A/N: I do not own the song 'It Wasn't Enough' by Good Charlotte. That was one of the songs that inspired this tale.


The Art of Deception

Chapter Two


"I'm giving all I can
It wasn't enough
To keep you in my hands
Should I give up?
I try to understand
Was it ever enough?
I don't understand..."


It was still first period, only about thirty minutes into class. Sam ran through the problems, doing all the ones she knew perfectly. They weren't many either. When she was done doing that, she had about nine out of all forty problems done. She grasped a few locks of black hair in her hand and tapped her pencil three times, then twirled it in her hand, and tapped it again. She glanced at Tucker. He'd finished his test about five minutes before. She bit her lip. She looked at Lancer. He was subsituting for Mr. Folluka, their regular math teacher, and Lancer knew very well how to catch cheaters. Plus Tucker and she were sitting in the front row, only making things worst.

"Time's up," Lancer finally said, standing up. "Pencils down, papers to the front."

Sam accidentally pressed the pencil hard onto the desk, and the led snapped. Tucker looked at her, then at her test. He grimaced. Ouch she'd only answered about one fourth of the questions. He turned to collect the papers that had been passed up. Sam did the same. While she was doing so, Tucker looked at her pencil. He stifled a gasp. Her fingers ahd left thin indents on the wood, it close to snapping. not to mention that the led of the pencil seemed to have been piercing through the hard wood of the desk.

Ten minutes later of doing classwork, Lancer passed back the papers. All except Sam's. Only five minutes were left of class. He spent them by calling her up to his desk. "Miss Manson, come here, please," he said.

Sam stood and wlaked over to the bald teacher, standing before his desk. He leaned forward and rested both elbows on the desk. "Your grades, Miss Manson," he said. "Have been decreasing steadily. Is something wrong?"

"I don't know what you're tlaking about," Sam said, looking at him firmly.

Lancer only shook his head and flipped over the paper on his desk so Sam could see it. There was ehr test. Her name was in the upper right-hand corner. Towards the middle of the paper, a big, fat, red 'F.' Sam stared incredulously at the paper. Sure, she'd gotten a few 'C's and 'D's lately, but not an 'F'. Then again, what'd she expect from answering only ten problems. "An explanation, Miss Manson?" Lancer asked.

Sam bit her lower lip. "Sorry," she said. "Just that there was this whole family thing going on at my hosue last night and I really didn't have time to study at all. I barely finished my homework for today. I had no time for anything else."

"I suggest you make time, Miss Manson, or you'll be facing a 'D' on your report card." Lancer was perfectly serious. Sam grimaced. A 'D'? She couldn't have a 'D'! Her parents would kill her!

"I'm sorry," she said.

From his seat, Tucker listened intently. Family thing? No time for studying? But she'd told them that morning she'd been up late at night studying. Why had she lied to them? He narrowed his eyes slightly, then got a blank piece of paper and jotted it down. Something was up and he was gonna find out what it was. He wondered what she was really doing last night...


Danny sat against the wall, waiting for Sam to exit her last class before lunch. Tucker stood next to his fallen comrade. He'd gone through serious torture with that stupid test. All he needed right now was something to take his mind off his grade. Sam finally stepped out of her english classroom and glanced down at Danny, then up at Tucker. Tucker shrugged. Danny hadn't told him yet.

She glanced at Danny and, as if on cue, he handed up to her a paper he'd been holding. She took it and moved out of the way before someone from behind her forced her out of the doorway. Scanning the paper she quickly realized it was his math test. She looked at the red letter right on the center. 'D'.

"My parents are going to kill me," he sighed, still not looking up.

"Danny," Sam said. "Think of it this way, it's better than my grade." Danny looked at her. She wasn't being serious was she?

"What?" he questioned.

"I got an 'F'," Sam admitted.

"Why?" Danny asked, now perfectly confused.

"Because she didn't study," Tucker answered before she could.

"But I thought you said you'd stayed up late studying," Danny remarked.

"Apparently she couldn't study because there was some sort of family reunion at her house," Tucker said.

Danny looked at Sam. "You lied?" he asked, and stood up.

"Not lied, exactly," Sam objected. "I did have time to study, I just-" Sam started.

"So you lied to Lancer?" Tucker accused.

"No, I-"

"Knock it off, Tuck," Danny told his friend. Danny wouldn't take his eyes off Sam. She didn't usually lie. "It's no big deal. Just a little white lie."

"Exactly," Sam agreed. But there was a strange look in her eyes Tucker could not ignore. He narrowed his eyes. She was hiding something...

"I guess," he said, taking good note of how Sam wouldn't look him in the eye. He'd been getting suspicious. Some times, when ghosts were around, she would stall. Tucker hadn't thought any of it at first, just common occurences and minor set-backs, but now it was becoming apparent and more common that coincidence.

"Let's just get some lunch and see if we can go anywhere after school so I don't have to face my parents right away when they receive the letter in the mail telling them that I'm failing math."

"I have no problem with that," Tucker laughed. "Though you can't avoid them forever."

"I can try, can't I?" Danny laughed back. Sam laughed half-heartedly, then frowned.


"The boy is getting suspicious." The voice was once again elegant.

"I think it is about time we do something about him. Before he finds out too much." There was a sharp tone in the voice that said it meant business.

"He is not going in the right direction anyway." It was soft, almost a quiet plea.

"Maybe, maybe not. He's suspicious of something, we need to get him out of the way." He was eager for some action, the need to do something building up high.

"He may be an enemy, but I won't let you hurt him." A fist slammed down on the table they were all sitting around.

"Do not worry, I will not hurt him." The man narrowed his eyes. The otehr two ghosts only watched his expression.


"So here I am once again
With my back against the wall
Afraid to show you
Afraid to tell you
I don't know you like I did
I've never been so alone
I've never felt so insecure
And now I don't know where I'm going
In my life I'm not so sure..."


E/N: It took me a while to up-date. So sorry. I'll try up-dating more often, get as much as I can done. I think I may finish this story up quickly. YAY!

--Airamé Phantom