Chapter 10

"Danny, you seem a bit out of it," Sam commented while they walked through the hallways of Casper High on their way to the cafeteria. The man had spaced out quite a few times during class. His eyes were red and puffy like he had spent the whole night crying. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Danny answered with a slight growl in his voice. "And I wish everyone would stop asking me if I was all right." He picked up his pace, walking faster than his friends. He turned the corner, and his face met with an open door, causing him to stumble back and fall to the floor. Holding his face in his hands, he glanced up through his fingers to find Dash standing there, sneering down at him.

Dash didn't say anything. He simply stepped over the fallen man, kicking him in the back as he passed, and continued on his way down the hall. Sam and Tucker glared after the jock as they helped their friend back to his feet.

"Dash is such a jerk," Sam grumbled in anger.

Danny ignored Sam's comment and walked off in a huff, going the opposite direction of the jock. One look at Dash made Danny remember how he had felt toward Speedstar, and he got confused about his feelings. Dash was always a jerk toward him, but when he was Speedstar, he had been so different. Danny pulled at his hair in frustration. Why did Speedstar have to be Dash?

"Hmm, that's odd," a woman said, making Danny freeze. Where had he heard that voice before? "Try another one." Danny jogged down the hall to the open door to one of the empty classrooms and ran inside to find Paulina sitting on one of the desks while another girl with long black hair stood before her.

"Desiree!" Danny growled, his eyes narrowing at the ghost. Then his eyes widened when he realized Desiree wasn't a ghost. She had a real human body like Skulker!

"I know," Desiree said as a gleeful smirk crossed her face. "Why don't you wish for him to be a frog and then we can dissect him?"

"Ew! No way!" Paulina responded with a look of disgust at the thought of dissecting anything.

"Desiree, leave Paulina alone," Danny shouted as he balled his hands into fists. He really couldn't do anything with Paulina present. Going ghost would reveal his identity, and he didn't want Paulina spreading rumors about him beating up some woman even if she was a ghost in disguise. He already had a reputation as a loser. Being a loser who beats up women would be even worse.

"You can't order me around," Desiree stated, the smirk refusing to leave her face.

"Maybe not, but I know one way to make you do as I say." Danny grinned at the ghost when he noticed she flinched, realizing what the half ghost meant.

"I know!" Paulina exclaimed suddenly, drawing the attention of the other two. "Maybe the wish didn't work because I was asking you to show me my true love and that's, like, breaking one of the rules. So how about this: I wish only my true love could touch me, and once I find my true love, the effects of the wish will be removed?" She grinned as she bounced off the desk and clapped her hands together.

"As you-"

"Don't you dare, Desiree!" Danny shouted, stomping over to the ghost as menacingly as possible.

"Wish so shall it be," Desiree said, and a green mist floated from her hands to surround Paulina, who gasped when she felt a strange surge of energy run through her.

"All right. Let's test this out!" Paulina placed a hand to Danny's chest before he could react.

Danny felt electric shocks where her hand touched. Then he was thrown back, flying through the air until he slammed into the wall and dropped to the floor in an undignified heap.

"That's so cool!" Paulina squealed in excitement.

"Do it again!" Desiree pushed the other woman toward the man lying on the ground and groaning in pain.

"What's going on in here?" someone demanded, and Desiree shrank behind Paulina when she saw who stood in the door way: Skulker.

"I was just doing a little spell binding," Desiree answered innocently. "The boy volunteered to prove that it had worked." Skulker turned to see the man struggling to climb back to his feet.

"Desiree!" he growled angrily.

"We'll just be leaving now." Desiree gave a nervous laugh as she dragged Paulina out the classroom door.

Once they were gone, Skulker went to Danny's side, lifting the man into his arms and carrying him to a desk, where he set him down. Danny gasped and held a hand to his chest as the other hand clutched the sleeve of Skulker's shirt.

"Shit, that hurt a lot!" Danny said in a breathless whisper.

"Sorry about that, baby," Skulker whispered as he ran a hand through the dark locks.

"Skul-" Danny growled, raising his head to glare at the ghost. When his eyes met Skulker's, his heart skipped and his cheeks darkened with a blush as logical thought went screaming to the back of his mind where it died and remained unheard. "Ker," he finished in a breathy voice. "You came back." A shy smile spread onto his face, and he reached out a hand toward the ghost. His hand snaked up around Skulker's neck and drew his head down. "I thought maybe-" His smile faltered as worry faltered in his eyes. "Don't you like me?"

Skulker brushed a hand over Danny's cheek, watching the way his eyes fluttered at the touch before looking back up adoringly at him. He loved that look in the man's blue eyes, and he wanted to kiss those waiting lips. But something held him back. Skulker sighed as he dropped his hand and pulled away from Danny, ignoring the confusion and hurt that passed over the half ghost's face. "What do you feel toward me, ghost boy?"

Danny blinked at him before he blushed again and turned his gaze away with unusual shyness. "I love you," he answered softly, his heart beating faster at his admission. Then he turned his questioning gaze back to Skulker. "Don't you feel the same?"

"This is wrong," Skulker mumbled, shaking his head. It was exactly what he wanted to hear, that Danny loved him, but it wasn't real. That wasn't how Danny really felt about him. It was all a mere product of the wish. He stomped out of the room, leaving the half ghost in confusion.

"Wrong?" Danny whispered, feeling like someone had punched him in the chest. Tears welled in his eyes as a familiar pain made his chest tighten and his throat constrict, making it hard to breath. Skulker didn't love him back? Danny hugged his knees to his chest and sobbed into them as it felt like his heart was breaking again.

A pair of eyes watched the man break down, and the desire to comfort the man almost overwhelmed him. Instead, he turned away, turning his back on the half ghost, as he returned to his class.