"Dude...?" Nett calls cautiously. In a few moments his eyes narrow and his careful stare turns into a hated glare. "You monster get out of him!"
Shane reopens his eyes, revealing dark red eyes with black circles underneath, and an evil grin to match. Before Nett can react, he shoots a red ghost ray at Nett and he flies back to where we are, making impact with the stone wall against his back.
"Nett!" I gasp, before facing the overshadowed Shane once more. "No! Let him go! Shane!" Shane starts to walk towards me as I struggle, immobile. "You, you disgust me. You know that?"
"Not as much as you probably disgust me," Shane says with Dark Danny's voice. He holds up his hand, and I watch Shane's Vanquisher fire appears in his hand - a fire very lethal to me as a ghost. It exerts a painful energy that I back my face away as he holds it up to me. "Hm, you really do look like your father it's scary. If I had an ounce of humanity left in me, I'd spare you for the fact that you're his daughter. In a way that kind of makes you my daughter as well."
"Don't you dare compare me to you," I hiss. "What are you gonna do, with Shane's powers," I grit through my teeth as sweat starts to form on the side of my face, near where Ghost Blood fire is.
"Normally after being stuck in that thermos for so long, I'd do what I've been dreaming of and go vanquish Danny Phantom back in the real world," he tells me. "But I can't do that. If he goes then I go, too. So instead I'll go after the next best thing, you." Dark Danny shoves his hand at my open side and I feel the burn of the flame against my cold skin. I scream and hold my head back in the burning agony that is Shane's powers. This is what if feels like, for a ghost to get hurt. And if anything I can say about it, it hurts so much more than physical human pain.
Shane retreats his hand back to see the damage done. My visible midrift has been burned red and is bleeding, and I'm breathing heavily just to stay conscious from the pain. I can hear Penny gasping next to me. Obviously she's the more peace and gentle type, so this kind of thing probably isn't something she should be seeing in the first place.
"W-Wendy..." Nett struggles to say as he gets up form the ground. "You... have to fight Dark Danny...He told me. You have to finish him before he finishes you."
They discussed this?
"But, what about Shane?"
"What?" Nett exclaimed as they sped through the ghost zone in the Specter Speeder II.
"When we find Manson, Dark Danny's obviously going to do something to use me against her. No matter what happens, I want you to make sure she comes out on top, even if it means getting me out of the picture."
Nett's eyelids lower. "You sure, man?"
"I'm coutning on you to get his message through to her."
"He said it didn't matter," Nett barks before a harsh cough interrupts. "It's your only chance."
"I could use a sparring match," Dark Danny taunts, stretching and cracking his neck. "It's been a while since I've had a good fight. If you're anything like your weak father then this should last at least a good thirty seconds."
I grit my teeth. This can not be happening. As I breath in one more time to ignore the pain already induced, I reopen my glowing green eyes. "You know, you aren't the only one who can do duplication."
"What?"
With the element of surprise, I do a quick ghost ray kick back to the clone of Dark Danny and he disappears. The second clone fires one of his own glowing blue ghost rays at me, but my body disintegrates into the air as well like the last clone.
"What happened to her?" Penny gasps as Nett stares wide eyed.
"Up here!" I yell, flying down straight towards Shane. I manage to land a good kick to his face without holding back as much as a single muscle. Dark Danny's Vanquisher fire balls disappear from his hands as he skids across the floor. Everyone is watching us now, and all I can hear is the sound of my own tense breathing and the repetitive grins of gears above us. I forget that we're in Clockwork's layer. I stagger forward and I almost trip due to my still bleeding side. Being a ghost has given me a certain amount of endurance, but how much can my ghost body take anyway? "Still think I'm weak?!"
Shane sits up and whips his head back to me, eyes glowing red with anger. "You asked for it, ghost."
Shane's body groggily stood back up, his head hanging in an off way. As I prepare myself in a battle stance, I see Dark Danny remove Shane's hoodie to toss it aside. Once he does, I see Shane's Vanquisher tattoos begin to appear over his skin, up his neck and on his face and arms. Shane's right arm is then surrounded by a familiar red flame - the same red flame that destroyed the ghost prison guards long before.
Dark Danny grins, flexing his hands. "This body, his blood is powerful indeed. And now to put it too good use." Before I can even see him coming, Shane disappeared and reappeared in front of me within the blink of an eye. He's so fast...! And he attempts to punch with with that flaming fist of his, too.
I manage to dodge it and fly into the air for defense. Shane instead manages to jump high enough to hit me over the head with the bottom of his foot, sending me hurtling towards the floor where I crash and make a mini crater of my own. Landing, Shane lifts me up by my suit and prepares to hit me with his hand.
I know its a bad idea to try, but I do it anyway. I block his first with my palm and I feel the inside of my hand burn with the same agonizing pain that hit my side earlier. It becomes completely numb and I retreat back, only to create another ghost shield to block an incoming fire ball. Hidden in the resulting smoke, I look at my hand and see it completely red with maybe even a hundred tiny cuts. So this is the power of a Ghost Blood.
"Had enough yet?" Dark Danny drawls behind me. Another burning attack hits my back and I collapse.
The smoke clears, and I at at Shane's feet with cuts and burns all over my body. I force up my upper torso, and I get an idea. With a swift movement of my arm, I use Danni's Ghost Manifestation Power to expand a glowing ghost pole and I manage try to knock him off his feet. Dark Danny sees it coming though and jumps back out of the way, landing swiftly many feet away. "Crap."
"Don't remember having that power," Dark Danny comments as I use the pole to help me stand. "Nonetheless, should I put you out of your misery yet?"
My sight of somewhat blurry and my limbs are starting to fail me, but I hold myself up in another battle stance, holding my pole in arms. "Do your worst," I glare. Shane narrows his stare down and we run and collide - my pole and his arms. We do combat against one another using our occasional powers. My ghost kicks and his fireballs.
Meanwhile by the sidelines, Nett manages to put out the Dark Danny clone with the use of the Fenton Lipstick. He disappears and Penny's arms are dropped. "You're alright," Penny grins.
"Yeah but we better get you out of here first."
Dark Danny and I are stuck in an eternal dance of hit and dodge. But sadly for the most part, I think he's winning. I've taken too much damage while he hasn't had enough. I don't know how much more of this I can take. Dark Danny's too powerful, and using Shane's body isn't doing me any favors either. Remembering Shane is what distracts me, and Dark Danny gets the upper hand. He knocks my weapon out of my hands and burns my shoulder as a result. My scream echoes, and I'm near my limit.
As I lay limp, I feel a tear escape my eye and slide down my cut up face. I remember Shane, and all of us having our moments and our adventures back home, dealing with ghosts and dealing with school. It's probably out of place and not the best time, but I think of him and... I admit that I did care. Whether he did or most likely didn't, I did. And... I do. "I'm sorry..."
What are you doing?
Shane yells inside in head. You're hurting her! "I have no control. It's not my body anymore." Yes it is! You've been overshadowed! And that ghost is killing her! "I can't do anything." You can save her. Don't you care about her?! "No. I never had and I still don't." THAT'S A LIE AND YOU KNOW IT. "So what if it is. I can't save her. I'm a Ghost Blood. It was only a matter of time before my powers got the better of her."
She will die if you let her.
It's not my decision.
You'll loose her forever.
I never had her to begin with.
And you'll never get the chance if you kill her now!
"SHANE DON'T DO IT!" Nett yells, and reality returns to him. We're in the middle of Clockwork's layer, and Dark Danny is holding my barely conscious self by the neck, with one glowing red hand ready to finish me. "I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME SHANE! DO NOT DO THIS! DO NOT KILL WENDY!"
What am I doing... Manson, she's bleeding.
"Aren't you gonna kill me yet," I scoff, defeated. He's not moving. He froze, just before he was going to.
Kill her? I... I was going to kill her. "I can't move...!" Dark Danny's voice strains. I see the muscles tensing as well. His body's will won't allow him to finish his job. "What have you done to me!"
"I haven't done anything," I manage to say back, half dead and barely breathing. "It's the idiot you've overshadowed."
Dark Danny squints is eyes closed and he shakes his head, as if fighting for the right to his body. It's Shane, I know it. It's him. It's, a miracle. Suddenly his hand looses its grip and I fall again on my side, coughing and gasping for air. Nett runs to my side and helps me sit up. But when we see Shane, he's still struggling. "Get, out of me," he grits through his teeth. Soon enough, he manages to extract Dark Danny from his own self and the ghost flies across the room while Shane collapses to his knees. His hand stops glowing and he looks at his hands. His arms. His body. He is a Ghost Blood in its purest form.
"You're back," Nett smiles, relieved. Nett shakes my limp body, smiling down at me. "Look, he did it."
I'm too tired to react, but I feel my heart jump when I see Shane's red eyes aren't Dark Danny's anymore. They're his own. His own Ghost Blood red eyes. "About time..."
Elsewhere, Dark Danny is getting up from a mountain of debris, ticked off of course. "I've had just about enough of you kids." All I can do is stare, because I can't even feel my body. Nett hugs me close and shields my head in his chest as we brace ourselves. The next thing I know, I feel a wave of energy exerting from where Dark Danny is. Tiny pieces of rubble are shaking on the floor, and I hear the rising sound of a wail, a ghost wail. It starts to get louder and louder until I feel that it won't stop.
"What the heck kind of ghost power is this?" I wince, predicting an upcoming wave of energy to blow us all away. But just before it can, I feel it stop all of a sudden. But only where we are.
Nett and I look up, and we see Shane standing in front of us holding out his arm, glowing red once more and glowing the Ghost Wail. He's, actually blocking one of Dark Danny's attacks. And his tattoos are darker than ever. "Shane..."
"What? That's impossibe," Dark Danny muses. "My Ghostly Wail should've blown you all to the next century!"
"You forget who you're facing," Shane grins, showing off a sharp evil grin of his own. I try to go towards him but Nett just catches me, holding me and frozen in place. "You thought you could overshadow me. Keep me contained. Didn't you!"
Shane laughs, and I feel him loosing himself again. Even though Dark Danny is no longer with him, I still feel him slipping away. "Shane, don't do it. Fight it. You're still one of us, remember?"
"Of course I remember!" Shane barks, and I totally don't believe him. His darker side is taking over. And I can see a sadistic smirk beginning to appear. "I just think that this guy's due for a little hell for what he tried to do to me. Justice, that's all. No harm in that."
Dark Danny scoffs, putting down his arms and attacks. "I know I've met my match now. But you're a Ghost Blood, child. Do you really think that you can suppress it for much longer? Control? Child you don't know anything about control. I can see it in your eyes, your rising hatred and anger. Let it poison you. Overcome you. Loose yourself to that call and come and kill me. And then you'll kill your friends." As if following him, Shane takes that step forward.
"If he makes this kill we loose Shane forever," I panic, pushing Nett away to run to Shane. "Shane don't-!" Shane whips back and is just about ready to claw me with his glowing hand. But on my knees I look up at him desperately. And I wear my most stern look to return. "Don't let it take you, Shane. You're good... You're with us... You care about us," I say, trying to repress my tears. "You don't want to do this..."
Shane's muscles relax, and he lowers his arm over me to his side. I breath heavily and my hand suddenly becomes my main support on the ground. Shane closes his eyes, and suddenly I hear him again. His sadistic smirk turned in a smug smile. "Thank you, Wendy." But before I can react, Shane's Ghost Blood speed kicks in and he's gone. He's up in front of Dark Danny and he's made the attack. Dark Danny has a glowing red scar across his chest, and I see him defeated.
"You little-!" the ghost yells. "You're just as much a monster as I am," he smirks.
"No I'm not," Shane says calmly, and in his old voice as well. "I'll never be like you."
"All Ghost Bloods are evil," Dark Danny grins, disappearing out of sight.
Shane just watches as his enemy begins to fade out of existence. To disappear. "Then I'll be the first not to." Dark Danny is gone now. And Shane stands alone. His arms stops glowing and his tattoos retreat. When he turns around to face Nett and me, his human grey eyes are back, and he has a gentle, apologizing smile on him. "I'll make sure of it."
"Dad!" Penny cries, and all of us turn around. I don't know why, but just the sight of actually seeing Clockwork sends me goose bumps. I know he's a good guy and all but... wow.
"Now he comes," Nett remarks.
"I've seen what you kids have done," Clockwork says with a confused Penny under his arm. "I've seen it all, and I'm glad to see that things have ultimately turned out this way." Is that why he was okay with not being here for any of this? I ask myself with a feeling of nausea.
"He knew all this would happen?" Nett asks me.
"He's Clockwork. He knows all and sees all," I say, quoting it from Mom's book of weird things. No wonder he didn't bother to help us with anything.
"Winnona Manson, it's nice to finally meet you," he smiles, looking down at me. "You look quite beat up you know."
"Oh do I? I hadn't noticed. I was too busy enduring internal bleeding and burning flesh."
Clockwork wears a smug look. "I think time's due for a reset, Penny, don't you think?"
"Huh?" Suddenly, a light emits from Clockwork's staff. It's so bright that I force myself to shield my eyes. When I wake up, there's a whole new sensation of feeling far different from what I was just feeling. I struggle to move around because I'm still in the dark, but the feeling of the ground colliding with my body is what makes me realize that I was in bed.
"WHA!" I scream, gasping for fresh air as I escape my blanket. Looking around, I'm in my room. I think. And in my pajamas. I notice that its easier to breath and that it's because there's not a scratch on me. All of the burns are gone from my body and ... yeah. I look at my clock on my bedside and it reads 7:30, turning to 7:31. "I'm home...?" Cautiously I stand back up. Yup, all healed. "Just what did he do?"
I walk down the stairs dressed up in my normal clothes, straightening out my bed hair. But when I get to the kitchen, I see the familiar scene of my mother cooking pancakes and Grandma sitting at the table with a giant open box. And she's holding up a giant peach-colored strapless ball gown. "Morning sweetie! Sleep well?" Grandma asks.
"Sure..." I reply dumbfounded. So time was reset. "Mom you're cooking breakfast?"
"Grandma says she won't eat the take out leftovers from last night," Mom shrugs.
"Here's your dress for this evening. Isn't it just grand?" Wait... what?
"Oh cheer up Wendy. It's a lot better than the one she got me when I was your age. Try imagining pink with yellow polka dots and inflated shoulder pads," Mom laughs.
"Hey the other debutantes thought that was very flattering!"
"Yeah for my nonexistent butt." I smile as I watch my mother and grandmother converse. It's nice to see them get along. It's, rare. In fact, I'm so happy about it that I kind of don't mind doing this debutante ball thing for them... Wait, the debutante ball. "Oh geez. Shane."
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"You look fine!" Grandma says as we walk through city hall together. I'm wearing the ball gown and everything, but I have a giant cloth of a cloak around me, too, to hide it. "Now take that cloak off you're getting stares."
"Tell me something I don't know," I say, looking through the crowd of people at the tables. I can't find Nett or Shane anywhere. "Um, I'm gonna go look for my escort in the back rooms okay Grandma? I'll meet up with you and Mom later."
"Alright then. Say hi to Shane for me okay?"
"Right, will do," I grin as she walks away. "Shane, my escort..." I say lastly to myself. Oh, how am I going to fix this mess now if I can't even find them? I leave the main room and go to where the back rooms are. There are barely any people left here, as most of them are heading to the party room. But I reach an open door and I hear some voices inside. They sound like the guys, so I knock. "Uh, Shane? Nett?" I hear no reply, so I knock again. "Hello-ah!" The door opens ever so slight and I'll pulled in. The next thing I know, I'm in a giant bear hug from Nett and my feet are no longer touching the ground.
"Oh my gosh you're alive oh my gosh you're okay!" Nett squeals as I laugh, barely breathing.
"Yeah you too," I laugh. He puts me down and I take a good look at him. No scratches or broken glasses. And on the other side of the small room sits Shane, no injuries present either. "Shane."
"Manson," he says back. "Looks like you aren't all beat up anymore."
"Yup, clean cut and everything," I say, still concealing myself underneath the cloak.
I can see Nett looking at it. "And what are you supposed to be? A wizard? Come on take off that cloak."
"No way. Not until the ceremony starts. This place is freezing and my shoulders have no coverage."
"Ooh, the sexy look. How new for you," Shane remarks.
"Oh shut up," I laugh as Nett hides a smile. Suddenly there's another knock at the door and when Nett goes to open it, we see Tucker Folly standing outside it with a look that I read as 'busted'. Two seconds later Nett slams the door and Shane and I gap at him. "Nett!" I yell.
"I panicked!"
"Clearly," Tucker adds, opening the door again anyway and poking his head in. "I see you guys rescued Wendy."
I blink. Huh? "You, remember what happened?" Nett asks. Again, huh? Tucker manages to take out one of Clockwork's time medallions from inside his blazer pocket. "Oh."
"Yeah. Oh." Tucker walks in fully into the room and Nett closes the door. Tucker looks straight at me and I look straight up at him. "Miss Wendy Fenton. Or should I say Wendy Phantom."
Wait I still don't get it. Are we in trouble or what? "Guys... what'd I miss?"
"Remember that car I crashed into Clockwork's layer?" Nett grins nervously. "Had to have gotten it somewhere."
"Mr. Foley knows everything," Shane mentions from the couch. "About Danny being the Dragon, about you being kidnapped earlier, you and your ghost powers."
"I see," I say warily, still finding this all a bit... much.
"Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me," Tucker smiles. "Now about Danny."
"Dad is now really a good time to talk about this?" Nett speaks up.
"No but I'm gonna anyway," Tucker replies. "Is Danny still... alive?"
"Not technically, but he's around," I answer straightforwardly. "He's dead, but he's a ghost that resides in the underground lab at FentonWorks. That's where he trains me. He doesn't remember much about his life."
"Which means he probably doesn't remember me," Tucker nods. "Right."
"You knew Danny, too?" I ask with a tiny sparkle in my eye.
"Something like that," Tucker smiles back. If he doesn't know me, then he sure has hell doesn't remember having a daughter. "I'll show myself out. Nett, mind helping me write my speech?"
"Isn't that your job?"
"Yeah its called procrastinating," Tucker says as Nett glares. Nonetheless the two Foleys leave, leaving Shane and me alone unintentionally. It's awkward and it's quiet from where we are on opposite sides of the room.
"I uh, probably better go find my Mom and have her help me fix my hair or something."
"Wait!" Shane stands before I can even touch the doorknob. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell but uh... Can we talk?"
Part of me is glad that he's alright, but another part is still kind of off put by him after what he said to Crissy earlier. "We can talk later. You should probably go find Crissy. They'll be starting the presentations soon and she needs her escort."
I go to open the door but Shane has managed to place his hand over mine on the door knob and push it back closed. "Not until you hear me out."
I take my hand off the knob and put them up to the center of my cloak to keep it over my shoulders. "What is it."
"It's about what I said before, back at the book store with Crissy. I didn't know you were there-"
"It didn't matter whether you knew if I was there or not. Fact was that I heard you and I understand. We're just partners I get it. Nothing more nothing less. I don't know what Nett told you but I'm over it, okay?"
"Manson wait." Shane blocks the door with his body before I can attempt to get out again. I try to push him out of the way but he takes me shoulders and shoves me against the wall next to the door so I can't leave. "Look can you quit being so hardheaded and just listen to me?"
"What, Shane," I say, barely audible.
Shane exhales as he tries to lessen his grip over my shoulders. "What I meant to say before, was that I didn't know you were there. If I had known I wouldn't have said all that because I didn't mean it."
"Didn't mean what Shane," I say with my eyes watering. "Because believe me you were right. You're with Crissy and I don't blame her for thinking the way she does. I don't like you and you don't like me. I know that but, this whole thing about us being friends - what was that just pretend? Am I just some person you can use to get a kick of adrenaline with when we're fighting ghosts? Are you really gonna just let this all go once we fight that stupid summer ghost and its all over? That was our plan wasn't it-?"
"Wendy!" Shane interrupts, and its clear now that I'm on the verge of crying. I'm not, but my eyes are glimmering in the sunset's light. They're wet, and the tears may fall any second if I blink.
"What right do you have to call me by my name again..." I whisper, shaking my head. "I'm a sap. I get it. I thought we were becoming friends again and obviously I got the wrong idea... Why do you keep doing this to me?"
"Maybe because I'd actually like to start being friends with you again," Shane finally answers, rendering me speechless for the first time. "You're not just some girl, Wendy. You're one of the bravest, strongest people I know. You're level headed. You're persistent. You annoy the hell out of me but you're still one of the coolest people I know." I can see that he's just as surprised to hear himself say this as I am. "You're smart, you're pretty, you're fun to be around. You're, amazing."
Is he really saying all this?...
"Look...Everything I said to Crissy wasn't all true, okay? But what else was I supposed to say to convince her? She thinks I like you! I had to say anything I could to convince her I didn't!" And to convince me too... "All I want to say is... I'm sorry... Wendy."
"I... Wow." It takes all the common sense I have to just even process each word I've just heard come out of Shane's mouth. I wonder if I'm dreaming. The only think making me believe this isn't a dream is the tightening of Shane's grip over my shoulders while he was talking to me. Finally, I let out a slow steady breath through my nose. My tears have dried up, and I think I can talk again. "I'm sorry for causing trouble between you and your girlfriend," I manage to say straightforwardly.
"Not your fault," Shane says back as we exchange stares. "Well, look at all the drama me and my big mouth caused."
It's the first thing Shane says that gets me to laugh a little. "So... are we friends? Like... actual, friend-friends now?"
"If you'd be willing to," Shane smiles.
"No more feelings of annoyance towards me?"
"In all truth of the matter, you've never annoyed me," Shane admits. "I know I say a lot of things but, it's kind of what makes you fun." He smiles sincerely. "Thank you for hearing me out, Manson." He paused, almost calling me Wendy again.
"No problem," I nod. "And... you can still call me Wendy, if you want."
"It still feels weird calling you that again to be honest," Shane laughs. "It's been so long since I've called you by your name on a normal basis." Since the 6th grade to be correct. "Wendy," Shane says, just to get the feel of saying my name. "Wendy. Man that's gonna take some getting used to."
"For you and for Nett and Danny," I add, laughing at the idea. Even I'm still not used to hearing him say my name. "Still, I can't believe Crissy was actually jealous all this time. I mean, she actually thought that you were falling for me. Can you imagine it? Us, together. Ha."
"Ridiculous right?"
"I know! I mean, it's us. "
"Nothing more nothing less," he repeats.
"Precisely. We could even kiss and it'd mean nothing between us."
"Just like on your birthday," he reminds.
I nod. "Exactly like my birthday. It'd mean nothing."
"Nothing," Shane agrees as we lock eyes 're staring at each other for a moment, and I feel my face getting hot. Our faces and our torsos are so close together that I can feel the body heat radiating from him, and I can feel my chest tighten for some reason. I think he's about to say something else but the door opens wide all of a sudden and hits Shane in the back, causing us to hit foreheads.
"Hey guys!" Nett yells, only to see no one in the room. "Uh, guys?"
"Back here," I groan, holding my forehead. Nett steps around the door and I can understand why he has that odd look.
"Don't ask," Shane says, holding his forehead, too.
"... Anyway I have some crazy news you won't BELIEVE."
"What a lady at the party is going into labor?" I ask grouchily.
"No but that'd be pretty awesome," Nett says with an oncoming laugh. "Anyway, I just got the list of the debutantes, and Crissy's name's off the list!" What?
"What?" Shane and I both yell, a little too loudly might I add. "But she was here last time before everything was reset," Shane says.
"I know. It's weird," Nett agrees with a scratch of his head. "Dad even had me call her household to make sure. Something about last minute food poisoning this morning." Food poisoning... Heh. I like Penny.
"Interesting," I manage to say, trying to resist smiling to noticeably.
"But hey! This leaves Shane here to be your escort! You won't be caught forever alone by your grandma!" Nett suggests with a move of his eyebrows. With that in mind he holds out a plastic box and opens it, showing a white flower. "Here's Wendy's corsage. Better get ready. All the pairs are lining up backstage. You've got two minutes. The rest of us are at table 8. Goodluck!" Nett grins as he heads back around the door. Shane and I look at the corsage box in his hand before Nett pops back in. "Oh and loose the cape already. Makes you look weird."
And with a quick swipe, Nett's removed my blanket of a cloak and left the room before I could catch him. I'm left in my gown, strapless and showing my shoulders. I don't know why but I feel exposed and I hug my arms, looking down. "Nett get back here!" I yell at my feet with red tints appearing on my cheeks. "Ah who am I kidding he's gone gone isn't he."
"Yeah." Shane lifts my head up and removes my hands from my shoulders. He looks at me skeptically before smiling up at my face. "You look fine."
"Ah. The first compliment as a friend. See if we weren't friends that comment would mean a lot more. But as a friend it's only standard you say that."
Shane shakes his head and laughs at me. "What kind of reasoning is that?" He removes the corsage and puts it around my wrist. I never got the purpose of those things, but I can smell its aroma. It smells sweet. Once it's tightened around my wrist, Shane holds my hand up in content. "And for the record, not as a friend but as a regular guy, you really do look pretty."
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"Miss Nina Alaway! Escorted by Kevin Rolma!" The crowd claps as the boy and girl appear on opposite sides of the stage and meet at the middle.
Just as all escorts are instructed to, he gives her a long stemmed orange rose before walking down the catwalk. Together there, they pose for pictures. Each pose is different for each pair, but they all exemplify something overdone. Couple-y over done. Like how one pair had the guy carry the girl down bridal style down the catwalk. Another pair walked down arm in arm and at the end of a catwalk, the guy knelt down and kissed her hand. The last pair that just went had the guy twist the girl around at the end of the catwalk until he caught her with one arm, leaning her over. Lots of squeals and pictures for that one.
"What is this a beauty pageant?" I mutter as I wait in line with a bunch of other girls.
It's then that I realize I have no idea what I'll have to do with Shane. What can I do with Shane? We didn't get the memo about the photo-op at the end of the catwalk. Then again we never went to the rehearsal - fighting ghosts and what not.
"Miss Carlene Georgina! Escorted by Roberto Falaseis!" The girl in front of me goes, and I'm up next. All of a sudden I feel butterflies. Why did I agree to this? I'm not a stage person! Oh my gosh I feel like I'm gonna faint.
"Miss Winnona Manson! Escorted by Shane Johnson!" Did I die yet?
I hear the roar of applause outside the stage as I make my way up toe four steps. There's a bright spotlight shining on me as I walk, but I keep my hands at my sides as instructed. But, then I see Shane too, though somewhat nervous, not as much as me. He could see that, probably.
We meet at the center of the stage and he offers me the long stemmed flower. At first I just stare at it, but Shane smiles assuring at me, causing me to smile in turn. I feel better somewhat, knowing that he's there for me. "YEAH! GO WEN!" I hear Nett scream from the crowd. Shane and I struggle to hide out obvious laughter. I take the flower and we hook arms as Shane escorts me down the stage line.
"I didn't know we had to model," Shane mutters to me.
"Me neither," I admit, trying not to move my lips as we walk. But we better think of something or we're gonna look like fools at the end of this stage. We make it to the end, not one hair out of place. Our loved ones and stranger are still clapping for us, with others taking pictures. But we're just standing there, and I don't know what I'm doing.
"It'd mean nothing, right?" Shane whispers to me. At first I wonder what he means by that, but I think I understand.
"Nothing at all."
At the end of the day, everything is all cleaned up. Everyone's eaten. Everyone's taken their pictures. (All the rich people have donated their money). And, at the City Hall recognition wall, there's a giant section dedicated to the charity event. And lines in perfect rows and lines are pictures of all the pairs of debutantes and escorts, all doing something majorly photo-worthy. And down towards the middle corner, you can see Shane's and my picture. It was nothing much compared to the other three dozen pairs' pictures, but it was enough. In it stood me and Shane, our lips locked in a kiss that meant nothing. To Mom and Nett oh would we never hear the end of it. But, it was something. A kiss of nothing. What better way to symbolize the official reconstruction of our unorthodox friendship?
Still, don't tell anyone, but I'm glad we kissed anyway.
Yay! I got to update in under a month's worth of waiting time! YESH!
Gosh, can you believe that the summer's almost over? Ugh and still so much summer homework... You know, for someone who writes a lot, doing acutualschool writing is kind of... ish.
And thank you for all the support so far!
And by the way, go visit my deviantart page MemorySoulfor my official fan-art for the story! I'll upload more pictures soon of Nett, Wendy, and Shane. I already designed adult Tucker, and in a while adult Sam and Jazz.
PREVIEW:
Alright Wen, what's up? Shane's been calling you Wendy for like, four days. What gives? Is this a sign of the apocalypse or what?"
I roll my eyes. "It is so not the apocalypse. We've just officially made amends, that's all."
x-x-x-x-x-x
"You're Wendy Manson?"
"That's me."
"My name's Vince, exchange student."
x-x-x-x-x-x
"You okay?"
"Hm? Oh yeah, just a little burp, that's all!" That was my ghost sense. That was totaly my ghost sense, which means there's a ghost! Here! Now of all times! Oh this can not get any worse...!
Suddenly the two front doors of the cafe fly and crashh open, and at the former doorframe stands two members of the Guys in White. "Crap it got worse."