It's All in the Acting.
Sam's voice came in on Danny's headset.
"Clueless one, this is goth one."
Danny's face showed no anger, but on the inside he was kinda mad. He wasn't clueless, not at all. He knew Sam liked him, and, well, he was pretty sure he liked her back. He was just afraid to show it – things could go wrong so easily, especially with Sam, who took life so seriously sometimes. He'd decided to play it cool until the time was right, and until then pray that Sam would make the first move so he wouldn't have to. So… he acted clueless, even though he hated that words with all his guts.
"Clueless one, this is goth one—why am I clueless one?" He said, floating down the hallways of Axion labs.
"TELL HIM!" Tucker shouted at Sam. Danny resisted the urge to laugh.
"Shut it…" Sam growled back at Tucker.
As Danny turned a corner and flew towards the door, he smirked at his friends' little argument and wished he was brave enough to tell Sam that he knew why he was Clueless one.
DPDPDP
As Danny battled Valerie minutes later, his mind was elsewhere. He has putting his mind to work on this whole clueless thing, and he'd made a decision. In due time he was going to give the class ring to its rightful owner, Sam. She'd been so strong through it all, watching him fall for Paulina and Valerie and never complaining even though she liked him. She didn't deserve to sit on the sidelines and watch Danny with other girls; she deserved to be the one in Danny's arms while the other girls sat and watched. In due time he would tell her the truth about everything… Danny would make sure Sam got what she deserved.
But in his current position there was another dilemma: how could he get Valerie off of his case? A plan formed in his mind as he fought her out in space. He'd stage a breakup! He hoped, anyway. It would go like this; Sam would give him back the ring that he'd given her earlier to hold onto, and he'd act cheery later today, and give Valerie the ring. Then tomorrow, he'd tell her he'd made a mistake and that he didn't want a girlfriend right now. He'd act depressed and tell Sam and Tucker that Valerie had broken up with him, then give Sam the ring, asking her to hold onto it for awhile. She'd buy it for now – he hoped – and he could think of a time to confess everything to Sam.
'Gosh, love is so complicated…' Danny thought to himself, hitching a ride back to earth by turning invisible and holding onto the side of her board.
DPDPDPLATERTHATDAYDPDPDP
The trio sat at a picnic table outside Casper High, looking uneasy. Sam dropped the ring in Danny's hand.
"Here you go."
"You sure about this?" Tucker asked, leaning on the table a bit.
Danny put a look of concern on his face and nodded slightly. His plan was going great so far. "Well, she said she would give up ghost hunting! For me! Besides, I like her and she likes me back. Isn't it supposed to be that simple?"
The last half triggered a silent hurt in Sam's eyes, and it killed Danny on the inside to see Sam that way. But he had to go through with the plan.
Tucker and Sam exchanged glances. "Clueless!"
Danny's insides wanted to jump out and remove the word clueless from their vocabularies, but he heard Valerie's voice behind him. His stomach flipped. Here came the hard part..
"Danny?"
He really hoped the plan would pull through. He put a happier face on and chuckled. "I'm glad you're here. I… wanted to ask you something."
He saw Tucker leave the table as Valerie spoke.
"Actually, me first."
He saw Sam leave the table then, hurt, pain, and ache in her eyes. It pulled at his heartstrings, and he pulled his act together, remembering that this whole shindig was for Sam and he'd see her happy soon.
"Danny, I've had a lot of fun these past few days, but my life's way too complicated right now for us to be anything other than… friends."
'Oh crap, she's breaking up with me! I guess I'll just skip to the depressed part when I see Tucker and Sam again. As for now, better pull a disappointed reaction—'
Danny pulled his best sad face. "Just… friends? But-but I- I thought—"
"I thought, too. But there's something important and I have to do, and I don't want you to get hurt because of it." She chuckled. "Besides, it's not like you were gonna give me some lame class ring, right?" She kissed him on the cheek and gave him a smile, and he emptily smiled back. He wanted to cringe when she did that, to tell her to back off, but he couldn't. That would change the plan. He just thought to himself, "It's for Sam, it's for Sam."
He faked a laugh. "Chyea, right." His smile dropped and he raised his eyebrows as Valerie walked away, just in case anyone had been watching. He sat back down at the picnic table, ready to contemplate the nest part of his plan when Sam came up behind him. He wanted to tell her right then and there that he loved her, that this all was a fake, but this wasn't the time or place.
He looked at her with a sad face and sadder tone of voice. "Can you hold onto this?" He said, holding up the ring.
Sam took it from his with a smile and turned, flipping the ring in the air. "Clueless!"
Danny's insides threw a fit at that accursed word, but he sat there watching her walk away, ring in hand. He heard some geek girls nearby talking to Tucker and decided to split before they mobbed him.
Many things ran through Danny's mind that night as he lie awake in his bed, but as he finished recapping the day, he realized something with a grin.
"Hey, If I don't make it as a ghost fighter, I'd be a good actor. Maybe even have my own TV show."