Sorry for the shortness of the last chapter…I didn't realize how small it was…heh. Well, here's a longer chapter to make up for it!
The next morning, Ashley woke to her mother shaking her gently by the shoulders. She blearily opened her eyes, and struggled into a sitting position.
"Good morning, Ashley! Dad told me you two had a fight while I was at work. Want to talk about it?" she asked, letting Ashley adjust to consciousness.
Ashley sighed ad replied, "I just had a bad day yesterday. Nothing to worry about."
Her mother frowned, sensing the lie in her words, but nodded and left Ashley to get dressed. Ashley rolled out of bed, stumbling to the door of her closet as she yawned widely. She opened the door to her closet and rummaged through the clothes. Finally, she emerged with a red long-sleeve T-shirt and blue jeans. She changed into them and walked down the hallway to the kitchen, where her mother was making eggs. Ashley grinned her thanks as a plate was set in front of her, and dug in.
Thirty minutes later, Ashley rushed out the door, pink backpack in place. "Bye Mom!" she called over her shoulder as she ran down the sidewalk to the bus stop on the corner. There, she waited in silence while other kids arrived, greeting friends and chattering softly. Ashley sighed, and resigned herself to another lonely day at school.
When the bus pulled up, the other children rushed on and claimed seats next to friends. Ashley trudged to the second seat behind the driver, which was empty as always. She plopped down onto the leathery seat and pulled out the homework she hadn't done.
Ashley had just finished filling in the last answer to the last question when the bus pulled into the school parking lot. Ashley hurriedly packed away her homework and joined the crush of students thronging off the bus.
As Ashley entered Mr. Recnal's classroom, a random boy shouted, "Hey, look guys! The GEEK'S here!"
The class erupted into laughter and Ashley hung her head, feeling the sting of tears in her eyes. Mr. Recnal called the class to order, sympathy obvious in his expression.
Ashley hurried to her desk and bowed her head, almost to the desk. The children's taunts rang in her ears, and she bit her lower lip to stop its quivering.
In this time, Mr. Recnal had gotten the class under control, and he started the class. "Would everyone please pass in their homework?" The class rustled through their backpacks, teasing forgotten. None realized how they hurt Ashley, just that they were accepted into their classmates' cliques.
Lunch found Ashley sitting at a table, alone. She ate her lunch in silence and her food tasted of tears. No one came to join her. No one even glanced at her, save Mr. Recnal, who shot her a short look of sympathy on his way to the teachers' lounge.
Later that afternoon, Ashley unlocked the door to her apartment and entered her home. She shrugged her backpack to the floor just inside the door and trudged to her room. She rummaged through her desk for a pencil to do her homework with, but couldn't find her favorite one!
Suddenly, she remembered where she left it, and her hopes flared. She sped out the door, up the stairs, and onto the roof. She slowed, and crossed to the paper laying exactly as she left it the night before with the pencil next to it. She approached it, filled with apprehension.
Hands shaking, she picked up the piece of paper and examined it. She sighed as she saw only the note she had left, but squinted when she noticed a sort of "shadow" behind the words. She turned it over and her face filled with glee. He had responded! Ashley ran back to her room and read the note:
Dear Ashley,
Thanks so much for the letter! You have no idea how much it meant to me, and I'm very happy to know that I have a fan.
Also, the media got my name wrong. It's not "Invis-o-Bill," it's Phantom.
I'd be glad to be pen pals with you! Just leave a pencil and paper, and I'll drop by during patrol.
Your friend,
Phantom
Ashley grinned, and felt joyful tears prick her eyelids. She finally had a real friend!
That night, Ashley lay in bed trembling with excitement. She waited, hushed, for her parents to start snoring in the adjacent room.
Finally, the moment came.
Ashley snuck up to the roof, a fresh paper and pencil in hand. She took her place on the ledge and tapped the pencil to her chin in thought. After a few moments, she organized her thoughts and pencil scraped across paper.
Several minutes later, Ashley signed her name and pulled the pencil away with a flourish. Reverently, she placed the paper under the same rock and snuck to bed.
As she lay in bed waiting for sleep to claim her, the words on the paper repeated themselves in her mind:
Dear Phantom,
Sorry I called you Invis-o-Bill. Now that I think about it, it's obvious that it isn't you real name. Oops.
I'm really happy to finally have a real friend. All the kids at school think I'm a geek or a nerd, and they only say hi if they want help with their homework. I'm so glad to have a real friend.
Your friend,
Ashley
Finally, sleep overtook her, and she drifted away to dream land.
Elsewhere, Danny Phantom flew through the night, trying to quell the uneasiness in his mind. If this girl, Ashley, was just a ploy by ghost hunters to catch him, he was endangering himself by going back.
On the other hand, if Ashley really was a lonely girl who just wanted to be pen pals with him, he didn't want to hurt her feelings by not going.
Danny sighed and flew on. He rounded a large building and came into sight of Ashley's apartment. Nervously, he stepped out of the sky and glanced around for danger. Seeing nothing suspicious, he cautiously strode to the rock where he'd found the last note. Gulping, he picked up the paper and read it.
He breathed out a whoosh of air, relieved to find no gloating 'We've got you, Ghost Boy!' or something similar. He reread the note; eyebrows puckered into a confused frown, and picked up the pencil to write his response.
Dear Ashley,
I know what it's like to be considered a geek (although I wasn't smart enough to be a nerd), and I know that what others say of you doesn't matter. If YOU know that you're nice, or that you aren't whatever they say you are, that's all you need to think about! Trust me; don't let them get under your skin. I'm honored to be considered a true friend, and I promise I won't abuse the chance. If you ever need someone to talk to, let me now and I'll be glad to help if I can.
Your friend,
PhantomHe finished a few minutes later and reread it to make sure it didn't reveal that he was still human...well, half-human. Satisfied, he pinned the paper under the rock for Ashley to find. He lifted off and sped back to FentonWorks. There, he turned invisible and flew through a second-story window into the room of Danny Fenton.
That is, he flew into his room.
As he hovered above the bed, a bluish-white ring of light encircled his waist. It split into two identical rings, and they spread in opposite directions, scanning him into his human form.
When the rings dissipated over his head and under his feet, a very human Danny Fenton was left to fall the two feet to his bed. He let out a cleansing breath to release the stress that had built up from his uncertainty.
And…that should be good. There, see? NO CLIFFHANGERS! Grr…I hate those things…
Thanks to my reviewers:
Ghostanimal, Fang, Yami-chan and Unrealistic, Icepaw, and Lucky Phantom. You guys are awesome!