The first thing he heard when he woke was the chattering of students and soft echoes of metallic clanging from the basement. Danny let the noise register in his head as "There are people here" as his brain was still trying to wake up.
Red digital numbers showed the time to be 7:44 am. It was Wednesday and school always starts at 7:45 am.
Danny's mind went into a frenzy as he flew out of bed, literally. Going intangible, his clothes slid off within seconds and fresh attire replaced it.
He stopped short for just a moment. Of course, with the field trip, everyone who would be going would already be downstairs, which would explain the noise. Since he didn't need to fly to school, he relaxed for a second, slowing down.
The room never felt different to him, with his ice core freezing his veins more and more with every passing day. That is why it took a moment for him to realize his bedroom was slightly colder than it was supposed to be.
A frost laced the ceiling, spreading to the walls and covering the window. It wasn't bad, not in the slightest. If he placed his hand on it, the frost would melt away in less than a second. And, well, not there was a hand-shaped print in his wall. Hopefully, the ice was latent and would melt away soon.
It wouldn't be good if someone touched his arm, or any part of him, while his ice core was as uncontrollable as it is now. The repercussions of accidentally freezing a classmate wouldn't be good in the slightest.
So, just in case, Danny snatched a light jacket from his closet, one black with green linings and hoodie string and a small cartoon ghost over the left breast. It was one of his favorites, the little ghost was adorable and "Not at all revealing" according to Sam.
Closing his door behind him, Danny walked past Jazz's door to the stairs. At the bottom, he could see Sam and Tucker engaged in a quiet conversation. Taking two steps down, Danny saw that most of the others going on the field trip were loitering around his living room, either sitting in chairs or walking around, poking at the gadgets on displays.
Before Danny could tell them to stop poking at one of the small machines that was supposed to destroy all ghosts within a two kilometer range if activated, Sam grabbed him by the collar and dragged him down two stairs.
"Have you been sleeping this entire time?" Sam hissed under her breath, letting go of his collar then straightening out his shirt.
"Yeah, just woke up." Brushing her hands off, Danny walked down past his friends, stepping on the landing.
"It's ironic that you're the last one here, Danny," Tucker snorted. "It is your house."
"Oh, shut up Tuck. I finally got some rest last night for the first time in a while, can you blame me?"
"No, I'm happy that you got some rest last night, its been awhile since a good quiet night." Tucker noted.
"I'm just glad it came last night," Sam scoffed, pointing at Maddie and Jack Fenton who were trailing up the stairs from the lab. "Now you're well rested to deal with them for the field trip into the ghost zone that is supposed to last all day."
Danny took on look at his parents before walking behind his two friends again, resting his forehead on both of their shoulders.
"No," he said," I dont think I could ever rested enough to deal with them."
The trio watched the two adults poke their heads out of the kitchen, making sure everyone was accounted for. Jack stepped into the room, taking a visibly large breath.
"Everyone! We are now ready to take attendance! If we could have everyone's attention." Maddie raised her voice, preventing her husband from yelling with a small hand to his chest.
Anyone who wasn't paying attention to the two before gave them their full attention now. Everyone watched as Maddie Fenton pulled out a clipboard from somewhere in her jumpsuit. She cleared her throat, adjusted her red-tinted goggles, and read the names off of the list.
"Julian Baker?"
"H-Here."
"Dash Baxter?"
"Here."
"Stevens Boyd?"
The sound of a trombone replaced the sound of a trombone, starting with a high pitch and sliding down.
"I'm taking that as a yes… Dale Bullock?"
"Here, Ma'am." An African-American football player Danny has seen around Dash before spoke up from the couch. Danny didn't know his name before now, he's just seen the football player around with his tormentor.
"Randy Cunningham?"
"I'm here, Mrs. Fenton." Randy, one of the two Danny and his friends have been debating being friends with. At least now he knew Randy was at least a little bit responsible and respectful of others. Hearing someone speak formalities to others really helps to base an idea of how good of a person they are.
"Rachel DeLise?"
"I'm here!" A girl in the corner, next to Stevens, spoke with a lisp. Danny had heard others from Norrisville call her "Flute Girl" because she carries around a flute everywhere she goes. From his spot on the stairs, he could see a few others from Norrisville High, watching as their eyes sparked with surprise…
So no one actually knew her name?
"Danny Fen… Oh that's my son." Maddie looked up from the clipboard for two seconds, finding and maintaining eye contact with her son for three seconds before going back to the list.
"Tucker Foley?"
"Yo." Tucker raised his hand in a mock wave to his friend's mother. Danny elbowed him in the stomach.
"Good morning, Tucker." Maddie smiled, "Theresa Fowler?"
"Present!"
"Valerie Grey?" Of course. Danny tried to prevent himself from rolling his eyes. Valerie would not ever give up the chance to see the Ghost Zone, a place where she could easily maim thousands of ghosts just because they looked at her funny.
On the step below, he could feel both Sam and Tucker tense. They disliked Valerie more than Danny, which made sense. She was always trying to kill their best friend, who wouldn't be angry about that?
"Here." Came Valerie's muted response. Resting upon a wall, the ghost huntress was picking at the seams on her backpack, keeping it in her view at all times.
"Bash Johnson?"
"Haha! That's me!" A jock-looking student from Norrisville exclaimed, borderline punching the people next to him when his name was announced.
Danny watched him for a few moments before realizing that yes, Bash Johnson is just that dumb.
"Okay.. Debbie Kang?"
"Here."
"Sam Manson? Oh, wait, I saw you walk in earlier. How about… Bucky Menville?"
"I'm here." The response was choppy, the kid's voice was probably still breaking. Puberty sucks.
"Mikey… umm.. O'Shaonessie?"
"It's pronounced O'Shaughnessey…" Mikey, the red headed nerd every jock liked to pick on, spoke up from his seat next to Valerie. She would scoot away every time he inched closer to her, it was pitiful to watch.
"Paulina Sanchez?"
"I'm here!" The beautiful tan teen yelled from her spot in between all of the jocks, exuding excitement.
"Right, Kwan Sie?"
"Oh, I'm here!"
"Star Strong?"
"Present!"
"And finally, Howard Weinerman?"
"Here." Looking over, Danny saw Randy's friend call out lazily, like he wasn't fully commuted or not fully awake. With how dull his eyes looked and the slumped position he was in on the couch, Danny would bet pocket change that he was not fully awake.
"Great! Since everyone is here we can all go down to the lab!" Jack Fenton yelled, waving everybody along as he ran through the kitchen and down concrete stairs.
His wife rolled her eyes and followed.
No one in the living room moved to follow. That is until Danny, hunched over with his two best friends at his side, broke the silence with a small chuckle and started walking to the lab stairs.
Randy and Howard caught up quickly, with the taller running up to Danny's side while Howard stood a few steps behind, engaging Tucker and Sam in small talk.
"So those are your parents?" Randy started, taking the first step of the stairs.
"Yep, in all of their mad-scientist glory."
"You're sort of… normal compared to them." Randy noted.
"Pfft, I wouldnt say that." Smiling, Danny lead the way to the Spectre Speeder, Now in Bus Size, and continued. "I'm just not as loud as them."
The general attention of the group was drawn by Maddie, who opened the doors of the bus and stood in they way to keep them open.
"Now, if everyone could take a seat. I will have to collect the permission slips before you enter the bus." There were some groans from the group, some people immediately shuffling through their bags to find the signed slip.
Danny got on first, not needing a slip in the first place. Sam and Tucker filled in the seat next to him, while, within a few minutes, Randy and Howard took the seat behind them. A girl, Debbie Kang from Norrisville, took the third empty seat next to Randy and Howard. Howard visibly scooted away while Randy shuffled a little bit closer to her.
The split second Danny stopped paying attention to them and turned to talk to Tucker, Debbie threw herself over the seat, small microphone in hand, and started talking quickly.
"There have been rumors of ghosts in this town-"
"'Rumors' imply that they're fake." Tucker cut her off with a mutter.
"Shush." She turned to Danny.
"Your parents are famous ghost hunters in this town. Can you tell NHGTTWDPC Online Edition what it's like growing up with ghosts?"
"The… what?"
"NHGTTWDPC, Norrisville High Gazette Times Tribune Weekly Daily Press Chronicle, Online Edition. Now, could you answer the questions?" She looked intense, her eyes bulging.
"Uuuuuhhhhhhhhhh." Danny looked back and forth between his two friends. Tucker looked like he doesn't care, while Sam just shook her head 'No'.
"I don't-"
"Now, if I can have everyone settle down into their seats." Maddie announced from the front of the bus, looking pointedly at Debbie before the teen fell back into her seat, putting the small microphone back into her bag.
Danny let the situation bounce around in his head, drowning out any words that came from his mother. The more he sat there and stared at the portal ahead, the more he realized how much he did not want this to happen. Anything had a chance of happening in the Ghost Zone, and while he wasn't exactly powerless to stop it, unless he wanted to reveal his secrets to his classmates and a whole group of strangers, he was going to have to deal with any conflict in a purely human way.
Hopefully, the trip wouldn't be lasting too long. It'd be amazing if they only traveled for five minutes before turning back around and leaving, going right back home. Trip's over, have a good day and don't come back!
He felt a small spike of nerves when his father opened the doors, every other student besides the three in the front oohing and ahhing, shifting around while trying to get a better look at the mass of swirling green in a hexagonal steel frame.
Danny shifted in his seat, feeling both Sam and Tucker holding on to one of his arms, right over the bumps and the hair that is standing straight up on his arms. They try to calm him as the Spectre Speeder Bus starts rolling towards the portal, telling him to take deep breaths he doesn't need or not to worry, everything will be fine, there's nothing to worry about. The Spectre Speeder has ghost defenses on, we'll be fine.
He didn't really believe that at all when they passed through the green portal, filling his veins with the ghostly energy they crave.