Chapter three
"I asked you to be my boyfriend not my bodyguard, and what the hell is Tucker doing standing there?" Sam asked trying to keep Danny from walking into the girl's bathroom with her. Tucker was standing on the door with a whistle and binoculars.
"I'm just going to check if he's in there and tell I'll stand in the door with Tucker and wait for you." Danny said.
"Danny, he's not a ghost. He can't walk through walls!" Sam tapped her foot impatiently, as he quickly looked around the bathroom. "Is it safe already?"
"Yeah, I'll wait outside." He grinned at her, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, making her roll her eyes and close the door on his nose.
Five minutes later Sam opened the door and found Danny waiting for her with a gentle smile. Her heart melted immediately and she grabbed the hand he offered her.
Poor Tucker was feeling a bit left out, even though he knew everything about the situation. Danny was happy, ready to have the best time of his life. And Sam was still feeling guilty for putting Danny into the mess, the only thing she let him do was to hold her hand in public, which wasn't very convincing to Paulina, Dash and, of course Kyle.
"Relax." Danny kissed their joined hands. He let go of her hand to sneak his arm around her waist, smiling radiantly down at her. They walked through the students that had their mouths hanging open as they passed.
To Danny's delight, they crossed Kyle who was talking with a few teachers in the corridor. The boy stopped mid sentence when he saw Danny and Sam together. Kyle quickly excused himself and walked straight to the pair.
"Sam, can I have a word with you in private?" He asked.
"No, you can't." Sam answered.
"But I have to!" Kyle insisted, only to be cut off by Danny.
"You heard the lady." Danny grinned at him, putting a hand on Sam's shoulder because she was advancing towards Kyle ready to strangle him. "She doesn't want to talk to you."
"Sam, we have a deal." He said, trying to grab her hand.
Kyle's small attempt to touch Sam was enough to make Danny snap. He stepped forward, putting Sam behind him and his eyes flashed green for a second.
"You touch her and you die." He shoved his finger under Kyle's nose.
A few girls that passed by sighed in awe, clasping their hands together and wishing they were in Sam's place. It was just too romantic to see boys fighting over a girl.
"This is ridiculous." Kyle finally said, turning around and leaving the couple alone.
Sam sighed, she was relieved that Kyle had left and annoyed because Danny was overreacting, she rested her forehead against Danny's back, putting her arms around him to give him a hug. Tucker hadn't said a word to it all, but he couldn't help a knowing grin when he realized that Danny and Sam acted more like a couple than it was necessary.
Valerie watched the whole scene, surprised and disappointed to see that Danny had finally chosen between the girls. She had to admit she had it coming from the first time she studied Danny and Sam's interaction. They always had their hands all over each other, sharing casual hugs and kisses whenever was (and wasn't) necessary. She smiled and decided that she should go for her plan B. Her eyes settled on the Techno Geek who was grinning goofily at the scene.
"So, what about we rush to the Nasty Burger?" Danny finally said, turning to his best friends.
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
The trio sat down in the Nasty Burger of the Amity Park Mall waiting for their orders. Danny absently played with Sam's fingers as she observed how interesting his hair looked that day. Tucker was amused that Danny and Sam were so comfortable with the situation. They barely let their guard down in public.
There were a few students at the mall so it was logical that Danny and Sam should continue to pretend, but it was starting to get on his nerves.
"What are you going to do?" Tucker asked.
"What are you talking about?" Sam replied, confused.
"In two hours it's going to be our curfew; it leaves Sam alone in her house with the jerk until school tomorrow." Tucker pointed out, seeing both his friends shrug.
"Danny, could you go to my house with me?" Sam asked.
"Sure, but what for?"
"We're going inside, like a couple and we spend a few minutes in my room. After that you can go away and I'll make sure my door is locked." She explained.
"Do you think that will work?" He asked, nervously. He could picture how 'happy' her father would be to see him sneaking into his daughter's room.
"At least it will keep my parents busy, wondering what is going on. If we make them believe in this, then maybe they can talk to Kyle and his father long enough for me to sneak out and meet you outside. I'm not going to sleep in that house for a month." She said.
"Fine and where are you going to sleep exactly?" Danny asked.
"Danny's house? With him? Same bed?" Tucker joked, making both Sam and Danny blush brightly at the comment.
"No… I was thinking of our tree house." She smiled, bringing old memories back.
"That thing must be rotten." Danny said, remembering the old tree house they had built in Danny's backyard with Jack's help. It was big enough to accommodate two adults in there.
"Well, I was planning on checking it out, if it's not a good idea I can simply rent a hotel room." Sam explained. "I have my own credit card now."
"Fine, let's check out the old tree house." Danny said, standing up.
Thirty minutes later they all agreed that the best thing they could do was to rent a hotel room. Danny ran into his house to grab some snacks and when he returned he brought a note with him, looking confused.
"My parents are out of town for two weeks." He said. "They're visiting Jazz in the college. Looks like she broke her foot."
"Well, problems solved." Tucker laughed. "You two have the house to yourselves."
"Tucker, I swear your mind is always in the gutter." Sam groaned.
"Well, but he's right." Danny smiled at her. "You can stay here for the night and I'll take you home in the mornings before your parents go wake you up."
"I really owe you." Sam sighed.
"Don't worry about it." He grinned, kissing her cheek.
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"It's not that hard, Danny, there's no need to be nervous." Sam said, patting his back as they got ready to walk into Sam's house and show everyone how 'passionate' they were. "You just have to kiss me on the cheek and put a hand around my waist, my parents won't freak out at you." She explained.
Danny took a deep breath and held her from behind, walking up into the house. He laughed softly on her ear, hearing her do the same. He felt her shivering under his light touch. He closed the door loudly behind him.
Mrs. Manson and Kyle showed up from the living room to greet Sam, but were very surprised to see that she had company. She said a small hi to them and led Danny up the staircase and into her room, giggling all the way up.
Danny was going to close the door when Sam stopped him silently, letting it slightly open. She grinned and made him sit on her bed. She sat halfway on his lap and went completely silent; both tried to hear if there was someone coming closer to the room.
Indeed, two minutes later the noise of Mrs. Manson's high heels echoed through the hall.
"Samantha you're not fooling anyone with that little game of yours!" She shouted.
Danny saw the door opening and panicked.
Mrs. Manson walked into the room to see her daughter being kissed full in the mouth by the boy she hated so much while sitting shamelessly on his lap.
"I will not tolerate this attitude, Samantha!" She shrieked. "You have a fiancée!"
Sam broke the kiss, standing up to face her mother.
"I do not; you want me to have a fiancée. But I'm with Danny now. You can't force me!"
"Fine." The woman finally gave up. "But I don't want to see you together inside this house." She stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut.
Danny was ready to hear Sam shouting at him angrily for kissing her, but instead he was very surprised when she gave him a satisfied smile.
"I think they believe us now."
"Yeah… I think they do."
"We're experts at fake-out-make-outs." She laughed, throwing herself into his arms, making him fall back on her pillow. "What would I do without you?" She kissed his cheek.
"You'd probably be getting married in a couple of years." He answered, holding her firmly against him. "Now you better go get changed, lock the door and wait for a ghostly visit in five minutes."
She rolled off him and nodded, opening the door to him and making sure it was locked as soon as he stepped out. She opened her drawer and quickly picked a satin nightgown that she thought pretty decent and got changed.
Exactly five minutes later she felt the temperature drop and looked around, seeing Danny Phantom materializing in front of her with a grin.
"Your mother was apologizing to Kyle when I walked out." He said. "His father seemed very angry." Sam smiled and held out her arms, like a baby that want to be picked up. Danny half laughed and held her close. "We better go to sleep." And then turned intangible, flying them to his house.
Sam was very surprised to see that Danny had arranged a spare bed in his room, right beside his. They grinned at each other and went to their beds, turning off the lights. Unfortunately, they weren't sleepy at all. Fifteen minutes of tossing and turning, Danny completely gave up.
"Sam? Are you awake?" he whispered at her.
"Sort of." She giggled. "This pillow smells so good it's making me sleepy."
"I just wanted to ask you how I was in my first day as a pretend boyfriend."
"You're wonderful." She smiled, prompting her elbow on the bed and resting her head on her hand. "You were a bit paranoid in that bathroom, though. I give you eight out of ten."
"Less paranoia tomorrow, then." He grinned.
"You just have to remember that you're supposed to be my boyfriend, not my bodyguard. As sweet as it may be, protecting me all the time will seem suspicious."
"I get it. But aside that, did I do the rest right? Did I hold your hand right? Did I hug you right?"
"You kept contact and that's really important. If I didn't know your background I'd say you had a girlfriend." She smirked.
"Well, I do have a girl friend that I practice with." He said.
"She's a very lucky girl." Sam said, hitting the pillow again and yawning. "Now, please let's go to sleep."
"Okay. Goodnight, Sammy."
"Good night, Danny."
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"So, did you sweethearts sleep well? Wait, let me remake the question: did you sleep at all?" Tucker teased, seeing his best friends arriving at school together.
"Very funny, Tucker." Danny said, faking boredom. He and Sam hadn't touched hands yet, because nobody was around. It was a relief that for a few minutes they could act as best friends again.
"So, Sam, have you researched arguments for the debate in two days? I doubt you even thought about it." Tucker said, changing the subject before Danny fired his Ghost Ray at him.
"Oh, yeah, I did the best research of my life. I read all Carl Sagan's books and also read Agrippa's Five Ways of Skepticism. They're all college texts and books." She said proudly. "Paulina doesn't stand a chance."
"One day I'll understand everything you say." Danny replied, completely confused.
"You'll understand on the debate." Sam smiled at him, grabbing his had as they walked nearer the school.
"What about Literature paper? It's due today."
"I wrote a poem." She said, proudly.
"Sam!" They heard a girl shouting from school and they looked ahead to see Valerie waving her hands. Danny sighed at the sight and Sam elbowed him on the ribs, remembering him that he was supposed to pretend.
"Valerie?" Sam called back, confused. Valerie never ran to see her; they barely talked to each other. "What is it?"
"I'm not sure you heard about this, but I think I should warn you anyway," Valerie said, handing Sam a magazine with a photo of Sam and Kyle on the cover. "Someone called the press."
"What!" Sam squeaked like a little mouse, holding the magazine in her hands. "How the hell they got that picture?"
"How should I know?" Valerie raised her eyebrows. "There are a dozen reporters waiting for you at school. And by the way," She got closer to whisper in Sam's ear. "You and Danny are pretty convincing for a couple in their tenth year of marriage. You better work harder if you want to fool the journalists."
Valerie waved at Danny and Tucker and returned to school.
"What was that about?" Danny asked, confused.
"She just told me there are journalists in school waiting for me." She sighed, showing them the magazine. "As much as I'd like to blame Kyle for this, telling the press is something only my parents would do."
"Wait!" Danny said, looking at the article. "They're writing it as a big love story, like a contest, it says Miles had a month to win you over. It sounds like a reality show."
"Great." Sam said, sarcastically. "I was in the mood for kicking asses today, anyway." Then she turned to Danny, putting her hands on her hips. "You act like a boyfriend, don't stare at other girls, no Valerie, no Paulina. Tucker, you don't say a word to the journalists about Danny and I."
"I could just fly us inside without anyone seeing us." Danny grinned.
"As masochist as it sounds, I think I'd rather face them now and get it over with." She sighed. "Can you stand by me?"
"Of course."
And the three friends marched to the front of the school, immediately being seeing by their friends, journalists, photographers and a bunch of students that were trying to get the opportunity to stand out.
"It's her!" Someone shouted in the crowd and people surround her and Danny like ants coming out of the earth, walking up their bodies, suffocating them with vicious bites.
"Why have you hidden your relationship with Kyle Miles?" A journalist asked, sticking the microphone under her nose.
"Are you really dating Danny Fenton?"
"Do you love Mr. Miles?"
"Why did you give him a month to win you over?"
"Is it true your wedding dress is being designed by Valentino?"
"Have you kissed?"
"Why are you wearing black?"
Sam tried to walk through them without answering any questions, but she was blinded by the flashes of the cameras and there were people stepping on her toes, making barely walk straight, it didn't help the fact that she was very small. Apparently she wasn't going to walk out of that one without muttering a single word to satisfy them.
Danny held her hand firmly to show her he was there. She also felt Tucker searching for her other hand. Really, those two were like private bodyguards. She half smiled.
"I'm late for class." She said. "Excuse me." And with that, the journalists stepped out of the way, making the school entrance come into view. Sam felt Danny and Tucker pulling quickly into the school, where the journalists wouldn't enter unless they had a proper authorization.
"If I go through that again I'm so going to be social phobic." Sam stated, breathing deeply all the air that was cut from her by the crowd.
"Blame your fiancée for it." Danny growled; the word fiancée was like venom in his lips.
"I blame my parents, not him." Sam said. "When its time to leave, I'll take the offer and go invisible with my favorite halfa." She smirked, making Tucker grin at them. He was going to find someone to bet over his two best friends.
"Sam!" Kyle called her from other side of the corridor.
Sam rolled her eyes, not looking away from Danny and Tucker.
"What is it now?"
"It is about yesterday." He said accusingly; "Your mother was very shocked. My father almost had a stroke."
"It's not your business." She walked past him, she wanted to be alone, no one next to her to see her fury, but before she could go away she felt Kyle grabbing her wrist and turning her around to face him. She couldn't believe the nerve that boy had to do it in front of Danny. "Hey!" She protested, but he didn't let go of her, instead he pressed closer.
"Let go of her!" Danny yelled, yanking Kyle from Sam with a strength that seemed almost unnatural for a human boy. He had his powers go off a bit and almost ruined his cover. He would completely lose it if that rich jerk touched Sam again.
Kyle lost his equilibrium for a second and had to hold himself up in the wall. He was pulled backwards so abruptly that he hadn't noticed Danny had got in between him and Sam.
"You have been warned!" Danny said dangerously.
Kyle never got himself in fights so he chose to walk away before Danny jumped on him. He couldn't risk his reputation when there were so many journalists around, besides he wasn't violent, he found his ways through conversation. He raised his hands showing that he didn't want to fight and, without a word, turned around and walked away, getting lost in the middle of the students that had crowd around them, hoping for a fight.
Danny was seeing red. He wanted to punch that pretty face to hell and back, but Kyle had stepped away. Either he had walked away from the fight out of lack of confidence, either he was a coward or didn't support any kind of fighting, Danny didn't care, he wanted to give him at least a bloody nose. Danny knew he couldn't attack a man who refused to fight back so the whole situation just left his murderous wishes extremely unfulfilled.
Danny turned around to see if Sam was alright, but he didn't see her. She wasn't anywhere near. He sighed in frustration when he heard the bell ringing. Knowing Sam as well as he did, he realized she probably was in class already or in the bathroom kicking the walls.
"Hey, man, calm down." Tucker put a helping hand on his shoulder. "Sam is fine, he didn't hurt her."
"How can you tell me calm down?" Danny asked, frustrated, walking to the classroom. "Next time I see him he's dead meat!"
"You can't think like that, Danny, it's not a school fight." Tucker explained. "He's powerful, he has the media behind him and if you touch him, even a tiny punch, he can sue you."
"I will have to control my temper…" Danny sighed. "I already pity the next ghost that crosses my way."
Tucker laughed sympathetic and opened the door to the classroom, walking inside with a bunch of teachers. They saw Sam sitting on her usual desk; her eyes were slightly red, meaning that she had been crying. That sight broke Danny's heart completely. She had never broken down in public and even though there were no traces of tears on her face, it was undeniable that she had been crying.
He sat by her side and gave her a small smile. She smiled back, but didn't hold the smile for long. She looked at the teacher who had started talking in front of the class. He had asked the students to read their essays out loud and comment.
Sam put her hand up and the teacher allowed her to talk.
"May I be the first? I'm not feeling very well and I'd like to be excused." She said completely ignoring the look Danny was giving her.
"Of course, dear."
Sam stood up, grabbed her notebook and turned it to the right page. All students were looking at her; some were waiting for a love letter to her rich cousin, others were expecting her to confess her undying love for her best friend, but in the end what she read had nothing to do with what anybody expected.
"And She Was Gone" She read the title.
"She chose to walk alone
Though others wondered why
Refused to look before her,
Kept eyes cast upwards,
Towards the sky.
She didn"t have companions
No need for earthly things.
Only wanted freedom,
From what she felt were
Puppet strings.
She longed to be a bird.
That she might fly away.
She pitied every blade of grass
For planted they would stay.
She longed to be a flame,
That brightly danced alone.
Felt jealous of the steam
That made the air its only home.
Some say she wished too hard.
Some say she wished too long.
But we awoke one autumn day
To find that she was gone.
The trees, they say stood witness.
The sky refused to tell.
But someone who had seen it said
The story played out well.
She spread her arms out wide.
Breathed in the break of dawn.
She just let go of all she held...
And then she was gone."
"Very well, Miss Manson." The teacher said, writing down some notes on his paper. "You may go."
Sam thanked him and shoved her book inside her bag, running away from the classroom quickly. Danny tried to get her attention, but couldn't stop her. He asked to go to the bathroom, but the teacher didn't let him before he read his essay, which had two lines of idiotic rhymes about ghosts.
When Danny went looking for Sam, she wasn't anywhere to be found in school.
This poetry belongs to the cartoon As Told by Ginger. As much as I would like to put my own poetries here, I doubt my English poetries are better than this one.
So, here's another chapter done. I hope you like it. I'm getting so many reviews that it is fantastic! I never got so many before! Thank you everyone!