Thanks to MsFrizzle, jeanette9a, PrincessBetty01 and RubyMoon for the reviews!

I go back and forth on whether or not Vlad has ghost sense. I think a strong argument could be made either way, since he's never shown using it, and we know Danny and Vlad's powers aren't identical. For this story, he doesn't.

Like a lot of Vlad fans, I've always been disappointed we didn't see more of Vlad, Maddie and Jack's friendship from college.

Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Vlad had always privately considered himself a genius. He'd never taken an IQ test, but didn't have much faith in them anyway. No, the proof of his genius was in his ability to recognize the function of the advanced weaponry of the GiW, the ability to create his own tools by repurposing theirs, the mechanical and engineering talent that he'd inherited from his father. Math classes stood no chance against him, and the science classes still hadn't caught up to what he'd learned on his own.

Literature, on the other hand, didn't require the same type of skills he was used to. Literature required reading, and study, and didn't come as naturally as Vlad's other talents. So it was no reflection of his own intelligence that his grades in literature had dropped after his accident, he thought, it was just a natural result of having no time to keep up with the class's reading. The rest of his classes he could fake, other than gym which he'd actually improved in after he started the ghost fighting. It was harder to fake knowledge of a book he hadn't read.

"I know that you're capable of better than this, Vladdie." Mr. Portas had his hands folded on the desk, and he looked quite earnestly concerned, something that made Vlad more irritated than grateful. "This is the fifth quiz you've failed."

"My name's not Vladdie." Vlad muttered, and chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment. "And I've had some things going on. If you'll just give me extra credit work, I'll..."

"I'm sure you can make it up, you're a very bright young man," Mr. Portas agreed with a smile. Vlad agreed with his opinion, but still found himself annoyed by the implied condescension. "Still, that's not all I wanted to talk to you about. I'm worried about you, Vladdie."

"My name isn't Vladdie." He couldn't keep himself from glowering. "I'm fine. I've just been busy."

"You've been skipping classes and showing up late more and more often. I heard you fell asleep yesterday in biology."

"It was boring. Can I go?"

The smile on Mr. Portas's face was starting to get a bit stiff, but he stood up, shaking his head. "Actually, I thought it might be a good idea if you talked to..."

As if on cue, a woman with slicked red hair opened the door and stepped inside, grinning widely at everyone and everything in the room before settling her unnervingly bright gaze on Vlad. "Sorry I'm late! I hope I didn't keep you waiting. You must be little Vladdie!"

"I'm not Vladdie!" Temper finally pushed to the breaking point, Vlad stood up too, scowling at the newcomer. "And I don't need to talk to anybody!"

Looking embarrassed, Mr. Portas said, "I'm sorry, Ms. Spectra, lately Vlad here has been a little..."

"Oh, that's just fine, don't worry." After her initial look of surprise, she leaned down a bit to put a hand on Vlad's shoulder, beaming at him still. "We'll work this out before you know it!"

"There's nothing to work out." Something about her touch was offputting beyond the cheer, but Vlad resisted the urge to pull away. It wouldn't help his case to keep being surly, no matter how annoyed he was. "I just need a little time and I'll be fine."

"Just come with me to my office, and we can talk about it, okay?" Despite it being framed as a question, Vlad was certain it was an order and not a request. He stood, trying to force his expression to something neutral. It wasn't easy.

The room was oddly dark for an office, although Vlad supposed that was a reflection of his own sour mood. Settling down behind her desk, Ms. Spectra smiled at him expectantly. There really was no easy way out of this; he couldn't possibly tell her what was really going on, but as long as he kept wasting his every free second and a few that weren't free on ghost hunting, his school performance was bound to get worse, not better. He had to come up with a lie, a plausible one that wouldn't invite further 'help.' In short, he was doomed.

"Now, Vlad..."

At least she had his name right.

"I know that it's hard to be a teenager. So much pressure, you feel like your parents just don't understand, and your peers..." She paused, as if something had just struck her attention, then continued with a faintly narrower smile. "Let's talk about your peers."

He'd rather get hit by a bus. At least the ghost fighting problems had an upside, a feeling that he was part of something larger than normal people, succeeding in feats no other human could manage. Barely able to keep the growl out of his voice, he answered, "What about them?"

"I know you're not a popular boy, but there's nothing wrong with that. They just don't see the real you."

Vlad resisted the urge to roll his eyes. She had no idea.

"Sure, you're small, and a little scrawny, and maybe bleaching your hair didn't quite go as well as you'd hoped." She was still smiling a bit, although fainter, her eyebrows raised. "But that's not so bad, is it?"

He might have answered 'no' a minute earlier. Having someone else point out his flaws in such a syrupy-sympathetic voice just made them seem worse. He hunched down in the chair, still glaring at her. "The hair wasn't really my idea."

"Of course not." Her smile widened again. "Peer pressure can make any insecure, vulnerable boy do things he ordinarily wouldn't. Especially if there's a girl involved."

She was completely right for the wrong reasons. Vlad gritted his teeth, feeling a mix of anger and embarrassment rise. "It wasn't like that."

Ms. Spectra leaned back in her chair, looking unconvinced. "I can't help you if you aren't honest with me, Vlad. And that means that first, you have to be honest with yourself. You're not the first young man that I've helped, you know. Everybody thinks that their problems are unique, that nobody else could possibly understand, that it's hopeless. I'm sure that once you tell me what's going on, you'll see that it's the same sort of thing every young man goes through."

Anger was starting to burn out, replaced by an uncomfortable sick feeling. Always knowing the wrong thing to say had to be its own sort of talent. Maybe, if he really were like other boys, her words would be reassuring. Instead, they just reminded Vlad of the alienation which hadn't started with the accident but had gotten worse ever since.

"Oh, don't look so sad, Vladdie." Her voice was oddly satisfied, practically a purr. "I'm here for you, and I promise I won't give up until your worries are all gone."

"Do you want those fries?"

Vlad silently pushed them over to Jack, who began stuffing them in his mouth at a rate that risked choking.

"Vlad, are you okay? You've been quiet all afternoon." Maddie, sitting beside Jack on the other side of the booth, frowned at him. "Is something going on?"

"No! There's nothing going on!" Vlad snapped, instantly regretting it as Maddie's expression closed into a flat stare. "Look, I'm sorry. It's just that new counselor." He ran a hand through his white hair anxiously, bringing to mind Ms. Spectra's comments on it. "It's hard enough coming up with excuses to tell my dad. Now the teachers think there's something wrong with me too."

"Yeah, but there's not!" Jack offered cheerfully around a mouthful of fries. He swallowed, then added, "I mean, who cares what they think? We know you're awesome!"

Maddie gave him a grateful look. "Right. Even if they don't know about it, you're doing a lot of good for people. You should be proud of yourself."

"If it weren't for the ghost fighting, I wouldn't be having these problems," Vlad answered bitterly. He found himself slumped forward over the formica table, glaring down at his now-cold cheeseburger.

"But then ghosts would be flying around trying to kill people and take over their boxes and stuff," Jack said, having packed in the fries and now eyeing the cheeseburger. "Think about what a downer that would be!"

Vlad pushed the burger over without being asked. "I can't keep it up forever. As long as the government's portal is open, ghosts will keep coming through."

"There's nothing we can do about that." Maddie's voice was firm, although she didn't speak too loudly in case someone else in the restaurant might overhear. "Even if we shut it down or damage it ourselves, they'll just open a new one. All we can do is fight the ghosts back."

"I don't see why they leave it open like that," Vlad complained. "Whatever they're learning about the Ghost Zone can't possibly be worth constant ghost invasions. If they're supposed to be professional ghost hunters, they should be able to keep ghosts from getting past them."

"Maybe they do catch some of them," Jack suggested brightly. "Maybe we just meet the real sneaky spooks!"

"Wonderful, then we get the cream of the crop." Vlad decided this would be a good time to moan and bury his head in his arms on the table. "I can't even remember the last time I got home at a decent hour."

"I can! Last Tuesday. There was just that weird ghost worm, remember?" Jack took an aggressive bite of the cheeseburger, chewed and swallowed. "Got home in time for dinner."

"God forbid you miss a meal," Vlad grumbled, only to get a scolding look from Maddie.

"Have you thought about trying Cliff's Notes to catch up with your English classes?" Maddie suggested. "It'd probably be faster than reading whole books, and you would at least be passing again."

"Cliff's Notes are for stupid people." The look she gave him wasn't quite so angry as disappointed. He could feel himself wilting under it. "Fine, maybe. I guess it's better than failing."

She smiled at him again, and he felt a little better about the whole thing. "Working smarter is better than working harder anyway, right?"

"Unless you can do both!" Jack put in, although after the looks Vlad and Maddie both gave him, added awkwardly, "Which you can't right now, but you'd be doing great if you could, right?"

"Mm-hmm." Vlad slid out of the booth. "I'm going to head home and get started on the smarter working now, I think."

"Watch out for ghosts!" Jack grinned at him.

"What would you like to talk about today, Vlad?" Ms. Spectra had her fingers folded on her desk and an attentive smile. When he didn't answer, she went on brightly, "I know, why don't we talk about your friends?"

Vlad glowered at her silently, neither agreeing nor arguing. This was bad enough without encouraging her.

As the pause went on, she frowned faintly and asked, "You do have some friends, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" Stung by the implication, he forgot his resolution not to talk.

"Of course you do," she echoed agreeably, as if she hadn't implied anything else. "Even the most alienated young loner has at least one or two friends."

He stared at her a moment, not sure if she was being deliberately insulting or not. Her expression was still warm and reassuring, as if she hadn't said anything wrong at all. Maybe he was seeing too much in it; Maddie had accused him before of seeing insults where none were intended. It didn't help that Spectra's suggestion of only two friends was completely on the mark. "I don't see why you want to know about them. They're in a lot of the same classes I'm in, but they're doing just fine. No grade drops or skipped classes."

They didn't skip class as often as Vlad because they couldn't exactly slip out with the same ease as him, and there was no need for them to come and help with most of the little ghosts anyway. The stability of their grades despite the loss of most of their after-school study time was a different issue. Vlad was willing to concede that Maddie was simply smart enough to compensate for less study, but Jack remained a mystery. Maybe the slight difference between the time Vlad spent fighting alone and fighting with Jack and Maddie was enough to give Jack's grades an advantage. Vlad refused to consider the possibility that Jack was just smarter than him.

"I know they are. That's why I'm so concerned about you, Vlad. I just can't see why you've started failing classes, but they're still doing well." The smile on her face was gentle and concerned. "Maybe you could ask your friend Jack to tutor you?"

The suggestion alone was enough to raise his blood pressure. He had to clench his fists and count to ten in his mind to calm himself down. If she noticed the change in his mood, she gave no sign of it. As he started to cool off, he asked in what he hoped was a reasonable tone of voice, "Why did you ask me if I have friends when you already know who they are?"

She stared at him a moment, as if examining him, before smiling again to answer. "I wanted you to tell me who you really think your friends are, not who the teachers think they are. Why don't you want Jack to help you through this little block? He seems like a very friendly, helpful young man. I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't enjoy spending time with him." She paused again, a bit dramatically in Vlad's opinion, before suggesting, "Unless you don't really think of Jack as your friend."

That was ridiculous. Yes, they'd had a few rough patches after the accident, and maybe Vlad had held a bit of a grudge at first, but that was over. He and Jack had settled into a somewhat-agreeable dynamic of ghost fighter and sidekick. Jack could be a little clumsy, and wasn't as good with the weapons as Maddie, but he seemed to try hard. Sometimes that could be more irritating than if he hadn't been putting forth full effort, because Vlad couldn't entirely blame him for his mistakes.

"You don't." She answered her own question, her tone curious rather than worried. "Why don't you tell me what's going on with you and your friend?"

"Nothing's going on. I don't know what you're talking about." Vlad scowled at her with the most disapproving expression he could manage. Even if something were going on, he certainly wouldn't share it with her.

"I see. Since you have so few friends, it's very difficult for you to face the idea that one of them might not really be your friend. That's perfectly understandable."

"And wrong. I told you, that's not what's going on!" The stubborn determination of the woman to pursue her own ideas without listening to Vlad was incredibly irritating. "We get along fine. Everything's fine."

"But Vlad, it's obvious that everything isn't fine, or you wouldn't be here, would you?" She pointed it out gently, although the smile on her face was almost predatory. The contrast unsettled him. "I think we need to have a long talk about Jack. Does he encourage you to act out the way you do?"

"No, and I'm not acting out. This is ridiculous. I've just been tired lately, that's all." Vlad exhaled through gritted teeth. "What will it take to prove to you that I'm fine?"

"You'll have to be fine first. I know this is a little scary, but you'll feel much better once we get to the source of your problems." She stood up, walking around the desk to come closer to him. He resisted the urge to lean away from her. "Was Jack responsible for your coloring your hair like that?"

Yes, but not the way she thought. He kept up his sour expression in the hope that she'd give up. "No. I did that."

"Were you trying to impress Maddie?"

Yet again, it was something almost true. He'd never have tried to sneak into that lab without Maddie there, and probably would have stayed away from the portal if he hadn't been trying to show Maddie how clever he was. It was almost true enough to be suspicious, but there was no way she could know the truth about him. If she did, she wouldn't be asking him questions in her office, especially not rude ones. She'd probably be running. The mental image was at least a little satisfying, but not enough to bring a smile to his face.

"No. My grades haven't got anything to do with them." He tried to sound calm. Getting angrier would just make her keep prodding him.

"I understand why you want to believe that. I really do." The sympathy in her voice bothered Vlad more than open contempt. "You're lonely, and can't stand the idea of losing the few friends you have. Even if they're bad for you."

"They aren't bad for me!" Vlad had raised his voice again, but was too upset at her suggestion to care. "If anything, I'm..."

He shut his mouth too late. She leaned closer, practically towering over him. Her voice was soft and smooth as she prompted, "What, Vlad? If anything, you're what?"

"Nothing." He pressed his lips together again, wishing he'd kept quiet. She'd never give up now.

"I don't think it's nothing, Vlad." One of her hands was on his shoulder, a pressure that was more intrusive than comforting. "I think we're very close to the root problem."

There was obviously no point in repeating that he had no problem. He was starting to believe there was one despite himself, and despite knowing that she didn't really understand what was going on. The ghost fighting was interfering with his life. It was disrupting his schoolwork, and it was dangerous besides. If it weren't for Maddie and Jack, he would never have begun to fight. But... on some level he'd started to like it on his own. He was strong in that form. He was important. And even if normal people reacted to him with terror, it was an improvement over his classmates' mocking.

"I'm the one who's been skipping classes. They're a good influence on me." Not that he needed their influence to stay in school, but he couldn't tell her that.

"That's not what you were going to say." She sounded almost smug now. Vlad was embarrassed to realize he was starting to cringe away from her touch. "You were going to say that if anything, you're bad for them, weren't you?"

There was no point in answering, particularly since she was right.

"Oh, Vladdie." Now she had hands on both his shoulders, leaning over him still while he hunched underneath her grip. "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll get this all sorted out, no matter how hopeless it seems."