Thank you for the reviews! I really appreciate it!
Previously…
"Tucker," I said as Sam put her hand on his shoulder.
"No!" he screamed, "I'm sick and tired of being your little minion, and I'm sick and tired of you. I'm done being in Team Phantom!" and he stormed out of the house.
Tucker was the first to go.
Sam and I sat staring at the door for at least ten minutes as our mouths hung agape. After the eternal silence Sam spoke, "What just happened?"
We continued to stare at the door hoping he would run back in laughing, saying that he tricked us. But the hope was foolish. His rage was so deadly; I thought that it would end my half-life. "He... he left," I whimpered.
"Don't worry," Sam tried to smile, "he'll come back."
"No he won't. Remember when Tucker wished to have ghost powers like me," Sam nodded and I continued, "That was ghost envy. I thought he had learned, but a couple of weeks ago he brought it up again," tears began to prick at the corners of my eyes, "the fury just finally got the better of him."
Sam, put her arms around my shoulders trying to comfort me. "It's my fault, isn't it?" I cried, "If I wasn't such a show-off, such a jerk."
Sam twisted me around so that I had to look into her eyes. "Danny, that's your inner hero talking. It isn't your fault," she spoke sternly.
"But I could have talked to him about it. I could have-"
"No! There was no way you could have known that it would escalate this far."
Her words meant nothing.
School was awkward on Monday. It was sad seeing Tucker sit by himself at lunch, but when I tried to walk over to him he shot me a look so venomous that my feet moved away without my control. Jazz saw this exchange and sat next to me. "What happened?" she asked.
"I don't want to talk about it," I sneered
"Danny, bottling up your fillings will do nothing to improve this situation," the psychiatrist-side of her spoke.
I rolled my eyes and explained to her what had happened. "I'll go talk to him," she declared.
I was about to protest, but Sam smiled and interrupted by saying, "Jazz is great at talking to people, she can only make things better."
Comforted by the thought I watched her trot towards Tucker. I saw him mouth that he was fine and that she should go away, but she stood firm and got him to explain his side of the story. He got visibly angrier the more he said and just nodded and sometimes added a comment that I couldn't hear from the distance away. After a couple of minutes of this exchange she smiled warmly and made her way back towards Sam and I. "How'd it go?" I asked, "Does he forgive me?"
"More like, does he see the error his ways," Sam grumbled under her breath.
"Tucker and I now see eye to eye," she smiled, but there was something weird about the look in her eyes.
Joy welled up inside me, and a jack-o-lantern grin spread across my face. "Oh, thank you Jazz!" I shouted before wrapping my arms around her in a tight hug, "Is he going to sit over here?"
"Maybe I should clarify," she sighed as if she was getting frustrated with a 2nd grader, "I agree with Tucker. You are always bragging and you constantly reap the rewards of the fame that is only there because of our help."
My grin dropped. She was my sister, how could she be saying this. "Jazz, do you have ghost envy?" I asked, fearful of the answer.
She rolled her eyes before saying, "It's more like ghost aggravation, but yes, that is the closest scientific name to how Tucker and I are feeling. Now since you enjoy the positive attributes that come with being a hero I think you should have to earn them. I'm out of Team Phantom as well."
"Jazz, no!" I cried.
"You didn't want me on the team since the beginning, so you got your wish," she growled before she walked over and sat down with Tucker.
I buried my head into my hands, "Great call, Sam," I thought, but I wouldn't say it for fear of pushing her over the edge too.
My world seemed to be caving in around me. I was like King Midas, but whatever I touched didn't turn to gold, it turned to bitterness. "Enjoy the positive attributes that come with being a hero, what positive attributes?"I thought, "Lack of sleep, poor grades, injuries, getting hunted down, avoiding the mobs that followed me, hero life wasn't that great."
Pain filled every part of me. Not the physical pain. That I could deal with. This pain hurt more than a broken rib or a second degree burn. This pain wrenched at my heart, it filled my mind. I couldn't just put on a band-aid and take some medicine. This pain was emotional. She basically just abandoned me. It felt worse than being hunted down by my own parents. At least they didn't know I was related to them. Jazz knew. She was therapist, my doctor when Sam wasn't there, she was my excuse-maker, she was my sister.
Jazz was the second to go.