A/N: Hi everyone! I can't believe how insanely early this update is! Think of it as another gift to all of my awesome reviewers! Seriously, this chapter is over 10 days early. I didn't plan on updating until the 15th. But this chapter just poured from my head to my fingertips to the keyboard to the computer. I just couldn't stop writing!

This is a very odd chapter. Valerie may or may not be OOC, but emotions do that to people. I'll talk more about that after the chapter.

But for now... Enjoy!


Chapter Seven

"Hi Danny," Valerie answered her phone. She tried as hard as she could to keep her voice normal so he wouldn't ask questions.

"Hey Val. How'd you know – oh, wait. Caller I.D., right?"

"Yeah. So, what's up?" Valerie asked. It took all of her skill with deceit to act like nothing was wrong with her. Danny's voice was just so… normal. If all her evidence was correct, and he was the ghost boy… well, he was pretty darn good at keeping a secret.

"Well, I just wanted to hear a friendly voice, I guess. There's a lot of tension and junk going around my place today." Danny sounded a bit worried, and tired too. It was no wonder she hadn't figured out who he was before. He and the ghost kid were almost polar opposites.

"Why? What happened?" Valerie asked, this time genuinely curious.

"Um – Jazz, she… Well, you can just turn on the news." And so she did.

-----TV-----

"Hello, Amity Park, this is Tiffany Snow with tonight's top story. This afternoon, young Jasmine Fenton, daughter of local ghost hunters Jack and Maddie Fenton, was hospitalized after being slammed by a car on Oak Street. Nurses say she has suffered some serious injury, but should recover in the next two months or so.

"Luckily, it was not a hit-and-run accident. The driver of the car stayed at the site of impact and got a passer-by to call 911. And now we go to Lance Thunder, who is standing with the two witnesses of the accident."

"Thank you, Tiffany. Here we are with the driver of the car, who refuses to show her face on camera or be named – " Here it showed a woman whose face was blurred out. " – and also with the young man who called emergency, 23-year-old Ryan Anders." Next to the woman was a man with brown hair and light eyes. "So, tell us, Ryan, what happened before the accident?"

The young man took a deep breath before answering. "Well, I was walking down Third Street, on the way to the park. I turned onto Oak Street and saw a teenaged girl kneeling in the middle of the road. She picked up a little piece of paper and looked at it. Suddenly, a car started coming towards her. I was about to yell out, but… well, you know…" he drifted off, then continued. "I was just staring at the scene for a few seconds, completely dumbfounded. Then I heard the driver screaming at me to call 911, so I did."

"Amazing," said Lance Thunder, clearly not amazed at all. "Now we'll hear what the driver of the car has to say."

"I – I didn't mean to hit the poor girl!" the woman exclaimed, nearly in hysterics. Apparently, she was pretty traumatized at what she had done. "It was an accident!" With that, she ran off screen. No one made an effort to bring her back.

"Well, I suppose that's it then. Wishing to be anywhere but here, this is Lance Thunder. Back to you, Tiff."

-----End TV-----

Valerie switched off the television, gaping at it. "Danny, I – I'm so sorry! I – " Then, she remembered exactly who she was talking to: the ghost kid. This was the boy who had been her greatest adversary ever since he and his stupid dog had ruined her life!

And yet, it was the guy who she adored more than any other; the sweetest kid she had ever met. Her mind was befuddled; nothing made any sense! How could her best friend be her worst enemy? She felt like breaking down and confessing to Danny that she knew about him… Or maybe she should confront him like she had planned? Or maybe she could just keep it a secret, and use it as an advantage over him? She just didn't know. Valerie wanted to pummel him for being the ghost kid, yet wanted to hug him for being Danny.

But he lied to me, she thought. That's all he did. He could've told me the truth. I mean, we were practically going out for a few days; we were closer than close! But he still didn't trust me. Valerie found her anger starting to overtake all other emotions, like it often did. When she got mad, she always made rash decisions. On the other hand, her anger helped her ignore her feelings of sadness, loss, and confusion.

"Thanks Val… I just wish I could've done something, you know?" Danny said, bringing Valerie back to reality. "Oh well… What's done is done, I guess."

There were a few minutes of silence after that. During that time, Valerie felt her anger rising against her will. She soon saw only everything bad that Danny had ever done, and loathed him for it. She could practically see red.

"Danny," she began, trying as hard as possible to keep herself from screaming into the phone, "we need to talk. In person. Now."

Valerie could hear the confusion in his voice when he replied. "Um… Alright. Where do you want to meet?"

"I don't know… Somewhere no one can overhear us… You know what? Just come over here. I just need to get this over with fast."

"Well… Okay. I'll see ya in a few." With that, Danny hung up, as did Valerie. The ghost hunter sat on her bed and waited, seething with abhorrence and anger, for what could be the toughest conversation in her fourteen years.


Danny was soaring through the sky, not caring that he was getting soaked to the bone by the torrents of water falling down, or that lightning was sparking through the clouds barely a mile above him. He was focused on reaching Valerie's apartment as fast as possible.

When she had said that she needed to talk to him, Danny could immediately sense that something was wrong. Her voice seemed forcibly normal, as if some other emotion was burning to get out. That alone screamed "urgency" to him. And then there was the fact that Valerie confirmed his interpretation only seconds after he had thought of it.

As he reached his destination, there were so many things going through his head that the walls of his personal world were starting to crack. It was as if only one more disastrous occurrence would shatter them…

Danny phased through the roof of the apartment complex, landing in the hall right outside of Valerie's door. He switched to his human appearance and knocked at the door.

Almost immediately, Valerie opened it, grabbed his wrist, and practically dragged him into her room. As soon as they were both in, she closed the door and turned to face him. She began to speak; there was no greeting, and no prelude. In fact, there wasn't even any kindness.

"How could you?" she exclaimed. She seemed… angry.

"Well, hello to you too. But what are you talking about?" Danny replied, slightly annoyed at the seemingly unprovoked hostility, yet still somewhat friendly.

"You know what I'm talking about, Danny Phantom!" Valerie said.

The half-ghost gasped, pale as chalk and eyes widened. She… she knows? His mind just couldn't grasp that concept. She knew that he was part ghost… that he was the ghost kid… and she was… angry? All of his worst fears were coming to life.

"Yeah, that's right. I know all about your little secret," Valerie said in a cruel tone that reached all the way to Danny's heart and hammered nails into it. "So, how did you become half-ghost? How long have you been hiding this from me?" He opened his mouth to reply, and to try and calm her, but she kept going. "Wait, no, don't answer me. You'll just lie, like you have been since we became friends!"

"Valerie, please," Danny exclaimed, finally able to say his piece. "I know that I've lied to you, but it wasn't without reason. I was afraid that, if you knew that I was the same ghost you hunt, you wouldn't like my human side either."

"HA! Another lie!" Now it seemed that rage had taken over the hunter completely, obscuring her common sense. "You've been terrorizing Amity Park for nearly a year now, and I won't stand for it any longer!" She dashed across the room and grabbed a rather large ecto-gun, pointing it at him. "You're going down, Phantom!"

This action and statement tore Danny's heart out and squashed it flat. He couldn't find any words to say. Neither could he summon the will to move, no matter how many times his brain screamed at him. Danny simply stared at the ghost hunter; into her eyes that he remembered as warm and inviting (if not somewhat judgmental), but were now frosty and cruel. He was deaf to the sound of the ecto-gun charging, and he was blind to the bright pink substance that shot him out the open window. He was mute to the scream of fright that wanted to come out, and he was numb to the pain of hitting the sidewalk two stories below.


A/N: Wh00t! Yes, another chapter finished!

Heehee, I feel so evil... I might as well let you guys know that this story is coming to a close, but there WILL be a third installment. I predict only about one or two chapters left for The Kind, the Cruel, and the Psychotic.

So... did anyone think that Val was way OOC? Well, she was, but it was only because her immense rage mutated her common sense and character beyond recognition. Just tell me if you think I went way overboard. Oh, and for you people out there who are like, "What? No, Valerie you idiot! How could you do that to Danny!" Well, let's just see that she saw the error of her ways... Eventually...

My favorite part of this chapter were the last two sentences. I'm so proud of them! D Hey, if anyone has a fave part of this story or CSS, tell me. I'd like to know.

Wow, this is a long A/N. I should probably shut up now! Oh, by the way everyone, SOS is going good! Unfortunately, I'm going to be loaded down with work starting Tuesday...

Oh wait, there's one more thing I have to say! Last night, I read this chapter to my little sister, Michelle, and she kept cracking jokes! I don't know how she could, but she did! The funniest one was when I read her the part where Val said, "You know what I'm talking about, Danny Phantom!" And then Michelle pretended to be Danny and said, "Oh no you didn't!" ROTFLMAO!

Alright, I'll stop babbling like an idiot. Thanks for reading, now please review!