Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or any of the characters. Danny Phantom is the sole property of Butch Hartman, Nickelodeon and Viacom International.
Stuck
Chapter 21: Girl Talk
Previously
"So...what now?..."Star asked and Sam looked confused.
"I..I guess we wait...not much else we can do..."Sam said.
"So... do we just... talk...?' Star asked, unsure.
Sam also looked unsure and truce or not, she is not sure she wants to do that.
"Eh...do we have to?..."Sam asked and Star groaned.
"Fine..we don't have to..."Star said as she grabbed a stick and started pocking at their small fire, trying to stay warm.
All they can do now is stay out of sight and wait until they are rescued.
"Deja vu part 2..."Star thought as she kept looking at the fire.
Neither girl knew how much time have passed but neither cared. They just remained close to their little fire as they waited for help to arrive since there isn't much else they could do right now.
Neither spoke for a long time, both lost in their own thoughts of what will happen once their truce is over and they are safe at home.
They knew what and neither liked it but they tried not to focus on that, they just tried to stay alive until they were rescued.
The silence was beginning to be unbearable and eventually, Star was the one who broke it, by saying this...
"I miss my dad... I even miss my mom..."Star whispered to herself, feeling homesick again.
She felt this back on Specter Island, when she was certain that she would never see home or her family ever again. She felt it when she was trapped in the school and thought she might have died due to the ghosts and once again when she had been lost in the Ghost Zone.
The only difference between those times and now, is that she had had Danny at the time, who had been her rock during those dangerous situation but now, she is without him.
Sure, Manson is here and is no longer acting like a total jerk due to their truce, but it's not the same.
"Whatever..." Sam muttered in annoyance.
Star rose a brow and realized that she must have said that out loud. She then noticed the unconcern look on the goth girl's face.
Normally, she'd ignore it and go to her own business, but she was curious about something.
"Don't you miss your parents too?..."Star asked in confusion.
Sam laughed sarcastically.
"Have you met me or my parents?..."Sam responded sarcastically.
Star was surprised by the attitude, but mostly because it wasn't towards her for a change. Still, she didn't like what she was hearing.
"Maybe not but don't you think they would freak if their daughter disappears, not knowing she was mauled to death by some unknown monster?..."Star said, since that was pretty much how her dad, and even her mom had to have been feeling whenever she went missing.
Sam was about to argue, but didn't since she knew Star had a point.
The goth girl was silent as she turned away from her.
Star still didn't like this.
"I knew you could be cold to me Manson, but aren't you being unfair to your folks..."Star said and Sam soon got very annoyed right now.
The gothic girl soon turned to the blond.
"Don't talk to me as if you know me..."Sam spat and Star glared at that.
"You're right, I don't know you since all you have ever done is yell at me and degrade me, even when I tried to be civil here...'Star said and Sam glared at that.
Even if they are suppose to have a truce, Sam had to say this.
"Well, how can I be civil with the likes of you? You and Danny may have gotten closer, but you tolerated me and Tucker at best and the only reason you even bothered to is because of Danny...before you decided that you liked him, all you have ever done was insult us, make fun of us and degrade us just like the other A-listers do and never once apologized for it!..."Sam said to her in an angry, serious tone.
"Sam..." Star whispered, her tone catching the goth off guard.
Star realized that she did have a point. There was a time, when she had been foolish and blinded by the prospect of popularity and status seeking, she had been cruel to those who didn't deserve it, which included Danny and his friends.
Sure, Danny has long since forgiven her and she made it clear that she couldn't be more sorry to how she treated him...
"Him...wait...did...Did I never really apologize to them for that?...'Star thought as she tried to think back.
She had spent so much time trying to make up with Danny, did she really neglect to remember about the other people she has been mean to?
Star thought about it and despite all of the junk she has put her through, she felt a pang of guilt.
"You're right..."Star whispered, surprising Sam.
"Excuse me?..'Sam questioned.
"You're right...while I've fallen in love with Danny, I've never actually apologized to you or Tucker...did I?..."Star said, looking down.
The blonde girl sighed.
"I'm sorry...for being such a jerk to the two of you when I was...the old Star...I don't expect either of you to forgive me and I can live with it, but while we're still alive and if we don't make it out of this… I'm sorry..."Star said, looking earnest.
Sam was surprised. She didn't expect an apology, late as it was, from her but she wasn't sure how to react to it.
Sam was silent and Star took it as a sign that she wasn't forgiven.
"Sam, even if you hate me and you're hurt...I don't regret how things came that brought me close to Danny...he saved me..."Star said.
"I know..he saved you from Specter island, from Vlad and-
"No...not that...what I mean is he saved me from myself!..."Star said and Sam looked surprised.
"What?...'Sam questioned.
"Danny saved me from a life of being a shallow, two dimensional popular girl who put too much value on looks, money, clothes and status..."Star confessed, surprising Sam.
"If he never made me see just how wrong I was, I'd probably still be Paulina's little satellite..."Star said, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
"You were right, I was just a satellite to Paulina but not anymore, so please...call me anything you want but that! That's not who I want to be anymore...'Star pleaded and Sam looked stunned.
She didn't know how to reply to something like that.
Both girls were silent for a long time, and Sam looked down, not sure what to say.
"Sam...look...I'm sorry I brought it up, you don't have to talk about your folks...it's none of my business..."Star said and Sam sighed.
"Star...it's not that I hate my parents, it's just that we couldn't be more different...they don't understand me and they are always trying to change who I am..."Sam mumbled.
"What do you mean?.."Star questioned.
Sam didn't know why she was still talking to her about this or why she was talking to her at all. Maybe she is tired, maybe she wanted to get this off of her chest and she is the closest person around.
"My parents and I are polar opposites...they act likes these super preppy, colorful, happiness-obsessed 1950's couple who are obsessed with making me wear these pink, fru fru, frilly floral pattern dresses and want me to act like some plastic, brainless barbie doll who is just as shallow and snobby as they are..."Sam said bitterly.
"They look down on goths, the working class, on people who express themselves outside of the normal, who are individuals and who don't think like they do..."She continued, still feeling bitter towards her parents.
"They even tried to put a restraining over on Danny one time because they thought he was making me goth and tried to ban Circus Gothica and anything remotely gothic...please, I don't need anyone to tell me how to act..."Sam muttered and Star looked surprised.
"Wait? You mean that weird, fuddy duddy couple who did that anti-goth campaign that one time?..."Star questioned, before realizing what she said.
"Uh...sorry..."Star said.
"Don't...I know..."Sam groaned.
"So...you're parents saw something they didn't like and tried to use their influence to get rid of it...'Star said.
"Yes, exactly!..."Sam said, only to pause as a memory came from an argument they had earlier to say.
"Oh, can it Manson! That wasn't about individuality, it was you not liking something and using your influence to get rid of it..."Star's voice echoed at the back of her mind.
Sam was silent as her eyes widened in horror as the thought dawned on her.
"No way...there...there is no way...I'm not like my parents...am I?.."Sam thought to herself.
"Manson? What's wrong? You look like you just witness a train wreck..."Star said and Sam tried to shake the thought out of her mind.
"I'm...I'm fine..."Sam said, wanting to change the subject and sighed.
"Okay...so maybe my parents might not be evil, but I'm not happy with how things are..."Sam admitted, looking down.
"Well, even if they can be a pain, it still has to be better than seeing either of them only a few times a week at most...and for one of them it's usually just a phone call...'Star muttered.
"Huh?..."Sam questioned.
"My parents are divorced...I got over it but it still hurts sometimes..."Star admitted.
"Well, even so, I doubt your parents threatened to put a restraining order on your best friend unless you wore whatever clothes they picked out for you for a whole weekend...'Sam muttered.
"Well, at least you can see your dad for more than just breakfast and occasionally dinner and at least your mom didn't run off with some sleazeball during a family vacation and moved in with him and his floozy daughter..."Star said bitterly.
Sam's eyes widened when she heard that. She knew Star's folks were divorced but neither she nor Danny mentioned this to her.
"Danny and Valerie already know...it's the old story about the bored wife running off with some French creep who gave her the time of day, leaving her family behind in the process..."Star muttered bitterly.
"It's better now, my mom apologized and is trying to make up for it, but it's going to be a long time before I can forgive her for that..."Star said and Sam looked surprised.
"I...I didn't know that..."Sam said, not sure what to say.
"Well...you told me about your folks...I figured I could tell you about mine..."Star muttered.
"Let's just agree that both of our families are a piece of work and leave it at that..."Star suggested and Sam didn't argue.
Things were awkward and Sam tried to think of something to change the topic and said the first thing that popped into her head.
"So, what's the deal with Colette, anyway?..."Sam asked, out of curiosity and regretted it, especially with the new expression on Star's face.
"She hates me! Why? I don't know but ever since we have met, she has done nothing but try to make my life a living nightmare..when we were 11, she "borrowed" all of my toys she could get her grubby little hands on and broke them...then when we became tweens, it was my clothes and jewellery, which she took, lost and never returned and when boys came into the picture, she made it her hobby to steal every single one of my boyfriends whenever she is in town just to spite me! And the worst part is every time I tried to tell my mom about the kind of person she is, she always took Colette's side, seeing her as nothing but this perfect little angel instead of the witch with hair extensions!...'Star shouted and Sam was stunned, having not expected this reaction.
"She's the biggest brat in the whole world! She's rude, shallow, manipulative, lies like a dog and gets her kicks by ruining my life!..."Star said, her anger at her step sister rising to the surface.
"So...she's another Paulina?..."Sam said, more like a question, while Star began to pant down a bit from her rant.
"She's even worse than Paulina, since at least Paulina at the very least honored the one rule of the A-Listers that I didn't hate or was pointless..."Star muttered.
"Which is?...'Sam questioned.
"You don't flirt with or date your "friends" boyfriend/girlfriend at least until three months after they have called it off, which is why she never bothered to try and date Kwan..."Star muttered.
As much as she has come to hate Paulina, she can't deny that bit.
Sam blinked in surprise.
"Yeah, as much of a pain she is, Paulina isn't a monster, just a nuisance...but Colette doesn't care about anything unless it benefits her in some way and now she has made her goal to try and take Danny from me...I'm just lucky that unlike with Kwan, Danny can't be hypnotized by her cutesy french accent and "I'm a pretty, delicate French girl" act..."Star said under her breath.
"Well...at least Danny wised up and saw through the Paulina clone...'Sam admitted and Star sighed.
"Yeah...he really is one of a kind..."Star said with a tender smile as she thought about him.
Sam was it and sighed, looking away.
"Yeah..he is.."Sam said, looking down.
"You know...you're not the only one who thinks Danny is special...me and Tucker have known him since kindergarten..."Sam said suddenly.
"Really?..'Star asked.
She knew that Danny was close to his friends but this is the first she has heard of this.
"I never told anyone this but during the first day of kindergarten...none of the kids would play with me...I didn't want to play with the girls because all they wanted to play with was with dolls and tea parties and didn't like the games I liked...the boys wouldn't play with me because they thought girls had cooties...I spent the first half of the morning all alone..."Sam said, reminiscing of the first day of kindergarten.
"Then, just after snack time, this little boy came over to me, he thought I looked lonely and invited me to play hide and seek with his friend...and I played with them...we then played together at recess and they didn't care when the other boys started teasing them for playing with an "icky girl"...the little boy even called me his friend and still played with me..."Sam said as she kept remembering.
"That little boy was Danny, wasn't it?..."Star said and Sam nodded.
"He was my first friend, he never once thought I was weird for being different and he never once tried to change a thing about me..."Sam said, looking away.
Star heard this and despite all of the grief she had put her through, she felt some sympathy for the goth girl.
"Danny really is a special guy...'Star said.
"Yeah...'Sam said, cracking a smile a bit, before looking away from the blonde girl.
"If it wasn't for what happened earlier and that she has designs on my boyfriend, I'd feel sorry for her..."Star thought, still processing everything she has learned about Sam Manson.
"It's getting late and we probably should save our energy...one of us can go to sleep for an hour while the other mans watch and then switch...I'll do the first one..."Sam said and Star blinked.
"Uh...no...I can do the first one..."Star said, before a yawn escaped her.
Sam was about to point it out, until she yawned as well, being just as tired as she is.
"Does it really matter who takes the first watch anyway?..."Star questioned.
Sam yawned even harder and sighed in defeat.
"Oh fine...wake me when it's my turn..."Sam said in defeat as she laid down.
"I will, don't worry about that..."Star said.
Despite how hard the ground is, Sam quickly fell asleep and Star sighed, still feeling so many things.
Fear, frustration, confusion, jealousy and even the tiniest bit of hope, as well as not knowing how to feel on many other stuff, especially over one Sam Manson.
"Please hurry, Danny..."Star whispered as she looked out at the entrance of the cave, as the storm continued to fall hard.
-To be continued-
Next time on Stuck
Uh Oh
A/N(1): YAY! ANOTHER ONE :)
A/N(2):Special thanks to NeoMark for helping with some of the scenes here. You rock :)
REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewers:
Invader Johnny and Dani Manson:Uh huh...
Ultra Phantom: Thank you :)
Luiz4200: Uh huh...
Chris Zilla18: :)
Batgyt01: I was lucky enough to be inspired :)
:) I hope you enjoyed this! Remember to read and review :)