Chapter 28

Curse that Tucker! Valerie gritted her teeth as she slammed her fist into the punching bag she strung up in the dumpy little room she had in the apartment her father found. She was seconds away from getting her vengeance on Phantom for turning her life upside down. Then Tucker had to appear, again, screaming something about someone being attacked by a virus. She was tempted, so very tempted, to ignore the loser and focus all her attention on Phantom.

But, Valerie sighed as she wiped the sweat from her forehead with a towel, she couldn't allow her plans for revenge to blind her to innocent people being hurt by viruses. She didn't want to see anyone else have their lives ruined like hers was because of some stupid, malicious virus running amok in the real world.

The whole suit she gained after that encounter with Phantom at school was still a mystery to her. She still didn't understand how it happened, how Phantom dragged her into the NetZone with him, or why she ended up with the suit. She didn't feel any differently since that experience, didn't feel changed in any way beyond receiving the suit. Unless she counted the powerful feeling that filled her with the new ability to fight the viruses. She grinned, relishing the fact that she could destroy viruses where others failed. The Fentons. The Guys in White. They failed time and time again to erase the viruses attacking their town while she could eliminate the viruses with her weapons.

Next time, she thought curling her hand into a tight fist. Next time Phantom wouldn't escape her wrath.

When she arrived at the library, prepared to take out any virus in the vicinity, Valerie found all was quiet. No viruses in sight. She was duped by that stupid loser. Grinding her teeth, she wondered why the other students were so eager to help Phantom. They kept worshiping him like he was some great hero when he was anything but that. Phantom was a villain in disguise. He had them all fooled into thinking he was protecting them. Except for the adults that saw him for what he really was: a vicious virus bent on destroying their town.

When she heard a knock on the door, Valerie walked over and opened it. "Dad?" With some confusion, she blinked at her father, dressed in one of those tacky uniforms that the night guards wore at Axion Labs.

"I'm going to be out late, graveyard shift," Mr. Gray explained, frowning as he rubbed the back of his neck with a look of regret. He reached into his pocket and retrieved his wallet. "Here's some money. You can order a pizza or go to Nasty Burger for dinner."

Valerie accepted the money, staring down at the two twenty dollar bills in her hands. "You got your job back?" She snapped her gaze up to her father. Hope barely flickered in her eyes, too filled with doubt at that idea.

"Afraid not, sweetie." Mr. Gray sighed. "They hired me back, giving me a second chance, but only as a night guard. I'll be working a double shift tonight. I won't be making a lot, but at least it's a job." He glanced around her room, his eyebrows lifting at the sight of her old workout equipment. "Getting back into your karate?"

Valerie turned halfway and looked at the weights and punching bag and other workout equipment that she had set up in her room. "I thought I'd take it up again." Half a smirk slipped onto her face, but she wiped it away as she turned back to her father. "I always liked it."

Mr. Gray smiled down at his daughter. "Your mother was always so proud when she went to watch your matches." He leaned down and kissed her on the side of her forehead. "Don't stay up too late. You still have school tomorrow."

"I won't." Valerie followed her father to the front door of their apartment and waved to him as he left. When he was out of sight, down the stairs, she closed the door with a tired sigh. She was really happy that her father was being given another chance at Axion Labs, but like he said, he wouldn't be making much, probably not even minimum wage while he was back at the bottom of the work pyramid, kind of like she was in the social pyramid at school.

Her gaze dropped to the forty dollars in her hand. She considered simply staying in, eating whatever leftovers they had in the refrigerator and stowing the money away for savings, but she decided it couldn't hurt to splurge every once and a while. She left the two bills on her desk before she went to shower and wash away all the grit and sweat from her work out, although the shower didn't exactly leave her with the cleanest feeling in the world. A sigh escaped her as she realized she would have to give it another deep cleaning in the hopes of removing what remained of the grime all over the bathroom. Since they moved into the apartment, she already gave the bathroom, and the kitchen, two furious scrubbings with the strongest cleaners she could find, and still some of the muck refused to go.

After the shower, she got dressed, throwing on what she could find within her closet. Her wardrobe selection had decreased greatly in size since the move. As much as she didn't want to give up her clothing, they simply didn't have the space for everything she owned anymore. There was a nice little store that would pay her some money in return for the donation of clothing. It wasn't a whole lot, certainly nowhere near as much as she paid for the clothing in the first place, but it was something at least. She gave most, maybe three fourths, of the money to her father. Before, she would have kept the money all to herself, but he needed the money more she did with bills. Their savings wouldn't last forever after all. But she still didn't like giving away the money.

Grabbing the cash from her desk, she stuffed the two bills into her wallet that she then shoved into the pocket of her jeans. That was another thing she gave up with the move: all the expensive purses she owned. She kept one, her favorite that was a soft yellow with orangey brown Cs decorating it. It used to belong to her mother, and she couldn't find it in her to give it away. Since she would only be heading to the Nasty Burger, she didn't really see any real need for lugging around the purse.

She tugged on a coat as she left the apartment. One of the neighbors was in the hall, a much older woman with graying ebony hair and a baby in her arms as she tried to rock it to sleep. Valerie offered an awkward smile when the woman greeted her. Picking up her pace, she hurried down the stairs before the woman could ask if she wanted to come in for dinner, a ploy to trick Valerie into babysitting for her while she passed out in a stupor in her bedroom. Sadly, Valerie fell for the trick the first night they moved into the building. Since then, she tried to avoid the woman as much as possible.

Getting out of Elmerton and back into Amity Park was like being able to breathe again. Valerie sighed happily at the familiar surroundings of her home town and wished she still lived here instead of in that dump in Elmerton. She rubbed at her shoulders as she headed for Nasty Burger. With the revival of her training and fighting viruses, her body was taking a beating and left her feeling sore all over. But it was a good feeling. She was accomplishing something. She was getting a step closer to achieving her goal of defeating Phantom.

When she entered the fast food joint, tension ran through her body, her walk becoming a little stiffer, and Valerie hoped no one would notice that. The Nasty Burger was crowded as usual with teens who attended Casper High and used the place as a hangout. After a quick glance around, she spied the tables inhabited, like always, by the In crowd. Dash and Kwan were huddled together in the corner of one booth, seeming to hold a private conversation with each other and ignoring everyone else. Paulina, meanwhile, pretended to smile, though there was a hint of misery in her emerald eyes as Star talked her ear off. Valerie cringed when she heard the irritating shriek of a giggle from the blonde, who apparently thought she told a hilarious story, but from the weak laugh, Paulina didn't seem to enjoy it as much as her fellow A lists.

Valerie ordered a simply Mighty Meaty Meal with a small soda. The remaining thirteen dollars would go into her savings. Tapping her fingers on the counter, she waited off to the side for several moments before the employee delivered the meal to her with a forced smile on her face that had grease smears upon her cheeks. Valerie took the tray and walked away, looking for a table at which to sit. Laughter drew her gaze back to the In crowd, and she frowned when she noticed the small, freckle faced man in one of the Nasty Burger uniforms on his hands and knees. Soda drenched his uniform that had globs of ketchup and mustard staining the front with a few bits of fries and lettuce clinging to him. A tomato somehow ended up in his messy sandy hair. Valerie would have laughed along with the A list only a week ago over the torment of the nerdy, weak man.

Turning on her heel, Valerie headed toward the other side of the restaurant, trying to put as much distance between her and the bullies as possible. There were too many people at the Nasty Burger, leaving no open space for her to sit alone and eat her dinner. She was about to decide taking her meal and going home when she heard her name. Green eyes flashed to the source of the call to find the trio of friends sitting in a booth. Sam scooted over and patted the open spot beside her, inviting the other woman to join them.

With her mouth thinning, Valerie debated her options. She didn't really feel like making friends with the losers, but it was lonely, at school and going places after school when she had no one to spend time with. Glancing back over her shoulder toward the A list, she thought maybe it was okay. The trio, at least, seemed to want her around, even if it was partially out of pity for her drop in social status. There was also the fact that Danny's parents were the leading experts when it came to viruses. Maybe she could learn a thing or two that might help her figure out what exactly happened to her if she weaseled her way into the trio of friends. Sighing, she joined the three friends at their booth.

"So detention for two weeks," Valerie said in an awkward attempt to break into the conversation.

"Totally worth it." Sam grinned widely before she lifted her soda to take a sip.

"So what exactly happened?" Danny asked as his blue eyes glanced between the two women.

Valerie thought she saw a hint of wariness in his eyes, even Tucker seemed oddly uncertain about the other woman's presence in their circle. Her brow pinched just slightly at the men across from her. On Monday at lunch, they both seemed eager to include her. What happened since then to make them not as happy about her being there? Tucker, at least, would have some reason to be fearful of her. She still wanted to punch him for tricking her to save Phantom from her vengeance. But Tucker didn't know she was the one in the black and red suit.

"Girl stuff," Sam answered simply with a shrug, and the comment seemed to close that topic for discussion rather quickly as both men pulled face at the thought of what exactly the Goth meant. Valerie had to laugh because they were far off from guessing what exactly happened during gym class to land Sam in detention.

"Star's face was priceless." Valerie grinned, recalling how the blonde reacted when Sam launched at her, deftly pinning the popular woman to the floor. The move made Valerie wonder if Sam took any sort of martial arts training. It wouldn't really surprise her if the Goth had. Sam always struck her as the type to know how to defend herself if she was ever placed in the position where she needed to fight.

Danny glanced at his watch and frowned. "Ah, I should go." He slid out of the booth with his friend following after him.

"I'll go with you," Tucker said. "Lots of homework to get done."

"This is why I keep telling you to stop slacking off," Sam called after her friends as they headed for the exit of the Nasty Burger. "I swear, boys." She huffed and rolled her eyes. "They put everything off to the last minute."

Valerie snorted a chuckle. "You'd be surprised to know Dash and Kwan get their homework done pretty quickly."

Sam raised a skeptical eyebrow as she gave the other woman a look of disbelief. "Dash and Kwan? Seriously?"

"I might not be popular anymore, but if you dare to call them stupid, I will hit you." Valerie narrowed her green eyes threateningly, and Sam raised her hands in surrender.

"Well, if it isn't little Val." Both women jumped at the voice as a man slid into the booth on the other side of the table.

"Ugh," Valerie groaned when she recognized the fuzzy haired man. "What do you want, Jing?"

"Who is that?" Sam asked in a quiet voice as she leaned toward the woman next to her.

"Kwan's older brother," Valerie whispered back, not happy at all to see the man.

"I'm hurt." Jing placed a hand to his chest and tried to look wounded. "I always thought you liked me."

Valerie scoffed at him as she folded her arms. "Yeah, maybe when I was five and thought you were the coolest guy ever. But," she shrugged, "you're not nearly half as cool as your brother."

Jing blinked in surprise. "Funny you should mention him." Folding his arms on the table, he leaned forward, and Valerie frowned at him, wondering why Jing was coming to her instead of simply talking to his brother. "I'm worried about him."

"Why?" Sam asked in utter bafflement while Valerie snorted at the man.

Jing sighed with a tired expression like he was exasperated with the whole situation. "I feel like he's falling into a bad crowd. He gets aggressive and defensive any time I try to talk to him, and he's been secretive ever since the football game. It's like he has something to hide, but whenever I talk to him, he pushes me away. Do you know anything? Is he mixed up in anything?"

"Okay. Even I know Kwan would never get caught up in a bad crowd," Sam said, gawking at the suggestion.

"Even if I did know something, I wouldn't tell you anything," Valerie admitted honestly. Kwan was a dear friend and a total sweetheart. If he was keeping something from his family, he obviously had a reason, and Valerie wasn't about to betray him, though the truth was that she didn't know anything. "If you want to spy on your brother, do it yourself." She stood, picking up her tray with only a few remaining fries. "I really have to go now."

"I'll drive you," Sam offered, following Valerie as she went to dump her trash into the garbage can and leave the tray on top of it. Jing didn't protest their departure, which was a relief to Valerie, who still felt like her skin was crawling after the encounter. She honestly couldn't remember why she thought he was cute when she was five.

"You don't really have to give me a ride," Valerie said with some awkwardness about the offer.

"And let you walk all the way back to Elmerton? No way," Sam refused as she led the way to her car.

Valerie debated arguing, but it was cold and she was tired. Getting a ride all the way back to her apartment actually sounded nice. She settled into the passenger's seat of Sam's convertible with a sigh.


Sammi: Haha, yeah. XD But you know Tucker and tech. XD;; He just loves to play with it.

midnight: Woo~ Someone (other than Vlad) knows~ Haha, it started with Star being Star. XD;;;

DB-KT: XD Tucker's all pouty because he still wanted to figure out the whole coding. XD;;

Just Will: XD Yeah, like, how many times did Danny ignore his friends when it came to popularity and money? You'd think he would learn the importance of true friends after the first time. Nope. Valerie basically only made an appearance in the finale but that was it. It was like she dropped to the rank of a background character. -.- We don't even see her reaction to learning Danny is Phantom. There's a lot about the ending that I really didn't like. *pretends it didn't happen* Except the badger hair. Two techno geeks working together? Sounds like an awesome team up, especially for this story. XD;; Dash might! If he stops looking at the wrong person? XD;;; So many little side plots to tie up! Maybe I should start having less plot lines in one story. XD;; I say that but it probably won't happen. Haha. orz Dash's sister... It's been a while since she was mentioned. *taps chin to think of how to bring her back in*

Bananahsplit: Sorry~ D: *pets Dash* Poor guy having a one sided crush on Danny.

DARKLOVEFORFANFICTION123: Yes! Tucker knows! 8D

maltese: A love circle? XD;;; *shot* Well, Danny at least has a friend to lean on now. =)