Danny's heart was attempting to rip itself out of his ribcage and the wind whistled past his ringing ears. The only thing in view was the fast-approaching ground, and the only sounds besides the wind were the screams of a certain Dash Baxter. Not for the first time in his life, Danny wondered how he'd gotten where he was.
It had all started a month ago, in Lancer's English class.
"Alright everyone, I need your attention," Lancer called. People wrapped up their conversations, though begrudgingly, and others took out their earbuds and put away their school laptops. The rest of the class period had been a study hall since Lancer was still grading essays from their last test and didn't have anything new for them to do. At least until he got a gauge of how well they all did. Basically, no one was happy to listen to the teacher but they did so anyway.
"I have some news that you'll probably like, believe it or not. Your grade is going on a field trip next month to the Grand Canyon." As soon as those last two words had escaped Lancer's mouth whispers started being traded like candy. Almost everyone was leaning over to their friends to ask who even knew what kind of questions, but sadly Danny was on his own in this class.
Lancer rolled his eyes but allowed them to continue speaking as he retrieved a stack of packets from his desk.
"Daniel, would you help me pass these out?" Lancer asked out of the blue.
"Sure," Danny said as he got up from his seat. He almost tripped over someone's backpack in the middle of the aisle and sent the owner a glare, but it went unseen. Despite the roadblock, he managed to reach Lancer without face planting and took half of the packets. Lancer went to the other side of the room so Danny started passing them out where he was standing. He counted out three packets for each row, so they could pass them to the person behind. He did, however, take a moment to place one on his own desk himself.
As Danny walked around the room he could now hear the gossip, and let himself listen in a bit. It wasn't like he was listening behind their backs, they could clearly see him and if they happened to be walking about sensitive stuff when he was around that was their fault. So, he eavesdropped.
"Do you want to ask if we can be roommates?" Paulina asked Star at the front of the room. They were too popular to be at the back, of course. They wouldn't get called out no matter how far they were from Lancer, they were cheerleaders and important. 'If they were so important, why don't they fight off the ghosts?' Danny thought grimly. He knew the answer of course, but it was a funny thing to imagine. Paulina would probably accidentally shoot herself with the lipstick blaster.
"Do you think your mom will let you go?" Nathaniel said to a guy named Alex. They were well-meaning enough, both band geeks. They talked about anime Danny didn't recognize a lot and the halfa didn't pay them much attention.
"There's no way I can save that much up with a month's notice," Said a girl named Faith dejectedly. That made Danny concerned, and he really hoped it didn't cost as much to go as Faith was making it out to be. He wasn't sure if his parents would pay for it for him or not.
Danny made it halfway across the room before he met with Lancer and wordlessly handed the extra packets to his teacher before heading back to his seat. The backpack was still in the middle of the aisle and Danny wondered if anyone would even notice if he just.. flew over it. They were distracted, he could get away with it. But Danny's feet remained firmly on the ground and he plopped down in his seat. Danny's eyes wanted desperately to glaze over at the infodump but he persisted, reading despite the fact he really didn't want to.
The packet went over a lot but basically, it said that students needed to be at the school at 9 on the 12th of April, and that the trip cost $150 but that included everything like food and the hotel. It wasn't that bad of a price, Danny decided. He was sure he could work out something with his parents to get them to let him go.
Below that information was a recommended list of supplies and on the next page was just a list of rules and things of that sort that Danny's eyes just glazed over. A grin began to spread across Danny's face as he thought of the fun he'd be able to have on the trip. But the grin was immediately smacked off his face and replaced by a sinking feeling of dread and sadness as he realized something. He couldn't leave Amity unprotected from the ghosts, especially if Valerie was going as well and the huntress wouldn't be around.
Almost a month later Danny was being practically shoved onto a bus by Sam, with Tucker backing her up.
"Sam," Danny complained as he dug his feet into the pavement.
"Danny," The goth retorted with a frown. They'd been having this argument from the moment Danny had found out Valerie wasn't going on the trip and would be staying in Amity and thus able to (most likely) handle the ghost attacks.
"This isn't fair on her." Danny's face drew into a tight expression and he used just a touch of intangibility to escape from Sam's grip around his arm. It spoke volumes that Sam didn't shudder at the cold feeling, or even notice it in any way. It was crazy how mundane such things had become.
"Danny, Valerie will be fine." Tucker chimed in.
"She has the fancy suit, which, might I add, is more than you have. And despite how much we hate the fruit loop she probably has his support if things get too out of hand." He reasoned. He'd already stated that argument at least four times, each time Danny had tried to talk them out of it. And Danny was about to state his rebuttal for the fifth time when Sam added;
"And your parents are around. They might not catch the ghosts but they're likely to scare them off," They all knew that Danny's parents were horrible ghost hunters, but they sure were pretty good repellant, especially if his dad was driving.
As the trio bickered, teenagers moved around them. Most of their grade was present, with the only notable exclusions for Danny being Valerie and Alex. The mood in the school parking lot was surprisingly chipper, though of course there were the exceptions of those who hadn't had their coffee yet or were clutching it in their hands like letting go would sign their death warrant. There was also one guy who chugged his entire cup because he couldn't take it on the bus and may or may not have thrown up on the grass. Take three guesses as to who that red-head was, and the first two don't count.
Along with the teens themselves came their luggage. There were varying levels of preparedness among them, but most students were either carrying everything but the kitchen sink or a single toothbrush, their wallet, and maybe an extra t-shirt. Tucker mostly belonged to the second category, except he seemed to have brought every electronic in his house. He had a laptop, two PDAs (both paid off, of course), his cell phone, headphones, earbuds, wireless earbuds, and probably five different chargers that went to who knows what. Danny had a light daypack full of all his stuff, the most important mentions being his phone, charger, and a relatively reasonable amount of clothing for the trip. At least, for a teenage boy. Sam belonged to the over-prepared, carrying a (more-than) first-aid kit, two outfits for each day, sunglasses, and other things like that were mostly just knick-knacks and things to keep herself occupied. She was also carrying an awfully heavy book from Skulk-and-Lurk that Danny was afraid she would smack him over the head with if he didn't get on the bus.
It wasn't the bus itself that Danny objected to, of course. Surprisingly for the cheapskate standards their school seemed to have (the Lunch Lady incident a prime example) they weren't just going to shove the kids onto a normal school bus for the long drive. They'd sprung for coach busses that each looked to have nice comfy seats and their own bathrooms. So no, that wasn't what Danny was opposed to.
"Danny, we already talked this through. It's already been paid, so just getting on the bus. When's the last time you went on vacation?" Sam said, exasperated. Danny went to reply but was interrupted.
"You better not be about to say that trip you went on when Youngblood followed you, that doesn't count." Sam glared at him and Danny shut up because that was exactly what he was going to say. Truly he wanted to go on the trip, he really did. But his throat was clogged with a deep sense of guilt that was already making him feel queasy, and he hadn't even left Amity yet. And it wasn't even just his human half objecting, his core was throbbing in time with his heartbeat and the blood rushing to his ears. Sam and Tucker must've seen the sickly look on Danny's face and stopped speaking. Their words had just been going over Danny's head anyways.
Tucker, not Sam this time, lightly grabbed Danny's wrist and the trio went around the back of the bus to the other side which had many fewer ears that might choose to listen in on their conversation.
"Is this a ghost thing?" Tucker asked, his tone light and inviting. Not for the first time, Danny realized that he really didn't deserve friends like these. They were too good for him.
"Hey, get that look off your face, what's wrong?" Sam snapped her fingers to draw the halfa's attention. She was looking at him with that face, her lips drawn tight, her eyes narrowed, and one eyebrow raised. She expected him to answer.
"I-" He faltered. Danny wasn't exactly sure how to explain exactly what he was feeling. Surely if it was anyone else Danny would have even less of an idea on how to explain, but these two were his best friends. They knew him better than he knew himself, sometimes.
"My core hurts, kinda." Danny rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"Even just thinking about leaving makes me feel sick. I felt it before but now that we're actually about to leave it's just aching. And I feel like I'm gonna throw up like Wes did." Danny explained. The mention of it made the feeling worse and he couldn't meet his friends' eyes as the sensation drew all of his attention.
"Do you know why it's hurting? Is it because it doesn't want you to leave Amity?" Sam theorized. Danny nodded in response. He didn't know how he knew that, logically, but it was just like he knew. His core wanted him to know it was upset. We can't protect them if we go, we need to protect. Stay. Stay. It chanted.
"We won't be leaving it completely unprotected, Danny. If worst comes to worst Jazz can do something. And Valerie isn't half bad, she can handle herself for a few days." Tucker reasoned. Danny felt better, but still a bit dizzy.
"And we'll only be gone for a few days. You can fly back here in only a few hours if something happens. Plus we can watch the news and see if anything goes on that will need your help. Amity Park isn't completely helpless." Said Sam. That made Danny feel a lot better. Sure he'd get in a lot of trouble for leaving the trip but it wasn't like he was going halfway across the globe, at his fastest speed he could be back in no time! His core still felt displeased but Danny felt at least well enough to go, now. He finally raised his gaze from his shoes and smiled weakly at his friends. Before they saw what he was doing Danny wrapped them both in a bear hug. Hey, he was his father's son after all.
"Thanks, guys. I really don't know what I'd do without you." Danny squeezed before letting them go.
"You'd probably be dead in a ditch somewhere," Tucker joked with an aura of nonchalance.
"Tucker!" SHouted Sam and socked Tucker in the shoulder. This only made Tucker laugh and soon Danny was chuckling as well.
"There, you're already feeling better! And if it takes getting beat up by Sam we'll get you on the bus!" Tucker exclaimed. Their resident goth just rolled her eyes. But she was still smiling.
"You two are dorks," She said as she shook her head. With the mood successfully lightened, the trio went back to the other side of the bus and trickled onto it with the last few students. Sam's suitcase was put with the others, but she kept a bag of entertaining stuff with her. The boys just kept their bags under their seats.
Speaking of seats, Danny, Sam, and Tucker just barely managed to get seats together. Tucker had to squeeze in at the last moment, taking a glare from one of their classmates. Sam sat between the two boys and Danny had snagged the window seat.
The trip passed with little affair. Danny was spaced out and staring out of the window with his earbuds in for quite a bit of the trip, switching it up every once in a while by playing mindless games on his phone. Tucker binged Netflix for a solid six hours, switching between Dragon Prince and The Flash for most of the trip. Sam watched some stuff with him, Tucker offering her an earbud whenever she wanted it, but she did her own thing for most of the time. She'd messed around with a Rubix cube she'd brought, failed to solve it, googled a website for the solution, and ended up reading her book for the last hour or so. She'd just gotten to a chapter on ghosts, which had laughable misinformation filling it, when the buses arrived.
The hotel the busses pulled up to was… charming? It wasn't fancy but it wasn't horribly run down either. 'Holiday Inn' the sign read. It was obviously an old design and looked nothing like the logo on the hotel just outside of Amity that sported the same name.
Lancer, who had gotten off the bus a few minutes before check-in, walked up the stairs and stood at the front, clearing his throat to get their attention.
"Everyone make sure to grab your bags as we head in. It's two to a room, guys with guys and girls with girls. Make sure to keep your door open until I check you off the list." Lancer spoke and tapped his pen on his clipboard for emphasis. With that, he grabbed his own bag, a clipboard, and got off the bus. Following the teacher's heels was twenty-something teenagers. Students were getting off of the other bus as well. Casper high was already a small school, and with the kids who couldn't come they were able to fit them all on two busses.
Somehow the students managed to all get to the third floor using only two elevators in a reasonable amount of time. Dash, the showoff, raced up the stairs with Kwan while also carrying Paulina's bags. And there were a lot of them. Kwan had offered to carry Star's stuff to make it a fair race, but she surprisingly only had a small suitcase and the purse she kept on her. Dash still won though.
Danny and Tucker decided to share a room, obviously. They felt bad for excluding Sam, even if not by choice, but the goth had gotten an agreement to room with Faith's friend, Alice, by the time they got to the right floor. She was one of the few who had at least partially agreed with Sam when she tried to change the lunch menu so Danny figured Sam would be fine. He already had half a plan to sneak Sam out of her room later so they could play Uno later.
Lancer was the first one up, or course. He'd gone around and opened all the doors, and making sure there were keycards on the dressers like there were supposed to be. Behind him students trailed into the rooms, settings down their bags, and getting settled down. Sam and Alice claimed a room and Danny moved to get the one right next to them.
The room was modest, nothing too special. The walls had a flowery wallpaper up to waist-level, where it then turned to an off-white color. The puke-green carpet looked as though it was probably a decade old, and Danny made sure to sidestep a stain right at the entrance to the bathroom. The bathroom itself was to the immediate left as soon as they entered. It had the essentials; a shower, toilet, and sink. There were also little things of shampoo, conditioner, and a little bar of soap on the counter. Nothing all that special, but it was clean. Right across from that was a closet that Danny glanced in. There were two extra blankets and an extra pillow on the shelf at the top of the closet. Two beds were set against the left wall, seemingly twin sized. That was a bit of a surprise to Danny. He didn't even know hotel rooms with twins existed, he'd only ever seen queen sized. Although he had only ever been to two hotels in his life so he didn't have a very big sample size.
As soon as the two boys entered their room Tucker dropped his bag and collapsed on the far bed. Danny snorted at his friend but went about emptying his few clothes into the dresser next to the bed Tucker wasn't currently laying on. Tucker's feigned sleep didn't last very long as the geek was soon grabbing probably about seven chargers from his bag. Danny shot him a look like 'really?"
"What?" Tucker replied.
"I don't want any of my stuff to be dead!" He reasoned. The halfa shook his head at his friend's antics and took out his phone charger. There was a plugin in the small space between the nightstand and the twin bed so he plugged it in there. There was also a lamp there so Danny turned that on and turned off of the way-too-bright overhead light. Tucker was still getting his chargers sorted as Danny was getting out the ghost weapons he'd packed. Thank god the teachers hadn't decided to check bags or anything of that sort.
There was a loud knock on the door that scared the heck out of Danny. He went intangible on instinct for a moment and the gun dropped right from his hands. In a flash the halfa had come back to the tangible plane and grabbed the gun, making it invisible in his hands.
"Hello?" Lancer asked as rounded the corner and entered the main area of the hotel room.
"How are you two doing?" Lancer asked, mostly as a courtesy as he marked their names off of the clipboard.
"Uh, I'm fine," Danny answered. He used his free hand to sweep his bangs from his face. Lancer nodded and looked up from his clipboard at Tucker expectedly.
"Oh, I'm pretty good." Tucker shrugged without turning around. He was trying to hide his electronics from Lancer, and Danny tried to think of a way to distract their teacher. A question he'd had for a little while popped into his head and he voiced it.
"How come you're the one handling everything? I saw Ms. Warren on the other bus but I haven't seen her since." Danny's question successfully drew Lancer's attention and he could see Tucker's tense shoulders lower a bit and he shoved his chargers back into his bag. Electronics had technically been allowed but best to be careful.
"She's busy double-checking the tickets and everything. Or so she says." Lancer said that last part under his breath.
"I just hope the ghosts didn't follow us," He said aloud this time. Danny thought of the invisible ectogun clenched in his hand. That was some dramatic irony. Or was it situational irony? Danny really should pay more attention in Lancer's classes.
"So do I." Said Danny. He didn't need to fake the grim look on his face.