Disclaimer: Nope, nada
Here's back to school, part one. Aka Chapter 6!
Sam glared at the cars going by her, most likely carrying fellow students on their way to Casper High. Sam was going the other direction, headed towards a certain friend's house who had failed to show up this morning and walk to school with her like he normally did. Needless to say, Sam wasn't in the greatest of moods right now.
"Yeah, why don't you take a picture, it lasts longer!" She yelled as another car drove by, slowing down when it passed her so that the passengers could stare at the ghost child's friend. When she finally reached the corner of the street, the neon Fenton Works sign shed it's light down on a very pissed off Sam.
Danny heard the doorbell ring, and, correctly guessing who it was, got up from the dinner table with a sigh to go answer the door. Danny opened the door slowly, already rattling off an excuse.
"Hey, Sam. I was feeling kinda- Aaah!" Danny jumped back, but not quick enough as Sam reached out and pulled Danny through the doorway by the front of his shirt.
"I'm not going to let you sulk in your house all day, Danny!" Sam said, trying to hide the concern that leaked through her voice.
Another car drove by, almost running into a light post as the driver spotted the two. Danny ducked his head, hiding sheepishly behind Sam.
"C'mon, lets just go to school." Sam growled, shooting a nasty look at the car now zooming away from a dented light post.
Danny coughed unrealistically.
"I have a really bad cold, cough, and, um, I think I need to stay home." Sam raised an eyebrow at him, crossing her arms. Danny dropped the act with a sigh.
"Well, it was worth a try." He muttered under his breath, dusting off his shirt since Sam had let go of her death grip.
"Danny, you can't just avoid going to school!" Sam said, sounding exasperated.
"Yes I can, watch me"
Sam sighed, "Look, it'll be all right. You can hide behind me if it helps." She said the last with a grin as Danny glared at her.
"Yeah, great. Now I'm hiding behind a girl."
"Hey! A girl who beat you and Tucker at Doomed on numerous occasions." Danny rolled his eyes.
"Oh yeah, rub it in why don't you. I feel great about myself now."
"Danny, come on. You know me and Tucker will help you out in any way we can." Danny's mood did lighten a little at that.
"Yeah, I know…thanks."
"No problem, you ready to go now?" Danny sighed, his shoulders slumped in defeat.
"I guess so." He closed his door and quickly hid behind Sam as another car passed by. Sam tried to hold back a smile as Danny crept out from behind her, looking around warily.
"What are you grinning at?" Danny asked, glaring at her accusingly.
"Oh, nothing…"
Sam and Danny arrived at school to find the grounds completely empty.
Everyone was already in class.
Sam pulled Danny along hurriedly as the two rushed through the hallways, headed towards Lancer's class. She paused as the two skidded to a stop right outside his door, looking over at Danny.
"You ready for this?" Danny gulped, his face looking unusually pale.
"Well… It's now or never." Sam smiled at Danny.
"I was hoping you'd say something like that."
Sam reached for the door handle, slowly opening the door to their class.
All of the students immediately looked up as the door opened to show Sam standing defiantly in the doorframe, Danny's head peaking around her shoulder. Mr. Lancer's calm voice broke the ice.
"Ah, Miss Manson, Mr. Fenton, please sit down. Class has already begun." He said as he resumed his lesson. No one listened to him, all of their eyes still trained on Danny as he stared pointedly at the floor.
Sam looked back at Danny worriedly. Realizing he wasn't going to move, ever, unless prompted, she reached out and grabbed his hand, dragging him towards two empty seats in the back. Danny followed meekly behind Sam, trying to ignore the fact that every student was still watching him as if he was suddenly going to turn invisible. He had the sudden desire to actually do just that, but it vanished when he looked up to see Sam smiling at him reassuringly.
Tucker greeted his two friends as they sat down next to him, Danny in the middle.
Lancer turned around in mid sentence and stopped, fuming, as he noticed that his whole class was turned around in their seats, still staring at Danny.
"Great Gatsby, class! Danny is not that interesting! Now, if you turn your attention back up here, I will show you something that is truly interesting." Some of the students sighed, taking one last look at Danny.One by one, the students turned back around.
Danny let out the breath he had been holding as Lancer resumed his lesson.
It was going to be a loooooong day.
The trio stood next to Danny's locker, talking in hushed voices. Danny had just finished telling his two friends about the phone calls he had received yesterday, and Tucker had latched onto the prospect of Danny giving an interview.
"For the last time Tucker, I don't want to talk to them! They can figure out what happened on their own." Danny said in exasperation.
"Yeah, just like they figured out your name wasn't Inviso-Bill all on their own." Danny scowled at Tucker. Sam cut in.
"Y'know Danny, Tucker does have a point."
"Ahhh, you too?"
Danny gulped suddenly as he saw a group of girls staring at him and whispering to each other. He quickly stepped behind Sam before continuing the conversation.
"I don't think me giving an interview is the best thing to do." Sam and Tucker glared at him, trying to figure out why their friend was being so stubborn. Well, more thenusual, at least.
That is,until comprehension dawned on Sam's face.
"You're camera shy, aren't you?" She said with a sly grin. Danny blushed, looking at the floor.
"…no." Tucker took one look at Danny's red face andjoined the conversation with a laugh.
"You totally are!" Danny glared at his two grinning friends, wishing his face would go back to its normal shade.
"No! I just, y'know, I…" Danny floundered, looking for a good excuse.
"You just don't want those scary cameras pointed at you!" Tucker laughed as Sam grinned at Danny.
"Yeah, Danny. Admit it, you're camera shy." Danny glared at his two friends, looking at one grinning face to the next. Sighing, he admited defeat.
"Ok, so I might be a little camera shy."
Danny talked louder as Tucker muttered, "A little!"
"But the main reason is that I just don't know what to say to them."
"What to say to who?" Valerie asked, walking up behind Danny. Danny yelped, practically jumping five feet in the air.
Sam marched around and stood in front of Danny as he tried to regain his dignity.
"What do you want?" Sam hissed, glaring daggers at Valerie.
"To talk to Danny, alone!" Valerie said, returning Sam's glare.
"Uh, Sam?" Danny tapped Sam on the shoulder.(Danny had forgotten to tell his two friends about Valerie's call, too caught up in telling them about all the people calling to thank him.)Sam ignored him as she continued her staring contest with Valerie.
"Sam!" Danny sighed, hoping that she was at least listening to him. "It's ok Sam, she apologized for attacking me as Danny Phantom. She's not going to hurt me."
Sam continued to glare at Valerie as she smiled triumphantly back at Sam. Her voice turning sweeter as she directed her question towards Danny, Valerie asked, "So, is the broom closet ok? I want to talk to you in private." Sam's face turned bright red, her fists clenching at her sides.
"Sounds great to me! Any place where people can't stare at me." Danny said, motioning to the group of girls who gasped when Danny looked over at them with a dejected sigh.
The two of them left Sam steaming in the middle of the hallway.
Tucker inched over to her nervously.
"Well, it looks like Valerie still likes Danny, even if he is Danny Phantom." Tucker said with a nervous laugh, slightly jealous of his friend.
Sam could only manage a slight growl. Tucker backed away nervously.
"So, heh… How about we go save Danny a seat in the lunch room?"
Valerie closed the door behind her as Danny turned on the light bulb that swung overhead. Valerie turned towards Danny with her arms crossed.
"I want to know everything." She said firmly. Danny sighed, resigning to telling the whole story again.
"Well, it starts off like this..."
Valerie listened attentively as Danny told her almost everything, (He still left out the Ember incident)but he did tell her aboutVlad's true identity.
"WHAT!"
Danny scowled, crossing his arms.
"Yeah, and he has twenty years of experience on me. Which means that he always kicks my butt." Although that's all going to change this weekend. Danny thought with a grin.
"Vlad…Masters? The one who helped me?" Valerie asked, incredulous. Danny looked up at her, grinning sheepishly and rubbing his neck.
"Yeah, um, he kinda, well… he sorta..."
"Spit-it-out"
"He kinda used you as a pawn." Danny said in a rush. Valerie glared at him as Danny shrank back, his hands held protectively in front of him.
"His words, not mine!" Danny squeaked. Valerie huffed.
"What did he want to use me for, anyway?"
"Well," Danny rolled his eyes, a good excuse for not looking at Valerie when he said the next part. "Mainly to hunt me down"
"…oh." An awkward silence settled over the two. Danny suddenly found the floor quite interesting.
"I-I really am sorry." Valerie finally spoke up, her voice quiet.
"Hey, don't worry about it." Danny grinned at her. "I'm just glad you're on my side now! …you have really good aim." He added as an afterthought, rubbing his arm. Valerie was thankful for her dark skin as she felt her face heat up.
Danny stared at the floor again, wondering what else to say.
"So," Danny looked up as Valerie spoke, "What are you going to do now"
"Um…what?" He looked at her quizzically.
"Y'know, what are you going to do now that everyone knows"
"Oh, that." Danny paused, he hadn't really thought about it. "Well, I guess I'll just do the same thing I always do." He said with a shrug.
"Even though every one hates you?" Danny looked at the floor, his eyes shadowed.
"Sorry, I mean, not everyone hates you. It's just because Paulina and Dash hate you, all the wannabe populars follow their lead without a second thought." Valerie quickly amended, mentally kicking herself.
"It's ok, I really don't care what they think anyway."
"...Danny, you're a horrible liar"
Danny looked up at Valerie smiling at him.
"Yeah, you're right." He sighed, he wondered what else to say, not realizing words were already spilling out of his mouth.
"…after it happened, after everyone found out, I thought the whole world hated me." Danny paused, taking a shuddering breath. He realized what he had justsaid, but continued anyway.
"I was so sure that if the people that I protected everyday rejected me…" That if even the girl who had loved the hero I had once been rejected me… "…then everyone would reject me, think of me as a freak like they did."
"What? No way! High schoolers are just shallow and apathetic! …well, most high school students." Valerie said with a slight grin at Danny. "The rest of the world can actually see and admit that without Danny Phantom, they'd be in a whole lot of trouble." He smiled at her, feeling grateful.
"Fortunately for me, you are right. Well, about the rest of the world part, at least." Valerie nodded, understanding.
"I wasn't the only one who called you that night, was I?" Danny shook his head.
"A lot of people called, thanking me for helping the town. Some of them even calling me a hero…" Danny stared at the floor, remembering.
After a short silence, Danny looked up at Valerie with a smirk. "Even Lancer called me." Valerie burst out laughing.
"Mr. Lancer called you? What did he say?" Danny grinned, replaying his teachers call in his head.
"Well…"
Danny entered the lunchroom, avoiding the stares of the other students as he quickly found his two friends and rushed over, sitting down next to Sam.
Tucker looked up instantly, glad his friend was here. Sam hadn't said a word since Danny had left, and Tucker had since given up trying to strike up a conversation with her.Instead, he had sat at the table nervously, the silence getting to him like nothing else could.
"Hey Danny! What did Valerie say"
"She wanted to know about everything, so I told her." Danny said absently, looking at his food hungrily. (Tucker and Sam had brought over food for him, knowing he wouldn't want to stand in line)
"Ha, I bet she totally freaked about the Ember thing." Tucker said with a laugh. Danny looked at his friend questioningly.
"I didn't tell her about that… Why would she freak over that?" Tucker stared at his friend, wondering if he was joking. He wasn't. Danny had no clue that Valerie had a thing for him.
"Erm, oh… I… I think she was really into Ember"
"Oh," Danny said, not quite convinced. He stared at his friend for a while longer before continuing. "But I did tell her about Plasmius, and she totally freaked out over that!" Dannygrinned as he began to shovel food into his mouth. Sam looked over at him, curious despite herself.
"What did she say?"
"Welmp," Danny swallowed, then, with a laugh, began to tell his two best friends everything.
Just as Danny had finished telling his friends what had happened in the broom closet, the doors to the cafeteria slammed open, framing a frantic girl. She quickly spotted Danny and ran over to his table, her hands shaking.
The usual noise in the lunch room died down as the open doors let in faint shouts and crashes. As one, every student in the lunchroom turned to watch the frantic girl make her way over to Danny.
Reaching Danny, she stopped, panting for breath. Danny stared at her in astonishment, unconsciously leaning towards Sam.
The girl finally caught her breath. Grabbing Danny's shirt with one hand and pointing desperately at the doors with the other, she looked at Danny fearfully before yelling.
"Ghost, attacking!"
Oh man, how the tables have turned! Haha, whew...
Heh, anyway...
This chapter and the next chapter used to be one big chapter, but I cut it down into two just because it was so long. Lots a talkin' in this chapter, next chapter is when all of the action starts. Yay action!
Oh, and I hope this chapter helped to better explain Danny's reaction in chapter 4!
So, updates might slow down a little bit just because it gets so crazy at my house during the holidays. Lot's of stuff to do and what not. Ugh, plus I still have practice on monday thru thursday. But enough about my crazy life!
First of all, (and sorry for the shortness of this but I'm being held at key point to make sure I hurry this up,) Yes! Seems like everyone liked the reactions of the city and his parents... and Lancer! Oh my gosh! I completely spaced on the boy from the Christmas ep, if I get the time I'll go back and add him in! Does calculus have any point besides tormenting hopeful students? Oh, and THANK YOU SOOO MUCH! I hope the rest of this story lives up to your expectations. And here's a great holiday lesson for everyone, never give your friends your keys! (Ow! Damn keys are pointy!)
Happy Holidays! Oh, and review please!