Author's note: I can't believe I still haven't finished writing this fic. I thought for sure I'd be updating bi-weekly by now. I'm at the end now, so hopefully soon.

Guestopher: I liked your thought on the original fic about Paulina unintentionally helping to improve Sam's relationship with her parents by wearing a dress her mom bought. I didn't think of it that way when I first wrote it. I like to think that Sam will mature and reconcile with her parents at least a little. I always felt like Sam's tendencies were more to be rebellious than because that's who she actually is. She's really too much like her parents for her own good. Way too stubborn and blinded by her biases and pseudo-intellect. But it's okay. I still love her.

The Luckiest Girl in the World -Remastered-

Undo the Buncombe

Paulina waited near the front door of Sam's house for Tucker to pick her up. She looked down at the dress she was wearing, a pearly pink one that shimmered and cascaded all the way to the floor. She had found it among a number of other pink dresses at the back of Sam's closet. She would've never guessed that Sam even possessed such dresses, but there was likely a reason they were shoved at the back behind an assortment of ghastly goth ensembles.

She knew she looked beautiful. She looked absolutely stunning in this dress that showed off her cleavage and the flawless skin of her neck and arms so well. But even though she couldn't wait for everyone to see her, she also knew that no one would pay her much attention. She was a nobody now, a freak. It didn't matter how good she looked.

But still, she wanted to look good in case the ghost boy came.

And then she'd ask him what he really thought about her—er, Sam. She'd ask him about his feelings about Sam…because that would really be asking him about her, and she just had to know if the ghost boy had real feelings for her or not.

But despite her hopes, she couldn't help but feel a little sullen about this whole thing. There was no guarantee the ghost boy would be there, and if he wasn't, then she would've gotten all dressed up for absolutely nothing. There was no point looking this good if everyone only saw her as a loser.

"Paulina?" Mrs. Manson walked up to her with a huge smile. "You're wearing one of the dresses I bought you!" She clasped her hands together. "Oh, it looks darling on you. Just gorgeous."

Paulina held out the fabric of the dress, then remembered that she was supposed to be Sam. "Oh, uh…well, I hate this color, but all of my other dresses, um…were stained, so I chose this."

Mrs. Manson fingered Paulina's curls. "Well, you must really be trying to impress someone. Although you never did tell me who's taking you." Mrs. Manson hesitated before asking warily, "Is it Danny?"

Paulina shook her head. "No."

Mrs. Manson let out a small sigh of relief.

"It's Tucker."

Mrs. Manson's breath caught. "Oh," was all she said.

Paulina shrugged. Her date was a little disappointing to her as well, but she hoped it would pay off somehow. The only thing that kept her from calling Tucker and telling him that she didn't want to go was the small hope she had that the ghost boy would show up.

She normally loved dances. She had taken lessons for years and loved showing off her moves, loved the way all of the boys watched every curve and bounce of her body.

But she knew no one would be watching her this time.

The doorbell rang at last. Paulina opened the door to find Tucker standing there in a dark grey suit and no hat covering his hair. He smiled kindly at her. Paulina looked him up and down. He actually looked quite remarkable. Handsome, even.

"Hey, Paulina. You ready? My dad's taking us." He motioned to the car that was waiting at the curb.

Paulina only nodded and shut the door behind her. It was then Tucker's turn to look her over. "You're wearing pink," he said incredulously.

Paulina shrugged. "Yeah."

"Did your mom make you or something?"

"No."

Tucker walked with her toward his dad's car. "Is this about Danny, by any chance?"

Paulina furrowed her brow.

"Well, I mean, I know you think that Danny prefers it when girls wear really feminine colors—you know, like Sam always wears—but you know that he really prefers girls who are just true to themselves, right?"

"This isn't about Danny," said Paulina crossly. She knew that the goth had the biggest crush in the world on Danny, but she wasn't about to help her enemy get the boy of her dreams.

Tucker opened the door for her, but as Paulina climbed into the car, she could tell by his expression that he wasn't quite convinced.

"Well, let me tell you," he said before he closed the door, "you do look amazing." He grinned. "Danny is definitely going to notice."

Paulina weakly grinned back as Tucker finally closed the door and hopped in beside her from the other side of the car. On the way to school, Paulina did her best to engage in conversation with Tucker, but all she could think about was returning to Sam's gloomy room so she could sulk until morning.

When they finally arrived at Casper High, Paulina allowed Tucker to lead her into the gym. Once inside, her eyes immediately found Danny across the room in a dark blue suit talking to Valerie in a red dress that hugged all of her curves and complemented her beautiful skin way too well. Valerie said something that made Danny smile, then something else that made him laugh.

And Paulina couldn't tear her eyes away from the sight.

A slow song began to play. Danny led Valerie to the dance floor and clasped one of her hands, put his other on her waist just above her ample hips. Quite the gentleman, especially compared to the other boys who were stealing chances to paw and claw their dates whenever a teacher wasn't looking.

Just like the ghost boy. So much like him. So sweet and gentle and cute—

Paulina pursed her lips and crossed her arms as she continued to watch Danny and Valerie dance. Or rather she watched Danny. It didn't matter who he was dancing with. The sight of him dancing with any other girl was not something she liked to see. Didn't he like her? Why didn't he ask her to the dance? And by her, she meant Sam. But not really Sam, the Sam that was actually Paulina. Why hadn't he even tried to ask her? She would've said no, of course, but that didn't mean she didn't want him to try—

"Paulina?" Tucker tapped her on the shoulder.

Paulina turned around to find him holding a drink to her. She took it and sipped it before letting her gaze wander back to Danny dancing with a girl that wasn't her.

"You okay?" asked Tucker.

"Yeah," said Paulina, still watching Danny.

"Are you sure?"

He sounded so concerned. Paulina turned back to him with a blush. He must've thought that she was jealous, that she was staring at Danny with longing because he had decided to take Valerie instead of her.

But that wasn't it at all. Sam would've been jealous, but Paulina? Never. She had the ghost boy, and he liked her, too. The ghost boy had called her his date, after all. Why would she ever want Danny when she could have the ghost boy?

Tucker watched Danny and Valerie dance for a moment. "Danny's so lucky," he sighed.

Paulina frowned. Danny was at the bottom of the social ladder and frequently bullied. As far as she could tell, he was the opposite of "lucky."

"He has ghost powers, good looks, girls that actually like him…"

There it was again. Ghost powers? Paulina waited for him to continue.

"I can't even get a girl to pay just a little attention to me." Tucker sullenly clutched his drink. "Which is why I'm here with a friend instead of a date." Tucker tensed and looked at her apologetically. "Uh, not that I'm not happy to be here with you, but…it's just…"

"It's fine," said Paulina quickly. She wasn't sure what else to say. What would Sam say? She really didn't feel close enough to Tucker to make an attempt to comfort him, but she couldn't just say nothing. "Tucker, you know…I don't see why you can't get a girl because you're…a…nice…person." Paulina struggled with the words, but as soon as they were out, she was surprised that she meant them. Sure, he was a dork, an even bigger one than Danny, but he was also caring and funny and charming in his own quirky way.

Tucker smiled. "Thanks, Paulina." He looked at Danny again. "I just can't believe Danny didn't ask you to come to this dance with him. He was so excited to ask you."

"Don't worry about it. I don't care."

Tucker said nothing. Paulina watched Danny and Valerie again. Valerie's arms were around his neck while her head rested on his shoulder. Danny's arms were around her waist. He was smiling softly with glassy eyes.

Tucker tapped her shoulder. "Say, do you wanna dance?"

Paulina turned back to him and nodded. "Sure." Yes, anything to take her attention away from Danny. She needed a distraction.

Tucker led her out onto the dance floor and kept a discreet distance between them as they danced. Paulina took note of the others in the gym, of the various teachers talking together along the walls, of her peers both on and off the dance floor. Sam was in a hot pink dress and dancing with Dash in the only suit he owned, his light blue one. Sam was attempting to keep a distance between the two of them while Dash tried to move in closer to her and place his hands lower than her waist. Typical Dash.

But not typical Sam.

Paulina studied the former goth, the way her shining dark hair gracefully shaped her face and her make-up beautifully accentuated her features. Sam was actually…quite pretty. Why had she never noticed that before?

As Tucker spun her around, she took note of Kwan in a black suit dancing with Star in a strapless orange dress. Her blonde friend was blushing, her hair elegantly pulled back, two curling tresses cascading in front of her ears.

Paulina stole another glance at Danny as Tucker twirled her around. She immediately faced forward again. No matter what Star thought, she definitely did not have any feelings for Danny.

She looked at Star again and scowled. How could Star even think that she could have a crush on Danny when she could have her pick of any boy in the school?

The back of Star's dress flailed up as a glowing form rushed up through the ground underneath her. Star shrieked and quickly tried to cover herself again while Kwan and a couple of students began laughing.

Paulina scanned the room for the strange glow. "Did you see that?"

"See what?" asked Tucker.

Paulina looked some more and took notice of Danny tensing and shivering. He also began searching the room while Valerie gazed at him with concern, saying something to him that Paulina couldn't hear.

Screams filled the air as everyone stopped dancing to stare at the menacing ghostly woman in the middle of the room.

"The Lunch Lady!" gasped Tucker.

"She does look like a lunch lady," agreed Paulina, noting the apron and hairnet the ghost woman was sporting. She eagerly looked around. It was surely only a matter of time until the ghost boy arrived.

Tucker chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Oh, man. Danny is going to be pissed."

"Why?" Paulina looked over at Danny, who was still with Valerie. Valerie was saying something to Danny, and then she quickly dashed off. Danny then ran over to Paulina and Tucker.

"Can you believe this? I mean, really, can you believe this?" Danny growled and seemed only aggravated, not at all scared or panicked like so many others in the room.

Paulina scanned the room. In fact, she, Tucker, and Danny were the only ones who weren't freaking out.

Danny threw his hands up in the air and paced the floor in irritation. Tucker glanced at Paulina with an amused smirk.

"Every time! Every dance! Every event!" exclaimed Danny. "These stupid ghosts always appear, and I swear they do it just to ruin my day. Why? Can't they just let me have some time to myself for once? Can't they just let me have one night with a pretty girl? Can't they—"

"Danny, how about you rant later?" Tucker motioned to the Lunch Lady, who had cornered a group of students and was yelling at them, blaming them for the absence of meat at the dance.

Danny huffed. "Fine. Can you go grab a Fenton Thermos?"

"Sure thing. Got one in my locker."

Tucker sprinted toward an exit. Most of the students had already run out of the gym, and the few who still remained were completely focused on the ghost.

"Well, I guess I'm going ghost," said Danny with edged frustration.

"Danny, what are you—?" Paulina stopped. Her jaw slacked, her eyes widened, her heart pounded. Danny glowed, changed, vanished. He was completely replaced by her hero, her knight, her ghost boy.

Danny Phantom.

Original reviews

coolgirlc: Finally she found out, i was getting impatient.

stormrider7: Poor Paulina... imagine all the thoughts running around in her head...

Sedentary Wordsmith: If my computer had a neck, I would be strangling it right now.

Ladel: wow she finaly found out. and here i thought u were gonna keep me in suspence for ever

Kimba616: OMG! NOW SHE KNOWS! I wonder if she's gonna jump on him, go into shock, or do what I think she's gonna do and ask questions