Thank you everyone in my review section who took the time out of their day to comment!

Chapter 3

Sam's eyes briefly fluttered towards Paulina, who was sitting across the room with someone she currently shared her fifth period class with. They had both been talking since the bell rang for class to begin, but their detention teacher, Mr. Duval, didn't really seem to care.

He was sitting at his desk with his legs propped up on the surface and a magazine nestled in his lap. He was a rather nonchalant teacher; after all, he insisted that he didn't get paid enough to actually watch a bunch of "Juvenile hooligans".

Sam kept herself occupied by reading one of her favorite books. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to pass the time too much. She didn't have enough books on her to busy herself all the way until after school, so she figured she'd just draw when she was finished reading.

She couldn't help but overhear Paulina's conversation, however.

"My papa texted me during lunch and told me I was grounded," she said to the girl beside her, whose name was still a mystery to Sam. "This isn't fair. I didn't even start that stupid fight and I'm the one being punished for it."

Sam rolled her eyes, but said nothing. Instead, she looked down at her book, pretending to read it, but she continued to listen in on their conversation. "How long did you get punished for?" the mystery girl asked.

"A week," Paulina answered. Sam stifled a snort. "It's not fair, Ava. On top of that, Principal Ishiyama said that the loser Goth over there is going to be helping me out with my performance. That's much worse than being grounded."

"Ew. No offense, but your show is going to blow if she so much as even picks out a theme for it," replied Ava. "Is she even getting punished? It seems like it's just you taking all the heat when you're the victim in this situation."

"I know, right? Gosh."

Sam couldn't help but speak up. "For your information, Paulina, being in the same room as you is punishment enough. Secondly, I admit that the fight was my fault, but the argument that caused it was yours. You started with me and you know that."

Paulina instantly became defensive. "What did I start?" she demanded, twisting around in her seat to face Sam. "I was just talking to Danny and then you butted in our conversation because you felt jealous of me."

"Jealous? What do you have for me to be jealous of?"

"Everything."

"Wrong answer. Nothing," Sam corrected. She could feel her face growing hot, but she tried to keep her voice as calm as possible because she knew she was getting angry again. "You're shallow, conceited, and rude. There's no way in the pits of hell that I'd ever be jealous of someone like you."

Paulina slightly leaned forward in her seat and laughed bitterly. "The same exact thing could be said in regards to you. Why are you in our conversation anyway? Last time I checked, we weren't talking to you."

"Yeah, but you're talking around me, which is pretty much the same thing."

"But no one was talking toyou. You started this argument with her, which is funny because you were just whining about her starting that earlier argument between you two," Ava said to Sam. "If you never said anything, neither of you would be having this conversation right now."

Sam snorted. "What are you, her lawyer?" She raised her hands a little and glanced down at her book. "Forget it. I'm dismissing myself from this unpleasant discussion. Carry on."

Paulina growled and quickly rose from her seat, not necessarily in a threatening manner. "That's it. I don't want to work on anything with you or even be in the same room as you. I'll gladly accept any other consequence."

"Great! We've reached some common ground. I like this character development already," was Sam's sarcastic response. She moved her eyes from her book to the door just as Principal Ishiyama entered the room. The woman glanced around, but stared at both her and Paulina in particular.

Mr. Duval straightened up immediately and tossed his magazine on the floor underneath his desk. Paulina shuffled towards Principal Ishiyama and put her hands together in a pleading manner. "I can't do this!" she exclaimed. "I refuse to work with her on my performance. She's way too aggravating. Please don't make me do this."

"Yeah, well, having to watch you sing and dance around the room is going to be no picnic for me either," Sam retorted.

Mr. Duval cleared his throat, casually sliding into the conversation. "They've been arguing in here like an old married couple," he informed the principal, who exhaled sharply and looked at the girls with disappointment.

"Before you say anything, ma'am," Paulina began, ready to state her case, "I was just talking to Ava when Manson interrupted us. She was being rude and nasty about the fight earlier when we weren't even talking about that. We're completely innocent. She's not."

"I didn't rudely interrupt anyone!" Sam angrily stood up as well and made a beeline for Principal Ishiyama, crossing her arms. "I'll take any other punishment than the weird one you gave me. This is my first offense, so why do I have to suffer with her? Not everyone is going to like each other, ma'am."

"And I'm never going to like her, so you might as well just cancel this whole punishment thing because she's banned from helping me with my performance," Paulina replied.

"Okay, how about this? Both of you are going to participate in the talent show together. Same performance, same everything," Principal Ishiyama pitched. "And Miss Sanchez, before you object, that's the only way you're allowed to perform."

"But I don't want to perform anything with her!" both girls chorused, pointing at each other whilst gaping.

"Tough." Principal Ishiyama shook her head and stared down the two teenagers before her. "Honestly, ladies, what has gotten into you two? Whatever happened between you in the past is none of my business, but you should really set aside your differences."

"There's no differences. We just don't like each other," Paulina grumbled.

"Well, hopefully that changes after you guys work together on this so called 'performance'. Now, this discussion is over," Principal Ishiyama concluded. "Good luck. I can't wait to be front and center for the lovely show you two are going to put on. Hopefully it's about positivity and kindness."

Sam frowned and spread her arms outward. "But..."

"And hopefully you two are sitting on separate sides of the classroom while behaving when I come back to check on you," the woman continued. Paulina and Sam shared an equivalent look of defeat before sighing and nodding respectfully.

Once the principal was out of the room, Paulina scowled and harshly bumped her shoulder against Sam's. "This isn't over, freak," she snarled before marching back to her seat. Sam ran a hand through her hair and silently moved back to her own seat.

She rooted herself to her chair for the remainder of the day, save for going to the restroom. Ava left when the bell rang, as she was only supposed to be there for one class period. The final bell of the day sounded just then, meaning everyone was able to go home and be free.

Well, except for Paulina and Sam.

Paulina was quiet after Ava left; she chose to busy herself by reading a magazine the way Mr. Duval was doing. Sam, on the other hand, decided to take a nap to pass time. Detention was very tedious to her and she failed to see why some of the A-listers loved going there so much.

She was awoken by someone shaking her shoulder. Groggily, she lifted her head from her arms and looked over to see who the culprit was. To her surprise, Danny and Tucker were standing there. She sat all the way up in her seat and flashed the pair before her a look of confusion.

"What are you guys doing here? How did you get in?" she questioned. She searched around the room, noting that Mr. Duval was still reading his magazines and that Paulina was no longer in there. "Wait, where did Paulina go?" she asked.

"Mr. Duval said she stepped out for a break," Tucker responded. "He let us in here, but we can't stay too long."

"We just swung by to check on you, sleepyhead," Danny told her, smoothing down her slightly messed up hair. "It kind of sucks that we have to go to the arcade without you. That's usually our main after school activity."

"How do you think I feel? I'd rather be there with you guys than sitting here and doing absolutely nothing, but a punishment is a punishment," she murmured. "Detention has been pure hell for me so far."

"Aw, it can't be that bad, Sammy," Tucker said, smirking. "Just keep your distance and your words to yourself and you'll be set."

"Like I haven't already tried that." She shifted in her seat and pouted. "She's a very petty person." Danny and Tucker briefly looked towards each other before shrugging. "Anyway, I should be out of here in about an hour or so," she informed them.

"Then we'll meet you at Danny's," Tucker replied.

"Wrong. I'm pretty sure Principal Ishiyama called my parents, so I'm going straight home after detention. Sorry, ladies."

Danny frowned. "Dang. That's really gotta suck. Think they'll get mad and ground you for what happened back there?" he asked her.

"You'd better believe it. My family is strict on no violence. I'll get grounded for at least a month and will be forced to write an apology letter to Paulina or something," she grumbled. That last part certainly wasn't going to happen. "Whatever. I'll manage."

Paulina entered the room at that moment. Surprisingly, when she saw Danny, she simply looked away and took her original seat instead of throwing herself onto him. Sam was a little thankful for that, but she didn't think too much about it.

"Well, we're going to head out now. Call me later and tell me what happens with your parents, if anything," Danny said. He leaned over and kissed the top of her head while Tucker lightly clapped her twice on the shoulder. She watched them go, and once they were out of the room, she lowered her head back down onto her folded arms.

She was just beginning to doze off again when she felt something whack her on the side of her head. Curious, she peeked open an eye and looked to the floor, where a paper ball was now sitting. Since Paulina was the only one in the room with her besides Mr. Duval, she guessed that it was the shallow witch who threw it.

"See? I didn't start this. You did. You're throwing paper balls at me," she told her, glaring directly at her.

"Oh, don't get your panties in a twist," Paulina replied. "I threw it on purpose to get your attention."

"Calling people by their name works too, you know."

"I wanted to address a few things about the performance," the girl continued, ignoring Sam completely. She got up from her seat and moved to another one that was closer. "I was planning on winning the talent show with first place, and since I unfortunately need you to enter, we need to plan out a killer performance."

"Okay, well, I know some amazing card tricks. Or— and hear me out— come up with a bomb cheerleading routine and perform that," Sam suggested. "Then, tell Principal Ishiyama that I helped you choreograph it. See? We don't have to be caught on stage together."

"But she said same stage and same performance, you idiot," Paulina pointed out, rolling her eyes. "I was going into the talent show singing and dancing, so you're doing the same thing."

Sam snorted. "Like hell I am."

"Just hear me out. I'm one of the most popular girls in school and you're surprisingly Danny Phantom's girlfriend, right? If we collaborated, our show would be the most iconic one yet. We could win first place. Our fight was the perfect promotion."

"But why do we have to sing and dance and all that overrated crap? Shouldn't we do something more unique?"

"No, because singing and dancing are the highlights of talent shows. Besides, I've planned on doing this for months. I'm not giving all this up for some stupid card tricks," Paulina concluded.

Sam narrowed her eyes at the cheerleader and scoffed. "I don't sing, Paulina. I don't dance. Besides, I thought you didn't want me to darken your whole performance with my 'spooky witchcraft and bad fashion sense'."

"I still don't, but now I have no choice but to include you in my performance." Paulina started tapping her finger against her desk with a frown. "Listen, I'm a performer, Goth, and I'm sure that deep down— like, way deep down, you're a performer too. Definitely not a dancer, but I somewhat see you singing."

Sam shook her head slowly. "I don't know."

"It'll help you get known as someone other than Danny Phantom's girlfriend," Paulina persuaded. She turned her gaze to her nails and began studying them. "It'll make Principal Ishiyama happy, it'll be fun, and then we can never speak to each other again afterwards."

Sam liked the last part of that sentence, so she considered the deal. She hummed for several seconds before raising a finger. "I only have two conditions. No dancing for me, and I get to pick the song."

Paulina's expression sank. "What? No. No freaking way," she objected, but Sam shrugged and looked away, pretending to give up. "Okay, fine, but that's it. This is mainly my performance, so nothing that involves screaming or head banging are allowed. Also, no Gothic lyrics."

"Okay," Sam agreed, holding out her hand, "deal."

Paulina glared at her hand with disgust before hesitantly shaking it. "I feel like I'm going to regret this, but deal."