Saturday was a lazy day for Sam. She had the entire day for herself since it was one of her days off. The painting had become her first priority and she decided to dedicate the day to finishing it. She had no interruptions since her parents weren't home, which wasn't unusual. Their relationship was certainly far from normal. They spent most of their time away from home, but try to take control of her life once they returned. In her opinion, they didn't even know her well enough to try to make decisions for her, which was truly sad. Sam and her parents were extremely disconnected, but that's the way it's always been.
The painting was done by the afternoon and Sam left it to dry overnight. Sunday was supposed to be a lazy day like the one before, so she decided to take advantage of it and sleep in. However, she was woken up in the morning by her cell phone ringing. Sam groggily reached over to it, eyes widening a bit when she saw it was Maddie. She sat up and cleared her throat before picking up the call.
"Hi, Mrs. Fenton,"
"Hi, Sam! I know it's your day off, but we had people over last night and the house is a little messy. Jack and I won't have time to clean it, but you don't have to come in if you don't want to. It's your choice," Maddie added, not wanting to pressure her.
"No, it's fine. I definitely don't mind the extra cash," Sam replied, looking over at her finished painting on her dresser.
"Thanks so much! You can come at the usual time,"
"No problem. See you then," Sam said before hanging up. She sighed before throwing the blankets off her and getting up out of bed. An hour had passed by the time she had finished her usual morning routine, but she still had time to spare. Since her painting was finished she decided to go show Ida and get her opinion. She took the elevator to the third story of the house and turned down the hall to Ida's room. The door was open so Sam decided to let herself in.
"Hey, Grandma! I finished the..." She stopped when she realized the room was empty, then remembered it was Sunday. The country club had bingo on this day and Ida never missed it. Sam knew she could just show her a picture, but she was still a little sad that she wouldn't be able to see it in person. Brushing off the tiny feeling of disappointment, she rolled up her art and went downstairs to grab her miniature backpack. She carefully placed it in her bag before zipping it up and hauling it over her shoulder. Grabbing her keys, she headed to her car and stepped inside. It only took ten minutes to get to Fenton Works, and Maddie answered the door as always in her usual hazmat suit. Sam followed her to the kitchen where she put her bag in its usual spot on the counter.
"Thanks for coming in again, Sam," Maddie was telling her as Sam looked around the kitchen. The sink was full of dishes and the counters and tables were going to have to be wiped down. "It's just the downstairs that needs to be clean and the upstairs bathroom," Maddie informed her.
"No problem," Sam said. Maddie smiled before pulling her hood back over her head and disappeared into the basement. Sam walked over to the living room to see how bad it was and saw that the cushions to the couch were on the floor and the carpet needed to be vacuumed. She decided to start in the kitchen and tackled the dishes in the sink first. It took a good fifteen minutes to wash all of them and another ten to dry them and put them all back where they belonged. She was in the middle of wiping down the counters when she heard loud, frantic footsteps coming up from the basement. Jack burst through the door first clumsily with Maddie close behind.
"I'll fire up the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle!" He shouted before running out the door. Sam found herself intrigued but a little worried when she saw Maddie holding what she could only describe as a bazooka.
"According to our scanners, there's ghost activity in the park," Maddie told her, "we're going to check it out." Before Sam could even say anything, Maddie rushed off in the same direction Jack went. They jumped in the RV and drove off rather fast and recklessly down the street. Sam looked out the window to make sure they were really gone before walking to the kitchen to get her bag. Now was the perfect opportunity for her to try to talk to Danny and she didn't want to waste any time, especially since she didn't know how long his parents would be gone for. She zipped it open and took out the painting, suddenly feeling a bit nervous, but she just shook it off as she headed up the stairs. She paused outside of Danny's door and was able to hear that the TV was on inside. Letting out a breath, she raised her hand and knocked on the door. The audio coming from the TV suddenly cut off, and Sam knew he was listening.
"Hey, Danny. It's Sam," she waited for a reply and wasn't surprised when there was none. "I wanted to tell you I met your friend Tucker the other day. He seems really nice. We were talking and he told me that you really like space and the universe and stuff like that. I mean, you probably already know all this because I'm sure he told you." She felt like she was rambling, but didn't expect a response from him, so she kept going. "Anyway, with NASA in mind, I decided to make you this," she crouched down to slip the painting under his door before sitting down across from it. She could hear movement and assumed that he had approached the door to see it, but now she was scared of his thoughts on her artistry. What if it wasn't as good as she thought she painted it? What if she made mistakes she didn't see? She didn't want to force Danny to talk, but this was physically hurting her. She was about to break the silence, but a clear, tenor voice beat her to it.
"You... made this for me?" Danny asked, much to Sam's shock. She didn't think she would get him talking this early, but she wasn't complaining.
"Yeah. Is it good? You're really the only person to see it finished besides me," she said, almost feeling the need to holding her breath.
"This is honestly one of the best things anyone's ever done for me. Seriously. Thanks a lot, Sam," he said, causing a feeling of relief to flow through her. It was nice to finally have a voice to talk to after all this time.
"That's great! Really; I'm glad," she said. "Any chance of you opening the door?" She asked, staring at the barrier that separated them, but there was a long pause.
"Not yet." His answer wasn't exactly what she wanted, but she wasn't going to push him into something he wasn't comfortable with. "Where are my parents?" He asked, changing the subject before she could speak on it.
"They said there was ghost activity at the park and they were going to check it out," Sam answered, leaning back on her hands.
"Right... ghosts. What do you think of them?" She raised an eyebrow at the question and cocked her head to the side.
"Of ghosts? I don't know... I guess they would be cool if they weren't trying to hurt us. What about you?" She asked back, but he didn't answer immediately.
"Same, I guess..." he said after a few solid moments of silence. "Look, my parents could be back soon and I don't want to get you in trouble, so I'll leave you alone. Just take this," he slipped a piece of paper under the door and Sam picked it up to open it, revealing a number in black ink. "Talk to Tucker. I have a feeling you guys will get along." She folded the paper back up and stuck it in her back pocket securely.
"Thanks, Danny. This isn't the last you'll hear of me," she said as she stood up.
"I know," she heard him say as she walked away. Unbeknownst to him, a smirk had appeared on her face; he didn't know how right he was.
I don't know why, but I was stuck on this chapter for a while. I'm glad I got something out for you guys, though :)
Thanks again to anybody who likes this story. You guys keep me writing :D
