A few things I should probably mention.
I just realized that the McDonalds I mentioned in chapter two should be called the Nasty Burger instead. Oops. I change that.
I had a reviewer ask me to have Danny fight ghosts. I will not be doing this in this story. There will not be any action in this story. I labeled the story appropriately. If you would like action then please check out my other stories like Eagleheart.
So I make this clear, this story will span over the whole college semester. Pretend that for every chapter a couple of weeks have gone by. I'm merely pointing out the parts that are of importance. For the above note, pretend that for those few weeks between chapters Danny is fighting ghosts.
And you know how I promised more Shenanigans in this chapter. Um…well, there aren't any. I'm sorry. It just felt like a good place to stop it ther and I'm afraid that I'm going to run out of material.
Disclaimer: No.
Chapter 4-Testing the Boundaries
Sam collided with Danny as she came out of her classroom a little bit faster than normal. She'd been excited because usually her class caused to unfortunately miss lunch. His arms went out to steady her so she didn't stumble and accidentally hit someone else. He gave her a smile. "Hi, Sam."
"Danny?" She looked up at him and returned the smile.
"I thought you had a class at this time?"
"It got cancelled. Our teacher is at home sick."
"That's awesome!" She gave him a questioning look and he stuttered out, "Not that your teacher is sick. That you get out of class."
"Right." Her smile was teasing.
"If you don't have class then maybe you could come to lunch with me and Tucker. We're getting sick of the food in the cafeteria.
"Sure. Can I ask Michelle if she would like to come?"
"I'm sure she's as sick of the cafeteria as we are. I have to go get Tucker. Go get Michelle and we'll pick you two up at the front of Main Hall."
The two actually weren't late and Sam and Michelle climbed in when Danny pulled up in his car.
"So where are we going?" Michelle asked.
"Nasty Burger," Tucker retorted.
"Nasty Burger?" Sam asked, a little put off.
"Real food," Danny put in.
"You consider Nasty Burger 'real food?'"
Danny glanced at Sam through the rear-view mirror. "Compared to the stuff in the cafeteria? Yeah."
Sam rolled her eyes, but then she gave him a smile. Their eyes locked for a few seconds before Danny finally forced his away, telling himself to watch the road and not the beautiful girl in the backseat.
"So how are classes, Michelle?" Tucker inquired.
"Pretty good." She glanced over at Danny. "Have you done the reading for history yet?"
"The Machiavelli thing? Not yet."
"You're reading Machiavelli?" Sam asked, her distaste evident.
"Yeah," Michelle answered. "What's wrong?"
"I just don't like his ideas. Ugh! I swear he must be some ancestor of Paulina."
"Who's Paulina?" Michelle asked.
And on cue, as soon as Paulina was mentioned Danny's face went red again. He still couldn't believe how stupid he had been. Chasing after Paulina when Sam had been right there….
"She was the popular girl where we went to school back in Amity Park," Tucker explained.
"She was also one of the shallowest people I've ever seen," Sam said, grumbling at just the thought of her.
"Aah." Michelle nodded. "I had one of those at my school. She was actually friendly to me. I wasn't impressed with some of the things she did, though. Did all the boys go after Paulina, too?"
"Could we perhaps change the subject?" Danny asked nervously.
Sam sent him an apologetic smile. "Most of them," she conceded. "But some of them wised up. The smart ones."
The nervousness started to fade as they locked eyes again. He smiled back at her as he stopped at an intersection.
" Right, change of subject. Do you remember what chapters we had to read for history?" Michelle asked.
"16 through…." A loud obnoxious noise from behind cut him off and everyone cringed. The light had changed and Danny had been ready to pull out, but it obviously wasn't fast enough for the driver behind them. He had abruptly honked his horn to get them to move.
Danny did the opposite. The other three looked on questioning as Danny quickly turned the car off. He then got out of the car and innocently faced the driver. "What?"
The driver rolled down his window, scowling at Danny. "What are you doing? Get back in the car!"
Danny leaned against his car. "But you honked your horn. You got my attention before I could go anywhere. I thought you wanted to talk."
The man's face reddened. "Drive, you lunatic!"
Danny shrugged calmly. "Okay. But if you ever do want to talk, just give another honk." The three in the car were trying hard to suppress their laughter as Danny got back in and started the car.
"That was great!" Michelle exclaimed before given in to her giggles.
Danny grinned and shrugged. "Hopefully, it'll teach him to be a little more patient with others."
"Hey," Tucker pointed to the building coming up. "There's the Nasty Burger." Danny nodded and pulled in.
"So what's it like to live in Amity Park?" Michelle asked. "I mean, with all the ghosts."
Sam picked at her salad. "We got by." She gave the standard response. "We tried not to let it worry us too much."
"But it must have been stressful," Michelle prodded.
The three glanced at each other and smiled. "We got by," Danny repeated Sam's comment.
Michelle glanced at three perceptively. "This is another inside joke, isn't it? You guys have been through a lot haven't you?"
"Nothing much besides the ghost attacks. We had fights, there was the occasional-"
"Fake-out, make-"
"No, Tucker," Danny warned. "Michelle doesn't need to know about that."
"Really? Can I tell her about the second fake-out-Hey!"
"Excuse me," Danny replied to the girls as he dragged Tucker from his chair. "I need to borrow him for a minute."
Michelle turned a baffled stare to Sam as Danny pulled Tucker away from the table. "What was that about?"
"Nothing," Sam assured her. She didn't need Michelle teasing her about this, too.
Michelle shrugged it off before giving Sam a teasing smile. "So what are you going to do about Danny?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I know you liked him, Sam. Don't play dumb. Now, what are you going to do about it?"
"Nothing." Sam went back to her salad.
"Nothing? What do you mean 'nothing?'"
"Just what it sounds like. Danny doesn't like me like that, so I'm just going to ignore it until it goes away."
Michelle rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to speak, but glanced upwards instead. Two boys had stopped at their table and were now looking everywhere, but at them. One spoke to the other, his voice just a little too loud. "Well, this looks like a good place to sit." The two sat down in Danny and Tucker's vacated chairs. They glanced up as if on cue, their expressions completely innocent, and then just seemed to notice them across the table. "Oh, hello."
Michelle was about ready to laugh at loud. Sam was giving them similar disbelieving looks. Of all the ways to have a girl notice you…but an idea suddenly struck her and she glanced at Sam one last time as she started speaking.
"Um, hello. Those chairs are-"
"Taken," Michelle interrupted. Sam gave her a weird look since she was going to say that. There was no reason to interrupt, but Michelle kept going. "You should probably leave. Her boyfriend can get pretty jealous."
Sam's jaw went slack. Boyfriend? Okay, Michelle had gone too far this time.
"Who's this?" Sam looked up to see Danny standing there.
"I don't need you spouting stuff off like that." Danny finished his rant. He had dragged them off to the hallway that led to the bathrooms to have at least a little privacy as he chastised his friend.
Tucker shrugged. "I was just trying to help you. I thought mentioning the fake-out make-outs would let you gauge Sam's reaction about them. I want you two together just as much as you do. I'm sick of this game you've created between each other of who can blush and look away the fastest."
Danny paused. He hadn't thought of that, but dismissed it immediately. "But mentioning it like that will only make her embarrassed."
"Maybe. You never know." Tucker glanced over Danny's shoulder. "Who's that at the table with Sam and Michelle?"
"What?" Danny turned around to see the two boys sitting in their vacated chairs. Something clicked in him. Some sort of defense system that he didn't know he had. Suddenly his legs were moving towards the table, Tucker following behind.
"Who's this?" His voice sounded different. There was a subtle undertone that he didn't recognize. Or maybe he did, he just didn't remember ever personally using it.
"I told you he got jealous," Michelle said with a smile, thoroughly enjoying this.
The look on Danny and Sam's faces were priceless. Tucker nearly burst into fits of laughter. From behind Danny he gave a thumbs up to a very smug Michelle. Both Danny and Sam were staring at her. Danny showed a look of bafflement while Sam's face had blanked, but her eyes were still wide as saucers. Across the table, the two boys looked somewhat crestfallen and fearful of Danny. Finally, Sam acted and pushed away her salad, standing up.
"I have a class at one. Are you ready to go?"
Her question was aimed at both of them, but she would only look at Tucker. Michelle stood up on cue. "I'm ready." She still had a large smile on her face. Sam was going to smack her.
Sam finally faced Danny after Tucker nodded. "Danny? Ready to go?"
"Um…um…." His mind was still wrapped around Michelle's jealous comment. Was he jealous? He knew he liked Sam, but he never figured he would become jealous because of it. Had Sam noticed? And what did Michelle mean by that comment in the first place?
He finally snapped out of it. "Yeah, we can go." He searched himself to make sure he had his keys and wallet before following Sam who had already started to swiftly head towards the door. Tucker and Michelle followed behind, having some unspoken conversation among them.
Michelle finally turned at the door. "Bye!" She called to the two boys who hadn't even gotten far enough to introduce themselves before heading out the door.
For those that do not get the Machiavelli reference, Machiavelli lived around the Renaissance and wrote a book called The Qualities of the Prince. The book gives a lot of strategic and military advice, but there is a part in the book where Machiavelli explains how a prince should act. One of Machiavelli's basic point is that as long as a prince looks as if he as virtuous and redeeming qualities then it is okay if deep down he follows none of them. It's okay as long as he appears good and like the perfect ruler. Basically he's telling everyone to go ahead and be hypocrites. I despise Machiavelli and just had to vent. What better way then to put it in a chapter.
So how was it? I had fun writing it. I'd like to hear your thoughts. Promise with all my heart that there will be more Shenanigans in the next chapter. In fact, It'll be the first thing you read. Promise.
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Faith's melody