Jazz made her way to the front office. She walked up to Mrs. Kambelles' desk, a short and stubby lady who continuously rambled about her cats and only son, and handed her the stack of papers. She thanked Jazz and got back to work. As Jazz made her way to her third period she couldn't help but think what her brother was doing before she ran into him, literally.
He could've been just fighting a ghost, that would explain why the makeup was smeared so much. But his eyes were puffy and red and his lip was quivering... Not to mention how he avoided eye contact. She knew of Danny's secret, ever since Spectra rolled into town. So it wouldn't surprise her if her brother had just finished a fight.
Jazz had made it her mission to help Danny where she could. But with how their lives suddenly changed one day it has been hard. The mental, verbal, and physical abuse her brother puts up with is just... it's difficult to wrap her head around. It's especially difficult when Danny runs home late due to a ghost or detention and their mom has to take the hits that Danny pushes himself to take to protect them. Danny protects her and their mother from their own biological father.
It puts a physical strain on Jazz to even think that. To think their dad hits his family; then decides to just drink away his problems.
Jazz sighed and tucked her sunset orange hair behind her ear. She needed to talk to Danny and tell him that she knows of his ghost powers. That she supports him and that he's a hero. More than a hero. A savior to her and the whole town of Amity Park. Without missing a heartbeat he rushes to save the day.
He faces all kinds of dangers each day. And the citizens swaying thoughts on Danny as Phantom, the ghost teen hero, only add stress to his already limited capacity of emotions. So she needed to up her game. She had to be the big sister she was and care for her little brother. She needed to be strong... for Danny.
Jazz walked into her physics class a few minutes before the bell rang. She sat with self-assured confidence that only seem to radiate off her throughout the period. As she was writing this semesters' units her teacher wrote on the board she continued her thoughts on her brother.
I should take Danny out sometime. Maybe for some pizza or ice cream. Yeah, that way I can tell him that I know. It's settled then, today at lunch I will tell him everything. This will work.
With that Jazz continued her fervently note-taking with a proud and satisfied smile.
By the time the bell had rung Jazz had been able to plan out exactly where she would be talking with her brother. She was ready, she could do this.
As she was striding down the hallway to her next class she noticed a large group of people by some lockers. When she's close enough she sees her brother pinned against the locker by a large blond jock. Shes quickly angers at the jocks' actions and slips her way through the crowd, her sisterly protectiveness kicked in and now she was ready to kill.
"C'mon Fenturd. Fight back." Dash banged Danny into the locker again this time hitting his spine on the handle.
Danny sucked in a breath and squeezed his eyes tight. He hoped Dash wouldn't do this today but looks like luck was against him once more. He looked down at Dash and said nothing. He couldn't say anything when he about has a crystal clear picture of what goes on behind his front door. Danny knew that pain and knew how it felt to constantly be afraid, or even angry at someone or yourself. It's not that hard anymore to understand why Dash chooses to bully him. So Danny won't fight back anymore. He will give Dash the satisfaction of beating him up so he can let out his anger. He needs to let out his anger.
Dash was getting more and more pissed that Danny wasn't fighting back. It ticked him off so he shoved the dweeb into the locker again, perfectly nailing his head against the metal rectangle. He shouted again, "Let's go, Fenton! Fight back! You coward! FIGHT BACK!" Dash raised his hand to punch Danny but a loud shrill stopped him mid-swing.
"DASH BAXTER! What the HELL do you think you are doing!" Jazz had grabbed his wrist and pulled his arm back. She was fuming with anger and Dash could almost mistake her hair for fire right now. Jazz had a dark scowl on her face and she was about to tear Dash a new one but Danny butted in.
"It's alright Jazz, just a little roughhousing is all." Danny smiled and tried to crack jokes but one quick look from his sister had shut him up.
She trained her eye back to Dash and Dash flinched a little at the malice it possessed. He's known this girl since he was in 6th grade and he has never seen that kind of look on her before, so it startled him.
"Dash Baxter put my brother down right now or so help me." The anger in her voice had made several students in the crowd look away or puff out in awkwardness.
Dash, not wanting to take on her wraith, very angerly dropped his punching bag with a grunt and backed up. He suddenly punched the locker right next to Danny's head, causing him to flinch violently, "Your lucky this time Fenton-"
"Dash!"
Dash glared at Danny then Jazz and stormed off. At the end of the hall, you could see him punch a few lockers as he rounded the corner. Jazz gave the crowd of students the same look she gave Dash and they quickly scrambled away. She helped Danny picked up his stuff and resorted himself.
Danny felt bad that Dash couldn't release his anger but he also felt relieved he wouldn't have some new bruises today. As he tossed his backpack back on he spoke, "Jazz you didn't have to do that, seriously. I was okay." Danny looked to his sister and she gave him that same look, he flinched and his brain immediately started screaming at him that she hates him now too. He felt earlier emotions well up but he forced them down as fast as he could.
Tears started to build but he blinked as fast as he could to make them disappear. He felt so small, hollow, and unwanted that he was scared to breathe. His hands twitched and they automatically rubbed his neck and fiddled with each other. He let out an awkward laugh and looked to the side, "Jazz, ha... Hey, uh, you... You alright?"
When Jazz sighed and calmed her features she spoke with strict words, "Meet me at lunch by my car. We need to talk, no if's, and's or but's about it. This is a serious matter." With that Jazz gave her farewells to her brother and his friends and continued her walk to her 4th period.
Upon arriving her teacher Mr. Aaron was about to greet her when he noticed she was not in the mood to be spoken to, so he let her be and do her assignment alone. The students around her all edged away feeling her pissed off aura and they did not want to be in the direct line of fire if she were to suddenly explode.
With each problem Jazz finished, her mood began to dwindle. She started to think on the way her brothers' face paled when he looked at her. She could understand why it would happen if it was because she looked mad, but this was... different.
The psychologist side of her analyzed him quickly and silently. He looked scared, afraid of her. She had seen his eyes shift, from a joking sarcastic look to a fearful and hurt one. She could only say it was that because his entire body language shifted. He was relaxed, a little tense from Dash but that was nothing, he tried to make light of his situation when Dash held him up, and his shoulders and poster were all lax. Then... he looked at her and he tensed up, his back straightened out and his arms pulled tighter together, he fiddled and he unconsciously did his nervous habit, his voice shook and he avoided eye contact.
Jazz replayed this 30-second scene in her head and looked for anything that would tell her it wasn't her fault that her brother felt so afraid. That he wasn't afraid of her. That he didn't believe she hated him too.
And when she found nothing, she felt her heart sink. Her chest hollowed and she felt a weight on her shoulders. She made her brother fear her, even if for only a few seconds. Jazz sat in her chair and looked at the paper sitting on her desk. She couldn't see the blurred out words. She felt lightheaded and weightless, it made her feel sick.
Her body started moving on its own. Her hand raised and her mouth asks Mr. Aaron if she could use the bathroom. He didn't hesitate to let her leave since she was the top of her class and was a straight-A student for all four years of her high school career.
Jazz nods and stands. Her legs were numb and she had to dig her nails into her fist to keep her body from falling over.
As soon as Jazz made it to the bathroom, she flopped down in one of the stalls and let her emotions run free. She wanted to let out a cry but she didn't know if there was anyone else in there with her. Jazz stayed silent and let her tears run down her face, she felt horrible for hurting her brother. She had always wanted to love and protect him but with the way he looked at her, she had done the complete opposite. She didn't know what to do to fix it.
She was lost.
Jazz had sat on the toilet for about 10 minutes before she composed herself and figured out a way to make it up to her brother. She took her original plan to tell her brother everything and modified it slightly to show her brother she didn't hate him and that she loved him more than anything, that he was a hero to everyone and how much he means to her and their mother.
As she finished up her plan she was walking back into her class. She still felt horrible but she had to get by this class before she could do anything. Before she could fix her mistake.
The bell had rung and Jazz was the first to throw her paper to the teacher, and run out to her car. She waited anxiously to see Danny's mop of black hair. Once she saw him she had quickly got in her car and started it. Danny hopped in a few seconds later.
He was tense but just slightly less than earlier. She pulled out of Amity High parking lot and began driving.
"So what did you wanna talk about." Danny quietly spoke. His quiet voice hurt Jazz more but she didn't let Danny see.
This is it Jazz. You can do this. It'll be okay. You got this.
"Well, I was just thinking why not go somewhere to eat today?" First step done.
Danny looked over confused. "What? I-I'm mean I'm down to eat somewhere but what's the occasion?"
Jazz was going over the list of actions she needs to take to make this all work. After a minute she replied, "Well I just wanted to take my little brother out to his favorite place and talk with him."
They had hit a stoplight and Danny still looked confused so Jazz asked him something, "Can I be completely honest with you?" Danny didn't reply but nodded his head slowly. This made Jazz's heart swell with anxiety. You can do this. He won't react badly. It'll be fine. It's fine. She took her hand off the steering wheel for a second and breathed. She turned her body to face her brother and resigned her voice, "I know Danny. I know about everything."
Danny paled and he gasped, "What?"
