Chapter 1 - Faulty Transitions

Paulina smiled at her best friend, Star, while looping her arm through her's.

"Didn't you hear Dash and Kwan are totally gay for each other?" Paulina whispered to her friend, her big blue-green eyes shining with a mischievous sheen.

"They're what?" Star gasped, covering her mouth with a manicured hand. "Does that mean I had sex with a gay guy?"

"Hey, I did too..." Paulina trailed off. She hadn't thought of that. "Well, that sucks."

"Yeah, it does..." Star looked at her friend with furrowed eyebrows. "Oh well! This'll be fun to tell everyone!"

"I know, right?" Paulina giggled with her friend, flipping her long black hair frivolously over her shoulder.

The late bell rang just as the girls waltzed into their English class, Mr. Lancer giving them a stern glare. The pair took their seats together, stifling their excitement when they saw Danny Fenton and that goth girl, Sam Manson, whispering to one another, their faces just inches apart.

"Do you think they're screwing?" Star asked, biting her lip with curiosity.

"Oh, definitely," Paulina laughed, earning yet another glare from the teacher.

The two finally gave up on their conversation, deciding instead to take "notes". Star doodled little flower designs, getting more and more intricate as class progressed. Paulina would be lying if she said she wasn't impressed with her friend's ability to draw. She really did have a knack for art.

Paulina, on the other hand, mindlessly scribbled the words she'd memorized from some author Lancer had made them learn about. 'How we need another soul to cling to ~Sylvia Plath.' She was some writer from be fifty's or something - content that Paulina wouldn't have paid much attention to if not for the words worming their way into her head at night when she couldn't sleep. That Sylvia girl was pretty rad, Paulina had finally decided after weeks of going back and forth on her opinion of the writer. With her mom having left just a year ago, she liked to think that Plath was her makeshift mother. It was pathetic, but it was also comforting.

Suddenly, Paulina sat up straight, a familiar feeling filling her with dread. Looking down at her light blue pair of pants, she silently cursed under her breath, pulling her backpack from the back of her chair and searching for a tampon or pad.

"Ms. Sanchez, is there any reason you're disrupting my class," Mr. Lancer looked at the teenage girl, lifting a single eyebrow at the sound of her backpack.

"Yeah, I just got my period and I really need to get a tampon in," Paulina help up a tampon she'd found in her bag, giving the now blushing teacher a smug smirk.

"Very well, make it quick," Lancer signed, turning away to try to hide the discomfort written across his face. Star and a few other girls in the class chuckled, amused by Lancer's embarrassed reaction.

Paulina waltzed out of the classroom and into the empty hallway, tampon in hand. After a few minutes, she was just getting ready to walk out of the bathroom and back to class when something shook the floor beneath her. Stumbling forward, the raven haired girl fell against the bathroom door with a 'thud'. A few moments later, another wave shook the ground, sending Paulina through the swinging women's room door. She nearly landed on her face, but caught herself before she got the chance to. A sharp cracking sound came from her wrist, causing a small yelp to leap from the girl's throat. Carefully, she sat herself up and examined her left wrist, which felt either sprained or broken for sure.

Paulina bit back a sob, instead looking around to find the thing - probably a ghost - that had caused the tremors. When she heard footsteps down the hall, she assumed the worst and scampered back into the restroom in hopes of avoiding an ecto-blast. When the footsteps stopped and a ragged breath echoed through the otherwise empty hallway, Paulina couldn't help but nudge the door open just a bit, her curiosity getting the best of her. Standing in the center of the hallway was none other than Danny Fenton - geek extraordinaire. Just as she was about to walk through the door and have him help her back to class, the raven haired boy sighed lightly.

"Really, three days in a row? And all during Lancer's class?" He seemed to direct the question towards the ceiling, shaking his head in dismay. "Alright, well, going ghost!"

What happened next moved so fast, Paulina might have missed it if she'd blinked. Two electric blue rings formed around Danny's waist, moving over his body in a flash of blue light. As they moved, they left behind a black and white hazmat suit. His blue eyes turned radioactive green, and his raven hair turned a silvery white. Where Danny Fenton had once stood, Danny Phantom now floated a few inches off the ground. Without another word, he flew through the ceiling, presumably to find the source of the tremors and leaving a very dazed Paulina leaning against the bathroom door.

After what felt like hours, but was probably only a few moments, Paulina finally pulled herself up straight, walking slowly over to the mirror. She absentmindedly fixed her hair. 'Pretty girls get respect,' her mom had always chided. 'Even on your worst days, you have to make sure you're pretty.' After a minute or so running her hands through her hair and fixing her smudged eyeliner, she stared at herself in the mirror, her hands shaking on the porcelain sink.

"Pretty," she murmured, turning and walking through the door and into the hallway. With each step, her injured wrist throbbed, bringing her slowly out of her state of shock and back into reality. When she made it back to the classroom, Lancer was just opening the door to check for students in the hallway.

"Ms. Sanchez, thank heavens you're alright. Get in here before it happens again," Lancer grabbed at her left wrist, and Paulina sobbed in response.

"I- I fell on my wrist," her voice came out whinier than she'd meant for it to be. Lancer hastily apologized and hurried her into the classroom before closing and locking the door. All the students were sitting, lined up against the wall furthest from the classroom door. Typical ghost attack protocol. Paulina found her way towards Star, who sighed and hugged the injured girl the moment she sat down.

"Oh my GOD Paulina I was SO worried about you!" Star rambled. "Where the hell were you? You were gone for, like, ever!"

Suddenly, Paulina's mind was fully pulled back to reality thanks to her best friend's presence. Slowly, she smiled, the latest bit of Casper High gossip lingering at the tip of her tongue. But there was something keeping her from letting it fall out of her mouth. Her stomach dropped at the thought of Fenton- of Phantom's secret becoming public knowledge.

Before Paulina could decide how to respond, a pounding came from the classroom door, and Lancer stealthily slinked over and peaked out of the small window. With a sigh, he unlocked the door and let another student in. Paulina's posture went rigid the moment she saw who had just stumbled in, her breath hitching in the back of her throat.

"Mr. Fenton, thank goodness you're here," Lancer sighed, ushering Danny Fenton into the classroom and locking the door once again.

Hey guys! I can't get into my old dp account to work, so I'll just post this on my multifandom account!!

I'm rlly excited about this one - I have a lot of ideas!! Please review and follow and like, it all means so so much!

Also! If any of you guys have any ideas, hmu Bc I don't know what's going on in this later.

Anyways, I'll update in a few days - probably one or two. Until next time!

~Ash