Author's note: Yup, Paulina is still Paulina and can be quite manipulative, but I wanted to show that she can be genuine and that she can have true feelings of affection. Her crush on Phantom is not because of his status but because of his personality...and his exotic looks...but mostly his personality. :b
I am the Paulina writer, and I know just where I stand.
Another fanfic writer, another Danny Phantom fan.
Today, I am her champion. She'll always be my girl.
Though many were confused, I still got tons of reviews.
I'm so glad I could appeal 'cause you all make me feel
Like the luckiest girl in the world.
The Luckiest Girl in the World -Remastered-
Schemes and Dreams
"Here we go," said Tucker, pointing out a news article on his phone browser. "Can't believe how long it took me to find it, though. You think it'd be one of the big links on the front page!"
"It's not like it's really big news or anything, Tuck," said Danny, leaning against a row of lockers.
While the event had happened on Saturday, not much was mentioned in the Amity Park news on Sunday about the ghost kid being on the Baxter roof with a girl. An article about it was published on Monday instead. However, a news special covering the incident aired Sunday evening, and Danny was forced to sit through the whole newscast listening to his parents complain about the missed opportunity to catch him. Jazz kept smiling and winking at him knowingly, humming something that sounded suspiciously like we know something they don't know!
But despite the news footage being a little blurry due to the rain, he and Paulina and had looked so perfect together as they hovered in the air. He watched himself holding her in awe, proof that she was right there in his arms and that it wasn't a dream.
They just seemed to fit together.
"Paulina's sure getting a lot of attention," said Sam irritably as the Latina walked by with a crowd of students around her asking questions. Paulina only smiled and flipped her hair over her shoulders.
"Yeah," said Danny languorously. He stared at her, remembered how she looked pressed against him, recalled the dreams he had had about her the two previous nights. They fit together just as well in his dreams.
Sam frowned at his expression. She was tempted to pull him back into reality with a smack.
He suddenly tensed and straightened up. "Oh, man!" he whispered nervously. "She's looking at me!"
Sam and Tucker turned to see that Paulina was indeed eyeing their friend with a slight pout. She seemed thoughtful for a moment, then her pout turned into a seductive smile as she started walking toward him.
Danny's eyes widened. "She's coming this way! Quick, how do I look?" He turned to his friends in a panic.
"You have some stray hairs," said Tucker, pointing to the top of Danny's head. Danny frantically tried to smooth them down.
Sam grabbed his arm and forced him to lower it. "Danny, you look fine, and if Paulina doesn't approve of a few stray hairs, then that just proves how much of a shallow—"
"Danny, hi!" said Paulina sweetly. She walked right up to him, ignoring Sam and Tucker.
"Oh, uh, hi," said Danny, his voice coming out higher-pitched than he ever wanted it to around any pretty girl. "So, I read the article about you, and you were on TV last night."
"That's right." Paulina moved in closer to him. "Listen, can we have lunch together outside? Just the two of us?"
Sam wanted to strangle Paulina, wanted to wrap her fingers around that slender neck of hers and wring it until her flawless complexion broke out in popped veins. Tucker placed a hand on her shoulder, and Sam relaxed, breathed away the violent thought.
The bell rang just then. Danny tried his best to stay cool and lower his pitch. "Yeah, sure. I can do that."
Paulina chuckled coyly. "Well, see you then, Danny." She blew him a kiss and walked away with a saunter.
Danny watched her leave, then smacked his forehead when she was out of sight. "I feel like such a moron," he groaned.
"Aw, don't feel bad, Danny. You did okay." Tucker's eye twitched. "Sort of."
"It felt so natural on Saturday. I feel so nervous when I'm around her as Danny Fenton, but when I'm Phantom, it's like…I already know that she likes me, so it's okay."
Sam couldn't do this anymore. She was sick of Paulina, and she was sick of Danny still fawning over her. "Whatever. Let's just go to class."
The three started walking. Sam continued to fume while Danny continued to dream.
-DP-
The bell for lunch would be ringing soon. Paulina sat at her desk and drew sketches of the ghost boy on the note paper where she should've been writing notes from the lecture. All day, she had heard whispers of her name, caught glances in her direction.
She grinned. They were all just jealous. Story of her life.
Up ahead, she could see Danny Fenton a few seats forward. A number of stray hairs were standing on top of his head and moving about in all directions, charged with static electricity.
He certainly did have nice hair.
And a nice back, too.
And his arms were definitely looking more and more muscular each day. She loved a guy with good arms.
She could see Star smirking at her. Paulina immediately looked back down at her sketches of the ghost boy. Star had of course teased her about inviting Danny to have lunch with her, but she had a plan, a scheme. The ghost boy had confirmed that he knew Danny. She was going to charm Danny into telling her more about the ghost boy. If she pushed just the right buttons with him, she was sure she could get him to tell her anything she wanted, and she was very good at pushing the right buttons with boys, especially boys who were already infatuated with her.
The bell finally rang. Paulina stood and collected her things. She then walked by Danny and waved to him. "Meet me outside, okay?" she said melodically.
Danny nodded, a bright blush lighting up his face. "Okay."
Paulina grinned and walked out into the hall, but not before seeing Sam's heated expression. She chuckled under her breath. She loved making that goth jealous, especially when it came to Danny.
"Enjoy your date with Fenton, Paulina," said Star with a laugh as the two friends walked to get their lunches from their lockers.
"Wait, what?" asked Dash, who had just joined them. "Date with Fenton? When?"
"Right now," said Star. "She's having lunch with him."
Dash grabbed Paulina's shoulder and forcefully whirled her around. "What? You're eating lunch with Fenton? Are you kidding me?"
"Lay off, Dash," said Paulina, pulling out of his grasp. She glared at Star. "I'm just doing this for today. Danny knows the ghost boy, and I'm going to ask him about their relationship."
"Wow. Are you really so obsessed with Phantom that you're willing to have lunch with a total dweeb for him?" Dash's eyes hardened. "Fine. I don't care."
He stormed off. Paulina didn't even bother to watch him leave.
But Star was once again smirking at her.
"What?" snapped Paulina.
"You've got it bad for Fenton," sang Star. "I'm gonna tell Phantom you're cheating on him."
Paulina only rolled her eyes and left to meet Danny.
-DP-
"I hope I don't blow this," said Danny as he started to walk out of the classroom. Paulina had just told him to meet her outside.
"Don't worry," said Tucker assuredly. "You'll be—"
Danny suddenly yelped and shook out his hand.
"What?" asked Sam with concern.
"I reached out for the door handle to hold it open for you, and it shocked me."
"Well, your hair's all back in place now," said Tucker with a small laugh.
"Anyway, Danny, your stupid lunch with Paulina…" Sam sighed. "You know she probably just wants something from you, right?"
"Probably," said Danny, "but that's still better than being ignored."
"I will never understand you boys," said Sam in disbelief. "You're seriously okay with being used as long as it's by a pretty girl?"
"Totally," said Tucker, meriting a low punch from Sam.
Danny smiled. "Sam, don't worry about me. If I can survive an ambush from a bunch of ghost hunters including Valerie, I can survive a lunch with Paulina."
Sam could not return his smile, could not even meet his gaze.
"And how else am I going to get her to like both parts of me? If she could just stop thinking of me as a loser, maybe..." He paused. "After Saturday night, I really think we could be something if she could just accept me as Danny Fenton, too."
In the cafeteria, Danny said a hurried goodbye to his friends.
"Aren't you going to buy something first?" asked Tucker. "You're supposed to be eating with Paulina, aren't you?"
"You know I can't eat when I'm nervous, Tuck," said Danny. He ran off to meet Paulina.
Sam frowned. "It seems he's always nervous about something."
"Of course. Why do you think he's so thin?"
It was meant to be a joke, but the two friends could only manage weak smiles.
"I do worry about him," said Tucker quietly. "He really goes through a lot, and I feel like you and I can only do so much to help him."
"That's why I really wish he'd stop letting Paulina use him like this," said Sam. "Helping him out with ghost fighting is actually pretty easy, but helping him get over a broken heart…that's a tall order."
The two sat at their usual table with their lunches. Tucker started eating heartily while the goth twirled her fork in her vegetarian meal, slowly lifting bites into her mouth.
"Hey, geeks!" Dash called as he walked up to them.
Sam didn't look up. "What?" she asked irritably.
"Tell Fentonella that if I catch him hanging around Paulina ever again after today, I'm going to kick his ass." The blond jock was purple in the face.
"Feeling violent today, huh?" asked Sam nonchalantly.
"Paulina's the one who invited him to lunch, you know," said Tucker.
"I don't care. I will literally murder him if he even gets near Paulina," said Dash seriously.
"I think you mean 'figuratively.' Murder is illegal, you know," said Tucker. Sam shot him a seriously? glare.
"Shut up, nerd," barked Dash. "Just tell him I'm going to kill him the next time I see him with her."
"Sure thing," said Sam, still apathetic, still not looking at him.
Dash, a little confused by her response, walked back to his own table where Star and Kwan were sitting.
Sam narrowed her eyes at her technology-loving friend. "Tucker?"
"Yeah?"
"You really are a nerd."
Original reviews
Invader Johnny: I like the last scene from this chapter, anyway I believe that Paulina will make the wish son, right?
L'ange-Sans-Ailes: can't wait to see paulina and danny get closer, and if sam finally kills her
Charlotte LaRouge: take your time getting to the wish, makes the story longer, more suspenseful, and all the better!
Balkoth: Paulina's obsession is kinda creepy but you've done a great job capturing the brains behind the nearly flawless skin. If Danny isn't careful... :-)
ailea: I've never been much of a Paulina/Danny fan, but this seems to convince me otherwise.
Lonestarr: Wasn't at all crazy about the "Secret Weapons" reference at the beginning of this chapter. (That episode did unspeakable, unpleasant things to Jazz.)
