Danny rolled over in his sleep. He was dreaming, but it was a strange dream.
Sam, Valerie, and Paulina were there. Danny looked at the three girls as thoughts rushed through his head, some stranger than others. Paulina was so very beautiful, but so shallow and cruel. She vanished as he dismissed her from his heart, and turned to look at the next girl.
Valerie was once his girlfriend, she was kind and also pretty, but she had valued her hobby of ghost hunting over his affection. Danny's heart ached as he let go of Valerie, but he knew he had to move on. "Goodbye" Danny whispered. She also vanished and Danny turned towards the last and final girl.
Sam. She was the loveliest of all. Her dark hair and pretty smile contributed to that, but it was her heart that made her better than the rest. Here was a person who could take the ugliest bug and find beauty. Weeds were roses in her eyes, and she would never kill anything, even for food. Danny watched as she smiled at him and came closer. His heart raced as she gently leaned forward, and he also bent closer. Their lips were millimeters from each other when…
Danny woke up. He sat up in bed and said to the empty air, "I love Sam!" He looked at his clock and for the first time was glad that it was time to go to school. School meant that Sam would walk to school with him. Tucker would be there too, but Danny had a sneaking suspicion that his wise mouth friend had known all along.
The rest of the morning Danny sped around the house getting ready. He spent longer in the shower than usual and would have stayed in for several more minutes if Jazz hadn't kicked him out. Finally Sam arrived at his door with Tucker and they began walking to school. It would take awhile, but a few days ago Sam had insisted walking the few miles would be good for them.
Sam was a mess. Her black hair was untidy and she had dark circles (not the usual ones from makeup) around her eyes. Tucker was unusually quite after Sam had yelled at him after he had commented about the way she looked.
As they walked Danny mentally built up his courage. The trio was silent for most of the time, and they were almost to school when Danny had enough courage. "Uh, Sam?" she looked at him sleepily and he continued. "I've wanted to tell you for a long time, and last night I had a dream, and I, uh, shoot." Blue smoke snaked out of Danny's open mouth and he changed into his ghost form.
"I'll tell you later Sam. Tucker, could you cover for me? I should be back soon; it's probably the Box Ghost, but just in case." Tucker nodded and Danny flew off, secretly hating the ghost that interrupted him, and thanking the ghost for giving him more time to work on his confession of love to Sam.
Sam watched him fly away and then turned and continued walking. Tucker watched her carefully. He knew that Danny and Sam both had crushes on each other. For a second he had seen hope in Sam's tired eyes as Danny began his confession. Then the ghost had come. Tucker was positive that Danny had realized his feelings for Sam. He smirked. Today would be interesting.
As they continued their walk to school Sam felt her heart beat slow down after the brief moment Danny had spoken. She had loved Danny since she had first met him at the start of ninth grade, and almost everyone had known except Danny. Sam felt faint hope that maybe Danny loved her back.
Apparently the ghost Danny had been fighting hadn't been something as weak as the Box Ghost. He was missing for most of the day but finally showed up at lunch. Every now and then he would twitch or flinch as if he was in pain. When he sat down at the trio's table Sam stared at him expectantly but he said nothing about their earlier conversation.
"Dude, are you okay? You keep twitching. Was it Plasmius or a ghost like that?" Tucker looked at his friend concernedly. Danny looked at him as if thinking about what to say. When he spoke it was slow and sounded kind of strange.
"Yeah. The ghost was really strong. It was a new one though, and I barely escaped."
Tucker looked worried. "How did you beat it?" To his surprise Danny started laughing.
"You should see the look on your face! You look like I just said that PDAs were being discontinued." Danny wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and continued. "The ghost was this weird shape shifter thing that changed into the funniest thing in my head. It tried to get me to laugh myself to death."
"So what did it turn into?" Tucker asked with an irritated tone in his voice. "If this isn't another joke. You shouldn't make fun of people who are concerned for you."
Danny became serious. "I was just kidding. Jeez what's a guy got to do to get some laughs around here? If you need to know it turned into Sam."
Since she had been lying on the table half asleep, Sam jerked her head up and stared at Danny. Tucker's eyes widened beyond proportion and waited for Danny to claim it was a joke. Danny never did.
Sam, who was exhausted from the wind howling all night, blew up. "What's funny about me? When did I become a clown? This makeup's black not red!" She glared at Danny who simply shrugged.
"Let's see… you're a Goth who likes animals and plants, you wear way too much mascara, oh! And we can't forget the numerous times you've tried to flirt with me." Danny had a faint smirk on his lips as he told this to Sam.
Tucker watched both of his friends along with the rest of the cafeteria. "I've never flirted with you!" was the only comeback poor Sam could make.
Danny continued as if she hadn't spoken. "Get it through your head Sam. I don't love you. You're more of the comical sidekick type person." Sam stood up, and to the other student's and Tucker's surprise she burst into tears for the first time.
"I- I- thought maybe…" she sobbed louder and ran out of the cafeteria. The silence was deafening as everyone stared at Danny, who had continued eating his lunch. Whispers spread through the student body and Tucker sat with his mouth hanging open.
"If you sit like that much longer you'll catch flies." Danny said. Tucker closed his mouth and then glared at his friend.
"That was harsh Danny. She really liked you! What's wrong with you?" Tucker stalked off, leaving Danny alone to eat.
Danny twitched again and doubled over in pain. He stood up and walked out of the cafeteria with the eyes of everyone on him. Danny walked until he found a broom closet and he stepped inside.
The hallway outside the closet was empty. It was a good thing too. Screams of pain echoed from the closet. Through the clouded window you could see the outline of a solitary figure shifting into odd positions.
Then the one figure became two, and the screams stopped. The closet door opened and inside you could see Danny Fenton lying unconscious on the ground. Floating over him was the ghost Sam had been pursued by last night. The closet was dark and you couldn't see the ghost clearly.
"Overshadowing is definitely my favorite power." He said. The ghost's expression was the same one Danny had worn when he had insulted Sam. He flew off in a rush of cold wind.
I hope that everyone understood that Danny had been overshadowed ever since he got back from the ghost fight.
