Here's part 2 of 'Inner Troubles'.

Sorry this took so long to get out. But some recent inspiration had me re-write this whole chapter. Near the end of the chapter there's a little scene between Shane and Wendy that mirrors what happened to me and, well, since I'm a spazz i wanted to put it in here. ^^

My best guy friend with whom I argue with all the time (.SHANEcoughcough) well he's been ignoring me for like, forever, (T-T 8 weeks...)
So last week while I was at my usual hang out by the lake to deep-think after school, seeing as over-thinking is all teenagers seem to do, I eventually found out my best friend had followed me.

We ended up staying there like we used to up until night, just talking and sort of making up for lost time - and then he told me he liked me. (...) Yeah. But then I confessed that I'd liked him all this time too.

Lots of denial over the past two years on my part about liking him, but for the past week we've been at a stalemate for what to do now. And later today we're both supposed to decide whether or not we should be friends or, well, you know, more. BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. Super cliche fear that going past the friend-zone might end up hurting us in the end, so I'm still contemplating and making this so much more complicated than it has to for myself.

Ugh, but to distract myself I typed this up unusually pretty quickly, proofread (hopefully well) and yeah... still super anxious/nervous afterwards. But at least I got some work done.

So yeah, heading off to school soon. Wish me luck with him!

And as a piece of advice for girls out there who fall for your best friends and read fanfics with unrealistic cheesy happy endings, who knows? They could actually be realistic after all. In all my years of writing, I can honestly say I've never expected for the guy to like me back like he would in fanfiction. It's all so... wow. But yeah, just me and mah rant.

READ ON! o

"Ugh, she's even worse than Grandma!" I groaned into my locker as some kids laughed at me for having the 'overprotective Mom'. This is sort of ironic. Mom used to tell me stories about when she was my age, her parents would get involved with her problems at school and embarrass her beyond belief. Well... here we go again.

Luckily, the school week came to an end that one day, it being a Friday. Weekend - A wonderful sanctuary that I'll no longer take for granted should this ridiculous system continue at school.

However, this also meant two straight days at home with Shane, too, since he's staying with us and all.

I'd already sent the message to Danny via ghost vulture that we can't attend practice for a while, at least not until we come up with a new system where we can make it to Fenton Works without suspicion. Guess those three old birds were good for something after all, heh. They came to check up on me in the girls bathroom of all places to learn why I haven't been attending practices, and I had to resist the urge to fire an ecto-beam at them for catching me off guard, in the bathroom.

When I entered my house, Shane was in the kitchen getting some water. "Hey," I greeted unenthusiastically, knowing he wouldn't reply.

He glanced at me, but ignored me nonetheless. He finished pouring his glass and placed the container back in the fridge, taking the door to the backyard instead of coming my way to go upstairs. No change whatsoever from him, I see.

"Welcome home," Mom greeted, coming down from the stairs. But she could see my depression from just now. "Shane still not talkin' to ya?"

"Nope," I nodded with a blantant face. "I don't know what to do."

"He'll come around," she assured, making her way into the living room.

Well, hey, things can't get any worse. Let's interrogate Mom. "Hey Mom." I jumped over the couch and took a seat as she sorted through some things in the drawers. She seemed to be cleaning out some books which were piled on the floor. Now she was placing them back in. "What do you have against ghosts anyhow?"

"Oh, nothing," she smiled in that tone that so reminded me of grandma. "Just that they're lousy, inexplicable, good for nothing, evil, pieces of trash that I just HATE!" I winced every time she said a word to describe ghosts - probably because each time she did, she got louder and louder and with each word as she slammed a book into that horrid and poor drawer I'm surprised it didn't fall apart.

Looks like I pressed her wrong button. "Um... I see." I really can't think of any way to react to Mom's outburst.

Mom stood back up and recollected herself, straightening out her black blouse. "Sorry Wendy, got a little carried away there," she said laughing.

"Heh heh, nah nah that's a perfectly normal reaction for the topic of ghosts no big deal." Little carried away? Try majorly carried away. "... I'm gonna go to my room." I sparred no second in leaving that room to get to mine.

Now I'm stuck in a house with two people who hate me. (Mom counts because if she knew I were half ghost, now I know how she'll react). With my heart thumping hard I shut the door and locked it. Somehow I was glad I was alone for once. Alone... I'll treasure this time as if it were the last I'd ever get.

The first thing I did was check my window and look down into my backyard. The yard wasn't really something Mom or I ever really used - probably because we're to busy with other things to really do anything with it. It was just a big patch of dying grass and leaves that fell from neighbors trees over the fall. Surrounded by a tall three-wall brown wooden fence, the only thing in the yard was a rusty iron hammock swing. A swinging bench is the best way to describe it. Shane's using it actually, listening to his music, just sitting there.

"Hm, I forgot we had that," I said, referring to the swing. I wondered how long he was going to stay back there. No jacket in the middle of January, either.

By night time, I'd given up on my promise to not bother him - out of concern anyways. It was past dark and most likely very cold out there. (Hello middle of winter?) And Shane was still out there. I kept checking my window through the day to see any changes. But no, he just sat there the entire afternoon. Probably thinking long.

I walked down the stairs in my pajamas with the thick blanket covers from my bed. Mom was asleep already, so I had to keep quiet going down. Wearing combat boots under my flannel pants didn't help.

I'd managed to make it past the kitchen, and opening the back door I was met by a real cold breeze even my sweater couldn't shield me from. I winced from the wind, but looking up, Shane was still sitting there in the same position, with his headphones on and his head was held forward - asleep. I half-smiled hopelessly at the guy as I hurried along the grass to where he was. I laid my large blanket over his figure so that it at least covered most of him in a sitting position, from his shoulders to his ankles. I grinned at my work. "That's better," I said out loud. "Mm... he actually looks at peace finally."

Once I was sure the blanket wouldn't fall, I hurried to rush back inside before I could catch frostbite.

When I was back inside I shut the door quickly and blew into my hands to make them warm. "That guy is cold-blooded I swear," I muttered under my breath. How can he sleep out there? I walked back through the living room but stopped midway before realizing that now, I had no blanket to cover me upstairs. I face palmed myself. "Stupid." Well, he needs it more than me I guess. "One night in the cold shouldn't hurt." I was about to step forward until I heard the eerie creek of a door. Instantly I flew around as if it were a ghost, but it only turned out to be Shane.

"..."

He starred at me from the door with a blank look while barely holding all of my thick blanket under his arm. He looked groggy, disturbed, irritated... mm... maybe if I run he'll think I was just a dream.

"S-Sorry. I guess I woke you," I apologized automatically, worried about what he'll yell at me about this time.

Surprisingly, he held up his arm with my blanket, already falling from his arm's hold. "I believe this is yours?"

"W-Well, um, yeah but I thought, uh..."

Seeing my facial expression he gave half-hearted laugh through his nose. "You got any matches around here?"

My head jumped, and this time I gave him the blant look. "What?"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Within the next ten minutes, after gathering a few tall chairs and a small single candle holder, we had arranged a small fort of a tent out of those chairs and my oversized blanket. The candle's tiny flame was appearingly all we had as a heat source, but being in this compressed little space, our body heat and our blanket walls/roof was all we needed.

"Just like old times," I realized as Shane blew out the match used to light the candle. He waved the smoke until it dissipated. "... Why did you do this?"

He sat back up straight. "While I was in your back yard, I had a lot of time to think," he began as he set the matches aside.

"About what," I said, wearily cold. I already knew the answer, but I was curious at to how he would answer.

"Stuff. Just, stuff. Besides, knowing you, you probably left me your covers forgetting you wouldn't have anything upstairs to sleep under." I blushed in embarrassment. "And knowing you and your poor heating system, you'd probably freeze to death for being so stupid."

He can't see me glaring at him can he. "Well I'm not the one who fell asleep outside in the middle of January."

Shane chuckled, realizing that. "Yeah, I guess I did. I wouldn't be surprised if I wake up in the morning with a cold then huh?" We kept our stare down at the tiny candle between us. Shane pulled his legs in so he was huddled on his side like I was, his arms around his legs. "Also I figured I caused you enough grief these past few days. Or is that an understatement in your case?"

I shook my head understandingly. "It's okay. I tried to give you your space considering, well, yeah." I didn't quite know how to bring up hid dad. I was afraid if I did, he'd snap again. "Are you feeling better?"

"Now," he nodded. "It just... took me a while to realize I was already okay." That made me smile a bit, and it wasn't long before I realized he was smiling shyly back. Sincerely. "Um, I never did thank you for letting me stay over, did I."

"You didn't," I agreed. "But you're welcome."

Shane held out his hand to the candle light for warmth. Despite our pretend-tent's warmth, it was still relatively cold. "I'm also sorry for that big fight on my first day here, too."

"That?" I scoffed. "That's old news don't worry about it."

"And the whole ungrateful ignoring-everything-phase didn't bother you?"

I honestly shook my head and rested my chin in my knees at an attempt at more warmth. "Like I said, I understood. You needed your space to think." I thought about how this must be what I'm like when I constantly apologize to Shane sometimes. It feels weird, negatively weird to have someone apologize to you for nothing wrong, so I tried to change the topic. I remembered how horrible I felt when his aunt Catherine told us Shane's story. I tried to look at him through the darkness, but the candle's light could only do so much. "Are you okay...? You know, about the whole family issue?"

"I got over it after today," he said, extending his arm where I saw the bandages previously. He rolled up his sleeve, showing the bandages had been removed. A faint bruise was present - I could see it even without light. "I never did like my dad. We're so distant, so I hate it when he tries to act like he knows me... then other times he'll act like a totally different person." He lowered his sleeve again. "He's usually never home since he's always with some new girlfriend of his, so I don't really have to worry about him most of the time."

"Has he always hit you?" I asked weakly.

He seemed caught off guard by my straightforwardness, but I held the same worry in my eyes when I was talking to his aunt. He couldn't ignore me this time. "Not as much as this time." He scoffed a little. "Guess I ticked him off a bit too much last time. One drink too many on his side too, otherwise I don't think he really would've hit me as much as he did."

"You want some more bandages for your arm?"

"Nah, it's healing on its own. I'm used to it so it's okay," he smiled, but I wasn't convinced. Suddenly he regretted saying 'I'm used to it', but nonetheless he asked, "What's the matter?"

"It's just... you've always had this problem, with your dad... How come you never told anyone?" How come you never told me.

Shane shrugged. "Never really saw a need to get other people involved, you know? It's not their problem so they shouldn't have to deal with it." Is that really how he feels? "After I moved in with my dad in the 6th grade, I was a little shaken up at first. I didn't like the idea of moving in with this strange guy who left me when I was a baby. And he made it obvious that he still didn't want me around at the time even. We were just in each other's way I guess, so...I kind of became a loner for a while after that. At first I couldn't remember why, but now I realize why I did. I thought I needed some time to be alone, only for a little while, so I pushed everyone away, sort of like now."

"I... think I remember that..." I said faintly as memories returned. I could recall in middle school, on the brink of right where Shane and my friendship fell apart. We were good one day, then afterwards he looked like something had happened, but he wouldn't tell. His grandparents being moved to a nursing home. Then he moved in with his dad and completely shut everyone out as a result... including me. "... That was the week we stopped being friends... wasn't it?"

"I think so," he nodded, slowly remembering it too. We got into an argument similar to the one we had upstairs when Shane first arrived at my house. "We fought and we stopped talking. Then we just... drifted apart, didn't we."

"Yeah, I guess we did." I laughed drearily a little. "Then you got with Crissy and those preppy kids." We laughed at how I labeled them. It was so mushy inside, having all this nostalgia, and in our home-made tent with the single candle. It takes you back, really. I mean, how could it not? "So, that's really how it happened."

"What a stupid way to end things huh?" Shane suggested, but our laughter died down soon enough.

Spontaneously, I found myself with eyes exploring our setting again. "So what made you want to make this old tent-thing again?" I asked curiously, looking up at the candle's flickering shadow that bounded off the blanket walls. "We're kind of old for this now don't you think?"

He shrugged. "Well yeah but, I dunno," he guessed. "Actually I'm not all that sure why I wanted to do this."

"Reminds you of happier days doesn't it?" I said absentmindedly. "No high school."

"No drama."

"No ghosts."

Shane's face softened. "Us." We sat there in silence for a bit, the both of us blushing and adverting our sight to the candle light on the ground. There really was an 'us' back then, wasn't there. And now we've just remembered why 'us' ended, before it could even begin. "Say, can I ask you a personal question?" he asked after the long silence.

"Shoot," I allowed.

He searched for the words first. "I know it seems impossible now, but, do you ever think there'd be a chance for us to go back to the way things were before?"

Did I hear him right? "You mean like when we were little?"

"Yeah."

I thought about it for a while. Could we...? "I don't know," I replied honestly. "I mean it'd be great if we could act like we never had a falling out all those years ago but, we did. We, drifted apart. Found new friends. Changed personalities. Grew up a little. We're just... not the same kids we were back then." Shane nodded, understanding where I was coming from with this. "But, after talking with you like this, it's kind of hard to believe that just last week I hated you with every fiber of my being."

He chuckled. "Ditto. I can't even remember why I hated you, too."

"Right?"

We laughed a bit more after that weird realization. Being in this tent, it's almost like we're where we left off in the beginning of 6th grade, as if we were best friends still and not a day had passed by since.

"You know, we're probably going to find ourselves going back to fighting again by morning," I warned. "Remember, the only reason we ever actually started talking to each other again was because we were paired off randomly for Jazz's project back in the beginning of the school year."

"Oh yeah," Shane recalled. "We never did start working on that project did we."

For some reason I began to laugh, as did he. "Not at all," I managed out.

"But yeah, I can see it too. By tomorrow we'll be acting like this night never happened," he admitted, referring to us talking in this little base. "It just seems too routine in my day to make your life miserable."

"How sweet," I said sarcastically. "But weirdly enough, I wouldn't have it any other way." Deep inside, I think it's our 'hatred' that keeps us going, that keeps us secretly close.

"Then it's agreed. We go back to hating each other by morning," he said, offering his hand.

I laughed as a reaction and stared at his hand. "What is this?"

"It's a hand shake, dummy, what else?" he smiled, his hand above the candle. "Come on, just like when we were little. Gotta shake on something." Promise to hate each other later? That sounds promising.

See, when we used to make these tents in sleepovers, we'd always end up making some kind of agreement towards the end before we go to sleep. The first time, Shane made me agree that I'd try to get over my fear of the dark. I did eventually. The rest of the agreements were kind of pointless though. Like, let's try to make breakfast on our own tomorrow or, let's see who can jump off the swings the farthest at the playground. And here, I was being offered another agreement yet again.

Laughing at the irony, I finally put up my hand and shook on it. "Promise."

"Promise," he mocked as we shook, only to end up laughing. However the whole moment was ruined when we heard a crash, to which we both reacted by shouting and jumping. All the movement caused the candle to fall and put out our only light, causing total darkness to ensure. Unknowingly I had jumped back towards where the bottom of the couch was, as did Shane, an in fear we were both huddled together, starring at the closed entrance of our tent as if waiting for something to happen.

I released my hold on my head and opened my eyes, seeing the same black space. "What was that?" I heard Shane say right next to me. I could feel his shoulder against mine, so I assume that that's him and not the couch cushion.

I sighed, dropping my hands back down to my sides. "Probably garbage cans outside or something. Listen." I could hear heavy wind outside, and some night rain beginning to fall too. We listened to the sound of it all, and soon enough more trash-can crash sounds accompanied the storm as well. It sounded like thunder, almost.

"... It's dark," Shane pointed out.

Did he really just say that. "No duh, Sherlock," I said, playfully smacking him beside me.

"You're not scared anymore, are you?" he teased.

"Oh yes Shane I'm scared of the dark but I've had been held at ectoplasmic gun point. No fear there."

"Okay okay enough with the sarcasm," Shane laughed. "Now what? No light left."

"Can you find the matches?" I asked as I felt around for the candle. Our hands brushed, but I blushed and pretended to ignore him.

"Nah," he said, only to laugh a little again. "Not a lot of space to move around in now that I think about it."

"No kidding," I said, setting the useless candle aside. "I'd make a light with my powers but I promised Nett no ghost-stuff."

"Nah it's alright. Besides, using your ghost powers would only take away the fun of camping."

"Shane we're not camping," I laughed.

"Yeah but we're supposed to pretend we are."

"Sure, and we're supposed to pretend we're four feet tall and can actually sleep on this floor ground." But without the candle fire, I couldn't help but feel somewhat colder now. I huddled against myself again for warmth as I tried to blow into my hands.

Shane noticed through the pitch dark. "You cold?"

"No it's only like twenty degrees in here," I remarked with a laugh, desperately trying to keep my hands warm. "And how on earth are you not cold? You were outside for like, hours."

"Got used to it I guess. Here, feel my hand."

I searched for it, only to find myself brush against something ice-cold. "Gosh you're like snow," I said amazed as I continued to feel his hand for more cold. It was astounding to me really, and Shane found it amusing.

"I'm sorry," he said out of no where as I innocently probed his hand with both of mine.

"For what?"

"Ruining whatever it was we had back then." Realizing what he said, he tried to re-word it. "I mean, you know, being friends."

I blushed in the darkness again too, and stopped playing around with his cold hand. I didn't let go of it, though. "It's alright. Actually, maybe it was for the best. I mean, look at us now."

Shane scoffed and leaned back a bit. "We fight and we bicker and we argue nonstop?"

"Well yeah but... I don't know why, but I feel like we're closer now than we were even back then. Through all the ghost fighting and all the danger we've been having recently... we always seem to be there for each other, even if we don't act like it - don't you think?" I stopped myself, scratching my head with my left arm. "Sorry. It sounds cheesy I know but... that's how I see it now," I ended with a sleepy yawn.

With our two hands still touching, Shane's fingers wrapped around mine and we lowered them to our laps, him looking up. "I think I can see it that way, too."

"Wendy...?" Mom groaned, going out of her room. "Is that you?" she asked out in a gurgled tone. With a yawn, she slipped down the stairs with a flashlight while rubbing her eyes. Apparently the noise from the storm bothered her, too.

Midway down, she noticed in the living room an odd silhouette. It took her a while to realize that it was my blanket spread out over the kitchen chairs. When she did, she continued down and inspected the creation. Recognizing it was my blanket, she knelt down and lifted the front wall of our tent. And what she saw inside couldn't help but make her smile.

Inside the tent, Shane and I were huddled together with our backs resting against the bottom of the couch (which made up our fourth wall in our tent). We had squeezed in closer for warmth as we decided to sleep down here for the night. Obviously we were too big to just sleep on the floor of the tent like we used to, so our sitting positions had to suffice. Unknowingly, the position ended up with my head drifting off his shoulder and his head over mine, our legs huddled close to us and our hands still connected. Nonetheless, Sam still found it very sweet.

"Well look at that..." Sam smiled, admiring the picture as she shone her flashlight into the tent at us. "Looks like he came around after all didn't he?" Politely leaving us to our sleep in, she took the fallen candle and matches from the floor and lowered the 'door'.

And it was the most calming night I've ever had...

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The next morning...

It was a Saturday, so obviously we were allowed to sleep in. Shane and I were left in our original sitting-sleeping stances underneath our tent, and the sunlight from the windows appeared to Shine, though, so it wasn't as dark or cold as last night. However, opening my eyes, the first blurred image that caught my eye was the shape of a person at our makeshift tent door, peeking half of their body inside to peer at us.

And it took me well off five seconds to realize who this person was. "Morning Sleeping Beauty," Nett grinned, knowing all too well this picture definitley didn't mean just anything.

But before I could react, Shane's voice came out first. "Leave now unless you want to die," he threatened, his head just above mine.

Nett chuckled. "Still the same I see."

"Nett what are you doing here?" I asked, hiding a yawn as Shane and I sat up from our leaning positions. "How did you get in here?"

"Oh your Mom was outside leaving and I was on my way here anyway. She let me in."

"WELL WHY ARE YOU HERE!"

"Becuase knowing you you were gonna sleep in." He paused to look at us. "Both of you."

"Get to the point, geek," Shane said, straightening out his bed hair.

"We have a problem."

After crawling out of the tent, Nett and gone to make sure we could see this 'news coverage' that was going on this somewhat fine Saturday morning. But of course, our house not having a TV, leave it to Nett to show one from his (again) new phone.

While I was in the tiny kitchen room getting some breakfast for us, Shane and Nett were seated at our table. Nett was currently messing with his phone. "So, how's the stay goin' man?" Nett asked Shane. However Shane's previous and still enduring glare was ever present on his face. "...What?"

"Give me your phone."

Unwillingly Nett lent the contraption to him as Shane quickly learned how to use it. After a few quick presses of some screen-touch buttons, Shane managed to find and bring up an image of me and him sleeping next to each other under the tent, showing it to Nett with a look.

Nett looked from his photo to Shane. "What you were cute." Shane tossed the phone back to him after deleting it, to which Nett laughed a little. There was more in the future he knew if he ever wanted to find more cute/embarrassing pictures. "So, I'm assuming you two are talking again."

"So?"

"Hey guys," I said, coming in with a tray of three glasses of orange juice. "Sorry I took so long. I was looking for actual food but it turns out everything either has mold and or is expired, except this."

"Well that's nice," Shane remarked.

"Anyway Wendy, Amity Park has something big going on downtown that you'd really want to take a look at."

"And it's that urgent that you had to run all the way to my place at seven in the morning on a Satuday?" I asked, all of us now at my kitchen table.

"Actually yes Wendy is it that urgent." Nett was busy at work trying to get a connection on his phone, and by the looks of it he seemed pretty frustrated. "Geez Wendy of course your house has no wi-fi connection. Restaurants, parks, even boats have internet but of course you and your non-technological lifestyle has to complicate things."

"Well sorry for having no need for internet," I apologized sarcastically.

However, Nett was eventually able to make something work and soon enough, all three of us were huddled around Nett and his tiny super-phone (now with internet). The screen played out sideways like a miniaturized television, and it really did look like a news coverage.

My breath caught in my throat as Shane and I observed.

"The warewolf ghost, infamous for infiltrating our very own Caspter High, has now been captured," said the news report lady. The square image at the top corner of the screen didn't show Wolf's image, but it showed a tan woman wearing a jumpsuit of a sort with long curly hair. "Out-of-town ghost hunter by the name of Robin has come to Amity Park with this bounty, and according to an interview with her, she intends to find a ghost-girl as well."

Our mouths were held open at the screen. "...Okay that's new," Nett stated first. "Last I checked on the news, this ghost hunter lady was chasing Wolf down fifth avenue. Ten minutes later she already has him captured in a blue cube? What's up with that?"

"Forget her capturing Wolf before me! She WANTS to capture ME! A bounty hunter is after me!" I panicked as I sank into my seat.

As for Shane's reaction, he had a different realization in mind. "Guys, I think there's something worse about this."

"What could possibly be worse than Wolf being capturing and me being next on her list?" I asked with hands over my head.

Shane pointed his finger to Nett's phone, at the tiny corner image of he news channel. "Look at the background of where that ghost hunter is standing." It was then I realized what Shane was saying. She was standing outside Fenton Works.

I stared speechless, finding my heartbeat being the only thing that I could feel and hear. Shane and Nett's voices mixed into the background, but at the moment they wee incomprehensible to me. Multiple possibilities and thoughts ran throughout my head. Maybe it was just coincidence she was standing outside Fenton Workshop? Nah, fate isn't that kind. What if she suspects that the 'ghost girl' goes there almost all the time? What if she knows about the tech hidden underneath in the basement? What if she finds Danny.

"Wendy? Wendy snap out of it," Shane said, drawing me back in.

And just after he had pointed it out, the news woman began to speak about the very building, where a a crowd of people seemed to be gathering in the background as helicopters flew admist the sky in the back as well. "We are standing outside the Fenton Workshop, known for its specialization in ghost-weapon development before being shut down in the late twenty-tens. As you can see here, government officials have decided to intervene by sending the G.I.W, aka the Guys in White."

The screen changed to a man in shades and white uniform speaking into a microphone to the camera. "This isn't the first time we've come to Amity Park in dealings with these ghost infestations. The Fenton Workshop will be quarantined and investigated for any further signs of ectoplasmic activity."

"That can not be good," I finalized.

"That's it, game over!" Nett finished as well, shutting his phone and standing up out of the chair. He began to pace. "The government's in. We're not going to be able to save the world at the end of summer. Wendy's going to be found out and dissected. We're all going to be pulled in for questioning in a small super dark room with cold chairs and metal tables. We're done man! It's over!-"

"Snap out of it, Folly," Shane said, grabbing a hold of the back of the nerd's shirt. "Your panicking isn't helping Manson out either in case you haven't noticed," Shane mentioned, pointing his thumb over his shoulder and showing me sitting in the kitchen chair, hugging my knees as I went back and forth, muttering fearsome thoughts to myself. What a wreck we all were now, except Shane somehow.

"Well have you ever thought that it possibly IS a perfect time to panic?" Nett argued quite reasonably. I couldn't help but listen to them from the table. "The Guys in White are not to be messed with man. I've heard about them through my dad and they will find Wendy."

"How could they? No one even knows her ghost form exists except for us."

"Yes and a bunch of Casper High Students who've seen her fly down the hall chasing a ghost or two at fifty miles per hour. Face it, her cover's blown."

"Not yet."

"Yeah. Yet," Nett scoffed. "These guys have cutting edge ghost tech, Shane. Just watch give'em two days tops and they'll have all of Amity Park wired up just for hunting her and any ghost down."

"Shut up Folly-"

"And don't even think about telling me to shut up, man, because I'm being totally dead serious," Nett said with a shove to Shane's chest with both hands. As Shane almost stumbled backwards, I watched them argue with slight fear. I can't deny that everything Nett's saying is scaring me to death, but he's only stating fact. "The minute Wendy goes ghost and uses her powers, the Guys in White will find her, Shane! They will track her down and vaporize her every second they can! They'll narrow down anything and everything associated with her until they track Wendy Phantom down to Wendy Manson."

"I said shut up!" Shane finally threw a punch to Nett's face, and soon enough the two of them were on the wooden floor fighting, rolling and trying too pin the other down to land a punch.

"Guys! Guys stop it!" I jumped out of my chair and tried to break them up. It wasn't too hard, but they were pretty intent on fighting. I was caught between them, holding a hand to each of their chests to keep them separated. "Cut it out! Now's not the time to fight each other okay!" I said, taking charge now. "Everything we've just found out is going down now. As in right now - so we have to act before everything Nett just said really comes true." Once I was sure they've calmed down enough, I dropped my tired arms. "Let's get ready. We'll be leaving this place in five minutes. We're going to Fenton Works."