Switching Places
Chapter Four
Johnny had spent at least five whole minutes trying to figure out how to change into Danny Phantom so he could fly back to the Fenton Portal. By the time he reached the portal, it was 10:25. He entered the Fenton's lab, spent another few minutes trying to change back to Danny Fenton, and ran up the stairs, hoping Danny's parents hadn't noticed him missing. Only to run into Jazz.
"Danny! You're okay!" She screamed and hugged him, causing Johnny to blush, which was really awkward in Danny's body. When she let go, she noticed her parents had walked into the room. "Uh… I mean, yeah, you're okay! Because, why wouldn't you be okay?" she stammered.
"Young man!" Danny's mom yelled at him. "This is the third time this week you've been late for curfew! Where were you?"
"I, uh…fell," Johnny was never good at thinking on his feet. Mr. and Mrs. Fenton glared at him disbelievingly. "Uh, asleep! I fell asleep!"
"Neither falling nor falling asleep will excuse you from the consequences of being late, young man," Mr. Fenton said angrily. "No allowance this week."
"I get allowance?" Johnny asked, falling lazily on the couch in the living room.
"He gets allowance?" Jazz echoed.
"You do, starting this week," Mr. Fenton said happily. "And I'm taking it away!" Maddie Fenton sighed and sat down beside Johnny.
"Danny, you have to stop this bad behavior. I don't know if it's influence from your friends or something else, but-" Johnny had enough experience to know where this was headed. This was the start of an annoyingly deep conversation with the 'rents. He cut her off by standing up really fast.
"Uh, heheh, yeah, well it is a school night," he said a little too loudly, repeating what he remembered Danny had told him earlier and faking a yawn. "And I'm really tired. So uh, see you tomorrow!" He left the room as fast as he could, running up the stairs and down the hall.
He opened the door on his left in a hurry and ran into the room. Only to stop short. The walls were pink, there were cosmetic bottles of stuff all spread out on the vanity, and there was a teddy bear in a scientist outfit on the bed he was about to jump on that looked like it had seen better days. He heard footsteps behind him.
"Uh, Danny, what are you doing in my room?" Johnny spun around.
"Oh, hey kit- uh Jazz," Johnny swallowed hard. This was harder than he thought it would be. "I uh, just thought I forgot something here."
"In my room? I don't think so," she looked around. Then returned her gaze to Johnny and continued. "And anyways, Danny, what happened? You almost gave me a heart attack when you weren't back by ten. And mom and dad are so angry with you. I thought it was just Johnny. Usually your fights with him don't last that long." Johnny glared at here when he realized what she was implying.
"Yeah yeah, well, he's a lot better than I thought. And it turns out he's not such a bad guy after all! He's actually really cool," he said angrily. "And… and I wasn't lying when I said I was tired, so goodnight!" he stormed out of the room, leaving a confused Jazz staring after him.
---
Danny sped down a random path in the Ghost Zone, desperately hoping he wasn't going to get lost. He barely remembered any of the things Johnny told him and of the things he did remember, where Johnny lived wasn't one of them. He sped past door after door after door until he gave up. He was lost.
"Uh, Shadow?" Danny called. Johnny's Shadow appeared beside him, flying to keep up with Johnny's motorcycle. Shadow was obviously in on the secret and had reluctantly agreed to follow Danny's orders. "Uh, yeah, where's home?" Shadow growled and sped in front of Danny, leading the way. By the time Danny had finally reached Kitty, it was 10:15.
Kitty had been waiting for several hours before she saw Johnny speeding to her on his bike. She was so angry with him! He had ruined her whole day, keeping her waiting for a promised date. When he got off the bike, she ran at him and smacked him hard on the side of his face.
"Ow!" he cried, bringing a hand to the new red mark forming on his cheek. "What was that for?"
"My day, Johnny! It was supposed to be perfect!" she yelled back. "I thought we were gonna have a date tonight!"
"We are, we are! Our reservation's at ten thirty," he told her hurriedly, running a hand through his hair. He cringed and immediately brought it back down to his side. "It's at the Twelve Months and I have to get ready."
"The Twelve Months?" she cried, suddenly elated. "Really? Oh, Johnny, how romantic!"
Johnny left her and flew through the door in the Ghost Zone that led to the inside Johnny's house. When he had run Johnny's hand through his hair, Danny had wondered when the last time Johnny had taken a bath. Presently, he took a quick two minute shower and got ready, awkwardly taking special care to not look in the mirror until he was completely dressed. This is way too disturbing, Danny thought to himself.
He looked through Johnny's closet. For some reason or another, Johnny didn't have a tux or a suit, so he dressed himself in the nicest clothes he could find: a clean button down shirt and some washed pants. He was lucky. Johnny didn't seem to have too many of either. He then completed the look with Johnny's trench coat for the sole reason that he looked weird without it. I'll take it off when I get to the restaurant, he thought to himself.
With one last sigh as he looked at the reflection in the mirror, he reached into his pocket to make sure the necklace Johnny had told him about earlier was still there, turned from Johnny's room and exited the house. Kitty ran to him as soon as he put one foot out the door and hugged him.
"Oh, Johnny! This is so romantic," she said into his chest. She took a step back and looked at him. "And you look so handsome! Johnny, I haven't seen you like this in a long time." When she stepped back, Danny had a chance to look her up and down and he realized that while she was waiting for him to get ready, she had obviously utilized time. He guessed she figured she wasn't dressed up enough for the Twelve Months restaurant in the clothes she was originally wearing and had decided to change… and changed she had. She was wearing a beautiful dress and what had to be her nicest jewelry, both of which were at odds with her neon green hair. But on her, it didn't matter. Danny wasn't attracted to Kitty, but he knew pretty when he saw it. And Kitty was definitely a pretty girl.
"Yeah… and wow, Kitty, you look…" he was going to trail off but Kitty was looking at him expectantly. "Amazing." Kitty smiled and closed the distance between them again. But this time was a little different. This time, instead of hugging him, she leaned forward and closed her eyes. Danny backed away fast. Sure, Johnny expected him to not be distant, but this- kissing was too much just yet. Kitty opened her eyes and looked at him, confused.
"Aheheh, um… yeah," Danny hesitated awkwardly for a second and then grabbed Kitty's arm and pulled her onto Johnny's bike. "We have to hurry, Kitty! We don't want to be late- they might give our table away!" He kicked the bike into motion, turned the handle, and sped away from the floating door.
"Shadow, uh, why don't you go make sure the portal's open?" Danny asked Johnny's Shadow when it appeared flying next to the bike. Shadow growled at Danny, but flew ahead into the distance.
When Danny and Kitty arrived at the Fenton Portal, which happened to be open, Shadow was waiting. Dad must have left it open again, Danny thought to himself and sighed. He felt Kitty's grip around him tighten when he leaned backwards to make the motorcycle pop into the portal and out of the Ghost Zone. He sped, intangible, through the wall of Fenton Works and onto the streets.
When they got to the restaurant, Danny hit the brakes without slowing down causing the tires of Johnny's motorcycle to screech to a stop about an inch from a shiny black Porsche and Kitty to scream and almost fall off. Danny sighed. There goes my driver's license…
"Johnny! You were such a good driver! What happened?" Kitty screeched. Danny just rolled Johnny's eyes and pulled her off the motorcycle by her arm. And then it became apparent that Danny could not only not drive a motorcycle, but he didn't know the basic 101 either because as soon as he pulled Kitty off the bike, it clattered to the ground. Kitty gasped.
"Johnny, your bike! Why didn't you put up the kickstand!" Danny bit his lip at the sight. The motorcycle had dented badly when it had hit the ground. Johnny probably wouldn't be too happy about that. But what Johnny didn't know wouldn't hurt him, right?
"Haha, oops, guess I forgot. But whatever, Kitty, Ill get it fixed later." He turned and entered the restaurant.
"Party of two for ten thirty?" he asked the waiter who was standing by the door. Why did Johnny make the reservation so late? Not that he wasn't lucky that he did, it was just that room was completely empty. Oh well, maybe that's what Johnny was going for. A romantic dinner for two in a completely empty room. He looked at Kitty and gulped. The waiter scrunched his nose at him.
"Right this way, sir." Kitty linked arms with Danny and together, they followed the waiter to a small table. The waiter left Johnny to sit, but not before pulling out the chair for Kitty.
"Oh, Johnny, this is just so romantic," Kitty sighed. She shifted forward, leaning in towards Danny and closed her eyes again. Danny leaned back in his chair and faked a cough. Kitty opened her eyes and looked questioningly at Danny.
"Uh, sorry Kitty, I think I have a cold. Wouldn't want you to get sick," he smiled sheepishly at her. She looked a little confused but didn't say anything. He wondered if ghosts could even get sick.
"But anyway," he continued. "I have a surprise for you."
"What could be a better surprise than this, Johnny? The restaurant is already- ooh," she gasped breathlessly as Danny pulled out the necklace from his pocket.
"Oh, its just a little something I picked up somewhere," Danny smiled. He idly wondered where Johnny had gotten it.
"Oh, it beautiful, Johnny! I love it but not as much as I love you!" For a second, it looked as though she was going to lean in for a kiss again but then she stayed where she was. Danny internally sighed.
"Here, let me put it on you," he said. She leaned forward and he awkwardly put his hands around her neck and fiddled with the clasp. When it was on, Kitty scooted back in the chair.
"How do I look?" she asked flirtatiously.
"Uh… great," Danny faked a smile.
The dinner went relatively well, though in Danny's opinion Kitty talked way too much and it seemed to go on forever. Sometimes, though, Kitty actually had some pretty good gossip on all his allies and enemies. By the time they had finished dessert, Danny was pretty sure he had the 411 on the entire Ghost Zone. The waiter came and took their plates away.
"Would you like the bill now, sir?" he asked and Danny stopped short. The bill? As in, paying? Paying was just another one of those adult responsibilities he never had to worry about. Until now.
"Uh…sure?" The waiter procured the bill from a pocket in his uniform and gave it to Danny, whose eyes went wide when he saw the little numbers. He reached his hands into all of Johnny's pockets and gulped. Of course Johnny didn't have any money in his coat. Did he look like the type of person that would carry that kind of money around? Did he even look like the person who had any money at all? Kitty was frowning at Danny.
"What's wrong, Johnny?" she asked, even though she had a feeling she already knew. He smiled sheepishly at her.
"How do you feel about a little something I like to call, escape?" He grabbed her arm yet again and dragged her intangibly through the table so she was beside him. She screamed as he yanked her arm harder when he got up and started running, dragging her with him, still intangible through the wall of the restaurant onto the motorcycle (after he took the pains to pick it up off the ground, of course.) He didn't wait to see what the snobby waiter would do. Instead, he sped down the streets as fast as the motorcycle would go. Kitty was forced to hold him so she wouldn't fall off the bike. He flew back to Fenton Works and through the portal with Johnny's bike and Kitty landing safely in the Ghost Zone. He hopped off the bike and pulled Kitty off with him. He wondered why she still had yet to call him out for manhandling her. She looked terrified. But she wasn't so terrified she forgot her anger.
"Johnny!" she screamed. "Our perfect date! Ruined! I can't believe you! It was going so well." Tears started to become visible. She continued with more force. "You're completely broke! And this necklace," she said, reaching up and yanking it off her neck. "I've seen it before, Johnny! It's stolen!" She threw it hard at Danny. "And, after everything else, you wont kiss me! Why won't you kiss me? Are you seeing someone else?"
"Uh- no, uh, of course not- no! I just- uh heheh…" Suddenly, the angry look on Kitty's face became almost malicious.
"If you won't kiss me, ill kiss you. For the last time!" Her lips started to glow a bright pink and she put her hand to her mouth.
Danny panicked. He had heard about her power before, from Jazz and Sam. And Tucker had described how it felt to be at the receiving end of those powers. He needed to escape, and fast! He pushed past her and ran to his bike. He jumped on it and revved it into gear. It might not have been his smartest move, leaving Kitty, but he got out of there fast.
Suddenly he saw what Johnny meant by 'my life isn't as easy as you think, little man.' Danny clenched his jaw against the oncoming wind created by the speeding motorcycle. He didn't care where he was going, he was just making sure he was going as fast as he could because he did not want to be kissed by Kitty. He swallowed.
"Can this day get any worse?"
ok updatings about to become slower now that im back from break. sorry if the chapter seemed a little too fast. This is the first thing ive ever written in my life and i havent taken english in about three years. BUTTT im on a fav list! yay!
thanks again for reviewing : )
