And we're back with chapter three! Sorry about the late delay... my internet decided to keel over and die. Also, in light of a few comments left by the wonderful readers, I'd like to clear up some confusion.

1 – Yes, I do know Danny is pretty damn powerful, and we really didn't set any limits. There is a reason for that though! (Evil grin) Ahh plot devices… how I love thee. Believe me, he won't always stay this way.

2 – Sam does live on her own, and she does refuse to receive much money from her parents. They have, however, came to an agreement that she would have a maid that would come and check on her, and clean up and such at her apartment every once and a while.

If anyone finds any kinks in the story, or is just confused about something, don't hesitate to PM me, or simply put it in your comment. ChibiSamiSala and I take critiques very well!

(Disclaimer is in chapter one)

Enjoy!

Chapter Three

Impossible to Read

The next morning Sam woke up, stretched, and went to her closet to pick out an outfit. She pulled on some fishnet, and a tank top above it, followed by a pleated plaid skirt and purple leggings under large combat boots. She decided to leave her hair down today, too tired to worry about it. Her hair was cut a little different then most, the top layer much longer then the ones underneath, and without that layer pulled back in a clip, it hung over her shoulders in thick shiny black chunks. She yawned, grabbed her books, and headed downstairs, swinging onto her mo-ped and headed to school. Normally she would take the bus so she could spend some time with Tucker, but she'd rather talk to him somewhere where there wasn't 200 different ears listening to their conversation.

Fortunately for her, the entire ride to school was uninterrupted by a certain ghost, and she was able to park her mo-ped in the parking lot and meet Tucker at the front of the schoolyard. "Sam?" The African-American raised an eyebrow, one hand clutching the strap of his backpack, having just got off the bus. "Are you okay? It looks like you didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night..."

"I didn't. Mr. Phantom decided to pay me a visit last night." She said flatly, rubbing at an eye, her spider book bag bouncing on her back. "Kept me up for a while."

Tucker stopped dead in his tracks, looking at his best friend with wide eyes and a pale face. "WHAT? Sam, I thought you said he couldn't touch you! You have that invention the Fentons gave you!"

She shrugged, sighing. "He broke it...and...he defiantly could touch me." She said flatly, shuddering at the memory, leaning against the wall. "Anyway, did you study for that History Test? I...really didn't get time..."

"He broke it? That's insane... The Fentons always-" The moment he reached for his locker, realization hit him like a ton of bricks, and his backpacks slumped off his shoulders and to the floor. "Sam, he didn't try to... y-you know... when you said he could 'touch' you..." He stuttered, looking more horrified than embarrassed with the subject. It's not like cases with ghosts sexually harassing young girls wasn't heard of... and Sam was pretty cute, once you got past her stubborn exterior.

She lifted her violet eyes to his, the answer clear within them. The first bell rung and Sam picked up her step to get to class.

Tucker nearly screamed the moment the message became clear between them, and tears started to well up in his large eyes. "S-Sam...I-if you want, I can help you file for an abortion while they're still legal in this state..." He grabbed her shoulders, obviously taking her response a little too far.

"What the hell are you talking about!" She asked confused, prying his hand off of her shoulders like they were slimy eels. "Why would I need that?"

"D-Did Phantom..." He gulped, looking around the halls, thankful they were starting to empty as his voice hit barely a whisper. "...Rape you?"

"No!" She snapped, looking horrified. "He put his hand up my shirt, that's bad enough right now." She shuddered, "God Tucker! That's the last thing I want to think about right now."

"Oh...thank god..." The boy sighed in relief, but still didn't look too happy with the fact that his best friend had been harassed by some sadistic ghost. They walked into their classroom right before the bell rang, much to Tucker's dismay. He could tell Sam needed someone to talk to, even if she would never admit it. This ordeal with Phantom must be tearing her apart...

"Alright class, take your seats and I'll pass out the test in a moment." The female teacher announced at the front of the room, filing through a handful of papers and scan-trons at her desk.

Sam groaned, resting her forehead on the desk as everyone sat down, and the tests were placed before them. She rubbed at her tired eyes, and picked up the pencil, writing down her name and waiting for the teacher to give her the go ahead.

"You may begin." Came the monotonous voice of the teacher as she sat down at her desk and picked up the text book for their class, preparing for the lesson the next day.

She sighed, opening the test booklet before staring at the answers blandly, trying not to fall asleep. She grumbled to herself and read the questions, slowly filling out bubble after bubble.

Not minutes after she bubbled in the first few answers, cold air gathered around her feet and legs, before a familiar voice whispered right beside her ear. "Three million people fought in the Civil War, not three thousand."

She jumped, sitting up straight as she felt his cold breath on her ear, and she growled under her breath. "Are you trying to help me or mess me up more?" But now that he mentioned it, she did remember them saying something about millions...

A sigh came from the invisible body that stood right beside her, though there was a hint of amusement in it. "And this right here, number five? Oliver Holmes was wounded three times during the war - at Ball's Bluff, in the back at Antietam and in the heel at Chancellorsville." He paused again, looking at her other answers. "Sammy, 'greenbacks' were a series of papers the Congress authorized in 1862. That wasn't a nickname for the Confederates."

She blinked, shifting her eyes in the voices direction. She sighed for a moment, before nodding and erased the ones she had messed up, resting her cheek in her hand as he did so, her hair falling cutely in her face. "Anything else proving my stupidity?" She whispered.

"Well I'm sure I'll find more if you continue." Came the blunt response.

She rolled her eyes, sighing as she focused on the paper, filling in her little bubbles, checking her answers and really trying the hardest she could now that he was hanging out above her.

At last, the ghost boy sighed again. "Alright... Lincoln wasn't inaugurated for a second term until 1865. And by the end of the war, Unionists from every state except South Carolina had sent regiments to fight for the North. Andersonville Prison in southwest Georgia held 33,000 prisoners in 1864. And... god Sammy, you're really not good at this, are you?"

"Hey, I'm left handed, dates and numbers aren't my thing." She mumbled, erasing and rewriting.

"Ms. Manson?" The female teacher called, looking up from her book as a few students stared at the Goth girl, noticing she was 'talking' to herself. "Is something wrong with your test?"

"Nothing at all, just thinking out loud!" She piped up quickly, burying herself back into her test, trying to be unnoticeable.

"Ooh, nice save. If I keep this up, I can get people to think you're crazy by the end of the day." Phantom's voice carried a hint of sarcasm. "...And you got number nineteen wrong."

"GAH! GET OUT OF MY EAR!" She threw her hands up, swinging them around as if she was attacking a fly.

"Ms. Manson!" The teacher jumped, looking rather peeved at the fact one of her students just screamed during a test. "Would you like to finish taking your test at the principal's office?"

"I'm really sorry, there was this fly…" She lied, erasing number nineteen and filling in the rest.

The teacher rolled her eyes and continued reading, while the ghost boy behind Sam groaned, shaking his head though he knew no one could see him. "You're getting these wrong too... here, just let me..." There was a soft whisp of cold air around her hand before the pencil she was holding was jerked right out of her hold, and it flipped, erasing the answers she had just put down. The cold air around her seemed to concentrate around her back and to her sides, as if Phantom was leaning against her while he scribbled down different answers on her answer sheet.

She stiffened, looking up at the teacher to make sure she didn't notice the pencil floating on its own. "I'll never learn if I don't do it myself..." She whispered to him, watching him fix her answers.

"Well you can learn on your own time...unless you want to fail this test." He replied calmly, his head resting on her shoulders though she could barely feel, nor see him. He continued to write in the answers for the next few minutes, every once and a while turning the papers of the packet. The scene must have looked odd if anyone was looking at her... her pencil and paper moving around on its own. A few students got up and turned in their tests by now, and not soon after, the pencil clicked down onto her desk. "You can repay me later." He whispered in her ear, before he pressed his cold lips to her cheek. "I'll be looking forward to it."

She recoiled to the side, looking as if she was horrified, before she shuddered, and got to her feet, bringing her test up to the front, and then turned back around, sitting down. "Thank you." She said quietly, laying her head down now that she was done.

"No problem, my dear Sammy." He replied in a somewhat mischievous tone. "Might as well make your last few days enjoyable..." He teased, though he had gotten so good at acting, that comment sounded like anything but a joke.

She squeezed her eyes closed even tighter, trying not to respond to his calloused remark. She really hoped he was lying... The class ended soon after, and Sam walked out of the room rubbing at her arms and shoulder, trying to warm them up from the contact with the ghost boy, she was so focused in doing so, that she ran directly into Paullina

"Hey, watch it chica!" The Latino girl placed a hand on her locker to steady herself, before turning to glare at the one who dared bump into her. "Oh... why if it isn't the spazzing Goth-girl! Just when we thought you couldn't get any weirder... now you're starting to talk to yourself? What a loser."

"Sam!" Tucker ran up from behind the two women, before bending down to help his friend up. He was going to ask her what went on during the test, but it seemed Paullina had other plans.

"I'd rather be a looser then some shallow brainless prep that will probably marry young and live in trailer for the rest of your life." She said sharply, turning to walk away.

"Oh, you did not just call me shallow!" Paullina hissed, grabbing Sam by the shoulder to stop her.

"I would suggest you take your hand off of me." She said sharply, "I am not in the mood!" She grabbed the girl's wrist, going to pry it off.

"Uh..." Tucker merely blinked, suddenly feeling like a third wheel. He had never seen Sam to openly outraged before...

The Latino girl simply glared at her, before raising her hand to slap her - but a mere fraction of a second before her hand made contact, it was grabbed by an invisible force. Paullina let out a surprised mix of a shriek and a confused yelp before a sharp and painful shock forced her back, making her fall to the ground. With wide eyes she looked at her wrist, where a prominent burn mark began to make the skin rise and bleed. "Y-YOU FREAK!" She screamed, frantically getting to her feet and scurrying off - probably to tell a teacher.

Sam stood there, startled, having not done any thin to her, and she felt that familiar fear bubble up in her, not for herself, but for those around her. "W-Why?" She asked under her breath. Why protect her? Even from someone so meaningless as Paullina...

"Uh...Sam?" Came Tucker's rather small voice as he stared at where Paullina ran off. "...What just happened?"

She whirled around, her eyes meeting his worriedly, before she gathered her stuff back up. "Come." She grabbed his wrist, hurrying to the closest private place she could find. The broom closet, and slammed the door behind them.

The poor boy complied hastily, but confused as Hell as his friend pulled him into the broom closet. Why were they in here? "...Sam?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Phantom. That was the Phantom." She hissed out, placing her hands on her best friend's shoulders. "He's been here all through the test and now..." She looked around, realizing that she had no idea where he was.

Tucker blinked, stiffening as she mentioned the ghost's name, warily looking around as silence fell between them. Nothing happened... Phantom didn't appear, there was no paranormal lightning shock, nothing. But, that would explain why Sam was 'talking to herself' during the test, and why she was so edgy... But why would Phantom defend her? "This is crazy, Sam..."

"Crazy yes, fake, no." She hissed, placing her hands on her head. What the heck, she had thought at first that he wanted to kill her, then just screw up her mind, now he was helping her on tests and beating the Hell out of girls who wronged her?

Tucker now began to glance around warily while Sam continued to rub her temples, probably going insane because of that damned ghost. "Sam, I don't see him... he's probably gone now. Will you calm down a bit? We can figure this out."

She breathed in and then out, sighing as she placed her fingers under her eyes and pulled them down, making her look very odd with her eyelids tugged down. "Alright, alright. I mean, I appreciate the help on the test, and Paullina really did deserve it..." She sat down on a bucket, sighing. "He's probably just trying to confuse the hell out of me. I can't let it."

"Actually, it's not quite that simple..." Phantom's voice whispered in her ear, in a tone - unknown to Sam - that only she could hear. "But watching your reaction is rather amusing."

She stiffened, slapping a hand over her ear, as it tingled under his breath. She whirled around, her violet eyes angry and scared at once. She didn't want to get Tucker into this. "None of this is amusing, you hurt her! Not that I didn't want to do it myself, but... "It wasn't like she could tell him what to do in any way though...

Tucker blinked, having jumped from the sudden outburst from his friend. Frantically he looked around her, and towards her line of vision. "...Sam, are you feeling okay?" He hadn't heard anything...maybe she was finally starting to lose it.

"Ohh...such harsh words!" Phantom replied in a mock-abused tone - but this time, he didn't confine it to simply Sam's ears. Tucker jumped nearly three feet in the air the moment the ghost's voice echoed in the small broom closet, just as the silver-haired prince appeared on one of the top shelves behind him so that he could get a clear look at Sam. He sat in a rather childish manner, his feet swinging back and forth a bit as he peered down with curiosity. "And after I helped you on your test, too..."

Sam quickly reached forward, taking Tucker's hands and led him quickly to her side of the closet, her eyes locking with the glowing green ones above her. "And I thank you." She said whole heartedly, "But please, don't bring anyone else into this, I didn't want anyone to get hurt..."

Tucker seemed thoroughly freaked out by the time Sam pulled him away from where he was standing, and he looked up to the source of the voice - and promptly shit the proverbial brick. He had heard stories and rumors about Phantom before, but he had never once thought he would ever actually have to see him. In this day and age, ghosts were above the threat of terrorism and global pandemics, and Phantom was one of the three deadliest ones you don't want to encounter. The other two consist of his father, Vlad Plasmius, and the former ghost king, Pariah Dark… and right now, he wasn't sure who would be worse. "S-S-Sammmm..." The boy whimpered, one eyelid twitching as he pathetically grabbed hold of his friend's fishnet sleeve.

"Does it really look like I could give a damn about humans other than you?" Phantom dropped the innocent look, his glowing green eyes sharpening to a cold scowl. "You creatures are disgusting...driven by greed and power, even more so than my kind." He glanced towards the door, as if reminiscing about the incident with that annoying Latino girl. "That little slut got what she deserved. I debated whether or not I should simply kill her... but then you'd probably have gotten blood on your beautiful face."

She flinched, pressing Tucker farther back behind her, tipping her chin up bravely, even as fear pumped through her. Fear for her, and for Tucker, and Paullina... "Not all humans are like that..." She said softly, inching towards the door, tugging Tucker along with her. "Some people are good caring people, who only want to help others. And even those who are bad...can change. Well maybe not Paullina, but some people..."

The ghost teen raised an eyebrow as she spoke, but her inching movement did not go unnoticed. Slowly he raised his hand, pointing a single finger towards the door - before a bright green beam of energy shot from his finger, and completely destroyed the doorknob, sealing their only escape route. Tucker practically screamed at the sudden tiny explosion, and backed harshly up to the shelves behind him as Phantom floated down and stood in front of Sam. "How very sweet." He mocked a kind smile as he gazed at her with those intense emerald eyes. "Sticking up for your race when you know yourself how horribly corrupted they are."

"I know I should be the first person to say that human's are all horrible, but I can't. There are some people that are good..." she squeezed Tucker's hand reassuringly, even though it was shaking. The bell rang outside, signaling the start to a new class.

"Hm... I suppose it's safe to say a very small percentage of you are capable of being competent." He grinned slyly as he advanced on her, leaning in as he gazed at her with half-lidded eyes, their lips almost touching. "You are, after all...My dear Sammy."

"Class has started...I really have to go.." She said nervously, her breath far shorter now that he was so close to her. "If you could let us out..."

Tucker by now was in danger of cracking his own spine, considering how hard he was pressed up against the shelving. And on top of that, he felt about ready to hurl and scream at the same time the moment Phantom crossed the line of 'personal space' for Sam. How the Hell could he act like that towards her! His best friend! "...Hm?" Phantom glanced over at Tucker, who seemed to be glaring at them intently... that is, until he caught sight of the ghost's electric green eyes staring straight back at him. His drive then shrivled up, causing him too look even more pitiful and scared, before Phantom's less than enthusiastic voice echoed. "...Boo."

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Tucker screeched like a little girl, sending him toppling over a stray bucket at the ground, and onto his butt.

"...I like this guy." Phantom then turned to Sam with a genuinely amused grin. "He's way more fun than you."

"Tucker!" Sam whirled around, helping her friend up, raven hair falling in her face. "I'm glad you find this hilarious." She said quickly, hefting the techno geek onto his feet. "He'll be sleeping with the light on for weeks."

The ghost teen shrugged, looking away nonchalantly. "Not my fault the kid was born without a backbone. He's easy prey for ghosts, acting like that."

Tucker obviously felt insulted by that comment, but he bit his lip and let Sam help him up without saying a word.

"Most people don't take to being locked in a broom closet with a ghost well..." She murmured, looking up at him, her voice slightly more worried. "We are going to get in so much trouble if we don't get to class soon." Not to mention she was sure they were looking for her to explain what had happened to Paullina.

"...I suppose I'll let you go." He replied, grinning slyly at her before he reached out, placing a finger softly on her chest. "But you do realize this means more compensation for my efforts later." He leaned in closer, lips brushing against hers in another chaste kiss. "See you around, my dear Sammy." He whispered, before disappearing entirely, the door in front of them bursting open, the hinges bent from the sheer force of power.

It took a minute after the ghost prince had left, before Tucker began to shiver, looking around warily. "...Sam..." He whimpered. "...Is it safe to soil my pants now?"

She wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand, quickly stepping out of the closet, turning about and giving Tucker a swift worried hug. "Its alright, I think...he's gone for now, or is tired of bothering us..."

"...Sam?" Came Tucker's quiet voice.

"What is it?" She asked, letting her best friend go, her violet eyes checking his own for any mental scarring.

The techno geek's expression cringed slightly as he looked at her. "Did he just...kiss you back there?"

She frowned a little, before nodding quickly. "It hasn't been the first time." She said bitterly, tugging at his hand. "Come on, Mr. Lancer is going to be so mad."

"What!" Tucker nearly screeched, feeling more personally violated than he felt pity for Sam. She was his best friend after all, so whatever problems she dealt with, he did too. Though he wasn't sure how to go about taking that little bit of information... "He's been kissing you? Th-that's not normal...Not to mention gross..."

"You think I don't know that?" She snapped, running a hand through her hair. "But you are still alive, and I just hope he never cashes in these 'compensations' . "

Tucker's face started losing color. Oh god... he only hoped Phantom's terms for a 'compensation' wasn't too...drastic. He knew the ghost prince could be particularly sadistic, in more ways than one.

She pushed the door open to her class, ignoring Lancer's angry look as she sat down, looking completely exhausted. She just couldn't wait till the day was over, although she doubted the prince would come out when it was so populated like this.

"...Ms. Manson? Foley?" The overweight language teacher turned from the blackboard, watching the scowl on Sam's face, and Tucker's rather shaken expression. "Would you two care to tell me why you're six minutes late to my class?"

"I got held up." Sam said quickly, opening her book and burying herself in it, trying not to be noticed again.

"Yes, well... Ms. Manson? You're expected in the principal's office immediately." Mr. Lancer replied without any remorse, the class quickly erupting into a sea of whispers, rumors about the Goth girl rapidly spreading.

She cursed her own horrible luck and stood up angrily, pushing her chair into place. "Fine then." She said shortly, before stomping out of the room, seething with quiet anger. This was all...Damn it, Danny!

Somehow, she knew this wasn't going to end well.

xD Poor Tucker. I love him.

Next update will be within the next three days! (Hopefully, two)

Zoey