(A/N: hey guys! sorry for the lateness or whatever. I have been busy lately but, here it is! hope you enjoy!)
Chapter 4: "Twitchy"
Danny was acting strange.
The ghostly trio was walking down the hallway. Danny's hair was messy and he had dark circles under his eyes. But his appearance wasn't the odd thing. Danny twitched and muttered to himself under his breath, he jumped at every sound and tripped over almost everything.
"Danny? Are you okay?"
The halfa held back a startled yelp. "Y-yeah, Sam. I'm fine."
"You sure?"
"O-of course I'm sure!"
Sam looked quizzically at her nervous friend, thinking. Well, at this point, it seemed a bit more than nervous. Something had scared him, but he obviously wasn't going to tell what.
The bell rang and Danny leapt ten feet into the air, confirming Sam's suspicions. Her friend was not fine. The three hurried to Mr. Lancer's class, Danny struggling to not trip over his own feet.
"Welcome to class, children," Mr. Lancer began, then regarded Danny with a worried expression. "Mr. Fenton, are you feeling quite well?"
"F-fine, Mr. Lancer."
"Okay… Class, today we are going to learn about…" Sam didn't listen any longer. She just stared at Danny. Shifty-eyed, spaztastic Danny. What the heck was his problem? Shouldn't he be a bit less nervous now that everyone knows his secret (thus making it no longer a secret)? She just couldn't understand it. He had been acting strange lately, the "sanity test", the sudden outburst, the "die ghost die" thing, and now this.
BRIIIIIIING!
The bell rang. The time had flown by like a plane. Maybe she could figure Danny out the next period she sees him. Hopefully.
(Line break)
Danny chewed on his fingernails (A/N: chewing your fingernails is a bad habit. Don't do it.) and glanced warily around the classroom. He was in second period, and the day seemed to be getting worse and worse. First, everyone thought he was sick or something, then Sam glared at him for all of first period (as to why, he had no idea), and now he was in Mrs. Kleopp's class. They were having a class discussion on the stability of the human mind. So basically, sanity and what makes you lose it. "Though we may not know it, we have to battle for sanity every day…" Mrs. Kleopp looked at Danny. "Some more than others."
Danny sighed as Kleopp listed all of the ways that everyday stress can cause some form of mental instability. And then ways outside activities (not sports and stuff) could "hammer at the mind." But Danny was only half-listening. He was busy with his own thoughts, silently freaking out to himself. What if I go insane, and hurt people? What if I hurt my friends and family? What if I hurt Sam? Danny's head started to ache. Who will protect Amity Park if I do go crazy? Who will be there when things go wrong? Danny put his head on his desk. What is WRONG with me!?
Danny felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Tucker smiling assuredly at him. He smiled back. Tucker sure had this mystical power for cheering people up. I don't know how he does it, Danny thought. Then, with his head out of his miserable thoughts, he realized something. Hey… I'm doing Spectra's job for her! Well, I'm gonna have to stop that. Danny spent the rest of the class in aimless thoughts.
Danny's cheerfulness didn't last.
(Line break)
Tucker plodded down the hallway to his last period. He was thinking about Danny and his…unusual behavior. The halfa walked next to him, Tucker could almost see him shivering. What was wrong with him? Why was he so jittery and twitchy? Was it some really scary ghost… was it Vlad? No, it couldn't be Vlad… could it? Thousands of thoughts and questions raced through Tucker's mind. He went into the classroom, followed by Danny. When they sat down Danny put his hands on his desk, but quickly put them in his pockets when he saw that they were shaking. What is he so scared of?! Only Danny could answer that. Tucker sighed. He could ask Danny about it after school. Right now, he was going to try to not fail at least one of Mr. Lancer's classes.
(Line break)
As the ghostly trio wandered home, Sam and Tucker tried to get Danny to tell them why he was scared. Danny kept saying that nothing was wrong. But they knew him better. Whatever it was, it was so horrible he just had to keep it a secret. And that's exactly why they needed to know.
"I-I told you, it's n-nothing." Danny mumbled.
"Well there has to be something!" Sam retorted, throwing her hands in the air for effect. "People don't just change for no reason, especially you!"
"Nothing h-happened Sam."
"C'mon man, we all know that's not true." Tucker grabbed Danny's arm, and glared at him. This was one of the really rare times that Tucker was actually serious. Danny was a bit taken aback. The glare Tucker gave him was a 'dude, you can tell me, I'm serious' look, witch he didn't use often.
"T-Tucker… everything is fine… I-I promise." Danny obviously didn't feel comfortable with Tucker's grip on his arm, but he was too shaky to nudge him off. Seeing Danny was too stubborn at the moment, Tucker let go of Danny's arm, and Sam let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.
They walked the rest of the way home in an awkward silence, Danny muttering under his breath in garbled words only he could understand.
(Line break)
"Are you okay sweetie?"
Danny jumped at his mother's sudden appearance. When did she walk in? He thought.
"Y-yeah, I'm f-fine mom."
Maddie frowned as her son looked nervously at the floor. "you can always talk to me dear, about anything."
That's not as true as you think. Danny grumbled inwardly. "Yeah, I-I know mom."
"So, do you want to talk about anything?" Maddie pressed.
"I'm fine."
"Thing is Danny, I don't think you are."
"I'm FINE mom!" Danny's eyes had flashed green, and his mother was quite startled. Suddenly, Danny felt bad about yelling at her.
"I-I'm going u-u-upstairs." Danny stammered. He ran up the staircase, his mother staring after him.
When Danny got to his bedroom, he slammed the door and curled up on his bed. He had actually yelled at his mother! What was wrong with him? Oh yeah, every time he sleeps he sees himself hurting people. How could he forget? Danny squeezed his eyes shut and kneaded his temples. The feeling in his head, it had been nothing at first but now it was actually noticeable. It was like a small version of the feeling he got in his dreams. What was it? Insanity? It had to be, and it was growing. Danny twitched and mumbled in his bedsheets trying to get a seemingly impossible, peaceful sleep.
(A/N: OK, you should be expecting mah next update in a week or so. hope you liked this chapter. REVIEW PLZ!