Author's note: How strange. After eleven years, I haven't changed as much as I thought I did.

Thanks for your awesome reviews. I love the analytical ones! They make me think because you guys often bring up things I hadn't considered.

The Luckiest Girl in the World -Remastered-

Strange Changes

From the way the light hit her eyes, Paulina immediately knew she was in her own room again. No more completely opaque curtains that blocked all sunlight. She sat up and looked down at her nightgown. Hers. She looked at her canopy. Also hers. She walked over to her vanity and gazed at her reflection.

Her eyes fell on the picture of Danny Phantom tacked to the side of her mirror.

She pressed a couple fingers to it, smiled fondly, gently removed it and set it facedown on the dresser.

She couldn't wait to see him again. Ghost boy, human boy, didn't matter. He was perfect either way.

But she had never felt so eager to see him in his human form as she did now.

She looked through her clothes, wondering what to wear, wondering how to do her hair, wondering how to do her make-up. What would impress him most? Giddiness, excitement, nervousness, anxiety. She had to look good, had to look more beautiful than she ever had before. This wasn't just any boy, after all.

When she met up with Dash and Star at the bus stop, her two friends took notice of how much care she had put into her appearance that morning.

"Wow, Paulina. What's the occasion?" Star raised a brow. "I mean, you don't normally curl your hair."

Paulina fingered her curled locks. "Does it look okay?"

"It looks amazing. I'm just confused why you did it."

Dash's face was noticeably red as he looked at Paulina.

"Ah, well, I just got a new curling iron, and I wanted to try it out." Paulina shrugged and looked down the street even though she knew the bus wouldn't arrive for a couple more minutes.

"Well, it…it looks really great," stammered Dash.

Paulina glanced at him but made no reply.

"Ah, come on, you're not still ignoring me, are you?"

Was that what Sam had decided to do after Dash had pissed her off at the dance? Well, it seemed fair and totally like something she would do. Paulina turned her head away from him.

"Dash, it's gonna take awhile," said Star with a slight hint of amusement. "You know that if you even say anything bad about her precious ghost boy, let alone try to get him killed, you're dead to her."

"But I said I was sorry like a million times!"

Paulina rolled her eyes. She definitely needed to have a serious talk with Dash about all of the terrible things she now knew about him, but it would have to wait. She didn't want to focus on that right now. She had something far more important to attend to.

Someone far more important.

-DP-

From the moment Paulina first saw Danny by his locker that morning, she wanted nothing more than to approach him, talk to him. But how would he respond to her now that she was no longer his "best friend"? How would he act around her after the way "she" had treated him the previous day at lunch?

"Paulina?" Star frowned and put a hand on her hip as she studied her friend.

Paulina blinked and faced Star.

"You're staring at Fenton yet again. He's not the one you're all gussied up for, is he?"

Paulina normally would've yelled at Star, but she instead turned away with a silent shrug.

Throughout the day, she felt a strange emptiness. She was popular and beautiful and envied again, but none of that seemed to matter every time she saw Danny, Sam, and Tucker together. In the company of her fellow A-Listers, the belonging and closeness she had felt with Danny and Tucker was sorely missed.

But most of all, she missed Danny. And now he'd probably never want to be her friend.

She had glanced at him so many times that day, even managed to catch his eye a couple times. But he always turned away almost immediately, quickly walked away whenever she gathered the courage to try to talk to him.

At the end of the school day, Paulina wistfully stared at the shrine to Danny Phantom in her locker. She looked down the hall to see Danny getting ready to leave with Sam and Tucker. With a heavy sigh, she reached into her locker to start removing the shrine.

"Paulina!" cried Star, running up to her.

Paulina quickly slammed her locker and turned to face the blonde.

"Wanna go shopping? I need some new shirts."

Paulina looked down the hall again. "Um…actually, there's something I need to do."

Star looked down the hall as well. "It really is Fenton, isn't it? He's the one who's made you all spacey today." She touched one of the Latina's curls. "And why you're all dolled up. I guess his sassy backtalk yesterday must've really done something for you, huh?"

Paulina sighed. The two girls soundlessly watched Danny for a few moments.

"You should go talk to him," said Star.

"After what happened yesterday? Do you think he'll want to talk to me?"

Star chuckled. "He can't possibly resist you when you look like this. And besides, Fenton's not the type to hold a grudge. He's way too nice."

Paulina nodded. "You're right." She straightened up. "Okay, how do I look?"

Star was about to reply when Dash ran up. "Hey, Paulina!"

Paulina ignored him and turned away.

"Aw, c'mon! Say something to me!" whined Dash. "You're killing me!"

Paulina looked at Danny again. It seemed he and his friends were about to leave. She didn't have much time.

Dash followed her gaze. "Ah, that dweeb. Can you believe what he said to you yesterday?"

Paulina narrowed her eyes.

"I should stuff him in a locker. Or maybe give him a swirly? Or whatever you want me to do, Paulina." Dash grinned at her. "It's your honor I'd be defending, so you should choose."

Paulina glowered at him. "Dash, you are not allowed to hurt or even touch Danny anymore. And I don't want to hear you talking bad about him either."

Dash stumbled back a step in shock. "Wha—what?"

"You heard me. If you ever pick on Danny again, I'll kick you out of the A-List."

"What? You can't do that!"

"Considering I'm pretty much at the top of it, yeah, I can."

Dash sputtered and looked at Star in stunned aggravation. Star only shrugged in response.

"Now, I'm going to go talk to Danny." Paulina glared at Dash fiercely. "And you are not going to interfere."

She began to walk away, but Dash grabbed her arm.

"You can't be serious," he griped desperately. "You can't talk to him!"

Paulina forcibly took his hand off of her. "I can talk to whoever I want. You don't get to decide that."

She briskly left him behind and breathed deeply to compose herself, ready herself. She could talk to Danny if she wanted to, sure, but would he decide to return the conversation?

It was time to find out.

-DP-

"Heads up. Paulina's coming this way," said Tucker.

Danny and Sam both stiffened and glanced briefly to see for themselves that the Latina was indeed walking toward them.

"What could she possibly want?" asked Sam irritably.

"Well, after what you told me happened yesterday at lunch, she probably has a few choice words for you two," said Tucker.

"Let's start walking out," said Danny anxiously. "Come on—"

"Danny, wait!" Paulina walked up to the three, her face a little flushed.

Danny grimaced and forced himself to turn around. His intended terse reply caught in his throat as he gaped at her. Why did she look so much prettier than usual?

"Danny, um…listen, are you free later today?" asked Paulina.

Danny glanced at Sam and Tucker. "Why do you ask?"

Paulina bit her lip and wrung her hands. "Um…well, I have cheerleading practice, but I was thinking maybe we could meet up later at the Nasty Burger or something?"

Nothing was said for a few moments. Danny studied Paulina carefully, took in her strangely shy demeanor as she looked at the floor.

But he wasn't falling for it.

"Paulina, what do you want?" he asked tiredly.

Paulina raised her eyes in surprise. "I—I just want to talk."

"No, I mean, what do you want?" Danny crossed his arms and frowned. "Do you want to try to get me to tell you more about Phantom? Or are you wanting to get back at me for what I said yesterday?" He sighed and looked at her apologetically. "Look, I'm sorry I said that, okay? It was out of line, and I do actually feel really bad about it." His expression hardened again. "But that doesn't change the fact that you are always screwing around with me. And I just can't let you do that anymore." He glanced at Sam. "And I can forgive you for what you've done to me, but what you said to Sam yesterday, the way you hurt her…that I can't forgive."

"Oh, please," grumbled Sam. "Like Paulina could ever hurt me."

"I'm sorry." Paulina looked at Sam with large eyes. "I really am sorry." She turned back to Danny. "Please, Danny, I want to talk about everything. I want to fix all this. Please meet me later today."

Danny stared at her. He had never seen this expression on her, one that looked so genuinely contrite. And he wanted to believe it, wanted to grant her request.

"I can't," Danny said in a low voice. "I know that this is all just some game to you, that I'm just some game to you, that you just see me as a loser and so it doesn't matter if I get hurt because who cares, right? I don't matter because everyone at the bottom of the social ladder at this school is just here to be used for your amusement." Danny shook his head. "I can't let you do this to me again."

Paulina, Valerie, even Sam…maybe he just wasn't meant to have anyone. And he certainly wasn't about to get his hopes up again just for Paulina to cruelly dash them like she always did.

"I just want to talk," said Paulina pleadingly. "Please, just meet me at the Nasty Burger later."

Danny shook his head and began to walk away. Sam and Tucker turned to follow him.

"Danny!" Paulina grabbed his wrist. "Please, don't say no. This is really important to me. Please just tell me you'll think about it?"

Danny turned around at her touch. He observed her teary eyes and trembling bottom lip.

"Paulina, he said no," snapped Sam. "How about you take a hint? Face it, a guy is actually turning you down for once."

Paulina's eyes darted from Sam to Danny. Her imploring expression never faltered, only grew more desperate.

And yet, she still managed to look so beautiful.

Danny sighed and took his wrist away from her. "Okay," he said softly. "I'll think about it, all right? And if I decide to go, I'll meet you at the Nasty Burger in a couple hours."

Paulina happily clasped her hands. "Oh, thank you, thank you, Danny."

"What?" Sam growled. "No! Danny, come on!"

"It's okay, Sam." Danny smiled at his goth friend before looking at Paulina sternly again. "But if I decide to go and it turns out to be some sort of A-List prank—" He abruptly stopped. He knew whatever he'd say next would just be an empty threat. If it turned out to be a prank, his confidence and heart and everything else would be completely shattered and broken. But he still wouldn't retaliate.

Was this really worth the risk?

"It won't be a prank." Paulina smiled at him. "I promise."

The way she looked at him. He remembered her looking at him that way once before. When?

He watched her walk away, his hopes involuntarily rising.

"Danny, are you really going to meet her later?" asked Tucker as the three started walking in the other direction.

"Of course he's not," said Sam. "You know Danny. He's too nice to flat out reject someone. Way too nice for his own good."

Danny said nothing as he tried to remember where he had seen Paulina look at him with such sincere admiration and fondness.

The memory sharpened instantly. On Dash's roof over a week ago. She had been in his arms, in Danny Phantom's arms, gazing up at him, pressed against him.

No, that couldn't be. Why would she be looking at Danny Fenton that way?

Original reviews

Balkoth: Paulina has definately changed. Its sad that somebody can't turn over a new leaf without being smacked down but that's life, right?

XxMidnightWolfxX: Wow, who knew Danny could hold such a grudge? And Paulina . . . well, she reversed her shallow mutation and is now back to being a normal human being!

Rolling Stone: Good insight to how Paulina feels now that she's back. Danny seemed a bit cold, but that was expected.

Kimba616: I wonder how she's gonna straighten this out... or as close to as she wants it, I mean.

Invader Johnny: Im intrigued what Paulina will do to make Danny forgive her after what "she" did.