WoM- Back again :D I know a lot of people out there were really anticipating this one… It's actually kinda surprising how popular this story's becoming. Not that I'm upset about that, since it's a blast to write up… Back to the point, though, here's the long awaited fourth chapter for everyone who was so patient with me! (And a number of not-so-patient people as well…) Enjoy!
"There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion."
-Sir Francis Bacon
Sirius
"There you are… what took you so long?" Star frowned slightly as her best friend approached, arms crossed as she waited for Valerie's explination.
"Sorry, Star." Valerie sighed. "There was a line…" Star's eyebrow kicked up when she heard a strange tone in her friend's voice, almost like she was mad about something…
"Hey, are you okay?" She asked, concerned. She and Valerie had been best friends since middle school, after all, and there was no one in Casper High Star trusted more.
"Fine…" Valerie said vaguely, waving a hand to dismiss her friend's worries. "Just worried, I guess."
"About overtime at the Nasty Burger?" Star guessed, ignoring a group of kids who called out to her as they entered the cafeteria. "You really should say something to your boss, you know. I'm pretty sure child labor laws are still in effect…"
"No." Valerie responded, looking slightly guilty for a second. "Actually, about you."
Whatever answer Star was expecting, this most certainly wasn't it.
"Me?" She said, blinking at Valerie in shock. "What are you worried about me for, Val? I'm fine. Never better, actually…" It was the truth, too. Except for the nasty run ins with Paulina and Sam she'd been forced to suffer through, the whole day had been filled with people more or less worshipping her every move.
Boys were flirting with her left and right now (Though attentively, as if afraid that Danny Phantom would pop in out of nowhere and beat them to a bloody pulp.) and in the last three hours alone she'd been invited to twelve different parties. Not to mention that she was more or less showered with constant gifts and praise from people she'd never even spoken to before who wanted to meet Danny Phantom…
As far as Star was concerned, she was in heaven.
"It's just… I don't think you should be seeing that ghost, Star." Valerie said, spitting out the word 'ghost' like it was a curse on mankind. Star's jaw dropped at that.
"What?" She said. "Are you insane? No way am I breaking things off!" At least not until Paulina got a healthy dose of payback… and maybe after all the glamour had worn off and people lost interest in her or something…
"Think about it, Star." Valerie said, sounding exasperated. "That ghost is dangerous! If you go through with this, he could really hurt you!" Star was a little surprised at the tone of fear working it's way into Valerie's voice. After all, Valerie was never afraid of anything…
"I'm fine, Val." Star repeated stubbornly. "And I'm not dumping Phantom! I mean, people love me now that I'm his girlfriend!"
"You don't need to be dating him for people to like you, Star!" Valerie snapped angrily. "I was your friend before you agreed to go out with that ecto-freak, and as your friend I'm telling you that you need to stay away from that ghost!"
"Why is this such a big deal to you?" Star demanded. She knew Valerie was Anti-Phantom, but this was just ridiculous.
"Because I don't want him to hurt you, Star!" Valerie growled out again, losing her temper. "Look, the ghost boy's smart, he knows humans well enough to act like he's a good ghost, but it's all an act! There's no such thing as good ghosts and if you let him get too close to you, you're going to find that out the hard way!"
"Whatever." Star snapped, turning away. "I'm going to hang out with Trisha for a bit. See you later, Valerie."
"Star—!" Too late, Valerie realized her friend had already left her. Sighing, the girl combed her fingers through her hair and bit her lip, trying to figure out her next move. Loath though she was to admit it, Danny Phantom was too powerful for her to win a head-on attack, and Star obviously wasn't going to listen to her warnings…
"Valerie?"
Jumping slightly, Valerie turned abruptly to tell the interruption off, but found the words dying on her tongue.
"D-Danny?" She said, going rigid. She cursed herself for not paying better attention to her surroundings, swallowing painfully as she met her friend's concerned blue eyes.
She'd worked painfully hard to avoid being caught with Danny alone. Partially because every time she was around him she felt lower then the ghost boy himself, and partially because there were few things in the world she hated more then feeling awkward, and being alone with Danny always made her painfully uncomfortable.
Besides, though she'd never admit it out loud, she was still harboring a serious crush on Danny. She wasn't exactly sure how he felt, since she was the one who'd stomped all over his heart and all, and she was honestly afraid to find out…
Danny didn't seem to share the sentiments, though. He approached her unwaveringly, his worry for Valerie apparently more important that any awkward feelings at being left alone with her.
"You okay Val?" He asked, hesitating slightly. Valerie sighed.
"Fine…" She lied, not wanting to unload her problems on Danny. It was her burden, after all, not his. That was why she'd broken things off in the first place… "I was just talking to Star about a couple of things is all…"
"Oh." Danny said, flinching slightly for some reason. "I'm guessing the talk didn't go all that well?"
"How could you tell?" Valerie asked dryly.
"Heard you two yelling when I was coming down the hall." Danny answered, sounding sheepish. "I couldn't hear what was being said, but—!"
"What is she thinking?" Valerie blurted out angrily, surprising Danny. "I mean, I know Star has self-esteem issues, but she could do so much better then that ghost!" Danny flinched at the venom put into that last word.
"I couldn't tell you, Val." Danny said, looking uncomfortable. A little firmer, he added. "But no matter what happens, I'm sure she'll be okay. I mean, you're her friend, and you obviously care about her…" Valerie smiled slightly at that as Danny shifted awkwardly from foot to foot, obviously trying to find the best way to word his thoughts. Valerie giggled slightly, reminded of why it was so easy for her to fall for him in the first place in that action alone…
"Thanks Danny." She said, smiling at the blue eyed boy. "I'll see you around, okay?"
Giving him one last wave, Valerie headed off on her own back into the cafeteria, feeling a little better after her talk with Danny…
He's right. She realized, taking her seat again at her table and watching Star argue with Trisha about whether or not it was possible to kiss a ghost. Star is my friend… and I'm not going to let that creep hurt her, too.
"Alright, class dismissed. And don't forget to read pages 120-180! We're having a quiz on them tomorrow!" Sighing in relief, Star gathered her things and stood, ignoring the crowd surrounding her as she made her way out the door and to her locker.
She managed to keep the cool expression of smug indifference up as she worked her combination and got her things together, but her heart rammed painfully in her ribcage the entire time. All she could think about as she slung her backpack over her shoulder and headed to the front entrance of the school was her impending brush with one of her greatest fears of all time…
Stay cool, Star… She told herself firmly. Just get it over with quick… like pulling off a band-aid…
"Well don't you look nervous…" Star scowled in annoyance at the singsong voice that interrupted her thoughts, turning to meet Paulina smirk with the coldest glare she could muster. "Scared about letting the everyone see me call your bluff?"
"What bluff?" Star responded, scoffing slightly. "You're the only person fooling yourself here, Paulina."
"Please." Paulina said with a laugh. "Like I said before Star, the ghost boy's too good for you."
"You say that like you actually know anything about him, Paulina." Star blinked in surprise, turning to see Valerie standing beside her with her arms crossed. "Funny, since you can count the number of times he's acknowledged your presence on one hand."
"Oh, like you really know him any better then that?" Paulina countered, looking agitated.
"I know enough to know that if he was really interested in you, he would've made a move already." Valerie smirked coldly at the cheerleader, who scowled in return.
"Whatever." Paulina scoffed. "We'll see about that soon enough…" Eyes narrowed, Valerie watched the girl's retreat before sighing and turning to Star with an apologetic smile. "Hey, I'm glad I caught you before you left. Look Star, I just wanted to say sorry for before. I didn't mean to make you mad or anything…" Star smiled slightly at the sincerity in her friend's tone. Granted, she wasn't actually sorry for what she'd said, but it was a start…
"It's cool." Star responded. "Thanks for helping me with her." Valerie laughed slightly as Star made a face at Paulina's retreating form.
"Trust me, Star, I'd never miss a chance to pick a fight with Paulina." The girl grinned, her green eyes dancing with amusement.
"Still…" Star sighed, running a hand through her hair. Wincing, the girl realized that she'd be alone with the cheerleader waiting for Danny to change and meet up with her, in which her former friend would probably try and take retribution for Valerie's defense.
And that was only if Sam didn't mob and stuff her in a janitor's closet first…
"Hey Val, do you think you could wait with me? Just until Phantom shows up." Valerie stiffened at her friend's question, a strange look passing her face.
"I don't think that's such a good idea, Star…" Valerie said in a tight tone, which the blonde missed completely.
"Please, Val?" She pleaded to the other girl. "I really don't want to be alone with Paulina right now… I promise it'll only take like, two minutes tops." Faltering under her friends unwavering beseeching gaze, Valerie finally sighed, her shoulder's sagging in defeat.
"Alright." She groaned. "But just this once!" Squealing slightly, Star hugged Valerie enthusiastically.
"Thanks Val!" She gushed. "You're the best!" grumbling to herself, Valerie didn't respond to that as she followed her friend out of the building.
So much for heading the ghost off before he got to the school… she thought dryly. Shaking her head, the hunter dismissed her bitterness, reminding herself that she'd get plenty of other chances soon enough…
"Do you really have to go through with this?" Sam complained as Danny stuffed the last of his things into his book bag. "I mean, there's gotta be a better way to handle this mess!"
"Relax, Sam." Danny said absently. "It's no big deal, really."
"Totally." Tucker said in wry sarcasm. "I mean, who doesn't have to deal with being blackmailed into pretending to be a girl's boyfriend?"
"Would you guys stop it already?" Danny snapped out impatiently. "Look, unless one of you has an idea that doesn't involve kidnapping or murder, then there's nothing I can do but go along with Star's charade." Tucker flinched guiltily at that, but Sam opened her mouth to respond. "It can't involve hiring a mob to intimidate her, either." Looking a little sullen, Sam closed her mouth.
"Whatever, man." Tucker sighed. "Just… be careful, okay?" Danny was a little surprised at that, but softened a little when he saw how genuinely worried Sam and Tucker looked.
"Look, it's gonna be fine, okay?" Danny said softly. "It's just Star, guys. Everything considered, I could've been a lot worse off." The two didn't look entirely convinced, but let the subject drop. Shaking his head, Danny handed his backpack to Sam. "Here. Give this to Jazz for me, okay? It'll look weird if Danny Phantom shows up to pick up his so-called girlfriend wearing Danny Fenton's backpack." Biting her lip, Sam took the bag from her friend.
"Danny?" Sam called as the half ghost started to leave. "…Be careful, okay? I know its just Star, but with everything that's happened, I don't think we should underestimate anybody." Danny raised an eyebrow at that before flashing the goth a reassuring smile.
"It's cool, Sam." He said lightly. "I never said anything about underestimating her." Then, with one last wave to the two, Danny ducked into the bathroom, the bright, tell-tale flash of his transformation flickering through the cracks of the door moments later.
Going intangible, Danny floated easily through the ceiling, floating over the roof to allow himself to become tangible again before soaring to the edge to find his blonde classmate in the mess of students below him.
It didn't take long for him to find her, sanding near the flag pole with a large crow of students (and surprisingly enough, a few teachers) loitering around, watching the skies in anticipation. Wincing slightly, Danny couldn't help but groan to himself when he saw that not only Paulina standing with Star in the middle of the crowd (looking disdainful about the whole ordeal) but Valerie as well, arms crossed and extremely agitated.
This promises to be fun… Danny thought sarcastically to himself. Rolling his eyes, Danny flew out over the crowd, ignoring the gasps and shouting from his classmates as he gracefully landed in front of Star.
He also opted to overlook Paulina's look of stunned horror, along with the scathing glare Valerie was sending him.
"Sorry I'm late." He said casually to the blonde, acting as if the entire school wasn't openly gaping at him. "Kinda got held up for a bit…"
"Ghost boy?" Paulina sputtered out before Star could say a word. "Y-You really… but…!" Danny held back a wince as Paulina looked between him and Star (Who was starting to look entirely too pleased with herself) with wide, horrified eyes.
"Paulina." Star said in a bright tone that betrayed her delight. "I believe you've already met my boyfriend, Danny Phantom. Phantom, this is Paulina, a girl I know from school." Danny flashed Paulina a weak grin, which she missed entirely in her dismay. "And this is Valerie, my best friend."
Someone up there's laughing at me right now, I know it… Danny told himself sourly as he forced a grin for Valerie, who still looked ready to punch him at any given moment.
"Nice to meet you." He said lightly.
"I'm sure it is." Valerie responded, ice dripping from every syllable. Danny laughed sheepishly as the ghost hunter glared daggers at him, Star looking between the two in confusion.
Okay, that's weird. She thought, shooting Danny a quizzical look. Catching it, the ghost boy cleared his throat and extended a gloved hand towards Star.
"Anyways, we should probably be going now, right Star?" flashing the boy a dazzling smile, Star took his hand at once.
"Of course, Phantom!" She said sweetly, squeaking in surprise when Danny lifted her easily into her arms. Blushing, Star suddenly found it hard to believe that this was the same guy who barely passed his presidential fitness exam.
That thought was left grounded when Danny quite suddenly took to the air.
Biting her lip painfully to keep from screaming, Star fastened her arms around Danny's shoulders while at the same time trying not to make her fear too obvious to the many, many students still watching them. Trying to control her breathing as much as possible, Star reminded herself not to look down, promptly did so, and cursed herself vividly for it until she and Danny had flown a good distance from the school to a more secluded area.
Seeing that there was no one else around she needed to impress, Star immediately began thrashing around violently.
"Put me down, put me down, put me dow-how-hown!" Yelping at the girl's sudden mood swing, Danny struggled to keep his grip on Star as she continued to fight for her freedom.
"Easy!" He shouted, obviously surprised as he brought them back to earth as quickly as he could. "Calm down Star!"
"Don't you dare drop me, Fenton!" She screeched out, glaring at Danny pointedly.
"I won't if you stop being difficult!" Danny snapped back. Finally landing, Danny let his blonde classmate go, raising an eyebrow as she sank to her knees in relief. "…I take it you're scared of heights?" He asked dryly, crossing his arms. Blushing slightly, Star rose and glared at the boy.
"Of course not!" She said stiffly. "What gave you that idea?"
Danny's dry look became even more pointed, making Star blush.
"Okay." She admitted begrudgingly. "Maybe a little." Sighing, Danny shook his head.
"Okay then…" He said slowly. "Why did you make me fly you home if you're scared of heights?"
"Because it made Paulina jealous." Star answered haughtily. "I mean did you see the look on her face back there?" Frowning slightly, Danny gave Star a cool look.
"Yeah." He answered in a tone he'd picked up by spending too much time around Clockwork. "it looked like her heart was breaking."
"Exactly!" Star said brightly, missing Danny's point entirely.
Shaking his head, the boy raised his eyes to the heavens and wondered why it was that he bothered.
She just doesn't get it… He thought sadly to himself, shooting Star a searching look as she straightened her hair and clothes up. Maybe it's because she hasn't been through enough, but—
"Hey, Fenton? Is anything going on between you and Valerie?" Star asked curiously, breaking the boy from his thoughts. Startled, Danny didn't catch her question at first, but when it finally clicked he couldn't stop a blush from staining his cheeks.
"It's complicated." He said evenly, only making Star more curious.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She pressed before something seemed to click in her mind and she groaned. "Oh, I get it. You still like her, don't you?" Uncomfortable, Danny didn't meet the girl's eyes as he offered a shrug in response to her question.
In reality, his crush on Valerie had ebbed away quite a bit since the nasty incident with Technus. He still didn't completely consider himself 'over' her, but he had slowly grown to accept that things could've never worked out between them anyways.
"How did you get your powers in the first place?" Star pressed as the two began to walk down the sidewalk. Well, Star walked. Danny floated next to her.
"Lab accident, just after school started up." Was Danny's response, coupled with a sigh. "I tried to check out my parent's Ghost Portal— which they swore wasn't working in the first place— and next thing I know I'm a half ghost freak with a whole new mess of problems." Star frowned thoughtfully at his words.
Thinking back, she did remember hearing something about Danny getting into an accident earlier that year in his parent's lab. He'd been so skittish for such a long time afterwards, and Sam and Tucker were suddenly sticking with him all the time, looking just as worried as he did.
She remembered joking about the accident with her friends, too. Dash has made some sort of comment about how maybe the shock had made Danny into even more of a freak then he was before, and Paulina had rolled her eyes and accused Dash of watching way too many cartoons.
Looking back, it took everything Star had not to laugh at the irony.
"Why didn't you tell your parents?" Star asked instead. Danny scoffed at the question.
"Are you kidding?" He asked incredulously. "Those first few months, all mom and dad would talk about was how great it would be if they could finally catch a ghost and rip it apart molecule by molecule. I figured if they knew what I was, I'd be the first one under the scalpel." Star winced there, seeing his point. "By the time I found out that they'd never do that to me, I also figured things are easier with them not knowing. I will tell them someday, I know that, but I want that day to be after everything else gets settled. The ghost, Plasmius… I want to deal with all of that first."
"…Plasmius?"
"Long story. Really, really don't ask." Sighing, Star rolled her eyes slightly before shooting the boy a curious look. She'd always known he was strange… almost everyone could feel it just being around him… but she'd never realized the extent of his oddness until just now.
"Well, that made you decide to do the whole superhero thing?" Star asked out loud.
"Somebody had you." Danny responded shrugging. "I had the power to protect people."
"Or hurt them." Star blurted out without thinking. Danny got a strange look on his face there.
"…Or hurt them." He agreed softly. "But I've seen what a life of hurting people gets a person, and that's not the life I want." Star looked at him curiously there, but before she could comment on that statement Danny shivered violently, a jet of blue mist snaking it's way out of the boy's mouth. The boy sighed and glanced off into the distance where Star could see some strange ghost flying around. "Sorry, but I've gotta take care of this. Later, Star!" and, after flashing his classmate a small smile and a wave, Danny took off after the ghost. Watching him go, Star shook her head before continuing on her way.
Oh yeah, Danny Fenton was weird alright…
WoM- That's all for now! 'giggles' I had a lot of fun with this chapter… and it tickles me that the Danny/Star pairing is actually starting to get a following. 'giggles even more' Anyways, next update for this story comes after I update FomS, and my update next update is Ghost Town, so stay tuned, people!
Thanks to;
SilverstarsEbonyskies, Knowledge in the Hollow Noggin ,blackkaosrose, Jimmy the Gothic Egg, Bunny Bubble, XxMidnightWolfxX, raidan, TaylorTheWeird, fan-girls2.0, Epona Harper, Rikku AppL.E, epobbp, Wingg-ed Wolf, iloveJesusJohnnyandDanny, Dull Curtains, L'ange-Sans-Ailes, SquirrelGirl13, Invader Johnny, Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet, ectoenergy, Sparky the Wonder Weasel, Phantom of a Rose, Gmasangel, conan98002, Nobody Famous, Kenna, BugzAttack, PotterPhan21, acosta perez jose ramiro, Kirstyn.T, Redwind, Lumias, Warrior of winds, JosephineInLove, ilikedan, Horselvr4evr123, ghostdolly, phantomshadowdragon, sylenis, BadCatGirl, deadzonedragon, trent, Rachelle Ryan, Starlight Rain, Keimei, Twisted Creampuff, Balkoth, J.J. Banks, dAnnYsGiRl777, animegurl088, Zizzo, Sapphire Wolf Master, WolfDaughter, Almighty God of Paper, Curious G-Demorial, Shenhua Phantom, Ice's Shadow, StarPhantom, Hiei's Cute Girl, Nonasuki-chan, Hunter Hatake and Roxxi Uchiha, Kitsune6, Knowledge in the Hollow Noggin , raidan, Dull Curtains, ectoenergy, Kenna, deadzonedragon, trent, Keimei, WolfDaughter, Curious G-Demorial, Hunter Hatake and Roxxi Uchiha,