"Hey, glowstick!"

Danny sighed, the nickname and the brash voice it was paired with halting him in his tracks. "What do you want, Dash?" He didn't bother to turn around.

He waited, hearing heavy footfalls approach. Dash emerged from the corner of his vision, crossing to stand by him. "I need your help with something."

Danny raised an eyebrow, casting a glance around the hallway. No ghosts. No threats. No screaming people or terrified students. Everything seemed okay. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Help with what?"

If Danny didn't know any better, he would've sworn that was a flush of pink working its way up his neck. "I, uh – well, you know a lot about ghosts, right?"

A snort. "I should hope so."

Dash shifted on his feet a little. "Well I'm – I'm not doing too good in Ghost Studies—"

"Well," Danny corrected, trying to hide the satisfaction he felt at Dash's unfamiliar awkwardness.

Confusion flooded Dash's eyes, and he looked at the halfa curiously. "What?"

Danny shook his head. "Never mind." He waved a hand vaguely. "So what – are you gonna beat me up until I agree to write your papers for you or something?"

The flush coloring Dash's cheeks paled, his face getting about three shades lighter in a second. "What? I – no, no," he said quickly, and shook his head adamantly, as if even the concept of trying to beat Danny up was something he didn't dare consider. Not anymore, at least. "I just – Lancer told me that since it's a prerequisite, if I don't pass it I'm not going to graduate."

Ah. Danny understood now, eyebrows raising in realization. "Are you asking me to tutor you? You?"

The flush that had been making its way up his neck colored his cheeks brightly, but his eyes narrowed into a glare as if it was Danny's fault. "I'm not asking, Fentoad."

And there he was – the old Dash. Pushing people around to get what he wants. "And what if I said no?"

Dash's hands, at his sides, tightened into fists. "Then I'm gonna—I'm gonna—" He raised a fist as if in a threat.

Danny raised his eyebrows at the bully.

Dash's fist lowered. "Look, I would just really appreciate it, okay? Even if you can't, and you could talk to one of your nerd friends, or something, maybe. I don't know. Even your sister. I just—" Dash broke off, and swallowed. He shook his head. "I have to pass this class, Fenton. If I don't, I can't graduate, and my dad's gonna kill me if I lose my football scholarship. Okay? I just—I need someone to help. You and your friends know more about ghosts than everyone else in this city combined."

Danny watched him, for a moment, gauging his sincerity. There was an actual note of fear in his eyes, a hint of pleading in his voice. And reluctance. Maybe a little embarrassment. Danny sighed. "Yeah, sure. Okay."

Dash blinked. "Okay?"

"Yeah," Danny repeated, nodding a little. "Okay, I'll tutor you."

Dash, still, didn't seem to understand. "For… for real?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Yes, for real, Dash. Isn't that what you wanted?"

And Dash grinned. He grinned. And it was grateful and it was full of relief and it was honest. "Oh, man, awesome, okay—when do you wanna start? Are you free this afternoon? Or is that—no, that's too short notice, isn't it? You're probably busy? What about tomorrow? Meet in the library after school? Three-ish?"

Danny rolled his eyes, a smile tugging at his mouth. Dash really was the biggest dork. "Sure," he agreed, nodding. "Sounds perfect."

A/N: Short one shot, I know, I know. Takes place senior year, assuming the headcannon that Casper High created a Ghost Studies class all students have to take before graduating.

On another note, I'm starting to run out of pre-written one-shots to post to this story, which is why updates have slowed down so drastically (I'm panicking I'm sorry). At first, I was excited to sort of get it all out there, all the various one shots I'd written already. I think I was a little overenthusiastic with my updates heh. This series is far from over, but I'm going to space updates a little farther apart from here on out, due to my... just general inabililty to organize my life, I guess lol. I haven't decided how often I will update, whether it's once a week or once every other Wednesday or whatever it may be, but when I figure it out I'll let y'all know

That being said, this will still be updated! So please keep reading!

Also more "glowstick" nicknames because next to the Lichtenberg figure headcanon it's one of my absolute favorite post-reveal hcs ever, because glowstick, Danny literally glows and his classmates interacting with him post-reveal is one of my favorite things to explore and it's so fun and the nickname could be meant in good humor OR it could be meant as an insult and as a jab at Danny's just general inhumanness and I think it's fantastic and awful and idk why but that angst and that disconnect and dissonance of connotations is just addictive as a writer

As always, thank you for reading and for the reviews!