Danny Phantom what happened next
By ~PrennCooder
Edited by ~NosillaParvatir
If you haven't heard of Cecelia by now, you're sure to love her.
Chapter 2: Meet The Hazels
It was now time for Cecelia to go to school at Casper High. She was walking to her first class. The teacher's name was Mr. Lancer. He was a fat man and had an old, wrinkled face and a little black goatee.
Cecelia found his class boring. She caught herself daydreaming in and out all day waiting for a ghost to show up so she could blast it. That was the only thing keeping her here in this small boring town anyways. But there was no sight of that phantom kid either…
"Sorry I'm late, Mr. Lancer." A chubby dark-skinned girl walked into the classroom she stumbled along carrying an armful of books.
"Take your seat, Ms. Gray. I'll have a word with your father about all of your tardies." Mr. Lancer peered down on the girl with angry eyes.
The girl took a seat near the back. After class was over, Cecelia approached her. "Hi. I'm Cecelia and I'm new."
"Fantastic." What Valerie meant to say was "I don't care," but she didn't say it because that would have been inappropriately rude.
"Your father and my father, Mr. Hazel, are business associates. And I believe I met your father yesterday." Valerie still didn't look very interested. "Your father said you like to hunt ghosts. Well, I do too."
Valerie's eyes sparkled. "I'm Valerie."
She smiled at the thought of meeting a fellow teen ghost-hunter. "Then I suppose we'll have a lot in common." Valerie smiled.
At lunch, Cecelia and Valerie sat together at the table Valerie liked to sit at. At the other end of the table were the really popular kids. Cecelia glanced at them.
Valerie noticed Cecelia's confused stare. "Oh, that's Dash and Paulina. They're dating. And there's Kwan and Star too."
"They're dating too?"
"Yes. Those two couples have been together since freshman year."
"Geez, you know everyone at this school. You know who likes to sit at every table too."
"Well, it is high school…"
"I've been homeschooled all my life."
"Ah. Where'd you live before here?"
"Antarctica."
"Antarctica?" Valerie rolled her eyes.
"Yes." Cecelia lowered her voice to a whisper. "After my mother was killed by a ghost, my father became obsessed with killing them. He only wanted to help out to make sure nobody had to suffer the same terrible fate. Back home, my friends taught me to be tough and fight with skills they learned in wars and fights and horseplay like that. And in my free time I like to meditate."
"Meditate?" She asked skeptically.
"My father always told me it was good to get in touch with my Native American heritage."
"That's a crazy backstory you've got. Not sure I believe it all, but you'd seem like an interesting person even if it wasn't true."
Cecelia shrugged. "Hey, who's that over there?" Cecelia noticed three teenagers migrating over to an empty table.
"Oh those losers? The Goth chick is Sam Manson; you should probably stay away from her. She has the world's most irritating attitude. She thinks she's better than everybody and she doesn't like meat. She's bossy and rude and she is the most jealous girlfriend I ever seen." Valerie noticed Cecelia's surprised look "Too mean?"
Cecelia nodded.
Valerie didn't seem to agree with the critique. "Well I suppose it's fair then that she's at the bottom of the social food chain and I'm at the top. Or at least close to it, since I hang out with Paulina."
"Paulina's the pretty one right?"
"Yeah. She's turning out to be a better person than I thought she was. Before I got to know her, I thought she was a total snob. But she's not. She can be a bit of a ditz, though, but in a good way. Although I usually hang out with Star."
"Well, I'm just glad I didn't make friends with a meanie like Sam."
"It's hard to keep from hating her. It takes all I have not to just go over there right now and tell Danny how horrible she is." Valerie stared at that black-haired boy from a distance. Cecelia presumed him to be Danny, Sam's boyfriend. When Sam stood up to throw something out, Valerie's head snapped back at Cecelia and she quickly asked, "What do you think of her?"
"Me? I barely know her. She dresses kinds weird, but hey, I like pink and there are a lot of people who hate pink. But Sam is way too skinny."
Valerie nodded in agreement. "Well, ya better get used to her. There are a lot of weirdoes in this school."
"That boy with the black hair over at the loser table looks like a bit of a geek."
"Danny? No. He is not a geek at all. He's better than average looking and he's got a nice personality. He's just really shy, and kind of ordinary. But he smiles nice, and he has blue eyes. Blue eyes are nice, right?" Valerie chuckled nervously. "I even used to like him. But his friend, Tucker Foley, really is a loser. He's a techno geek, and he thinks he's a ladies' man."
Cecelia smiled, which she didn't do very often. Then she chuckled. "Well there's an oxymoron for you! Does he always wear that silly red hat?"
"…Yeah." Valerie added to the laughter.
"Oh geez. Every school has that one table full of the people that don't fit in any of the social groups." Cecelia shook her head.
"That's them."
"It's just like television…"
Somebody tapped Cecelia's shoulder.
"Hey Cecelia, I'm Paulina. Welcome to the A-List table. You should try out for cheerleading. You look like you could be a cheerleader."
"Um…that was random. But uh, thanks, Paulina. I've never been told I should be a cheerleader before."
"You look a lot like me, which means you probably have the skill. You should at least try it. In no time at all, you'll be mega-popular! Just like me!"
"Maybe I'll give it a thought—"
"And then after cheerleading practice you'll get to meet that sweet-hearted hottie the ghost boy!" Paulina squealed. She clapped her pretty little manicured hands together. "He's a real sweetheart! He even saved my life countless times! Hews my hero…" Paulina swooned
"The ghost boy…" Cecelia smiled mischievously.
"Yeah," Valerie said bitterly, "His name is Danny Phantom." Valerie enunciated through clenched teeth.
"Danny Phantom? You don't say…maybe I'll try out for cheerleading after all…" Cecelia gave Valerie a devious look and in an instant Valerie understood and processed the message.
"I'm in." Valerie whispered as she reflected Cecelia's smile.
After school, Paulina and Valerie found Cecelia. She was stuffing her sweaty gym clothes in her big red gym bag by the lockers.
"Come on follow me, cheerleader!" Paulina took Cecelia's arm and practically dragged her to the gymnasium.
"You're a cheerleader too, Val?" Cecelia looked at Valerie.
"I have to keep up my fitness every chance I get. And this is the only extra-curricular activity that works all the muscles I need for," Valerie's voice turned into a whisper, "Ghost hunting."
"One two three four!" Paulina turned on the music and she and the other cheerleaders began to do a rehearsed dance. They all moved in synch with muscular precision. Their legs snapped to the beat. Ponytails whirred around but none of them seemed to mind it. Through it all, they kept serious expressions on their faces. They were very focused.
"I think I'll just watch for now." Cecelia said to herself. She leaned her back against the gym wall.
"Okay!" Paulina agreed.
Cecelia looked down at her own body. She had a lot of muscle, but she was not thin like most of the cheerleaders. Cecelia estimated Paulina's weight at 120 pounds. Cecelia knew her own weight was somewhere in the 150s. She hoped that cheerleading would aid in taking off the extra weight. Cecelia decided in her mind that even though she didn't know how to be a cheerleader, she would learn.
Out of the corner of her eye, Cecelia saw her father appear. He was so brisk and tall and shady that he was like a ghost. When he did that, she sometimes got a few chills sent down her back. It was creepy, and she wasn't the only person who thought so.
"You want to be a cheerleader, Cecelia?" He asked his daughter as he approached her with his big, sturdy footsteps.
"Uhm…yes. I supposed that all the extra fitness stuff would help me with ghost-hunting. You know, it would help me be stronger and healthier, and more agile too."
"Hmm. I see." Her father considered. "Then I think it's a good idea. Although I never figured you for the cheerleading type."
"Not yet, but I will be." Cecelia smiled. "Can I stay to watch the practice?" she asked.
Cecelia's father nodded.
The two of them stood there for an hour just watching the talented girls do their thing. There were frontflips and backflips and splitz and helicopters and then a pyramid at the end. Paulina broke up the practice and then she and Valerie walked right up to Cecelia.
"So are you ready to join?" Paulina said in her usual, uppity tone of voice. She twisted her hair, a habit she had developed while waiting for other people to talk.
"Yes." Cecelia said proudly. Paulina hugged her lightly and then stepped away, smiling cheerfully.
Cecelia gave Valerie a look. It took Valerie's brain a moment to realize what Cecelia was trying to convey without saying something. Valerie smiled at Cecelia for that very reason. She now knew exactly why Cecelia wanted to be a cheerleader. And Valerie knew that she would stop at nothing to kick some ghost butt with her new sidekick, Cecelia.
Paulina walked over to her friend Star to tell her the news about Cecelia.
"You must be Damon's daughter." Mr. Hazel looked at Valerie.
"Yes."
"I'm very interested in the sort of work that you do. Tell me, where did you get your suit?"
"Uh, his name is Mr. Masters and he's very private." Valerie said rashly.
"Never heard of him. But you can't be talking about Vlad Masters, the creature that tried to save the world from the Disasteroid?"
"Yes, that's the one. At the time that he gave me the suit, he was the mayor. And I didn't realize he was half…monster."
Cecelia shuddered. "I saw that on the news, it was everywhere. Imagine a being that can change from human to ghost like that—isn't it disturbing?"
"I know, right! And afterwards, Tucker Foley became the mayor but that only lasted until he turned the job over to his father."
"Tell me more about this suit. Is it high tech?" Mr. Hazel asked Valerie.
"I'm working on giving it an upgrade myself. You'll have to see it once it's finished. It's going to be great!"
"I'm sure it will." Said Mr. Hazel. "We have to go now. It was nice meeting you. And I'm glad to know that Cecelia has made some good friends on her first day."
"Daaad." Cecelia gave her father that stoic teenager look as they walked to their van.
Lately, Cecelia had been discovering that she had more in common with Paulina than she originally thought. And Paulina was starting to really warm up to Cecelia. They were becoming very good friends.
Cecelia was pleased to realize that she was turning into one of those girls that stayed up all night talking to her friends Paulina, Valerie and Star, about nonsensical things from childhood memories to the hottest boys to the cutest clothes.
One day, Paulina invited Cecelia over for a mani-pedi. At first, Cecelia was reluctant, but then she realized that the newfound pride she had in the clean, pretty nails she now had gave her just the amount of confidence booster she needed to keep herself in cheerleading.
But Cecelia was being very careful not to turn into a complete airhead. However, she admitted she liked the change. Her body was becoming more firm and defined with all the new muscle and she was losing that little bit of pudge she'd had all her life that made her look just a smidge too large in pictures.
Her face was elongating, too, with all of the weight loss. And being around girls made her stop eating cheeseburgers and fries and focus more on salads and fruits and all the other pretty foods that girls eat.
One day, Cecelia was brushing her hair in the rough manner that she always did. It was getting longer, and it was full of knots. She always wanted to cut it but she never had time.
And then she remembered the way that Valerie brushed her hair. Valerie's hair was only a few inches shorter than Cecelia's was, but it was twice as frizzy. "This is going to take a while." Reluctantly, Cecelia sat down and gently combed through her hair beginning at the bottom.
Eventually, she ran through it with the brush one more time and found that here were absolutely no knots.
"Wow." Cecelia was happy.
She stood up and looked in the mirror. Then she walked out of the room and walked back in to make sure if what she saw was the truth. She looked in the mirror and a woman stared back at her.
Cecelia felt her cheeks, then her hair, then her chest and abs. "Do I really look like that?"
She asked in disbelief. It wasn't beauty, it was strength. And that's what Cecelia always wanted to see—a strong woman staring back at her with a strange fire in her eyes and a mouth that knows exactly what to say and arms that know how to throw a punch and legs that can run and kick and long, shiny hair. That's just what she saw.
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