Chapter 7

(Saturday afternoon at the Nasty Burger)

"That's for sure the lamest idea I've ever heard of in my life," Ava remarked, scoffing disapprovingly. Paulina had just finished explaining the theme of her performance to the girl, and of course, she wasn't a fan of it. "Geeks versus jocks. This isn't some pep rally dance battle."

Paulina idly flipped through the latest issue of a fashion magazine she had borrowed from Star before responding. "Does the theme really matter at this point?" she asked. "The whole performance became tainted once Manson was forced into it."

Star nodded absently, but Ava rolled her eyes. "We could've really put on the best show in all of Casper High if you and her never fought," she pointed out. "You guys should've just swapped it out after the talent show."

"Who said you were going to be in my performance?" Paulina inquired, glaring directly over at Ava, who immediately fell silent. "Last time I checked, it was only going to be me featuring Star."

"And now, thanks to someone, it's you featuring Manson," Star retorted. "That's the biggest downgrade in, like, the history of downgrades."

Paulina closed the magazine and handed it to Star with an annoyed sigh. "You guys sure complain a lot. Do you want me to carry out this revenge scheme properly or not?" she demanded, to which both girls nodded. "Okay, so then shut up and chill out. I know exactly what I'm doing."

Ava pursed her lips and glanced over at Star, whispering, "Tetchy." When Star nodded, she looked back at Paulina and began tapping her finger against the table. "You said that you and Manson have the auditorium to yourselves on Monday, right?"

"Right," Paulina confirmed.

"Try to have like a whole bonding session with her while you're rehearsing. Bring her out of her comfort zone because there's no way in the deep pits of hell that she's going to want to sing or dance around you anytime before the show."

Star hummed, nodding approvingly. "When you loosen up, she'll be more likely to loosen up as well. The more she warms up to you, the more it'll crush her when you steal Fenton from her," she said.

"Technically I'm not stealing him because he was mine in the first place," Paulina defended. "But you're both right. I hear you. I'm like, the master manipulator, so I'm pretty sure this will be a piece of cake for me."

Ava smirked and reached out for some fries that had been dumped onto a tray in front of her. "That's why you're the queen of the A-listers," she praised, popping the food into her mouth. "Can't wait to see the look on Manson's face."

At that moment, Danny and Sam entered the Nasty Burger with Tucker noticeably missing from their side. Paulina dismissed his absence, passing it off as something Mayor-related. The pair made a beeline for the front counter and started talking to the overly-bubbly cashier.

Since Ava and Star didn't seem to notice them standing over there, Paulina kept herself on mute and just stared at the couple; mainly Danny. He was much more attractive to her than he had been in Freshman year. He was a few inches taller, more muscular, and he dressed a lot better than he did in the past.

Then there was Sam. She wasn't as spooky-looking as she was in Freshman year, but there were still evident traces of Goth present on her person. She now wore a long-sleeved mesh shirt with a black tank top underneath. She paired it with black skinny jeans and dark purple combat boots.

Paulina actually thought Sam was a beautiful girl. Definitely not better-looking than her for sure, but she was up there in looks. She just wished the girl would wear lighter colors and ditch the dark persona, but she knew that wasn't going to happen.

She cupped her hands on either side of her mouth and kept her eyes glued in Danny and Sam's direction. "Yoo-hoo! Danny! Sam!" she called out. Both of them turned around and looked at her questionably, but it was Sam's expression that fell once she realized it was Paulina calling them over.

Ava's eyes widened in surprise and she hastily nudged Paulina. "Why are you calling both of them over here?" she demanded. Paulina rolled her eyes.

"Because I'm trying to play nice." She glanced back over in time to see Danny and Sam tentatively approaching their table.

"Hi Danny," Ava greeted, flashing him her brightest smile. She completely disregarded Sam, which Paulina was thankful for because it looked natural. "We were just wondering if you wanted to sit with us."

"You and Sam," Paulina quickly added. She would've had her cover blown if they only invited Danny to sit with them. That, and he most likely wasn't going to sit there with them anyway if Sam wasn't allowed to.

He looked to his girlfriend for confirmation, but she seemed highly uncomfortable about the suggestion. It wasn't until she glanced over at Paulina and received a tender smile from the cheerleader that she sighed in defeat and took a seat beside her.

"How's your Saturday going so far?" Ava asked Danny as he sat down beside Sam. The Halfa smiled timidly and rubbed his neck.

"It's going okay, I guess. Kinda slow," he answered.

Paulina sensed Sam's discomfort, but she didn't necessarily care for it much. Still, an act was an act, so she pretended to take interest. "What about you?" she asked, her smile never faltering. "What brings you to the Nasty Burger today?"

Sam jerked her thumb towards Danny. "He was craving a burger. I tried to offer him some sense by suggesting that he eat more greens, but that only made him want to come here even more," she responded.

"I actually agree with her," Paulina smirked, motioning towards Sam while looking at Danny. "Greens are healthy for a growing teenager, and of course, a cheerleader," she informed him, gesturing to herself.

"Good thing I'm not a cheerleader," Ava retorted, guiding another fry to her mouth. "You know, you two are total opposites. Different meal preferences, different style choices, one likes being in the light, the other likes being in the shadows..."

Sam, realizing she was being addressed, simply shrugged. "Opposites attract," she answered. "We've certainly experienced a lot together by being opposites. I've learned new things from him and vice verse."

"Plus, we're not that much different from each other," Danny interceded, smiling a little. "We actually share some interests."

Paulina guessed that Sam felt uncomfortable with the conversation because she quickly switched the subject. "Why did you want us to sit with you guys? I mean, isn't this awkward for you?"

"Yes," Ava and Star murmured.

"Not at all," Paulina responded. The only reason she didn't scold her friends for acting like that was because she wanted them to keep acting cold towards Sam. It would've been suspicious if all three of them were suddenly friendly to her. "Why? Are you feeling awkward?"

"Yeah, a little," Sam admitted. "What, is this a weird attempt at getting me to become your friend?"

"No," Paulina told her. "It's a start. I'm very persistent." She pretended that she only wanted a friendship with Sam instead of Danny so it wouldn't be too obvious that she was only going through with all that for the sake of a scheme.

Sam's expression was unreadable at first, but when Danny flashed her a knowing smirk, a smile broke out across her face and she averted her gaze. Paulina glanced over at Ava, whose reaction was to wink at her as if to tell her 'good job'.

A blue wisp spewed from Danny's mouth at that moment, causing him to sigh loudly and stand up. Sam quickly stood up along with him, flashing him a look that told him she was going with him. Paulina already understood why he had to go, so she didn't question him and just let them leave.

Ava was a little slower than her, however, so she demanded, "Wait, where are they off to in such a hurry?"

"I don't know. He said that was his ghost sense, so I'm guessing he's going to go battle a ghost," Paulina replied. "But did you see how hard it was to get Manson to crack? She just barely did. I've got to try something else."

"Forget the false friendship. You're pretty much wasting your time pretending to be her friend if you're just going to screw her over in the end," Star said.

"Well, I'm not backpedaling now. It'll look way too suspicious if I'm suddenly mean to her again."

"That's correct," Ava agreed. "Keep playing your cards right. We'll see our grand results in six days."

Paulina was walking down the street, heading to a new local salon so that she could try out their eyelash extensions. If it looked really good on her, then she planned on wearing them to the talent show to give her eyes an extra pop.

As she rounded the corner of the adjacent street and continued down the sidewalk, she heard a semi-loud crash from her left. Instinctively, her head whipped in that direction, where she saw Danny hovering above the air in Phantom form, battling Skulker.

They were both fighting at an abandoned warehouse. It wasn't too far away from the Nasty Burger, so she figured that they had been fighting for awhile because Danny looked completely frustrated. He charged at Skulker, grabbed him, and then phased them both downward through the roof of the warehouse.

That's when an idea struck her: she could help him. If she helped him, then there was a chance that he would see her in a much better light. She didn't know where Sam was or if the girl was even still around, but before she knew it, her feet were moving towards the entrance of the warehouse.

Once inside, she let the noise of the battle guide her to where Danny and Skulker were because she didn't know her way around. She found them a minute after searching, blasting at each other in a showdown. She didn't say anything at first because she didn't want to distract Danny and throw him off course.

Sam, on the other hand, was present and battling another ghost. This one was much smaller than Skulker was, somewhat similar to her own height. She was standing on top of the upper level and firing down at the ghost with a device on her wrist.

She didn't seem to notice Paulina's presence, that is, until the cheerleader accidentally knocked over a box and sent the items inside tumbling to the ground. That's when she snapped her head to the side and gasped when she saw Paulina standing there with a sheepish expression.

"Paulina? What the heck are you doing here?" she demanded, returning her focus to the ghost. She successfully blasted it once, sending it crashing back into a few boxes. "Actually, tell me later. This isn't really the time for—"

"I came to help," Paulina cut her off. "Just tell me what you need me to do."

"Uh, leave?" Sam replied. The ghost recovered quickly and started firing at her, but she ducked behind an object just in time. "It's getting a little dangerous out here and we don't need you getting caught in the crossfire."

"Paulina? What are you doing here?" a surprised Danny asked while battling Skulker.

"We've already established that! She'll tell us later!" Sam informed him while peeking around the object she was hiding behind. She aimed at the ghost, but before she could blast it, it panicked and flew up through the roof. "Oh, what? Such a wimp!" she complained.

"I thought you told me to stop taunting the ghosts while I'm battling them," Danny pointed out, putting up a shield around him as Skulker fired some of his weapons in his direction. "Why's it okay when you do it?"

"Because I said what I said after my ghost noped out of here," she defended, watching his encounter with Skulker. As she jumped down to the bottom level of the warehouse and started approaching Paulina, she told Danny, "Hey, stop playing with him and finish this up. We're supposed to be meeting Tucker in a few."

"Yes ma'am!"

Paulina wanted to smile at their interaction, as nerdy as she thought it was, but she didn't think it was the appropriate time. "So, I guess I'm not needed here, huh?" she wondered, now feeling stupid for coming there.

"Not today, Paulina. Sorry," Danny apologized. He dropped his shield and flew around Skulker, who growled vehemently and fired at the Halfa. His blast missed the boy completely, and instead, it rammed into a huge stack of clutter.

What followed next seemed to happen in slow motion.

Paulina heard Sam yell for her to get out of the way, but she didn't know where to go because she didn't know what was happening. Before she could even think of where to go, she felt herself being shoved to the side.

She instinctively covered her head right before a loud crash was heard from around her. She didn't dare move a muscle until the noise subsided, and once it did, she tentatively lifted her head and glanced around to see what happened.

"Sam? Sam!" she heard Danny shout. He didn't immediately rush over to them, as he was still battling Skulker, so she took it upon herself to investigate what happened. It didn't take her long to realize that Sam had pushed her out of harms way and took the fall for her.

She quickly got up and made her way over to Sam, who was semi-buried underneath the fallen clutter. She pulled and pushed away the items on top of the girl, only to find her lying unconscious in it. Now alarmed, she instantly felt for a pulse. Luckily, one was there.

Before she could do anything else, Danny flew over to her and knelt down beside Sam. She noticed that Skulker was gone now, but she didn't bother asking where he was. She knew that now really wasn't the appropriate time for that.

"Sam!" He shook her gently at first, but when she failed to stir, he shook her more firmly. "Sam? Hey, wake up."

Paulina nervously bit her fingernails as she watched him. She couldn't help but feel guilty about what just happened because if she minded her business instead of interfering the way that she did, then what just happened probably wouldn't have happened.

She was greatly surprised, and a bit relieved, that Sam knocked her out of the way in time. Sam was a hero and had hero instincts. She battled ghosts alongside Danny and Tucker and saved the town from harm with them plenty of times, so it would've been uncharacteristic if she didn't sacrifice herself like that.

Regardless, that whole situation made Paulina respect her a little more.

Author's note: So, do you think it was Sam's heroic actions that got her knocked out like that? Do you think this will cause Paulina to have a change of heart towards her? Thanks for reading.