Chapter 7 - Promising Secrets

"Danny? Have you seen him lately?" Sam asked, her arms dropping to her sides. Tucker took a half a step forward, looking at Paulina curiously.

"Was he ok? Was he hurt?" the techno-geek asked, worry evident in his eyes.

Paulina looked between the two friends, her brows furrowing. "What...what do you mean? You don't know where he is?"

Sam and Tucker shared a meaningful look before turning back to the popular teen. "You haven't seen him since first hour?" Sam asked.

Paulina shook her head no. "I...I only saw him, I mean, well, not really in first hour..."

Sam's eyes went wide the moment she realized her mistake. "Oh, no, I mean Friday. First hour on...on Friday..." Sam looked like was about to cry when she turned to Tucker. He looked back at her, eyes wide and mouth agape.

"It's ok," Paulina took a small step forward. "I- I saw him. On Friday, I saw Danny, um, well I saw Danny Fenton, and then Danny Phantom..."

The two friends stared at Paulina for a few moments before Tucker laughed nervously. "That doesn't make any sense. Do you have a fever or something?" he managed nervously.

"No, no I saw him," Paulina took another step forward, now just a few feet from he two. "There were these rings of light - he said he was...going ghost? And then, he was just, well, he was just Danny Phantom."

Sam stomped her foot furiously, causing Tucker and Paulina to jump. "Dammit! This isn't supposed to happen! First Danny disappears, now you find out!" Sam nearly yelled, angry tears streaming down her face.

"Sam—" Tucker started.

"No! Tucker, this is bad, ok? Paulina can't keep a secret if her life depended on it," the goth sneered at Paulina.

"That's not true!" Paulina gasped, looking at Manson. "I found out on Friday, and I haven't told anyone—"

"Oh, like that matters," Sam 'tsk'ed, tapping her foot anxiously with her arms crossed once again. "You're just waiting for the right time to swoop in and tell the entire school."

"No! Never! I know some things are bigger than gossip—"

"Like what? Huh? What kind of things qualify as 'bigger than gossip', oh mighty princess of Casper High?"

"Like real things!" Paulina yelled it, effectively shutting Sam up. The popular girl took a few deep breaths, steadying her heart rate. "This is real. Believe it or not, my life isn't perfect. I know what real struggles are, and I know where to draw the line."

Tucker stared at the almost crying Paulina sympathetically. "I believe you," he sighed, earning a deadly look from Sam.

"You what? You believe her? Tucker, this is Danny we're talking about—" the goth started

"I know Sam, but she says she knows about real struggles, maybe we should—"

"Oh, what, we should just take that for face value? The only struggles she's ever probably had to deal with is when her daddy cancels her credit card."

Paulina took a step back, drawing the arguing friends' attention back onto herself. "Look, I just wanted to tell you that I knew. I tried keeping this a secret, but I just can't - not by myself. If I could just tell Star—"

"No," Sam cut Paulina off mid sentence. "You are absolutely not allowed to tell that bitch."

"Sam!" Tucker gasped.

"We don't need anyone else finding out!" Sam yelled, causing Tucker to close his mouth and look down at the ground. Meanwhile, Paulina continued to shake, her eyes filling with tears. The moment Sam noticed this, she smirked at the other girl. "What, afraid your follower might leave you if you don't give her new gossip?"

With that final comment, Paulina snapped, taking a few steps forward so that she had to look down to see the slightly shorter goth girl.

"Listen up, Manson. I could make your life a living hell - I don't even have to tell anyone about Danny to do that. And you know that. You will not talk to me that way again, do you hear me?" Sam nodded after a moment of solemn contemplation. "Good," Paulina continued. "You will join the a-listers, and you will tell me what the hell is going on with Danny. I understand if you don't want me to tell Star - that's...fine, whatever," she huffed, "but you have to keep me in the loop, otherwise I will ruin your life here at Casper High."

Sam gulped, her eyes wide. "Y- yes, ok."

Paulina forced herself to smirk at the terrified goth girl, all the while hiding her shaking hands by crossing them in front of her. "Good! Let's get back to lunch then, shall we?"

I'm so so sorry this one is so short guys! The way I'm writing the next few chapters, this is where I had to cut it off .

However! Next chapter is going to be quite a bit longer, as is the one after that -

Thank you to everyone who reads, follows, and favorites this story. An extra special thanks to everyone who reviews - I always get so excited when I see a new one!

I'll try my best to post tomorrow

Until next time,

~Ash