Chapter Twenty-Seven: Mild Disclosure

Maddie had initially been pleasantly surprised to log on to her email account to find a gracious message from a fan of her and Jack's ectology blog. It was the first email they'd received in years from that website, which they still continued to update despite lack of recognition. This anonymous 'WW' person warmed her heart with their thoughtful commendations of their work. She was even pretty sure that they were someone from Amity Park based off what they had said about a ghost hero with an unprecedented following, which could only mean Phantom. So she wrote a warm reply offering to elaborate about their research and in-depth ectology information.

After that, she and Jack left the house for a few hours because they had gotten a notification that Phantom was out and about in Elmerton. Unfortunately, the entire thing was a bust and Phantom got away – but when Maddie returned to the computer after dinner she happily found a new message from WW.

Her general assessment after reading it was that they seemed to be very opinionated regarding their own philosophies, but she supposed was too so she couldn't exactly judge. She also noticed that they asked about Phantom's obsession, which she could write an entire dissertation about, but she tried to keep it brief and answer their original question about spectral obsessions.

The email she received in reply, nearly twenty minutes later...

Jesus. Fucking. Christ.

Did she know what to think? No. Did she believe any of this load of bullshit? Probably not. Was she an offended parent ready to send a motherfucker to the ER? Hell yes.

Nobody talked about her baby like he was some kind of diseased mutant masquerading as the town menace.

Her hand was clutched tightly on the computer mouse, testing the strength of its plastic casing under her grip. Her other hand was digging into her HAZMAT suit, leaving a stinging imprint on her leg through the fabric. Maddie carefully closed her eyes (refrain from hurling the computer across the lab) and took a harrowing breath.

When she opened her eyes, that stupid fucking email was still there and her anger resurfaced twice-fold with a nasty vengeance. Something in her possessed her to slap the web camera affixed on top of the computer, which then pathetically snapped off and careened into a pile of Jack's 'back-burner' inventions. After realizing what she had done, she winced and decided on a lie that 'a ghost broke the camera' so she wouldn't have to admit she'd thrown a tantrum over an email and broken Danny's twenty dollar webcam.

With a gnawing feeling crawling through her stomach, Maddie turned her chair around so she wouldn't have to face the computer screen for the moment. She was still pissed, but she couldn't close the email. She needed clarity, explanation, closure.

She took another breath, "DANNY!" There was a surprised THUMP from upstairs. Albeit startled, she continued. "I need you to come down to the lab, sweety!"

"Uh... in a minute!" he responded. "I'm doing homework!"

Of course he is, Maddie thought bitterly. She needed him down here to calm her down before she was tempted to break anything else, or worse, reply to this asshole's email.

Surely enough, Danny was stomping down the stairs just over two minutes later. He seemed a little frazzled, but that was just typical Danny behavior these days, as much as she hated to admit.

"What's up, Mom?" he asked, ignoring the computer behind her.

"I got an email," she managed to grit out. "I want to hear your thoughts about it." And maybe give me an explanation why some jerk thinks you're a ghost.

"Uh..." he tilted his head in confusion. "Okay...?"

She rolled her chair slightly to the side so he could stand in front of the computer. She scrolled to the top of the message and let him read from the beginning. His eyes scanned the screen and almost immediately he paled, hands erratically fidgeting with the hem at the bottom of his shirt, strictly breathing through his nose. The look in his eyes was guarded, but she got the impression that if he faltered for a moment, they would express some kind of vulnerability.

That confirmed it: this wasn't new to Danny. There was a kid at his school that had formed some kind of conspiracy around Danny and was using it to bully him. Danny, being the sort of kid he is, had been hiding it from her because he was too intimidated to go to his parents' for help because he didn't want to be perceived as 'weak'. This same sort of incident had happened with bullies in third grade, sixth grade, and eighth grade – and it was happening again because Danny didn't want to upset her. It saddened her, that her boy really couldn't stand up for himself nor trust her enough to help him.

Once his gaze reached the bottom of the screen, she turned to him. "So?" she prompted him to just admit it. They had been through this time and time again and it baffled her that it was still happening, elevating to a more twisted kind of bullying.

He gulped, "Mom I don't..." he looked down, squarely biting the inside of his cheek and releasing. Taking another breath, he finally met her eyes. "That's ridiculous."

He didn't look nor sound convincing.

Oh, Danny...

"How long has this been going on?" she asked him. This 'WW' mentioned that he'd been working on 'data' for months, but she wanted to hear this from Danny. She wanted his confirmation that some kid was tormenting him, discrediting him, allegedly stalking him...

Danny's eyes dulled, betraying a sliver of fear. His fists were clenched so hard that they had turned white. "Since Freshman year," he mumbled shakily. "I meant to tell you in the beginning, but I was... scared. I didn't... didn't realize that it was such a big deal back then."

Something in her snapped. Maybe it was Danny's dismissal of how serious this was, or maybe the tension had finally gotten to her. "A big deal?" she questioned rhetorically. "Danny, this guy's a psycho! Whoever he is, he's formed an entire conspiracy about you, rambling it off to strangers on the Internet, and following you! Harassing you! And you didn't think it was a big deal?"

His eyes widened, evidently expressing surprise. Okay... maybe she was a little too dramatic, but to be fair, it wasn't exactly an unwarranted reaction.

"... what?" he whispered. "Are – are you talking about Wes?"

Wes. Wes. So that's the culprit's name. It sounded familiar. Wait. Hadn't that been the same kid who had disrupted their demonstration at Casper High and had written an apology letter? She vaguely remembered skimming the letter, picking out words like 'irresponsible', 'sorry', 'disruptive' and she got the initial message. And wasn't he also the one who had been haunted that one time, by the Pajama ghost?

"So that's his name," she accessed. "Why have you let him push you like this Danny? His accusations are out of control. He's painting you as some kind of dual-natured freak that doubles as Phantom. You've been through this enough times with people like Dash-"

Something in his expression flickered for a moment, something forlorn and broken before his composure slid into guarded confusion. "Wait," his eyebrows scrunched together. "You think that Wes... thinking I'm Phantom... is bullying?" An epiphany settled on him and the residual sadness in his eyes instantly dissipated. "And you don't actually... oh."

"Stop trying to downplay it, Daniel," Maddie rested her hand on his shoulder. "This boy is obsessed with you. What good was it doing anyone for you to hide this?"

"No, no, stop," Danny deflected her hand. "You're the one that's overreacting. This is just... Wes. He does this and it doesn't even bother me – he's just being him and nobody has to get involved," he lowered his voice. "You don't have to get involved."

"Danny-"

"Look, Mom, Wes is the running joke of the school. Nobody takes him seriously and neither do I. He started getting accused of looking like m – Phantom, and after a while, he cracked. So around then he started trying to convince everyone I'm Phantom, probably because I'm one of the only guys named 'Danny' at school and that was enough correlation. He's not a bully, he just... legitimately doesn't know better?"

Maddie's anger refused to be quelled. "That doesn't change the fact that you haven't told anyone he's harassing you. Whether this kid 'knows better' or not, that doesn't justify that he's dragged you into this and – and followed you! Obsessed over you."

"You're the one making this into a big deal. He doesn't even bother me most days-"

"He's tarnishing your reputation!"

"Nobody even takes him serio-"

"I don't care. Stop trying to avoid admitting something is wrong."

A wave of frustration overwhelmed him. "Compared to everything else I go through, Wes is nothing!" he let slip. For a moment or two, mother and son stared at each other, realizing his mistake.

"What do you mean... 'everything else'?" she trod carefully.

He swallowed. "Uh, too much schoolwork. And the detentions. Being late for class? Drama with Sam and Tucker. You know... the daily battles-" his voice nearly cracked "-I fight?"

There was something else there, and both of them knew it. But they also understood that he wouldn't divulge any more, at least in this conversation... Maddie ran her fingers through her hair, loosely attempting to relieve stress.

"Fine." She turned around to turn off her computer, refraining from trying to reread the contents of the email. "I have to get ready for bed, anyway. I suggest that you do too, lest you become more sleep-deprived."

And with that, she was up the stairs, leaving Danny reeling from how close he'd just came from being discovered. It was a Godsend that she hadn't considered that Wes could be telling the truth.

Wes was severely discouraged when madscientist hadn't replied to his email. It had been two days, and he had still not received any response. Guess she was just like everyone else: close-minded and unfit to see the truth, clinging to the automatic accusation that Wes was crazy. It was a shame because he had really wanted her as his confidant, mainly because her knowledge of ghosts could come in handy in regaining his credibility.

He dwelled on this during at least two of his morning classes on Tuesday. Wes did all he could to suppress his disappointment and figured that he probably should've introduced his online friend to the idea of hybrids more gradually. But it was too late now.

So instead, he blamed Danny for occupying an existence too ridiculous for even scientists to believe.

Wes let his thoughts occupy him until the dull crackle of the intercom attracted his attention: "Daniel Fenton to the Principal's office."

Forgetting which class he was currently in, Wes glanced around to see if Danny was there, but he wasn't. He had his next class with Danny, not this one, unfortunately. He wondered what the nuisance had done this time to get directly called to the Principal. He'd probably met the maximum amount of tardies and now Ishiyama was going to tear him a new one.

That thought alone managed to carry Wes into his next class, allowing his sleep-deprived mind to imagine the sheer stupidity of ghost-powered Danny Phantom getting defeated by a forty-year-old woman in a blouse. At one point, he started doodling the image in the margin of his notebook, with Ishiyama sporting comically large muscles made of textbooks...

Twenty minutes into Lancer's class, Danny strolled into the room with a flustered blush and a tardy slip. He handed the slip to Lancer, threw Wes an anxious glance (?), and took his normal seat behind Sam and beside Tucker. He leaned towards the both of them and softly groaned, "I want to die again."

They looked at him with subdued concern but mainly brushed it off. Meanwhile, Wes scowled. Danny had said that loud enough for other people to hear, but of course, nobody else cared. The only person who seemed to have really listened to Danny was Mikey, who was beside Wes. Apathetic at this point, Wes gazed at Mikey irritably – halfheartedly attempting to elicit any recognition. After a moment, Mikey got the gist of Wes's 'special look' and rolled his eyes. "It's just an expression, dude."

The rest of the class passed without any incident, however, when Wes's peers were gathering their belongings for the next period Mr. Lancer calmly approached Wes's desk. "Mr. Weston," he stated, purposely keeping a tone that wouldn't draw unwanted attention. "I've been informed that you're to stay after school today for an appointment with Principal Ishiyama. You've been excused from basketball practice and you're to report directly to her office after your last class. If you fail to show up, there will be repercussions."

Wes's head swam, "What is this for? I haven't done anything, have I?"

Mr. Lancer's lips tightened into a frown, "I can't say. All I know was from an email from Mrs. Ishiyama. I just know that it's at utmost importance."

"But I don't think I did anything?" Wes defended himself. "She's just going to make me come in and miss practice without letting me know what this is for?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Weston. If I knew any more, I would let you know, but I don't."

Mr. Lancer returned to his desk at the front of the room, giving Wes one earnest nod before he carried himself anxiously to his next class.

One night before, Monday evening, Maddie faced a dilemma. She was conflicted; unable to choose an appropriate course of action. As dinner concluded, Danny predictably fled back to his room and she implored Jack to watch the 6 p.m. news without her. Typically, she and Jack did the dishes together but tonight she had other plans. She'd already confided her thoughts to Jack and he hadn't provided any useful information. So, she'd decided to employ a new confidant: "Jazz?"

Jazz whirled around from where she was about to step out of the kitchen. When she turned, her hair moved slower than her body and briefly obscured her face. She brushed it away quickly, collect herself. "Yeah, Mom?"

"Would you... would you mind washing the dishes with me tonight?"

Jazz shrugged, clearly suspicious, but too polite to mention anything. "Sure, I guess."

Maddie smiled, "Alright." She moved to pick up Jack's abandoned plate and silverware from the table as Jazz started packing up their leftovers.

Maddie let silence elapse a minute before she brought up the topic of her desired conversation. "So, uh random question," she started. "Do you know of a boy called Wes in Danny's grade?"

Jazz had just finished wrapping saran wrap around the leftover pork-chops. "Yes." The answer was clipped and short. Jazz waited a few moments before responding, "What do you know about Wes?"

"He started emailing our ectology blog. We exchanged a few emails before he fed me a story about how your brother is Phantom."

Jazz elicited an exaggerated scoff, perhaps a little too loud to be genuine. "That's crazy."

"For sure," Maddie agreed, turning on the faucet. She, fortunately, missed Jazz's momentary relief. "But Wes admitted that he tells everyone that Danny is Phantom. That he spreads these rumors to everyone at Casper. Danny... Danny said that Wes wasn't a problem, but that's what Danny does. Danny lets his bullies push him around and dismisses the issue. So I need to know honestly... is this Wes kid actually a problem? Does he actually spread these rumors to everyone, or was that an exaggeration? And does he really stalk Danny? Because I couldn't get Danny to open up about that, much. He just said Wes doesn't know any better about his obsession."

Wow, Jazz thought, that's a load of questions. She wasn't exactly sure how to respond. She was aware that Wes was a nuisance in her brother's life – maybe not really a bully – but he was definitely a threat to how Danny lived his daily life. He was a source of stress and unnecessary circumstances. She also didn't think she could bring herself to lie about Wes's endeavors to expose Danny, so she decided to stick to a close version of the truth.

"I uh... I don't think that Wes is a bully, but he definitely tells everyone in the school that Danny is Phantom. He occasionally bugs Danny, and sometimes he only bothers Danny because Danny bothered him first. Also, I'm not sure about stalking."

"So... there is definitely harassment," Maddie read in between the lines. The fork she was holding slightly bent under her grip.

"I guess so?" Jazz didn't know how to derail Maddie's opinion without delving into some of the episodes between Danny and Wes.

"And... and the other kids? Do any of them believe Wes? That Danny's a ghost? Do the other kids discredit Danny's reputation too?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Jazz replied cautiously. "No one has any idea that Danny is Phantom."

Wait, crap. She said that wrong. She should have said that 'no one believes Danny is Phantom' not that 'no one has any idea'. Crap crap crap hopefully she didn't notice.

Maddie sighed, cramming a handful of silverware into the dishwasher. "Good."

Three minutes surpassed before either mother or daughter spoke again.

"Would you have any idea where that boy developed that ridiculous idea anyway?"

Jazz unconsciously cringed. "What, Wes?"

"Yes. I just don't get... how someone can wrap themselves in such a nonsensical conspiracy. Half-ghosts? Superheroes pretending to be teenagers? Ridiculous..."

Jazz attempted to keep her voice steady, "Who knows? The human psyche can craft odd things... especially when someone tries to rationalize things."

"Rationalize like... observing details and coming up with a logical solution?"

"Exactly," Jazz replied. "Wes's mind just reached an illogical solution. Mentally, he twisted Danny's appearance and mannerisms into some kind of wild theory. That can happen sometimes... it doesn't mean he's crazy, it just means he added things up to the," her voice slipped for a moment, "wrong conclusion."

Maddie turned off the faucet, beginning to run the dishwasher. "Yeah... yeah. That's got to be it."

Less than an hour later, Maddie called Principal Ishiyama. It was just before 7 p.m. and she had the woman's personal phone contact in case there was a ghost emergency at the school. She scheduled a meeting at 9 a.m. the next morning.

She would have sent an email, but Ishiyama might have not received it until the next morning. (Or maybe Maddie didn't want to open her inbox for a while.)

Hi! Second update in like two weeks, so I'm happy about that! I hope this doesn't seem like I'm completely shifting the tone of the story. I haven't written for Misadventures in a while so I might be off my comedy mindset a bit and I'm trying to segue into more of the real plot now. Additionally, I hope this chapter wasn't confusing with the time jump - since it goes from Sunday to Tuesday to Monday. Anyway, as always, thanks for reading this (: