Author's Notes: Sorry for it taking so long to get this one up but it was a long chapter. I hope you enjoy it. It is mainly to build up to future chapters.
Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, or the Avril songs, or Gregory Baxter whom belongs to a friend of mine and used with permission.
Part 2 – The Invitation
Danni smiled. "You need a ride? I can get you to Casper High in less than half that time."
"Really? That's great! I wouldn't want to be late for school. At least, not today…" Tucker rambled on.
Sam cut Tucker short with a sighed and a hand held up in front of his face. "What he means to say is yes and thank you." She said: a small glare shot at Tucker. Tucker luckily only replied with a small frown.
"Yea, Thanks!" Danny said, shifting the weight of his backpack to the other shoulder.
Gregory leaned behind Danni's seat to pop the lock on the backseat driver's side door. "Hop in munchkins."
"Greg." Danni said in a mock-angry tone, rolling her eyes. "It might be a tight fit but come on in."
Danny slid into the car first with Ronnie following him and then Tucker and Sam. The boy-girl-boy-girl seating hadn't been planned, it just happened that way. And it was a bit of a tight fit; they were shoulder to shoulder in there but it wasn't too uncomfortable. Ronnie shut the door behind her and Danni put the car in gear. She tore down the road with a squeal of tires but got down to a respectable speed soon enough.
"I hope none of you mind but I'd like to turn on some of my tunes. Greg, if you could…" Danni began as she made a turn, loving to have fishtailed it but held back since she had passengers.
"Sure thing, Danni." Gregory said, reaching for the radio tuner. He noticed that Danni had a CD in so he just pushed the play button.
Ronnie knew exactly which CD it was even before the song played; Danni listen to one CD now a days and that was her Avril Lavigne CD. The music began playing and no one seemed to mind the choice, nor pay attention to it for that matter. Danny was watching the scenery while Tucker tried to engage Sam in a conversation. They were talking civilly but, when it came to them, that could easily change soon. As the first opening chords of the second song began, Ronnie knew it was one of her favorite songs on the CD.
At this point in the song, Ronnie dazed off into her thoughts, almost oblivious to the world around her. The song, for once, had made her think: What was so special about her? What made her more than ordinary? Yea, she may have been a technological genius and even something of an artist. Yea, she may have had a perfect A grade record ever since she moved here back in 5th grade and made friends with Sam, Tucker, and Danny. Yea, she may be friends with Danny, the half-ghost boy, and even helped him out… Ok, at least been with him, during his ghost hunting expeditions. It may have made her life definitely not ordinary but something seemed to be lacking; there needed to be something more. Unconsciously, a frown slid onto Ronnie's face.
"Hey, Ronnie?" Danny asked, snapping her out of her thoughts. She must have been thinking for awhile because she noticed that Anything but Ordinary was no longer playing but rather My World, two songs after it and another of her favorites.
"Yea?" Ronnie replied, willing her frown to soften out.
"Is something wrong? You are… were frowning." Danny asked. Ronnie almost blushed, touched by Danny's concern.
"Nothing's wrong. I was just thinking and not particularly pleased with what I was thinking about." Ronnie said, forcing a smile through the remnants of her thoughts.
"Oh, ok." Danny said, his smile more genuine than Ronnie's.
Ronnie noticed, with the small shove on her shoulder, that Sam and Tucker had somehow gotten into an argument over vegetarians. She had thought that they had gotten over that a long time ago.
"Vegetarians are much better than meat-eaters! We don't go around killing defenseless animals just so we can eat." Sam said, her arms crossed.
"Oh yea? Well, meat-eaters have faster reflexes and better senses!" Tucker said, also crossing his arms.
"Ok. But can you prove it?" Sam came back, slyly smiling.
"Well…" Tucker began trying to find a come back, "Oh, you're good…" He frowned as he conceded and effectively ended the argument.
"Do they always argue like that?" Gregory asked, looking back over his shoulder at Sam and Tucker, who were now having a staring contest it seemed.
"Nah, this is one of their rare days." Ronnie said, giggling and rolling her eyes at the two.
"They usually aren't this bad." Danny said, giving Sam and Tucker pointed looks. They got the message and came up with a temporary truce.
"Were here. And in seven minutes, without flying above the speed limit. Not bad." Danni said, pulling into the Casper High student parking lot.
The engine still purred as Danny opened his door and everyone piled out. Ronnie picked their backpacks off of the floor and handed them back to their respective owners with Sam shutting the door behind them.
"Hey, Ronnie!" Danni called out, "I almost forgot something." She fished around in her purse for something, pulling out a blue envelope covered in splashes of other colors, as the quad made their way back to her.
"There's an invite only party tonight at the art studio we frequent. Our parents are setting it up so it should be a blast. It's a costume party theme and there should be dancing, games, munchies, and an art exhibit, of course. So what do you all say?" Danni said, waving the invitation in front of them. Ronnie snatched it from Danni's hand and opened the envelope to reveal a blue-bordered card with the Mona Lisa as the background and all the info typed out.
"Sounds like a lot of fun! I'm game for it. So do you guys wanna come?" Ronnie asked, turning to Sam, Danny, and Tucker, "It will give us a much needed break." Danny considered this but Tucker gave an answer automatically.
"You bet I'm going!" Tucker enthusiastic replied, which helped make Danny's decision.
"Ok, I'll go. It could be really fun." Danny said, turning to Sam.
"Ok, ok. I'll go, I'll go." Sam said, holding up her hands as if to fend Danny off.
"Great! I'll pick you up at your places around, say, 6 PM since the party is at 7 PM. You can change into your costumes at my place. The party isn't fancy, even though there's a costume contest, so you don't have to go to a lot of trouble to get a costume. See ya then!" Danni said, putting the convertible into gear and revving the engine. Danni and Gregory gave a quick wave off before pulling out. Ronnie waved as they left, all grin.
"Fen-ton!" a certain bully gritted out from clenched teeth.
"Uh-oh. Storm brewing at 6'o clock." Ronnie mumbled, slouching a little as if to minimize her presence.
"Since when did the weather forecaster get so accurate?" Tucker asked.
"She means that trouble is coming up behind us." Sam quipped, rolling her eyes.
"How about we avoid this, this time." Danny said, putting actions to words by picking up the pace.
"I'm with you." Sam said as the rest of the group walked a little faster too.
Dash began to match them stride for stride so Danny and his friends bolted for the school, hoping the bell would soon ring. Ronnie wasn't in the lead but she did take the corner a little too fast. She ended up landing on one knee, sliding to an almost stop and knocking Tucker off of his feet. Ronnie grabbed him under the arm and brought them both to an ungainly jog to Danny's locker where Danny and Sam both stood, catching their breath.
"Woo-ho! That was such a rush." Tucker said, collapsing into laughs. Ronnie giggled a little while Danny and Sam looked questioningly at each other, eventually shrugging. They seemed to have lost Dash for the time being so they began to head to class.
"So how did you get an invitation to this party at the art center?" Danny asked Ronnie, just trying to strike up a conversation.
"Besides the fact that my parents are hosting it, it's because my family is a frequent patron. Dad's the painter of the family, Danni's the sketcher and inker, and Mom, well, she's more of a botanist but she does sculpture and pottery. Hope you guys aren't allergic to plants because Mom is sure to have a ton of plants around the party since she does at home." Ronnie said, her voice slightly hitching from the run.
"An artist and a botanist… How did you get to be a technological expert?" Tucker asked.
"Well, look at Danny. His parents are scientists and did he ever get interested in being a scientist? Not really, as far as I can see. Ok, so that may have not been a really good example. Anyways, I was interested in machines and technological things ever since I was young, when I got my first computer." Ronnie said, waving her hands around a bit. The bell rung and they split up to go off to their classes: Sam and Ronnie to gym And Tucker and Danny off to history class.
In gym, they were starting a gymnastics unit. It was one of Ronnie's favorite gym activities, even as un-athletic as she was. She was executing a few moves on the uneven parallel bars, while Sam stood back and waited for her turn on the balance beam, when things began to feel amiss.
The air in the gym began to feel colder as if a winter draft had blown in. Ronnie pulled herself out of a twist to pull herself up to sit on the upper bar, resting her feet on the lower bar. Her intention was to get Sam's attention and enquire about the frigid air. Unbeknownst to Ronnie, Erissa and Sophie, two popular girls, tied her shoelaces to the bars in knots. They sniggered, thinking they had done something that would be hilarious, when the ghost showed up.
The ghost drifted through the wall slowly, causing stunned gasps all around. His skin glowed a pale, ghastly green and his nondescript white tank top and gray shorts were stained with, and even reeked of, sweat. His gray-white old-fashioned sneakers hovered slightly off the ground as a wicked smiled crept across his face and his eyes glowed an eerie red. The whole gym full of girls and gym teachers stood stalk still with baited breath.
"Hello children." the ghost sneered, his hands glowing as weights and several unused balance beams lifted from the ground.
Chaos broke out as the girls, and gym teachers alike, screamed and headed for the exit. The ghost threw the objects, luckily missing everyone. A weight came much too close to hitting Ronnie so she decided to run too. She launched herself forward, thinking that she would easily land on her feet or butt and be off like a shot, but with her shoe laces tied to the lower uneven parallel bar flung her upside-down and left her there to hang. A bowling ball zoomed just inches from her head, so Ronnie did the only thing she could think of and screamed her lungs out like the rest of the girls.
"HELP!" Ronnie screamed, long and hard. Sam had fled at the last second so she was at the back of the crowd and heard Ronnie's cry. She doubled back to help Ronnie who was already trying to untie her laces.
"Hum, two lone girls here to face me alone. How defiant… I'm about to rub that defiance out of both of you!" the ghost said, weights lifting from the ground.
"Two girls? Make that one boy." A familiar voice said from the opposite side of the gym. Danny, in ghost form, and Tucker stood in the open doors to the gym, Tucker holding the thermos.
"Danny!" Sam and Ronnie said in relief though Ronnie's voice was higher in pitch than normal, her face getting little pink.
"A ghost dare challenge me, Fitnus, the master of all gym activities and hater of children!" the ghost glowered.
"No duh!" Danny said, zipping in front of Sam and Ronnie. Tucker trotted over to them to see if he could help but the knots in the shoelaces looked like they wouldn't come loose with anything short of cutting them off.
Seeing how Danny was protecting Sam and Ronnie gave Fitnus a devious plan; he smiled wickedly. His hand grew impossibly large and he flung it at Danny. Danny, thinking the punch was aimed at him, ducked and was going to punch him back. Unfortunately, Fitnus wasn't aiming for Danny but rather the girls. He grabbed Sam as a shield of sorts.
"Sam!" Danny, Tucker, and Ronnie cried out. Ronnie's laces were still tied tightly to the bar so Tucker went to put down the thermos and finish what Sam had started.
"No! I may be just a sitting duck but Sam is the one in trouble. Help Danny help her." Ronnie snapped tersely, pulling herself into a sitting position on the upper bar. Her face was almost a cherry red now and she swayed a little with dizziness but Tucker obliged Ronnie's request.
Sam struggled against Fitnus but to no avail so Danny had to be more careful. He dodged various pieces of gym equipment, trying to think of a plan, but ended up deciding on good old-fashioned kick-butt was what he'd have to do. Danny flew in, looking like he was going to punch Fitnus in the gut, feinting at the last second to kick him in the jaw. Fitnus had no time to defend himself and was thrown into the wall. The impact threw Sam from his grip into a heap on top of a balance beam. Tucker ran to Sam, as Ronnie also tried to do but ended up upside-down again, checking to make sure she was ok.
Danny didn't have time to check on Sam himself because Fitnus was back up and fighting. After dodging a few badly placed punches and nearly a whole weight lifting set, Danny let loose with a volley of punches and kicks, intending to mop the floor with Fitnus. Tucker gave Ronnie a thumbs-up on Sam's condition and, to prove him right, Sam began to pick herself up with a slight moan, rubbing her head. Fitnus couldn't black all of the jabs and was forced back into the wall, temporarily stunned.
"Tucker, now!" Danny shouted. Tucker smiled smugly and, aiming the thermos at Fitnus, opened the lid. A blueish vortex swirled out to grab Fitnus, dragging him into the thermos's depths.
"You haven't seen the last of me! I will have my revenge!" Fitnus cried, his voice shrinking as he was swept into the thermos. Tucker popped the lid back on it as Danny changed back to human, lightly dropping to the ground.
"Um… Danny?" Ronnie began shyly, "These knots are definitely not coming loose. Do you think you could give me a hand down?" She was hanging onto her ankles so at least her head would be upright.
"Sure." Danny said, setting his hand on the bar. He phased the bar so Ronnie dropped to the mat on her butt and sprawled out haphazardly. She ripped the scrunchie out of her hair as she sat up, putting her blond braid back in its customary place, in front of her right ear.
"Thanks." Ronnie said, finally able to tug her shoes off, "Hey, Sam? Are… you ok? I feel like this was all my fault." Sam shook off the last vestiges of being stunned from having Fitnus throwing her.
"I'm fine. There's probably nothing more than a few bruises. Don't worry." Sam said, waving off Ronnie's words. Ronnie smiled slightly as the four lapsed into silence in the almost empty gym. It was mostly quiet except for the drone of a teacher from a nearby class and the scratch of pencils.
"Hey, wait a minute," Tucker began, "It sounds like school's still in session. I thought the screaming girls and noise we made in here would stop school or at least still it for a bit."
"I guess not. Anyways, the girls were heading outside the last I saw and a lot of noise normally comes form the gym." Danny said, shrugging.
"Well, if school is still on, you and I need to get changed, Ronnie," Sam said, looking at her gym clothes and then Ronnie.
Ronnie nodded. "Yea, there's only 10 – 15 minutes until the end of the period."
The girls sauntered off to the girl's locker room while Danny and Tucker went to retrieve the books they had discarded in the hall. They all met up at the gym doors with a minute or two to spare, so they decided to walk around a bit. Sam was finishing putting up her hair while Ronnie put on her moonstone necklace and readjusting her watch on her wrist. She had yet to find out if the tv part of it still worked. Tucker was, of course, gabbing with Danny.
"You know what? I wouldn't be surprised in the least bit if they explained the ghost away as a prankster trying to scare girls in gym." Sam scoffed, making the others laugh a little.
The bell rung and they all split up since they didn't have a class together until the period before lunch. They waved to each other; Danny heading left, Sam going down a side hall to the right, Tucker going into a classroom on the right, and Ronnie heading up a stairwell on the left. Ronnie was still a little pink in the face and had a not so easy time thinking with her head still throbbing.
She felt embarrassed at being a 'damsel in distress', strung by her laces and left to hang, a liability to Danny, and almost getting Sam in trouble. She did take martial arts lessons but what good were they against a ghost? She grumbled and complained mentally to herself all the way to the art room. Before she went in, she sighed and plastered a fake smile on. She assured herself that her mood would get better, especially with the party tonight with her friends. Then she had to run into the classroom for fear she would be late.
Author's Notes: So what did ya think? A little slow? Well, you get to know Ronnie a bit better and that watch of hers will become a bit more important in later chapters. I think I might be getting better at using the characters from Danny Phantom. I'm not trying to make Ronnie an over dominant character but she is kinda like the main focus of the story. Any tips or comments would be appreciated. Thanks for reading!