Samantha Manson woke to the sound of a low male voice coaxing her awake.

"Sammy, wake up." It was Danny, her long time crush. She rubbed her eyes and blushed as he stared at her night clothes, a purple spaghetti strap and fuzzy black shorts.

"It's almost time for school. You gonna get ready or am I going to fly you to school in that?" Danny teased, holding out a hand for her to grab. She did, and she gasped at the sweet electrical jolt that snapped between their fingers when they touched. Danny swallowed as she stood; averting his eyes and rubbing his hand against his thigh as if to make her touch disappear. Sam's cheeks burned in shame. Apparently he didn't even like touching her. How would he feel about kissing her in the play?

"I'm gonna take a shower before school. Wait for me?" It was a simple question, yet it was loaded with meaning and Sam waited anxiously for the answer.

"Of course." Danny smiled and Sam grinned with relief, not knowing why she was so anxious in the first place. But his sweet voice and soft ice blue eyes full of honesty calmed her and she smiled and whistled as she padded to her private bathroom.

Danny swiped a hand over his face and groaned. How was he going to tell Sam that she couldn't be in the play she was so great at? He couldn't do that to her. But he couldn't let Dash hurt her, either.

Danny's icy eyes hardened. No, he would NOT let Dash hurt Sam. It was not an option.

…

'No! That stupid jock is ruining my plans! Bloody hell!" The dark figure thought angrily, slamming his fist against the wall of his home. 'Damn it! I'll just have to get him and his Latina brat out of my way.'

…

Danny sat on Sam's windowsill, one leg folded and one swinging freely out the window. His thoughts were in turmoil but strangely at peace at the same time. Just then, steam enveloped the room and Danny jumped back inside Sam's room, his face going red as she applied lip gloss and rolled her lips to get it on even. His mind went blank.

"Danny?"

'Danny? Who's Danny?' He thought, and then the ghost boy shook his head to shake some sense into his brain. One look at Sam's lips and he couldn't remember his own name.

"Yeah?" He asked, turning his warm neon green gaze to the Goth.

"You okay? You seem out of it." She stated, and for some reason that reminded him of the news he had to give her. His smile fell and her eyebrows went up in surprise and confusion.

"What's wrong?" She inquired, feeling nervous at his foreboding expression.

"Sam, I gotta tell you something..." He paused and took a deep breath, preparing for the worst. "You can't be in the play. I'm sorry."

It wasn't what he was expecting.

Sam's mouth ajar, she stared at him. Then she began laughing, laughing so hard she had to double over and clutch her stomach.

"You're great, Danny. You're the one who chose me for the part. Of course I'm in the play!" Wiping a tear from her eye, she put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. "Good one."

"Sam, I'm not joking!" He flung his arms in the air, frustrated. "I'm serious!"

"Danny, you chose me for the part! The only way I could be kicked out of the play is if-"

A knot rose in her throat.

"-If I kicked you out." Danny finished softly, and a noise of despair fell from Sam's mouth.

"Danny." She whispered. "Why would you make me leave the play?" Tears rose in her violet eyes.

"Sam-"

"If you didn't want to kiss me, you could've just said so!" She cried, lips quivering.

Danny was astonished. "Sam, that's not it at all!" He held her by her forearms and he leaned forward, so that their bangs brushed and he looked her deep in the eyes. "It's because if you do this play, you're going to get hurt."

Normally she would have scoffed at the information, but she was hypnotized by his serious stare. "What?" She breathed, confusion knitting her eyebrows together.

Danny closed his eyes and his throat worked. "Dash...Dash said that if Paulina wasn't Christine, he was going to hurt you." His eyes opened and he stared at her intently. "Can't you see, Sam? I can't let him hurt you!"

Sam blinked at his confession, and when the words registered she fought the urge to roll her eyes. If Danny weren't so sweet, he'd be unbearable. He thought she couldn't take care of herself from Dash? She fought ghosts on a regular basis! She smiled ever so slightly, exasperated but touched. "Danny, that is the stupidest thing I've ever heard from you."

The ghost boy pulled away, irked. He folded his arms and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Well, if you think I'm so stupid-" He scowled, but Sam giggled and hugged him.

"Danny, you're way too sensitive. I said it was stupid because I can take care of myself, and you should know that!"

"Sam, its Dash! I can't protect you with my ghost powers! He'll hurt you!" Danny's green eyes were filled with worry, mind racing. She didn't know how malicious Dash could be!

"Danny, I'm going to be in the play, and I'll take care of Dash." She cracked her knuckles and grinned maliciously. "Now, all I need are my steel toed boots with the spikes, the nun-chucks I got at Halloween, and an electric dog collar."

Danny stifled his laughter by covering his mouth with his gloved hand. His eyes were glittering, but he tried to school his face into a serious expression.

"Sam, please."

"No. I'm going to be in the play." Sam glared at him and he winced, like her stare was going to make his face melt.

"We'll talk about this later." He caved, determined to stop her from getting hurt, even if he had to haunt the jock until the play was over.

Sam just rolled her eyes and knew that if she pushed him and gave him her puppy dog eyes, he would let her do whatever she wanted, but she would wait till later. It never occurred to her that those eyes only worked on Danny.

"Come on, ghost boy, we're gonna be late." Sam asserted, slinging her purple and black bag onto her shoulder. She held out her hands so he could hold them and make her fly, but he had something else in mind.

Sam's mind went to mush as Danny smiled at her wickedly, and then he scooped her up in his arms bridal style.

"W-what are you doing?" Sam stammered, lost in his soft neon eyes.

"Giving my girl a ride to school." He said softly, smiling at her. Her face went red. 'My girl?"

With that, he crouched down and Sam turned puzzled eyes to him.

"What are you-" She began, but he silenced her. And then he leaped.

She screamed at the ceiling that was rushing them, but of course he turned them intangible and soared through the sky, laughing at her shocked face.

"Danny!" She cried, laughing, and he chuckled along with her, though a dark cloud loomed in the back of his mind.

…

'Hm, my woman has a very interesting imagination. I think I shall use her ideas to set that blockhead jock in his place.' The dark spirit snickered with a repugnant grin set upon his face. He glided throughout Casper High, eyes alert for any sign of the blonde headed beefcake. Suddenly, his ears perked as he heard shuffling of feet, and the popular crowd came into view, the Latina brat and jock leading the group.

The shadow smiled grimly and flew down, becoming visible behind a locker and then stepping out into the hallway, making the group stop in their tracks. He eyed Dash and Dash bristled, glaring at him.

"Uh, loser, there's this little thing called get out of our way. You should try it sometime." Paulina sneered, shoving him aside as she stalked past him. Before she could get far, though, he grabbed her wrist tightly and swung her back in front of him. She stumbled backward, gasping, and Dash caught her as she fell backwards. Shock was clear in her eyes.

"What the hell!" Dash snarled, letting go of Paulina and lunging at the mysterious boy. As he did, he saw the boy's bright green eyes flash red?

Dash hesitated in mid-strike, but that only gave the boy more time to grab the jock's throat and throw him across the hall. The popular crowd gasped in unison, their shadowed eyes going wide with shock.

"Dude! That was not cool!" Kwan shouted, advancing menacingly on the boy. He, however, just smirked as he dodged the jock's punch, and retaliated with a roundhouse kick to the gut, sending Kwan flying.

He shifted his blood-red eyes to the other men in the group, who all shook their heads and backed slightly away.

With relish, he sauntered over to Dash, grabbing his collar and slamming him up against the beige school wall. He grinned with malice at the fear in the football player's blue-violet eyes.

"I heard that you are threatening the Goth girl, am I correct?" He hissed. When Dash didn't answer, he clutched the shirt tighter, choking the jock, and slammed him harder against the wall. "AM I?"

"Y-yes!" Dash squeaked. He squirmed under the boy's red-eyed glare.

"If you go near her again, I will become your worst nightmare." His eyes were mere slits and they were nose to nose. "Got it?"

"Yes!" Dash squealed as he let go, and he scrambled away. The boy turned at the sound of someone's voice clearing, a very annoying sound. He came face to face with a furious Paulina, her teal eyes aflame.

"I will be Christine; I don't care if you are obsessed with that Goth freak." She hissed. "And there's nothing you can do about it, because you can't beat me up."

He merely smirked. "Oh, really? Nothing? Not even tell all your secrets to the entire school?"

Fear flashed across her face but she quickly hid it behind a mask of indifference. "I don't even know your name." She scoffed. "How would you know all my secrets?"

He got up in her face and she stepped back in disgust. "I know it was you who plotted against your old friend Amy to steal her boyfriend and ruin her popularity." He smiled, not nicely, and she gasped as she covered his mouth and flicked her eyes over to the popular crowd, who were a ways down the hall and couldn't hear them talking.

"Shut it!" She hissed, glaring at him.

He smirked beneath her manicured hand and then tugged it away, but kept hold of her wrist. "So you agree to my demands?" He murmured.

She glared at him, defiant. He tightened his hold on her wrist and she clenched her jaw in pain.

"Fine." She muttered. "But you tell no one of my secrets, or I will return to claim my rightful part in the play."

He smiled, letting go of her wrist. "Done." He turned to leave, but then turned his head to smile unpleasantly at her. "And by the way, brat-" She narrowed her eyes, fires leaping in the teal pools while he just smirked, "-my name is Aaron."

…

Danny landed behind the school, reluctantly setting Sam on her feet. She blushed. "Thanks, Danny." She managed to say, and he smiled as he turned into clumsy, goofy, adorable Danny Fenton once again.

"No prob." He said casually, slinging an arm around her shoulders. Her cheeks turned redder and she hid behind her curtain of ebony hair so he would not see.

Danny narrowed his eyes as a figure came scrambling up to them, breathing hard, eyes bulging

"What do you want, Dash?" Danny growled, tightening his grip on Sam. If that jerk laid one finger on her...

"Sam can have the part! Just tell your freaky friend to leave me alone!" Dash yelled, fear in his eyes.

"What-" Sam started, but he walked away, shaking his head and holding his neck like a vampire was going to swoop down and bite him.

She turned to Danny, shrugging off his arm. Hands on her hips, she stared at him accusingly.

"What?" Danny asked, blinking.

Her eyes narrowed.

"I didn't do it! I swear!" Danny held his hands palms-up in a surrendering gesture. She folded her arms and tapped her foot, staring him down.

"Who was that 'freaky friend' he was talking about?" She demanded, piercing him with her gaze.

"I don't know!" He claimed. Sam softened when she heard the truth in his tone, but she raked her gaze over him to check that he wasn't doing his usually habits while lying - shifting nervously, not meeting her eyes, and rubbing the back of his neck. To her surprise and relief, he wasn't doing any of those things.

"Okay." She sighed, beginning to walk toward the school again and he followed her. "Man, I really wanted to beat up Dash." He heard her mutter under her breath, and he chuckled.

"You'll get your chance. Dash will do a lot more stupid stuff before school ends." The ghost boy grinned, and Sam smiled at him.

…

Aaron followed the couple invisibly, far enough away that he wouldn't trigger Danny's ghost sense. He clenched his jaw furiously as the ghost boy put his arm around the small of her back.

'Get your disgusting hands off of her!' He tried screaming telepathically, but the halfa didn't hear a thing, and it was for the best, he grudgingly admitted to himself. Phantom couldn't know that he was here, that would ruin everything. Timing was everything.

He'd learned that lesson a long, long time ago.

…

Danny, as Phantom, strode into the auditorium confidently. He felt much more confident in Phantom form, and as he walked past the girls, they sighed, leaning against each other for support. He flashed them a grin and a few of them squealed. Sam was pulling her hair up in a scraggly bun when he jumped up on stage. She rolled her eyes. "You are such a ham."

"Moi?" Danny held a gloved hand against his heart as if he was wounded, his eyes going wide.

"Vous." Sam replied dryly. Danny just smiled and shook his head.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Lancer's voiced boomed through the auditorium, silencing the excited chatter among the cast. "Are we ready to get started?"

Danny snickered behind his hand as Lancer approached, wearing a raggedy old director's beret and a megaphone held in his grasp. Sam elbowed him in the stomach and he wheezed in pain.

Lancer strode upstage, handing Phantom and Sam their script. "Scene 1, Act 1. The stage of the Paris Opera, 1919..."