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A Sorta Fairytale

Chapter Two: The Girl Had Come Undone

July 2004

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"Give it up, halfa!"

"Uh … yeah, like I'd let you win!" Danny rolled his eyes, floating just inches above the gym floor. He curled his hands into fists, watching the creature opposite him with narrowed, electric green eyes.

"Well, it's always an option."

The ghost was huge, filling the room with his immense bulk, wearing an array of tattered rags. He voice was low, and sounded as though he'd just swallowed a truckload of gravel … and then tried to eat the truck as well, but it had lodged itself somewhere around his windpipe. The ghost swung a large fist at him; Danny yawned, dodging it easily.

"Is that the best you got? Jeez, I'd let you win just out of pity!" he said, raising an eyebrow.

The giant emitted a low growl, wiping his lower lip in irritation.

"Think you're something, don't you, little halfa?" he sneered.

"Well, I really don't like to brag …" Danny shrugged, moving aside as the ghost swung again.

"And this is just sad." He pulled out the Fenton Thermos, preparing to zap the giant.

He'd forgotten about the other fist.

Danny found himself suddenly being slammed against the wall, his head thrown back, cracking against the cold stone. He cried out, needles of pain shooting through the back of his head. He heard the distant clatter of the thermos falling to the floor.

For a moment, black spots danced in front of his eyes and the world around him flickered, threatening to fade into darkness. He felt thick fingers squeezing his body … but that seemed far away; he couldn't focus his mind long enough to go intangible. All he wanted was to just go to sleep … he let his eyes slip shut.

He let out a weak whimper as the giant clenched his huge fist around his body, crushing him. He heard a triumphant snicker … but that was also very far away, and getting farther by the second.

"No! Get away from him!"

Sam … what the heck was she doing here?

"Come to rescue the halfa, little girl?"

Oh, God, if that monster hurt her …

Danny forced his eyes open; the world spun for a moment, but he shook his head, trying to shake it off.

"Leave him alone." Her voice was quiet, hostile … but what could she do? She straightened up, trying to make herself appear taller. Danny swallowed around a lump in his throat, watching her. The ghost turned in her direction, red eyes fixed on her. She suddenly looked very small, standing there in the doorway.

Why was she here? She didn't have ghost powers; she could get really hurt.

Forcing away dizziness, panicking at the thought of harm coming to Sam, Danny focused on turning himself invisible. He slipped through the sausage-like fingers—although Danny seriously doubted they made sausages that big.

The ghost's fist squeezed nothing but air.

"What the—?"

He turned around again, and found Danny facing him, holding the container.

"Try harder next time," he said, smirking a little.

Roaring in frustration, the giant faced Sam, reaching out for her with lightning speed.

"I'll take your girlfriend with me," he warned, lips twisting in a nasty smile.

Danny's heart skipped a beat in momentary alarm.

"You're not going to touch her, slime bucket," he snapped, electric eyes flashing. He opened the thermos; green light sprang out, and before the ghost could move again, he was sucked into the little holder.

"Told you I wasn't going to let you win," Danny said, smoothly clapping the lid back on. His head gave a violent throb and the gym threatened to spin again; he braced himself against the wall.

When he looked up, Sam was still standing the doorway, watching him. He couldn't really tell … but it looked like she'd been crying.

Why?

Well, that didn't matter. What had she been thinking, coming in here like that? Jeez.

"What the heck were you doing, Sam?" he called out to her, annoyed she would do something so stupid. "You could have gotten hurt!"

What if she had? What would he do? It'd be his fault, of course. His stomach did a funny little twist at the thought.

"Dammit, Sam, don't ever do that again!" he yelled; that thing could have killed her … he felt sick just thinking about it. "You can't just go doing stuff like that! Why would you do that in the first place?"

His heart pounded fiercely; the thought of anything happening to Sam made his blood run cold. Was that just because she was his best friend?

"Danny Fenton," Sam said at last, "you are a clueless idiot."

She turned, then, and walked away. Danny stared after her, more confused than ever.

He eventually returned to his normal appearance, and left the gym, but did it all in a daze. The back of his head was throbbing painfully, but he wasn't paying attention to that.

She'd called him an idiot. Did that mean she was mad at him? Well, if she was mad, couldn't she just tell him, instead of going around calling him names? Was she mad because he'd yelled at her? What did she expect? She'd made him worry, just standing there. Sure, she'd helped, a little … but that didn't change the fact that something could have happened to her.

He felt, somehow, as though he'd let her down, failed her in some vital way. But that was crazy; he hadn't really done anything wrong.

Did yelling count as something wrong?

Maybe he was clueless. Well, he couldn't help that. She didn't have to get mad about it.

Girls are so confusing.

His head gave another painful throb, as though to confirm this.

He arrived at his locker without even realizing he'd been walking to it. He stared at it for a moment, not comprehending the fact that it was his locker.

"Yo, Fenton, you have a fight with your girlfriend or something?"

Danny closed his eyes for a moment. He really wasn't in the mood for Dash right now.

"She's not my girlfriend," he said, almost regretfully. Why regret? He wasn't sure, actually.

Dash snorted.

"Sure, Fenton. It's totally obvious she's in love with you."

Huh? Sam?

"Whatever, Dash."

"Oh, man, Fenton, you're thicker than I thought if you can't see that!" Dash laughed spitefully; Danny scowled up at him.

"What do you want?"

Dash shrugged casually, still grinning.

"Never knew freaks could fall in love," he sneered. "Maybe you better go after her before she starts crying again."

Sam? Crying?

"What are you talking about?"

"You mean you don't know?" Dash grinned viciously. "After you walked away, Fenton, she was crying after you walked away. I walked right past you two; I saw her crying. Or trying not to. But as soon as you walked away, man, those tears just poured out of her!" he laughed again, as though this whole thing was nothing but an unusually amusing joke.

Why would she be crying?

His hand gave a sudden twitch, and his insides felt as though they had suddenly gone missing.

I did it. I made her cry. That's why she was mad. Oh, jeez, I'm such a jerk.

"Go away, Dash," he said quietly, narrowing his eyes at his locker door.

"Want a moment alone? What, you gonna start crying, too?" Dash asked, grinning maliciously; but he straightened up and ambled away down the hallway.

Danny's mind was whirling. He wasn't sure if he could process all that Dash had told him.

He felt so guilty. Sam never cried … and he'd made her do it. Her best friend. He was supposed to be there for her … instead he'd made her cry, and then yelled at her.

Oh, man ….

He pinched the bridge of his nose, looking out over the crowded corridor. He had to find her; had to talk to her.

"…totally obvious she's in love with you!"

Dash was lying. He had to be. Sam … Sam couldn't love him, especially not after what he'd just done to her. He was the worst person on Earth; he wouldn't be surprised if she hated him.

But what if Dash was telling the truth?

To his surprise, Danny's heart skipped a beat. The fact that Sam might be in love with him … it made him, to put it simply, happy. Like a great big balloon was swelling inside his chest.

How weird.