Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, I'm pretty sure I never will (unless I change my major to business and rise up the Nickelodeon corporate ladder) so for now I will console myself by making a Danny Phantom needlepoint design. :sigh:

Author's Words: More than likely a sorry just doesn't cut the cake, especially after not updating for 3 or so months. Nevertheless I would still like to apologize for not updating sooner. To the people who asked, no I'm not dead or sick I just wasn't in the U.S for awhile and when I came back my muse divorced me for a playwright, lol. If you want to stone me to death feel free to, but please read and review the fic before you do it. (I'm hoping that if you guys like it enough, you'll throw pebbles at me instead of bricks. :-P) Now as always, please sit back and enjoy!

lllll blah lllll scene change

llllllllll blah llllllllll dream or memory

'blah' thoughts

"blah" speaking

Chapter 17: The Frustration Frug

The eight teenagers sat at their usual table, but for once the social motley group ate lunch in relative silence. Dash, Sandra, Paulina and Kwan glanced up in worry at the four in front of them. Jack looked deep in thought bordering on brooding. Sam looked more annoyed than angry while the reverse was true for Tucker. Danny looked half-asleep and, by their guess, depressed because the brunet kept sighing every five minutes. Several of their attempts to bring up some cheer had flopped horribly and now the other four had run out of ideas.

A nearby crash caught their attention and they stared at the sight of Derek on the floor, wearing a big smile and what looked like this afternoon's lunch special. Jack and Dash quickly got out of their seats to help the other boy stand up. They lead their possibly deranged friend to sit at a nearby table next to theirs. The Hispanic boy plopped down on his chair and sighed happily as he took the napkins Sandra offered him.

As Derek mindlessly sifted through his hair to get food out, he said "I'm totally falling in love with her."

The sophomore turned to Danny and said, "D.F. I'm really sorry, but I going to go after your sister like she's the last taco in Amity Park."

Danny couldn't help but scoff lightly at his friend's words. After a long talk with the other boy, mostly him listening to Derek's various reasons on why he liked Jazz, Danny had warmed up to the idea that it wouldn't be that bad if the sophomore had a crush on his sister. The ridiculously happy and messy state Derek was in motivated him to speak. "What happened to you?"

"Well, I was getting some food from the cafeteria line when I spotted your sister outside. I ran after her- er I mean I casually walked over to her." Dash and Kwan's chuckling briefly interrupted him, but he ignored them and continued. "Then I saw her, in all her bewitching beauty, reading from that fruitcake Freud and eating an economical salad. Ah she's so perfect."

Paulina raised an eyebrow at the boy's words before saying, "She's really smart I'll give her that."

"And she is really friendly to talk to," Sandra said piping in. "But wait, how did you get covered in food?"

"Oh, well as I was about to go talk to her, Griffith and his band of Goth freaks attacked and pelted me with food-"

This time it was Sam who interrupted by saying, "You know just because Goths dress and act differently from you, doesn't make them freaks.

Derek raised an eyebrow as he said, "Whoa, whoa, don't get your fishnet stockings in a bunch. You equal cool, smart and surprisingly nice Goth chick. They equal mean, cocky and brainless Goth freaks because their Griffith's cronies."

Sam dropped the scowl from her face and gave him an apologetic glance. Sandra looked at her and wondered what was making the other girlso tense. As she looked between Sam and Tucker she thought, 'Am I missing something?'

In a quiet tone Jack asked, "That still doesn't explain why you were in such disarray inside the cafeteria."

Derek grinned goofily again as he explained, "They started this really bad food fight, but luckily I managed to protect most of my angel's cleanliness. She thanked me but said she had to go to the bathroom to get rid of a ketchup stain on her shirt. I was about to follow her but Gomez's soccer ball accidentally hit my head and I slipped on the floor." He did one last glance over to make sure he'd gotten rid of most of the mess on him. He'd have to wait until practice to change out of his clothes.

"Heh, you've been hit on the head so much it's making you dumber," Dash said with a smirk.

Derek smirked back as he replied, "Then I should really be more careful before I end up in the same math class as you."

At being reminded about math, Dash turned to look at Jack. "Hey Minamoto, you're still meeting me and Fenton for a tutoring session tonight at my house, right?"

Paulina and Kwan noticed the auburn haired boy sneaking a quick glance at Danny before he said, "I'm sorry Dash, but something came up. I'll tutor you both tomorrow, same time."

With that said Jack surprised them by suddenly standing up and dumping his food in the trash. The half-Japanese boy didn't give them a second glance as he walked out of the cafeteria double doors.

"What's bugging him?" Paulina asked.

"I'm not sure anymore," Derek muttered. He stood up as well and gave them a quick goodbye. Danny saw the worried expression on Derek's face as he followed after Jack and felt a twinge of guilt. He knew that it was probably his fault that Jack was acting the way he was.

Sam watched them leave and turned back to look at the food in front of her. With a sigh she said, "I'm going to the restroom."

Paulina hide her smirk as she jovially said, "I'll go with you. I need to powder my nose anyway."

The Hispanic girl grabbed Sam's hand, purposely ignoring the daggers the other girl was sending through her eyes. Sandra chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before hastily getting up and saying to the boys, "I think I better go too."

Dash chuckled as he said, "Yeah before Manson kills Paulina."

Sandra half-chuckled at the joke, but honestly thought the Goth was in such a foul mood that she might seriously mull over the idea. She bade them a goodbye and jogged off after the two girls. Dash's eyes followed her until her petite form exited. A hand suddenly appeared in front of his face and Dash batted it away. Kwan smirked at his best friend's reaction and began to chuckle as he saw a small flush forming on Dash's cheeks.

Dash gave him an indignant glare as he said, "Shut up."

Kwan chuckled for a few more moments before turning back to eat his food. He glanced up and finally noticed the ill look on Tucker's face.

Danny noticed it as well as asked, "Tucker, is something wrong? You look kinda sick."

Tucker looked at Danny sadly and shook his head. He tried to keep his voice steady as he said, "Nah man, I'm not. I've felt like crud ever since Sam broke up with me."

Danny's early mood shifted as he heard Tucker's words. He looked at Tucker in surprise as he blurted out, "What?"

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"Why should I tell you?" Sam asked Paulina angrily.

"Duh, because I'm not your enemy anymore, I'm a concerned acquaintance," Paulina said simply. "And as a concerned acquaintance I think it's necessary to tell you that you look even more terrible than usual."

Sandra was glad the hallway was empty, feeling the impending fight coming. She sighed before saying, "You guys, maybe you-"

"A concerned acquaintance? Don't make me laugh," Sam spat venomously.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Paulina asked with equal venom.

"I just find it hilarious that after everything you've done to me and my friends, you expect me to believe that you've suddenly turned over a new leaf and decided to be a concerned acquaintance. What are you up to? Are you trying to score brownie points with Danny by helping his little Goth friend?"

"Danny? Why would you think- no, I'm not. I'm not standing here because of him," Paulina said seriously. "Don't get so defensive when people try to help you, there won't always be ulterior motives. I'm just asking you to trust me because-"

"You think I'd trust someone who constantly deceives and manipulates people into liking her," Sam said loudly. She glared at the other girl and blurted out, "A stupid and vapid girl, who acts like she's above everyone else, but in reality, is afraid of not pleasing people."

Paulina was taken aback by Sam's words before glaring right back and saying, "At least I don't treat everyone as someone who can end up hurting me and only accept two boys who I know can't completely understand me anyway. I don't complain about people's shallow characteristics and think that I'm better than all of them, when in reality I want those same people to listen to my ideas and notice me."

Sandra's eyes widened as she looked between the two. "Wow. Saying that you guys have bad blood is an understatement. Funny how for two people who hate each other's guts, you two seem to understand each other pretty well."

The two girls looked at her and then at each other. After awhile their stances relaxed, but neither said anything. Sandra seized the moment by grabbing the two and quickly dragging them into an empty classroom. At the annoyed glares she received by her two wayward friends, she merely shrugged and said, "This way you guys won't get in trouble."

Sandra watched as Paulina walked over to a nearby window and Sam leaned against the teacher's desk. The brunette rolled her eyes at the sight of the two girls being so awkward and tried to think of how her father commanded people to speak. She opted to point out the obvious, figuring that this was as bad as any other attempt she could make to open communication between two rival countries embodied in the form of her friends.

"You know you guys are acting like a bunch of immature hens right now." She saw that her words had no affect on them, but continued anyway, "Sam, I understand that you don't trust Paulina, but you can at least appreciate the effort and Paulina, you don't exactly have the best history with Sam so you can't expect her to welcome you with open arms."

"Whatever, if she doesn't want my help, then I'm out of here," Paulina said arrogantly. The Hispanic girl quickly turned to leave, but stopped when Sandra's hand grabbed her shoulder.

Sandra smiled as she said, "She never said she didn't want your help, she just said she's afraid to take it."

"No I didn't it!" yelled Sam.

"Paulina is just trying to give you another friend," Sandra countered. She gave Sam a smile as she said, "My dad told me that when a former enemy lowers their sword instead of their shield, it means that you need to trust that they aren't going to hurt you anymore, but are going to keep the shield up to protect themselves if you reject them."

Sam opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. She looked at Paulina before looking away again. A month of truce did not in her opinion make up for months of annoyance. The kind of strange civility that Paulina seemed to give her made Sam more than a little uneasy. The Hispanic girl was starting to become almost nice, still shallow as ever, but at least a bit nicer.

When Sam really thought about it, Paulina, although decidedly annoying, wasn't that bad once she had been forced to sit at the same table as her. Occasionally the other girl said things that interested Sam enough to listen, topics that seemed too serious to be mentioned by someone like Paulina. Although Sam would never acknowledge it aloud, Paulina was one of the small reasons why Dash and Danny were still able to continue their friendship at school. The Hispanic girl discouraged the catty and teasing remarks from other popular people towards Dash's new choice in friends and had gone as far as joining him with Kwan to sit at their table to prove her point.

She was shaken out of her thoughts as she felt a warm hand on her arm. Sandra slowly guided her to stand next Paulina, but only succeeded in making the two stand two desks away from each other.

Sandra sighed in disappointment as she said, "I don't know what happened between you two before I met you guys, and to be honest I don't really care. It's a selfish way of thinking and I should try to be more understanding, but I don't want to pick sides between the two of you. I like both of you equally and think you're both cool in your own ways. I just wish you guys would stop hating each other long enough to realize that you have a lot more in common than you think."

She was greeted with silence and saw that both girls refused to look at each other. Sandra sighed and muttered, "So much for chick flick moments." She coughed and quickly made her way to the door. "Ok then, I'm just gonna go back to the cafeteria now. I'll see you guys later."

"Wait Sandra-"

The brunette girl ignored Sam and walked out of the classroom. The Goth girl sighed and started to walk towards the door. The sound of Paulina calling out her name stopped her.

"Yeah?"

Paulina paused for a moment before saying, "I just wanted to say that…I'm sorry."

Sam's eyes widened, obviously not expecting an apology, "W-what?"

Paulina huffed in annoyance and said, "Geez do you want me to repeat it? I said I'm sorry, alright."

"No it's just that I- never mind. Just what exactly are you apologizing for?"

"For sticking my nose into your business," Paulina replied. "I didn't think you'd get so worked up over it, but after hearing what you really think of me, I now understand why you did."

Paulina let out a breath and nodded before moving to leave the classroom. Just as her hand touched the door knob, she heard Sam mutter something.

"What?"

Sam turned away from her and took a step away from her. She let out a frustrated groan before blurting out, "I broke up with Tucker."

Paulina's eyes widened at hearing the other girl's blunt confession and only managed to let out a small, "Oh."

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"Wow, you got guts Foley," said Dash smirking.

"Yeah, I've never told a girl that I love her," Kwan said, mildly impressed. "Still you shouldn't have gotten mad that she didn't say it back."

Tucker looked at them in mild annoyance before turning back to Danny. "I didn't even mean to tell her, it just sort of slipped out. She just sat there before getting up and ranting about how I shouldn't have said it and that we've only been going out for a month so there's no way that I could feel that way about her. I told that I did feel that way and got mad at her for downplaying how I felt. We stood there and argued about everything that annoys us about each other until she broke up with me and kicked me out of her house."

"Tuck, you know how Sam's like, how did you think she was going to react to hearing that?" said Danny.

Tucker's shoulders hunched forward as he said, "I don't know, but I didn't think she'd get angry at me. If it's my fault then what am I gonna do? I can't say I'm sorry that I love her."

"Doofus you only have to apologize for getting angry at her for not saying it back," Dash replied matter-of-factly. "Manson is the type of chick that's not used to someone feeling that way about her, much less expressing it so strongly. She was probably just overwhelmed because she didn't expect you to say it like that."

Tucker slowly face planted onto their table and said nothing. Danny placed a comforting hand on Tucker's shoulder before he said, "You know Sam thinks a lot before she knows what she's feeling and she takes even longer before she'll admit what that is. Give her some time and then go talk to her. Tell her you're sorry for starting the fight and I'm sure she'll forgive you and apologize back."

Tucker moved his head to look at Danny, "I don't know man, and Sam can be pretty stubborn when she wants to be."

"Then make sure that when you do it, you have her favorite flowers and chocolates. Chicks dig that romantic stuff." said Kwan. He smiled at them before taking another bite of his sandwich.

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"You've got to be kidding me! You're just going to give up, just like that!"

Sam looked at the loud girl pacing in front of her and said nothing. Paulina stopped and paused a moment before looking at the forlorn girl in front of her. Puffing out her chest more, she slammed her hands on the desk Sam sat in.

"You two can't stay like this," Paulina said firmly.

"It's not for you to decide," Sam coldly replied.

Paulina surprised Sam by replying in a half-whining voice, "But you guys were like the perfect reject geek couple!"

Paulina began pacing in front of Sam, her rant growing louder by the minute, "Two people, who like each other like you guys obviously did, deserve to be together. What is so hard about understanding this? So what if you guys had a fight, it happens. You wait a while to calm down and when your head is clear, if you still want that person then you do something about it."

Sam raised an eyebrow at the other girl's logic, but before she could say anything, Paulina's earlier fervor returned.

"Eventually Tucker will accept your silence, but do you really want him to do that? Don't you want him to be with you until you can say it back? He's yours Sam, despite how you are, he's still yours."

Paulina clasped her hands together and moved over to the nearest window as she said, "Is it so wrong that at our age we feel what we think is love? Adults tell us that we don't know what it really is until we're older, but then when's the right age? If we never try to know what it's like now, then we'll never truly know how it changes when we're older."

Sam rolled her eyes and said, "Get to the point."

Paulina turned back to the Goth girl and replied, "My point Sam is that the love that Tucker has for you now might not be deep or even last, but at our age why would you care? All you need to know is that it's coming at you now and that one day it will change."

Sam closed her eyes briefly feeling her emotions rising up to the surface. She might have had a moment of weakness and told her worst enemy her problems, but she'd be damned if she cried in front of the other girl. She jolted in surprise as she felt Paulina give her a brief, but firm hug. The Hispanic girl quickly let go of her and gave Sam a small smile. Sam sat there in surprise before the sound of the bell startled her.

She felt Paulina shift gears again and saw the usual mask of calm beauty put on. Sam thought it was scary how she was able to recognize the change in expression. She got out of her seat and stood next to the other girl. She shifted uneasily before muttering a quick thanks to the other girl. As the two walked out of the classroom an awkward silence surrounded them. They finally got to the end of the hallways and stopped, both had to go in different directions.

Sam folded her arms before saying, "Just for the record, I don't blame you for this chick moment, I blame Sandra."

Paulina smirked as she replied, "Good and for the record I don't plan on spreading your secret around. It's not good gossip anyway." With that said, she walked away from the Goth girl, unable to get rid of the small smile on her face.

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Dash snuck a glance at Danny for the umpteenth time and wondered how to snap his friend out his stupor. After seeing Danny's depressed behavior during lunch and his aggressive playing during practice, Dash figured something was seriously bothering Danny. The wind blew harshly around them as the two walked home in silence. Dash suddenly saw a flash of blue pass in front of him and saw Danny run after it. Dash watched as Danny chased after the blue knitted cap.

Dash watched in amusement as the strong wind carried the cap up and around. Each time it fell to the ground and it seemed Danny was about to catch it, the wind picked up again and blew it out of his reach. The cap finally got caught into a low tree branch. Danny jumped to grab it, but missed and slipped on a pile of leaves. The brunet winced before glaring at a laughing Dash.

With confident ease, Dash reached up and snatched the hat from the branch's grasp. Danny picked himself up and extended his hand to get his hat back.

"Finder's keepers, losers weepers, Fenton," Dash said teasingly. He placed Danny's cap on top of his own. The sight would have been funnier to Danny if he wasn't so annoyed.

In the most patient voice he could muster Danny said, "Give it back Dash."

"Why should I?"

Danny raised an eyebrow at the childish response and replied, "Because my head is cold."

"Oh, well I have just the thing," said Dash. He shrugged off his backpack and searched inside. After a moment he found what he was looking for and with a grin fetched it out. Dash quickly placed the paper hat on top of Danny's head. He stood back to look at the sight and started laughing again. Danny roughly snatched it off his head and raised an eyebrow when he realized it was a paper pirate hat made out of newspaper.

"Kwan and I were bored during study hall," Dash explained.

Danny stared at the hat for a few moments, his face losing some of his earlier annoyance. He looked up at Dash and slipped the paper hat into his jeans pocket. The blond smirked at him and tossed his back his cap. Danny caught it and placed it on top of his head.

"It's getting colder lately," Danny said. He slipped both his gloved hands into the pockets of his letterman jacket. The two continued walking calmly, the streets darkening around them.

Dash took a deep breath and let it out, watching as his breathe appeared in front of him. "What'd you expect Fenton? It's that time of the year."

Danny merely nodded and Dash racked his brain as he tried to think of something to say.

"So anyway, I wanted to ask you if you could come to my house this weekend."

Dash looked at his friend in surprise at the random request, "For what?"

"Sam and Tucker are finished working on the third challenge and they wanted to go over it with you on Saturday."

"Oh, right yeah the third challenge."

"What did you forget or something?"

"No, I didn't forget I just don't like to think about it. Anyway when did you guys want me to come?"

"Um, is two o'clock a good time?"

Dash nodded, "Yeah that's fine." Dash shifted the weight of his sports bag onto his other shoulder before saying, "Hey Fenton…"

Danny looked at Dash, but when the other boy didn't say anything he gestured for the other boy to continue.

"Is there something bothering you?" Dash scratched the back of his neck as he continued, "You just look really out of it lately and more brooding than usual. I'm not sure how much help I can be, but ya know if you need someone to listen…"

Danny stayed silent as he heard the other's words. After a moment he politely declined his friends' offer telling him that he didn't want to talk about it yet. Normally he'd tell his two best friends what was bothering him, but with both of them dealing with their own problem, he didn't really know where else to turn to. Danny knew that he could trust Dash, but he didn't know how to truthfully put to words what was bothering him.

Dash felt the same familiar feeling of annoyance at hearing his friend's words. Although he didn't really show it very much, it sometimes bothered him that Danny was so secretive. Dash trusted Danny enough to tell him all sorts of things and it hurt a little that the other did not do the same with him. He thought back to yesterday and decided to mention something that had been bothering him.

"So speaking about things that bother, what happened yesterday between you and Minamoto?" Dash asked bluntly.

Dash walked a bit before realizing that his friend wasn't walking with him anymore. He looked back and walked over to where Danny stood immobile. Dash grew worried when the brunet said nothing and gently put a hand on Danny's shoulder. Danny snapped out it and caught sight of the other boy's hand on him.

"Nothing happened between us."

As casually as possible, Danny slipped out the hand's grasp and continued walking. He walked away from his friend, not realized that he was leaving so quickly until he heard Dash's pants behind him. The blond finally caught up with him and spun Danny around to face him.

"If nothing happened, then why are running way from me?"

Danny heard the barely concealed anger in Dash's voice and looked away, "I'm not running away from you."

"Then what the heck do you call what you just did back there? If you're not running away from me, then you're running away from something. Now I'm asking you one more time, Fenton, what happened between you and Minamoto?"

"It's none if your business, Baxter, so just leave me alone!" Danny roughly pulled away from the blond's grip and ran. Thankfully Dash didn't follow him this time.

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Dash was about to chase after Danny, but stopped when he caught sight of Jack. 'Speak of the devil.' Dash followed the other boy with his eyes and saw him slowly walk into an alleyway. Dash contemplated what to do before letting his curiosity get the better of him. Dash jay walked onto the other street and carefully made his way near the alleyway. He slowly moved his head to look and saw Jack walking calmly further into the alleyway.

Dash's eyes narrowed as he spotted Griffith casually leaning against a brick wall. He moved toward Jack and the two stood face to face with each other. He faintly heard the two talking and strained his ears to hear what they were saying. He saw Griffith reach into his backpack and give Jack a manila envelope. Jack briefly peered into the contents before placing the envelope into his own backpack.

'Why would Jack meet Griffith in such a shady place? And what's in that envelope?' Dash thought suspiciously.

"Hey Dash."

"Gah!" Dash yelped in surprise. He moved out of sight hoping Jack and Griffith hadn't heard him. He turned to look at the person who surprised him before relaxing as he saw that it was Sandra. The brunette raised an eyebrow at his behavior before smiling and leaning over to see what he'd been looking at.

Dash quickly grabbed her and said, "Hey Sandra."

"Hey Dash," repeated Sandra. She gave him a suspicious look that made Dash smile nervously.

"Is there something going on?"

"What? No, nothing much. How are you?" Dash asked hastily. Without thinking he placed an arm around her shoulders and ushered her away from the alleyway. Sandra was surprised by the gesture and felt her face flush.

In a nervous voice she replied, "I-I'm okay now." She realized what she'd said and mentally smacked herself. She looked up at Dash, but saw that the other boy wasn't even paying attention to her and was looking behind them. Sandra turned her head to see a familiar looking boy walking calmly toward him. His presence made Dash tense and she looked worriedly up at the blond. She managed to slip out of his hold and turn to look back at the Goth boy in front of them.

Griffith smiled as he calmly looked at them, but after a moment he shifted his attention to Sandra. His eyes ran over her before he said, "You're that girl I spilled my drink on."

Sandra gave him a polite smile, "Yeah that was me."

"I really was sorry about it. Such a cute girl like you doesn't deserve to be stained by anything."

Sandra raised an eyebrow at the odd compliment but didn't get the chance to respond before Dash stood in front of her.

"What do you want Griffith?"

"Ah meathead, it's funny how we always run into each other," Griffith said in the same calm tone, "especially when I have business to take care of. I need to speak with Sandra, alone."

Sandra moved from behind Dash and looked at Griffith curiously as she asked, "What do you need to talk to me about?"

"Oh this and that, mostly that," Griffith said airily. "Heh, I'd feel better if it wasn't in front of your oh-so-charming bulldog boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend," Sandra interjected quickly. Griffith smirked after hearing the response.

"My mistake and perhaps I should just seek you out during normal school hours," replied Griffith.

"Leave her alone, you Goth freak," Dash said loudly. He moved toward Griffith, but a strong pull from Sandra stopped him.

"Dash, cut it out!" exclaimed Sandra. "He's not doing anything wrong so don't act like such a jerk."

She turned to look at Griffith, "But to be honest you are giving me the creeps by acting so secretive about what you need to discuss with me, not to mention the fact that you're not exactly the nicest guy to run into."

"Then you've heard wrong or ridiculous embellishments. Besides I merely wish to seek your counsel on the homecoming dance."

"The homecoming dance?" asked Sandra. "What do you need help with?"

Griffith smiled as he said, "Deciding on what musical selections are suitable for the event. Didn't the committee tell you? My band and I are playing at the dance."

End of Chapter 17

Spider's Shout Outs:

(because the mail where I'm at is unreliable for spiders)

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who's read this fic so far. I loved every single comment, review, joke, flame and just all around nice words from you guys. I hope you guys liked this chapter and while I cannot guarantee to update soon, I can at least say that I plan to update twice next month. :)