Another update! AND it's longer than it usually is. Aren't you guys lucky? For all of the people that decided to stick around despite the DxE, Enjoy! Both writers love you all! As always, reviews are much appreciated and every favourite and follow counts! ^^
Disclaimer: Neither I, nor Kasena own Danny Phantom or any of the character in this fanfiction, because that is all it is: FANfiction. If this was actually canon, it would totally rock, though.
Chapter Seven
Ember, not noticing Sam, sped off towards the computer room and sat down into the seat she had sat in when she had first had this class.
"Hey, beautiful!" Tucker greeting with a wink as he saw the girl sit down.
Ember rolled her eyes and tried, with difficulty, to turn the computer on. "Yo."
"What's up? You look a little down." Tucker commented, a confused look on his face.
"Huh?" Emma asked, realising that she had been sadly staring off into space. "O-oh, I'm...fine," she told him, distractedly fiddling with the buttons on the device. "It's just that I might be moving back home soon."
The techno-geek let out a dramatic gasp. "W-what? But we haven't even gone out, yet!"
Emma let out a little chuckle. She was slowly getting used to him and his weirdness now, as weird as that was. "I told you before, dorkwad, never gonna happen. You're just not my type."
The boy raised an interested eyebrow and leaned closer to her desk. "So...who is your type? Danny?"
The girl's eyes went wide. "W-WHAT? When did I... what are... shut up, Tucker!"
Tucker laughed and turned his own computer on. "You can deny it all you want, Em, but I've seen the way he looks at you," he said as he begun typing things into his keyboard.
Ember gave him an incredulous look. "What're you talking about, dipstick?"
The boy smirked at her, which, for the first time in her afterlife, made her feel very scared of the geek. "You might not have noticed, but he's got this one longing puppy dog stare that he keeps giving you."
Ember laughed. "You don't know what you're talking about."
She watched the boy nod his bereted head in confirmation. "He's my best friend! I know him. The dude's got it bad for you, Em."
Blushing a bright crimson, the girl turned back to her computer. "Ha... ha...maybe we should get back to the computers, now?" she suggested nervously, subconsciously playing with her bangs as she tried to change the subject. "Mr. Davidson mentioned something about...databases, or...something."
Tucker gave her an are-you-kidding-me look and then gasped as he realised something. "Oh...my God. You-"
"Don't say it!" she growled, knowing full well what was coming next.
"-have a thing for Danny, don't you?" The boy was practically bouncing in his seat now.
"No I don't!" she exclaimed stubbornly, beginning to aggressively type something into the keyboard.
"Then why are you blushing?"
"It's just really hot in here!" she replied, fanning herself with her hand as if to cool herself down.
"Just admit it, Emma. If you're leaving anyway, what does it even matter?"
Ember sighed heavily. "Fine," she muttered. "I like him...a lot. Not that it matters anyway, like you said." She said that last part sadly, especially when she thought about how Danny didn't know who she really was. In a way, this was really unfair. She was going to go home, give the book to writer and Ember and Phantom would either never see each other again or would go back to being enemies.
Tucker frowned at the girl's sudden downcast attitude. Though he did brighten up at the idea that the girl Danny liked actually liked him back. Once he told him, he was sure Danny would be ecstatic. Ember returned herself from her sad musings with an angry glare at Tucker.
"You tell him…" she growled, pointing an accusatory finger at him, "...and you die. Got that, jerkwad?"
Tucker gulped and nodded nervously. "Y-yup. Got... it."
With that, Ember nodded in satisfaction and turned back to her computer. Now, how did you turn these things on again?
Meanwhile, Sam was creating her own plan. She just needed to get into Fenton Works, and she could reveal Ember for the lying snake she was.
XXX
The four were back in homeroom, chatting amongst themselves. When they came in, Ember put her foot in the aisle, causing Danny to fall over it, and her to comment, "Did you have a nice trip, dipstick? Didn't think I'd see you until the fall!" Sam was the farthest from Ember as possible. Ember and Danny, unfortunately, had started a pun contest. "You know, pyrotechnics heavily ignited my interest."
"I was going to step into a bucket of ice, but I got cold feet."
"A contest held by firefighters is called a match."
"For those who live in ice, it'snow problem."
Trying to cover up a laugh, she said, "Give it up, dipstick, talking about fire and ice will be a pretty heated argument."
He retorted, "Not if I give you the cold shoulder!"
They continued on like this for a while. Sam and Tucker, on the other hand, were having a much more serious discussion. "Sam, I'm telling you, Emma is not Ember!"
Sam groaned, "Tucker, how can she not be? Look at them! She's obviously manipulating him!"
When the two smiled, holding in laughs, Tucker looked back to Sam with a helpless look, "Sam, they're just two people. I don't think Ember would fall that hard for Danny. I don't think Ember would blush as much as she does around him. I don't think Ember would last five minutes without pounding him. Just give it up. They honestly like each other. In fact, she kinda told me, last class…"
"She WHAT?!" Sam immediately stormed over to the two, "Listen, you, I know what you're-"
"Woah, Sam, chill out."
Ember held her hands out, "Woah, yeah, Sam, no need to get steamed up." Ember giggled, then gasped, her face turning to shock and horror. "No! No, that doesn't count! She interrupted us!"
Danny cracked a grin and held a hand up to his ear, "What was that? Was that, a laugh?! Ladies and gentlemen, the King of Puns!"
Ember acted disappointed, even though her similar smile told otherwise, "Nooo! You cheated! I am the Queen of Puns! You are a false king! I demand a recount!"
Sam disgusted, shouted over them, "Knock it off! You don't have to pretend anymore, I know your dirty little secret, Ember!"
Ember rolled her eyes, "This, again? I'm not pretending anything, and my name's not Ember! It's Emma!
Sam smirked, "Oh, really? What, can't remember your own name?" Ember held back a shocked gasp. Oh, this little twerp was gonna get it. "It's sad that you've gotta manipulate him this much. I mean faking liking somebody? That's low, even for you."
At this, Ember did gasp. What Sam had said brought back memories of the night she was stood up. She tried to blink back the tears, but they kept coming. She turned away and grabbed her bag, wiping her eyes and smudging her make-up. "I wouldn't ever fake liking somebody, but fine." Her voice began to waver, "If that's what you think, then… then I'll just go!" With that, she ran out, trying to wipe the tears away. Was she faking it? Was she manipulating him? No, of course not!
She shook her head, trying to get the confusing thoughts out as she kept running until she ran back to the apartment.
XXX
The two boys turned to Sam and glared at her.
"Wow, Sam. That was harsh," Tucker commented quietly. "I can't believe you made her cry!"
The girl put her hands on her hips and glared back at Tucker. "Oh, come on!" she exclaimed angrily. "She's crying because she knows I've caught her out! You two should be thanking me right now for stopping her from playing with Danny's affections!"
Danny, who had been strangely quiet throughout this whole thing, looked up at Sam with a frown. "She never was playing with my affections, Sam," he said quietly, all signs of humour from the pun contest gone. "Don't you get it?" he said a bit louder. "The way you made her cry is living proof of that. So what if I happen to really like her? She's a great person!"
Sam gasped, eyebrows lowered into her own frown. "But she's evil! You can't seriously-"
"Seriously, Sam," Danny interrupted her sternly. "Stop. I'm gonna go find her and fix the mess that you caused." Before either of his friends could say anything else, the boy stood up and made his way out of the school. He knew that Sam was his best friend and he shouldn't have snapped at her, but at the same time, he didn't like that she'd made someone he considered a friend, or maybe even more, burst into tears like that. He knew Sam was worried for him, but she really had no need to be. As soon as he walked through the school gates, Danny called forth his ghost half with a quiet "Goin' ghost…" and sped off into the sky in search for the girl.
"Ember?" Dani asked, hearing the door to the apartment slam shut. "You're home early. I thought-" The girl stopped mid-sentence when she saw the state of the teenager in the lounge. Ember was in a lounged position on the couch on her stomach, with her face buried into her arms, sobbing.
"Ember? What's wrong?" she asked, worriedly. The ghost rock star was always the one that had it all together, that would look after her when she was crying- not the other way around! Something wasn't right. Ember never cried, at least, not as far as she knew. This had to be a big deal. The teenager didn't say anything and just continued to sob into the, now soaking, couch.
"Look, I don't know what happened, but it can't be that-" she was interrupted by another bout of sobbing from the rockstar. 'Alright,' Dani mentally admitted, 'I'm not good at this sympathising stuff.' It was time to use a different approach.
"Ember McLain!" She said sternly. "Talk to me, dangit!" Dani tried, shaking the girl's shoulder. "You're better than this! Get a grip, girl! You're THE Ember McLain! You don't cry!"
Ember's breath hitched. The pipsqueak was right. She was Ember McClain! She never cried, ever. She needed to get a grip. She'd been hanging around these humans too long and they were starting to rub off on her. Sitting up on the couch, the girl wiped the remaining mascara from her eyes and patted the young halfa on the head affectionately. "Thanks, mini-dipstick. I needed that."
Dani let out a sigh of relief. "Well, glad that's over. You were starting to scare me."
Ember leaned back on the couch. "I was starting to scare myself, actually. It's just...ugh!" She stared up at the ceiling. "That girl's really got it in for me, not that I really blame her. But still..." she muttered.
Dani glanced up at her friend sympathetically. "What girl? What happened?"
Ember sighed and started fiddling with her bangs again. "You know Sam, right? The goth chic?" Dani nodded. "She figured out who I am and she thinks I'm trying to manipulate Danny."
Dani raised an eyebrow. "Are you?"
Ember made an incredulous noise. "Ha, no! Of course not! I would never do something like that!"
"Then...I don't get it," Dani commented. "If you know you're not tricking him, why are you so upset?"
Ember let out a deep sigh and stared down at the carpet in shame. "She compared me to the kind of person that fakes liking somebody and I guess it...brought back bad memories... of my... death."
The halfa gave the teen a sad look, even though she knew she couldn't see it. "I wish Danny were here…" she whispered sadly.
Ember nodded in agreement and replied without really thinking about it, "Yeah, me too."
Dani sighed and then gasped when she realised something. "Wait...what?" She thought Ember hated her 'cousin'.
"I said," Ember replied with a sigh, turning to look at the bewildered girl, "that I wish Danny was here, too." This time, the rocker couldn't conceal the blush colouring her cheeks when she thought of Danny and his dreamy baby blue eyes…
Dani gasped and started actually jumping up and down on the couch. "Ember, do you...like Danny?"
The rocker quirked an eyebrow. "What..?" The look of confusion quickly melted into a smirk. "Hehe... is it really that obvious?"
Dani giggled. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. "How did that even happen? You used to hate him! What happe-"
Ember ignored the questions and rolled her eyes, though she still had a small smile on her face, and made her way to the kitchen. "I'm gonna make dinner."
"Hey, wait! Ember! Spill!"
XXX
The next day, Danny tiredly walked into school and slumped himself down into his seat in humanities. He had been up all night searching for Emma, but she seemed to have just vanished. Taking a look at the seat next to him, Danny sighed. Emma hadn't shown up for school today and he was pretty sure he knew why.
"What, no Ms. McLain today?" Mr Lancer asked the boy as he walked past the two desks. If Danny didn't know any better, he'd swear that Lancer sounded almost...disappointed.
The boy sighed. "No, Mr. Lancer. I haven't seen her all day." 'I doubt I'll ever see her again, either.' Danny thought miserably as he saw the teacher leave.
Two hours later, Danny was stuffing an assortment of books he couldn't be bothered reading into his locker, still feeling rather downcast. He knew it wasn't his fault that she was gone, but he still felt somewhat responsible. Maybe if he had-
"Hey dude!" Greeted Tucker, approaching his friend as cheerfully as he could, in the hopes that he could, perhaps, lighten his friend's mood.
"Hey, Tuck. Still no sign of her?" he asked sadly. Tucker didn't need telling who 'her' was.
"No, man. I'm sorry," he said. "Oh, I saw Sam earlier."
"...Yeah? She's not still mad at me, is she?" the boy asked, slamming his locker shut.
His best friend shook his head and put a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder. "It didn't look it. She told me that she's got something big planned at lunch after book club and she wants us to meet her in the football field."
"Something... big planned?" Danny asked, raising an eyebrow.
Tucker nodded. "Yeah, we better meet her there later. Don't wanna face her wrath, y'know?" Danny chuckled a little, knowing just what kind of wrath Sam would make Tucker endure, via her combat boots.
Meanwhile, Ember walked through the halls as quietly as she could. While she had mostly gotten past what had happened yesterday, she still didn't want to draw attention to herself. She walked to Lancer's classroom and set her stuff down. She made sure to come for book club. Better to get this over and done with, so she could go home. "Oh. Ms. McLain. I didn't see you in first period, today."
She nodded, keeping her head down, "Yeah, sorry, I was… working through some things." Once Sam walked in, she stopped talking. She didn't want to incur the goth's wrath, anymore than she already had.
Sam saw the ghost's reaction and smirked. She was probably thinking of ways to get revenge, when really, she'd be the one Sam gets revenge on. 'Oh sweet, sweet irony,' she thought venomously. Lancer lent Ember a copy of Hamlet, and she thanked him with a gracious smile. She skipped to where Lancer had left off during detention the other day, and continued reading.
Ember gasped, and exclaimed, "I knew it! Ooh, you're gonna pay for that, Claud." The book club then started, and they went around asking the standard questions, 'Who read to here, What do you think of this, Should the author have done something different?'
After it was over, everyone but Ember and Sam dispersed, going to their classes. Ember looked hopefully up at Lancer, and he chuckled, "I must say, Emma, even I am surprised about this outcome. I trust the book will be in safe hands."
She eagerly nodded, "Don't worry, Mr. Lancer, it will be!" She carefully packed the book in her book bag and turned to the door, only to see Sam waiting for her.
"Hey, Emma." She frowned when the ghost walked past her, then caught up, "Listen, I'm sorry for all that stuff yesterday. You just really remind me of someone who hurt my friends and I. If you come out to the football field, I can make it up to you."
She asked her, warily, "How will you do that?"
She grinned, "You're not going to find out if you don't follow me." She took off, towards the field, with Ember reluctantly following.
Aaaaand there you have the latest chapter! Also, since some of you have been asking, I figured I'd let you know something I had been planning on keeping under wraps. The fic that I'll be uploading once I've uploaded all of this one will be MAJOR Badger Cereal and will come chronologically after this one and 'Trapped With The Enemy'. It's going to be called 'A Week With The Enemy', so look out for it! You Badger Cereal fans will love it, probably as much as we enjoyed writing it. Well, we hope so anyway. Thanks for reading, and I'll try to update again soon!
