At The End Of The Day
ooooooo
Sam Manson lay on the grassy yard of Amity Ville High school, gazing at the scene before her.. The sun was peeping through the clouds and beginning to tan her pale skin, and she relished it. With quiet observance she watched her fellow students cluttering the otherwise beautiful landscape. It was her last year of high school and she had yet to feel that she was actually a part of it.
"Hey Sam!" Danny Fenton sat next to her in a cheerful greeting.
She blinked in surprise, "Uh… hello…."
Due to all the ghost fighting that was required of him, Sam's once scrawny clumsy friend had turned into a tall and manly adult. Beside that, he had also attracted some girlfriends, and joined sports, soon becoming a friend of Dash's and his crew by 10th grade. Sam herself was still the same.
"Haven't seen much of you around" he said. She wondered if he was apologetic for their growing apart. Instead, he grinned at the girls who were checking him out in the distance. "Only a week of school left."
"Yea."
"Seen Tucker around?"
"Yea."
"Gonna miss high school then?"
"No."
"I am, it's gonna blow not playing sports or hanging out with Dash and his crew." Sam raised a brow at Danny's habit of only talking about himself. "I'm gonna miss the hot girls," he grinned again.
"I'm not going to miss anything."
He rolled his blue eyes, "Yea I know Sam, you like to be away from here as fast as possible. I never really understood that, I thought you would grow out of this whole anti social thing, why don't you like to have fun?"
She ignored him. "You ever thought about why America is the only country to make teen movies?"
"Because we're the only ones good at making movies."
"Because no other country embraces the high school culture like we do. We show it everywhere, through films, books, tv shows….. "
"Yea… so?"
"Maybe everyone else realizes that as our lives go on, these years would not be remembered."
He shrugged, not taking his friend very seriously "I'll never forget it."
Sam shook her head, close to giving up, "You don't respect me because I don't go to your parties and hang out with your girlfriends."
"Oh stop being so depressing." He snapped; but it was true and he knew it.
"We stopped being friends long ago, so why are you trying now?"
Glaring at her, he could think of no answer.
"Because maybe you feel lonely, maybe deep down you realize that your amazing new life has amounted to nothing."
"What the hell? I've been having a great time! You're the one who's been doing nothing!"
"Don't get defensive"
"I'm not!" he said angrily as his eyes flashed green. Quickly, he regained control, "Look… I've been happy… so shut up about it."
She shook her head. Danny had become such a jerk. Sam remembered a time when he would never raise his voice against a girl, even someone who treated him like shit such as Paulina. She also remembered when he was a shy, kind, boy who was good to all- even those who bullied the hell out of him,- he was ready to protect them with the best of his abilities. Danny use to be a real hero in her eyes.
"If you're happy, then why are you getting so upset?"
"God, you're a bitch aren't you!" He stood up, brushing the grass of his jeans. "I'm off." And with that, he stormed away, leaving Sam to resume her watchful contemplation.
Danny rampaged angrily through the hallways; here he was, a popular guy, being kind enough to sit down and give his old friend a bit of company. And what does she do? Attack him, telling him that there's something wrong with the life he has chosen.
"Yo Danny! Get over here!" Dash waved to him from the end of the hallway and Danny obeyed, giving him a high five and receiving a kiss from Paulina. "We're going to smash shit up tonight, and you're driving!."
"Uh, scratch that, don't think I can."
They glared at him, "Why the hell not?"
"Because I've got… homework to do?" he rubbed the back of his neck, an old nervous habit that he did back when he was an inferior. He had no way of telling them that he had to hunt for a certain ghost tonight.
"Don't be such a dweeb Dannyy!" moaned Paulina in her irritating accent.
"I'm sorry babe," he smirked, snaking his arm around her waist, "maybe another time."
She squealed as she grappled his muscles, "Oh, okayyy"
"Whatever, dork."
Danny left them, a weariness setting over him from being with those two
ooooooo
Night fell over the city, and Danny lay in his room, waiting for his parents to sleep so he could yet again slip out and save the day. It was funny how he had changed so much, yet the same responsibilities always kept the old part of him alive. At first, when he became a jock, Jazz embraced it, she always thought that Danny's meek persona was unhealthy, but later he developed problems with his family, or rather, he was the problem. He became an all around jerk really.
"Yea whatever." He mumbled, switching on some music and drowning the thoughts.
"TURN IT OFF!" screamed his father from below. Deciding that now was the best time, he morphed into Danny Phantom and flew into the night.
Passing rooftops and streetlights he caught a glimpse of Sam's house a few blocks away. A sense of nostalgia washed over him when he realized how long it had been since he had visited.
Swooping down he sat on her window sill and found her on her bed. The lights were on and she was fully clothed, but asleep.
Danny found it harmless to step inside and look around. No one was home as usual, and for some reason, he sat on her bed and watched her. Her fist was curled up in a ball, and against her mouth as she breathed softly in her sleep.
It was uncanny how much she had not changed. She was still soft and pretty, and smart and unique. And he was a clone.
She was right, he wasn't happy.
With a light glide, he sat next to her and touched her hair, just to see if it was the same texture. He remembered in 9th grade, they were alone in this room, waiting for Tucker to arrive, and he was late because was with Valerie. They fell into a discussion about dating and how funny it was that neither of them had had a real kiss. With nervousness, they decided to practice on each other.
And he kissed her and it was so surreal to touch her like that, that he just wanted more, and it was getting heavy, and his hands went more places than one because he just thought she was so beautiful. He felt like he could open up the world and everything was absolutely perfect, but then suddenly… she pulled away.
Confused he just stared at her.
And he remembered how hurt he was, but he didn't want to show it so he just left. After that, their friendship deteriorated, slowly they began to stop hanging out, stop talking, and stop seeing each other.
Danny found new friends and Sam left him to it.
What got him most was that it was like she didn't even care. He got girlfriends, only to spite her, but then she got her lovers and it was as if his plan backfired.
"What are you doing?"
He jumped up in surprise as she rubbed her eyes and slowly sat up. Flustered, he tried to find a good excuse. "I-I .. thought I saw a ghost come through your room."
"Oh." It was clear she didn't believe him. "In my hair?"
"Yea.. a hair ghost."
"Nice one Phantom, thanks for saving my life." Her tone was dry and unemotional, and Danny hated it.
"Right... well...maybe I shouldn't have even saved you."
"Why not."
"Because." He felt so stupid standing in the middle of her room, obviously breaking in, like he was after something. "I'm not after anything." He blurted.
She blinked at her young friend. So tall and handsome but so dumb and clumsy. Finding traces of the old Danny in his red, humiliated face, her heart softened. She patted the space beside him and he took a seat.
"I know you're not."
But once he morphed back into Danny Fenton, he straightened his posture and grinned cockily, "whatever babe, I was just kidding."
"Don't call me babe."
"Jesus…you're an uptight bitch."
"You're insecure."
Danny's head shot up in partial disbelief. Opening his mouth to retalliate, nothing came out.
Sam's lilac eyes bore into his own, "But you're better than most people."
Their eyes locked, and it seemed like everything before 10th grade had come back alive. The love Danny had been compressing was pounding in his chest, and as he slid closer, Sam's lips was on his own; life suddenly went up a few hundred notches.
They pulled away and both saw that Danny had turned back into ghost mode.
"Sorry about that." He blushed, about to switch, but Sam pulled him down on the bed, "No... I missed you Danny Phantom."
ooooooo
AuthorsNote: Well I've been out of the country for the past two weeks, and its wonderful but the downside is that I have missed all the Danny Phantom episodes. Can anyone update me on what has happened since memory blank? If I get no response then I've LOST MY FAITH in the Danny Phantom community. However, if you response, I'll let you touch my thingy