Author's Note: You know, it just struck me how dramatically different this turned out to be from what I originally intended. I thought of this story because I was thinking about all of those Paulina-haters with their reasons for hating her that were just as shallow as they all claimed her to be. One day, I decided, "Fine. I'll give them something to hate." I planned this to be the first Danny/Paulina fic ever. Basically, what was supposed to happen was this: Paulina asks Danny about ghost boy. Danny says no. Paulina figures he'd tell Sam, so Paulina makes wish. Paulina discovers ghost boy's secret. Paulina falls in love with Danny. Paulina wishes to be changed back. Paulina confesses feelings to Danny. Paulina and Danny live happily ever after. But as I wrote, I found that I was putting in way more character development then I intended to, and this changed from a story of simple romance to one of human nature and how even the shallowest of us all have feelings.

So, since it's not a very typical Danny Phantom fic, I'm not sure how you guys are going to like the ending. Just a small warning.

The Luckiest Girl in the World

Paulina woke up, but she kept her eyes closed. She didn't know what she would see…she didn't know what she wanted to see. On one hand, she wanted to be herself again, to have her own parents, to enjoy the comfort of her own room, but on the other hand, she wanted to be with Danny.

Finally, she sighed and opened her eyes. She recognized her own ceiling. She sat up. Everything was hers. The room was hers. She was Paulina again, and that meant that Sam had her own life back as well.

She ran a hand through her hair and noticed how tangled it was. She got out of bed, slipped into her bunny slippers, and walked over to her vanity. She picked up her brush and ran it through her hair in an attempt to get the knots out. As she looked at her reflection in her mirror, she noticed something that she didn't remember being there before. She put the brush down and looked closely at the picture tacked to the rim of the mirror.

It was the photo of her with Danny on a couch in his living room; her, not Sam. Paulina's heart soared at the sight of it. But why is it here? Sam and I have switched back. This should be at her house…that should be Sam, not me.

She remembered Delphine's words about how she knew the desires of her heart. She remembered that she had earlier wished that she could keep the picture forever. Delphine let me keep it? Like I wanted?

Paulina smiled. She turned to her wall and saw that her picture of Danny Phantom was still there. It was a cute crush… She moved to the wall and gently took the picture down. She rolled it up and placed it in her dresser drawer.

-DP-

Dressed in her normal pink top and blue jeans, Paulina ran downstairs to find her own parents in the kitchen. They were sitting at the table in the middle of the room and talking about some article in the newspaper.

Paulina's breath caught, her heart swelling with love, a feeling she hadn't felt for a long time. It felt so good to be with her own family again. She ran up to her parents and hugged them. "Mama! Papa!"

"Why, good morning, Paulina!" her mother said, a little flustered.

"Where did this come from?" asked her father.

Paulina just giggled and made herself some cereal. She spotted the toaster nearby and turned to her mother. "Mama? Can we go to Denmark someday?"

"Why?" her mother asked.

"I want to get a toaster from there," replied Paulina, "They have floating toasters!"

"Do they now?" Her mother smiled with amusement.

"Where exactly did you hear that?" Her father was skeptical.

Paulina realized then how ridiculous she had sounded and turned back to her cereal. "Oh, nowhere. It was just a dream I had." Then she thought, Was it all a dream?

Paulina sat down next to her father and ate heartily. She had never felt so alive and optimistic before.

As soon as Paulina finished eating, the doorbell rang. She sprang up, put her bowl in the sink, and ran to the front door. She opened it to find Dash and Star. Even though she knew that it would be the two popular students at the door, she was still disappointed that it wasn't Danny and Tucker.

"Ready to go?" asked Star, flipping her hair over shoulder and smiling. Dash looked like he didn't know what to say.

"Yes," said Paulina, lacking enthusiasm. She grabbed her bag, called good-bye to her parents, and followed her two friends out.

The three walked together to the bus stop in awkward silence. Finally, Dash blurted out, "Paulina, are you still ignoring me?"

Paulina remembered, when the wish was still in effect, that Sam had told Dash she hated him.

"Oh, don't, Paulina," said Star, "It's in the past. Move on."

Paulina shrugged. "It was still a horrible thing he did." She turned away and mumbled inaudibly, "Everything he does is horrible."

-DP-

As the day went on, Paulina felt a strange emptiness. She was one of the popular kids again, but she felt a twinge of longing whenever she saw Danny, Sam, and Tucker together.

She could feel her old self furiously trying to resurface as she hung out with her old friends, but she forced it down. She didn't want to be that way again. She found herself laughing at some cruel jokes made about more unfortunate students, but she immediately felt bad afterwards. It just wasn't the same anymore.

After school, Paulina stared at her Danny Phantom shrine in her locker. I have to take this out… She reached for a picture of the ghost.

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

Paulina quickly slammed her locker and turned around. "Oh, hi!"

"Listen, do you have some lip balm I can borrow? I totally forgot mine," said Star.

"Sure," Paulina responded. She knelt and set her bag on the floor so that she could rummage through it easier. She located the pink lip balm and held it out to Star, who promptly took it. As she was kneeling, she felt something pushing against her hip in her pocket. She pulled out the folded picture that she had placed in her pocket earlier, the one with her and Danny in his living room. She had brought it to school with her because she liked looking at it; it reminded her of the most wonderful week of her life. She was about to put the picture back into her pocket as she stood again, but she stopped when she noticed that Dash was in front of her. She instantly forgot the photo in her hand.

"Hi, Paulina!" said the jock, grinning.

Paulina ignored him and turned away. She saw Danny, Sam, and Tucker talking nearby.

"Thanks so much," said Star as she gave the lip balm back to Paulina. The Hispanic girl took it and put it back in her bag.

"Aw, c'mon! Say something to me!" Dash was perturbed. He also spotted Danny and his friends, and he instantly knew how to cheer her up "Hey, look, it's Fentina and his loser friends!"

Paulina narrowed her eyes. Dash went on, "I feel like stuffing him in his locker today. What do you think, Paulina?"

"Stop it, Dash. You have no idea what Danny could do to you." Paulina was livid with rage.

"What Fenton can do to me? What do you mean by that?" asked Dash, getting angry himself.

"Shut up," said Paulina. She started over to where Danny was.

Dash grabbed her arm. "You can't just leave!"

Paulina kicked him as hard she could in his shin. Dash yelped and let her go, grabbing his leg in pain. Star, shocked, just stood there and watched Paulina leave.

Dash snarled and stormed off to find some poor nerd to take his anger out on. Star was about to follow him when Kwan came up and greeted her. She blushed and allowed him to engage her in conversation.

-DP-

"Did you guys see that?" asked Tucker in awe.

Danny and Sam had their backs turned when they heard Dash cry. Tucker was the only one who saw what happened.

"What? Why is Dash yelling?" asked Sam.

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

"You just kicked Dash!" exclaimed Tucker.

"She did?" asked Sam, not believing it. She noticed that Paulina had something in her hand. It looked like a folded photo.

"I did," confirmed Paulina, "He's a jerk." Ill at ease, she looked down at the floor. "Um, Danny, do you want to, um, hang out or something?" she asked shyly.

All three friends were surprised at the timid tone in her voice. No one said anything for a moment.

"Hang out?" Danny finally broke the silence.

"Well, maybe we could just get something to eat?" Paulina had never felt so awkward in her life.

Danny rolled his eyes and folded his arms. "What do you want?" he asked, irked.

It was weird to see him look at her at that, a look that he had never given her before. After a week of being his "best friend," it was strange for their relationship to suddenly change to this. "I just want to talk," said Paulina. She realized then that she was going about this the wrong way.

"No, really. What do you want?" pressed Danny again, "Do you want me to tell you something about Danny Phantom? Or do you maybe just to find out more ways to hurt Sam?"

"Paulina could never hurt me!" snapped Sam. She remembered the previous week, which seemed to be an incredible blur of memories that didn't really seem to be hers. She recalled that Paulina had caused an emotional outburst within her yesterday. How did she do that? She felt disconnected from what she remembered.

Paulina swallowed and took Danny's wrist. "Please—"

Danny pushed her away. "I meant it when I told you to stay away from me."

Sam beamed. She remembered Danny telling her yesterday that he hated Paulina, and she remembered herself telling him to not hate her. Why had she said that? Of course she wanted Danny to hate Paulina.

"Did I miss something? What happened?" asked Tucker, confused. No one answered him.

"I'm sorry," said Paulina quietly.

Danny shook his head. "Whatever."

"No, really, I am." Paulina shifted her weight and cleared her throat. "I was a witch before."

"Yeah, you were," agreed Sam, "and you still are, and you always will be."

Paulina looked into the Goth girl's eyes. "I didn't mean anything I said yesterday or any other time. I understand if you don't forgive me, but I am sorry."

Danny's, Sam's, and Tucker's jaws all dropped.

"Wow, this must be something big," said Danny, "What is that you really want?"

I want you, thought Paulina. "Danny, I just want to talk to you."

Danny looked at her closely. She seemed sincere, but… "No. I'm not falling for it."

Sam applauded. "Way to go, Danny! You saw through her this time! Let's go to my house now."

"No!" wailed Paulina, "Danny, there's something I really want to talk to you about!"

"Don't care," said Danny as he started to walk away with Tucker and Sam.

"No, no, no! Danny, I really need to talk to you!" Paulina grabbed his arm before he could get too far.

Danny turned around, annoyed. He noted silently that she looked desperate. He sighed and put a hand to his forehead. "Okay." He pointed a finger at her accusingly. "But it better be really important."

"No! Danny, come on!" Sam moaned.

Danny didn't want to go with Paulina, not after what she did, but there was something about the way she looked at him… "I'll meet you and Tucker at your house later, okay? I won't be long," said Danny to Sam.

Sam tried to protest, but Danny and Paulina left before she could say anything. The photo that was in Paulina's hand fluttered to the ground, but she didn't notice.

Tucker picked up the paper, but he didn't unfold it. "She dropped this…"

"Who cares?" Sam, in anger, snatched it from him and threw it into her bag. She'd look at it later. If it was something really important, maybe she could blackmail the girl with it later. Ah, no…then I'd be stooping to her level… She growled. "What an idiot!"

"Who? Paulina or Danny?" asked Tucker.

"Both," replied Sam. She stomped away, putting a dent in a locker with her fist.

"Well, she's the same Sam again," said Tucker, "Last week, she was kind of weird." He ran after the Goth girl.