AlwaysWrite: Wow, I don't know what to say really, thanks so much. All of you guys have been so nice and supportive and ((blushes)) you, Ms. Write, were very flattering. That was the best review I've ever received. And thank you for praying for Kayla; she needs all the prayers she can get!

getfuzzyfan04: Your friend was very lucky. I myself ride an A circuit and will continue to do so this summer. No fear, or else it takes all the fun out of the sport. But you can get hurt, and sometimes that's very scary. I've taken some spectacular falls myself, like off into electric fencing and trees, but never anything that bad…

Kats02980416: I'm trying to keep things like that, the constant swerve of feelings and thoughts, especially because you can't tell what Danny's thinking. Is he in the fog of normal hormone driven guys or does he see his best friend suffering under something she can't understand or control? I'm trying to make sure you guys can't tell. Hope this keeps up that standard! ;)

Je vous remercerie aussi: ((um, that's French for 'I thank you also'))

dannyXsam-forever, Black Mistress, Umi, Adrena Lynn, ashley, animesk8ergirl, mechaghost, scubagurl, Random Reviewer, outlawarcher, cakreut12, Nobody's Princess – I want to thank you all for offering your condolences, they were greatly appreciated. ((hands out cookies)) So have some cookies.

I had to get up and run to the bathroom right then. I slammed a stall door shut and pushed the lock roughly in place. I sat on the toilet and pulled my knees up to my chin and took my mental vitals. I thought I had lost my sanity as I rocked slowly back and forth on the toilet. I was jealous, how could I be jealous? This must have been the thing I couldn't put my finger on the other night. I sucked my breath in, trying to calm my fried nerves. I heard the footsteps of the monitor.

"Sweetie," she said; I cringed. "There is a very distraught young man out there asking you are in here. Did you have a fight with your boyfriend?"

I flung open the door and switched on the full Goth glare. "He is NOT my boyfriend!"

She shrugged and headed back to her post by the door. I checked myself in the mirror before walking out. Same black hair, a little longer than usual but still the same style, same clothes, same face, same eyes and same skin on the outside. But on the inside I felt so much different. Girls aren't jealous of another over a guy unless they're crushing or head over heels, everyone knows that. I waited at the door of the bathroom, out of sight, of course, until I heard the defeated sound of Danny's retreating shoes. With my back to the wall, I leant against it, sliding down as I did. Things were suddenly complicated in what had been such a simple relationship. I pulled my knees back up to my chin in agony. What complications arose and how I should clear the obstacles that I would face couldn't remain unclear for long. I traced the outlines of my eyes, smudging my make-up, in worry. The bell rang for sixth period.

I scooped up my bag and ran to Spanish. I saw Danny already seated and I slipped into a seat on the other side of the room. Downey ran her finger over the roll list.

"Manson…where's Manson?" she yelled.

"Here." I said, raising my hand. She looked at me disdainfully, but it was her policy to let the kids seat themselves, so she didn't require me to move. I looked over at my friends. Danny was playing with a pencil, his face clouded and unclear. Tucker had his PDA beneath his desk and was back at another round of Bejeweled. The pressure was building behind my temples again. I rubbed them, willing it to go away, far away, these headaches had to stop soon.

I flicked open a notebook dully as Downey began lecturing on about the proper way to use verbs. In truth, there was sea of acid boiling in my stomach that was making me miserable, as if it wasn't bad enough to begin with. There was a something in my chest that wasn't leaving. You know how you feel before you cry? Sort of like that, only without my throat blocking up and me choking back sobs. I began chewing my lip and lost track of time, space and thought. The only thing that brought me back was the bell, saved by the bell.

After algebra, out of pure habit, not forgetting that things were so tense between Danny and I, I waited at the door. And today, I had my own gloves. The only form of acknowledgement that Danny and I gave each other was a brief head nod. Then things turned towards the supernatural.

Some of Danny's cleverer foes had formed a way of baiting him. They would catch a ghost of lower power, use it to set off his senses and lure him into an ambush when he least expected it. We'd learned that ignoring any of these strange set offs could prove disastrous; the last one had resulted in Danny's own near exposure, something dangerous and deadly. If people knew that 'Inviso-Bill' was in fact the mutated child of the ones that they had entrusted the care of their city to, then a revolt of sorts was certainly going to happen. After all, if this was the child of the ghost hunters, then weren't they using him to get themselves money? And how was he mutated in the first place?

So life was fraught with stress for Danny, secrets with complications that none of us could relate to, friends who had their own trivial crises and parents with no clue. I really think now that he truly had no one. And I was supposed to be a caring friend who was always there, but I felt torn. I wanted to be as far away from him as possible and yet, at the same time, as close as I could get. Things had always been so special between us, so easy, so simple. We were not a couple, we weren't dating; we were friends. So why was I driving myself in circles reviewing our relationship, our lives?

Back to the fight. Danny dove behind a conveniently located dumpster and emerged as the Phantom. There was something irresistibly romantic about him in that form I suppose. Mysterious, lithe, in a skin-tight suit-

There I go again, sounding all crush like. This seriously has to stop soon.

Valerie had ensnared the Box Ghost (I'm starting to feel bad for him; he's almost always the bait) and was now blasting the shit out of Danny with her high-powered rifles and other various gadgets that she's somehow attained. I knew I couldn't trail Danny as he took another hit; it wasn't safe. Valerie might make the connection between us or hit me, something that couldn't happen. But poor Danny took another spectacular hit and I couldn't stand it anymore. I ran from my hiding spot and found Danny lying prostrate on the ground, eyes half open. It scared the shit out of me. Valerie was charging her rifle for another shot; I ignored Tucker's pleads for me to please come back and stepped between the gun and Danny.

"Move." The other girl commanded. "Move now."

"No." I said steadfastly.

"I don't want to shoot you!" I heard the humming of full power.

"Then move off yourself."

"If that's the way you want it…"

I was suddenly yanked out of the way and was soon soaring through the walls of an office building. The sound of the blast of Valerie's cannon shattered the glass of the windows as we collided with a wall, solid again. Danny was breathing hard and fast, as was I (that was a hell of an adrenaline rush), as at the same time, we slumped with relief for escaping alive. Then I realized where I was, how I had gotten there and who I was with.

"Sam," Danny began very slowly, "Is there any particular reason you did that?"

"I couldn't very well let you die." I reminded him, stressing die.

"This isn't anything I haven't already dealt with. Don't you trust me?"

"I'm scared for you." I cried; then I covered my mouth in surprise before continuing. "Someone has to be, Danny, I know that sure as hell won't be Tucker, he's to busy egging you on to see that one day you might just get hurt."

"One minute you're jealous, the next we're fine, then you're back to jealous and now you're concerned. Make up your mind!" Danny yelled at me. "What is it with you? I swear you're a whole other person every time I look at you! What happened? What the hell happened to Sam who was calm and in control?"

"Just because I've never had that many problems before doesn't I can't have them now! Mr. High and Mighty, guess what, I'm human too! I can feel!"

"Then what the hell is going on in that head, how do you feel?"

"I can't tell you."

"Then how can you expect me to understand?" Danny was near yelling at the top of his lungs.

"I don't know Danny."

"Then walk home Samantha, I don't need your help." His words were so cold and sharp. They shattered my world into a million billion tiny pieces and left me with a tear running down my cheek. But no one saw it of course; Danny had already flown off, back to battle, away from me. I wiped at it and shook my head, trying to stop the tears from falling. I had just had my first real fight with my best friend. He'd told me to go home, he'd called me Samantha and he'd told me he didn't need me.

He didn't need me.

I ran home, losing my composure with every step, fighting the pain that gathered in me.

Eh, not my best work, I'll admit it, but at least the plot thickens! That's good enough for me; tell me if it was good, or not as the case may be. ((turns up her stereo)) I got the most awesome mixes from a friend; they're so awesome, now I finally have some Good Charlotte to listen to! YAWP! I love 'The Anthem' because it is so good for bashing society, or at least I think so! ((laughs)) I have a DPS fic to go work on, YAWP on my fellow Poets!