Chapter One: The Epiphany
It's been about three years since Danny Phantom became an accepted presence within Amity Park. As more time passed, the citizens recognized his heroic efforts and his strong desire to help and protect the town and its people. He became the official, unofficial hero of Amity Park. Of course, there are some who still believe he's nothing but a menace biding his time. However those people are few and far between.
Many citizens have come to know Phantom as more than just a ghost. Some have had the pleasure of speaking to him on occasion, asking for advice or simply venting. Many say that he is very sensible and a great listener, an all around sweet boy. To the town, Phantom has become a hero, a consultant, a role model, a counselor, an ambassador, a motivator, a legend and even a friend. He is the town's very own treasure, kept secret from he rest of the world. One girl however, treasures him more than anyone will know.
Paulina Sánchez appeared to have it all. She was popular, beautiful, rich, and very smart. Though some may want to say otherwise, the lowest grade she's ever gotten is a B-. She is known as the queen of Casper High, even though she's only a junior. That fact alone gets under the senior girls skin, since she was crowned with the title her freshman year. In the past she always came across as a selfish, shallow, self centered brat, though it was more out of insecurity and the childish want to fit in and be popular. After three years of living in a ghost infested town where any day could be your last, she's learned that it's us against them. So instead of calling people out for being nerds, geeks, or goths, she's learned to not judge someone by they're appearance. Because you never know who could rise to the occasion and save your life.
The final bell rang, signaling the long awaited end of day. Paulina makes her way towards her locker, hanging back a bit to evade the crowd and get out as soon as she's done, she promised Star they would go shopping today. Entering her combination she puts away her books and retrieves the ones she needs for homework.
One might be surprised at the lack of Phantom related items when peering inside her locker. All of the newspaper articles, pictures and love letters are all strangely absent. After watching Phantom for three years she realized that her crush on him was not exactly what she thought it was. What she felt wasn't necessarily romantic love for the Ghost Boy, it was more of a platonic love filled with respect and gratitude. The kind of love you feel for a best friend. She won't deny that she still thinks he's very good looking and her crush was very real at the time, but she wouldn't want to date him. Danny Phantom is a symbol of hope and peace within the town and she wouldn't want to take that away from everyone.
Besides, it wouldn't work out anyway, she's watched many superhero movies to know that the hero's girlfriend is always the bad guy's preferred target. Dating Phantom would be more of a hassle than a satisfactory relationship. She looks at the calendar hanging at the back of her locker, which reads October 19th, it's almost time for the celebration. She closes her locker, stuffs her books in her bag and heads towards the exit.
Suddenly the fluorescent hallway lights expload, sending sparks and glass flying everywhere. Everyone screamed and ducked for cover, this can only be a ghost attack. As the entire school was stampeding out through every exit, Paulina's foot got yanked out from underneath her. Yelping in surprise, she slammed painfully on the linoleum floor. Though a bit dazed, she attempted to get up only to get pulled through the hallway, screaming the whole way down.
Trying her hardest to free her foot from the slimy green limb, she is lifted into the air and comes face to face with her captor, a giant ecto-squid screeches at her. Heart already beating twice as fast, the Ghost shoots up intangibly through the roof and into the sky. She has never felt fear on this level before. During all the other ghost attacks she's always been on the ground, but now, one false move and she'll be nothing but a red splat on the pavement. The ecto-squid flies higher and higher, and the school becomes smaller and smaller, the blood rushing to her head won't let her hear her own screams. Suddenly the tentacle holding her jerks and loosens, dropping her in the process.
Tumbling through the air her life flashes before her eyes until she accepts her fate. However, her falling is abruptly cut short. She cracks an eye open and sees a black and white jumpsuit, thank the Lord in heaven it's Phantom! Clinging to him for dear life, she cries silently. The relief at being alive coupled with the shock is too much, she can't seem to stop crying, little hiccups occasionally escaping her lips. He rubs her back comfortingly, whispering soothing words in hopes to calm her down. They land on the school's roof and he tries to pry her fingers off, but she is too shaken up to let go. After a few more minutes of digging her fingernails into his shoulders she slowly lets go and he puts her down.
As she feels safe enough to step back, he's looking at her concerned, he appears to be checking her over for injuries. She smiles at him, telling him she's fine, just a bit shaken but not stirred. He catches her joke and laughs, reasoning that if she can crack jokes then she must be ok. She can't help but smile broadly at him, he has this ability to make people feel at ease. He catches her smile and blushes neon green, she giggles while wiping her tears.
He offers to fly her home but after a moment of hesitation she refuses. She doesn't want him to think she still has a crush on him if she accepts too eagerly, she's noticed the way he treats her, he definitely knows and is very uncomfortable with it. She wants to move past that so instead asks if he could fly her to the schoolyard as a compromise. He gives her an odd look but agrees. He puts her down and she has to basically force him to leave, he's still fussing over her. He really is a sweet boy.
She watches him fly away into the sunset, thanking her lucky stars that she has someone looking out for her. Star comes running, asking a million things at once. She assures her she's fine but isn't really in the mood to go shopping anymore. Star immediately tells her it's fine, she would have told her to go home anyway. Star offers to walk her home but she refuses, saying she's fine. They say their goodbyes and walk in opposite directions.
As she walks home thinking about all the nice things Phantom has done for her over the years, she realizes she hasn't done anything to show her gratitude. Passing by a store taking out their Halloween decorations, she spots an ornate skull. She smiles. She loves this time of year because of Día de los Muertos. It's the one time of year where the whole family gathers to honor those who have passed on and celebrate their memory. This year the festivities will be held at her house, therefore she needs to help out around the house and have everything ready by Halloween. Everyone decided to start gathering the last week of October so that they can all be together by November 1st to start the festivities. Staring at the skull she notices it has emeralds embedded in the eye sockets, in the setting sun they almost look like they're glowing. Her eyes grow wide and she gasps, she was struck with divine inspiration. This year she would include Phantom in her Día de los Muertos celebration as a way to express her gratitude!
There we go! The beginning of this Paulina-centered cultural reveal fic. Sorry if it's a bit of a slow start but I gotta set the scene before we dive in. Some of my friends on tumblr really wanted to see a fic where Paulina wants to honor Danny Phantom in the day of the dead celebration and in trying to find out more about him discovered his secret. I thought this would be a great opportunity to write Paulina as more of a whole character and give her the development she didn't get.
Also I am Dominican not Mexican so I'm trying to educate myself on this holiday as best I can to write it accurately so if I'm off about something please let me know and I'll fix it straight away. I think the día de los muertos is perfect to show Paulina embracing her heritage as well as sharing the tradition with other people who may not know about it.
And lastly, for those of you who might not get Paulina's joke, it's a play off of James Bond's famous martini line "shaken not stirred" Incase you were wondering.
Thanks for reading and please review!
