Chapter 1:
"Thank's man." Danny said as he paid and then shook hands with the cab driver.
"Hey, no problem son, good luck." The cabby replied as he got back in his car and drove away.
"Thank you…"
And just like that, the eighteen-year-old Daniel Fenton was alone. Of course he had been alone since he left the SeaTac airport, but it
was just at this moment when it all finally hit him. It was time to start a new chapter in his life, away from home. He had picked Carnegie
Mellon University not only for its technical merit and reputation, but also it's location, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was just about as far
from costal Washington as he could get. He wanted to start over, be done with all the crap that was high school and his life in Amity Park.
His senior year had been pretty traumatic for him after someone found out his secret. Not the "big secret" mind you, but big enough to
cause him a shit ton of grief even in a fairly open minded community! His only saving grace was that his regular attacker, Dash Baxter, and
his family had moved away the previous summer. He could only imagine the hell that Dash would have put him thorough if he knew. But
this was not the time to think about that; this was a time for new beginnings, to put the past behind him.
He already missed his family, but he had decided to fly rather then spend a week traveling with his family in the Fenton RV. Not only
was the thought of that totally unappealing, he just really didn't want to be labeled a "freak" the second he set foot on campus. As it was
he spent three days arguing with his parents about whether or not they would allow him to have ghost-hunting weapons at school. Just to
shut them up he took the Specter Deflector and two Fenton Thermoses, which he knew he would probably need anyways. Although he
really hoped he wouldn't… Yeah right!
Although he had never been here before and it was already dark, he knew exactly where he was going. He must have studied that
campus map over 100 times. He would never admit it, but he had developed a huge fear of being lost after being left alone in a far out
region of the ghost zone after a fight a few years back. It took him two days to find his way back to the Fenton Portal, as no one in the
ghost zone was particularly keen on helping him out. Luckily, Jazz had been able to explain away his absence to his parents, with Sam and
Tucker's help. He missed Sam and Tucker too, but at least they had each other. They had been practically inseparable since they started
dating last May. In just under five minutes he had reached his residence hall. Now for the hard part he thought, getting two rolling
suitcases, a duffel bag, and a backpack up four flights of stairs.
When he finally reached his room, he found it empty. Apparently his roommate was getting in even later than he was seeing as classes
started the next day and he had already missed all of the new student orientation. Danny was actually quite relieved, after his long trip and
escapades of wresting heavy luggage up the stairs he was in no mood for hellos and life stories. He flopped down on the bed on the right
side of the room, not bothering to take off his new glasses, and closed his eyes. Danny had taken to wearing glasses in his junior year. His
eyes weren't really that bad, but wearing glasses made him feel like Clark Kent, plus Sam had said he looked hot with glasses, and would
look even hotter with an eyebrow ring. So as usual, he gave in at got his eyebrow pierced on his eighteenth birthday. Even though at that
moment he hadn't really planned on falling asleep, he was out cold almost instantly after hitting the bed. It was late anyway and his first
class started at eight the next morning. I wonder where my roommate is? And, God I hope he's not a Jerk! Were Danny's last thoughts
before he drifted off to sleep.
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Meanwhile, just outside of Parkersburg, West Virginia Dash Baxter pulled off the highway into a rest area. He had considered driving
straight through from St Louis, where his family now lived, but since he had to go to class at 10:00 the next morning he realized he should
probably try to get some sleep. He figured he had enough time to sleep for a few hours and still get to school in Pittsburgh by about 7:30 in
the morning. That would give him plenty of time to get his stuff to his room, clean up, and maybe even meet his roommate who was
probably wondering where in the hell he was right about then.