Well, well, well, welcome to chapter four! I really don't have much to say about this installment, except thank you again to all my reviewers. On with the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own any aspect of Danny Phantom.
Danny had mixed feelings about Sam's reaction. Somehow, he just couldn't see what the big fuss was. She's just jealous that I'm spending time with the person representing the bane of her existence, he reassured himself. She'll come to her senses later. Until then, I'll just stay away and let her cool her jets a bit.
Danny's thoughts turned to his date with Paulina and how much fun it had been. Everything about it was incredible. He still didn't understand why she was suddenly acting so amorous towards him. But for that matter, he didn't particularly care-all the attention was already going to his head, obvious in the way he'd shirked his promise to Sam.
His pulse quickened as he recalled the way Paulina ate her dessert. She was very deliberate and kept eye contact with him, delighting in the reaction she was getting from him.
He was playing right into her hands, just the way she planned it.
Paulina hummed to herself as she got ready for bed, excited about how perfectly everything was working in her favor. Danny had clearly fallen for her already, and just when he thought things couldn't get better, she would pull the rug out from under him by revealing what she knew and threatening to expose him unless he continued their relationship as Ghost Boy exclusively.
She admired her reflection in the mirror, smiling at what she saw. Getting up from the chair, she walked to her closet to pick out her outfit the next day. She had plans to go shopping with Star the next morning, so they could buy new outfits for the party.
Paulina looked through her closet for a moment before finally settling on a white dress and red sandals. She hung the dress on a hook glued to her bedroom door, then went into the bathroom to finish readying herself for bed. She decided to go online for a few minutes before going to sleep, and, immediately after logging on, received an instant message from Dash.
bigmanoncampus: hey whats up w/ u and danny
uwishuwereme: nothin we just went 2 the movies and a restaurant why u jealous
bigmanoncampus: heck no just wonderin why ur so in2 him all of a sudden
uwishuwereme: im not into him i just found out sumthin about him that i shouldnt have, so im gonna use him to get what i want. that losers already in2 me. and if u no whats good for u keep quiet about it bcuz your gonna get sumthin good out of it 2
bigmanoncampus: thats my gurl c u 2morrow babe
uwishuwereme: yeah whatever im not ur gurl ok. im dannys now remember
bigmanoncampus: yeah until u get what we both want from him right
uwishuwereme: exactly so just let me handle him dont say a word or u will spoil all my hard work
bigmanoncampus: no prob nething to remind evry1 what a loser he is
The two chatted for awhile, and Paulina finally went to bed at 12:30, a broad smile on her face as she thought over her plan.
Danny awoke the next morning feeling quite refreshed, despite his fight with Sam. Although he did feel slightly guilty for ditching her like that, he tricked himself into believing it was somehow justified because he had tried to make other arrangements; it wasn't his fault that she seemed to have her heart set on eating up all of his much-deserved weekend free time.
Danny got up and went downstairs to make breakfast. Cooking wasn't his thing, but he wanted to butter up his parents in hopes they'd give him some money to buy new clothes for the party. Of course it would under the pretext that he needed the money for something "important." After all, it was important to him. So what if they didn't know of his real plans to use it? They were his parents; it was practically in their job description to save him from "dire financial straits."
Danny cooked up a huge meal, set the table, and called everyone downstairs to breakfast. As the family chowed down, Danny broached the subject of money with his parents, and, surprisingly, they went for it. After Danny washed all the breakfast dishes, Jack Fenton surrendered a $100 bill to him, and Danny thanked him profusely for his generosity before running up the stairs to his room to get ready to leave.
Sam awoke with the dawn and tried her best to shake off her leftover emotions from the night before. She took a moment to regroup before eagerly hopping out of bed to get ready for the protest. It was only 6:00 am, so she still had well over an hour to eat breakfast and put the finishing touches on her picket signs.
Sam dressed quickly, then went downstairs and breakfasted on two slices of whole-wheat toast, organic orange juice, and bran flakes with raisins and soy milk. Feeling energized, she finished getting ready and left promptly at 7:30 to meet up with Tucker on the front steps of the Amity Park City Council building. Arriving at 7:45, she easily found him despite the massive throng already present. Tucker also had various picket signs, and the two stood around chatting as they awaited instructions.
"Hey, Tuck, thanks for coming," Sam said. "At least I know I still have one loyal friend."
"No prob, Sam, but please, can we not talk about Danny? Let's just stick to the task at hand."
"Okay, Tucker. No more talk about Danny, I promise. I don't want to ruin this event for you."
Sam continued to break her promise, as everything seemed to serve as a painful reminder to her of her and Danny's fight less than twelve hours earlier. Tucker had had enough by the time the two finally left the protest around 3:00, much to his relief.
"Now what?" Sam inquired.
"I don't know. How about we just hang out at my house and play some computer games?"
"Works for me."
As the two made their way to Tucker's house, he secretly wished he could trade places with Danny, wherever the halfa was at the time. Sam's love/hate relationship with Danny was really starting to get to him. I wish she would just tell him how she feels, he thought. Because they've only been fighting for less than I day, and I'm already tired of being stuck in the middle!
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