Author's Note: Okay, this is a normal-sized chapter. I actually had some trouble with this one; I didn't know how to take it where I wanted it to go. But I think I did what I needed to, so I hope you enjoy! This is just another one of those which show how extremely pathetic Paulina is, but Sam's in a bit of a predicament, now… Oh, just read.

Chapter 7- The Turn-Around

Tucker smiled as he watched his friends goofing around after school. They were having some sort of tickle-pillow fight, though every once in a while something random would fly across the room. He'd already seen shoes, books, writing utensils, paper balls, and checker pieces. Oh, and Sam's heels? Deadly.

Everything was back to normal, it seemed… except Sam.

She still looked preppy. Tucker couldn't get used to it—it just wasn't happening. For ninety-nine percent of the school this new Sam was a treat and an idol, but to her two best friends… the novelty had worn off. At first it was fun just to see what she would come up with, but now they just wanted their friend back. Thanks a lot, alien impersonator, but go back to the Mother Ship. Where's our Goth?

Danny got caught upside the head with Sam's bare ankle and he made an "oof" noise; the look on his face was hilarious. When Sam bent down to see if he was okay, she was immediately on the floor, trying to escape from his tickle attack. Retaliation is dangerous, he supposed.

Tuck had to say that with all the things Sam was doing to Nasty-P, her popularity was skyrocketing. Even those who were on Paulina's side were slowly converting. The strange part? The three of them had slowly been pushed to the center table in the cafeteria. No matter how early they showed up, there were people reserving everything else. Danny and Sam hadn't noticed, but Tucker was made to notice these things. The school had crowned its new queen, without her even realizing it.

The pillow fight ended when Danny phased through the floor.

"Cheater!" Sam yelled, and he reappeared at her side.

"What, I'm not allowed to use my personal abilities? I didn't take defense classes like you, Sam."

"No, but you've been fighting ghosts for three and a half years. I win by default. Cheater," she added again quietly.

"Am not. I'll get you later."

"Like Nasty-P 'got me'? I'm not one to mess with, ghost-boy."

Apparently, they had forgotten Tucker was in the room.

"Neither am I," Danny countered, his eyes glowing green for a moment. Sam laughed.

"Do you really think I'm scared of that?" She poked his chest.

"You should be!" he yelled, sweeping Sam off the ground and spinning her around. She screamed, shouting at Danny to put her down. He didn't relent, phasing out so she fell and just before she hit the floor catching her again. When he finally took pity on her and set her back on her feet, she wobbled.

"You're evil," she said, trying to tame her now flyaway hair.

Danny smiled and brushed it out of her eyes. "I'll always catch you, Sam," he murmured. Their eyes caught and held. Tucker rolled his eyes.

"That's my cue to cut in," he said loudly. Both of his friends jumped and glared at him.

"And my cue to leave." Sam grabbed her bag from the floor and swung it onto her shoulder, backing out of Danny's room. "I'll see you guys tomorrow before school, okay?"

"Use snakes next time!" Tucker yelled after she had disappeared. Laughter echoed up the steps.

"Way to ruin the moment, Tuck." Danny fell onto the bed beside him, placing his hands behind his head.

"I didn't ruin it!" Tucker protested. "And anyway, did you think I was going to let you guys go at it in front of me again? No way."

Danny laughed. "I guess not. I wonder what Sam's going to do tomorrow," he said.

Tucker picked up on the quick change of subject. "Yeah, me too."

They fell silent; both anticipating what was to come.

It was snakes.

"I can't believe you actually listened to me!" Tucker ranted during lunch.

"Well, for once, you actually had a good idea."

Danny was still laughing. "Did you see the look on her face when they came pouring out of her locker like that!"

Tucker paused in his discussion with Sam and turned to him. "Actually, I got a picture of it. Here," he said, pulling out his PDA. On it was a picture of a dark-haired senior, eyes wide as a gardener snake tried desperately to get up her nose.

The people in the cafeteria smiled when laughter erupted from the center table.

When Danny's ghost sense went off, the laughter stopped. The trio took off, barely stopping to dump their lunches before they left.

They found the ghost outside, and Danny was about to go ghost, but Sam held him back. He gave her a look, she pointed around the corner where they were hiding. Danny looked—it was Desiree, once again talking to Paulina. Both of them sounded angry. Tucker, not one to be left out, knelt on the ground and peeked around the corner as well.

"You have failed me!" the feminine ghost screamed.

"I'm sorry! I don't know why it didn't work."

"You were supposed to lure the half-breed with your looks, but I know why it did not succeed. You have no inner beauty!"

"What?" Paulina asked, dumbfounded.

"Outer beauty gets you nothing if your soul is as black as Johnny 13's shadow! Inner beauty is what counts; no extra breast size can change that. You are wretched! I'll strip you of your false outside, so people can see your true inside!"

Paulina screamed as Desiree shot a spell around her, returning her to what she had been, in the same outfit that she wore when Sam came up with her nickname. Paulina fumed. "I need inner beauty? Then I wish for it! I wish for inner beauty!"

Desiree was momentarily silent, looking sadly at the mortal. "No manner of wishing can grant you inner beauty. That, you must earn."

She disappeared in a swirl of green and purple smoke.

Sam, Tucker, and Danny backed away, walking quickly to Sam's locker. They were astounded by what they had seen.

"Desiree took away her wish?" Sam asked.

"Because she had no inner beauty," Danny agreed. "It seems fitting."

"Well, yeah, but what's going to happen now? The only reason people were even around her anymore was because they liked the new look. Now that she's back to the way she was, how are they going to—?"

Tucker was cut off by Sam, who was staring over his shoulder. He turned around to see Paulina storming up the hallway. By this time lunch had let out, and people were flooding the walkway. Nasty-P shoved through them all, finally pushing Tucker and Danny aside. Her arm shot out and captured Sam around the neck, pinning her to the lockers behind her. Sam raised an eyebrow, not even lifting a hand to stop her.

"Oh, hi Paulina. Was there something you needed?"

"I need you put in your place! Meet me after school tomorrow in the park, by the fountain. You're going down, Manson," she snarled. Paulina let go of Sam, and she dropped a few inches to the ground. Nasty-P stalked away, ignoring the stares of disdainful classmates.

"You okay?" Tucker asked Sam quietly.

She had her fingers to her throat, massaging it gently. "If she thinks fighting me will make her popular, she's got another think coming," Sam replied.

But she was shaken. Her friends could tell. They each hooked an arm through hers, walking with her to their next class.

EEK! So many reviews to respond to! You reviewers are the best, really. Just know that seeing 15 new e-mails in my inbox lifted my day so much.

Rae Valerious: Four checkmarks? Yesssss!

JNgirl: The slimy salamander is honestly one of my favorite parts of that chapter. It took forever to find what I needed though. Props to my boyfriend for being wonderful and researching for me!

SetsuntaMew: Wait, you have turquoise hair? I like you even more now! XD As for coming up with the ideas, I honestly think I channeled Sam. She just seems the type to not care about handling bugs or spiders or salamanders, whereas we know Paulina would hate them. Though, I don't know how she'd feel about some of the cockroaches' heads being cut off… I don't know, I just thought it would be more grotesque that way. Funnier for the rest of us.

silvershadows---: Thanks! After this there're only three more chapters. I know, shocking!

Kats02980416: You are one of the most in-depth reviewers I have ever met. Thanks tons. Yeah, Danny's definitely not liking the Dash/Sam friendship, but he needs to deal. With Dash helping Sam play Nasty-P, how could she not be friends with him? And yes, Sam could rule the school. But she doesn't want to, and that's one of the last problems we're dealing with… actually, I have yet to figure out how she's going to get out of that one…

goldanima: You thought it was funny? Yay!

nemesis57: EEEE! Your review makes me feel good inside. Seriously, I love that you talked about the literary aspects of this. Rhetorical devices gave me hell in English class, but apparently I caught something if you're mentioning them. To be honest, those emotions come from my characters. I hear all the time that you're not supposed to have character-driven stories, but I feel that it's the personalities that give a tale flare. No matter what the plot is, without interesting characters it's going to suck. And this is where a shining picture of Butch Hartman floats over my head, because he made these darn characters before anyone else could think them up. As for school, I'm taking honors English classes, so no fear. And I plan on majoring in English, probably working toward being an author and also a high-school teacher, if I can manage to do it all. And I turned Sweet 16 in June! Yay me! If it's still 15 in my bio, I'll fix it. Not a big thing, but yeah…

crazybluephantom: Is this fast enough?

BuffytheVampslayer: Sam will always be better than Paulina, because that's the way stories and TV shows go, lol. Good wins over evil, awesome Goth chick beats preppy bitch, and the viewers are happy.

Myst: o.O Devious? Just out of curiosity, how am I devious? And what's the "or else?"

sam manson rulez: I'll try! And thanks for reviewing!

Mike Jones frum da dirty south: Yeah, Sam is amazing. She just has an edge to her that makes her so fun to write.

DragonGirl: Slimy Salamander has become one of my best friends. I'm thinking of getting one. Seriously. And… well, I'll tell you guys later.

SilverSummerMoon: Myst says I'm devious, but I think you're more so. Go devious!

Snea: FLUFF HEALS THE SOUL! FLUFF HEALS THE SOUL! SCREAM IT LOUD, PROUD, AND EVERY-WHICH-WAY! IN PITTSBURG, PHILADELPHIA, BANGOR, LAS VEGAS (wow, that'll be interesting), NYC, HOUSTON, AND THE ENTIRE STATE OF KENTUCKY!

Okay, this is something different. I'm putting out a challenge to all you wonderful people. I want you guys to write a story with this plotline: Paulina gets killed in a mysterious murder, and the town thinks it's Sam that did it! She gets sent to jail… What happens next? That's for you to decide. It doesn't have to be when they're teenagers, because that would be kind of hard to write. E-mail me your responses and put them onfanfiction!If at all possible, make it DXS… You know why? Cause

FLUFF HEALS THE SOUL!

--GS