Hello! Okay, back with a new chapter at last. Thanks to my reviewers!
Nakira Ayame Outsuno, DxS is ze COOLEST, lol, Uru Baen, RockPrincess18, XxFadedxMemoriesxX, divalady963, Fey Phantom, Chthonian Raven, SHADOW DRAGON TWISTER, the sleep warrior, jillian asciolla, sammanson, Galateagirl, Raven of the Night676, Slayer of Souls
I want to see how many of you are starting to get it after this chapter… A lot of dialogue for future warning, but it stays with Danny's POV. The next chapter is Sam's.
Disclaimer: "Hanging By A Moment" is owned by Lifehouse.
Chapter Six
Random Thoughts
We'll make it through…
Danny closed his new locker door shut and glanced down the hallway, wiping sweat from his forehead. If it was burning up here, he wondered what the temperature was like in Florida. You know, the state about a billion miles away from Amity Park, Minnesota.
"What the heck is Thoughts class?" Tucker asked, leaning up against the lockers beside him and reading his schedule. "I hate doing any kind of thinking first thing in the morning."
"No clue," Danny said, glancing at his. "I've got the same first hour."
"Well, at least I'll be in good company with people who don't think right," he teased, grinning.
He gave him a look. "Thanks," he said sarcastically.
Tucker sighed, giving a small laugh. He looked back and forth down the hallway. "You know, something I just realized…had we never met Sam, we really wouldn't have had much of a personal life."
"Yeah," Danny agreed, resting his head on the metal doors behind him. "I half expect her to come over and start complaining about the sun, or school, or…heck, Paulina." He smiled for a moment, but it didn't last long as a wave of loneliness crept over him again.
The bell rang for the beginning of first hour and he stood up fully. Tucker noticed his heavier mood and shoved him playfully.
"Hey, did you get her that ring yet?"
Danny stared at him, shaking his head. "Are you ever going to drop that?" They both started walking.
"Never," he replied. "But the question is here, are you ever going to do it…"
"Probably not," he said. "Number one, Sam would freak. Number two, my parents would freak, and number three, I myself would probably have a massive heart attack."
"You…" Tucker blinked several times.
"What?" he asked warily.
"You never said you didn't like her and you didn't throw the usual excuse in," he answered, putting on a deep voice to mock Danny's. "Sam doesn't even like me that way."
"Well, she doesn't," he pointed out.
"Uh huh…keep telling yourself that," he said.
"She--"
Tucker was listening anymore, staring at his schedule again. "I haven't even heard of this teacher. C.A. Bet it's a woman," he said, raising his eyebrows. "Show her my skills."
They walked into the classroom, but it wasn't a woman sitting at the desk, it was a man.
"I think your skills need a little help," Danny muttered over to him, grinning.
"Ah, boys, come in, come in!" the teacher said, standing up and motioning them into the classroom. He was tall and lean, having blue eyes and brown hair. He looked to be about only a few years older than they were, around twenty three or twenty four and was smiling brightly.
"'Sup," Tucker greeted, taking a seat near the middle.
Danny made a face, trying to point to the back as he walked to the aisle, to which Tucker replied by rolling his eyes and standing up.
"And Mr. Fenton, sitting in the back will not get you any avoidance from getting called on. This class will test your shyness that Mr. Lancer has told me so much about," the man said with a smile.
Danny felt his eyes widen and he looked up at the teacher. Not many new teachers knew their students names, let alone their personalities, even if they'd spoken with a current teacher.
"Told you," Tucker said, not seeming to notice anything suspicious and sitting back down. "Sitting in the front means you're a nerd. Sitting in the back means you're antisocial. Sitting in the middle means you're average."
Danny took a hesitant seat beside him, still staring at the teacher, who was playing with the dry erase markers at the head of the classroom, separating the reds from the other colors.
"Can we say OCD?" Tucker muttered.
"Tucker, not everyone who is neat has obsessive compulsive disorder," he said, turning around to face him.
"Sorry," he said, blushing a little.
"No worries," the man replied. "Answer me this, would you?…since this is thought class, how would you describe this color?" He held up a red marker.
"Red?" Tucker tried. Danny almost snorted, trying not to laugh.
"I meant besides that."
"Well, to quote Will Smith, red is a color of fire and passion," he said.
"We're not defining "redneck" Tucker," Danny whispered, laughing.
The teacher laughed and several other students walked inside the classroom, taking their seats. The bell rang only a few seconds after that.
"Alright, happy first day back at Casper High, right?" he asked, stepping up to the front of the classroom.
"Boo," a few people, including Tucker, cheered.
"Yeah, I agree," he said.
A few students looked confused at this statement. Even if teachers didn't like to be at school, they never said it. Especially not new teachers.
"My name is Mr. C, because my last name would make you laugh," he introduced. "But I'm not going to tell you because I simply don't want laughed at, got it?"
"Got it," a few people replied.
Danny glanced at the empty seat in front of him and found himself, despite his likeable feelings towards the class, wandering off. Sam would have sat in that chair…and she would have loved this class…
"So what is Thoughts class?" Paulina Sanchez asked.
"It's where you think," Mr. C replied with a grin. "Think girl, think."
Tucker and several others laughed and Paulina rolled her blue eyes, but her cheeks went a fair shade deeper.
"We're going to play a little game," he said, pacing around the front of the classroom.
Danny set his hands out in front of him on the desk flat and set his chin down between his fingers, vaguely listening. Why couldn't he concentrate? It was only the first day and he found himself wishing he was somewhere else.
"The game has no name, although a lot of people have made up their own versions. The rules are, no cussing whatsoever and nothing else inappropriate and then there are no rules after that," he continued explaining. "What we're going to do is, I'm going to say a word, and then I want you to say the first word that comes to your mind. Got it?"
Tucker and Danny exchanged glances and he shrugged. They'd played it thousands of times. With Sam…of course, he thought solemnly.
"Alright, then! Begin with you, (he pointed to the first column of seats to his right and then to his left) and then end with you, understand?" Mr. C instructed. "Let me hear you say "ready."
"Ready," fifteen voices chimed in.
He pointed to the first student, Kwan Cho. "Football."
"Game," he replied after at least four seconds.
"Chess," Mikey said after another pause. (Kwan, Mikey, Star, Andrew, Ashley, Donna, Paulina, Justin, Danny, Andrea, Tucker, Rachel, Dash, Darren, Sasha)
"Queen."
"England."
"France."
"Art."
"Crayons," Paulina said, the longest pause.
"Red," Justin said, the seat two ahead of his.
Danny had the quickest reply so far. "Blue."
"White," Andrea said, sitting behind him.
"America," Tucker said.
"Flag," Rachel said.
"Uh…stripes," Dash said, scratching his head.
"Stars," Darren said.
"Night," Sasha said.
."Reverse!" Mr. C shouted, pointing the other direction at Sasha.
"Um…day…"
"Month," Darren said.
"July."
"Hot," Tucker said, the second fastest after Danny.
"Cold."
"Winter," Danny said quickly.
"Snow," Justin put in after a second.
"Snow angels," Paulina cooed.
"Haloes," Donna said.
"Heaven," Ashley said.
"Sky," Andrew replied.
"Clouds."
"Rain."
"Mud."
"Reverse again," Mr. C shouted. "This time with an exception. If you have longer than a five minute pause or you say "um or uh" you are skipped, deal?" He pointed to Kwan, grinning.
"Dirt."
"Bikes."
"Um…" Star said, realizing as soon as she said it what she'd done.
"Skip," Mr. C said.
"Cars."
"Fast."
"Slow."
"Turtles!" Paulina shouted rather excitedly.
"Snap," Justin said, pausing longer than necessary but still making it.
"Crackle," Danny said with a grin over at Tucker.
"Pop," Andrea said, catching on.
"Cereal," Tucker put in.
"Uh…" Rachel said. She made a face.
"Skip!" Mr. C concluded.
"Milk," Dash took a bit longer to say.
"Skip!" Mr. C said.
"Cookies," Darren said.
"Chocolate," Sasha said.
"Alright…let's see…three down…let's mix it up a bit." Mr. C looked around and set his hand down on the first two rows on his left. "How about you guys for a while?" Danny and Tucker were both included in it and exchanged smiles. (Paulina, Justin, Danny, Andrea, Tucker, Darren, Sasha) "Go!"
"Raspberries," Sasha said.
"Uh…"
"Skip!" Mr. C said.
"Strawberries," Tucker said.
"Sugar," Andrea said.
"Salt."
"White," Justin said.
"Ah, ah," Mr. C cut in. "White has already been said. Skip!"
"Uh…" Paulina said.
"Skip!" Mr. C interrupted. "Alright. You four. Starting with Sasha, then Tucker, Andrea, and Danny. Go from salt."
"Chicken," Sasha said, after a three second pause.
"Meat," Tucker said.
"Vegetarian," Andrea said.
Danny almost paused, thinking of Sam. "Fruitarian."
"Apples," Sasha said.
"Uh…darn it!" Tucker said.
Mr. C laughed. "Skip!"
"Nuts," Andrea said.
"Peanut butter," Danny said.
"Jelly," Sasha said.
"Messy," Andrea said.
"Room," Danny said, trying not to laugh.
Mr. C couldn't help but do so, as well as others. "Mr. Fenton, you and Andrea."
"Neat," Andrea said as if arguing.
"Cool," Danny said.
"Um…" Andrea said, stuck.
"Skip!" Mr. C intervened. "Mr. Fenton, you and I from cool. Water."
"Fire," he said.
"Spirit."
Danny almost paused again, swallowing. "Ghost."
"Hunter."
"Weapon."
"Invention."
"Works."
"Fenton," Mr. C said with a grin.
Danny shook his head and just said it. "Danny."
"Phantom…"
He felt his eye twitch slightly. "Protector."
"Evil?" It was more of a question.
"Good," he said firmly.
"Nice," Mr. C said, ending the game. "You're the fastest at this game I've noticed. Have you and Mr. Foley and Miss Manson been practicing lately?"
Danny stared, confused. "N—no, not really."
Mr. C smiled at him and stood at the front of the class. "You can tell the personality of a person by playing a game like this with him or her. From playing the game, I know more about you already."
He pointed to Paulina. "Your favorite season is winter and your favorite color is pink. You like to cook." She blinked, her mouth wide open. He switched his gaze onto Kwan. "You play for the football team obviously and you're accepting of a lot of people."
He pointed to Sasha and Donna. "Both of these girls love chocolate and art, and want to go see France when they're older." The girls both gasped and exchanged glances.
He then pointed to Tucker. "You're the funny one out of your friends and make up most of the inside jokes. You are also into technology and like to swoon over girls."
Tucker grinned, shrugging. "Hey, that's me."
He switched his finger onto Andrea. "You love to cook as well and you always eat breakfast in the morning. You're very patriotic and want to join in some type of military services after graduation."
She nodded, smiling at his correct gaze and Mr. C pointed to Danny last. "You have splendid ideas that would get you out of trouble, but you don't necessarily use that for school (Tucker laughed) and even though your parents are ghost hunters, you seem to be a fan or a supporter of Danny Phantom."
Danny looked downcast, thinking. Mr. C was either very good at this or there was something he was missing…Something was definitely suspicious.
"Alright, we've only got about five minutes left, so I'm going to give you your assignment," he said.
A few people groaned and he mocked them, heading over to his desk and picking up a large box.
He set it down on Paulina's desk and opened it up, stuck his hand in and pulled out a fuzzy pink journal and handed it to her.
She smiled and examined it and he handed her the set of silver keys that went with the lock on it.
Mr. C looked around at the rest of the class. "For this semester, I would like you all to keep journals. Now, I realize that it does take a lot of motivation to write down all of your thoughts for one single day, and I'm not going to read through it all, so you don't have to do a daily entry. However, I would enjoy seeing some poetry, pictures, anything you want to put in as well as the journal entries. This is due by the end of the semester and I want it to be full, deal?"
"Deal," a lot more voices chimed in.
"Dash, Kwan, catch!" he said, pulling out two identical football shaped journals and tossing them to them. The two jocks caught them easily and looked through.
He handed Sasha a black, starry journal; Star got a cat shaped one with soft fur around the edges; Justin got an old fashioned, regular looking notebook; Donna received a leather bound calendar notebook; Andrea received a red, white, and blue notebook; he gave Rachel a white one with a yellow stripe; Mikey and Andrew both got identical brown notebooks that had scientific info within the pages.
"Tucker, you'd better take care of this," Mr. C said, tossing him a package instead. Tucker actually gasped as he saw the latest version of a PDA instead of a notebook. "Are you freaking serious?"
"Yes, just, don't overload it, would you?" he asked.
"No problem," he said, already ripping it from the box.
"Danny, here's yours," he said, throwing one up into the air. Danny caught it one handedly and felt soft velvet beneath his fingers. It was blue and opened with a special, mini combination on the side.
"The combination is written inside," Mr. C told him.
"How are you supposed to get it open?" Tucker asked, leaning over. "I mean, if it's on the inside…"
"I think I've got it," Danny muttered, giving the teacher another gaze.
The bell rang and Mr. C called out above the noise of everyone getting to their feet. "Work on your journals. Tomorrow we get to play another game," he said. "I've been thinking about Truth or Dare if your principal will allow it."
Tucker laughed as they walked out of the classroom. "Ha ha, this class is awesome. I can think of a few reasons to come to school in the morning at least."
"Yeah…" Danny replied vaguely.
"You okay?" Tucker asked. "You've been kind of weird."
"I'm fine," he said. "Just…really…"
Tucker followed his gaze and saw Mr. C preparing for his next class, writing something down on the whiteboard.
"Do you think he's a ghost?" he blurted.
"What?" he asked, blinking.
"Well, he's pretty…I don't know, perceptive, don't you think?" Tucker asked. "If he's a ghost, I understand why you're suspicious."
"I…I don't know. My ghost sense didn't go off and he…" he trailed off and shrugged. "I don't know." His pocket vibrated suddenly and he walked over to his locker, pulling his cell phone out. "Who's calling this early and while I'm at school?" he wondered, reading the caller id. He didn't recognize the number, but put the receiver to his ear.
"Hello?"
"I'm falling even more in love with you, I'm letting go of all I've held onto, I'm standing here until you make me move…I'm hanging by a moment here with you…"
Danny pulled the receiver away, looking at it oddly and then put it back. "Hello?"
"Desperate for changing, starving for truth…closer to where I started, chasing after you…I'm falling even more in love with you."
He pulled it back again and the line went dead. "What the heck?"
"What?" Tucker asked, approaching him.
"Where did you go?" he questioned, giving him an odd look.
"I was watching the girls get out of gym all sweaty," he replied with a grin. "Why?"
"You didn't call me?" he asked.
"No…Danny, we're not really allowed to have cell phones in school, remember?" he said. "Who called?"
"I…I don't know," he said. "Sounded like music playing."
"What song?"
"What?"
"What song was it?" he repeated.
"That old Lifehouse song, why?" Danny asked.
"Sam called me once the other day and said the same thing," he said. "Well, not exactly, but it was the same idea I mean."
"Do you think it was Sam?" he said, more to himself than his best friend.
"I don't know, why don't you sneak off and call her? I'll cover you."
"Thanks," he said, walking towards the exit. Instead, he backtracked, remembering the cameras on the campus and walked inside an empty classroom.
He dialed Sam's cell phone and it rang twice before she answered.
"Hello?"
"Sam!" he said, feeling relieved at hearing her voice.
"Danny, hi!" she exclaimed. "You know…as much as I'm excited to hear from you, it's only six o'clock here."
"Oh, sorry," he said.
"It's fine," she replied.
"Can't miss your beauty sleep huh?" he teased, sitting down on the edge of a desk.
"Shut up," she groaned. "How are you?"
"I'm fine. I miss you," he told her.
"I miss you too. I start school today," she said.
"We just finished an interesting first hour," he said, sighing. "The teacher is kind of creepy."
"Bad creepy?" she asked.
"Not really. Just strange creepy. I think you would have liked him." She laughed and he heard her yawn. "Well, I'll talk to you later so you can go to sleep."
"It's fine," she assured him. "The parentals will be in here soon anyways. Will you call me later?"
"Yeah," he said, suddenly remembering the reason he'd called her in the first place. But she'd been asleep….right? "Look…did you call me earlier?"
"No…Danny, I was asleep," she said slowly.
"Yeah, I know…I just had the weirdest phone call," he said.
"Hmm…" she replied. There was a noise in the background and she shouted, "Yeah, yeah," but not to him. "Hey zone boy, I've got to go, kay?"
"Yeah," he said. "I'll talk to you later. In fact, tonight, I'll come visit you."
"You have my address still?" she asked.
"Yep," he answered. "I'll surprise you."
"You scare me and I will make sure I get my revenge," she warned.
He laughed. "I'll remember that."
"Bye Danny," she said.
"Bye…"
He closed the phone and sighed, leaning back on the desk. He closed his eyes for a moment. The bell had rung about two minutes ago, but he didn't care. Besides, it wasn't like he would get into trouble.
The door opened suddenly and he sat straight up as a figure stood in the doorway. "Mr. Fenton, what on earth are you doing?" Mr. Lancer asked.
Or not.
Hee hee. Ah, sweet romance. I'm beginning to enjoy this story so much more, so that's probably why I'm updating it a lot more.
Please R&R! I don't have a sneak peek, but I have what's going to happen in my head, but right now it's not really making any sense, so I'm not going to include one. Hopefully I'll update sooner at least!
Lateraina Wolf
