The second the bell rang, the halls of Casper High roared with cheers, celebrating their freedom from the imprisonment that is high school. Only one more year, and then I'm out of that hellhole.

"Nasty Burger, anyone?" Tuck and I walked out of the school, waiting on the sidewalk for the last member of our trio.

"Count me in, I'm starving!"

"We really need to find a place that has a better variety of food." To no surprise, we turn around to see Sam walking up to us.

"Not all of us of ultra-recyclable vegetarians, Sam."

"If you really want variety, just grab some grass from the ground; it'd be all natural!" Tuck's lame humor was worthy of a high five. Sam just rolled her eyes.

"Ha ha, very funny."

We all headed over to the established hangout of Casper High to grab a bite. Everyone was here admiring the beginning of summer vacation. We sat down in a booth and ordered the usual.

"So," Sam started off, "what are you guys planning to do this summer?"

"My parents said we'd take a family trip to NASA, so that should be fun." My aspiration of wanting to be an astronaut will never fade.

"I'm going to be sitting at home, getting lost in the world of technology." Being a techno-geek, this wasn't a surprise. "Who needs the outdoors when you have all you need in a simple device!" He waved his PDA in his hand.

"You would, Tuck."

We continued our casual conversation until our food was served. It was the usual scene at the table: Sam with her grass and Tuck talking with his mouth full. Sometimes I feel like I'm the normal one, even though I'm not your typical person in the slightest.

Our meal was interrupted with a voice I would recognize anywhere.

"Hey little brother, how was your last day?"

She didn't hesitate to take a seat next to me in the booth.

"Hey Jazz…" I continued munching on my burger, hoping she'd eventually leave. Sadly, there's a slim to none chance of that happening.

"Listen, I want to head home early so we can talk to mom and dad about summer plans." I internally rolled my eyes as she continued on. "I start my first year of college during the summer semester, and that's in a couple weeks! I want to go somewhere with our family at least once before I leave."

Jazz had finally finished high school, which meant no older sister bossing me around about my homework or studying. Even though I wouldn't say it to her face, I really was going to miss having her around.

"As long as I get to visit NASA at some point in the summer, that's fine with me." I managed to crack a smile at the thought of visiting the space station.

"Come on then," Jazz scooted out of her seat, "let's head home so we can talk to mom and dad."

"Now? I'm in the middle of hanging out with Sam and Tuck!"

"Danny…"

"We got the entire summer to chill," Tuck smiled.

I looked toward my sister who was still waiting for me to get up. "Fine," I said scooting out with a sigh. I said bye to my friends and left with my nutjob of a sister. The walk home was quiet for the most part, excluding the small talk here and there.

"Danny," she broke the silence, "you know I really am going to miss you. You're my little bro! And besides, I worried you'll get hurt without me helping you catch ghosts."

I had told Jazz my secret a while back. Well technically, she found out on her own.

"I'll be fine Jazz. Remember, I've been fighting ghosts long before you started helping out. And plus," I smirked, "with you not around I can do whatever I want!"

"Just don't do anything too crazy, okay?" I nodded in response. We smiled at each other, but Jazz soon looked away when her expression changed. I never thought she'd miss life here so much.

We soon were in view of our home, which stood out from all the other buildings on our block. This was going to be my home for a couple more years: for Jazz it's a couple more weeks. We walked up the block and towards the front door of FentonWorks.

We had an almost immediate greeting. "Guess what, kids!" Our parents appeared in the living room as we walked through the door. "We're all taking an early summer family vacation!"

It's not really like mom and dad to surprise us with a family trip all of a sudden. The image of NASA had gone through my mind, making me feel a rush of excitement.

"Sweet! Where are we going?"

"Beverly Heights!"

Silence. Dead silence for a good half minute or so.

…Where the hell is that…

"You'll love it, Danny!" Dad had walked to my side, with his usual goofy grin on his face. He had a map in hand, pointing at our vacation destination. "It's home of the world-famous music sensation Billy Joe Cobra!"

…Who?! Whatever, it's probably one of mom and dad's singers from their time. Oh no, we're probably getting dragged to an old people concert…

I quickly determined that this little "vacation" of ours probably wasn't going to be fun at all.

"Well he was world-famous," Jazz commented, "but definitely not in a good way. All of his songs were beyond conceited and snobbish."

"You know about this guy, Jazz?" Was I the only one in this house that didn't know who Billy Bob…Billy Jake…whatever his name was?!

"I remember borrowing one of mom's old CD's out of curiosity. This guy wasn't really a big deal. He was quite the performer though, I've heard."

Wait…was? "What do you mean by 'was', exactly?"

"He died a while back," she answered, "no one really knows why, though. It's just one big mystery left unsolved."

Ugh, great. My parents wanna go see a dead guy's house… well, this really isn't a shocker if you think about it.

I truly do not want to go on this trip… but I do have one last chance of escaping.

"Listen, you guys mind if I crash at Tuck's house instead? I kinda already have plans…" It was a little white lie; everything is always scheduled last minute when it comes to hanging out. But my family didn't need to know that.

"Oh no you don't, Danny," Mom quickly replied, "the point of a family vacation is for the entire family to go together." She saw me rolling my eyes, but at this point I'm stuck either way. "But," she added, "if you really feel like you're going to die of boredom, you can ask Sam and Tucker to join us."

That's a fair compromise, I guess. And besides, having my best buds at my side always makes any event more fun! "I'll call them up now," I said, walking up the stairs. I opened up the door, walked up to my bed and faceplanted. There goes my summer.