Sleepover

Chapter 11: Foul Play

A/N: Yeah well, I don't really have anything to say today except two things;

1. I felt like updating so here you go!

2. As far as I know, The drink 'Surge' doesn't exist, so don't go looking for it at stores. That's just a FYI so you don't waste time looking for it lol.

No wait, I have another one.

3. I'm working on a few Oneshots... so keep an eye on my profile.

Sam was pretty happy that next day for a Goth. First, Danny flew her to school so she didn't have to ride the bus. Next, she was delighted to see Paulina was absent. Dash didn't even lay a finger on Danny for once, and the whole school was cheering her on to victory!

…or… at least that what I want to write. What really happened was this;

The morning started off crappy. She fell off her bed, missed breakfast trying to get the kinks out of her back from the fall, and when she was asleep she got a crick in her neck so she couldn't turn her head right. Then, The Box Ghost decided to pay a visit meaning Sam had to ride the bus to school, and lucky for her the only open seat was next to Kwan. Oh, he was just a gentleman to her.

Then, someone decided to put up pictures of Sam at the contest but digitally put Paulina's dress on her picture! Pink, frilly, lacy… yeah… she wasn't happy. Next her locker decided to jam, and Paulina tripped her in front of her first period class.

This, sadly, is where this chapter begins.

Sam stood up, brushing herself off. With as much dignity she had, she walked back to her seat. "Well that was fun." She commented, hoping to take the glory out of it for Paulina.

"Sam you okay?" Danny asked.

Sam looked at him and noticed a small cut on his arm. "I think I should be asking you that. Box Ghost give you trouble?" she asked frowning and rubbing her neck that was still sore from the crick.

Danny grimaced. "He found a box of knifes. I don't know why this didn't go away when I changed back, normally the injuries disappear." he said, turning his arm to examine his cut.

"Danny! What happened to your arm?" Paulina asked with false sweetness. It reminded Sam of when she sweet talked her way past the first round in the competition. "Did Sam attack you?" she asked loudly.

"No, your hit man did." Sam said just as loudly, if not louder. "The one you hired to try and get me. Danny jumped in front of me just in time to get nicked by the knife he was using. You're lucky he's not suing you for hiring a hit man in the first place. Really Paulina, I thought you wanted to win fair and square." Sam grinned as a few people started whispering.

And so the rumors of Paulina trying to kill Sam began…

Paulina glared at her and began to open her mouth to comment back when Mr. Lancer cleared his throat. "Ladies, calm down." he said. "I'd like to start my lesson!"

Sam sighed and put her elbow on the table, leaning into her hand. She began absent mindedly doodling on her paper.

"Sam?" Danny asked, suddenly he was standing next to her.

"Hmm?" she asked sitting up, the class was filing out.

"Class is over." He said slowly.

"Already?" Sam wondered aloud. "That's weird, it's like it just went by in a flash." She shrugged and grabbed her books, putting them in her backpack and walking out of the room with him.

They met Tucker in the hallway on their way to lunch. "Okay, here's the deal you guys." He told them as they walked outside to eat.

"32 girls auditioned and only 18 made it through. Now there are 7 more rounds and you have to beat out those other 17." Tucker told them. "And the principal is having the janitor take off those pictures, rumor is, she's rooting for you."

Sam shrugged. "And this means what to me…? Listen, all I care about is getting farther than Paulina with my individuality. Let one of those other girls win, I don't care."

"But just think what would happen if you did win." Tucker said. "What are you going to do with the prize?"

Sam blinked, pausing opening her salad. "Wait… prize?" she asked.

"Yeah, you didn't know?" Danny asked her, taking Tucker's PDA from him and pulling up a screen. He showed it to her. "You get to choose what prize you want. There's a recording studio contract, $5,000 dollars, a car, or a trophy."

"Well the trophy seems sorta dumb compared to everything else." Sam muttered. "I bet the recording studio contract is why Ember entered the contest when she was alive."

"Well that's obvious for more than 50 reasons." Tucker said, grabbing his PDA back. "So what prize are you going to grab?" he asked.

"You're forgetting Tucker; I don't need any of that stuff. I don't wanna be a singer, I don't need the money, I can't drive yet and well… never mind that Trophy comment back there, I'll take that." Sam said taking a bite of her salad.

"Oh yeah, you're filthy rich, you don't need any of that stuff, you can just buy it." Tucker muttered bitterly.

Sam elbowed him hard in the side. "Quiet!" She hissed.

"Oh yeah, it's such a secret!" Tucker said sarcastically.

She sent him a glare and took a stubborn bite of her salad. Danny sighed shaking his head at the two. "Hey, have you guys noticed we haven't seen that many Ghosts lately?" he asked.

Sam paused, bringing her salad filled fork back to its container. "Yeah…" she said slowly. "Normally you've got four or five back in the Ghost zone, but the only ghost I've seen was the Box Ghost and that was this morning."

Danny sighed, leaning back against a tree. "This is weird," he said. "It's too fishy."

"Maybe Ember has to do with it." Tucker said suddenly. Sam and Danny looked at him. "I mean, come on, honestly how many weak ghosts have showed their face other than the Box Ghost when a powerful one is out." he asked.

"… He's got a point there." Danny said. "I never thought of that. The Ghosts that appear more than once, like Ember, when their out I don't see any other Ghosts except the Box Ghost."

Sam smiled. "Once again my brilliance comes out. Having Ember out gives us another good thing."

"What are the others?" Danny asked.

"Wicked costumes, no ghosts… actually I have to think of more." She muttered the last part and grabbed her drink so she could stop talking. Did Samantha Manson just have a blonde moment? It wasn't possible. GASP! The contest was wearing off on her! She could feel her individuality slipping away! Suddenly she could picture herself in Paulina's dress, twirling her hair. NOO! Trends… suffocating… her… bright light… she could see a bright light… ahh no air! Must breath!

Suddenly Sam was on her back on the ground gasping for air. Danny and Tucker at her side and a curious crowd gathered around to see what happened. Danny picked her up bridal style and pushed out of the crowd, running inside the school to the nurses' office, thankful he passed his CPR test in 8th grade.

He set her down on the cold bed the sick students lay down on when they wait for their parents to pick them up. Danny knelt down by her side, placing a hand on her forehead and sliding it so her bangs were brushed away. "You okay?" he asked, his face was pale and he looked scared.

Sam was still getting air in her lungs; she couldn't speak so she just gave a weak thumbs up.

"Do you know what happened?" he asked, worriedly.

Tucker walked in the room, holding her bottle of 'Surge' her favorite drink for lunch. "I'll tell you what happened." he said. "This isn't Surge; someone switched her bottle with a different one and put seeds in it. You don't need to be an Einstein to know she choked on the seeds."

"10 to 1," Sam gasped. "Says it was Paulina, or her minions of evil."

"Did any of you guys see her?" Danny asked.

"No, I was busy checking Sam's drink. What about you?" he asked Danny.

"Umm, hello? I was to busy making her breath!" Danny said, annoyed.

Sam looked at him, blinking. Just how did her save her? "Thanks…" she whispered. Her breath was now back but her lungs hurt, they felt stretched like they did when she pushed herself too hard to retrieve rings in the 12 foot section of her pool.

Danny turned to look at her. "Don't even say that, you know you don't need to thank me for anything."

Sam covered her eyes with her hands. "I just feel so bad that this is the third time since I started bunking at your house that you've saved my life."

"Well than I guess it's pretty lucky that I'm always near you. Imagine if I wasn't with you and Tucker just now." He smiled.

She shivered. "I'd rather not." she sighed, and brought her hands down from her face and grabbed his hand gently. "My hero…" she sighed and closed her eyes.