Chapter 14

Danny slumped onto the top seat of the bleachers to watch the rest of the class play basketball. Because of his broken arm and the risk of making his mild concussion worse, he was excused from participating, which he didn't mind so much since the other men tended to shove him around the court a lot. A sigh escaped him as he leaned his head back against the wall, his eyelids feeling quite heavy while exhaustion settled over him like a warm blanket.

In the hospital, Dash had been somewhat nice. At least, he hadn't done anything to further wound Danny physically or mentally. Danny wondered if the reason Dash even bothered to see him at the hospital had anything to do with what Danny told him about his dislike for being left alone in hospitals. But it had been oddly comforting to hear that Dash didn't want to see him die. Danny almost felt like he was talking to Speedstar again, which was why he had brought up that question. Apparently, that snapped Dash back to reality and chased him off again. Confusion beat him over the head with a two by four, making his brain hurt. He still had feelings toward Dash as Speedstar, but he hated Dash as the bully.

"Danny," said a woman softly, drawing him out of his reverie and away from the warring emotions inside him. Danny lowered his gaze to find Paulina climbing up the bleachers. She reached the top and took a seat beside him.

"Um, this is weird," Danny mumbled, staring at the woman as she brushed a lock of her long hair behind an ear. "You actually want to talk to me? Why?"

"Because of what happened," Paulina said, and Danny saw her lower lip tremble like she was holding back tears. "I -God, I hit you! With a car!"

"I see you haven't had a chance to speak with Kwan," Danny mumbled. "I'm really not mad at you about the accident. It wasn't your fault at all. I was stupid to step into the street at that time. I don't want you blaming yourself for what happened." He placed a hand on Paulina's only to be zapped by Desiree's spell. "Ow!"

"I hurt you again!" Paulina sobbed, burying her face in her hands.

"No, Paulina, that was my fault again." Danny smacked his own forehead. "I forgot you made that wish. I shouldn't have touched you."

"Maybe I shouldn't have made that wish like Desiree wanted. I hurt you back then too." Paulina lifted her head, her eyes red and puffy from crying. "Ever since that wish, I keep hurting you and other people. All I wanted was to find the person who will love me, my soul mate."

"And I'm sure you'll find that person," Danny said, trying to sound encouraging. "By the way, how is the wish going?"

"I actually thought that Desiree girl was a little crazy when she approached me saying she could grant my heart's desire." Paulina sniffled and rubbed away the tears. "I didn't think it would actually work and then boom! You go flying across the room when I touched you. And it was just like, whoa! This girl was for real!" She took a deep breath, releasing a little laugh when she exhaled. "I'm not sure whether or not to be shocked that you actually believe this story because, really, who would? A person that grants wishes? That's like something out of a fairy tale. But then again, your parents are ghost hunters, right? You must see a lot of crazy and bizarre things."

"More than you would believe," Danny said, giving a small laugh.

"The day I made the wish," Paulina said and then dropped her gaze to her hands as they played with the hem of her fuzzy pink shirt. "You came into the room, and it seemed like you knew who Desiree was."

"Um, yeah, we sort of had a run in before," Danny answered, biting his lip. The conversation was moving too close to him telling her about his powers. He needed to change the topic somehow.

"You don't seem to like her very much," Paulina said with a frown on her pretty face.

Sure, she pays attention to me when I'm already over my crush on her, Danny thought. "Let's just say we didn't have a very good run in and leave it at that," he said, turning his gaze to watch the other students play basketball.

"Not an experience you want to discuss, huh?" Paulina asked and received a nod in response. "You know, you're really not as big a loser as I thought you were."

"Um, thanks," Danny said, his brow wrinkling as he wondered if that meant she thought he was cool.

"I can see why Kwan likes hanging out with you," Paulina continued like Danny hadn't spoken. "You're really easy to talk to. And this whole time I thought he was just using you to keep his grades up." She laughed a little. "And you could have gotten me in a lot of trouble with that accident, but you didn't. I've treated you so badly over the years. You could have made me pay for it by telling the cops that I had purposely hit or something, yet you didn't. After the accident, I realized how mean I've been to people that I don't even know. I mean, what if you had died and I never got the chance to know what a nice and understanding guy you are?"

"Paulina, I'm not angry with you at all," Danny said, sighing in exasperation. "So please don't blame yourself for the accident. I really don't want you to beat yourself up over this."

"I – I know. I just - I had to tell you, had to say something to make me feel a little better, you know," Paulina said, stumbling over her words. "Maybe that's selfish of me, needing to say all of that just so I can feel better."

"It's really okay. And I don't think it's selfish. Something horrible happened that you had no control over. You're feeling guilt and regret even though you aren't entirely to blame. It's only natural to seek forgiveness from the one you hurt." Danny paused, turning his head to stare at Paulina, who had little tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. "Actually, I would have thought of you as cold-hearted bitch if you didn't care about being forgiven, if you didn't even feel remorse. Sam tried to convince me that you were shallow and all that. I'm glad to see she was wrong about you." He smiled at the other woman, his once long-time crush.

"I'd hug you, but, um, you know, the whole shock thing," Paulina said, wearing a sweet smile that she rarely showed to anyone. "I just have to know though. Why aren't you pissed at me for hitting you?"

Danny released a sigh as he leaned his head back against the wall. "I was stupid. I wasn't paying attention because I had a lot of things on my mind. And then I got startled because I thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Being the idiot I am, I stumbled back into the street where you then hit me. So it really was more my fault for being startled over nothing."

"Thanks, Danny. For being so forgiving and understanding and everything," Paulina said, having the urge to hug him once again. "I – I gotta get back to class now."

"I'll see you around." Danny grinned, wondering if the accident would really make Paulina be nicer to him or if she would return to being the same snobby woman that Sam had pegged her as now that she had been forgiven.

"Yeah, see you." Paulina gave a little wave before she got up and trotted down the bleachers.

Once the woman was out of sight, Danny let his smile fall, returning to his Dash dilemma. But then there was also the thing with Skulker. He hadn't seen the other ghost recently, and that had him a little worried. The last time he had seen Skulker was when Kwan told him he saw him kissing the ghost, and Danny couldn't even remember that happening. The man sat up straighter as a thought hit him. What if he had another one of those black outs and Skulker tried to do something to him? Danny shuddered at that thought. He really hoped that hadn't happened. Then he remembered what happened before the accident. Lancer woke him up in an empty classroom, and Danny couldn't recall what happened before that. Danny pinched the bridge of his nose as his head began to hurt.