Sam was outside on the lawn by the back of the school. She was still crying, and she could feel mascara filled tears run down her cheeks. Two sneakers appeared beside her and she assumed that it was Tucker. "Leave me alone Tucker." She said in a quivering voice.
The figure sat down beside her and now Sam thought that it was Danny. "Why did you say that in the cafeteria?" she asked, and when the person still did not answer she turned to look at him. She came face to face with a stranger.
His eyes were a surprising shade of silver-grey, and he was staring at Sam. He was tall, with light brown hair, and to Sam he seemed incredibly handsome. The stranger smiled and said, "I'm not Tucker and I didn't talk to you in the cafeteria. Does that mean I still have to leave?" he asked, and his voice was calm and kind.
Sam stuttered out an answer. "N-no, sorry, I'm Sam Manson, and you are…?" He smiled again and held out his hand.
"I'm Eric. I've just moved here and was about to walk into school when I saw you run behind it. I thought you might like some company." He winked and said, "You're not afraid to talk to strangers are you?"
Something about Eric made Sam feel scared. If she could remember the night before, she would have realized that she had felt the same both times, but she quickly forgot that feeling and went back to being her old depressed self.
"Go away Eric. I don't want to talk." Sam waited for Eric to leave, but instead he smiled, and this time Sam noticed that it seemed to closely resemble a sneer.
"What caused you to become so isolated? Are your friends out to beat you or something?" Those strange silver eyes stared into Sam's and then Eric said, "It's like you have eyes of steel protecting your true emotions."
For a moment Sam was sure that Eric had been reading her mind, but she assured herself that that was impossible. "No one understands me." She said, and she was surprised to hear herself talking. "Sometimes I just want to scream."
Eric brought his hand up to Sam's face and wiped off a tear that Sam hadn't noticed. She was both shocked and embarrassed until he said, "It's okay to cry, but you should know what you are crying about first."
Sam blinked. She hadn't thought really of what she was crying about yet. Then she realized that she was crying over all the hope that she had lost, the hope that Danny loved her.
Eric continued. "Tears come and go, but the pain inside your heart will always stay." Sam stared into Eric's still unblinking silver eyes. "I'll help if you let me."
"If you want, I can help you get your heart back on the right track, if you're having love issues." He added the last part quickly, and again Sam had that weird feeling like he could read minds.
"What you need is someone who appreciates you. Someone who would care for you, and wouldn't insult you."
Sam knew where this was going, but she played along anyway. "And who would that be?" she asked.
Eric held out his hand. "Hello, I'm Eric, age fourteen; I think you are unique, charming and beautiful." He said this so seriously that Sam tried not to laugh. "After all, the cure for pain is most often love."
He smiled and stood up. "Well, I think that I've said enough." Eric began to walk away. "Do me a favor Sam." He said. "Don't throw away your love on someone who will treat you poorly." Then he turned and left without looking back.
Sam watched him go. Who was this mysterious boy who had confessed his love within minutes? She had waited for Danny to even give a hint that he loved her from the moment she met him!
She didn't return to school. To be honest she didn't think she could face Danny after what he had done to her. That and the fact that Eric would be there too. Instead she walked out of the school grounds and towards town.
Danny woke up in the broom closet and looked around in shock. He couldn't remember what had happened since his battle with the ghost. In fact, he couldn't remember the battle with the ghost. He had sensed it, changed into his ghost form, and when he had flown off looking for it…
That was all he could remember, and he decided that he should find Tucker and Sam. They might know what had happened, and maybe he would have enough courage to tell Sam his feelings.
The hall outside the broom closet was full of students, and when he walked out Danny noticed that he was getting very mean looks from people. After a few minutes of searching he found Tucker at his locker and tapped him on the shoulder.
Tucker spun around and glared at Danny. Danny flinched and said, "Do you know where Sam is? Do you know what happened to me since the ghost fight? Why is everyone so grouchy today? I have something I want to tell Sam. Are you going to answer me!"
Danny's friend had been quiet the whole time and finally spoke. "Hmm, let's see, I don't know, you came back from the ghost fight acting like you were crazy, the whole cafeteria saw you make Sam cry, Sam ran from the cafeteria crying so she probably doesn't want to talk to you, and since you keep talking I decided to answer."
A small gasp was all that came from Danny's mouth, and then a jumbled reply, "What? I don't remember… I made Sam cry?... Sam's gone?" Then realization smacked into Danny's mind and he shouted out, "I was overshadowed!"
Luckily the hall was empty because the bell had rung, and the only person who heard Danny's explanation was Tucker. He stared at Danny with first angry eyes, then the realization hit him too, and he said, "What ghost would overshadow you to get at Sam?"
Danny shook his head. "I have a bad feeling that this is Vlad's work. The only problem is that Vlad can't overshadow someone and use that person's voice. You would have noticed if my voice sounded like Vlad's"
"Maybe it was one of Vlad's minions!" Tucker said. "Whoever it was that overshadowed you made it sound like you hated Sam." Danny groaned and Tucker said, "What?"
"This morning I woke up and realized I loved Sam." Danny said. Tucker turned pale.
"We need to find Sam, and then I can tell her that I told her so." He said.
Danny changed into his ghost form and was about to grab Tucker and fly away when his ghost sense went off. This time he didn't have to look for the ghost; it was standing right in front of him.
You couldn't see the ghost very clearly, but it was the same one who had overshadowed Danny. The hallway had become dark, and the ghost spoke. His voice was terrifyingly malevolent, "You two are not getting anywhere near Sam. I have worked hard on her and I am not letting you ruin all of my work."
Danny and Tucker barely had a second to think before the whole hallway became pitch black.
