Disclaimer: Butch Harman, I know you're out there and if you can hear me then hear my warrior's cry..."Please sell me the copyrights to Danny Phantom!" (lol)

Author's Notes: So yes the previous chapter was highly focused on Sandra, but now it's time to show just how the heck she plays a role in Danny's ever growing challenge. I hope I clear up a bit of the confusion behind the whole Paulina/Dash mall meeting and give you hints at the Griffith meeting Sandra question.

Author's Warnings: This chapter is more on the hetero side, but you all knew that had to happen at some point. I made sure to also focus in on a side story that hasn't been mentioned by you guys, so in short...don't blink or you won't find out who really had that wet dream about Danny.

lllll blahlllll scene change

llllllllll blahllllllllll dream or memory

'blah' thoughts

"blah" speaking

Chapter 13: The Brunet Bolero

Danny stared up at the two looming figures, his eyes roaming between the blond and the brunette in front of him. Before he could say anything he was suddenly, but gently helped up by someone. He assumed it was Tucker or Derek, but as he turned his head to thank the other person he saw Jack's calm expression stare back at him. The auburn haired boy gave him an amused smile suddenly and nodded with his head that Danny look in front of him.

"What are you doing here Fenton? Other than being a clumsy oaf as usual," Dash said as he looked at Danny.

Normally Danny would have replied with some retort, but he held himself back. It felt weird to banter with the blond like that in front of his other friends. Luckily for him, Derek quickly intervened and stood next to him smirking.

"More importantly Baxter, what are you doing with the lovely and way out of your league Paulina?" the Hispanic boy said in a teasing tone.

Paulina gave the other boy an amused and flirtatious smile in response to the compliment, while Dash gave him a waning look of annoyance. Tucker and Sam gauged Danny's reaction, believing that the sight of his crush with Dash would hurt him. Instead what they saw was Danny's face held a contemplative look on his face and looked at Sandra, then Paulina and back again.

"Or maybe, there's pigs and cows flying outside and the two of you are on a date." Derek said smirking. He felt a small satisfaction at seeing Dash stiffen and glare at him through angry slits. It was quickly replaced with curiosity however, when he saw Paulina frown slightly and place a tentative hand on the blond's shoulder. Dash looked back at the Hispanic girl before slowly relaxing, seemingly having composed himself.

With a restrained voice, Dash did his best to politely respond. For all his efforts, he spoke through gritted teeth, "No, we're not and for your information Sanchez, it's none of your business why we're here."

"Um...Dash?"

Everyone turned around and looked back at Sandra, seemingly having forgotten she was standing there at all. The black haired girl smiled at Dash and walked forward to hand him the bottle in her hand.

"I think you dropped this," Sandra said quietly. Dash stared at her in surprise before looking down at what she held in her hand. He instantly blushed when he realized what it was, but before he could hide it a tanned hand reached over and grabbed it first.

Dash's eyes narrowed and his earlier anger returned as he heard Derek and Tucker trying to stifle their giggles. He looked over at the other two giving them a look promising death if they didn't return the bottle.

"'Cinnamon scented body wash, for softer, younger looking skin'." Derek said as he read the bottle's label aloud. "I dunno Dash, now that I think about it, football practice has made you look a little scraggy lately. You look like you need a facial, maybe exfoliate that Neanderthal look on your face."

Tucker began to chuckle, but twin looks of annoyance from Sam and Danny shut him up. Danny sighed at the immaturity of his two friends and finally just snatched the bottle out of Derek's hands and tossed it over his shoulder at Dash. The bottle hit the blond's chest, but fell inside the bag he was holding.

"Nice toss," Sam said sarcastically. Danny gave her a look that begged her to help him clear the odd tension between Derek and Dash, but she merely grabbed him by the shoulders to turn him and look at the scene behind him.

"So is this the best place to get bath and body scents?" Sandra asked Dash and Paulina. Paulina held a slightly excited look on her face before she casually elbowed Dash's ribs. The blond jumped at the action and blushed slightly.

"Uh yeah...I guess. I mean I don't come here often...I mean I don't come here at all, cause t-today was my first time here. That bottle was for my mom cause it's her birthday next week," the blond said in an uncharacteristic stutter.

Danny's eyes widened in realization, 'Now I remember, Dash told me yesterday that he couldn't hang out today because he had something important to do. This must have been what he meant.'

"Wow, that's really thoughtful of you, Dash. You know you have good taste, cinnamon is one of the most popular feminine smells out there and I think I read somewhere that it's one of the top aromas that both men and women enjoy," Sandra said animatedly. Danny watched as Dash nodded nervously and gave Sandra a weak smile.

Paulina quickly interjected, "I totally agree, that's why I told Dash to buy that body wash scent. It's smooth and warm, yet still chic." Her eyes widened slightly before she put on her most polite smile, "Oh I just realized I haven't introduced myself. My name's Paulina, what's yours?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, um...my name is Sandra Perkins. It's nice to meet you, " Sandra said smiling.

"Likewise," Paulina said. As the two shook hands, Paulina briefly gave Dash an annoyed look. "I don't think I've ever seen you before, did you just move here or something?"

"Um...yes, I did. I moved here about maybe a week and a half ago," Sandra replied smiling.

Without warning a group of people passed by them suddenly, one of them bumping hard against Sandra and spilling their drink on Sandra's shirt. Sandra yelped in surprise and looked down at her shirt in annoyance. Sandra looked back up to see a tall gothic looking boy holding a half empty soda cup while his dark green eyes gave her a guilty look.

The boy came closer to her and gave her a small smile as he said, "I'm terribly sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you like that...oh and I messed up your nice shirt. I'm really am sorry for my clumsiness-"

"Clumsiness my-"

"Dash!" Paulina said, giving the blond a disbelieving look.

"Heh, fancy seeing you here, Griffith. Do you haunt the mall often with that fugly clothing of yours?" Derek said smirking. He stood by Sandra's side, his face clearly showing his annoyance for the brunet's actions towards her. Danny was about to step in when Jack's hand on his shoulder stopped him. Danny gave him a curious glance that Jack purposely ignored before looking at the scene in front of him.

"Probably not as much as you and the meathead stink it up, eh football fairy?" Griffith said smirking. Not giving the Hispanic boy or the blond the chance to respond, Griffith looked at his female friend who nodded in return. The blonde girl, who was dressed in dark blue clothing and hand a ring piercing on her left eyebrow, stepped forward toward Sandra.

Griffith gave Sandra his most charming smile as he said, "Flora's a whiz at getting out stains from clothes, I hope you'll accept her help."

Sandra felt overwhelmed by how fast everything was happening around her and shook her head in annoyance as she quickly walked toward the nearest bathroom, Flora hot on her heels. Danny was about to ask Sam to go with them, but saw that both Sam and Paulina had already left. Danny turned his attention back to Griffith and felt his own anger boil at the very sight of arrogant Goth boy. 'He probably bumped into Sandra on purpose.'

Jack went to stand next to Derek in case his hotheaded friend was actually stupid enough to get into a fight. Danny and Tucker did the same as they stood by a silently fuming Dash. Griffith made a small motion with his hands for the two bulky and menacing looking boys next to him to leave before he turned his attention back to the five boys in front of him. Griffith stared at the others, gauging each of their reactions towards him.

"My, my, my...I never expected to see so many of my underclassmen here all at once," Griffith said smoothly.

"Yeah and in about another second you'll be seeing my fist in your face," Dash replied as he cracked his knuckles menacingly.

"Primitive as usual aren't you, meathead?" Griffith said looking at Dash in disappointment. "It was just an accident so I don't really understand why you and the football fairy are getting so riled up over it. I didn't spill coke on either of you so where is all this anger coming from?"

Having had enough of Griffith, Danny finally spoke, "You had a good amount of space you could have passed through Griffith, yet for someone who's considered by the school coaches as being agile and having good reflexes you still managed to cause that accident."

"It's not a wise thing for someone to always be on their guard, Danny." Griffith said smirking. "Besides these things do happen and so it's not that big of a deal."

"Especially if you have someone who can let you borrow a shirt," Paulina said from behind them.

Both she and Flora made their way over with Sam and Sandra not that far behind them. Flora silently went to stand next to Griffith, while Paulina moved to stand near Danny and Sam joined Tucker. With the exception of Griffith and the other girls, everyone stared at an obviously nervous Sandra in front of them.

The brunette girl, under much protest and then several thanks, borrowed one of the shirts Paulina had bought at the mall. Flora had diligently worked on getting rid of the large brown stain on Sandra's shirt and after a minute or so, presented the very wet albeit clean t-shirt. Paulina had quickly stepped in and insisted on her borrowing one of her shirts in the meantime. Sam watched the entire ordeal in surprised silence, observing all of Flora's actions in case the other girl did any sort of ghost manipulation.

To say that Sandra Perkins was a rather plain and boring looking girl at the moment would be a rather bad judgment. The shirt she had been wearing earlier had been much bigger and hid her figure very well, however the tight black fleecy tee she wore on now did not.

Sandra pulled at the insufferable shirt for the fourth time, disliking how it kept riding up to show her midriff. She finally looked up and noticed everyone staring at her and blushed as she realized how ridiculous she must looked to them. A sudden wolf whistle from Derek nearly gave her a heart attack and made her all the more uncomfortable. Danny worried over the flight or fight look on Sandra's face and quickly walked over towards her.

"You look really nice...I mean not that you didn't look nice before...I just think that shirt looks um really nice on you," Danny stuttered. He wasn't very used to complimenting girls like this, but he couldn't let Sandra leave now that Dash had a chance to talk to her.

"Yes doesn't it look just luscious on her. When I found out she was a friend of yours and Dash's, I simply had to help her. Still...don't take this the wrong way Sandra, but I'm kind of glad that Griffith ruined your shirt. You really shouldn't hide your figure like that otherwise boys aren't going to notice you," Paulina said matter-of-factly. Sam scoffed loudly and rolled her eyes at the comment, earning her a withering glare from Paulina in return.

"Speaking of Griffith, it looks like he's left," Jack said calmly.

Twin cries of "what" escaped Dash and Derek's mouths as they looked back to see that indeed Griffith and Flora were gone. Tucker and Sam saw the apprehensive look on Danny's face and wondered what their friend was thinking about.

'Did Griffith really do that on purpose or was it really just an "accident"? All he really did by doing that was make Sandra annoyed at him and Dash and Derek angry.'

Danny was interrupted out of his thoughts by a gentle tap on his shoulders. He jumped in surprise at the sudden contact and blushed furiously at the demure gaze directed his way. Danny gulped loudly and spoke the first words that came to mind, "How about you Paulina? Do you...want to hang out...with us"

Paulina gave him a flirtatious gaze before saying, "I'd love to, but I have to help my dad with some errands. Maybe some other time, Danny." She tapped at Danny's nose with the tip of her finger, making the brunet blush instantly. The Hispanic girl gave Dash a meaningful look before waving a goodbye and leaving. 'I hope I helped Dash with his other problem. He's such a loser sometimes, but oh well he's not my problem anymore,' she thought happily. She briefly looked back and smirked as she saw Dash talking to Sandra.

"Hey guys, what exactly are we going to do?" Tucker asked the group.

"Yeah, we didn't exactly agree on either watching a movie or going to the arcade." Sam pointed out.

lllll

"Woo! That was fun, wasn't it guys?" Sandra said cheerfully. Dash and Derek both gave her forced smiles and halfheartedly laughed with her. Sandra smiled at the honest look on their faces, realizing they didn't agree with her at all.

Both boys had originally been playing against each other for nearly two hours on every type of video and arcade game they could get their hands on. Both quickly and viciously trying to beat the other in what was perhaps one of the biggest arcade duels ever seen in Amity Park. It was only when Sandra asked to join in that they stilled their fervor. The brunette girl suggested that the three of them play against each other in a car racing game. The arcade machine was designed to hold four drivers, each with their own viewing screen and car controls. Their friends raised eyebrows as the trio tried relentlessly to crash and kill each other. Three dollars and twenty minutes later, Sandra had come out victorious with Derek a close second.

"Annoyed about becoming the beta wolf of our pack?" Jack asked Derek. Derek gave him a mock glare before laughing and punching his friend's arm. He gave his best friend a meaningful look and gestured with his head over at Sandra.

"It's obvious she doesn't dig me, huh?" Derek asked.

Jack briefly looked over to where the brunette girl was talking to Dash about something that seemed to be making the blond laugh. His eyes squinted before returning to normal and looking back at his defeated friend.

"No, but it's obvious that she doesn't dig him either...yet," Jack said, hoping Derek picked up on his hint. "In truth, this sudden competition for her probably didn't make her feel all that comfortable to be around you two, but at least she joined you guys in your maniacal arcade Olympics. You have to keep in mind that she doesn't know you very much and that he's known her for a week longer than you."

"Yeah, a whole week where Dash probably swept her off her feet or something," Derek said in annoyance.

Jack scoffed at suspicion before replying, "Honestly look at her, does she look like a girl who's been wooed by Baxter? A week can hardly be considered enough time for them to have any sort of romantic feelings with each other, attraction yes, but romance...pffft, far from it."

Derek gave him a grateful look that made Jack smile. The quiet boy gave his friend a return punch in the arm before saying, "Now stop acting like such a wuss and turn on your retarded 'Sanchez charm' or whatever. If you don't even try then you're just gonna end up being one of those stupid losers who pine for something that by then is too late to get."

"True...I'll end up being like you," Derek said evenly. Jack looked at him in surprise, obviously not expecting Derek to say that. Derek briefly gave his friend a firm look, before replacing it with a broad smile and walking toward Dash and Sandra.

lllll

Derek cracked his knuckles as he enthusiastically said, "Ok, ok, I'll admit that it was dumb to challenge Dash to fighting games without knowing that he's really good at them, or accepting Sandra's challenge to play that racing game after she selectively neglected to mention that those are the only ones she's a goddess at."

"Or challenging me to play Ghost Hunter Chaos III," Danny said smiling.

"Or challenging me and Sam to that space fighter game," Tucker said arrogantly.

"Hey, you don't count cause your chick had a whole freaking book of cheat codes for that game. That was not even remotely fair," Derek said, half pouting.

"No, but it was fun, especially after seeing you eat your words about being better at space adventure games than some geek and his girl," Sam said smirking.

"Yeah, just admit you suck at arcade games Sanchez so that we can go eat something," Dash said.

Danny looked over at the blond next to him and felt a surge of happiness at seeing the other boy actually acting civil with his other friends. It was obvious to him that Tucker and Sam still held a small amount of animosity towards Dash, but they were making the effort nonetheless to try for his sake. Even seeing the way Dash kept trying to talk to Sandra made Danny do a mental victory dance. The way he saw it, the most annoying part of his crazy challenge was over because at least Dash was finally showing an interest in someone. He straightened his shoulders, determined to somehow make Sandra see Dash's good qualities before the end of the day, after all who knew when he was going to get a chance like this again

"Forget that. At this point I've lost to every stinking single one of you, except my quiet assassin king of DDR friend," Derek said as he looked behind him. Jack was staring off into space before he finally noticed everyone looking at him. He gave them all an expectant stare before seeing where Derek was gesturing towards.

With a roll of his eyes, the auburn haired boy set his drink down and made his way over to the big DDR machine nearby. The others stayed a fair enough distance away to watch them which made it easier for Jack to angrily whisper to Derek about how he was going to kill him.

"Yeah yeah whatever. I know I could have challenged you to a virtual reality game or hell even an RPG game, but I figured this way we could kill two birds with one stone. I hear Dash can't dance to save his life so this will be the one thing I can totally beat him in," Derek said grinning.

"And just how is us doing this going to help me?" Jack asked. He was about to select the advanced level, but then thought better of it and instead picked the next one down.

"I'll impress my brunette and you impress yours," Derek said calmly. His grin broadened as he saw Jack look at him with a rare blush. He quickly selected for a song to start playing and then gave Jack a reassuring smile.

lllll

Later that day, Jack would reflect on the moment and realize that it was the one time when not beating his friend actually mattered. He would try to remember all the times when he and his friend had gone to school dances or danced at friends' parties and never had this one thought before in his life because it always felt that their movements were too different to compare. Derek was a swift and lithe receiver while Jack was a strong and maneuverable running back. On the dance floor Jack was a wind fiend, but Derek was liquid grace. In the end, he would come to the simple conclusion that he was only thinking about the whole thing because of Danny. Danny, who had touched his shoulder and smiled as he'd said that he thought that Jack was the better dancer.

Jack looked out his window at the green expanse of the park below him. Watching like a hawk at the scene of Dash and Danny practicing football moves. He smiled in amusement as he saw Danny slip and fall into a puddle of mud, but his smile was quickly replaced with a frown as he saw Dash fall on top of the brunet. Jack calmly reached into the desk drawer next to him and quickly pulled out his binoculars, turning to look over at the two boys.

Danny was trying frantically to get mud out of his eyes, while Dash looked on laughing. Jack saw the blond reach into his back pocket to produce a blue handkerchief. Danny kept trying to grab the handkerchief and missing so Dash grabbed Danny's hand to give it to him. Danny wiped off the excess mud before opening up his eyes and grinning happily at Dash. Jack's hand clenched tightly on the binoculars as he saw the expression of Dash's face.

'Am I really too late?' Jack thought sadly. 'Will there be a day when that dream will come true?'

End of Chapter 13

Author's End Notes: ;; so yes, Jack is an...interesting dreamer and it seems as if there is more Jack's feelings for Danny than just friendship, ne? And while Griffith and Sandra clash after meeting for the first time, it's looks as though Griffith already has plans for her. Is Danny really making progress on his challenge or walking right into Griffith's trap?

Please don't forget to review!

Spider's Shout Outs:

(because if you read yours then I bank a few seconds of your life)

Ranma Higurashi: Hey there! Yeah Paulina is going to be acting pretty weird in this fic, but hopefully this chapter cleared up a few things. At any rate thanks for the review, I'm glad to see you still like the story.

KimuraSato: Hello there! ;; Yeah I'm really sorry for taking so long, but as you can see I'm getting better at updating and thanks to you my choice of words is changing. (Thanks for the correct adjective spelling tips, I didn't even know there was a difference :blushes:) All I can say about Sandra's part in the story is that...she's also running out of time (sorry about the lousy cliché hint, but that's the best way I can put it). I'm glad you still love this fic so much and hope you like this chapter enough to give me another awesome review!

Dela the Hidden: Hey chick! Hehehe, technically you're review isn't late because you already commented on it beforehand. I think this chapter tells all about what Dash was doing with Paulina, but I hope you noticed the hint that Paulina knows more than she's letting on. Sandra's role...is that she's also running out of time...hehehe, such an obscure hint, sorry. (Time is a theme here and Sandra can't escape it either). Hope you enjoyed this chappie, thanks again for this second review:)

Pickled Green: Hola! Awesome, yet another new reviewer to the mix. I'm really glad you liked the fic thus far. Yes I'm not treating Dash and Danny very well, but there's also poor Sandra to consider, after all, it looks like she's involved now and Griffith isn't going to leave her alone either. Hehehe, well anyway hope you liked this chapter too and thanks again for the nice review.

Ryuze: Hey! Yeah! I'm glad to be back too:pauses momentarily and then laughs: Hehehe, you're right, I made such a dumb mistake, in Chapter 11 Dash should say 'David Phantom' not Danny. Hehehe, thanks for pointing it out, I'll remember to fix it later. . Thanks for the cool review, it ended up being very helpful. I'm looking forward to your next constructively awesome review!

Can't tell you that sorry: Hello there...wow you gave me two reviews and both were the short, sweet and simple kind, nice. (I like a variety of review types.) I'm glad you like my fic and thought it was a good one. I'd like to tell you if Danny wins or not, but this fic only has a few more chapters left before its done. :-) Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!

MelisHf: Horay! Another new reviewer as graced me with their presence! I'm glad you liked the previous chapter, despite the obvious focus on Sandra's past, but either way Sandra's past has been revealed for the most part and so it's time to show just what exactly her purpose is in everything. In case it wasn't unclear, Dash didn't have that dream about Danny. :hint:hint: And yes Dash/Danny is awesome! Hehehe, thanks for the cool review!

DraconWolf88: Hey...it's nice to meet you. :) I'm sorry for making you worry...;; Wow you hit the nail right on the button of what going to happen in this chapter didn't you? Well as you can see Griffith isn't dumb to what Danny's trying to pull, but now the problem is if he's actually going to do meddle in our favorite ghost boy's plan... Anyway thanks again for the awesome review, hope you like this chapter!