Author's note: I would agree with what a reviewer said about Sam and Paulina being similar. In particular, they both have choleric personalities (quick to anger, quick to motivate, quick to get moving/going). But then Sam is melancholic (brooding, pessimistic) while Paulina is sanguine (bubbly, optimistic). And, well, that's why I prefer pairing Danny with Paulina over Sam, because Danny needs someone who uplifts him and sees the best in every situation rather than someone who is so critical and cynical.

The Luckiest Girl in the World -Remastered-

His Concealed Strength

The remainder of the school day was both a curious experience and an exhausting ordeal. The boys ignored her, the girls made petty comments about her that were just loud enough for her to hear, and the teachers stepped around her as if they were afraid to set her off on yet another rant about some perceived injustice. Paulina tried to remind herself that they were all treating Sam this way, not the real her, but as the day wore in, it was getting harder and harder to remember that. Sam must've had a pretty tough skin to put up with all of this.

But Paulina also had a tough skin. Did anyone honestly think she was at the top of freshman class solely because she was pretty? There were plenty of other pretty girls in the school. No, Paulina was at the top because she didn't let others take advantage of her, because she was a doer who didn't just passively wait for things to happen for her, because she made her own luck.

Why, just look where she was now! She had been determined to learn more about the ghost boy, and instead of just wistfully hoping for him to look her way, she went looking for him herself. She knew that Danny was her best shot at getting close to him, so she made a deal with a ghost to trade lives with Sam so she could talk to Danny—

—wow did that sound crazy or what?

She was more than willing to put up with being a loser to get what she wanted in the end, willing to hang out with losers, too.

And speaking of losers…

Danny and Tucker were the only two people who paid any real attention to her. And, to her surprise, it really wasn't as bad as she would've thought. The two boys were actually pretty funny, frequently making jokes that made her laugh, jokes that weren't mean-spirited at all, just good humor. They were unexpectedly quite a bit of fun to be around.

And at least Danny held open doors for her even if no other boys offered.

But of course, he opened doors for any girls who were around. Quite the gentleman. Paulina couldn't help but feel a small pang of jealousy as she watched him hold the door into their final class of the day for Sam and Star, neither of whom even acknowledged him as they walked right past him.

Paulina sighed to herself as she waited for him to take his seat in front of her. Oh, Danny, way too nice for his own good. Didn't he know that nice guys finished last?

Dash barreled in through the English classroom door, knocking Danny aside with a growl of "watch it!"

Danny was barely fazed. He quickly righted himself and walked toward Tucker and Paulina to take his seat with them. As she sat behind him, Paulina couldn't help but admire the strong alignment of his back and shoulders. She was going to have to ask him if he worked out.

After she asked him about the ghost boy, of course. If she could just find a moment to be alone with him. Hopefully, when this class was over, she'd finally get her chance.

As Mr. Lancer droned on about something, Paulina could see Sam, Dash, and Star sitting next to each other out of the corner of her eye. Dash was scribbling something on a sheet of paper. Notes? No way. Dash never took notes. Sam was looking into a pocket mirror, reapplying some lipstick.

Paulina was tempted to pull out her own make-up and mirror as well even though she knew that Sam the goth geek would never do that. Danny and Tucker were sitting in front of her and probably wouldn't notice if she touched up just a couple things as long as she was quick about it. Even if her make-up was hideously goth, she still had too much pride to not at least check for smudges or blemishes.

Paulina reached into her bag slowly and carefully rummaged through it, hoping that Sam had a mirror in there somewhere because every girl carried a mirror around, surely even one as homely as Sam, right?

As she continued to blindly search through the bag, something zipped by her left ear and hit Danny in the back of his head. He yelped loudly, the object falling to the floor beside him.

The entire class turned to look at Danny. Rubbing the spot where he was hit, Danny bent and picked up the item. Paulina moved her head to get a better look. It appeared to be some paper wrapped around something small.

"Mr. Fenton." Lancer was now standing next to him with an unamused expression. Danny kept the object hidden in a clenched fist as Lancer continued, "I'd appreciate it if you'd pay attention and not disrupt my class. I'm afraid I'm going to have to give you detention."

"But—I—okay. Sorry," mumbled Danny in defeat. Mr. Lancer scowled at him before moving back to the front of the class.

Paulina turned to look at Dash, sure that he was the one who had thrown the object. He, Star, and Sam were all trying to suppress their laughter. She faced forward again to see Danny unfolding the wrinkled sheet of paper, the tips of his ears turning red as he looked at it. Tucker moved to glance at it. Paulina tried to get a look at it as well, but she was not in a good position to do so.

She could still hear the A-Listers snickering. She normally would've laughed at this herself—ha, Danny once again singled out by Lancer for something that wasn't his fault, priceless!—but now that she was seeing Danny more as an actual person and not as just some toy she could play with or a tool she could use for her own gain, she couldn't help but actually feel, well…sorry for him. He really didn't deserve such treatment. What was his crime? His awkward social skills? His pathetic attempts to be part of the in-crowd? His ever-present niceties even in the face of unfair ill treatment? His steadfast courage when Dash was threatening her earlier at lunch? His pretty blue eyes and his toned arms that were just begging to be held and fondled and—

GAH!

He was still hers to use. None of these revelations mattered. He was still not good enough for her, and his only real value to her was his connection to the ghost boy. Nice guy, sure, but otherwise totally unworthy of her.

When the final bell signaled the end of all classes, Paulina breathed a huge sigh of relief and followed Danny and Tucker out of the classroom.

And then she was facedown on the floor.

She groaned and pulled herself onto her elbows in a daze. Danny and Tucker immediately helped her up the rest of the way while students in the hall shrieked with laughter. Paulina allowed the two boys to pull her up, brushing hair out of her face.

Sam stood before her with the rest of the A-List. "Nice one, freak." With a laugh, she strolled away amidst dispersing taunts from the other popular kids.

"Are you okay?" asked Tucker as he looked Paulina over. "Sam tripped you."

"I'm fine," said Paulina, walking it off as if nothing happened. Only her pride was hurt, but she simply reminded herself that she was really Sam, and when she had her own life back, she would be the one to have tripped Sam instead. She would have all of that power and pride back.

"I'm so sorry, Paulina," said Danny, acting as if the incident were his fault. "She really can be nice…when she wants to be." He rubbed the back of his head.

"Does it still hurt?" asked Paulina.

"Does what still hurt?" Danny quickly put his hand down.

"You know what I'm talking about. What did Dash hit you with anyway?"

"Oh. That." Danny shrugged. "It was just a stupid drawing."

"Wait, how did you know it was Dash?" asked Tucker.

"I saw him scribbling something during class." She held out a hand to Danny. "Let me see it."

Danny hesitated. "Um…I'd rather not show you."

"Why not?" asked Paulina, slightly offended.

"Because, well…" Danny appeared to be struggling with his words. "You just have a tendency to, um…" He gave up with a sigh. "All right, fine. Just promise you won't confront him about it? Or report it to a teacher? I really don't want to deal with that." He pulled the sheet of paper out of his pocket and placed it in her hand. "It was wrapped around a rock, and Dash has a really strong arm." Danny felt the back of his head again.

Paulina's eyes widened when she saw the picture. Dash was a terrible artist and had used stick figures, but the drawing still made her flinch. Dash had indicated which characters were which with arrows and names. Danny was on the ground with x-ed out eyes and a lolling tongue. Dash was standing proudly with a foot on his chest, and Sam was smiling up at the blond jock. Dash had used red ink for blood, and Danny was covered in it.

"Wow, for stick figures, this is kind of graphic," said Paulina. She looked up at Danny. "Are you worried at all?"

"No," said Danny more quickly and more casually than Paulina expected. He took the drawing away from her and proceeded to tear it up. "I let Dash get away with a lot, but I'd never let him go that far." He threw the ripped bits of paper into the nearest trash can.

"Dash sure would be in for quite a shock, wouldn't he?" Tucker grinned. "I'd pay to see a real fight between you two."

"I don't actually want to hurt Dash," Danny said to Tucker in an almost reprimanding tone.

Tucker held up his hands. "I know, I know, but I'd still love to see the look on Dash's face when you actually—"

"Tucker!" hissed Danny.

"All right." Tucker quieted with a small whine.

Paulina frowned in confusion. Danny let Dash get away with a lot? Tucker implying that Danny could beat Dash in a real fight? What? There was no way Danny would stand a chance against Dash. Dash was at least twice Danny's size, and well, sure, Danny had been getting taller and putting on some muscle, but—

She bumped into Danny from behind and blushed furiously at the contact. "Huh? Why did you guys stop?"

"This is your locker," said Tucker with a quick gesture.

Paulina paled as she moved in front of the locker Tucker had indicated. She still didn't know the combination. "You know, it's not like I took out or put anything in my locker today." Paulina patted the spider backpack on her shoulders. "We don't need to stop here."

Tucker shrugged. "All right, then."

Farther down the hall, Danny and Tucker opened their own lockers to put their books away and grab their bags.

Well, more like Tucker opened his locker while Danny's arm just went straight through his.

"There! It happened again!" shrieked Paulina. She grabbed the techno geek's shoulders. "Surely you saw it, Tucker!"

"What happened again?" asked Tucker, confused. Beside him, Danny pulled on his backpack and frowned.

"His arm! His arm, it—ah, forget it." Paulina shook her head. Maybe she was still dazed from being tripped by Sam earlier.

Danny and Tucker raised their brows but did not say anything. Paulina looked back at them, particularly at Danny. It was the end of the school day. There was a very specific reason why she had traded lives with Sam, and she hoped to accomplish her task as quickly as possible so she could get back to her own life. "Danny, there's something I want to ask you…"

She saw Tucker grin, but Danny looked at her apologetically and said, "It's going to have to wait. Lancer gave me detention, remember?"

"Oh, that's right." Paulina's face fell. "It's not fair, though. You didn't do anything."

Danny shrugged, but he was smiling. With a wave, he walked away.

When Danny was out of earshot, Tucker said to Paulina, "Don't worry. Danny's starting to feel the same way."

He gave her a reassuring smile. But what was he even talking about? Sam would probably know, but Paulina honestly didn't care. She stared after Danny, marveling at how he could take all of his unfair treatment in such stride.

Original reviews

Invader Johnny: I wonder when will there be a ghost attack so that Danny can "go ghost" in front of Paulina.

L'ange-Sans-Ailes: dash does not seem like he would be able to draw very well, paulina just keep freaking out about danny's arm

Notsilveraura: I especially liked the ending of this one! . Paulina has absolutely no idea what Tucker's talking about!

Charlotte LaRouge: "Clueless" now applies for both of them...

Rolling Stone: I'm usually not a Paulina person, but it's so interesting to hear from her. You've got a real flair for writing!

coolgirlc: poor danny. going into evil mode ... must...kill...dash ... out of evil mode

AnthonyC22: Even though Paulina is in Sam's place now, this all seems extremely weird.