Mr. Lancer's POV

Lancer liked all of his students. Sure, of course he did. But some of then intrigued him more than others. Danny Fenton was one of the students that made him question his entire style of thinking.

The young boy would show up every day with his friends, as if nothing was wrong. It was as if there was never anything wrong with them. Their entire presence in Lancer's classroom was so . . . rehearsed. And at the center of whatever act the trio was pulling off was him. Danny Fenton. Nothing quite added up with that boy.

He showed up late to class consistently. Often times, Lancer would find young Fenton nodding off. Just a few months ago, during the first month of the school year, Danny seemed to be a better student than he'd become more recently. He would try his best to pay attention. Lancer would look at him and see that he was at least giving his best effort. And then, everything changed.

Danny came back one day after a weekend acting particularly jumpy. Everything seemed to be terrifying to him. It was like he'd woken up in a whole new world. And then, part way through the class, Danny nearly ran out of the door, throwing out a quick "I have to go to the bathroom!" before leaving. It had never happened before, but Lancer just figured it had to be a rare occurrence. All students acted out of the ordinary every once in a while; it was a normal part of high school. But this was different. After that weekend, Danny's entire ordinary changed. Everything he did was more deliberate, as if he was constantly planning. The actions Danny took were more intelligent. His eyes were more analytical. He viewed the world like a puzzle. Quite frankly, it intrigued Lancer.

Here was a student who had before struggled to see the abstract, suddenly looking around him with new eyes. Lancer believed it was a breakthrough. Whatever happened that weekend changed him. Lancer was expecting a completely new Danny, one who would be able to do better on tests without trying nearly as hard. But wow, was Lancer wrong.

Danny's first test after his sudden change was an exciting test for Lancer, even though he would never admit it to the boy. Grading it was surprising, and not in a good way. Over half of the answers were wrong. It was like Danny hadn't even read the book! Lancer immediately got in touch with Danny's parent and sister, talking to them about Danny's first F in his class. The test was a big deal. Not just that, but Danny's failure was a big deal as well. Something was obviously up.

His parents didn't seem particularly upset about their son's recent test grade. If Lancer remembered correctly, Jack Fenton went as far as to say, "He doesn't need to graduate to be a ghost hunter!"

Even though Danny began to fall asleep in class and to let his grades slip, Lancer still could recognize that something amazing had happened. Danny had a new love for life. Sure, as a teacher, Lancer was supposed to be upset that Danny would leave class without explanation, come into class late, and end up falling asleep half of the time, but something deep inside of him told him that whatever the young student was doing was important. How the life of a high school freshman could be that important, Lancer didn't quite know. But something was going on, and Lancer didn't know how to handle it.

The times Danny was in class and managed to be awake, he was a profound student. His ideas were simply amazing. As far as literary intelligence went, Danny had to be the most advanced in the class. He had a whole new way of viewing the world around him, as if he had a deeper understanding of everything that was happening. Sometimes, Danny even stumped Lancer with his sophisticated questions. But when it came to testing, Danny did poorly. Luckily, Lancer held and graded enough class discussions to bring him up to a C average, but Lancer knew that Danny was more than capable of getting straight A's. When it came down to it, the only reason Danny didn't do well was because he didn't do the reading.

Lancer knew that something was up when Danny became more and more distracted during class. The moment he knew things were getting truly serious was when the limping, heavy breathing, and obviously sore muscles began. Danny, from what Lancer knew, was not athletic. So why was he suddenly showing up to class injured? It seemed like around the time he began show up to class injured and distracted was the same time things appeared to get more . . . serious might be the best word.

Danny would talk less with his friends, Samantha Manson and Tucker Foley. He smiled less. His shoulders sagged more, and his overall appearance grew more and more strained. Something had broken Danny's spirit, and it was quite obvious to Lancer. Everything about his outlook on life grew more negative. Danny refrained from participating in group discussions, and would barely even look up from his lap.

What really threw Lancer off was when Danny showed up to class one day with a black eye, a large gash across his face, and a split lip. Although Danny had obviously been injured before, it was never physically visible. His entire demeanor was broken, tired, and utterly depressed. Danny came to class with Tucker in rumpled clothes, as if they were his only set. That day during class, Danny came into the classroom and immediately laid his head down on his desk. He was right on time, and he didn't leave during the middle of class.

Lancer should've been ecstatic. One of his most unmanageable students had finally become . . . well . . . manageable. But honestly, Lancer couldn't be more disappointed. Something had obviously happened, and he believed is was for the worst.

Lancer thought about this while he picked up the phone next to his desk. Class had just gotten out, and Lancer intended on calling Danny's parents in an attempt to figure out exactly what had happened.

Phone in hand, he walked over to the desk Danny had just been in.

"Hello?" a feminine voice asked from the other end. "Mr. Lancer? Is this about Danny? Do you know where he is?!"

"I . . . " something cut Lancer off mid sentence. He stopped next to Danny's desk, his finger trailing across the top, a collection of faintly glowing green tears glittering on his finger.

What do you think? Sorry for ending it a little cliffy, but that's kind of my writing style.

So, I have a schedule laid out about when I want to update (because I'm currently almost done with this, but I still have to edit my finished chapters). I was thinking about twice a week, but I can't tell you for sure which days I'm thinking. So . . . stay tuned!

I already have a review! Yay! Thank you so much, your comment means so, so much to me. Idk who you are because it says you're a guest, but thank you!

I'll try and update soon!

~ Ashtyn