I Live for the Sound
A Collection of One-Shot Song Fictions
Don't Know Why-
Her feet dangled in the water. Her arms rested against the railing that protected an unwary child from falling in and drowning. The stream distorted her image as it gurgled along its happy little path and she felt that now here outer shell matched within her utmost inner self: chaotic. Maybe that was because of what had just happened. Maybe that's why she had run and run through the dirt and rocks and stumbled onto a paved road, where she had run until she couldn't run anymore; and that's how she found herself at the little bridge where the water had risen because of the recent rain. Now, here she was, exhausted, and she wanted nothing more than to turn around, go back and say the hardest words that were deemed impossible.
"I'm sorry."
Sam Manson never apologized. She wasn't one to roll over and say it so easily. Sure, it had been a few times, but that was when she was accepting a loss of a sort, like when Ember had put Danny under that spell. She had said she was sorry she broke his heart, because she truly was, but she knew she wasn't wrong in doing so; but this… What she had done was wrong. She had no right to do what she had done. It had been mean, it had been spiteful, it had been hurtful, and she had done it to the most important person in her entire life.
She had hurt none other than Danny Fenton.
Well, of course she had hurt him before: punching, kicking, pinching, and the list went on and on some days. Hell, she had done verbal abuse before too, but that was when he deserved it. That was when he was always a jerk and fawning over Paulina, or blaming her for something she never did. He was always like that, but then again, he was a boy, too. Boys were stupid that way and she always took that into account. It was that he was dumber than most boys as well. That's what irked her so much sometimes. She knew he could be smart, but then there were many instances where he was completely clueless, like when it came to her. He never paid attention to the signs. Never; and now her frustration at his inability to react and act had taken its toll on her and she had blown it.
Sam Manson blew up at Danny Fenton. Big time…
"I'm such an idiot," she muttered. She felt the beginnings of hot tears prick at the corners of her eyes. She banged her head against the railing, stubbornly pushing back what she called a weakness. However, if she was calling tears a weakness, she should throw in her own stubborn pride as well, but she couldn't. That was the pride talking. "How could I be so…stupid?" She banged her head against the railing on the word "stupid." It stung a little, but it felt good. "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!" On each word, she emphasized it with a bang on the metal. "Stup—ow!" The last hit had been particularly hard and she winced at the sudden headache. She pressed her hand against her forehead and when she looked at it, there was blood on it. She sighed. "Great. I'm both stupid and bleeding."
…
That's when she noticed it. She saw the sign glinting on the road that read: Amity Park, A Nice Place To Live. Had she really run that far? She was on the outskirts of town! Where was she now? Where the hell was she? How was it possible for her to get out this far; and yet… There was the sign. Why did she have a feeling that it meant more to her than just a welcoming?
A Nice Place To Live.
I waited till I saw the sign,
I don't know why I didn't come.
I left you by the house of fun,
I don't know why I didn't come,
I don't know why I didn't come.
She disentangled herself from the guard railing and took a few steps to the sign. She studied it intently and wondered to herself. Should she have gone to Danny? Why didn't she go and see him? She knew he'd be patrolling in Amity Park tonight, but it was as if she had no desire to go, but that wasn't the real answer. She didn't really know the answer to why she didn't go to see him.
The troubling thoughts left her and she tried to stop the sorrow that was starting to hit her. Sadness coursed through her veins and she walked down the hill so she could stand along the edge of the stream and dip her hands into the cooling water so that it soothed her. She looked around, as if there might be someone watching her, and she sat down. It was first her boots went off, then the socks, and her feet were free to feel the fresh, summer air of evening. She wiggled her toes a few times, and then, very decisively, dipped her feet into the water and shuddered at the small shock it gave her. Yes, it was quite cold!
Time passed. She wasn't sure how much, but a few stars began to wink at her in the sky above. No one would be looking for her, worrying about her. She knew it. She just knew it. Mom and Dad were never home and Grandma was off being really, really strange. Danny was furious at her, maybe (she hoped) sad. He would probably be avoiding her at all costs, at least until he wanted her apology, and then he'd bug her to no end because he knew for once that he was right and she was wrong. Tucker would give advice like usual, but she knew he wanted to sit this one out. What she had said bit at him too. It had cut deep in all of them, and the saddest thing was that it had started off as a silly little argument.
Something small and wet fell into her upturned palms. She blinked her eyes in surprise and a few more little drops fell onto the exposed flesh.
Was she…crying?
When I saw the break of day
I wished that I could fly a way,
'Stead of kneeling in the sand,
catching teardrops in my hand.
She remembered the fight so vividly now. They had just finished school. That's right, she wanted to get home and tidy her room up because the guys were coming over to her house for once. After all their begging (actually, it was bugging), she had caved in and agreed to let them come on over. It wasn't that which had started the argument, no. It was that Latino who thought so highly of herself, who everyone worshipped for no other reasons than her wealth and beauty. It was Paulina, always Paulina, no matter what. She had sauntered up to Danny, swaying her hips in an exaggerated manner, causing her best friend to turn his head and pull everything out of his locker by accident, which made it all fall on her foot.
Yes, she remembered it so clearly:
The books, the notebooks, binders, and even the damned shelf tumbled onto the ground as he turned his head and let his jaw drop as far as it could go. Meanwhile, his forgotten contents of his locker had fallen and every single of his possessions decided they'd defy some small part of gravity and hit Sam's feet; every, single, possession. She gave a loud yelp, but Danny didn't notice. He never noticed her when Paulina came around. Sure, she knew that she was an outcast, the infamous Goth, but she didn't have to be invisible when a prettier member of the opposite sex came around. Hell, Paulina wasn't even that good looking.
"Hellooo Dan-e!" Paulina greeted. She emphasized the "e" sound in his name so that it might sound horribly Spanish and all she succeeded in doing was chewing the word and to Sam that was as good as scratching nails down the chalkboard. She fought the urge to cover her ears and looked suspiciously as the dark haired beauty. Paulina held up a pair of tickets. "There's a movie marathon on those Teacher movies. Do you know about them?" Danny could only nod dumbly and she flashed him a dazzling smile as she struck a pose so that she cutely scrunched herself up. Sam never knew how a girl could pull that off. "Well, you see," she formed a small pout at this point, "I like horror movies, but I get soooo scared." She batted her eyelashes and Sam had the most sickening feeling that this charade would work on Danny. "And I know that I go with my girlfriends on these kinds of things, but they're busy with everyone else, and then I remembered how strong and protective Dan-e was." She practically gushed at Danny's "strength and protecting." Right. "So I thought that you could go with me on Sat-ur-day!" She played out the syllables in Saturday in a sort of singsong voice, waving around the tickets. She looked at him, her eyes flashing. "So, what do you say?"
He corrected his drooling problem from staying slack-jawed so long and opened his mouth to speak when Sam interrupted him, stomping her already sore feet to get around the stupid boy. She held up a pair of tickets all her own that were for Friday night. "Sorry, but he's going with me on Friday." The look on Paulina's face was priceless, sort of a cross between crestfallen and disbelief. Sam felt a small shout of triumph well up inside her. "Now, it just doesn't make any sense for him to go both days, right? Beside, we have to study Saturday and Sunday for finals. You know how important grades are." Maybe she shouldn't have taken it that way, but the ugly rage that came across Paulina's face was priceless, too. "Now, if you'll excuse us…"
Tucker let out the breath he had been holding and bent down to pick up the fallen books while Sam gave her rival a challenging look. For some reason, the Latino decided to take her up on it.
"But Dan-e could study on Friday and Sunday and go to the movies with me on Saturday," she countered haughtily.
"But that breaks up studying. It doesn't make any sense."
"Doing nothing but schoolwork for two days straight doesn't make sense either. He needs a break in between or after, not before." My, my. The girl did have a point, a smart one at that, and it surprised Sam. "See? Therefore, he should go with me."
"But you don't back out of a previous commitment and he committed with me. What you're suggesting would be breaking that. It isn't plausible. Danny doesn't go back on his word." That was sort of an outright lie, but Sam knew enough about Danny to know that she knew nothing about him. It was such a great feeling when things worked that way. "You just can't win, Paulina."
"Uh, guys," Danny tried to butt in.
"Oh but I do." The smile she flashed was dazzling, but also cold, very cold. "I always win, Sam. You may have the brains, but I have the looks and the money to beat you out every time. I know how you think, Goth girl." She leaned over to Sam so that only she could hear the next few words. "And no matter how hard you try, you're too much of a loser. He'll never look your way. If he happens to do so, it's because I'm right behind you. I can have him anytime I want." She gave a horrible grin. "A weirdo-Goth-vegetarian-know-it-all can't attract boys, not even those lowest on the social ladder." She flipped her hair, laughing smugly. "He'll go with me and that's the end of it all."
"Guys?" Danny weakly lifted up a finger, but the two shot him withering looks.
She wanted to hit her, she really did, but rules were you could only defend. If you started it, you were in trouble. At least defense only got two days detention where the starter would get at least a week. Yes, all Sam had to do was push the bitch over the edge, that was it, and she had the perfect idea how to.
"If you boys will excuse me." She began to saunter again, but looked over her shoulder. "I'll see you on Saturday, Dan-e." She began to walk off.
"Paulina, no matter how hard you try, getting into Danny's pants won't get you the ghost boy." She shouted loud enough for everyone to hear. The Latino stopped dead in her tracks and the hallways hushed in shock. Sam put on a nonchalant expression. "You think you're so clever? I'm not sure if giving up your virginity to the boy ranked lowest on Casper High's student body is going to do the best for your social life."
"I am not a virgin!" the girl shouted. "I've slept with more boys than your entire family has!"
"I'm not sure my Dad swings that way." She gave a low whistle, grinning. "That's kind of dangerous, isn't it? I mean, think of the STD's, the pregnancies. What would your parents say to that one? What would they think of their little princess then if she got knocked up?"
Paulina's body shook with anger and stormed over to the slightly shorter girl. "You take it back."
Sam's purple eyes shown with never-ending rage for all the other times girls had made fun of her. "Never." That's all it took. The beautiful Latino took a swing at the gorgeous Goth and they were rolling around on the ground. The students gathered around in a circle screaming for them to fight. Bets were placed. Danny and Tucker looked on in horror as Paulina clawed at Sam's face as she pinned the smaller girl to the ground. Scratch marks appeared on Sam's body in bright, red lines. Then, the Goth, trained in more than a few fighting techniques, had enough, and moved her leg at an impossible angle so that it hit Paulina squarely in the back. She took the top and began to furiously punch the popular girl, pulling back so she wouldn't cause too much damage. "You don't know what it's like. You've got it so damn easy!" A stray elbow clipped Sam along the chin and her lip swelled up and she tasted blood in her mouth. She grabbed Paulina's hair roughly, ripping it with ferocious strength, pulling away with a few tufts. "Where will you stand without your looks?" She went to go up for one more punch that was strong enough to break a nose, but something stopped her. She looked up and saw that he had grabbed her wrist. "Danny?"
"Let's go. Now."
My heart is drenched in wine.
But you'll be on my mind forever.
He had successfully dragged her out of Casper High before anyone with authority could come by and nab her. Tucker tagged along behind them with their bags, a worried look on his face. Why did he have a bad feeling about this? Was it because Sam had pulled some punches or was it because he didn't know what Danny was going to day?
They stopped and he let go of her wrist, staring at her angrily. "What do you think you were doing? You almost broke Paulina's nose! Paulina's!" He shook his head in disbelief. "Okay, Sam, you need to go back there and apologize for what you said and did."
She stood there for a moment, stunned, and then it clicked. "Me apologize?" She jabbed a finger in his chest. "She said some horrible things. She's said them for a long time now and that was the end of it. I never say anything and the one time I do she has to start a fight. No, she should be the one to apologize."
"But you were the one pushing her buttons." He frowned. "Look, Sam, you know I would have gone with you to the movies."
"No, you wouldn't! You would've ditched me like all the other times, just like you do with Tucker! You always leave us for her. You always leave me!"
He took a step back, almost as if he had been hit, but then threw a few of his own towards her way. Tucker could only stand there and helplessly watch. "And you always push me around! You never let me have my way. I have to train or study and that's all there ever is nowadays. You're always right and I'm wrong. I'm just stupid Danny Fenton. Well, you know what? I can make my own decisions with or without you. I planned on going to the movies with you, but you didn't give me a chance. You never give me a chance!"
"You're lying," she yelled back. "You would have dropped me for Paulina in a second! You don't care about me!"
"Yes I do!"
"No!"
"God dammit, yes!"
"No!" There was a loud sound, a slap. A tearful Sam stepped back from a Danny who now had the impression of a handprint on his face. "Why do you do this to me?" she whispered.
"Sam…"
She ran away from her two friends, not looking back to see the utter horror on Tucker's features and the wrenching heartbroken look on Danny's. She just…ran.
Out across the endless sea,
I will die in ecstasy
But I'll be a bag of bones
Driving down the road alone,
She had run, fallen, stumbled, almost got hit by a car, and had done so many more things until she ended up at the bridge and by the sign. Now, she was alone and it was because she was too afraid to let someone in. She had said such horrible things, just so he wouldn't get close to her. She was like that with so many things, and in the end, she was alone.
Her palms were filling up with tears and there was nothing she could do to stop them.
"Danny!" she wailed. "Danny! I'm sorry!" She shook her head, her tears flying everywhere. Her sobbing shook her whole body, showing how deep her torment went. "Sorry. I'm so sorry."
"I forgive you."
My heart is drenched in wine.
But you'll be on my mind forever.
Sam's eyes opened wide with surprise as Danny pulled her close and gently whispered, "I forgive you."
"But, how'd you find me? I didn't come to say sorry? How'd you find me?"
He wiped the tears and dirt of her face, smiling warmly, genuinely. "Because," he started, "I always find you." Twilight stared at blue skies in wonder, blinking several times. He gently rubbed her cheeks again, a finger straying near her eyes that were the color of twilight, of nightfall. "I always find you because I care for you. You're always on my mind. I care for you so much, Sam. It's more than you'll ever know."
She shook her head. "No."
He sucked in his breath, as if he might cry as well. "What?"
"It's not more than I'll ever know," she gave a warm smile as well and pulled him closer to her, "because I feel the same way about you."
He took her by surprise when he kissed her. It surprised her. That was the best word she could find for that first reaction, but then when she knew what was happening, her body fell into something that felt as old as time and it was long, lingering, and achingly sweet. His kiss was like that fresh feeling that came during a rain and the feeling it gave afterwards. She wanted to go out and dance in it, to feel it all over her body; and she felt a great weight disappear from her heart. It went away as he held her tenderly, as he kissed her as if she were the only thing in existence.
And she cried.
She cried joyfully.
She cried sorrowfully.
Something has to make you run
I don't know why I didn't come
My field is empty as a drum
I don't know why I didn't come
I don't know why I didn't come
I don't know why I didn't come.
She cried for joy because she had at last found him. She finally knew how he truly felt about her, after all this time, after all the frustrations and miscommunications. She now could let someone in and bare her heart, bare her soul.
She cried for sorrow because of him.
She wished she had known him sooner.
She knew that he was the one.
The music that sang in her soul told her he was the one, right from the beginning. She just never listened to it, and it was the biggest mistake she had ever made. That's all there is to it, no matter how hard you try to deny it. Your music, the songs that move you, tells what you are, who you are. It's everything you are and no matter how hard you try, your soul will not change, will not go away. So, when you see that special someone walking down the street, or when that special someone smiles at you, listen to what the music in your soul tells you.
Because, more than anything, you wish you would've met them sooner than later.
Live your life with them.
Go dancing in the rain.
-Norah Jones
Don't Know Why-End
Author's Notes: This one was kind of sad, wasn't it? It made me sad, especially in the end. Don't you wish those two would get together sometime soon? Anyways, there's never that much to it, but this one has a little more meaning to me than the other two. Maybe because it's when I had a fight with a boy one time and I walked away from him, but he wasn't the kind to come and get me. So sad, but whatever… I'm young! Besides, boys take too much time. It means I wouldn't have time to devote to you lovely fans! So please, as usual, tell me what you think in reviews and send your questions in the form of a PM. I love your thoughts and opinions on this kind of stuff. Well, till the next time, when I can find a decent song.
P.S. Does anyone know a good song-lyric sight? I keep on getting crap and it's bugging me. If you do, could you PM me the address? I'd really appreciate it. Thanks to anyone who listened to me!
-Sealeena
Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, own Danny Phantom or Norah Jones. Since I am not doing this for a profit, I asked to not be sued for copyright infringement. Thank you.