WoM- It took me longer to get around to doing this one, thanks to Dad, school, dad, my arts projects and dad. He cut my time down (Again!) because he thought the timer wasn't working (Which it was, by the way) and is hogging the computer almost 24/7 now thanks to his new obsession with selling everything he can spare on Ebay. 'rolls eyes.' Anywho

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Danny: Great, my friend has a crush on a ghost hunter.
Sam: That's life, well, your life, anyway.

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Conflict

"So that's the girl Tucker was talking about, huh?" Valerie asked, sounding amused.

"Oh?" I gave my best friend a pointed look, "What's he been saying?"

"As far as I can tell, nothing that isn't true," Valerie responded with a grin. "Though you really should've told us you were gonna bring her. I was on the verge of hooking you up with a girl in my Economics class who's your type."

"I have a type?" I asked, genuinely confused. Valerie rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean," She said.

"Actually, I don't," I said, "Hence the question." Valerie shook her head and sighed.

"Men really are hopeless, aren't they?" She asked Liz dryly.

"Hey!" Tucker and I said together, offended.

"You're only just figuring that out, sweetie?" Liz countered with a grin.

"HEY!"

"Never mind, Danny," Valerie said, shaking her head in amusement, "Anyways, did you hear about the new scholarship kids that are coming in?"

"What about them?" I asked absently.

"Yeah," Tucker said, "I mean, It's not like They're anything new. Scholarship kids come all the time."

"Yeah, but we've got a new scholarship kid coming that I know you're gonna flip about," Valerie said with a knowing grin.

"Who?" Tucker asked, bewildered.

"Oh, you know…" Valerie said casually, "Just a girl by the name of Tina Foley."

"…WHAT?" Tucker yelped, "You can't be serious?"

"Dead serious," Valerie grinned, "I saw her name on the list of incoming students. She's coming in next Monday."

"Oh, no…" Tucker moaned, "No, no, no… this is NOT good…"

"What's so bad about your cousin, Tuck?" I asked, amused. "She seemed okay to me last time I saw her." Of course, that was back in the fifth grade…

"Well that's because you're not related to her," Tucker sulked, "And knowing Tina, her whole groups coming down with her!"

"Whole group?" Valerie repeated.

"Yeah, all her friends," Tucker sighed, "well, except the one that ran away… Still, that means that Megan girl is coming…" Tucker gave me a humorless smile, "You'll like her, Danny,"

"What makes you say that?" I asked mildly.

"Because she's exactly the type of girl you hate," Tucker said, "Meaning thanks to Vlad, she'll be all over you," I froze and groaned slightly.

"What kind of girl is she?" Liz asked, her eyebrow kicking up.

"Gold digger," Tucker said, "She goes through guys like tissue, too, and it's one rich boyfriend after another with her."

"Nice," Liz commented, making a face. Then she grinned at me, making my stomach drop. "What me to-?"

"No," I said firmly, glaring at her.

"Oh, come on, Danny!" Liz said with a pout, "It'll give you a moment's peace!" Yeah, at the cost of my conscience.

"No way, Liz," I repeated. "I'm not gonna let you scare her off. I know you too well to let you do that to someone,"

"You're no fun," Liz said, sulking slightly. Then she smirked knowingly. "Unless you want Sam to be the one to scare them off…" I blushed.

'Time to change the subject.' I thought hastily, taking the first thing that came to mind.

"How's the play going, Liz?"

"Pretty bad," Liz admitted with a frown, "After that ghost attack during the last rehearsals, we had to postpone the next try outs for the cast until next Thursday. We've only got a few people cast right now," With a grin, she added, "Paulina's Carlotta, by the way,"

"That's appropriate," Valerie snorted. Tucker and Danny exchanged grins.

Up until her father's accident in the Axion Labs, Paulina and Valerie had been best friends. Or at least, they associated with each other enough that others considered them to be close. But when Valerie found herself penniless, Paulina was one of the first to drop her, scorning the girl who'd fallen from the height of popularity to the lowest of the low.

Naturally, Valerie didn't take too kindly to this and made it obvious every chance she got. She'd gone from mocking girls who didn't have what it took to make the cut to defending them for the sole purpose of bickering with Paulina. Their biggest fights however, all seemed to center around one person; Me.

…Or at least, Phantom.

Valerie and Paulina were polar opposites when it came to which side they were on when my motives were questioned. It was kind of ironic that a girl I considered my friend hated my guts while a girl who laughed at and scoffed me as a loser worshiped the ground I walked on.

…Well, floated above, it you wanna get technical.

"We still don't have anyone playing Raoul, Erik or Christine," Liz said casually, her eyes fixed on me.

"No," I said, glaring back, "I've told you and Jazz a million times, Liz, I'm not being Phantom,"

"Aw, come on, Danny!" Liz exclaimed. "You're the only guy in Casper fit for the roll!"

"I said no," I repeated.

"I'll go back to Vlad's with you for Thanksgiving if you do," Liz offered. I blinked.

"Really?" I asked, my eyebrow raising. Liz hated Vlad as much as her Uncle did, after all, but she knew Jazz and I could use the back-up, even if she didn't completely know what was going on. Still, at the very least it would force Vlad to halt any of his projects and listen to Liz's ranting and raving. "…I'll think about it," I said.

"Great," Liz chirped. "Guess that means we'll see you at rehearsals this Thursday." I shook my head.

'What have I gotten myself into…?' mentally sighing, I stood up.

"I'm gonna see what's taking Sam so long," I explained. "Be back afterwards, okay?"

"Take your time, lover boy," Liz teased. I make a face at her, earning a laugh as I walked away from the table.

It didn't take me long to find Sam, who was very eye-catching even from where she stood in the shadows. The thing that confused me, thought, was the fact that she was talking to Matt, Liz's fiercely denied crush and Jazz's friend.

At least, I was confused until a couple moved away and I saw he was standing with my sister, who was giving Sam her 'I-can't-believe-you're-doing-this,' look (I'd seen it enough times to know it even at a distance.)

'…Uh-oh…'

"Uh, are you guys alright?" I asked as I looked between my sister and my date. Sam relaxed, relief flashing in her eyes as she grabbed my hand.

"Yes," she told me, "Everything's fine. Let's go." And before I could say anything else, Sam dragged me away. I was so surprised, I only just caught what Matt and Jazz were saying to each other.

"You want to give me all the details already?" Matt demanded. My sister sighed

"You might want to sit down." She said dryly. "It's a long story…"

'Oookaay…' I thought as we left them to their story. What the heck were they talking about…?

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I barely felt the cooler air outside as we left the crowd behind. Hot and cold didn't bother me like it used to ever since the accident, unless it was really extreme. Well, at least not in the human world. In the Ghost Zone, Phantom was as good as human.

Ignoring these thoughts, I turned to Sam to take care of the problem before it got out of hand.

"Look, If Jazz said anything to you, I'm sorry," I old her, a little nervous. I knew what Jazz was like, after all, who knows what she said to try and frighten Sam away…

"It's okay," Sam reassured me with a small, genuine smile, "She's your family. I know how family can be." I relaxed that that and laughed a little, surprised at how much calmer I felt at Sam's smile.

"Well, I'm still sorry," I insisted, "And no matter what she told you to try and scare you off, she really does like you."

"She does?" Sam asked in a voice that betrayed her doubt.

'Man, what's Jazz been telling her…?'

"Yeah," I said, sighing in exasperation, "She's just worried because I'm such a freak, and, well…" I paused helplessly, unsure of how to word my thoughts.

"You're not a freak," Sam said, sounding faintly exasperated, "Your different. Different's good." I smiled a little at that.

'You have no idea how different…' I thought wryly.

"Thanks," I told her out loud, "You're different too,"

"Good," Sam said before turning to study the stars. When she did that, I studied her eyes, once again getting that feeling of déjà vu…

"You look beautiful tonight," I blurted out. When Sam turned to stare at me in surprise, I blushed and tried to fix what I'd said. "I mean, you always look beautiful, it's jest that tonight you- well I-!" I stopped there as I felt my powers build up, laughing nervously and putting my hands behind my head so Sam wouldn't see me channel as much extra energy as I could into the ground. I heard a yelp behind us, but Sam started talking again before I could turn and see what damaged I'd accidentally caused now.

"I get it," She said with a warm smile. Then she added, "You look really great tonight too, Danny. You're an awesome Phantom,"

"What?" I asked, fear striking through me as I misinterpreted her words. Then I realized what she really meant and couldn't help but smile at the irony. "Oh, yeah, that… Sorry, I thought you meant…" I paused and looked at Sam again, clearing my throat. "Ah, never mind." Luckily, Sam just shrugged, not seeming that concerned with my weird behavior.

"Really, though, thanks for noticing," Sam said, smiling again, "I worked really hard to make this dress so it's nice to know you like it," I felt my head jerk up as I realized what that meant.

"You made that dress?" I asked, surprised and flattered, "For me?" The way Sam suddenly couldn't meet my eyes told me she was blushing underneath her mask.

"Of course not!" She said defensively, "I mean, it was something I had hanging in the closet and I thought I'd spruce it up a bit, you know? And when heard about the party here…"

'Yeah, right…' I thought dryly.

"Sam…" I said out loud, giving her a look to tell her I wasn't buying it. Sam sighed.

"Yeah, I made it for you," She admitted softly, "I know it's a little much, but I really like you, Danny and I thought maybe you liked me too, and when you stopped coming around I thought-!"

"Easy," I said, holding a finger against her lips. She went quiet then, her eyes never wavering from mine.

'She really does like me as much as I like her, even though we just met…' Well, at least she THOUGHT we just met, if you take away the Phantom thing… I was suddenly reminded of another play Jazz had done, Romeo and Juliet. After all, they weren't in that different of a boat then Sam and I now…

I promptly kicked myself in the back of my head for thinking things like that, making a note to corner Jazz later and tell her that from now on, she was to keep all play references to herself.

"It's not too much, Sam," I told her, turning back to address the problem, "I'm really flattered you'd do something like that for me. And I do like you, it's just…" I sighed.

'Why shouldn't I tell her?' I asked myself, 'Why shouldn't she know who I really am?'

"Sam, there's something I've got to tell you,"

"I'm listening," Sam responded curiously.

"You know Phantom?" I asked, ignoring the surprise that flickered across her eyes. It would all make sense soon…

"Yes…" Sam said, looking a little uncomfortable. I didn't bother with that, though. I was way too busy trying to sort out how O was going to tell her this. After all, I'd never actually TOLD anyone I was half ghost…

"Well, you see, my parents were- are sort of ghost hunters…" I nearly kicked myself for that slip, but shook it off. One thing at a time, and right now, letting Sam know why things were being so hard between us was first priority.

"What's that got to do with-?"

"DANNY!" Sam and I jumped as Tucker, who'd cut her off mid-sentence, Came out of no where and grabbed me by the wrist. "Hi Sam, can I borrow him for a second? Thanks! See ya!" And without another word, Tucker dragged me away. As soon as Sam was out of hearing range, I turned on my best friend.

"Tucker," I growled, "what the heck's your problem?"

"MY problem?" Tucker asked, "I'm not the one who's lost it, pal!"

"I haven't lost anything," I sighed in exasperation.

"So what, it just wasn't there to begin with?" Tucker countered, crossing his arms, "Because you couldn't have been thinking things through if you were about to confess about THAT to a girl you barely know with witnesses around!" I frowned.

'Okay, maybe that wasn't my brightest idea…' I admitted in my head.

"I can tell whoever I want, Tucker," I reminded him. "It's my secret,"

"You mean our secret," Tucker corrected dryly. "If that girl exposes you, do you really think Jazz had I won't take a hit too?"

"She's not gonna expose me," I said defensively.

"You can't know that," Tucker told me, exasperation coloring his tone. "And you shouldn't take that kind of a risk, man."

"What about you?" I asked, a little angry, "You're dating a ghost hunter, aren't you? How's that any different."

Because Valerie and I aren't official," Tucker reminded me, "And I don't plan on making it official until you give me the go ahead to tell her, which isn't gonna be any time soon." I faltered.

I had no idea Tucker was doing stuff like that to protect me. And Jazz… was that why she refused to date anyone here? Because she was worried about letting them too close to my secret? I knew my friends had been affected by what I was doing, but I never thought…

"Sorry," I sighed. "And you're right. I won't tell her," He was right, too. What right did I have to act like that? They made the sacrifice to keep me safe, so I should return the favor.

"I'm not saying that, dude," Tucker said softly, "Just wait. Give it a little time. Then, if you still wanna tell her, we'll plan it out so you can do it in a place where you two can talk it all out privately. Heck, maybe I'll even fix the Fenton Amnesia-o-matic," I shook my head and faked a grin.

"Hopefully it doesn't come to that." I said. A little calmer, Tucker led the way as we headed back to where Sam was, who had apparently taken to talking to Valerie in our absence.

"Hey there!" Tucker said cheerfully, "False alarm!" I didn't say anything, though, a little depressed I had to keep up the lies I didn't want to tell Sam. Maybe Jazz was right and I should just stop this before either of us could get hurt…?

"Danny?" Sam's voice broke me out of my thoughts, "You okay?" I stared at her for a second before I processed the question and sighed, looking away.

"Fine," I muttered, not bringing myself to meet her eyes. Right then I felt like more of a loser then even Dash and his posse always told me I was…

Suddenly, Sam yanked me away, dragging me to the dance floor.

"Come on!" She said in a voice that sounded a little overly happy for her, like she was faking it to cover something else. "I love this song!" I frowned when I listened to the love ballad the DJ was playing, doubting that for some reason.

"Sam," I said seriously, "I don't think-!"

"Good," Sam joked back, "Too much of that can hurt you, you know. Especially If you don't do it often." I couldn't suppress a small smile at the friendly poke, but it disappeared when I remembered what I was about to do.

"I'm being serious, Sam," I said.

"So am I," Sam said. I was about to explain things out to her, tell her this had to stop, when She suddenly blurted out; "Dance with me,"

"What?" I asked, faltering slightly. I mean, yeah I know how to dance, but…

"Come on," Sam begged me, "Just one dance, Danny, please?" I sighed and silently put a hand out her tiny waist to guide her to a more secluded section of the dance floor. Once there, her arms entwined behind my head and I started to lead the dance, felling a little awkward at first, but relaxing when I saw how happy it was making Sam. I remembered myself when Sam rested her forehead again my shoulder and I caught the soft sent of her shampoo.

"I shouldn't be doing this, Sam," I told her, getting weary of both saying and hearing this.

"I know," Sam said softly.

"…But I can't stop," I confessed, feeling a little helpless. Sam head came up and lilac eyes met mine again.

"I know," She repeated before continuing in a reluctant tone, "Danny… If you want, I could disappear, you know. Leave you alone completely. I know your friends and family don't want us together, and I really don't care too much, but if you want, I'll walk away and never look back. Just say the word, Danny. Yes or no."

I fell silent as I thought about this, torn between what I had to say and what I wanted to say. Want won out in the end…

"No," I told her, "I don't want that," I smiled slightly when Sam let out her breath in relief and smiled up at me sheepishly.

"I just ticked off everyone you care about, huh?" She asked.

"No, I did," I told her honestly, "It was my choice Sam, I made it." I smiled at her as warmly as I cold before I felt my eyes drawn to her lips…

Movement stopped then, for a second, I felt like time itself had stopped as I hesitantly leaned in, unable to deny myself what I wanted, even if it meant we both could get hurt because of it. Sam made no move to protest, instead leaning in and starting to close her eyes. I followed in suit until a familiar face in the crowd caught my eye and chilled me to the bone.

'No…!' I thought, jerking away to give Vlad smirk a confused look of my own, a mixture of everything I was feeling. He just raised and eyebrow before pulling his glass down and standing to walk away.

"Danny?" Sam said, sounding worried.

"I've got to go," I said, brushing away to find Tucker and Jazz.

'This is bad…' I thought grimly as I worked my way around people, 'Vlad knows… he know about Sam!'

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WoM- You know, the cliffie seems much meaner here then it did on SoS for some reason… 'blinks innocently.' Ah, well, not my problem, right?

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Thanks to;

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Next update; February 8th

See you then!

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