Chapter 02

The day felt unbearably long, and not simply because it was much too hot in the classroom where, apparently, the air conditioners failed to work. Sam pulled hair up into a sloppy bun, not caring about neatness at the moment so long as curtain of ebony locks was no longer draped over her neck. Leaning back at her desk, she couldn't wait for the class to end as she practically counted down the minutes until the bell rang. Under normal circumstances, she would be one hundred percent focused on the class, but she had a meeting after school and she was excited to get planning on her little project. A sly smirk slipped onto her face as she already envisioned Tucker complaining about participating in it.

"Now," said their teacher Miss Henderson as she strode about the room, eying the students with a keen look, "can anyone tell me what the play is about?" She snatched a note from Miranda's hand as she was passing it to Star, who sat next to her. "Perhaps you'd like to share with us your opinion of the play, Miss Talbot." Her brown eyes pierced down into the young woman as she awaited a response.

Sam rolled her eyes because, of course, the A list members within the classroom wouldn't be paying any attention to what their teacher was saying. It was one of the, many, things that angered Sam about the A list. The A list was made up of the pretty people, the popular kids, the jocks and the cheerleaders, the people that could buy their way in because they had rich parents. But mostly, they all proved to be shallow and superficial. The A list women that shared her final class of the day tended to sit around gossiping and passing notes, rather than actually trying to learn anything. Sam would be surprised that any of them could even pass the class if it wasn't for the fact that she knew they bullied or paid the smarter students to do the work for them. It was frustrating when she, and many other students, worked hard for their grades while the A list could simply skate on by to an easy A because of threats or money. Sam had money, but she also liked expanding her brain by her own efforts. She didn't rely on someone smarter to do her work for her.

"Well," Miranda said as she tucked a lock of dark brown hair behind an ear, "obviously, Romeo and Juliet tells of the greatest love that there ever was." She smiled up at their teacher, like she expected praise for her perfect answer.

"Please," Sam sneered at her, resisting the gag reflex to throw up her lunch.

"Excuse me?" Miranda snapped green eyes toward Sam and glared in disgust at the Goth woman. Sam might have adopted more colors into her wardrobe beyond black, but she still maintained a mostly Goth appearance, especially in the eyes of the narrow minded A lists who never changed the label of person after freshmen year. "Are you trying to say it's not?" Then she laughed, a wicked gleam dancing through her eyes. "Or do you think you and your little loser friend are the new and improved Romeo and Juliet, since everyone knows your parents don't like each other? Someone sure has a big head."

Sam narrowed her violet eyes at the brunette as some of the other students laughed at Miranda's comment. That was another irritating thing about the A lists inability to change their opinion: they still never got it through their thick heads that nothing was ever going to happen between Danny and her. But then, most of the A list tended to have no brains and only thought about themselves.

"I completely disagree with your answer," Paulina spoke up, surprising Sam, who could only stare at the school's queen bee with her mouth agape in her shock.

Miranda opened her mouth, looking ready to snap back at Paulina for her disagreement, but she snapped her mouth shut in a hurry with a scowl twisting her pretty face. Paulina held enough influence in the school that she could probably crush Miranda's social standing with a mere word and make the short remainder of the school year a living hell for the other senior A list. Maybe the brunette had a few brain cells after all, or at the very least the sense to be fearful of the people ranked higher than she.

"Romeo and Juliet isn't about some great romance," Paulina continued, ignoring the looks that some of the other classmates were giving her. She kept her head raised high as she stared at the teacher, who was waiting to hear where her student was going with her response. "Juliet wasn't even fourteen yet, and right before their first meeting, Romeo was whining about his love for Rosaline. Two seconds later, Rosaline is all but forgotten at the sight of Juliet? Romeo and Juliet barely even knew each other before they rush into this secret marriage and end up dead for their troubles. And for what? A moment of lustful infatuation? They didn't know enough about each other to know if what they felt was really love or not. The message of the story is about why you shouldn't rush so hastily into love, it's about the folly of young love, and what we should take from the play is to not leap so fully into a relationship."

Sam swore her jaw tried to drop onto her desk in shock. Paulina had actually understood what the play was about? Paulina had actually read the play? Sam was beside herself with the astonishment of that point. She would have guessed that most, if not all the A lists, and maybe even some of the other students, simply watched the latest release of the movie version of the play and only took the "greatest love story of all time" thought from it. Pinching her arm, she winced but was certain that this indeed was not a dream. But having a half ghost for a best friend, she couldn't rule out some this being some alternate reality where Paulina was actually some sort of secret nerd under her pretty face.

Or she realized in a corner of her mind, maybe she was being a bit narrow minded herself in thinking that Paulina was just some dumb, pretty face with a nasty cruel streak toward anyone that wasn't on the A list. Sam felt a little sick at the idea of being like the A list in that respect.

"That was an excellent analysis of the story, Miss Sanchez," Miss Henderson said, an impressed smile upon her aged face.

"But everyone knows that Romeo and Juliet is the greatest love story," Miranda complained, pouting like a spoiled brat that refused to accept anything other than what she believed as truth.

"That's just media hype used to sell tickets to the latest remake of the movie," Miss Henderson said with a sigh that made her look exhausted. "Selling it as a great romance story appeals to young teens who identify with that whirlwind romance, leaping head first into being in love with someone they barely know."

"I still don't see why that's such a bad thing," Miranda grumbled, folding her arms over the top of her desk. "What's so bad about falling in love at first sight? It's not like we're all going to go commit double suicide."

"You can't know that," Sam argued. "People sometimes let their emotions blind them, especially when love is involved. You jump to wrong conclusions, things get blown out of proportion. Parents not wanting you to be with someone for any number of reasons that lead you to believing your only option to be with that person is to run away, or at the very extreme to take your lives so that you can be together in the next life. Shakespeare wanted to warn against such foolishness."

"Indeed," Miss Henderson agreed. "It's not that falling in love itself is bad. It's falling in love too quickly. Love is something that should grow over time as you get to know the other person. And nowadays, we also have to warn about teen pregnancy when it comes to young love. I'm sure many of you have fallen in love at least once already. But would you want to have to worry about raising a child at your age because you rushed into love and sex? What if your parents didn't accept it and kicked you out of the house? What if you boyfriend abandoned you after discovering you were pregnant?" She snapped her brown eyes all around the room, narrowing them at each other students in a way that made many of them jerk to attention like they were just scolded. "I want you all to consider how that would affect your lives before you think about taking things to the next level with any of your partners. I know prom is coming up, and that's a big night for many of you." She said it like she knew many of her students were considering prom night to be their first time with whomever they were dating. "Condoms, you'll discover, aren't one hundred percent guaranteed to prevent pregnancy."

The bell rang at that moment, and many of the students started packing up their things, happy and relieved to leave the class. Sam almost forgot about her eagerness to get to her meeting once the discussion started. After she shoved her books into her bag, she slung it over a shoulder as she stood, but she halted when she found two people standing in her way. Sam frowned, her brow knitting as she glanced between Paulina and her ever present satellite Star. She might give Paulina points for actually understanding Romeo and Juliet, but that didn't mean she was going to become best friends with the queen bee. If Paulina was looking to pick on her for one reason or another, or for no reason at all, Sam wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of cowing her like other non-A list students.

"I have somewhere to be," Sam said, frowning at the two women. "So if you could save the harassment for another time, that would work really well for me."

"Oh, we know exactly where you're supposed to be," Star said, smirking as she placed one hand on hip.

"Why do you say it like that?" Paulina turned a frown onto the other woman. "You make it sound like we plan on taking her to some storage closet or something and roughing her up before locking her in the closet."

Star jerked, dropping the arm at her side as the smirk fell. "I didn't mean it like that!"

"Wait," Sam said, confusion clouding her brain as she tried to understand what the two women wanted of her. "That's not what you want?"

Paulina's emerald eyes landed on Sam. Then she shook her head. "I was told to meet with you after school to start discussing your little project."

"You're the one that's supposed to work with me?" Sam gaped at the woman again. Maybe this was a nightmare after all. What was Principal Ishiyama thinking when she decided to have Sam and Paulina work together? Didn't she realize the two were more likely to pull out each other's hair or claw out each other's eyes, instead of getting anything done?

"You should feel lucky we even agreed to this," Star said with that annoyingly snobby air about her.

"Are you really trying to turn this into a fight?" Paulina frowned, and Star glanced away from the look on her friend's face, keeping her mouth shut. "Principal Ishiyama," she turned her attention back onto Sam, who was amazed that Paulina was actually trying to keep this as a civil conversation instead of letting it spiral downward into a fight, "knows I'm pretty good at putting together events, and she figured you'd probably prefer to speak with a peer about planning this rather than an adult who would probably try to stomp all over your ideas with restrictions."

"Wow," Sam mumbled as her eyebrows lifted in surprise. "I guess Principal Ishiyama does know a thing or two about her students." She admittedly did have to see the principal on a few occasions over the years when her protests got a little too out of hand, but she never thought that Principal Ishiyama really cared a whole lot about getting to know the students of Casper High. It still surprised her that Principal Ishiyama even agreed to let her run with this idea. Folding her arms, Sam frowned at Paulina. "All right. So where do you want to begin?"

"Well, for starters," Paulina said as she took a seat on top of one of the desks, "I think we should incorporate this into prom. I know there are a lot of people that are still dateless, and this auction would allow some of them to perhaps acquire dates."

Sam nodded to the suggest, glancing briefly at Star, who took a seat at another desk with a notebook out and ready to jot down notes. "I had the same thought. I know there are some who are already just planning to come solo to prom, or not at all, because they figure no one is going to ask them or say yes if they ask anyone. But," she frowned as she leaned against the desk, "I worry that some guys will feel disheartened about it because no one will bid on them because they're 'losers.'" She air quoted the word as she glared at the pair of A lists.

"I do understand your worry there. It'll probably be hard to get those guys to participate if they're already feeling down on themselves about not being able to get dates." Paulina's expression turned serious as she leaned back on her arms. "Why would they want to put themselves up for the humiliation of not being bid on when they already feel like they can't get a date?"

"But," Star cut in, and Sam felt nervous about what she was going to say, "there are girls that are feeling the same way, you know. Even if it's with another loser, wouldn't they still want the chance to ensure a date for themselves? No one wants to go to prom alone. That's just sad."

"You could be a little more compassionate," Sam said, wishing sometimes that Star could keep her mouth shut. "And not everyone feels that way. Some people are perfectly content with going to prom alone. They don't need to have a date. And they shouldn't be forced into feeling that way. But for those that want a magical night with a date, this might be a way to allow them that chance. And it's for charity! That's got to at least encourage some people to participate. Right?" She glanced between the two women, hoping that they would agree.

"I do think that better habitats for the animals at the zoo is a good cause." Paulina nodded, though Star looked unimpressed with where the money from the auction would go. "Some of the animals' living condition really aren't the best. But," she added, and Sam tensed, wondering what idea was going on in Paulina's head, "I think we should consider putting a portion of the money aside for the school. For one thing," she waved an arm about the room, "the air conditioning is pretty shot, and considering how hot it can get here during spring and summer months, that's pretty killer on the students and faculty. There's also the computers in the computer lab. They're way outdated. Even I," she pressed a hand to her chest, "know that, and I'm not all tech savvy like your friend. Music and drama clubs get really poor funding, as well as some of the under rated sports and clubs. I know football is our biggest draw, but it's not fair to the other clubs to pool all our money into football alone."

Sam blinked, impressed again by the A list. Paulina wasn't a complete snob, only thinking about the popular students and sports. "What were you thinking?" She eyed the woman warily. "Fifty-fifty?"

"I thought maybe forty-sixty would all right. That way your cause is still making the majority of the money, but the school also gets a pretty good return."

Sam pondered over the suggestion then nodded. She could agree to that compromise, and helping out the school was a good cause too. Even if they would be graduating soon, they could still do something to help the future students attending Casper High. "Now that we have that all figured out, I guess we should start discussing how to go about running this and promoting it to get guys to sign up. Tucker will be participating whether he likes it or not."

"Oh?" Paulina smirked slyly. "And I thought the two of you would be going together."

Sam blinked at her several times, cheeks warming with a blush. "N-No! Of course not! Why would you think that?" Honestly, she was surprised that Paulina wasn't making some jab about her and Danny being a couple, like everyone else.

Paulina rolled her emerald eyes. "Please! You two are way more obvious than you and Danny ever were. It's kind of cute. In a way. But sometimes it gets really annoying. Like, seriously! When are you two going to kiss already?"

Sam folded her arms as she turned her head away, cheeks still a rosy color. "Well, if he's not going figure it out on his own, I'm not going to tell him."

"Men can be pretty dense, huh?" Paulina sighed, like she knew exactly what Sam was going through with Tucker. "So put him down on the list of participants," she told Star, who had jotted down notes on everything they discussed. "You can add Dash and Kwan to it also." With that decided, they got down to planning out how to promote the whole prom date auction and other important details.


Author's Note: I haven't forgotten about this story! I swear I haven't! Also, I made a minor change in the last chapter, basically just adjusting the time of year because they should be at the end of the school year and not at the end of winter.

Spongebob Swagpants: I don't think there are a lot of Kwan x Danny stories out there? XD;;

midnight: Yay! Yeah, I'm still kind of pondering the title.

Leo Dane: Oh! A Danny/Kwan fan! =D Sorry it took so long to get another chapter out! D:

klarissapereda: It's definitely not a short story. XD;; I just got distracted with other stories and didn't get around to writing up another chapter until now. As for the title, well, dreams are sort of a major part of it.