My Danny and Me
Rated PG for some mild language.
Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or any of the characters from the show. Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon do.
Thanks for reading, everyone. Here's Ghostie Six!
Ghostie Six: Soul Sucking, Lizzie's Warning
They walked side-by-side, hand-in-hand together, her head rested on his shoulder. They had just gone out for coffee, and were headed to the local art museum next. It was their first date since Danny had asked Lauren out, and they both knew they could get used to this.
I don't really want to go to this museum...but whatever she wants to do is fine with me. This is my first date with anyone...I hope I don't blow this... Danny thought nervously, looking around.
Lauren clinged onto him lovingly, and she smiled sweetly at him. She blushed a little, and spoke softly. "You know, Danny...I've never dated anyone before."
He looked thoroughly surprised. "You haven't?"
"No...I'm not allowed to date until I'm 16...my parents don't know about us yet."
"Well...so what? You don't have to tell them right away. It's not a big deal, it's not like we're going steady or anything..."
"I know..." she sighed. "But I already told you how overprotective they are."
"Yeah..."
She dropped the subject and they walked in silence for a while.
Lauren said suddenly, "Have you found any ghosts lately?"
Danny looked almost startled that she asked. "Well...not really. A few months ago I had a really weird encounter though...and it's been pretty slow since then. I don't understand it..."
"Oh?"
"Yeah...it's weird. The day before you came to school here I found this blob-looking ghost guy named Dave..."
Lauren chuckled. "You serious?"
"Yeah. And he was digging in Kwan's locker, and stole some glowing football...Kwan was running around school crying about it..."
"Oh, I remember that...he ran into me in the halls and asked me about a football...so that was what it was all about..."
Danny nodded. "Then, I met this other ghost, a little girl who worked at the Department of Care and Containment of Ghostly Artifacts..." He paused, thinking back on this. Lauren listened intently.
Danny continued, "She told me that Kwan's football was a ghostly artifact that sucks out human souls....so that someone could eat them."
Her mouth dropped open. "Sucks out souls....?"
"Yeah, I know. Creepy. But I did some research on it...and from what I saw on the internet, this football didn't look like the old round thing that it said it was...as if this were a new version of it in disguise or something..."
"So the little ghost girl was trying to recover it?"
"Yeah, to keep it out of human hands...and here I was thinking that ghosts just wanted to wipe out humans. But there are departments that exist to keep the ghost world undercover...it's so weird."
"Wow...so, have you heard anything from the girl since? Anything about this football?"
"Nope...and I've caught maybe 10 ghosts in the past 3 months, and all of them were totally weak. I've been expecting some major fight just creep up on me at some point..."
Lauren muttered an audible "hmmm" and the conversation ended. The whole feel of it was quite creepy.
Danny quickly mumbled, remembering their earlier conversation, "I've never gone out with a girl before..."
Lauren looked at him. "What?"
He spoke louder, looking at the ground. He seemed quite embarrassed. "I've never gone out with a girl before..."
Lauren laughed to herself."Really? So we're both newbies then..." Lauren stated plainly.
"Yeah..." He turned quite red, feeling embarrassed because he'd never gone out with anyone before in his life.
She noticed that he was embarrassed by this, and said, "It doesn't matter if you've never been with anybody before. I still like you just the same."
He looked up and smiled at her, feeling happier.
"It's kind of sweet, actually..." she hugged him even more. "And you're such a sweet, wonderful guy. I don't see why girls aren't flocking to you!"
Danny rolled his eyes. Because I'm not Mr. Popularity...
"I'm the luckiest girl in the world. If no one but me can see what a great person you are, they are totally missing out."
Lauren smiled at him full-heartedly, and Danny grinned and blushed.
"Aww, you're just saying that..."
"No I'm not! I'm serious!"
"Ok..." he smiled.
"I bet you I could write a list of over a hundred good things about you."
He laughed at this. "What, about my "cute blue eyes" or something?"
Lauren giggled. "Well, that's one of them, but not just by the way you look..."
Aww! He's so adorable! How can't other girls see how wonderful he is? He's a cute guy, he's got a sense of humor, he's intelligent, sweet, caring...and he's got an amazing life, being half-ghost and all...not that anyone knows that but us...Oh well, he's all mine and I'm not letting anyone else have him.
Danny ran his hand through his hair. "If I really were "cute" then girls would be flocking to me..."
Lauren rolled her eyes and sighed. "Please...you are very cute, and I know a bunch of girls that think so...they're just too afraid to tell you."
Danny raised an eyebrow at her. "Right..."
Lauren counted off her fingers. "I could name 10 girls right now, just in our English class, that think you're good-looking. They're just too afraid to say anything..."
Danny shook his head, disbelieving. "Ok, whatever you say."
"I'm dead serious, Danny! But I won't let them have you..." she clinged onto him even more, and Danny thought of something.
I don't get it...even if she's telling the truth, why after all these years hasn't anyone said anything to me? She's like the only girl that's ever shown any real attention to me and ignored the fact that I'm not totally popular...and being the way she looks, I don't know why she's not hanging out with Paulina and dating Dash...guess I'm just lucky.
He remembered a bunch of guys always hitting on her, going over to her desk and bugging her...all those times that Valerie or Paulina would go and talk to her and Lauren would just be polite. They seemed even envious of her. But, he couldn't help but think, why is she going out with me? Why? Because after all these years, not one girl had ever shown him any real liking, and he was ignored and shunned by almost everyone but his two best friends. But Lauren comes along, and as sweet and cute as she was, she decided to stick with Danny, Sam, and Tucker. Danny could only wish that this was for real, that she was true about liking him, and he could finally have a girl he liked (other than Sam, because girlfriends are supposed to be 'special' ...) that would listen to him, and be with him, and just accept him for who he really was. And Lauren seemed to be that way.
They had walked for a long time, both deep in their own thoughts, with Lauren thinking about how lucky she was to have found someone like Danny, and why girls didn't flock to him. She was glad that he wasn't the typical jock, and especially proud of Danny. She'd never want to replace him with anyone else. And Sam and Tucker? Who could ask for better friends. She thanked her parents all the time for moving here, and she had never felt better in her whole life.
"Hey, we're here." Danny said suddenly, stopping.
The art museum was huge, and being that it was a Saturday afternoon, the place was packed.
"Do we have to pay to get in?" Lauren wondered, looking through her purse for some money.
They walked inside the building, and indeed, they did have to pay to get it.
Prices: $10 Adult, $8 Child, Senior
Lauren read the sign and her and Danny got into a small quarrel over who would pay.
"No no, I'm paying this time..." Danny insisted, getting out his wallet.
"No! I already have out my money!" Lauren said quickly, hastily putting out a twenty dollar bill on the counter. The ticket person eyed them, and handed back Lauren four dollars. Danny looked annoyed that Lauren had paid for them.
"Why do I get this back?" Lauren asked, looking at the money.
The ticket person handed them their entrance tickets and passed the money to Lauren. "You two are regarded as children. Have a good time, and here are your maps...we have five groups starting to tour now...."
Child? I'm not a child, I'm 15 now! Lauren thought, but she took the money back anyway, glad that she had gotten something back.
They walked away, a long line of people behind them in their ticket line.
"Why didn't you let me pay?" Danny asked, still wanting to be 'gentleman- like.' He knew that he should've been the one to pay for it, because he wanted to be polite.
"Look...if it bothers you that much...you can pay for dinner! I just didn't want you to spend all your money on me..."
Danny laughed, joking, "Oh, so you want me to pay for the more expensive things...ok, I see how it is..."
Lauren laughed with him. "That's exactly how it is..." She was just trying to be polite herself, because she really didn't want him to pay for everything for her, but she didn't have that much money left either.
They had their tickets taken up by the ticket person, and they walked into a large marble-decorated room with beautiful works of art, statues and sculptures, and paintings probably worth millions. They looked up at the ceiling, with a beautiful dome-shape, and paintings of flying angels and flowers everywhere.
"Wow, this is amazing..." Lauren said suddenly, still looking around.
Hmm...this isn't too bad, it's actually pretty neat. Danny thought, staring at a rather large sculpture of a half-naked woman that had a little angel flying above her head. This was all timeless art, and everyone else seemed to be in awe about it too. And, to both of their surprises, there were a lot of younger couples there too, instead of the tons of older people that Danny had expected to see. He wouldn't exactly have thought this up as a good place for a date, but there weren't any movies to go see, and he didn't really have any ideas for where to go.
"And here is an 18th century painting of..." said the head of the tour group, her voice droning into everyone's heads like a lecture in Mr. Lancer's class.
Lauren and Danny looked at each other.
"I don't really want to join that group, but we can if you want to..." Lauren stated.
"Naw, I don't want to either. That's boring anyway..." said Danny.
Instead, they toured the huge museum by themselves, running into hundreds of different exhibits. The Asian art exhibit was Lauren's favorite, and Danny liked the samurai armor that they found.
"You know, this has actually turned out to be pretty fun." Danny admitted towards the end. They had already been there for a few hours and had seen everything. Not only was it not boring, but they got to talk by themselves and enjoyed each other's company.
"I was afraid that you didn't want to be here...but you didn't say anything."
"Well, anywhere with you is good....so thanks for coming with me."
She smiled. "Next time you pick the place."
They left the museum, with their heads full of interesting thoughts.
"So, where to now? We still have until 8." Danny said, checking his watch.
Lauren didn't say anything. She just kept walking, looking straight ahead.
"Lo...? ...any ideas?"
Still no answer.
She reached for his hand and grabbed it tightly, and her face seemed to be in a very mixed expression. Her eyes...didn't seem normal. She went completely white, and almost fell. Danny caught her just on time, and she was limp in his arms. People around them stared. Danny, sensing something bad about to happen, saw his breath, meaning only one thing.
"Lauren! Lauren!" he shook her nervously.
Her head perked up and she stood up by herself, and began to speak in a very high voice unlike her own.
"Danny, you've gotta listen to me!"
It definitely wasn't Lauren talking...and he knew that voice.
"...L-Lizzie?" he asked, unsure.
What the heck? Is it really Lizzie again? Possessing Lauren? This isn't Lauren for sure...and she's acting funny...
"Yes! Come here!" the possessed Lauren grabbed Danny's hand again and led him over to a bench and they sat down. The people that stared at them passed them and gave them odd glares.
"What the....what did I tell you last time Lizzie!" Danny shouted, completely angered that Lizzie had possessed Lauren to talk to him.
"I'm sorry! It was the only way, I can't make a scene in public like this!"
"You've already made a scene possessing her!" he dropped his voice a little lower.
"Look, I just came to warn you...all humans are in danger."
"...what?"
"Remember the Soul-Sucking Orb? Remember Dave and Bubba?"
Danny almost laughed at this....Dave and Bubba? What names!
"Yeah..."
"Well....err....we sorta never caught it and they made another thousand of those...and they're gonna use them on all living people..."
"....WHAT? MASS PRODUCTION OF SOUL-SUCKING FOOTBALLS?"
An older couple that had just passed by glared at Danny as if he were insane, and they walked off mumbling something about the new generation of kids.
"SHHHH!! Keep it down...."
"How can I? All these things could kill a lot of people, right?"
"Well yeah, that's what I came to tell you!"
"Well what the heck am I supposed to do? Stop an army of ghosts?"
"....actually...yes."
Danny's face dropped and his mouth opened.
"Ok. Not interested."
"Look, it's your family...your friends, your girlfriend..."
"Geez! Like I don't have enough problems already!"
"Danny, listen! I personally wanted to warn you, so you can be ready for it. There is a way to stop all of this from happening!"
"...."
"Can you help me?"
Lauren had woken up, still on the bench, looking around wildly.
"...what's going on? What happened?" She obviously had no memory of her possession.
Danny stared straight ahead, not really listening to anything, just deep in his own thoughts.
Join...a ghost army? And we all try to stop this mess? I don't know what I've gotten myself into now...
Lauren poked him on the arm and he turned to her abruptly.
"Oh, sorry Lo...just thinking..."
"Did I fall asleep or something?"
Danny thought up something fast to tell her as a cover-up. "Oh yeah, we just took a break and you dozed off..."
They both got up on their feet, and began to walk again, Danny taking very long strides, Lauren shuffling alongside him.
"Hey, don't walk so fast..."
"Sorry..." He grabbed her hand and continued to walk at the same pace, now dragging Lauren.
"What's wrong? I know something's up!" Lauren demanded to know.
They both stopped suddenly, and rushed over to a large group of people. Something seemed to be going on.
"Somebody call an ambulance! Something is wrong with him!"
"He's out cold!"
"Oh my God, what's going on?"
People muttered to each other in worried voices and an ambulance came rushing down the street. Danny and Lauren finally saw what it was the people were talking about.
"Everybody clear off....thank you."
"Get him quickly, I think we're losing him!"
"Folks, the boy will be fine. Please clear the area."
Danny stopped dead. He couldn't believe his eyes.
There, on the ground, lied a red hat belonging to his best friend. He lied unconscious on the bed in the ambulance, people looking at each other with looks of worry.
"TUCKER!"
He ran through all the people and over to Tucker in the ambulance, and an attendant pushed Danny away.
"Kid, back off."
"TUCKER! WHAT'S GOING ON?!??!?"
"Let's go!"
The ambulance's doors closed, and it drove off, flashing its lights and blowing its sirens, trying to get through rush-hour traffic to the hospital.
Lauren looked on the verge of tears.
She went over to Danny, who stood in the middle of the street, speechless and thoughtless, his mind blank and empty. He didn't know what to do. The crowd of people backed its way onto the sidewalk and looked to the scene of Danny and Lauren.
"Danny..." she said weakly, putting an assuring hand on his shoulder. "I'm not sure what's going on, but we should go to the hospital to see if Tucker is alright."
He stared at the ground and his fist tightened.
"I saw his eyes...that blank look in his eyes, as though nothing was there anymore. Like he wasn't dead, but worse than dead."
She looked at Danny, worried, and confused. "I don't understand..."
He picked up Tucker's red hat from the street and walked slowly back onto the sidewalk. People began to clear off, but some were still staring intently at the spot where Tucker was just a few minutes ago, talking in hushed voices.
Danny stared at the hat and held onto it tightly. "We should go."
Lauren, still confused and scared, thinking about Tucker, nodded, and they began their walk towards Sam's house, Danny leading.
"We should go tell Sam. She can drive us." He said, in the most dry voice Lauren had ever heard.
"Ok..."
A tear rolled down her cheek. "Why now...why Tucker?" she said softly, more tears coming. "What could be wrong?"
Aww, poor Tucker! I'll have Ghostie Seven up soon. It's already written, I'm just waiting for some more reviews, though I'll probably only get one. x.x Thanks for reading and reviewing! Stick around for more!