WoM- 'makes face' Am I the only one who thought today felt like a Monday? Damn exams… Ah, well, I only have my Visual Imaging, Comic and Psych exams from here on out. Two of those are art classes and the third… 'shrugs' I've always liked screwing around with people's heads. 'Grins evilly'


"Immature love says: 'I love you because I need you.' Mature love says 'I need you because I love you.'"

-Erich Fromm


Preparations

"I don't get you, Danny," I whispered, shaking my head, "Where do you go all the time?" Seriously, that was one of the many things that puzzled me about my roommate…

"Here and there," My roommate replied just as softly.

"No talking!" Mr. Barrens, the buff, scary-looking Gym teacher who was in charge of detention barked angrily. Just then the door slid open and Nate walked in, grinning at Mr. Barren's scowl.

"Hey, Coach!" He said loudly. "Guess I'm stuck in there for the day, too!"

"Take a seat, Dobson," Barrens growled in annoyance. Nate shrugged and turned to the row Danny and I were sitting in, double taking when he saw me.

"Whoa!" He said with a grin, "Your not a face I expected to see here! What's your crime?"

"Breaking curfew," I answered. "You?"

"Redecorating the English department." Nate said, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes ruining his otherwise serious expression. "And what did you do this time, Fenton?"

"Skipping class," Danny sighed. "Lancer did one of his random attendance check things and saw I'd had 17 unexplained absences and 25 tardies." Nate shook his head.

"You've gotta tell me your secret," He said, laughing, "How the heck do you get around those military hall monitors without them seeing you?" Danny smiled wryly.

"What can I say?" He shrugged, "Around here, I'm invisible."

"Yeah, right!" Nate snickered, "What about your fight with Dash? Or the time you and Tucker hijacked that helicopter and crashed it into the old football stadium? I still don't know why Mr. Masters didn't press charges against your guardian for that…"

"You did what?" I asked, slack-jawed. Then I made another connection as far as the name went, "Any by Mr. Master, you don't mean the owner of Master Corps, do you?"

The infamous Mr. Vlad Masters of Master Corps was a mysterious, powerful man. My father had been trying to gain a conference with him since before I was born, and still had little to no luck.

I couldn't say I'd ever had an interest in him, though. After all, he was just another rich guy, even if he was richer then most. He contributed a lot to environmental groups and a lot of his company's stuff was environmentally-friendly, so I had nothing against the guy.

"That was an accident," Danny said, his face going red. "A ghost chased us inside there and Tucker's foot accidentally hit something."

"Still, you were lucky he didn't sue your butt straight into poverty," Nate chuckled.

"Luck didn't have anything to do with it…" Danny muttered to himself. I raised an eyebrow.

'What was that supposed to…?'

"Anyways, did you hear the news? Masters is finally gonna announce his sole heir to Master Corps at a press conference on Thursday, and he's already hinting at who it is!"

"Hinting how?" Danny asked sharply, "What's he saying?"

"Just that he goes to this school," Nate shrugged, "Not that that tells us much, except that he's still a minor." I felt a chill go through me at that.

'It's a good thing I got away when I did,' I thought dryly, 'Knowing Dad, he'd be trying everything in his power to get me hooked up with this guy just as soon as he knew who he was, and knowing my luck he's someone like Dash or one of his other football cronies…'

"He didn't say anything else?" Danny pressed.

"No," Nate shook his head. "Nothing. Why?"

"Just wondering," I raised an eyebrow at my roommate.

I'd been around him long enough to recognize that that 'just wondering' WASN'T a 'just wondering.' But that didn't make any sense, why would he care who Vlad Master's heir was…?

That's when I had an epiphany.

My conversation with Jazz on the way to Casper…

"Vlad is our caretaker."

…Tucker's accidental outbursts in the Lunchroom and when Danny and got into trouble for fighting…

"Danny… is the heir to a major company now a days,"

…My one-on-one with Mr. Marchez about the Guardian Danny despised…

"We're talkin' about Vlad,"

'Oh. My. God.'

"Sam? You okay?" I jumped slightly at Danny's voice, looking between him and Nate, who were both staring at me.

"Fine!" I said a little too loudly, earning a scowl from Barrens. "Uh, fine. Just… thinking."

"About what?" Nate asked.

"Um… About… a-about…" My eyes caught the words on a poster taped to outside, "…About the Masquerade Ball!"

"Keep it quiet over there!" Barrens growled.

"I thought you weren't going?" Danny asked quietly.

"I'm not," I said, but you two are, right? Are your costumes done yet? Do you have dates?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna go with Bree Summers from Wendy," Nate said, "She's making my costume so it'll match up with hers."

"I'm not taking anyone," Danny said in a strange voice, "And Liz is making my costume. She says it's a surprise," Danny rolled his eyes as I tried to keep my disappointment in.

I was so sure he was going to ask me to be his date! All the signs were there, and when I told Tina about it over a Game of Doomed. (In between crushing this guy called Tech-Geek who kept bugging me for re-match after re-match.) She agreed with me that he definitely sounded interested, and she insisted he was at the brink of asking me out when he ran off without rhyme or reason…

Iycee- Maybe he chickened out?

Chaos- We're talking about a guy who'd face down an entire football team to protect a friend.

Gem- Really? Damn! Are you SURE he doesn't have a brother? Cause that's not a guy you let go of without fighting tooth and nail.

Iycee- That doesn't mean anything, Sam. I bet there are a lot of guys who'd rather fistfight a football team then ask a girl out on a date if they thought she'd say no!

Gem- Name two.

Iycee- …Okay, so I don't know any personally, but they're out there!

I sighed mentally as what I remembered of the rest of the conversation faded away to the back of my mind. I just didn't get it! Why would Danny go from the verge of asking me out to-?

Then it came to me.

'Jazz!'

It was so obvious! She already said she didn't want us being together, and I knew Danny talked to her on the phone at least once a week. The siblings were very loyal to one another, and closer then any other brother and sister I'd ever met.

If Jazz made it a choice between his own blood, and someone who cared for him as much as Jazz cared for Danny, and a stranger he thought he only just met of course he'd side with her!

I breathed in and out slowly, trying to control my sudden burst of rage. Eve if Jazz was honest about looking out for my and Danny's safety, that was no reason to start going around behind out backs like that!

Scowling, I brought myself back to reality. I noticed then that Nate was fast asleep on his desk and Danny busy drawing something, his headphones on and his CD player belting out a tune I could just barely hear.

'Why don't you let me be, leave me alone?

You start a fire inside that I could never control

You want to see a reaction? (See a Reaction?)'

'Come on and cut me down, I've gone as far as I'll go

Now you're crossing the line and I am letting you know

Well here's your reaction (Here's your reaction)'

I smiled wryly at the familiar song. I would've never figured Danny as a Trapt fan. Stand Up was one of my favorites by them, though, and very appropriate for my life, if you thought about it. My parents had started it with me, after all, and I showed them that I wasn't going to sit there and take their crap.

They shoveled pressure after pressure onto me, expecting me to always live up to their expectations. I tried when I was little, I won't lie about that, but around the time I entered middle school I got sick of it all. Sick of running to try keep up with an image that wasn't me, and wouldn't be as hard as I tried. So, little by little, I started to defy my parents, until I basically became their full-blown 'problem child.'

'Stand up I have had enough,'

'Walk away before I finish what you started

Face to face

I will put you in your place

End this game

Before I finish what you started

Face to face

Everything will change,'

Now, though, My parents were no longer the problem for me. But now my difficulties were that much more complicated. I mean, here I was cross dressing in an all-boy's school, falling in love with both my roommate and a ghost who saved me on a number of occasions.

I froze at that thought.

As much as I wanted to take it back, though, I couldn't. I had already fallen pretty hard for Danny, and I was definitely getting there with Phantom. But Danny wasn't interested anymore, and as much as I liked Phantom, I was completely unsure about how a human and a ghost went about having a relationship.

'You've planted this seed, how my anger has grown

I've got a feeling inside that I can't seem to control

You want to see a reaction? (See a reaction?)'

'Come on and cut me down, You've gone as far as I'll go

Now you're crossing the line and I am letting you know

Well here's your reaction (Here's your reaction)'

And that wasn't even taking into account the fact that neither of them knew about the Samuel thing. I would have to tell them sooner or later. I hate lying, and I could never lie to someone I was as close to as a boyfriend and girlfriend were supposed to be, not if I could help it.

Besides, what if I met Mr. Masters as Samantha and he decided I wasn't good enough for his heir? Even if Danny didn't like him, could he really go against such a powerful man? For someone who was lying to him more then they told the truth?

'Maybe I'm being too hard on myself…?' I thought with a sigh. Still, what was I supposed to do?

'Stand up I have had enough,'

'Walk away before I finish what you started

Face to face

I will put you in your place

End this game

Before I finish what you started

Face to face

Everything will change,'

There was another thing that was bothering me, too. I hadn't seen Phantom in a while. It wasn't because of ghosts, either. There hadn't been a real attack since the Spectra thing. I was almost getting the feeling that he was avoiding me for some reason, and this hurt.

What the heck was I doing wrong all of a sudden that had the guys I liked heading for the hills? I hadn't said anything to offend either of them and neither showed any signs of learning my secret, so what the heck was the big deal all of a sudden?

'Insult after insult

After insult after insult

After insult after insult

After insult after insult

After insult after insult'

'Stand up I have had enough,'

'Walk away before I finish what you started

Face to face

I will put you in your place

End this game

Before I finish what you started

Face to face

Everything will change,'

'Maybe Jazz is right,' I decided, 'I am over complicating things. If Danny doesn't like me anymore, I'll give up on him. And If I never see Phantom again, that's obviously his choice.' Unless something had happened to him…

I pushed that thought and the fears that came with it away. What was I thinking? Of course nothing had happened to Phantom! He'd proven before that he could take care of himself just fine, why would I feel the need to doubt him now?

But it wasn't doubt… It was worry. I was worried that Phantom wouldn't make it back to me, even though he was already a ghost. If the thought of losing my superhero to his rivals didn't scare me as badly as it did, I'd laugh at how unbelievably mushy I sounded right now…

'Walk away

Everything will Change

End this game

You wanna see a reaction?

You wanna see a reaction?'

"What's that, Fenton?" Barrens asked sharply, "No music! I'll confiscate these…" The coach ignored Danny's protest as he took the CD player from my roommate. Then he moved onto the picture Danny had been working on. "And how about you save daydreaming about your girlfriend for your own time, Fenton, this is punishment!"

'…What?' Curious, Nate and I leaned over as one to see Danny's paper, ignoring his brilliant blush.

I felt my own face heat up at the scribbles.

On the papers was a picture of me. A few, actually. One was a small head shot of me smiling slightly, another was of me sitting on the counter at work, one was me glaring at some unseen foe and the last one, which took up the most space, was me standing alone and looking down at something.

I wasn't smiling, but I didn't look angry or depressed, just deep in thought. One hand was brushing my hair out of my face and the other was fingering my belt, a habit of mine. Large transparent wings he'd shaded in to look dark came out from my back, and a few feather fell down where my name was carefully printed at the bottom of the paper; Sam.

'So he does like me…' I thought, smiling slightly.

"Nice," Nate said admirably. "She's cute."

"It's just a girl I met recently." Danny muttered, uncomfortable.

"Is she the one you can't stop thinking about?" I asked. Danny blushed brilliantly and didn't answer, which delighted me. So then he did like me back!

"It's nothing, alright guys?" Danny sighed, "It'll be better off for her if we stop it before either of us gets too attached." Too late for that…

"Detention's over," Barrens grunted, "Fenton, get your CD player from me this evening, before lights out and don't lemme catch you with it again."

"Yes sir," Danny said, quickly gathering his things to get out the door. In his haste, he never even noticed when the picture he just drew slipped out of his grasp. I noticed, though, and when I picked it up to study it again, Megan's words over Doomed flashed through my head.

'That's not a guy you let go of without fighting tooth an nail…'

I grinned.

'Stand up,'
"Whoa!" Danny said, double taking when he saw my load. "What's all that?"

"Nothing!" I answered through my gasps, heading into my room. Once there, I let the bags spill to the ground and locked my door before turning back to all the stuff I'd bought.

None of it was anything fancy on it's own, but I'd learned enough about fashion design from Lisa (Who was rabidly obsessed with clothing) to add all the lace and frill myself, for lack of a better saying.

My dress was an off the shoulder one with silvery sparkles to it and a flowing skirt. Vary simple, but nothing a little hard work couldn't fix.

'This is really, really stupid…' I though, me heart pounding as I began to work. Normally I wasn't this reckless…

…And don't you dare bring up the rabbit thing, by the way.

I'm not sure how long I'd worked. I know Danny had come and gone, (along with the night,) in the time I spent sitting on my bed cutting, sewing and basically killing my eyes. Even then, it wasn't finished overnight.

Lucky for me, though, the Ball was still three days off…


WoM- There! And yes, next chapter will be the long awaited Ball! I know alot of you are mad at me for dragging it out this long 'Laughs sheepishly,' Anyways, I'll have the end results of Sam's work in the next Chapter, which I highly suggest you check out on DoD, by the way, to get the full story. 'winks' I've gotta get outta here now before my brother explodes from waiting for the computer. (Then again, that IS one less person to fight over bathroom right in the morning with…)
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Next update; January 24th

See you then!