Author's Note: Well, no reviews, no response... Okay, we need to get some things out of the way:

This fic was written in its entirity prior to the airing of Public Enemies The character design change seen in Memory Blank thus does not apply. Inviso-bill also does not apply, though it may be edited into the final, super-refined version. This version will be edited as soon as I finish the third installment of this seires - which is a long way away as I'm writing chapter 19 of 23 in the second installment.

Recommended reading: Anything and everything by Tamora Pierce, K.A. Applegate's Animorphs series, Anne McCaffrey's Pern novels, and Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Start now, and you might get some of the references that'll pop up in the second fic. Tamora Pierce, especially.

Recommend fanfics: anything by Obi-Quiet, Neko-Salosa, White Gryphon, wafiche, and numerous people who are not on ffn for various reasons that I'm beginning to understand. Oh, and do yourself a favor and check out My Grandfather's Ghost by Alex Schizra (not sure about spelling on the last part of his name). GREAT fic, that one. Some other's, too - actually, just check out my favorites thing.

THIS IS IMPORTANT: This fic is part one of a trilogy. Er... Well, it's three main stories with possibly a couple of one-shots to tie everything together. As such, there is alot in here that may not be important to what serves as the lame plot of this story, but is important later on. Also as such, this fic serves as a diving board, of sorts - this my initial bounce before diving into the real story that comes out so much more later on - and this fic is the worst of the trilogy. Hands down.

If you're still hanging on after all of that... well, hats off to you. Here's the story. Please, review.

Chapter One: Meeting

Danny Fenton, the half-ghost, half-human curiosity, appeared to be your average sleep-deprived freshman as he slumped over the cafeteria table.

"Could this day get any worse?" he asked to his two best friends, Sam, a loaded, idealistic, vegetarian Goth who you never call Samantha, and Tucker, a regular suburban tech-freak. Tucker sat beside him while Sam took a seat on the other side of the table.

"Well, look on the bright side, Dash hasn't stuck you into a locker yet today," said Sam, munching her organic carrot sticks.

"Yeah, and there probably won't be anymore ghosts this week, either. Really, Danny, this day hasn't been all that bad," added Tucker, digging into his steak.

Danny just groaned, "Well, let's see, my parents got out the ghost detector out at breakfast again, I got none of my homework done, including the stupid five page essay for English, which I have next, and the fifty problems for algebra, and I'm tired, and I probably won't get any sleep again tonight, just like last night."

He finished his rant and stared around the cafeteria. Dash was out of school today, thankfully, at some jockish field trip or something. Paulina was surrounded by her fan club of boys, and oh, there was his sister psycho-analyzing a strange girl – was she new or something? – about something or another while they stood there holding their lunch trays.

He pulled out his algebra book and half-heatedly began doing his missed assignment (he had exaggerated – it was twelve problems, not fifty) while Sam and Tucker began arguing about meat vs. vegetables.

Then he heard a very familiar voice yell for him.

"Yoo-hoo, Danny, look up"

He jerked up, to look into his older sister's eyes. What was she doing? Jazz never talked to him during school.

Then he noticed the same girl he'd seen earlier standing beside her.

"What's up, Jazz?" He asked tiredly.

"Lanna here is new, she needs someone to sit with, and she's a freshman. I tried or pointed out every other table and either she said, no way, or they, uh… didn't really have room," she said, tactfully. "Here, sit next to Sam," Jazz said to the girl, Lanna.

Dressed in a dark red shirt with puffy sleeves and black pants, she set her tray down, and slung her book bag onto the empty seat beside her.

"Hi, I'm Lanna," she said. She had a pony-tail's worth of voluminous red hair and deep blue eyes set within her teardrop face. Lanna looked at them for a response as Jazz left, her expression difficult to discern beyond the intelligent glint of her eyes and the appraising look she gave everything around.

"Hi, I'm Sam." Sam held out her hand and Lanna shook it. "The carnivore over there is Tucker, and Mister Rushing-to-do-his-Algebra-for-next-period is Danny."

Lanna smiled and waved hello.

Staring across the table at Danny's homework for a minute, she said, "The answer to number eight is sixteen. And you should use the Pythagorean Theorem for number ten."

"Thanks," said Danny, hastily scribbling.

"No problem. Trust me, this isn't the first time I've seen work left to the last minute," she replied. Her face flickered and then slipped back into her former expression.

"Uh, yeah, what's the Pythagorean Theorem again?"

Lanna gave him an ironic grin, and told him.

They spent the rest of lunch divided between getting to know Lanna – learning that she had two cats, for one, and letting Lanna get to know a bit about them. She was in most of the trio's classes, the only exceptions being electives. She also described herself as "a bit geekish".

Tucker thought that she certainly didn't look like your stereotypical, or even typical, geek – okay, so she didn't wear brand-name clothes, and didn't have that popular air, but really, a geek seemed to go a bit far.

They continued chatting about random subjects, the ghost-busting trio careful to avoid any mention of ghosts, when she asked what they'd be doing after school.

"Well, probably hanging at the mall or going to Danny's place," Tucker said. "Or Nasty Burger, but it's usually mobbed on Wednesdays."

"Why don't you come with us?" asked Sam, "That way you might be able to help Danny with tonight's algebra."

"Hey! It's not my fault I couldn't get it done!"

Lanna smiled at the exchange. "I've heard similar excuses. I'll have to check with my brother about coming with you guys, but he probably won't mind," she said. "He thinks I should have more friends," she added, softly, with a sad little grin. She glanced down at the table, then back up at the trio.

"Your brother? What about your parents?" asked Tucker.

She looked down at the table again and shifted uncomfortably, rubbing her left arm and nibbling on her lip. "Oh, well… They're dead." If the statement had been any softer in the noisome cafeteria, they would not have heard it. Sam thought that the girl had wanted to whisper it.

"Oh…"

Then the bell rang, and the foursome went to find their classes.

End of the chapter. See the blue button in the corner, there? Click it, comment, say whatever. Just remember that my muse has allergies to gratituous errors in spelling and grammar, please.

(rereads chapter) (wince) I actually have Jazz saying "Yoo-hoo"? Ok... note to self, that's gonna change...