(A/N: And the fun just keeps on coming…)
"Well, well, why am I not surprised." A strangely deep voice said. The voice belonged to an overweight teacher dressed in standard clothes for participating in a gym class. A metallic whistle hung loosely from her neck as she threateningly pointed a piece of chalk at our ghostly hero.
That being said, Danny cringed and it was hard to figure out whether he cringed from the harsh words, or the fact that the teacher before him was a woman. "Don't gimme that look, Fenton!" she demanded. "Now, I want an explanation. Why isn't your assignment done?"
The black-haired boy's blue eyes darted around him, hoping that he could find a reason somewhere in the room, but to no avail. "I…I-I…" he stammered, trying to just toss something into the air and praying it'd get her off his case.
"Mrs. Testlaff!" Sam quickly chirped in. "I heard that… you beat Mr. Lancer in the Amity Park Triathlon!"
Completely changing gears, Mrs. Testlaff's eyes glazed over in memory as she began, "Yes, Manson, I did, but that was a long time ago, back in the eighties…" As she recreated the events of the 1984 Amity Park Triathlon, Danny slowly backed away, quietly sliding into his seat next to Sam.
"Thanks for the save, Sam." Danny gratefully whispered. He smiled at her, setting his hand on hers. "I owe ya one."
Blushing profusely, Sam looked away and replied "Oh, no problem, Danny." Thinking for a moment, she looked back and said "Just paying you back for all those times you helped me."
Frowning a bit in thought, he asked, "What do you mean?"
Smiling as she thought of one time in particular, she answered, "Well, remember when we first met?"
Amity Park Preschool: A Terrible Institution from THE MAN.
Or, as the sign said without the graffiti, "A Caring, Nurturing Environment".
Running around the park, fresh from naptime were some of the children that would one day inhabit Casper High School. Plopped on the grass, little Paulina and Star were playing house with their "Darbie: Attorney at Law" play set. Out on the hardtop, young Dash Baxter was bouncing a dodge ball against the pavement, unknowingly practicing a basketball maneuver that would one day make him king of the school. Buried in a small corner of the area, away from the others, was a sandbox, occupied by two other little boys. One, whose crimson hat seemed a little big for him, was furiously pounding his thumbs into a small, plastic rectangle, embroiled in a battle with Cowser, master of the Fungi Republic. The other, with a familiar mess of black hair was trying to make a sandcastle, though it looked more like a complex anthill than anything else.
Standing in the doorway of the preschool was a young girl, her own black hair contrasting horribly with her fluffy pink dress. Young Sam Manson's eyes darted around the park, trying to see where she could fit in. Looking back inside, she saw the door where her mother had dropped her off, saying something about "Having fun with kids who are like you, Sammy-kins". Pouting a bit out of not knowing what her mother meant, Sam decided that, perhaps, she had meant for her to make friends with girls, like herself. Slowly, she walked over to the two girls sitting on the grass. "H-hi…" she nervously mumbled, looking down more at her uncomfortable shoes than them.
The girls looked up with what seemed to be friendly smiles. "Hi!" Star said. "Wanna play with us?"
Returning the smile with a healthy dose of gratitude, Sam replied, "Okay! What are you-?"
"Wait," Paulina interrupted, her smile suddenly replaced by a glare that seemed to take away from her image as a perfect little girl. "Do you have a Darbie doll?"
Thinking for a moment, all the while twirling her finger with one ofthe pigtails her mother had insisted on Sam having, she shakily answered, "I-I don't think I do…"
Getting up, along with the miniature mansion, Paulina sneered, "Then you can't play with us!" Looking to her friend, she ordered, "Come on, Star, let's go play over there." Without waiting for another word, Paulina walked off with Star following suit.
Whimpering quietly, she walked onto the asphalt, thinking that maybe the boy playing basketball would be a more suitable friend; Someone who liked to be outside, and play all sorts of sports and games. Putting on a smile, she held her hands above her head and shouted, "Over here! Over here!"
Looking blankly at her, the young boy gaze turned into a glare as he said, "I can't play with you! You're a girl!" as he bounced the ball against the blacktop, he continued, "You'll just cry if I throw it at you!"
Glaring at the rude boy, the young girl argued, "I will not! Even if I DO have pigtails!"
Grinning maliciously, the future sports star took the ball into his hand and threw it at her as hard as he could. The ball nailed her in the cheek, knocking her to the ground as it ricocheted into the air, landing just out of reach of the blond youth. "See?" he yelled, pointing accusingly at her. "I knew that a GIRL couldn't play sports!"
Choking back sobs, the young girl got up and ran further into the park, not bothering to try and play or even talk with any of the other children. Finally, her legs gave way as she fell in a heap, her tears and sobs freely escaping from her.
"Why don't they like me?" Sam demanded in her mind. "Why can't I play with them?".
Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt a small poke in her back. Turning around, she saw a pair of blue overalls, slightly coated in sand. Looking up, her eyes were greeted by two bright, shining orbs that the clothing had no chance of comparing to. "Hi." The young boy with bright blue eyes said, waving weakly.
Wiping away her tears on her arm, she looked up at him and shakily replied, "H-hi…"
"My name's Daniel." he continued with an innocent smile. "But my mommy and daddy call me Danny". He held out his hand for a handshake, as his father had taught him to do.
Returning the smile, she answered, "M-my name's Samantha. But my gramma calls me Sam". She took his hand in hers and gently shook it.
Pointing to the boy in battle, Danny said, "That's Tucker". Leaning down a bit, he whispered, "Tucker likes playing video games". Unbeknownst to him, Tucker's habit would soon become his, as well.
Smiling a little more, Sam let the boy help her to her feet, where he asked, "Wanna help me make a sand castle?"
"Sure!" she answered, nodding eagerly.
And so the two settled into the artificial sand and began molding Danny's anthill into a proper castle. After he had fallen into lava enough times, Tucker joined their efforts, laughing at Danny's efforts and admiring Sam's.
Once it was time to head in, they had constructed what appeared to be a bunch of rectangles coming out of the sand. But to them, it was an impenetrable castle, forged of their hard work.
And it was not the only thing forged that day.
As they walked into the preschool, the three had made a friendship that would withstand everything from crushes, jealousy and broken hearts to, oddly enough, attacks from the supernatural.
"Yeah, well, I guess I did give you a hand there." Danny sheepishly said, blushing and looking away.
Looking at him, Sam said, "You gave me more than that, Danny. You gave me-"
"MANSON! FENTON!" the overweight Health teacher yelled. "Could you PLEASE keep your flirting out of class?"
Shooting up from their seats, they both yelled in unison, "We're not flirting!"
Glaring at the two students, Mrs. Testlaff crossed her arms and replied, "Oh, really?"
Following their teacher's gaze, Danny and Sam both realized that Danny was still holding her hand, which had somehow interlaced fingers with Sam's. Staring at each other for a moment, they both blushed brightly and snatched their hands away, clutching them as if they had been scalded on something hot. Looking away, they both blushed a little more before they slid into their seats, embarrassment pulling at them like lead weighs.
Silencing the class' snickers, she continued, " Fenton, I WAS going to have Sam tutor you in an attempt to help your grade-"
This got a smile from both Danny and Sam.
"But I think you'll get a little more work done if you get paired with… Gray."
One row away from the unsuspecting lovebirds was Valerie Gray, who looked over at Danny and said, "Oh, don't worry," she smiled at him with a hard to read expression, "I'll make sure to tutor him thoroughly."
Unbeknownst to Valerie, Sam was glaring at her with the full power of her Gothic influence, which was enough to make small animals cry and run away in fear.
Unsurprisingly, this only got a slightly wider smile from Danny.
"Alright, class dismissed." Mrs. Testlaff called out, not at all interested in the inner workings of her students' social hierarchy
As the classroom emptied, Valerie walked over to Danny and asked, "So, wanna meet up at the library after school?"
"Sure!" he eagerly answered, smiling up at her as he rose from his seat.
Not about to lose a conflict in their battle over Danny, Sam grabbed out and clutched his arm. "Danny, waitasec!" she asked, almost pleading. "I didn't get to finish what I was-"
"Wanna go to the Nasty Burger after?" Valerie continued, fully aware that she had just interrupted Sam.
"Even better!" Danny replied, tearing his arm from Sam's grasp. Looking over his shoulder, he quickly said, "Sorry, Sam, but I'm gonna be late for Science!"
When Danny left, Valerie sent Sam a smug grin, signaling that she had won this round. "You could've made your move there, Sam," she said cajolingly.
As Valerie left to catch up with Danny, Sam clenched both her fists and barely suppressed a growl, sending knives into Valerie's back with her eyes. "Oh, sure, DANNY!" she accused, as if he were still there. "Leave your BEST FRIEND in the dust to go flirt with your mortal enemy who ALREADY DUMPED YOU!"
"You know, jealousy is a terrible thing." A voice behind her said smugly. This already annoying voice was one that, over the years, Sam had come to hate with the white-hot passion of a thousand burning suns. Looking behind her, she saw the voice's owner, Paulina, grinning.
"I'm not jealous!" Sam protested, "I'm just-"
"Jealous," Paulina finished for her, "Because that loser Danny isn't paired up with you". And with that, Paulina took her leave, humming a tune that Sam didn't recognize. "Oh, and for the record," the cheerleader said over her shoulder, "I always knew you two would end up together". As if it weren't something serious, the queen of the school walked out of the classroom, all the while humming that melody.
Granted, if Sam wasn't filled with unbridled rage at the moment, she may have been able to identify it. Picking up her notebook off of her desk, she debated with herself, trying to find some plausible reason as to why she was so mad. She got so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice that the classroom had filled up again.
With the next class.
Snapping out of her reviere, she looked around quickly before tiredly gazing into space. "Oh, darn it." She said quietly.
She was late.
Again.
(A/N: Wow, that one was… long. Didn't expect that. Then again, I didn't expect to have this written as soon as I did. For the record, as school rapidly approaches, you shouldn't expect an update this soon, either. So, read and review, please.)
