When Danny got to school the next morning, everyone was drinking soda before first period.

"Dash broke into the vending machine," Mikey told him excitedly. "He's giving free soda out to everyone. Even I got one!"

Mikey was an overly freckled redhead who, uh, was in band or something. His locker was right next to Danny's, but they'd never really talked much.

That Danny could remember.

"Oh," Danny said. "Uh, cool."

"He said he digs my hair!" Mikey continued. "And I don't think he was being sarcastic. Do you think he was being sarcastic?"

Danny could only blink at the kid stupidly.

Then Tucker came to the rescue, walking up to them and ruffling Mikey's hair. "Who cares what Dash thinks?" He said. "Statistically, you've got the rarest natural hair color on the planet. You won the lottery."

Mikey beamed at him. "Thanks Tucker. Want my soda? I didn't open it."

Tucker rolled his eyes. "It could be poisoned, dude."

"Dash said-"

"Who cares what Dash said?" His items retrieved, Danny slammed his locker door shut. "He's an ass."

"He wants to turn over a new leaf," Mikey said. But he eyed his free soda uncertainly. "Even gave this whole speech to the football team-"

Tucker guffed. "Did you film it?"

"N-no, but-"

Tucker put a hand on Mikey's shoulder, slowly shaking his head.

Mikey sighed. "Next time I'll record it."

He walked off and Danny wondered if Tucker and that dude were friends or not. It was hard to tell with Tucker sometimes.

"Uh, do I know Mikey well?" Danny said, scratching his cheek.

Tucker blinked at him. Then his eyes widened. "Oh. You didn't..."

There was an awkward pause. Danny pretended to look for something in his backpack.

"I know him better than you," Tucker finally said. "Film club and other overlaps like that. You just knew- know him through me."

He didn't know Tucker was in the film club. Casper High had a film club?

"You've got English with him," Tucker added.

"I know that," Danny said, pulling out a pen, he finally closed the backpack.

It was one of those clicker pens, with a button where an eraser would be for a pencil. He clicked it a few times and had to mentally kick himself into stopping once they'd reached the classroom.

Tucker followed him in.

He suddenly wished that they didn't have any classes in common.

Especially since-

"Hey-o, daddy-o!"

Fucking Dash.

"Daddy what?" Tucker said.

He was about to sit down next to Danny, as usual, but Dash held an arm out to block him. "Nah, I've got dibs!"

Dibs? What a childish thing to say, Danny thought.

Tucker could only stand and stare as Dash sat down.

Technically there wasn't assigned seating. Only Lancer gave a shit about stuff like that.

So when the teacher came in and Tucker was still standing he had no choice but to sit down in front of Dash.

For a moment, a very brief, very tiny, very friggin' microscopic moment, Danny felt relieved.

Because this meant Tucker couldn't look at him or talk to him all period. He'd have to turn himself all the way around and get in trouble.

But now he had Dash glancing at him all period. In a weird way.

The idiot even tossed a note over.

Buy you a slurg?

Danny stared at the note. Then at Dash.

Dash grinned at him.

Danny crumpled up the note and tossed it in his backpack.

Dash put his hands together as if in prayer.

Begging?

He tossed a second note.

To apologize? For bullying.

This time Danny ripped up the note. Slowly. Deliberately. Looking Dash in the eye the whole time as his hopeful smile fell.

oOo

When they got out of class Tucker wouldn't shut up about it.

"Daddy-o? Daddy-o?!"

Luckily they didn't share second period.

"What the heck is a slurg?" Danny said.

"What?! A slug?"

"No, a, uh. Just- look." Danny showed him the wrinkled note.

"Google is our friend," Tucker said, solemnly. It took him two seconds to solve the mystery. "It's slang for milkshake, apparently."

"What?" Danny tried to look over Tucker's shoulder, but his friend angled the phone away. "Hey hey, no peeking. You know that gives me the creeps."

Danny made a note of that.

Because he didn't. He didn't know.

Phantom did.

"Sorry. Um, see you at lunch," Danny said. It was time for them to split up.

"Mhm." Tucker was typing away at his phone as he walked. Students had to dodge out of his way.

oOo

Right before lunch Danny had a class with Sam.

And everything was normal between them, probably.

But then again, he wasn't sure what normal was supposed to look like. Normal, before Phantom had revealed... well, that he knew Sam past and present, before then there had been tension between them.

Between Danny and Sam.

And he'd thought it was just about the amnesia, but now he knew it had been something more like grief. For Phantom.

For what Danny had stolen from him.

And now they'd made up?

It was stupid too because they'd bonded over a mutual anger at Phantom.

But then things got awkward. The cuddling-

Danny didn't want to dwell on it.

Was it just awkward for him? Did she even notice?

Stop spacing out, she wrote at the top of her notebook in red ink. I won't let you copy my notes.

Liar, he wrote in giant letters across his blank page.

She snorted.

It's just awkward for me, Danny decided.

oOo

"It's time for a field test!" Tucker announced.

Sam glanced around in mock shock. "Are you sure? I thought it was time for lunch."

"I'm serious guys," Tucker said. "I've got a theory, but before I can tell you I need to test it. So that your opinions on the results won't be biased."

"Uh huh," she said. "So who is the lucky subject this time?"

Danny listened to this exchange in frustration. What was with today? It was full of references and and...

Reminders of what he was missing.

"Dash Baxter," Tucker said, standing dramatically.

Sam hummed thoughtfully. Then, slowly, her thoughtful frown turned into a shit eating grin.

Well, Danny thought, If it means messing with Dash...

"Proceed," Sam said, clearly on the same page.

Dash wasn't in the cafeteria though. All three of them scanned the crowd.

"Weird," Tucker said. "None of the A-listers are in here..."

"Well then," Sam said. "Let's go find them."

She looked at Danny.

He realized he had been silent for longer than was socially acceptable. "Uh, ditto."

Tucker glanced at his uneaten food, looking torn. He was still standing.

Because Danny hadn't been talking he'd gotten halfway through his. But Sam had barely nibbled into her salad.

"Or," Danny said. "We could do the field test after school?"

Tucker snapped his fingers. "Even better!" He sat down and took a huge bite of his burger.

He mumbled something.

"Uh, come again?" Danny said.

At the same time Sam said, "Shut up and swallow."

Their words kind of overlapped, but Tucker got the message and nodded. Taking three more big bites, he swallowed and then pointed at Danny. "You're gonna let him buy you a slurg."

Now it was Sam's turn to miss a reference.

"A what?!"

Danny grinned. "A milkshake."

"Why the heck-"

"All will be revealed, my friends." Tucker paused to gulp down some soda.

"All will be revealed," he repeated as dramatically as a man can while clutching a half eaten cheeseburger an inch from his nose.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Choke and die," she said.

oOo

"There he is!" Tucker said. "Go get 'im!"

"You make me sound like an attack dog," Danny said.

All three of them were in the parking lot. And actually seeking Dash out.

It felt surreal.

"Don't attack," Tucker said. "Fetch."

Danny laughed.

"What are you waiting for?" Sam said. "Go get 'im, boy!"

"You guys are assholes," he said.

But he was still laughing.

And before he could do anything Dash spotted them and jogged over.

"Dashing over," Danny murmured.

That cracked them up.

"You're right dude!" Tucker said. "He really is!"

Sam was laughing so hard she almost fell over and had to grab Danny's arm for balance.

Or did she pretend to almost fall over? She wasn't a clumsy girl.

Wasn't she laughing too hard? It wasn't that funny.

Danny didn't have time to dwell on her.

Dash was in front of them and he wasn't even out of breath, the pompous-

"Hey-o!" Dash said.

That word alone made Tucker laugh harder.

Dash ignored him. He was looking directly at Danny. "Listen, I know we've had beef-"

"It's okay," Danny said. "Glad you dashed over."

That got one more snort out of Sam but Tucker groaned. "Don't run it into the ground, man."

Dash was oblivious. "Listen," he said again. "I found out- I mean, I."

Dash paused.

Danny blinked at him.

The guy licked his lips. He seemed...

Nervous?

"Listen," he said again.

"Uh, I'm listening," Danny said.

His friends were openly laughing behind him.

Well, this is a role reversal, Danny thought.

Dash was scrambling for a reply, sweating under their laughter.

There was something odd about his eyes, Danny noticed. They looked gray. Hadn't they been blue?

The sun felt too bright above them.

Dash tried to laugh along, "Just doing a bit, guys. It's a big tickle, right?"

In his peripheral vision Danny noticed Tucker had his phone up. Was he filming this?

The laughter had died at the phrase big tickle.

"Li-look," Dash said. "I've got bread. C-can I take you out?"

His smile was strained. Desperate.

"Take us out?" Danny said.

"No! Just you and me," Dash said. "I don't mean walking- I mean..."

He's drowning, Danny thought.

"B- because you have a car?" Danny said.

At this point he just wanted to try and dig Dash out of the hole the guy had dug himself into.

He normally wouldn't want to help him with anything. Ever. But Dash was acting so oddly today. Almost like... he was out of place.

Dash was missing something vital.

Danny could empathize with that.

But now Dash was turning beat red in a way Danny had never seen before.

"Y-you want to take a ride?" Dash said. "Cause, I've never. I've never, with anyone, but with a boy-"

"You don't know how to drive anymore?" Sam said dryly.

"I can drive!" Dash squeaked.

There was a pause. Danny could feel both Sam and Tucker squinting at Dash as if he'd lost his head.

Or like... he'd lost his personality.

And they weren't the only ones. There were loads of kids eavesdropping, glancing at Dash incredulously as they walked by.

The A listers were only a few feet away, leaning against Dash's car.

Not even pretending to ignore the exchange.

"You need a chaperone," Tucker said.

Sam raised her eyebrows at him and Danny felt the same. It was the randomest thing he could have said.

Dash gaped at him. "Y-you think so?"

Tucker nodded. Then he glanced down at his phone. "Hey Dash."

Dash blinked. "Me," he said.

"Yes, you." Tucker was typing something into his phone, but he looked up to waggle his eyebrows at Dash. "You think Danny's a flutter bum?"

Dash grinned. "Danny," he said.

He looked at Danny. "They kept using your last name," he said.

Then he looked back at Tucker and his eyes widened. "A flutter bum? Well, of course but-"

"No worries, pal," Tucker said. "We're all cool with... with... I mean, it's alright for you to be a flit."

Dash paled.

"It's different times, now." Tucker was looking at Dash differently than before. There was no more mocking laughter.

He seemed sincere.

But Danny had no idea what they were talking about.

"I never thought I was," Dash said, uncertainly.

"You always were," Tucker said. "In fact, everyone in school already knows."

"They do?!"

Danny looked at Sam for a hint, but she looked just as lost.

"You told them yourself, Dash." Tucker kept putting an exaggerated emphasis on Dash's name.

"I did?"

"You were proud to announce it," Tucker said. "Seventh grade, I think."

"Oh," Sam said. "You mean when he came out of the closet?"

It took Danny a second to process that.

Closet. Closet. Coming out.

The words echoed in his head.

Dash?

This whole time.

"...so I'll chaperone," Tucker was saying. He kept glancing between his phone and Dash.

He waggled his finger at the taller boy. "No back seat bingo on my watch!"

Dash stiffened. "I-I wasn't going to-"

He glanced at Danny. "B-but if you wanted to-"

"No, no, no," Tucker said. "You can't ask him yet, that's too fast."

Dash looked apologetic. "I didn't think you were fast, Danny."

Tucker looked as confused as Danny felt for a second.

But then he was typing into his phone again and he snorted. "Heck no, my best friend? He's not fast. How dare you."

"I'm very sorry," Dash said. "But when he said he wanted to drive-"

"That's not what he said and not what he meant," Tucker said.

"Okay, I'm bored with this," Sam said. "Can we end the field test?"

"Yes ma'am!" Tucker said. "Listen, Dash, we're gonna have to take a rain check."

Dash sighed. "I get it. I'll make like a leaf."

"Hey, buddy." Tucker's tone was consoling. "Pal, no harm done. You can take him out later. For real."

"Do I get a say in this?" Danny said.

He was tired of listening to them talk about him like he wasn't right here.

It was nauseating. How familiar it felt. How easily Tucker, everyone, would just...

Treat him like a ghost.

You deserve it, a part of him thought. You got the better deal anyway.

Tucker opened his mouth but Dash beat him to the punch. "Of course!" He said. "Danny, I want you to know that I respect you."

That was so unexpected Danny wanted to pinch himself.

"Thanks..." Danny said.

He couldn't stay mad at this guy. There was no sarcasm or malice in his tone, in his face. He was...

Dash had used Danny's first name.

Like he'd never heard it before... was that actually the case? He'd just learned Danny's first name?

The A listers always addressed people they looked down on by last name. It was possible. And Dash had never bothered to have an actual conversation with Danny or Tucker or the likes of Mikey before this weird... change of heart.

I'm turning over a new leaf, Dash had said.

"You can run along now," Tucker said with a grin. "Your friends are waiting for you."

"Friends," Dash repeated, beaming. "Yeah, they are!"

He glanced over his shoulder as if to make sure. "They are waiting."

It reminded Danny of the way Mikey had reacted to Tucker's compliment this morning. And how pleased he'd been to announce that Dash was being nice to him.

"I'll dash back!" Dash said. He smile was all teeth.

"Smooth!" Tucker raised his hand.

Dash gasped and enthusiastically gave him a high five.

Then he really did run back to his car, while the A listers stared at him slack jawed.

"Okay," Sam said. "What the hell did you do to Dash?"

"I didn't do anything," Tucker said. "The dude has been possessed."

Danny didn't even hear him. He exploded.

"Did Dash ask me on a date?!"

He just realized what getting a milkshake with a gay kid would mean.

Sam looked at Danny. She looked at Tucker.

Tucker was about to reply but she held a finger against his lips. "Okay stop," she said. "Pause."

There was a moment of silence.

Then she glared at Tucker. "Did Dash ask him on a date?"

"Guys, that's not what's important here!" Tucker said. "That wasn't Dash!"

"Then who was it?" Sam said. "He didn't act like..."

She glanced at Danny so quickly he almost didn't catch it.

"He didn't act like a blank slate," she said.

"I said he's been possessed." Tucker threw his hands up. "Hello? Possessed. By, you know, a ghost."

"What."

"Jesus, you guys are slow," Tucker said. "Look, can we re-locate? My backpack is heavy and I'm tired of standing in the parking lot."

"I can agree to that," Danny mumbled.

"Ugh, fine. My house then?"

They both looked at her in surprise.

Sam rolled her eyes. "You both always want to go to my house."

"Duh," Tucker said. "But this is the first time you offered."

"I can take my offer back-"

"To Sam's house!" Tucker said.

"Hurrah," Danny muttered.

He glanced at Dash's car. It was starting and stopping awkwardly and almost crashed into the flagpole.

Dash was sitting stiffly behind the wheel and Kwan was saying something to him, shaking his head.

Dash's eyes were wide.

Like he's never driven a car before.

Danny nudged Tucker. "Hey, look."

They watched Dash and Kwan both get out of the car, switching seats.

Kwan drove them smoothly out of the parking lot.

"Dash is possessed," Danny said. "I-is he gay or is the ghost gay?"

"They're both gay, dude," Tucker said. "Keep up."

Danny would never be able to keep up.

Maybe he should just accept that.