I woke up early this morning, or late last night, choose which you will, to my ghost sense. It was Skulker. When I first got my powers about a year ago, Skulker was an actual threat. But now he's more of an annoyance in my ever-panicked life. In another bother was Skulker's 'comments,' which were more disturbing the more I listened to them instead of dodging. And I didn't have to do much dodging as Skulker slowly wound down until it was just him sitting with his legs crossed and his head in his hand, talking about the latest installment of his arguments with Ember.
It was three a.m. and I was tired of playing match-maker for a dysfunctional relationship. I have enough of that myself with people calling me and Sam 'lovebirds' all the time. So when Skulker finally managed to shut up I gave him the advice to actually talk to Ember for once. He seemed to listen because he sat there in the air for a moment longer before zooming off in the direction of my house.
I gave a sigh of relief before racing that way myself. I flew, literally, through my window before mentally pushing down the cool swirl of ice I could feel in my chest. There was a certain pang of anxious regret as I thought of how I couldn't do what I want in my own house while my parents are home. I tried to push the thought from my head as I pulled the navy star-embroidered covers over my head for whatever shut-eye I could manage.
It was all too soon when the rays of sun peeking over the houses across the street started prickling at my eyelids. I flipped over in an attempt to avoid them, but my alarm was having none of that as it went off. The superhero theme that one of my classmates uploaded to youtube for my alter-ego blared in my ears. Tucker had somehow reprogrammed by digital alarm clock last month to play that tune, and I haven't had the time, patience, or really even the want to change it back yet.
Anyways, it was a fairly calm morning. Besides the rude wake-up call, though. I kinda wished my Mom could still wake me up in the mornings as she did when I was in middle school, but I'd had to lie to her after the accident saying I wanted to give her a break because I couldn't risk her walking in on me in the mornings if I did anything ghostly. My abilities always act up when I'm half asleep, evidenced by the many times my arm has turned intangible in class and my head smacked into said desk.
I had just enough time to grab a much needed shower, I usually take one at night, but you know how that goes, and pour myself a bowl of cereal. That was when my scatterbrained head remembered I had a field trip today, and I was told to bring swim trunks. My mood lightened a bit more from the, in comparison to most mornings, elated feeling I'd had. I've always liked swimming. I used to think that it was the closest I'd ever get to antigravity until I was an adult. Boy, was I wrong.
And so with a lightness in my chest, I grabbed my ever-trusty purple bookbag, a tank-top, a pair of swim trunks, that I'd actually gotten to pick myself, this time, and a towel. Normally right then was about the time that Jazz would offer to take me to school, but she had some thing at the local community college, and so I had to transport myself. It wasn't really that hard, after all. I locked the door to the house behind me after pulling on my sneakers and ducked into the alley beside our house. The hulking metal monstrosity of the Ops Center was enough to draw any curious eyes from the flash of light I caused.
The morning air wiped away the last dredges of sleep as I soared through the sky. I started thinking about what exactly happened to my bag when I transformed. I mean, it's always there again when I change back, and everything is as though nothing happened. For example, right before I landed, I flew in a wild loop. The when my feet touched the ground, I changed back and opened up my lunch that Jazz had made for me. A can of my favorite kind of pop was in it, and when I popped the tab and there was nothing but a small hiss. It didn't explode into a frothing mess like it'd have done if I was holding it in my hand during the wild ride.
I was shaken out of my scientific self-ramblings by the warning bell. I gulped the drink down in a few sips, a small chorus of 'Chug! Chug! Chug!' could be heard as I rushed through the hall, and managed to make it to my seat with a moment to spare. Ms. Frederich walked though the door and went to close it just as Tucker ran through, panting. The bell rang just as his foot crossed the threshold. Ms. Frederich gave him a warning look as she said for him to sit down. She began her usual scientific ramblings and the class lost all interest. Suddenly I felt something touching my arm. I had been so absorbed in getting my math homework done for next period that I'd forgotten about Tucker sitting next to me. He was looking at me with a stupid grin and an even stupider paper origami claw on his index finger.
"Aren't you gonna ask why I was almost late?" Tucker whispered from the neighboring stool.
"Were you reprogramming my clock again?" I replied snarkily. Tucker just rolled his eyes before continuing with what he was going to tell me no matter my answer.
"I finally beat Doomed solo!" He yell-whispered. Don't ask me to describe it any further, that's the best way to say how he said it. At my eye-roll, Tucker scoffed.
"I beat it solo a month ago." I replied with a grin. Before that, Tucker and I had only completed it once together. The way the game works is a bit weird, you can beat it and collect all the keys and stuff, but at any time you can start going after the keys again, and the challenges reset. Over time it gets easier, especially if you do it in a party. But, thanks to my 'cheat' I was able to use my abilities, and that made the game a lot easier.
"No fair. You cheat." Tucker huffed at me and turned to his PDA.
"It's called skill, actually." I smirked. Nothing was more entertaining than a riled up techno-geek. But sadly Tuck didn't take the bait and went back to the visible line of code on his PDA. He stuck his earbuds in his ears and turned to look at the teacher.
Lucky for him, when Ms. Frederich looked at us his earbuds were hidden by his beanie and the hood of his jacket. Unluckily for me, however, I was looking at him when this happened.
"Mr. Fenton." She said sternly, and a silence fell over the room. "Please face the front and pay attention like everyone else." She scolded me. When she turned her back I glowered at her. Really, just how oblivious could one person be? It took all I could to not allow my eyes to flash green at her in anger. I'd never forgive myself if I did. But that thought sent me into another self-tangent.
What would really happen if everyone knew? I mean, the only real threat would be the GIW, but considering most of their weapons are either duds or have obvious flaws, they wouldn't be so eager to attack me. Then my parents. Thinking of telling them my secret usually left a bad taste in my mouth. On one hand, they might be forgiving and accepting. On the other, they might not believe me and think I'm being overshadowed or try to 'cure' me of my ghost half. They accepted me before in the whole reality gauntlet fiasco, but that was a different situation that was a lot more stressful and didn't allow as much clear thought to be had. They were a loose cannon that would be sure to go off if I told them, I just had no idea where they were aiming.
I was shaken out of my musings by Tuck nudging me in the ribs. I snapped back to reality to see that most of the class was gone, and the next class was walking in. I grabbed my bag and set off down the crowded hall after Tucker. The next class was Social Studies, and it passed without a hitch. Next thing I knew an announcement rang over the speakers telling all freshmen who'd gotten a signed permission slip to head to the gym.
Teens scrambled past each other in a dash to the door, and over half of them stopped by their lockers to grab extra bags. I followed after Tuck as he stopped at his own locker until I spotted Sam, who was skulking. I wandered over to her and stood behind her locker door. When she opened it and saw my face she jumped a bit.
"You scared me half to death!" She exclaimed. I couldn't miss the opportunity.
"I thought that was my schtick." I grinned. She only scoffed in response before grabbing her bag off of the floor. It was shaped like a seashell and was a neon green that matched the print on Sam's skirt.
"Green, huh?" I looked at her with a small smile and my eyebrows raised. Knowing that no one was looking, I let my eyes flash for a moment, the exact same color as the bag. I received a punch to my left arm for my 'hypothesis'.
"Hey, I'm just wondering if there's a connection," I said innocently. Sam didn't buy it for a second and I could see it in her eyes that she was holding back from punching me again.
"You always resort to violence when I point things out." I tilted my head to the side slightly and I could practically see the smoke coming out of her ears. Her cheeks sure were red enough.
"Lookey, the goth lovebird is aaaangry." Came a taunting voice.
I whipped around and looked up to see Dash's face. The now 15-year-old had gotten taller over the summer, and was still taller than me after my own growth spurt. It was ironic, when I though about it. He hero-worships one part of me, and then shoves the other part of me into a locker the next moment. What I wouldn't give to not have morals just long enough to make him pay. But I couldn't do that.
"Why don't you go pick on some one weaker than you." Sam's redirected anger voiced in my ears.
"I thought that's what I was doing." Dash gave her a menacing grin before I felt a yank on the back of my shirt. My feet lifted off of the ground and I could smell Dash's horrid breath in my face.
"Isn't that right, Fenturd?" His breath reeked of a smell not too unlike sweaty gym socks. It was disgusting.
"Put me down, Dash." I ordered. He only lifted me higher in response. I could hear Tucker's sighs from his locker, he's the one saying i should get Dash back for the almost daily time I spend crammed in my locker. At least I'm one of the few who actually keeps mine clean. I was pulled in a different direction as Dash pounded over to my locker and started to unlock it. My guess is he ordered one of the nerds to figure out the code for him. Dash turned the combination lock with practiced ease and before I knew it, the door was swinging open.
"Put me down!" I ordered again. I knew Dash wouldn't listen. It was all just for show. I'd be back over with Sam and Tuck talking like normal in a minute or so after he left. The hold on my shirt shifted and my back slammed into my winter coat that I'd started keeping in there to make it more comfortable for a few minutes while i waited for Dash to walk away. Thank goodness for intangibility.
"Nighty night," Dash said creepily with a grin and slammed the door.
How is it that I'm the half-dead one, and yet all the kids at my school are weirder than me? I really was starting to get tired of this. My aforementioned growth spurt was both a good and bad thing. The bad part is that now it's even more cramped whenever Dash decides to come after me. I've had quite a few shirts that were stretched so much that they'd look ridiculous to wear again. I shifted in the space and listened. This was one f the few times Dash didn't choose to immediately walk away. Instead, he and the other A-listers, most just as creepy as he, were 'socializing' and I could tell that Dash was leaning up against my locker. I couldn't chance flying out when Dash could have a chance of seeing me. And so i shifted a bit more and got comfortable. I grabbed my phone from my little shelf and turned on my overhanging lantern. Who said I couldn't be comfortable? I put in my password, which was no longer 'Paulina Fenton' (I learned my lesson) and looked at my notifications. Most were just about emails I'd gotten from Doomed telling me about the deals and stuff, but there was a text from Sam.
Sam: 'You still in there?'
Me: Yep, Dash hasn't walked away yet
It was a minute before she responded.
Sam: Want us to get him to go away?
Me: Nah, I'll just wait it out
Sam: Don't blame me when you get a knot in your back
Sam: We're heading on over to the gym, k?
Me: K, cya soon
With that I settled back into my coat. Sam was right, I'd get a crick in my back after long, but I didn't want to trouble them. Besides, Dash'd have to go away in a minute to go to the assembly."
"What are you still doing out here? Go on to the gym." I heard Mr. Lancer's muffled voice come from the hall. A grumbling of remarks and the sound of shuffling footsteps and i gave a sigh of relief. That was, until the locker door opened abruptly and i fell forward onto my face. I just had to get a top locker. I got to my knees and tried to rub away the now-forming headache. I saw a shadow and looked up to see Mr. Lancer.
"Are you ok?" He asked, and held out his hand. I took it gratefully and got to my feet. He shocked me a bit. Usually no one bothered or noticed i was gone until class, before I got my powers. there was one time that Sam and Tuck were both sick and I was stuck in there until the janitor came down the hall after school had ended. Just my luck I'd gotten a detention for 'skipping class.' Although it's likely would have happened today if not for my power, or Mr. Lancer.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied after a moment.
"Thanks." I added. Mr. Lancer gave a small nod to me before heading to the gym. I walked behind him and tried not to look like I was following him, even though we were going to the same place. it was a bit awkward until we got to the gym.
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AN: I changed this chapter's end a bit after reading it over, thanks to the review by 'Chuck Formula.' I agree that the previous events were a bit out of character for Danny, and I think this fits much better.