded in the wall, and it's full of wires. They call it the Fenton Ghost Portal. Right now, they're going on and on about how they're going to "bust open the wall into the ghost dimension" or some such nonsense.

This ghost obsession has gone on long enough. They focus so much on their "work" that they don't spend enough time paying attention to Danny. I'd complain that they don't pay attention to me either, but I can take care of myself. Sure, our parents love us both, but as the only responsible adult in this house, I'm the one who usually ends up looking out for my little brother.

I'm drifting in and out as our parents talk, taking time here and there to scribble in this journal. From what I've paid attention to, it sounds like a bunch of hooey to me. Even though I know it won't work, it still seems pretty dangerous. The power requirements alone are staggering. I hope this thing doesn't bring Amity Park's entire power grid down when it's activated; otherwise my family will be in a lot of trouble with the authorities if the whole town goes dark.

4:33 PM

Once again, I ended up being right. Dad plugged in the Portal, nothing happened. I know I wrote earlier that I knew it wouldn't work, but I guess I am a bit disappointed. I wanted so badly to say "I told you so," but I held my tongue. This was their life's work, and three years' effort was just flushed down the drain. If even I can be disappointed about this, I can't even imagine how my parents feel right now.

I think Danny was disappointed too. He didn't look as sad as our parents, but he did look like he had expected something - anything - to happen; and then that expectation was crushed harshly by the weight of failure.

Our parents have just left the house to get some stuff from the grocery store and get their minds off the Portal. When they get home, Mom's probably going to bake cookies, and I'll bet anything that Dad plans on completely drowning himself in fudge.

Right now, Danny's still standing there, staring at the Portal. He seems to have traded his disappointed look for a speculative frown, his eyebrows scrunching in thought. Just what are you up to, little brother?

4:39 PM

After I got Danny to come upstairs, he immediately called Tucker and Sam, and he asked them to come over to our house. He seemed like he was in a hurry. I made Danny promise that he and his friends wouldn't get up to any funny business, and he gave me his "scout's honor," as if he's ever been a scout, which he hasn't.

5:47 PM

Something terrible has happened.

After Danny's friends arrived, I went to my room to read one of my psychology books in peace. After a while, the lights began to flicker wildly, and I heard Danny scream like I'd never heard before. I rushed down into the lab to find Sam and Tucker each supporting one of Danny's arms across their shoulders.

At first, I was terrified that my baby brother had died, but I could see fairly quickly that he was breathing, so I knew he was just unconscious. Sam and Tucker looked like nervous wrecks though. All three of their faces were a few shades lighter than usual.

When I asked them what happened, all Tucker could do was stutter out, "The Portal." I turned to Sam, but she couldn't speak, almost on the verge of tears.

I helped the two of them get Danny up to the living room couch, where we laid him down. After that, I sent Tucker up to the second floor get some of Danny's pillows from his room so that Danny could have them on the couch.

With Tucker temporarily out of the picture, I figured I could get all the info from Sam. The three of them had been doing stuff that my parents would have strictly forbidden had they been home to supervise them, and so I was going to grill one of them without the others providing flimsy excuses. That way, I wouldn't get any half-baked lies. Normally, I wouldn't pressure someone like that, since it can damage their mind even further when it's already under stress, but we were talking about my brother's life!

I asked again, sternly, what happened, and she told me that Danny had been standing too close to the portal when it suddenly sparked. The electricity was strong enough to arc all the way to Danny, giving him a terrible shock in the process.

I looked more closely at my brother's sleeping form. He didn't appear to have any electrical burns, and the only thing that seemed wrong with him was the fact that he was unconscious.

Still, even though nothing looked wrong on the outside, I told Sam that we should take Danny to the hospital anyway. She pointed out that if we took him to the emergency room, people would find out what happened, and we would be taken away from our parents by Child Services due to criminal negligence.

I didn't really have anything to say to that, but I tried to come up with something. As I tried to find a way to counter Sam's argument, Tucker came back down the stairs with the pillows, and I carefully lifted Danny's head so that Tucker could place the pillows underneath. After that, we all sat in the various other chairs in the living room to wait.

That's where we are now.

Still waiting.

Hoping - praying - for Danny to wake up soon.