Dedicated to: Stephen, the only boy I ever knew that didn't make me feel like Everybody's Fool...
3) Everybody's Fool
Sam swallowed, her overall cool threatening to crumble as Danny's mocking voice played back in her mind. "I can't believe you just said that," she whispered.
"I-I..."
Even the groups watching were whispering and gasping in shock at the blue-eyed teen's words. The goth girl and the geek boy had been friends forever, but now it looked like he had said something he shouldn't have. At first they had laughed to see the two "love birds" fight, but Danny had gone too far.
"I never want to see you again," the goth girl hissed, slamming her locker. "Ever!" Then she ran away, leaving the teen looking at the ground with his shoulders slumped as she yelled over her shoulder, "I hate you, Daniel Fenton!"
perfect by nature
icons of self indulgence
just what we all need
more lies about a world that
Lilac eyes searched the halls, but she found only Tucker beside their lockers. She sighed; Danny really was staying out of her sight. Sometimes she heard movement from the locker beside hers and guessed correctly that he was invisibly and intangibly reaching for his things.
Something that should have brought the whole school around to tease her had instead made Danny the local fool. When she did catch glimpses of him, he was walking down the halls with his head low as whispers and heated glances were thrown his way.
Even Tucker refused to talk to him, and Danny was left alone at their usual table at lunch. He was picked on more than usual, and his eyes had lost their usual sparkle and brightness. Sam would often see him fighting ghosts, but even the box ghost could elude him now. His control on his powers was slipping, and he had once burned out all the lights in the school because Dash had dared to mention the argument.
Sam opened her locker; nothing came from the one beside hers. She snuck a glance at the photo of the three of them together. How she wished she could make everything right. The usual shuffling in the locker beside hers returned, and she shut her own, an idea in mind. He probably didn't even know she knew he was there, and the halls were empty. No one would notice if he suddenly reappeared. She stole a glance around just in case.
never was and never will be
have you no shame don't you see me
you know you've got everybody fooled
"I know you're there," she said finally, laughing inside as he yelled and tripped, falling on his butt as he returned to visibility.
She said nothing more and walked over him, not even looking back as the black-haired teen picked himself up and stared after her. "She knew he was wondering, but she wasn't going to tell him…not yet at least. She wrote out her plan in homeroom. Since he couldn't just turn invisible in class, he had taken to sitting in the back row far behind her so she couldn't see him. Her next step was to change her seat to the one next to his, which she planned to do right now.
She raised her hand and before Mr. Lancer could even call on her, she asked, "Can I move my seat to the back row?"
Everyone turned to look when a sudden clatter was heard from the back row. Danny had fallen out of his chair and onto the floor, knocking his chair over in the process. He quickly righted the furniture, wincing as the lights blinked while his classmates laughed. Sam silently slipped into the seat beside him without a glance in his direction. She could almost feel the nervousness radiating from him, and she allowed herself an inwardly smug smile. Her plan was working. At lunch, she talked to Tucker about her plan.
look here she comes now
bow down and stare in wonder
oh how we love you
no flaws when you're pretending
but now i know she
"Finally!" the techno geek said. "I know I've been on your side this whole time, but watching Danny get teased like that…" Tucker shook his head.
A burst of laughter erupted from the jock's table, and Tucker and Sam watched as Danny picked himself up off the floor. His lunch now ruined, Danny left the cafeteria alone and without a meal.
"And to make things worse, they're adding starvation to their list," Sam whispered.
After lunch, she and Tucker were at their lockers gathering their books for the next class. Danny ran down the halls; Sam and Tucker recognized the urgency in his eyes. There was a ghost loose. Sam gasped as Dash conveniently put his foot out, and Danny fell hard. He pulled himself up on his hands; the entire hall was laughing at him, and his books and homework were everywhere. It wasn't helping that anytime he scrambled to grab a book the jocks got it first and tossed it back and forth.
Dash tossed one of the books wildly, and Danny tried to catch it but missed. Sam reached out a hand and surprised even herself when she caught it. The whole hall went quiet, and Danny was staring at her as if he was seeing his entire life flash before his eyes. She had had enough. Everyone was picking on Danny because of their stupid fight. Since when did they really care? She handed the book out to Danny who winced before he took it as if he thought she'd smack him with it first. Then she walked away without waiting for a "thank you."
never was and never will be
you don't know how you've betrayed me
you know you've got everybody fooled
She had realized then that Danny never fought back. He had the powers to do so, and he'd done it before. But Sam realized that the reason he didn't fight back was because he was punishing himself for the things he had said. She looked toward Tucker who looked back at her. The same thought was in their minds. Danny was out ghost fighting, and he would need their help.
They caught up with him in the park; Skulker was back to his usual kidnapping tactics and would probably succeed this time. Danny was thrown into a tree near them, and Sam and Tucker ran over to help him up.
"Wh-what are you guys doing here?" he asked in surprise.
"Helping you, stupid." She would've smacked him upside the head if he didn't already look pretty beaten up. "Are you just going to let Skulker add you to his collection? Fight him!"
He looked between her and Tucker, a look of disbelief on his face.
without the mask where will you hide
can't find yourself lost in your lie
"Man, do I have to do everything?" Tucker muttered, before turning to his PDA and hacking into Skulker's system.
The ghost went flying away to "check out a book on purple gorillas" or something while the ghost hybrid was still staring at his two old friends as if he expected the worst.
Sam stared back. "What? It's not like we're going to bite you or something." Danny still didn't move.
"Wow, Sam, you must have freeze vision or something," Tucker said then poked their friend who recoiled in surprise. "Man, he's jumpy."
Sam rolled her eyes. "Danny, don't you get it? We know you're sorry about saying the things you did that day, and I'm sorry about the things I said that day." She rapped her knuckles on Danny's head, and he responded with an "ow" before rubbing his head. "Come on, Danny! I confront you at your locker, I switched seats to sit next to you like I used to, and I helped you in the halls with Dash. I forgive you, okay?"
i know the truth now
i know who you are
and i don't love you anymore
He returned to human form, his eyes seeming to brighten up just a little. "Really?" he asked.
He sounded so much like a bad puppy begging to be forgiven that Sam and Tucker had to laugh. "Yes, really," she said, hugging him.
Of course, Tucker wasn't one to be left out. What could've ended up as a "blushy moment" between the two teens ended up as a group hug with an added invite to hang out at Sam's personal theatre later that night. The three friends were best friends once more.
it never was and never will be
you're not real and you can't save me
somehow now you're everbody's fool
A/N: Nope, no DannySam Romance, but it seems like it might happen afterward no doesn't it? Care to write your own "after" tale? Maybe if I'm really, really, really encouraged by your reviews I might write my own sequels to certain chapters of this story. Like My Last Breath for example. I've been thinking maybe there could be an entire story about little Danny's life without his daddy.