Sleepover

Chapter 13: Round 2

A/N: Wow! So much to say! Okay, how about another lov-er-ly list to say it then?

1. EEEEEKKKK! 28 reviews for Cherry Stems, and 13 for Sharing Secrets, did you guys like my One Shots? I still have 2 or 3 more I need to finish. And yes, in Cherry Stems where Sam goes, "Uhh… Internet?" that IS from Fairly Odd Parents, lol sorry! I couldn't resist! It just seemed to fit!

2. You get 7 pages for this weekends chapter! CLAPS FOR YOU!

3. I REALLY need to start writing, I'm still writing the next chapter! Eek! You guys are catching up to me!

4. I hope I don't drag myself into a ditch with how this ended…

5. Sam's a bit ooc in this chapter, only because she's overly excited for round 2, the contest is growing on her so don't yell at me for some of her comments.

6. In the first scene of this Chapter you pronounce the name El-ee-sha, NOT El-ii-sha

7. I'M GETTING THE EMERY CD TODAY! And I didn't even realize I mentioned them in this chapter!

8. I am SO GLAD you all knew the name of that dance! So yes, Danny was doing the Cotton-Eye Joe dance! Lol, I knew the name but just couldn't remember it!

9. Wish Wielder: THOUSAND FOOT KRUTCH ROCKS! This Is A Call, is one of their best songs!

10. And FINALLY, I just finished reading a story called The Waking World, and it is one of the BEST Danny Phantom fics EVER, I want you ALL to read it!

A girl with dark brown-layered hair glared darkly at Ember. "Watch your step." she grinned evilly.

Ember glared right back at her. "You should worry more about yourself, Elisha" she said, picking up her long hair and pulling it up into a high ponytail. She didn't have anyone with hair and make-up help her out, she was too stubborn and hated how they dolled her up like Elisha.

Ember peeked out from behind the stage seeing the stage hands blindly pick up the mats Elisha had used for her gymnastics act in the dark. They only had small strips of reflectors to guide them along and away from the edge of the stage. More stagehands went on and placed a set of amps and a fun board down.

A stagehand looked over at Ember. "Ember! You're on!" he said.

Ember took in a deep breath and grabbed her electric guitar walking out onto the stage. The announcer's voice came up out of the darkness. "Up next we have Ember McLain!"

A loud applause greeted her ears and suddenly the lights flipped on. Ember plugged her guitar into the amp and grinned out into the audience. "TELL ME WHO YOU LOVE!" she shouted.

A chorus of 'Ember McLain!' shouted back from the audience.

"Well my talent is guitar and singing. Since I don't have my band with me, it'll just be me playing guitar. You guys ready for this?" the crowd erupted into applause. Ember grinned and placed her fingers on the strings, pulling a guitar pick out and strumming on her guitar. "This song is called So This Is How a Toaster Works!" she took in a deep breath and began to sing.

"All the little things

That are makin' me sing… this song

Stereotypes, are sprayed painted on my school walls

Oh oh, they say that Casper High so cool but they never lived the way I do

Ooooooh, oh, oh, Ooooh oh, oh oh, oh oh

Keep those stereotypes away

I don't want your magazines

I don't want you criticizing me!

HEY! HEY! HEY!

HEY! HEY! HEY!

School is full of preps and losers

Oh oh, oh oh

School is filled with tons of these posers

Like Elisha

She tries to act the queen of kings

But someday I will make her scream-"

Ember paused singing, something above her gave a sickening crack. She started strumming her guitar again, ignoring the noise. It was probably a stagehand.

"Oh, YOU'LL SCREAM MY NAME YOU PREP!"

There it was again. A loud, sickening crack, only this time something was groaning too. The audience noticed this time. A few people were pointing up above her, two girls screamed. Ember looked up and saw the walkway above her that holds the spotlights up lurch foreword. She would have dropped her guitar if it wasn't on a strap around her neck. The walkway twisted, then wrenched to the side.

People were screaming, stagehands were rushing foreword to grab Ember off the stage. Nothing was registering in her mind. The walkway was starting to fall… and she was under it… the walkway was falling… and she was under it…

The walkway fell… and she screamed…

…because she was under it.

Ember jumped up, panting. She was sitting at the desk in Sam's room, a pencil in hand and a sketch of a dress in front of her. 'Must have fallen asleep…' she thought, and then looked over at Sam who was asleep in her bed, hugging a pillow to her chest with a small smile on her face. Ember sighed and wiped her forehead, when was the last time she slept anyways? Ghosts don't need to sleep but it helps. She frowned sadly and looked down at the sketch she had, deciding to leave it for the a.m. and get some sleep. It had been years since her last bit of shut-eye.

She crawled onto the floor, grabbed a blanket-not that she needed it- and curled up, using her arm as a pillow.

She closed her eyes hoping that this time; she wouldn't have the memory of her dieing as a dream.

Sam sat down next to Tucker and Danny smiling happily. Danny raised an eyebrow at her. "Someone seems oddly happy for a Goth." he said.

"Tonight is round 2!" She grinned. "Which means another chance to cream Paulina into the dirt she rolls in!" she said.

Tucker held out his PDA looking at the Ms. Teen's homepage. "It says tonight's the evening dress." he said.

"Yeah! Ember's finishing off the dress she wants me to wear and it's seriously awesome! It has black torn fairy wings and layers of black material with an off the shoulder thing PLUS I GET A SNAKE!" she gushed, and then paused. This was totally out of character for her. "I-I mean, it's not like I want to wear it. I have to, since I'm being forced into this contest to beat Paulina and everything."

Tucker gave her a sly smile. "Uh-huh, suuuuure. You were just pretending to gush about the evening dress to put up an act."

"Yup!" she said. "Just an act! Like how it's an act when I say IT'S THE COOLEST THING IN THE WORLD!" Danny snorted a bit and held in a laugh. "What?" she asked him.

He put his hand in balls and pulled them to his chest then quoted Sam in a high-pitched voice. "It's the coolest thing in the world!" then he began to add more. "Oh golly-gee! I can't wait! It's so indubitably awesome! Sweet, man!"

Sam glared at him and slapped his arm. "I didn't say that! And I don't sound like that!"

Danny started laughing more. "Sorry, couldn't resist." he said. "But you have to admit, you did sound out of character!"

Sam sent him another glare and didn't say anything. She reached for her salad then paused. "I almost forgot!" she gasped, then turned to look at Paulina sitting a few tables away. Danny and Tucker followed her gaze to see Paulina opening her own salad and scream.

"EEEK! WORMS! EW EW EW EW EWWWWW! AAAAHHHH! SOMEBODY CALL THE INSECT GUY! THIS IS SO GROSS!" she screamed like a banshee and jumped away from the table. She ran out of the cafeteria wailing down the hallway. "THEIR CRAWLING ON ME! THEIR CRAWLING ON ME! GET THEM OFF!"

Sam started bursting out laughing with the rest of the cafeteria. This time she quoted Paulina in the same high-pitched voice Danny used. "Eek! The leg-less worms are crawling on me! Eeek! Call the insect guy to kill them!"

Danny and Tucker were laughing too. "Did you do that?" Tucker asked.

Sam grinned. "Well, let's just say I was digging around this morning and found her lunch."

Sam let all of her air out and made her lungs as small as she could. Ember placed a foot on her back and pulled on the strings on the corset that was sewed into the dress. She tied it up. "There we go. Just take small breaths and you won't pass out." she said.

Sam tried to breath but the corset was limiting her lung room. She looked down at herself. "Jees! You think my boobs have enough air?" she said sarcastically. "Their getting more air than I am!" She was already upset that Ember didn't get the snake she had promised, so she decided to put on the best snobby-stuck-up girl imitation ever. AKA, she was acting like Paulina.

"Hello!" Danny said. "I'm standing right here, can we stop talking about your breasts?" he asked, crossing his arms and looking away with a small blush on his face. He was in Ghost mode in a black tuxedo. Since it was the evening gown night, she needed her host, Danny Phantom.

"Look at them!" Sam exclaimed. "I feel a friggin draft on them!"

Ember sighed and rolled her eyes. "So buy them a sweater after the contest." she said sarcastically. "Now hold still so I can put on your wings. We have to hurry, we just finished the dance number and we're on in 10 minutes!" she said. "We don't even have your hair and make-up done yet!"

Sam blinked. "What's wrong with my hair and make-up?" she asked.

"Everything. Now hold still!" she snapped, trying to get Sam to stop shifting her weight.

Sam jumped as a light backstage turned on. "AHH!" she cried as a beam of light reflected off her chest. "MY BREASTS ARE BLINDING ME!" Half of that comment was to make Danny blush, and looking over in the mirror she saw it worked. She grinned at him. "Bet you looked, didn't you?"

Danny started coughing and walked out of the room to get a drink of water. Ember sighed at her like a mom who just saw her child walk in covered in mud for the fifth time after she just finished cleaning the floor. "Put some powder on them, it'll keep your sweat from shining in the stage lights too." She finished tying the wings onto her back. "Okay hair." she said, pulling the half ponytail Sam had out. She ran her hands threw Sam's hair noticing it was actually wavy and a tiny bit longer than she expected.

"Sam Manson you're on in 5! Get in the line-up!" a stagehand called.

Danny ran in. "Sam you're on in 5!" he panted.

"I know, stage hand just told us." Sam said.

Ember cursed under her breath. "Damn… okay we'll just have to leave your hair down. She pulled out some glittery hair spray and sprayed a pound of it onto Sam's hair then quickly put some eye shadow and lipstick on her. She patted her face down with powder and shoed her off to the lineup.

Danny followed after her. "Wait Sam!" He said.

"Make it quick, Danny." Sam told him, glancing nervously at the stage. "I'm next."

"I will, here." he said, pulling out a single white rose. He tucked it behind her ear carefully. "I think you forgot that."

Sam smiled at him. "Yeah…," she said slowly.

Danny stared at her for a moment, before realizing he was slowly moving closer to her. 'This is it.' He told himself. 'My second, real kiss with Sam! Totally romantic, and no interruptions… it's almost like the contest isn't even here at all.'

Sam gasped. "Oh!" she said. "Go get in place! We need to impress the judges with you appearing out of nowhere!" she said, giving him a small push away. "Go!" she said.

"Sam Manson, you and your Host need to go onto the stage!" a stagehand told her.

"Next we have Samantha- I mean, Sam Manson! Supporting an original dress made by her contest manager, Ember McLain!"

She took in as much air as her corset would allow and walked onto stage. For music, this time she had Emery playing. They were also, like most of her music, screamo. She walked out alone onto the stage and turned to face the audience.

When she was seen, alone a few people started laughing; she even heard a few remarks about her not being able to get a host. She looked up to the ceiling where another spot light was and outstretched her arm to it.

Suddenly, Danny Phantom appeared out of thin air. A few people screamed- the few who thought he was evil- and a few people started clapping like mad.

The spotlight followed him as he floated down towards Sam slowly. He took her hand and suddenly she was floating up next to him. He locked arms with her and turned toward the audience with her.

At the end of the stage where the other contestants stood with their Hosts, Paulina was glaring Daggers at Sam. Everyone knew she was obsessed with Danny Phantom, it was common knowledge.

Sam smirked at her and let Danny guide her over to the front of the stage and set her down on the floor. She took a step back from him and started to pose for the pictures that were being taken. She paused during her rehearsed scowl and turned to Danny taking a step back towards him. She figured the pictures would be better with Danny Phantom in them.

She pulled him back to the spot she was previously in and slipped her arm around his waist. He tried to do the same but her wings were in the way, so he fazed through them. After a few minutes of posing cutely for the camera with Danny, her and Danny walked over to the line-up of girls and stood in their assigned spot.

"That was Sam Manson and her Host, Amity Park's very own Danny Phantom!" The announcer said. A few of the dimmer people in the audience like Jack gasped. "Danny Phantom!" they said.

…well… for Jack it was more of a, "GHOST! I'LL GET IT! SAM DON'T MOVE!" he pulled out the Fenton Knife and hit the button. Before he could get out of the isle of seats he was in though, a bunch of guards ran out at him.

"PUT THE KNIFE DOWN!" they shouted as they grabbed his arms and dragged him out of the auditorium.

Jazz sunk lower in her seat with Maddie and the Manson's. "Tell me again why we take him anywhere public?" Jazz asked her mom.

Paulina glared at Sam one more time as the last contestant came out. Once she was done posing and walked back to her Host who was in line, all of the girls and their Hosts bowed and curtsied. They started to walk backstage in pairs as Paulina plotted her revenge.

She waited by the curtain for Sam and Danny to come by. "GHOST BOY!" she exclaimed when she saw him and Sam. She started to run towards Danny, pushing Dash-her Host- aside as if he was nothing.

"Uh-oh." Danny whispered to Sam then picked her up bridal style and went invisible.

Paulina stopped in mid-step, faltering. "Where'd you go?" she asked the air. "COME BACK! I CAN TREAT YOU BETTER THAN HER!" she wailed.

Sam snickered as Danny flew them back to her dressing room and through the door. He set her down and she walked over to a stool by her make-up counter and mirror with lights along the top.

She picked up her foot and pulled off the heels she had on. "Man, I wasn't even standing that long and my feet are killing me!" she said. "Nice save back there with Paulina by the way. I was surprised you didn't try to tell her to make out with Danny Fenton."

Danny frowned. "What? Oh! Oh…" he said slowly, scuffing his feet on the ground.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked him, looking at him in her mirror as she gathered up all her make-up and began to put it in a bag.

"Nothing… I just… I dunno." he said, floating over to a stool next to her and sitting down in it. He put his elbow on the table and rested his head in his hand. "I just didn't feel like trying to get her to fall in love with the real me for once."

Sam paused, her mouth open, looking at him. "Okay, and I thought I was the one who couldn't get air in them." she turned to face him, placing a hand on his forehead. "You feeling okay? Did those lights on the stage fry your brain?" she asked, then paused. "Or maybe your hiding a corset in that tux of yours and there's not enough air getting to your brain!" she paused again and gave a disgusted face. "Ew, you're not wearing a corset, right?"

He pushed her hand away. "Yeah, I'm fine." he mumbled. "And no, I'm not wearing a corset."

She looked at him, worried. He was avoiding eye contact with her and was gazing at the bottom of the mirror with his bottom lip poked out a bit. His head was still in his hand. "Well… just to be sure, go to bed right away, okay?" she told him.

He snorted and took his head out of his hand looking at her with a small smile. "What are you? My mom?" he asked.

She smiled at back at him and pushed him off the stool playfully. Instead of hitting the ground though, he fazed through it. "Danny?" she asked, standing up off the stool and looking around. "Danny? I know you're still in here, it's cold!" she said, then jumped, gasping as she felt invisible hands on her waist, then her wings mysteriously drop to the floor as if someone fazed them off her to get them out of their way. She started laughing again and turned her head to look at him, but he was still invisible. "Okay, turn visible so I can see you." she laughed.

A small sigh came from the air by her head and Danny turned visible, setting his chin on her shoulder. Sam turned her head slowly to face him. He pushed her away from him a bit and turned her around to face him. Sam let him guide her back towards her. "You look beautiful tonight, Sam." he said.

She smiled slowly, looking at the ground then back up to him. "Well, you don't look half bad in a tux ether Mr. Phantom." she grinned, then stopped, looking to his chest and back up to him. Out of the blue, she said, "I panicked."

Danny blinked looking down at her. "Huh?" he asked. "Pan-" she cut him off.

"Earlier, before the round started when you handed me that rose. We were so close I thought that if someone saw Danny Phantom leaning in-- ahh, what am I saying?" she laughed lightly. "I'm acting like we were about to kiss because… well… it felt like we were about to." she said.

"We were. Well, I was at least." Danny's eyes widened when he realized he said that aloud.

Sam looked up at him then smiled. "I'm sorta glad you didn't." His heart sank. "I mean, it's understandable if someone saw me and Danny Fenton kissing, but Phantom? That would be just awkward." Danny slowly felt his heart breaking into tiny, tiny pieces. "I've never kissed a ghost before so I'd look a little lost."

Danny's heart suddenly pieced back together. She was just afraid because she never kissed him as Danny Phantom before! He smiled at her and leaned foreword slowly. Sam closed her eyes as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his.

A slight tingling feeling came acrossed her lips, and suddenly she needed to be closer to him, so she pressed herself against him, and then tried to go on her tippy-toes to get closer to his height when she realized-- she wasn't standing anymore! Danny had unknowingly, floated up a few feet into the air. Sam was feeling lightheaded, and everything around her was beginning to spin.

"Just take small breaths and you won't pass out."

Vaguely, Sam remembered that the human lungs needed air, and that a corset was compressing hers.

Danny however was still preoccupied with kissing Sam. He didn't even notice when the dressing room door flew open and someone gasped. "What are you doing to Sam you evil ghost?"