Greetings from chapter six! I apologize for the delay in posting this chapter, but there were some technical difficulties. This story is nearing the end and will most likely have eight chapters when it is completed. Thanks again to all my reviewers; I appreciate the feedback.

Disclaimer: I do now own any aspect of Danny Phantom.

Paulina found Danny near the snacks and asked him if they could talk privately outside. He followed her to a dark corner of the backyard. After checking to make sure no one was within earshot, she flashed him a grin, then kissed him.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Danny murmured dreamily.

"Well, I just wanted to thank you again for the necklace. And to discuss some really juicy gossip. You see, I discovered somebody's secret and I'm not sure if I should tell anyone else. Other than you, of course."

"Well, I guess it depends on the secret. What exactly is it?"

Paulina's grin widened, and she leaned close to Danny and began to whisper in his ear. "Here's the deal. I caught a certain student at Casper High changing into Ghost Boy. I really like Ghost Boy and want to date him, but I don't like him in his human form. And if the human doesn't let me see his ghost side more, I'm going to reveal his secret to everyone. Isn't that great?"

Danny swallowed hard as she snickered. "How... how... how did you know?" he stuttered.

"I caught you the other day, becoming Ghost Boy."

Danny's eyes flashed green, making Paulina only laugh harder. "My plan's already working," she said in between giggles. "Now just keep it up, and I won't have to tell anyone what you've been hiding from the town. After all, you wouldn't want everyone to turn against you, now would you? Even your loser friends probably won't want anything to do with you."

"That's where you're wrong," Danny said through clenched teeth. "Sam and Tucker have known for awhile. Even my sister knows now."

"Well, you may have the three of them, but you won't have anyone else. You could just make this easy on yourself and let me see Ghost Boy whenever I want. And do some little favors for me here and there. That's not too much to ask, now is it?"

Enraged, Danny could feel himself changing, but he caught himself and stopped it. Even though Paulina had successfully blackmailed him, he wasn't about to give her the satisfaction of knowing that.

"Fine, I'll play along for now," he sighed in defeat, as the wheels turned in his mind all the while. If he could just keep her distracted for a few days, he would surely be able to work out a plan to prevent her from exposing him.

"That's a good Danny," she said, patting his head tauntingly.

When the two got back to Paulina's house, she insisted that Ghost Boy float her up to her room, which Danny had no choice but to do. She clung to his neck as he flew upwards, holding her bridal style, turning them intangible to phase through the wall and setting her on her feet on the floor.

"That was fun," she sighed, a grin plastered on her face. "We have to do this more often. Don't you agree?"

"Sure, whatever you say," Danny answered, playing along.

"Good night, Ghost Boy. See you tomorrow for our date. And tell your loser side that I want him to pick me up at noon, unless he wants to risk revealing himself by coming here as a ghost," she snickered.

"Yeah, of course. Good night."

It was nearly midnight when Danny finally left Paulina's house. On his way home, he decided to stop by Sam's place, hoping that both she and Tucker were there, and that she would talk to him.

Upon arriving, he called her cell phone.

"Hello?" she answered grouchily, as he was just about the last person on Earth she wanted to talk to at the moment.

"Hi, Sam. I know it's late, but I really need to talk to you and Tucker. It's an emergency."

"What, did Paulina dump you or something?"

"If only it were that easy, but it's not. She knows, Sam."

"Knows what?" the young woman asked. And then it hit her. "Okay, Danny, come on in and meet Tucker and me down in the entertainment room."

Danny went ghost and phased into the house, flying down to meet up with his friends.

"What happened, Danny?" Tucker asked after he returned to his human form.

"Paulina has a major crush on 'Ghost Boy.' As it turns out, she saw me morph the other day and has been faking interest in me to get closer to my ghost side."

"How did you find out that she knows?" Sam questioned.

"She had the audacity to tell me to my face at the party tonight. She took me far away from everyone else so they wouldn't hear, but she threatened to expose me if I don't let her see more of my ghost side. And I have to do favors for her as well."

Sam could feel anger overcoming her. She always knew that Paulina was cruel and shallow, but this was really low, even for her. "You can't let her blackmail you, Danny!" Sam insisted.

"I know, that's why I came to you guys. But first, I want to talk to you in private, Sam. Do you mind, Tuck?"

"Not at all," the other young man responded, excusing himself to get more snacks.

Once he was gone, Danny sat on the couch next to Sam. "Look, I'm really sorry for the way I've been acting lately. Even if Paulina's interest was genuine, I never should have allowed myself to get so tied up in a relationship, especially if it meant being so rude to you and Tuck. I promise, from now on, I'm going to be more considerate."

"It's okay, Danny, really. I forgive you. Regardless of the way you've been acting, you don't deserve to be burdened any further. What Paulina did is punishment enough."

"Thanks, Sam," Danny whispered, looking at her gratefully before leaning in and kissing her cheek.

Tucker came downstairs at that moment and saw Danny's action. It's about time, he thought. "Hey, guys, are you done talking?"

"Oh, yeah," Sam said, both she and Danny blushing. "And I'm glad you're back, because I have a plan."

Tucker set down the food on the coffee table and pulled up a chair near the other two.

"Now listen closely," Sam instructed, the other two leaning towards her. "Here's what we'll do."

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