Disclaimer: I wish I owned Danny Phantom! Desiree: -turns me into Butch Hartman- AHHHHHHHHH! CHANGE ME BACK CHANGE ME BACK! -is changed back
1. Interview techniques!
2. Take inventory of ghost hunting equipment and determine what I should bring
3. Check to see if there's any tracking devices I can stick on Phantom before he leaves
4. Pick out an outfit – ask Star for help
5. Scout out the meeting spot beforehand to map it out and prepare for possible ambush possibilities
6. Find a way to get in reliable contact with Phantom.
Valerie was able to check off number six for now, but she still had so much to do, and what felt like no time.
She paced her room. Every few moments she kept glancing at her phone, lighting up the display to check for a missed call and double checking to assure the volume was turned up sufficiently so she could hear the ring. Phantom was supposed to call at four, and it was already 3:55. She glanced out the door of her bedroom, assuring herself once more that her dad was working until eight. She didn't have detention, no ghosts seemed to be out, her homework (aside from reading for English) was complete. She had a blank page of her journal open to take notes on the specter once he called. Now it was just a waiting game.
Soon, the screen lit up with an unknown number at 4:00 on the dot. Her gut twisted anxiously as she dove for it.
"Hello," Valerie spoke into the phone.
"Hey." Phantom's voice was...oddly shy and quiet. Almost as if he was anxious. "How are you?"
"Good," Valerie gave the socially acceptable answer. "You?"
"Doing alright."
She suddenly felt a bit awkward and shy herself as silence washed over. What did she even have in common with a dead kid? This whole thing felt foolish, and she had no clue how to start a conversation.
"...So whatcha wearing?" Valerie's eyes narrowed. Phantom's tone was clearly teasing and she was surprised he lost his shyness so quick, but she didn't see the humor in his joke.
"Ghost hunting suit," she replied dryly.
"Oo kinky. Gonna cuff and zap me again?" Phantom's voice laughed at his own joke before he cut himself off. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding! Don't hang up, please." Valerie's finger was hovered over the button, but she paused. Phantom cleared his throat. "So...for Friday, I thought we could just go for a walk, maybe have a picnic in the park. What did you want to eat?"
"I'll pack it," Valerie immediately replied. "I don't trust you not to rat poison my food."
"No way, I don't trust you not to put blood blossoms in a salad or something," Phantom shot back. Valerie raised an eyebrow.
"Blood blossoms?" she echoed. She heard Phantom let out a soft "fuck" on the other line, and she smirked. She jotted down in her notebook the term. "We'll pack our own lunches."
"Deal."
Valerie heard noises in the background.
"Danny, who is that?" a familiar voice questioned. It was Dani. "Is that Valerie?"
Valerie's heart skipped a beat before she remembered that Phantom's first name was Danny. It somehow didn't feel...right to call him that. He was always Phantom to her. Danny was...too human in a sense for her taste.
"None of your beeswax," Phantom replied. She heard more shuffling in the background, as if somebody was trying to grab the phone. "Hey! Scram!"
"I wanna say hi!" the half-ghost whined. Valerie heard Phantom scowl.
"Excuse you, this is a private call!" Phantom huffed.
"But Danny!"
"Danielle, get out of my room! Go bug Ja-just go!"
Valerie couldn't help but smile. They were more like siblings than anything. But a thought hit her. His room? Phantom had a room somewhere? Was he living with Danielle's family for the time being? Was it in the Ghost Zone? No wait, Danielle was human too. Maybe Phantom lived with Danielle's human family. Of course! That made sense! How he lived in Amity yet was a ghost. She mentally cheered at the breakthrough.
"Actually Phantom," Valerie spoke, "I'd love to say hello to Dani."
There was an excited squeal and an annoyed/surprised yell before Danielle's voice chirped into the receiver, "Hi!" Valerie cracked a smile.
"Hey Dani," she replied.
"My cousin thinks you're super cute!" Dani began immediately. Valerie heard Phantom shriek her name in horror and more shuffling, a fight for the phone. "He talks about how he like-likes you all the time, and I've overheard him say that he wants to kis-hey!"
"GET OUT OF MY ROOM!"
Valerie heard protesting whines then a slamming door, following by rapid banging on wood. She assumed Phantom forced her out.
"...Sorry for that," Phantom's voice came in after a moment of silence.
"It's okay," Valerie replied. Honestly, she wasn't really sure how she felt. She was an only child, so she didn't truly understand the annoyance. It was more amusing to her than anything. Her mind scrambled for something to talk about.
"So, what kind of movies do you like?"
Phantom's question took her by surprise. It was such a normal, everyday question to ask, and for some reason, Valerie found it weird that he was asking such a thing.
"Um," her mind was a bit blank as she scrambled to remember her own favorite genres. "I really like action movies. Horror movies are pretty cool too."
"I love horror!" The irony of that was not lost on Valerie. "Have you ever seen the Dead Teacher series? It's soooo good. Of course the original is the best, but the sequel is freaking great too! Third one was terrible, you can skip it, but the fourth was pretty decent. Not the best, but I'd watch it again."
"I've never seen Dead Teacher," she admitted, and she heard a gasp of surprise from the other.
"We should watch it together sometime!" he suggested. "I have all the DVDs, I watch it with my friends S-m-my friends." Valerie frowned. He almost spilled a name. Was it one of his supposed human friends? Did he even have ghostly friends? Not to mention, why was he acting so...casual? As if they were going to hang out and be buddies and not like Valerie wasn't regularly hunting him down while he terrorized Amity Park and played hero.
She felt herself shaking, and she began to pace her room again, clutching the phone tightly. What was this? All of this? The phone call, the date, his actions, him pretending that they were friends, let alone romantic interests.
"Why?" she finally asked. Phantom didn't reply for a while.
"Cause I like the movies? So I bought them?" He seemed confused.
"No, I mean why," she stressed. "Why this? Why are you calling me? Why are we talking? What the hell are you even doing? I'm a ghost hunter."
Silence. Valerie found herself pacing slower before finally allowing herself to sit. Phantom hadn't talked in so long, that she was beginning to think he hung up when he finally said something.
"I never hated you or anything. I don't know why you got that idea-"
"Maybe it's because you ruined my life," she hissed.
"I never did that on purpose," he spoke harshly before his tone immediately softened. "I just...I don't know how to explain it, Val."
"Don't call me that." Val was something reserved for a friend, not a ghost.
"What do you want me to call you then?" Phantom began to sound irritated.
"Just...not Val." Danny and Star called her Val, not Phantom.
"Well, Valerie, believe it or not, ghosts have feelings. And...honestly, you're so cool."
Valerie was taken aback by this. Her? Cool? Yeah, at one point, she was cool, a popular kid. But one glance at her surroundings reminded her that nobody thought of her in such a way in a long, long time.
"So you humiliated me in front of my entire school because you think I'm cool?"
"No. I...I'm really sorry. It just sounded like a good idea at the time, and I just, I just, I just really want a chance to talk to you without all the guns blazing and have you get to know me so I can get to know you cause I just always admired you, I mean your suit is so badass looking and it makes you look so pretty, I love the way you look when you're chasing ghosts but like I mean ghosts that aren't me like I mean just your form and how effortless you make it look and..." Phantom trailed off. Valerie was in a stunned silence, and she rubbed her temple with her free hand. Her mind was racing, trying to process everything he was throwing at her.
It was all bullshit. It was part of the game. God, this was so Phantom to pull this kind of mind trick. But she wasn't a 'phangirl' of his, nor a hormonal teen girl that was desperate for a boyfriend. Yeah, she wanted a date for Winter Formal, but she wasn't going to cry if she didn't get it. That was life. Protecting Amity Park was more important than trivial teenage drama.
"Valerie." Valerie forced herself to snap back to attention as Phantom broke the silence that had began to form. "Please. People make mistakes. I'm really, really sorry that I ruined your life. I didn't mean it. Any of it. If I could have stopped it..." Phantom took an unnaturally long pause here. "I would have. I want a chance to make it up to you and to show you that I'm not really that bad of a guy."
"You're lying," she immediately called him out. "You wouldn't have stopped it."
"...I would. I kind of wouldn't want to-"
"I fucking knew it."
"I kind of wouldn't want to," Phantom repeated himself, his voice cold with annoyance at the interruption, "because it'd mean that I've never know the Valerie you are now. The really cool, badass and beautiful ghost-hunting Valerie. The Valerie I've kind of grown to really...But I would change it. Because I know it'd make you happy to have your old life back."
Valerie didn't know how to respond to that.
There was a loud banging on Phantom's end, frantic and panicked.
"Danny!" Dani's voice called out from the background. Valerie assumed she was knocking on the door again.
"Danielle, I told you, I'm on the phone-"
"Your mom's here!"
Valerie was absolutely blown away by this, especially when Phantom began to curse and mutter something under his breath.
"Go upstairs to the O-go upstairs! I'll sneak you a plate of dinner in a bit, okay?"
"Okay! Be quick!"
Her theory about Phantom living with Danielle's family was absolutely blown out of the water. Was Danielle living with Phantom's family? Unknown? She had to be unknown, otherwise why would Phantom sneak her a plate of dinner? What the hell? Was Phantom, a ghost, still living with his very much alive family somewhere in Amity Park? Did they not care?
"Valerie? Valerie?"
"Y-yeah?" Valerie quickly composed herself.
"I gotta get going. I can call you later?"
"T-that's okay. I'll see you Friday, okay?" Valerie's heart was pounding like crazy.
"Yeah, seven at the park gazebo," Phantom repeated the information. She could almost hear the playful smile in his voice as he went on to tease, "But of course I'll probably be seeing you around. Stay in good spirits, okay? Bye!"
He hung up. Valerie let her phone drop onto her bed as she flopped back onto it. The conversation played in her mind repeatedly as she soon made herself roll over onto her stomach, grabbing her forgotten Phantom journal and a pen.
She had no clue where to even begin when it came to this entry.