Chapter Eleven: Baby Steps
Downtown Amity Park, inside a tall building on the twenty third floor, in the media wing of the studio, an anchor woman is just about done with the six o' clock news segment.
"And that's why you should always steer clear of Jack Fenton with an umbrella folks, oh? One moment...breaking news, I'm receiving word that somewhere in uptown Amity Park a small earthquake has been detected. Experts are baffled since there are no known fault lines running anywhere near the epicenter. Which appears to have been the home of the Sánchez family...? More on the subject later at eleven."
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She can hear nothing but her heart drumming in her ears as she runs. The only thought in her head being 'get away fast'. She doesn't know how long she's been running for, but all of a sudden her arm is yanked backwards so hard she nearly flies off her feet, spinning half way and crashing into a deceptively firm torso. It was then that she remembered grabbing Danny's hand and booking it out of the broken remains of her house. Her father looked like a volcano ready to erupt and she did not want to be any where in the vicinity. She looks up at Danny, he looks just as shaken as she feels. The wildest part is that he seems more terrified of her father than the ten ton tarantula he just duked it out with.
He catches her mid fall and straightens her up, just staring at her, as she stares back at him. She notes the gentile strength with which he holds her upper arms. Hysteric laughter is just barely tickling her throat. He seems to be on the same page, the very corner of his mouth twitching slightly upwards. She can feel her own smile widening. Then he snorts, she giggles, he laughs, she chuckles, the dance of momentary insanity continues until their sides hurt. After a while she sobers up a bit, hands on her hips.
"You are the strangest boy I've ever met, did you know that?"
He digs his hands into his pockets as he shrugs, chucking at what appears to be some private joke.
"You don't even know the half of it"
She quirks an eyebrow. He's so mysterious without trying to be, and for some reason that's so much more alluring. She blinks away the intrusive thought, crossing her arms and leveling him with a playful glare.
"Oh? Is that a challenge Mr. Fenton?"
He looks at her with something strange swirling in his eyes. She sees the slight hesitation in his movements, like he desperately wants to tell her something. He sighs and gives her a sad smile. Shaking his head he turns away from her slightly, trying to make up his mind about something she's not privy to. Then he looks at her, directly in the eyes.
"Nah...you might not like what you find"
In that moment time slowed down. The setting sun behind him cast sharp shadows and a halo glow all across his body. The wind playfully caressing his hair and tugging at his clothes, stirring the leaves on the ground and the feint scent of his cologne. But in that moment, the most startling thing of all were his eyes. They were almost glowing a feint greenish blue. His gaze pinning her in place. The hair on the back of her neck was prickling and she was baffled as to why. Everything about him shifted and became slightly dangerous and otherworldly. She could have sworn his hair flickered white for a split second. He broke eye contact and she let out a breath she wasn't even aware she was holding. Time resumed.
"Thanks for dinner and I'm really sorry about your dining room...guess I'll see you tomorrow"
He waves slightly and turns towards his house. All the while, her mouth can't form words, her brain still trying to process. She stands there and watches him till he turns the corner, the slight hunch of his shoulders, the dragging of his feet, the weight of the world that seems to be pressing down on him. It's not the first time she's ever thought that something has to be wrong with Danny Fenton, but it is the first time she's compelled to find out what. She slowly returns to her house, lost in thought. However upon seeing the state of the first floor of her house and the vein still throbbing on her father's neck, she makes the executive decision to debate her friend's problem tomorrow, after their done patching up the house.
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The next morning she speeds through her routine and dashes out the door. Mainly to avoid her father's leftover bitterness, but mostly to make it to the Fenton household in time to catch him before he leaves. She's decided she's going to be more proactive about getting to know him and today starts with thanking him for saving her and walking to school together. However as she nears the quirky house she remembers he usually walks with Manson and Foley.
She's not an idiot, she knows that the two of them don't think 'friend' when it comes to her, but she hopes they can at least become acquaintances, if only for Danny's sake. She makes it to the front door, up the steps and raises a fist to knock. She hesitates, having second thoughts. What if he thinks she's annoying? What if he only hung out with her because of the Spanish tutoring? What if-? She never got to finish her thought because in that moment the door swung open and a torpedo slammed into her, face first.
They tumbled down the concrete steps, landing in a heap of tangled limbs. The world felt like it was doing loop-dee-loops. She hears a groan coming from the sudden weight crushing the air out of her lungs, then a strangled gasp. Her brain focused enough to register that she's lying on the floor, her first thought being the pain in her chest. She probably shouldn't have worn such a low cut blouse, whatever hit her had teeth. Then she opens her eyes and she's greeted with a close up of Danny Fenton's blushing freckled face looking down at her. A second later she realizes the compromising position they are in and she too blushes bright red.
He scrambles back and off of her, standing up as thousands of half apologies spew out of his mouth. She can feel her heart pounding in her chest, however the giddiness overriding the embarrassment is bizarre but not unwelcome. She starts giggling, unsure why, but recently she's just come to expect nonsensical laughter when in Danny's presence. He freezes and she smiles up at him.
"So are you going to help me up or...?"
"Ack! Sorry! I'm so sorry I didn't mean- I wasn't-"
He extends a hand to her, still attempting a coherent apology. She brushes dirt off the seat of her pants and tells him it's fine. However, as she bends over to pick up her purse he gasps. She looks up at him and tilts her head sideways, his horrified stare confusing her. His face looks like it's going to spontaneously combust. She straightens up slowly and his eyes follow her chest. At first she's slightly affronted, but then she remembers this is Danny she's dealing with, he's not like other guys. So she looks down to see what's causing him so much distress.
All color drains from her face. Staring back at her is an angry swelling bite mark throbbing on the top of her left boob. Her hand flies up to cover it as her head snaps up at him. He flinched at the speed of her movements, looking equal parts apologetic and ashamed. The awkward silence stretching into infinity. She won't lie and say she's never gotten a hicky, hell she's had her fair share of groping sessions with past boyfriends. The biggest difference however, is that she actually might L-Lo-Lov...more than like-like Danny compared to the others she's dated. He's special and she doesn't want to mess this up...whatever this is.
Unfortunately the two people she was most worried about decided to make their presence known in that exact moment by snickering quite loudly. She nearly gives herself whiplash with how fast she turned to them, Danny having done the same. She stares at the smug looks the other two are shooting her and she doesn't know whether she wants to crawl under a rock or curse them out. Eventually she settles for playing it cool. Crossing her arms -which she immediately regrets because it only draws attention to the offending mark on her pushed up chest but she's already done it and has to commit to the action- and turning up her nose at them she puts on her best sneer.
"What are you two losers laughing at?"
That only makes them laugh more. She can tell that her face is still beet red, she can feel the tingly heat of embarrassment in her cheeks. Still she must keep up appearances, so she quirks an eyebrow and calculates that this is a good time to bring her arms down and rest them on her hips instead, thereby looking more intimidating and reducing the visible surface area of her chest. She tries to appear unbothered, turning her head away, but actually trying to catch Danny's expression from her peripherals. Foley was the first to regain his speaking ability.
"I don't think I've ever seen you be this clumsy Paulina!"
"Shut up! I'm not clumsy, your looser friend ran into me and knocked me over. Obviously I was going to fall."
Manson then snorts in a very unladylike way and crossess her arms.
"Yeah but you were the one standing in his doorway staring into space like an airhead"
Damn, she's got her there. Paulina hates loosing arguments, and she's never lost one. Ever. So she huffs, flips her hair, picks up her purse as quickly as possible-while maintaining her back to Danny-and storms off. This was such a bad idea. She shouldn't have come over.
"Whatever, losers I'm going to be late for school so get out of my w-"
"WAIT!"
She halts, feet suddenly frozen to the ground. Still facing away she tries to control her erratically beating heart. Then turns around with a disinterested expression, very aware that Manson and Foley are looking between her and Danny. Said boy appeared to not have realized he called out to her, based on the surprised look in his eyes. He clears his throat.
"I-I mean, was there something you needed from me? Wait! Did your dad send you to give me a bill!?"
Now he starts panicking. Both hands gripping his hair, looking paler than normal. He starts mumbling possibilities of dismemberment and his chances of leaving the country. She giggles involuntary. Hyper aware that The Peanut Gallery️ is observing in silent confusion.
"No Danny, my family is rich enough to remodel the house in one night without it making a dent in the vault. I came over for a different reason."
He looks slightly relieved, but only slightly. Their audience a bit more baffled at the mention of a bill and the sudden 180 of her attitude. She doesn't want to reveal her true reasons for coming over with his friends watching, but she can't exactly call him over to talk to him privately without it looking...suspicious. So she swallows her pride followed by the embarrassment and charges forward. She clears her own throat to buy some much needed nerve calming time.
"I wanted to say thank you for saving me and my family from the ghost yesterday."
She can hear his friends choking on their spit. She turns to glare at them but they seem more panicked than making fun of her. They look three shades paler and are looking at Danny as if he just spilled a national secret that could cause all of humanity to go extinct. Danny on his part gives them a hard stare, she's so confused and a bit annoyed that their all having a silent conversation right in front of her. She clicks her tongue.
"What?"
"Nothing! Uhm, you're welcome. No big deal. [insert nervous laugh here] just a normal part of being the son of two ghost hunters"
His friends visibly relax. She looks at him skeptically. He's definitely hiding something, they're definitely hiding something. She raises an eyebrow at his highly suspicious behavior but doesn't dwell on it. She has a mission to complete.
"Anyway, I came here to say thanks and give you these. Since I know you're all about this kind of stuff."
She hands him four golden V.I.P passes to the local space exploration research center with full access to the labs and training facilities. He gawks, mouth flapping like a fish out of water. She never knew a person's eyes could get that big. His expression is that of someone who has just been handed the holy grail. She grins internally at the growing childish delight in his eyes. He smiles so wide she's worried he'll hurt himself. He starts with the typical "oh my god" and then starts talking a mile a minute. She's glad she could make him happy even if it's just with this. Suddenly he hugs her so tight she squeaks in surprise.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!! I've always wanted to go to there! Are you kidding me!?"
"Danny...can't...breathe"
He immediately drops her and apologizes in true Danny fashion. She notices his hugs are slightly chilly but not unpleasant, refreshing almost. Compared to her natural slightly elevated body temperature his hugs feel...nice. She smiles at him.
"No big deal. I gave you four passes because I assumed you'd take your groupies, and an extra one incase you wanted to take your sister or whatever."
He looks pensive for a moment, a slight crease between his brows. He looks up at her and in the most innocent and genuine voice she's ever heard he asks her a question.
"Why don't you come with us?"
The sweetness and hope expressed in that simple question is enough to blindside her. She never expected him to invite her to come along, let alone with his friends in the mix. Her heart does somersaults in her chest, he wants her to go too! She wants to say yes but doesn't want it to be awkward for obvious reasons. She's silent for a little too long since his eyes start taking on a sadness equivalent to a kicked puppy. It hurts her to see him sad like that, more than she wants to admit. She sighs dramatically.
"Fine, if it'll make you stop crying about it I'll go too."
She hears Manson whisper something to Foley that sounds suspiciously like "tsundere". She makes a mental note to google that word. She walks up to Danny and swipes one of the tickets, putting it back into her purse and turning to the other two.
"Well come on! If we don't leave now we're going to be late"
She starts walking off and is delighted to hear Danny agreeing with her and they all fall into step behind her. She smiles even more hearing Danny trying to catch up with her. He falls into step beside her. As they walk she can hear his friends bickering about something or other, but her attention is immediately captured by the boy beside her.
"Thanks a lot Paulina, but how did you know I've always wanted to go to the space center?"
"You're only the biggest space nerd in the whole school, it wasn't that big of a stretch"
He pinks slightly and she giggles. This is a good start to her "get to know him" plan. Even better that his friends haven't been openly against her presence yet. Manson even gifted her with a bandage for her...injury. Granted it was a black bandage with purple bats but it's the thought that counts. They talk the whole way to school, about everything and anything. But mostly just Danny geeking out about the space center. As they approach the school gates he appears to remember something.
"Oh yeah, Paulina, my parents said you were doing an extra credit project on ghost, what's it about?"
She screeches to a halt. Face pale, eyes wide, a gasp lodged in her throat. She mentally returns to her room, into the closet, in the very back behind the rotating shoe display, is her unfinished Phantom shrine. She completely forgot about it! She barely hears Danny calling out to her. How could she have forgotten all about the shrine with the Day of the Dead so close! She abruptly turns to him when he shakes her by the shoulder.
"Are you ok?"
"I completely forgot about it! And the due date is a few of days away! I'm such an idiot!"
She storms in to the school, ignoring Danny calling her. She can hear Manson telling him to let her go, they have class together later anyway. She can't believe she just up and forgot about something that is so important to her. Showing Phantom her appreciation was the whole point of the shrine! A little voice in her head says something that sounds like Danny is a very attention diverting distraction, but she yells at it to shut up. She makes it to the library and finds a secluded corner to draft her plans. She will get organized and resume work on the shrine full steam ahead.
Phantom better get ready because she will be bothering him nonstop till she's done. But how will she get his attention without looking like a complete fangirl? He stopped coming by her room since she was busy with...other things. Then she remembers the boomerang looking tracker in the very back of her sweater drawer. That could work...
A/N: I'm not dead I promise! It's just taking me longer to update because I have adulting to do and it sucks. Thanks so much to everyone who still loves this story. I have lots of fun writing it and reading you guys' reviews is a real motivator and confidence booster. I never leave stories half finished, no matter how long they take. I'm going to delete the previous update document as soon as this chapter registers on the site. Thank you all so much again and hope to update again soon!
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-Digi