Spirits tend to have their own aura which usually reflects the color of their ectoplasm. As we learned in previous chapters, ectoplasm is the main source of power for a spirit. Just like humans need blood, spirits need ectoplasm to survive. Their aura depends on their own individuality, but the most common color is green.
A sudden memory flashed through Sam's mind before she could even finish reading the intro of the chapter she was on. The first few times she had ever been upstairs at Fenton Works, she noticed a green light coming from under Danny's door multiple times. She assumed it was always coming from something inside of his room, but she's been in there before and never noticed anything that could come close to green. She was wondering if she was crazy for making a comparison that seemed impossible, but ghosts, in general, seemed impossible yet here they were. She was lost deep in her thoughts until a knock on her door distracted her from them and she closed her book shut.
"It's just me," she heard Ida say from behind the door.
"It's open," she called loudly, falling backward onto her bed as Ida entered the threshold of her room.
"Your parents are home. Just letting you know," Ida told her, and Sam fought hard to keep the whine in her throat from escaping her mouth.
"Heard on that," she responded but made no effort to get out of her bed.
"Sam..." Ida started to say, but it came out as more of a groan.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," she sighed out as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed before stepping out of it.
"Ask about anything job related," Ida continued, but Sam only scoffed in amusement.
"I know how to talk to my parents, Grandma. I just tend to avoid it," she stated as they left her room and made their way down the hallway.
"That's really not good."
"Yeah, I know. I would change it if I could, but I can't. We just don't see eye to eye. It doesn't mean I always have an awful time with them. There are days where I have a blast with them but then there are days where I'd rather get hit by a bus than hear their minimalistic and stereotypical views," Sam added with a roll of her eyes as they entered the elevator. She pressed the button labeled "1" to get to the first floor as Ida shook her head.
"I'm sorry it's hard to relate to them, sweetie," Ida told her, a sincere look on her face.
"It's okay. At least I have you, right?" Sam said with a smile, one that Ida returned.
"Always." The elevator doors opened and they both exited out and turned into the living room where Pam and Jeremy were. They still had their suitcases with them, so Sam guessed that they had just stepped into the house.
"Hey," Sam greeted, and Pam immediately walked over to her to give her a hug.
"Hi, Samantha! Missed you," she said as she pulled away.
"Me too," Sam said as Jeremy pulled her into a hug as well. "How'd the trip go?"
"Oh, you know. Same old thing every time," Jeremy said as he picked up both his and Pam's suitcases and headed toward the stairs to put everything back in their room.
"Anything new happen while we were gone?" Pam asked. A lot, actually, Sam thought to herself, but she just shook her head.
"Nope. Same old shit here, too," she stated as she crossed her arms. Pam shot her a disapproving look and Sam raised an eyebrow.
"I don't like you cursing."
"I take it back then," Sam said, holding her hands up in defense while resisting the urge to roll her eyes. She did, however, direct her attention toward Ida with a look, as if she was saying, "you see what I mean?" Just then, Jeremy reappeared at the bottom of the stairs, walking into the living room to join the rest of his family.
"I threw our clothes in the hamper. The housekeeper can do the laundry next time she comes," he said, waving off the chore.
"Do you want to come to lunch with us, Sam?" Pam asked her, and Sam looked over at Ida briefly.
"Is Grandma coming?"
"I'll let you and your parents spend some together. It's been a while," Ida spoke up before leaving the room, making Sam feel abandoned, even if she knew Ida was trying to do the right thing.
"I'm ready whenever you are," Sam told Pam, but a look appeared on her mother's face as if she was disgusted with something.
"Is that what you're wearing?" She asked Sam, examining the black, oversized shirt and grey leggings that she was sporting. Sam finally let her eyes roll out of her head; this was going to be the longest lunch of her life.
Tucker's jeep slowly approached Fenton Works, carefully parking along the curb to prevent scratching his tire on it. As soon as he turned off his car, he walked up to the front door and let himself in, knowing Jack and Maddie would be in the lab anyway. Making his way up the stairs, he knocked on Danny's door before entering, seeing him laying on his bed watching TV, using his blue shark as a pillow.
"Really?" Tucker asked him with an almost disappointing look.
"What? It's comfortable," Danny defended, sitting up and placing the shark in his lap to lean on it.
"Did you get that at the carnival?" Tucker assumed, walking a few steps over to sit down in Danny's computer chair.
"Yeah. Sam got it for me. I also got her a purple one."
"So you guys had a good time?"
"We had a great time. It really helped us get to know each other more." Tucker only nodded as he slid his backpack off and fished out his laptop. Danny reminisced at his and Sam's time together, but there was something that they had talked about together that was on his mind that he was curious about. "Do you remember her last boyfriend?" He asked Tucker, assuming he saw them in the hallways of their high school at least a few times. Tucker let out a breath and started to rub his eyes as if it would help him remember.
"Yeah, some foreign kid who was a year older than us. Greg? Gregory? Gregor! That was his name," Tucker said, opening his laptop and turning it on. "He seemed to be right up her alley. His style was almost the same as hers and she seemed to be really happy with him, but right before he graduated I stopped seeing them together so I just assumed they broke up." Tucker said casually with a shrug, waiting rather impatiently to see the home screen of his laptop. "Why are you asking?"
"She talked about it briefly last night but was vague with it. I was just curious."
"It's good that you guys are getting personal. It'll help you decide whether or not you want to tell her your secret, you know, if she doesn't find out herself first," Tucker added, causing Danny to raise an eyebrow.
"Why would she?"
"Because of the book."
"What book?"
"She didn't tell you?" Tucker asked, and Danny only shook his head in response. "She bought a book the other day about the paranormal; ghosts included, and we both know how smart she is. It's only a matter of time until she'll be able to see all the connections." Danny sighed and let himself fall into his bed, feeling like his plans were getting derailed all because of a book. He wanted this to all go slowly and at his own pace but this book would only speed up the process, giving Sam all the information to figure everything out. It wasn't even a matter of deciding to tell her or not anymore, it was a matter of making sure he could trust her to keep it to herself. He already thought she was a great person and enjoyed spending time with her a lot, so he hoped she felt the same with him and they could stay friends for a long time, maybe even forever.
"Then I guess I have to speed this friendship up," Danny spoke up, causing Tucker to shoot him a questionable look.
"How are you going to do that?" He asked as Danny sat back up.
"Well, the more you hang out with someone the stronger the friendship gets, right?"
"Yeah, but how are you going to hang out with her besides Fridays?" Tucker questioned, but Danny didn't give a verbal answer. He just gave Tucker a knowing look before his eyes turned green.
"So tell me about last night," Ida said to Sam, the both of them in the safe haven of Ida's room. Sam sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed, much like she always did, while Ida was on the other end. Her parents had finally gone to bed and they had the freedom to talk about everything Ida had missed.
"It was really good. We went to the pier where they were having a carnival, so we did that and just walked around and talked the whole night," Sam told her. "He's a really good guy. At least his parents knew what they were doing," she added, causing Ida to raise an eyebrow.
"Are you insisting your parents did a bad job with you?" She asked to which Sam only shrugged, causing Ida to scoff and shake her head. "You may have rebel tendencies, but you have a good heart and honest morals. That's what makes a good person." Sam only smiled at her, feeling as if Ida always knew what to say to make her feel better. "Go on. I want to hear more. You guys get along?"
"Yeah, we're into the same things and have a lot in common."
"Is he cute?" Ida asked, causing Sam to raise an eyebrow.
"Why does that matter?"
"You didn't answer the question."
"Well, you didn't answer mine."
"I asked first so you answer first." Sam sighed, giving in just to end the back and forth bickering.
"I mean, yeah, but that doesn't matter because we're just friends."
"What if you end up liking him?"
"It wouldn't work out anyway, so there's no point in even trying... if I liked him."
"Sam," Ida sighed out, reaching out her hand to pat Sam's, "you can't let your past relationship ruin your future ones. Not everyone is going to be like that jerk."
"I'm not scared of relationships. I'm not scared of anything," she added, crossing her arms over her chest sternly. "I just don't want my time wasted, that's all." Ida could have pushed on, but she didn't want Sam to shut down and leave, much like she did when a subject was brought up that she was displeased with, so she moved on.
"Okay. I'm just glad you have both him and Tucker. They seem to lift your mood," she said, causing Sam to nod.
"Me too." As if on cue, her phone started to go off and she took it out of her pocket to see that she was receiving a video chat.
"Is that him?" Ida asked, wiggling her eyebrows slightly to tease her.
"Oh, shush," Sam said before leaving the room to answer it. Of course, Ida was right and it was, in fact, Danny, but she wasn't in the mood to hear it from her. It looked like he was at his computer desk, most likely playing online like he usually was.
"What's up?" Sam asked, deciding to take the stairs instead of the elevator.
"Not much. What's going on with you?" He replied, causing her to shrug as she got to her room.
"Literally nothing. I'm just bored as usual," she answered, sitting down on her bed.
"Does that mean I can come over?" He asked, half joking but also serious.
"What about your parents?"
"Sleeping. Is that a yes?"
"Um, are you for real?" She asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Yeah. I'm bored, you're bored; we can be bored together." It wasn't that Sam didn't want him to come, she was just worried about the way he would react to her home. Once he approached her house, it would be obvious that her family was wealthy. On the other hand, there really was no other way for her to spend time with him besides sneaking around at his house, which left little to be desired. She justified it by thinking to herself that he would find out eventually anyway, so with a heavy heart, she agreed. "Okay, you win," she finally said, "am I getting you?"
"I could just walk if you're not too far. Where do you live?"
"Here, I'll send you my address," she told him, swiftly doing so, "are you sure you don't want me to get you?"
"My phone is telling me it's just a couple of minutes on foot. I think I'll be okay," he said with a chuckle. "I'll leave now."
"Okay. Just don't freak out when you get here," she warned him, making him raise an eyebrow.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You'll find out."
"Cryptic. I'll see you in a few," and without another word, he logged off, and Sam sighed and fell onto her bed face first. She didn't like revealing her financial status to anyone, but Danny was becoming one of her good friends and it was only a matter of time before she revealed it to him anyway. It was only about ten minutes later when she suddenly heard a knock at her window, causing her to jump from her spot on her bed. She was confused, yet curious at what that could possibly be, so she slowly and cautiously walked over to her window and pulled back the curtain a little to see who the culprit was, only to see Danny. She pulled the curtain back all the way and opened her window.
"How did you get up here?" She asked him, and he gave her a nervous smile. In reality, he just floated up to her window, but he wasn't about to admit that.
"I'm on your terrace," he responded.
"You know I have a front door, right?"
"I didn't want to risk anyone seeing me."
"Everyone's sleeping, doofus! Now get in here," she said jokingly before stepping aside so Danny could enter. He only snickered before crossing the threshold between the window and her room. Sam closed the window afterward as Danny looked around, surprised at how large her room was, especially compared to his.
"Wow, your room is like, five times the size of mine," he told her as she sat down in her computer chair. "And your house isn't even a house. It's a mansion!"
"And I would appreciate it if you didn't tell Tucker. As far as he knows, I'm upper class. He has no idea that I'm part of the one percent."
"Is that why he's never been to your house?" Danny asked her, causing her to nod. "Why hide it if he's already your friend?"
"I don't know. I feel like the mood changes. I just don't want to be treated any differently than before." Her statement unexpectedly hit him in a personal place. Even though their situations were different, he thought the same thing as her after the accident. He forced himself out of his own thoughts when he realized he was probably silent for a lot longer than he intended, so he finally nodded.
"I get it," he told her, and Sam couldn't help but notice the sadness in his eyes as she looked into them. After a short moment, he broke their stare by turning around to look at all the different posters on her walls, stopping when he saw one he recognized. "You like Dumpty Humpty?" He asked, thumbing over in the direction of its spot on the wall.
"I've been a fan since the beginning," she stated matter of factly.
"Me too. I heard their first album and was hooked." He stopped in his tracks when he noticed how many game systems she had in the corner of her room. It looked like she had almost every system imaginable, even Atari and the Sega Genesis. "Whoa! Do these still work?" He asked as he walked over to them.
"Yeah. I take good care of everything," she told him, watching as he crouched down and picked up an original GameCube to look at it further. "If you think that's cool, you should see the basement," she said as she rose from her seat, causing Danny to do the same. He followed her into the hallway where she stopped in front of the elevator, doors opening almost as soon as she pressed the down button. They stepped inside together, and Sam looked up at Danny as the doors closed before them. He was looking around as if he was in awe, and he probably was, and Sam couldn't help but chuckle.
"What's with the face?" She asked, earning an incredulous look from him.
"You have an elevator in your house." He stated rather bluntly, causing her to laugh.
"It wasn't always here. We started construction on it when my parents decided they wanted Grandma to live here with us." The elevator came to a smooth stop and dinged, the doors opening up to reveal the last level of the house, and Danny's jaw dropped immediately. There was a movie screen complete with comfy recliners, a popcorn and soda machine, foosball, an air hockey table, pinball machines, and arcade games. It wasn't even a basement, it was basically a small Dave and Busters.
"This is where I spent basically my entire life," Sam told him, and his mouth closed, knowing she was down here alone for too many years.
"It definitely seems like a great place to be," he said, following her out of the elevator. She stopped in the middle of the basement, holding her arms out wide.
"The world is your oyster. What do you want to do first?" She asked him, and he had to take a moment to look around before running over to a game he was rather familiar with.
"You have Time Crisis five?" He asked excitingly, grabbing one of the guns with his right hand.
"Of course. It's a classic," she replied, walking up next to him and grabbing the only other gun, "I bet the both of us working together would be unstoppable," she continued, causing him to nod in agreement.
"You're probably right, but I think we should test that theory," he suggested with a sly smile, one Sam returned, and without another word, she turned the game on.
The rest of the night consisted of the two of them hopping from game to game, either working together or challenging each other to see who would come out on top. It was intriguing to Danny to see Sam this way; it's not like she was acting differently than her normal self, it was just the light in her eyes that he noticed. It made him think that she really did enjoy company more than she claimed she did. She had told him before that being alone was something that she was used to, but after tonight, he begged to differ.
They had just finished playing their second round of air hockey when Sam yawned, feeling the sleep that she was missing finally catching up to her. She pulled out her phone to check the time and was surprised to see it was already two in the morning.
"Damn, time flies when you're having fun," she said, causing Danny to check the time as well.
"Wow, I didn't even realize it was that late. I should really head home," he told her.
"Use the front door this time," she teased, leading him into the elevator. He scoffed at her response, but nevertheless, smiled.
"That would definitely be a lot easier."
"Do you want me to drive you home?" She asked, but he shook his head.
"Don't worry about it. It's only a few minutes away."
"It's also two in the morning. It could be dangerous to walk alone," she pointed out as the elevator doors opened to reveal the living room.
"Are you trying to say I'm weak?" He joked, trailing behind her as she walked over to the front door.
"With those muscles? Doubt it." It was as if the words escaped from her mouth before she even knew what she was saying. She wasn't trying to come off as flirty at all, but her mind seemed to disagree. She wanted to smack herself in the head for it, but Danny seemed to find it amusing for he smirked at her.
"Are you looking at my muscles?"
"You're wearing a tank top, Danny. They're kind of there," she said with a roll of her eyes, hoping it was a good enough cover.
"Mhmm, sure," he said sarcastically, causing Sam to open the door.
"Alright, that's it. Get out of my house," she said jokingly, causing him to chuckle.
"I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Okay. See you." She closed the door after he left and rested her forehead on it, trying not to repeatedly hit her head into it for being such an idiot.
"Smooth," she heard from behind her, causing her to jump and turn around. Ida was by the elevator, eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as she watched Sam make a fool out of herself.
"What are you doing up?" Sam asked.
"I should be asking you the same question but obviously sneaking around is the answer." Sam opened her mouth to explain herself but Ida held up a hand to stop her. "I won't tell your parents. I'm just happy you're making friends... and admiring their muscles," she added with a snicker before taking a bite of her sandwich.
"Oh, my god. Go to sleep, old lady," Sam joked as she started to climb the stairs.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
And, once again, I am sooooooo sorry for the slow updates. This is still a work in progress so please bear with me through my writer's block ^^'
As always, thank you guys so much for all the support. It's what really keeps me going :3
MidnightWriter44678: Omg thank you so much T.T
InvaderJohnny: Aww you may be on to something XD
Guest: Ida always knows what's up lol Her and Sam are basically the same
Sam Manson Repilica: Thank you so much T.T I've definitely felt inspired lately since I've been feeling normal again. And YES. THANK YOU. This story is like, half slow burn because it's just way more realistic than automatic love :3
Milo21: Wow, I'm really glad to hear that. I'm more than happy I can help :)
Fan12: Right XD
Guest: Thank you :)
aSinglePancake: Thank you. I'm also thoroughly enjoying your username :D
