Author's Note: Okay, I would have posted this at midnight last night when I got home, but my internet wouldn't work so you guys had to wait another half a day. Sorry. Anyway, I have 25 reviews for chapter eight already. That's what I get for leaving the house for a day, right? Hehe. This chapter is… so many things. Sam is amazing here. She rocks.
Chapter 9- No?
At school, everyone noticed. The Drama Club loved the medieval look to her top. The punks thought her necklaces "rocked the world." Valerie was jealous. Kwan stared at Sam whenever she passed, and Dash squeezed her shoulder as he walked by in the hallway. By third period, Danny's eyes were hurting from glaring all the time. Sam noticed him rubbing them.
"Stop it, Danny. You don't need to threaten everyone who comes near me."
"I'm just looking out for you, Sam. I know you hate getting asked out by every guy from here to Antarctica. Just trying to save you some sanity."
"I know, and thank you, Danny. But don't wear yourself out." She reached out and brushed her thumb across his cheek. Tucker noticed and his eyes narrowed speculatively, but he said nothing.
The day continued in much the same manner, though Danny did relent a bit. Lunch rolled around and it felt almost normal, with Tucker and Sam fighting again, while Danny tried to mediate without getting his head bitten off. Mixed in were stupid jokes, bad puns, and broken laughter. But underneath it all was a hidden tension, something that Tucker finally addressed.
"Sam, what are you going to do about Paulina?"
But Sam just shook her head. "You'll see, just like she will."
Also something out of the norm was Sam not getting a lunch, but picking off Danny's plate. When he looked at her in question she simply smiled, nudging him with her shoulder. She asked if he minded, he said that he didn't, and that was the end of that.
Almost. She was sitting strangely close to him, so that their hips brushed together continually, and whenever he looked at her he had an inescapable view down the front of her bodice. Once he even got so distracted he had to make an excuse about what an interesting necklace she was wearing. Sam smiled and told him her mother had gotten it in China.
And he caught her staring at him. She always looked away quickly or pretended to be looking past him, but it was blatantly fake. The entire time she had this slight smile…
Lunch was dismissed and the students filtered from the cafeteria. Danny was almost at the door when Sam stopped him.
"Hold on. Here," she said, and stepped forward. She pressed herself against him and lifted her arms onto his shoulders, almost like she was hugging him. She went up on tiptoe then, however, and started fiddling with his shirt. Her warm breath made his ear tingle. He caught Tucker's eye over Sam's shoulder and the techno-geek gave him a questioning look, but Danny had no answer. Sam pulled back then, and grinned. "Your tag was out," she explained.
In English, she sat behind him. Danny was startled when he felt her chin rest on his shoulder. After seven seconds—he counted—she still hadn't said anything. "Need something?" he asked quietly.
"What page is the questions for that story we're reading on?" she returned, her chin still on his shoulder.
"One-oh-three."
"Thanks." She paused, and then spoke again. "Do you wear cologne?"
"Only a little. Been doing it for years now."
He felt her smile. "You smell good," she whispered before retreating back to her seat.
But after school, Sam disappeared.
Tucker and Danny were surprised; they hadn't even really seen her go. She just faded out of their presence. They decided to walk to the park without her. She probably had something important to do anyway.
On the way over, they talked about what would happen. Would Sam fight Paulina? If anything of the sort happened, Paulina had no chance of winning. Both boys had been the object of Sam's wrath at least once (Tucker numerous times), and both knew that she could be brutal. And, Sam had continually spouted off about how beating up on humans for no reason was almost as bad—but not quite—as beating up on animals. She believed in peace generally, and organized protestation. But what would Paulina do if Sam refused to fight? What could she do?
They doubted they would need to, but just in case, both Danny and Tucker agreed to help Sam out if she got in a sticky situation.
When they got to the fountain in the park, a crowd was already gathering. As Danny passed by, he could hear people betting on who would win. As far as he could tell, the mass opinion was that Sam would. The few people that said Paulina were frowned at, but their money was snatched up right away.
Not ten minutes later, Paulina arrived. Dash, Kwan, and Valerie trailed behind her, all of them looking like they didn't want to be there. Nasty-P looked around expectantly, but not finding Sam, sat on the edge of the fountain.
Time passed. More bets were exchanged, though quietly so Paulina couldn't hear. People murmured together in small groups, all anxiously waiting. This was rumored to be the biggest fight of the year. Whoever won this won the school, almost literally.
And still Sam didn't come. Paulina began taunting her loudly, asking why precious Samantha wasn't there yet to take her beating. Maybe she chickened out, Paulina mentioned numerous times, and Danny had the sudden urge to shove a rubber chicken down Nasty-P's throat.
They had been waiting an hour when someone yelled, "She's here!"
The entire group turned in the direction the person pointed. Sam was walking slowly, coming from the direction of the downtown, and it looked like she was carrying something. She was wearing the same outfit she had worn to school.
When she reached the spectators they parted, creating a natural circle around the two enemies. Nasty-P was cracking her knuckles like some member of the mafia on drugs while Sam just set down the shoe-box she'd been carrying and stared. No one spoke. Paulina sent death glares and menacing gestures, but Sam just stared. And then she smiled.
"Seems almost anticlimactic, doesn't it?" she asked.
Paulina stood up straight. "What?" she countered, clearly confused.
"Oh, surely you grasp the situation by now." When once again, no one spoke, Sam continued. "I'm not going to fight you."
A collective gasp rose from the onlookers.
"You're chickening out?" Nasty-P asked.
"Of course not. If I wanted to, I could kick your butt from here to the planet you came from. I just choose not to waste my time on you. So, if you want your crown back, you can have it." She turned to the side and sporadic conversations broke out through the crowd. Sam picked up her shoe-box and when she stood up again, silence fell immediately. "Here," Sam said, offering the shoe-box to Paulina. Nasty-P took it warily, keeping her eyes on Sam's. She stepped back and flipped off the lid, then screamed and dropped the box. Its contents spilled onto the sidewalk.
Inside the box had been a small crown of glittering silver plastic—covered almost completely in cow dung. Tiny maggots squirmed through holes in the tiara, and flies flitted from here to there on the pile. Paulina had backed up several steps, her hands up, mouth hanging open. Her eyes moved from Sam to the crown rapidly. Sam smiled and nodded to Paulina, then turned and began to walk away. She hadn't gotten far, however, before she spun and walked backwards instead.
"Oh, and Paulina?" she called. "Did you know there are more than 3,000 different species of frog and toad? I've got about fifty of them at home… maybe I'll show them to you some time!"
And with that, it was over.
Far, far away, Vlad Masters waved a hand over a bubbling pool of water, erasing the picture of the retreating Goth. He moved slowly to his study, where he thought best. He lowered himself into an armchair, pressing the tips of his fingers together.
"Interesting," he said quietly. "Very interesting…"
The next chapter is the last one! I know, shocking, but true. Okay, I know that Sam has totally won this Nasty-P war, but what will she do about her popularity? And what about Danny? If anyone wants a clue to the next chapter, go to www. axolotl. org Do it without the spaces. It's great…
Alright, I know it's insanity, but I'm going to respond personally to all 25 reviews. I told you I would respond to those I got before posting the next chapter, and I won't break my promise. So here we go.
ChemicalHappiness: Thanks! And yeah, I felt like Sam really needed to come back before the face-off between her and Nasty-P.
crazybluephantom: Yes, Tucker's the bomb. Sam coming back was seriously the turning point here, and that's why this chapter is so important.
Rae Valerious: The other Sam was, for me, like a doppelganger Sam. Bad imitation.
inufire: Sam kicks butt in her own way.
Bleeding Grey: MUFFIN! Do I get my muffin?
Kats02980416: Tucker in that chapter was really, really important. He was the only one who could see what was really going on between his two friends, so he was the only one to help them with their problems. One of my favorites parts, honestly, was Danny coming to Tucker, not the other way around. It shows how much faith Danny has in Tuck, which only comes out subtly in the show.
Squirt-Anne: Did I answer your question? Did Sam fight Paulina? o.O
BuffytheVampslayer: The only thing with that is that Sam isn't preppy. It was a ruse, a disguise, and it was far past time for her to come out into the open. The whole new look she has is saying, "I'm Goth. There's nothing you can do about it. But I can be Goth and damn sexy at the same exact time. Eat your heart out."
sam manson rulez: Yeah, I just had to include the medallion. I love it.
Alexa Daley: ACK! You have no idea what kind of threat that is. I've been saying for years that I fear lawn gnomes… (breaks out the sledge hammer)
SilverSummerMoon: I had to bring the "standing up" line back again. I loved it so much the first time, that it seemed fitting Danny would be even more infatuated with the Sam he originally fell in love with, only sexier. Also, may I point out here to all that are reading, that I believe sexiness is an attitude. It doesn't really matter what you look like; if you feel sexy, you will be. Sam, wearing that outfit, felt sexy as hell, and that's what made her so desirable.
SR-71 Fanatic: Want Paulina to die? Go back a chapter or two and check out my challenge at the end of the review responses!
Arezal: I think Sam took Nasty-P down… don't you? Yeah, Paulina went down, just not really in the way anyone expected.
DragonGirl: FLUFF HEALS THE SOUL!
Spiffy McFloogan: I love your name. Anyway, if you like Paulina getting put down, I bet you loved this chapter!
yinyang-shadow: I'm an idiot. I totally knew that there's no such thing as a ying-yang, my friends have told me time and time again. I'll go back and change it in all the review responses. I owe it to you for making that mistake. So, I get fudge and fluff? YES! Cause Fluff Heals the Soul!
Myst: I rock? I rock! Yay!
otakualways: YES SAM'S BACK AND SHE'S AWESOMENESS INCARNATE!
dpdramaqueen: FLUFF HEALS THE SOUL! WoOt! (twitch)
Anime Fan Angus: Wheeeeeeeeeeee! I'm glad you like it!
EvilAnimeGoodness: I'm seriously thinking of making or buying those clothes and wearing them to school one day. I'll see what everyone says.
Yayfullness (TLTLI): I updated!
The Adversary: Don't worry about pressuring me. I have the entire story finished, and had it finished when you reviewed. In fact… well, I'll tell you at the end of next chapter. You sound interesting… I think I'll check out your page…
Miss A. LaRosa: Gold? Alchemy! The purification process of turning lead to gold! My reviewers are my soul's alchemy… along with FLUFF!
too-morbid-for-words05: I'm glad it doesn't suck. I was hoping it wouldn't.
FLUFF HEALS THE SOUL!
--GS