Thank you Nom de Plume for beta reading this chapter.

Chapter Three

Sam stared at the note Star handed her before class as if it was a snake about to bite her. The fact that Star handed it to her so nicely, with pleasant smile on her face, made things weird enough.

Tucker, who was sitting beside her, looked at Sam, then the note. "Who's that from?" he asked.

"Dash, I think," Sam replied as she looked around. He hadn't shown up to class yet.

"Are you going to read it or stare at it?" Tucker asked. Sam gave him a pained look, then read the note. She smiled and chuckled a little as she shook her head. Tucker took the note and read it over.

"He'd love to hear some of your poems, Sam," Tucker teased then gave her a very serious look. "I mean he's really trying hard."

"Yeah," Sam said as she folded up the note.

"'Admiringly and lovingly'?" Tucker continued. "From Dash? I mean, I know you'd rather it were from Danny, so it kinda has to upset you."

Sam closed her eyes and willed Tucker to shut up. She looked at him for a moment and he stopped talking. "When I see him in P.E.," she started. "I'm going to turn him down. Nice and gentle."

Tucker let out a deep breath. "That's good," he said. "I mean if it were anyone but Dash…" He smiled. "At least it's an opportunity to make Danny jealous."

Sam bit her lip as she looked thoughtfully at Tucker for a minute, then turned and began taking notes as the teacher started talking. Her thoughts wandered to Dash. She wondered what kept him from third period, and what other things he'd do to try to convince her to go out with him.


"Hey," Dash said as he came up behind Sam, who was changing books from her locker again.

"Uh, hi," Sam said carefully.

"Can I like borrow your notes from class? I really can't afford to fail, you know?" Dash asked quickly.

Sam gave him a pained look. "Then why weren't you in class?" she asked in annoyance.

"I went to the nurse," Dash said honestly as he started walking down the hall with her.

"I'll copy them for you, okay?" Sam said. "I'm not trusting you with my notebook." Mostly because it had Danny- and Danny Phantom-related doodles all through it.

"Thanks, Sam," Dash said as he hugged her with one arm. "I gotta get to class. I'll see you at lunch, maybe."

"Bye," Sam said, then shook her head and continued to class.

Danny was waiting for her at the door to the science class they shared. She said nothing as she walked past him then sat down at their usual table.

"Tuck told me about the note," Danny said. "You haven't changed your mind, have you?"

"No," Sam said emotionlessly. "I have absolutely no reason to change my mind."

"So Tuck and I can count on you for movies on Friday?" Danny asked softly, picking up on the fact that Sam was still not in the best of moods. Her answer disturbed him deeply.

"I don't know," she said. "I mean, I might not feel like it." Danny watched her for a minute then turned his attention to the teacher.

She said she wasn't, but he knew she was seriously considering accepting Dash's invitation. He couldn't explain why, but he felt like banging his head on the desk. He knew that if he said one word other than in support of whatever she wanted to do, it would push her straight into Dash's arms.

Dash's arms? Danny thought. He felt as though he was going to become physically ill at the thought. The only thing which could make him feel worse was the thought of his mother and Vlad Masters together, or, for a worse twist, his sister Jazz and Vlad together. It was too unspeakable to even contemplate.

He looked at Sam out of the corner of his eye as she was busy transferring notes from her note book to loose paper.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Dash missed third period and needs notes," Sam answered. "He asked to borrow mine. I said I'd copy them for him."

"You're copying notes for Dash?" Danny asked sickly.

Sam rolled her eyes. "It's not like I'm marrying him. They're class notes, Danny. Notes for social studies. There's nothing romantic about it. In fact, I believe I've done the same thing for you dozens of times."

Danny only nodded his head. He felt like grabbing he notes from Sam and ripping them up. He felt, well…jealous. Jealous of Sam copying notes for Dash. He sighed deeply.

"You're just wasting your time, Sam," he finally said. "It's not like Dash is smart enough to understand the way you take notes and your abbreviations, like I do."

Sam smiled slightly and showed Danny the notes she made for Dash. Everything was written out clearly and concisely. Danny frowned as he passed the paper back to her then looked for another argument.

"Isn't Star in your class?" Danny asked. "Why can't he get notes from her?"

"I don't know," Sam replied calmly. "Why don't you ask him that? There is no way I could possibly understand his motivations."

"I think his motivations are obvious, Sam," Danny nearly hissed. "He wants you."

Sam's eyes widened as she looked at Danny, whose cheeks flamed bright red. "I mean he wants you to go out with him," he said quickly. "It's obvious he's just trying to butter you up. Keep himself on your mind, and all that."

"We've been through this, Danny. I'm not going out with him. Can we let this die now?" Sam asked softly.

"Yeah," Danny answered then watched as she returned to copying notes. He frowned then looked up at the teacher who was busy helping Paulina with the science experiment she couldn't seem to understand. He put his elbow on the table and his head on his hand as he looked down at his science notes. Yeah, they were supposed to be working on an experiment of their own, but the teacher would never notice; he was too busy with Paulina and her deliberate attempt at keeping the class time free.


Errol sighed deeply as he guided Dash throughout the day. The boy was an idiot. He had several reservations about putting him and Sam together. Somehow, he liked the girl. Her independent spirit was refreshing; and her heart, he knew, was sweet and true.

Dash sat in his math class and frowned. "Hey guy in my mind, can you like help me with this math problem? I'm like totally stumped."

Errol told Dash forcefully that he needed to do things for himself, that his problem was that too many people let him skate by just because of his looks, popularity, reputation, and athletic abilities.

"An education is important, Dash," Errol said. "It's what's going to keep you from living in a rundown trailer, bald with a pot belly and twenty kids running around calling you Daddy at thirty. Do you really want that for yourself?"

"Dude," Dash said. "I'm going to be a football star. Major player. I'm gonna be in the hall of fame someday. All I need to know is how to sign my autograph."

"You are so deluded," Errol growled. "What are you going to do if your knee blows?"

"Not gonna happen," Dash said confidently. "I'm like in top shape. I take good care of myself. I eat right, get plenty of rest and exercise. I'm good."

"You are so unbelievably shallow," Errol replied. "There is more to a person than looking and feeling good. You have to take care of your mind as well as your body."

"Whatever," Dash said. "My problem now is, if a turntable rotates through seven hundred twenty degrees in one second, how many revolutions does it make in one minute?"

"One hundred and twenty," Errol answered. "But it won't do any good if you don't know the process that brought me to that answer."

"Then what good are you?" Dash asked in annoyance. "I though you said you were me but smarter, dude!"

"I'm here to help you win Sam, not help you with your school work," Errol replied dryly.

Dash leaned on his hand as he doodled some numbers on his work sheet then put the answer, 120, down in the box. Errol said nothing.

"What class is next period?" Errol asked.

"Lunch," Dash answered.

Errol was relieved. "All right, here is what you're going to do," he started.


Sam, Danny and Tucker stopped dead in their tracks as they entered the lunch room. Sitting at their table with two salads beside him was none other than Dash himself.

"Hey guys," he said to Tucker and Danny. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind if I borrowed Sam for lunch. I'll give her back to you like after, okay?

Danny had to close his eyes to force them from going green. "She's not a possession you can just borrow," Danny replied. "And instead of asking us, you should be asking her. Don't you think?"

"Dude," Dash said as he put up his hands. "Don't get your boxers all in a twist. I was just trying to be considerate, you know, and give you like a voice in whether or not I steal Sam from you." The challenge in his eyes was unmistakable to Danny.

"Well, how about asking me?" Sam said in irritation. "Because I'd like to turn you down quickly. I'm really hungry."

Dash turned to Sam. "Okay, I know I started out sounding kinda jerky, but my intentions were good. Would you please, please sit with me. Please?"

Sam bit her lip. It couldn't hurt and it would give her the opportunity to turn him down nicely. She looked at Danny and Tucker who now standing behind Dash and both acting like idiots. Danny was shaking his head and mouthing "Say no" and Tucker was mimicking hanging himself.

Sam looked at Dash who looked almost like he was ready to be crushed. "Okay," she said. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Dash's face lit up as he moved forward and picked her up in a bear hug, spinning her around happily. Danny and Tucker both stopped what they were doing and opened their mouths in shock.

Dash put Sam down. She gave him an odd look then said, "Don't do that again." As she straightened her clothes. She turned to Danny and Tucker, who were looking at her like she had just lost her mind.

"Go ahead, Dash," she said. "I'll be with you in a second."

Dash hesitated a moment, then grabbed the salads and walked away. He cast a quick glance at Danny and Tucker and narrowed his eyes at them. Sam turned to her friends.

"Sam!" Danny said softly, his voice conveying his panic. "What are you doing?"

"I figured it would be easier to turn him down if I'd spent some time with him. It's one lunch hour."

"That's one hour of your life you'll never get back," Tucker warned.

"Don't worry about me, guys," Sam said as she started walking toward the table Dash moved to. "I know what I'm doing. I'll be fine." Tucker and Danny stood for a moment then moved to the lunch line, still in shock.

Danny looked back at Sam as she sat with Dash. He frowned deeply then looked ahead. He took several deep breaths then looked at Tucker.

"Dude," Tucker said. "There is like something really weird going on. I mean, Sam and Dash? That's just too weird." Danny only nodded his head, then looked at Sam again. She was laughing at something Dash had said, and Dash was wearing a very content expression on his face. Danny took his lunch back to his table, but ended up giving everything to Tucker. He had no appetite.


Sam looked at the salads on the table, then looked at Dash. She smirked a little as she sat down then looked at the tiny green salad and then at the tall muscular boy sitting next to her.

"You know," she said gently, "you don't have to eat salad just because I eat salad. I understand perfectly."

"No," Dash said. "I thought, you know, I could like try it once."

Sam shook her head. "You're going to be sorry when you're starving in P.E."

"I'll be fine," Dash assured her and smiled at her almost shyly. "Thanks for sitting with me."

Sam sighed heavily as she picked at her salad. "The only reason I agreed to sit with you, Dash, is to explain why I can't go out with you on a date…ever."

"Why?" Dash asked sadly. "Is it because I'm a jock? I can't help being who I am, Sam. I mean, I'd think you of all people wouldn't be judgmental of people and how they choose to live their lives."

Sam swallowed hard and began, "I just don't think we have anything in common. I don't think we'd get along at all."

"I beg to differ," Dash said quickly. "I think maybe we have more in common than you think." He blushed slightly. "Besides, I think you are smart, funny, beautiful and amazingly sexy."

Sam blushed slightly and raised her eyebrows. "You think I'm sexy?" She laughed and Dash blushed further.

"Well, yeah," Dash admitted. "I'm not embarrassed about thinking it, either. Anyway, you like are so physically fit and all. Have you ever like thought of joining the track team? We could really use a pair of legs like yours."

Sam smiled and almost laughed again. "I don't do sports, Dash. Really."

"But you'd have so much fun. Are you like cutting yourself out of something you'd enjoy because like it doesn't fit with your image?"

"No," Sam answered. "I don't do sports because I don't want to."

"I guess that's cool," Dash said. "But you could like totally kick butt!"

Sam leaned on her hand and smiled at Dash. "I already do," she said. Dash smiled back at her.

"Yeah," he said almost dreamily. "You do."

"But really, Dash, just because you admire the fact that I'm athletic, does not mean we should go on a date with each other." She looked back at Tucker and Danny who were trying to watch her covertly and failing.

"It's because of them, isn't it?" Dash asked as he pointed to Danny and Tucker. "It's because I've been so mean to them. I'm sorry, Sam. I'd take it back if I could, but you have to understand, it's what's expected of me!"

Sam gave him an angry look. "Picking on people who are weaker than you is expected of you?"

Dash nodded his head. "You'd have to meet my dad to understand. He like totally is on my back all the time. He expects so much of me it's sickening."

"I know what you mean," Sam said as she dug into her salad. "My parents are always on my back about my duties as their daughter and so on. I just ignore them, though. They say jump, I duck. They say stop, I run. They say run, I stop. It's taken a lot of work but I've established myself as an individual independent of them, and I think, well, I hope, they're accepting it."

Dash leaned his head on his elbow as he watched Sam. "My father like lives his life through me. It's totally disgusting."

"You don't have to play their game, you know," Sam told him. "I mean, yeah, play by the rules, just bend them a little. Take charge of your life, Dash."

"My father would freak if he found out I was dating someone who isn't on the A-list. You could help me escape, Sam," Dash said teasingly.

"Wait," Sam said as she held up her hands. "This has gone from asking me on one date to dating me. You want to date me?"

"Yeah," Dash said happily. "I already know I like you, and whether you like it or not, we are getting along right now, and I think we have tons in common."

Sam shook her head in disbelief as Dash offered her his JV football pin. "Dash," she said softly. "You are moving way too fast. We've never gone on a date and up until a few days ago, I was pretty sure you hated me."

Dash looked down at the pin in his hand. It was the voice in his head's idea to offer it to her. He himself knew she'd decline and he'd feel utterly crushed. He sighed deeply and closed his hand over the pin.

"Well," Dash said softly. "The past doesn't matter. I like you now. I want to date you now."

Sam shook her head. "Well, let's see how our first date goes, okay?"

"Really?" Dash said excitedly. "So that means it's a yes? You'll go out with me Friday? What should we do? Do you want to go to a movie? Or maybe we could go to that bookstore or something. Bowling?"

"Hold up there, cowboy," Sam said. "Don't get overly excited, okay? I mean, it's just one date and it's just to prove that you and I don't click."

"Oh," Dash said, then frowned thoughtfully. "Okay, but what do you want to do?"

"Bowling sounds kind of fun," Sam said almost shyly. Dash smiled back.

"So can I like have your phone number?" he asked. "And since tomorrow is Friday, I can pick you up at like six. Okay?"

Sam took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Somehow she had been tricked into going on a date with Dash Baxter. She looked over her shoulder at Tucker and Danny. Both the boys were still pretending not to watch.

"We've got like thirty minutes 'til lunch is over," Dash said gently as he watched Sam's gaze. "Maybe you should like go spend some time with your friends. We'll get to see each other in P.E. anyway and…if it's okay, I'll call you tonight."

"Thanks," Sam said not fully registering what Dash said. "I'll talk to you later."

"Bye," Dash said happily then watched he walk away.

"See how easy that was," Errol said to Dash. "You take things easy, make her feel comfortable, and she'll turn to putty in your hands."

"Dude, I'm like totally psyched. But I am going to really need your help later, because I really don't want to blow this. I mean, I could even marry her one day."

"Whoa!" Errol laughed. "You're just a kid. Don't get too far ahead of yourself."

"Sorry," Dash said as he walked across the cafeteria and sat with his friends, who looked at him warily. Over the last day or so the Dash they knew and feared had changed, and they weren't sure what to think about it.


"Well?" Danny said as Sam sat down across the table from him and looked at both he and Tucker.

"Well what?" Sam asked, wanting to skirt the issue that she had actually said yes to Dash.

"He seemed to take your refusal pretty well," Tucker said. "I mean, we thought maybe he'd freak out on you or something."

"I didn't refuse him," Sam replied quickly as she kept her eyes on the table.

"You what?" Danny and Tucker asked in horrified unison.

"We're going bowling," Sam continued. "On Friday."

"Oh yeah, that's romantic," Tucker laughed. Sam looked up and met Danny's eyes. He looked at her questioningly for a moment, then shook his head in confusion.

"Well," Danny finally said. "It's not like Tuck and I have a right to tell you who you can date, right?"

"Darn right," Sam agreed, not breaking eye contact with Danny.

"Even though you told us you weren't going out with him," Danny continued. "We were under the impression that it would never happen."

"Things change," Sam told him as she finally looked away from his stare. "I mean, I sat with him. I talked to him, and I thought it might be fun. It's just bowling. It's not like he asked me to a dance or something. What's romantic about bowling?"

"Nothing," Tucker said as he looked at Danny.

"I mean, I bowl with you guys all the time. It's not romantic," Sam continued then frowned, feeling bad for reasons she couldn't explain.

"Even though you said," Danny continued, "that you were going to let him down easy…"

Sam rolled her eyes. "He kinda trapped me into it," she said in annoyance. "Before I knew it, I was telling him yes."

"You can break the date," Tucker suggested.

"I don't want to break the date," Sam growled.

"Do you want me to follow you?" Danny asked. "In case Dash is up to something and you need help?"

Sam narrowed her eyes at Danny. "You're not going to spy on me, Danny. I'm serious. I'll keep my cell phone with me and if I need your help I'll call, okay?"

Danny looked at Tucker a moment. He was shaking his head in disbelief. "Okay," he said sadly to Sam as he looked down. "I still don't think this is a good idea."

Sam bit her lip and looked at Tucker. He gave her a questioning look and she shrugged her shoulders.


Errol was exhausted. He needed to get back to the Ghost Zone and recharge his batteries, but unfortunately he was unable to leave Dash to his own devices where Sam was concerned. The last thing the ghost needed was for the jock to blow his chances by doing or saying something stupid.

It wasn't until the end of school for the day, when there was no chance of Dash interacting with Sam, that he made his escape. Unfortunately, he miscalculated how close and how sensitive Danny's ghost sense was and before he knew it, the ghost boy was on his tail.

Errol was bobbing and weaving tiredly back to Fenton Works when he caught site of the streak of black racing toward him. He nearly shrieked in terror as he sped up, knowing that he couldn't possibly fly as fast as the ghost hybrid.

Looking around in panic, Errol realized he had nowhere to go. If Danny caught him, he'd put him in the thermos and it would be at least eight hours before he could recharge and get out again, and even then it would be dangerous as his strength would be greatly reduced.

Danny began firing ectoplasmic blasts and Errol sped up. The ghost boy chased him all the way back to Fenton Works and all the way through the portal.

Danny stood staring at the portal. He'd thrown hundreds of ghosts back into the Ghost Zone. Never had he experienced a situation like this, where a ghost went back willingly. He wondered who and what the ghost was, but didn't allow himself to think too hard on it as his cell phone rang. It was Sam making sure he was all right.

A flush of warmth flooded through Danny at the sound of her voice. He sighed deeply and told her the ghost got away. He wondered if he would lose her if she really started dating Dash. He shuddered; would Sam stop hanging around with he and Tucker? Would they stop being friends?

"Got away?" Sam asked in disbelief. "How?"

"It went back through the portal," Danny answered. He listened as Sam conveyed the news to Tucker.

"So," Sam said. "Wanna come to my house for homework? Or should we just come there?"

"Just head to your house," Danny answered. "I'm gonna do a quick sweep of the area, then I'll be over."

"Okay," Sam said, then ended the call.

Danny went invisible then flew around Amity Park for a few minutes. He'd been unable to even get a visual on the ghost he chased back into The Ghost Zone. Something niggled in his brain. Some alarm was going off, trying to make a connection between the ghost's appearance and something else.

He finally flew into Sam's room. She was lying on her stomach on the floor, going through her notebook. Tucker was sitting not too far away, leaning with his back against Sam's bed. He observed Sam for a minute with a very unfamiliar ache in his heart. He stared at her, taking in her appearance and realizing just how attractive she really was, and wondering why he'd never really seen it before.

While keeping his distance, so that she wouldn't be able to detect him, Danny floated close enough to look into her eyes. She looked up, said something to Tucker, and laughed. Danny would have laughed, too, if he hadn't wanted his presence to be unknown. He watched as she bit her lip then looked out the window.

"I wonder what's keeping Danny," she said worriedly.

"What do you care," Tucker said teasingly, with a little bit of bitterness in his tone. "You're like Dash's girl now." Sam threw her pen at Tucker, but his only response was laughter.

Danny really felt sick now. Sam and Dash. Together. Sam as Dash's girlfriend. A strange sense of panic welled up in Danny's chest. He realized that he didn't want Sam to date Dash not just because it was Dash, but more because it wasn't him. He wanted Sam for himself. He sighed miserably, knowing that if he said anything now, Sam would accuse him of pretending to have feelings for her just to keep her from going out with Dash. He would have to be patient and wait for the Dash thing to blow over; then he would talk to her.

I just hope I'm not too late, he thought sadly.


Oh, and quick credit to Deeds, thanks for the line about Dash and autographs. :-)

Again, credit goes to Nom de Plume for working as my beta reader.

OK REVIEW!