Chapter LXIV
Sam gulped nervously upon arriving at the door of Paulina Sanchez' home. She looked up, praying for some divine intervention. The sound of a door opening is what she got.
"Oh, hello . . . uh, do I know you?"
Sam sighed at the voice of Paulina and at the apparent absence of a certain and supposed benevolent deity. Then again, she hadn't specified just what kind of divine intervention she had hoped for.
"Yeah, it's me . . . Sam."
Paulina looked over the girl standing in her doorway. Her jaw dropped slightly and her eyes widened.
"Oh. My. God. Sam, I absolutely looove what you did to your hair! Where'd you get that color?"
"From my parents," the girl in question mumbled. "This is my natural color."
Paulina stepped out from behind her door. "You mean you've been dyeing your hair black since, when did we meet, third grade?"
"Guess so." Sam was surprised it had been that long.
"Gee-whiz, Sam, that's a shocker. I never would've guessed you were platinum!"
"Nobody ever did, so I guess the dye did its job."
Paulina smiled at the joke. "Well don't just stand there, come on in! Everyone's already here, and they'll just dye when they see the little makeover you gave yourself! And to think we were gonna do it for you! Ha!"
Sam followed the girl into her house and instantly felt uncomfortable. She had never gone to another girl's house for any period of time. This was a major step outside her comfort zone, but Sam knew it was for the best. How would she hope to survive in college and the real world if she couldn't spend time with only members of her own sex?
"Girls, I believe you all know Sam Manson?"
A blasé mixture of responses came from all corners of the room; most of the speakers didn't even bother to look up at the newcomer.
Jazz was not one of those people.
"Sam?" She asked in shock. "Is that you?"
"No, I'm Sam's cousin, Samuella," Sam rolled her eyes. "Of course it's me."
"Wow," Jazz paused to look over her younger brother's friend. "Your hair looks amazing!"
"Is that all you people like me for now? My hair?"
"Relax, Sam, I'm just saying it looks nice. Where'd you get the dye?"
Sam growled. "This is my natural hair color."
"Really?" Jazz asked, taken aback.
"I know, right?" Paulina interjected. "I mean, who'da thought?"
"I know!"
"You know something, Manson? That looks an awful lot like Danny Fenton's shirt." The voice of Valerie Gray caught Sam's attention. Jazz and Paulina seemed interested as well, due in no small part to the obvious suspicion that accented Valerie's tone.
"That's because it is Danny's shirt," Sam retorted. "He let me borrow it after something exploded in his parent's lab and got my other one all slimy."
"I'm sure that's exactly what happened." Valerie sounded much more hostile now.
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
Valerie took several steps closer. "Just because we broke up doesn't mean I don't still like him."
Star, having heard the two girls getting angry with the other and hoping to avoid any sort of confrontation, stepped into the conversation. "Val, how about you and me go downstairs? I think I left my purse down there and my phone's in it, ok?"
Valerie followed her friend out of the room, never taking her glaring eyes off Sam.
"What's her deal?" Paulina asked. "Everyone knows that you wouldn't ever make a move on Danny, let alone in his own house."
"Yeah I-" Sam froze and spun around to stare at the Hispanic girl. "Wait a second, now what's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh come off it, everyone knows you like Danny," Paulina said as she brushed several loose strands of hair out of her face. "But if there's one thing everyone knows better is that you don't have the guts to ask him out."
"Hold that thought, Paulina," Jazz said, raising her arm. "When did something explode in our lab that messed up your shirt?"
"I-it was a while ago, ok? I don't remember."
Jazz looked at Sam sternly, trying to force the truth out of the younger girl. After several seconds, she decided that, if Sam was lying, she wasn't going to announce it in Paulina's bedroom.
Jazz's expression popped into a cheery one. "Ok!" she said contentedly before making way for another part of the room.
"You don't, do you?" Paulina pressed.
"Don't what?"
"Have the guts to ask Danny out?"
Sam rolled her eyes. "Look, you invited me here with good intentions and, against my better judgment, I agreed to show. Now you're making me even more uncomfortable than I already am. Stop pestering me or I'll be gone faster than you can blink."
Paulina rolled her eyes and sat down at her computer. "I'm sorry. All I'm saying is that you should really make a move sooner or later."
Sam found an inflatable medicine ball and rolled it over near Paulina's chair. "Why is this such a big issue for you?"
"Believe it or not, I do have feelings." Paulina said wryly.
"Stop the presses," Sam mumbled.
"And I get upset when relationships don't end up the way they should," she continued, ignoring Sam's remark.
"You didn't seem too upset when Penelope disappeared. And you didn't seem to care when Valerie dumped Danny. Are you lying, or is there something I'm missing?"
"Penelope was a bitch," Paulina casually examined her perfectly manicured nails. "Me, you and everyone this side of Amity Park knew it. She didn't deserve Danny and her leaving without notice, in the middle of the Valentine's Day dance no less, only proves my point."
"Alright. And what about Valerie?"
Paulina glanced around the room. "Honestly, Valerie's just a big drama queen. Now I know that sounds incredibly mean considering all she's been through lately, but you should hear her at our lunch table. I mean, it just doesn't stop! The self pity, the grief, the hate she has for ghosts, I mean seriously now, you have to draw a line somewhere."
Sam found she was nodding in agreement with Paulina's mini-rant. She then gave herself a mental slap for agreeing with the conformist opinion. Still, it had merit . . .
"So you think I'm the only one right for him?" the girl asked.
"I never said that!" Paulina exclaimed. "I just didn't approve of his last two significant others. If he decides to try his luck again, though, you better be there to snag him . . . before someone else does."
"Like who?" Sam scoffed. "Who else do I have to compete with now?"
"I don't know, a lot of the girls at my lunch table."
Sam gaped at the young woman before her. "You can't be serious."
"I'm not allowed to like Danny?"
Sam crossed her arms. "No, you're not."
"Well, I'm inclined to disagree."
Sam stood from the ball she had been sitting on and hovered over Paulina. "From where I'm standing, you're in no position to disagree."
"And from where I'm sitting," Paulina began, looking at Sam's exposed midsection, "it looks like you dressed to impress someone tonight and since I don't remember telling you Danny was going to be here, so that leaves only girls for you to show your body off to. Tell me, Sammy, are you bi-curious?"
Paulina reached out and tickled Sam's stomach. She jerked back, slapping her offender's hand away.
"Knock it off, Paulina," Jazz said as she entered the dispute. "There's nothing wrong with being bisexual."
"Is that so, Jazzy-pants?" Paulina asked with a wink.
Jazz grinned mischievously. "You know first hand," the older girl leaned over and draped her arms over the younger girl's shoulders letting her hands rest dangerously close to Paulina's voluptuous chest.
"I learned from the best," Paulina countered as she gave one of Jazz' hands a squeeze.
Sam rolled her eyes. "Funny. You two should write skits for MADTV."
"That show's still on?" Paulina asked sincerely as Jazz withdrew.
"Hey," everyone looked at Mia, one of the girls invited to the party. "Jason just called and he said Kwan has the web cam turned on."
"Don't lie, you've been on the phone for hours," Ashley, another attendee, said as she playfully tossed a pillow at her friend.
Paulina moved her own computer's mouse, bringing it up to activity from its previously idle state. She clicked on several buttons and, after a while, a red light winked on from on top of her monitor next to a translucent black circle. A window popped up on the screen, showing the crowd of young men in the background.
Sam looked on in disbelief. Paulina caught sight of it and smiled.
"Then again, I don't remember telling you he wasn't going to be here either."
Desiree smiled as the expression on Samantha's face showed easily recognizable horror. It was perfect.
"I take it your part of this ridiculous scheme is going along as planned?" boomed a deep voice from behind her.
"Ridiculous?" Desiree turned to face her husband. "Dear, this whole idea was your design. I simply have the tools to make it happen."
The Turpetrator laid his hands on Desiree's waist. She leaned forward and kissed him through the opening on his helmet.
"And it is happening?"
"This girl, Samantha," Desiree gestured to the image of the girl through the portal, "is deeply in love with the ghost boy who is oblivious to her feelings. Even with her recent alteration of her physical appearance, I am willing to presume that the ghost boy will remain oblivious and make her furious in the process."
"And that is when I come into play."
"No, you must continue to wait."
The Turpetrator brandished his sword with a growl or anger and stabbed it into a nearby rock, causing it to explode. "Why!? It is the perfect time to strike!"
Desiree sighed and rolled her eyes. "I must anger the ghost boy further as well. You will have to engage him in battle at some point during this conflict, and what better way to defeat him than to feed off of his own rage?"
The stubborn warrior rubbed the bottom of his helmet in thought. "I suppose so. But how will you bring that about?"
Desiree wrapped her ghostly tail around the Turpetrator's waist and placed her hands on his shoulders. "You leave that to me."
Danny sat on Dash's couch, the same couch he was in earlier in the day. Other people had been arriving in the past hour and the house now contained Dash, his parents and almost twenty other rambunctious teenagers. All of them were quieted now and sat around Dash's computer in a semicircle as Kwan established a webcam link with Paulina.
"You know your sister's gonna be there," Tucker asked. The boy was sitting on the floor, leaning up against the couch.
"Uh, yeah? So what? She's allowed to go to parties."
"Yeah, Tuck, who are you to tell Danny to tell Jazz that she can't go to parties?" Dash asked as he pulled up a chair.
"On second thought," Danny said, casting Dash a sideways glance. "Maybe you're right."
"Hello boys!" said the sugar-coated voice of Paulina.
"Hey Paulina," almost all of them said in unison.
"Danny? Danny, are you there?" Jazz shouted from across the room. "Are you behaving?"
"Yes Jazz," Danny replied loudly. "I'm being a good boy, don't you worry."
"Well I have to because mom and dad do enough for the whole extended family."
"I told you and everyone else who asked a million times, I. Am. Fine."
Jazz sighed as she took a seat next to Paulina. "Alright. Oh, hi Dash!"
Dash grinned. "Hey Jazz," he said sheepishly.
"How's it going?"
"Pretty good, pretty good, how 'bout you?"
"Oh I'm fine. Can you do me a favor?"
"What's that?"
"Make sure Danny doesn't leave the room. We have a surprise for him!"
Dash looked at the smaller boy menacingly. "Don't worry, he's going nowhere fast."
Jazz moved away from the computer and Danny heard some commotion from off-screen.
"Just come over here!"
"No!"
"Come on! You can't just hide from him forever!"
"Yes I can, and I intend to do just that!"
"Get over here!"
"No!"
"Star, Mia, grab her arms."
"What are you- no! NO! Let go of me!"
Danny watched as Sam was forced into view by two other girls. She looked furious, but upon seeing Danny her anger faltered.
"Oh, uh, hey Danny," she said nervously.
"Sam! What are you doing at Paulina's house?"
"She called me up and invited me, believe it or not." The aforementioned girl frowned and elbowed Sam in the ribs. "And I figured; why not? It's not like I had plans or anything."
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense . . ."
"Danny," Jazz interrupted. "Notice anything different about Sam?"
"Jazz!" Sam uttered through clenched teeth. "Don't!"
Danny stared at the screen for almost a minute. He then sat up straight on the couch and hurried over to the chair Kwan was sitting. He looked at the image on the screen in awe. Sam blushed and tugged at a strand of her hair.
"Sam . . ." Danny said distantly.
"Yeah?"
Danny paused for a moment. "Is that . . . my shirt?"
All the girls in the background gasped and rushed over to comfort Sam, who they thought was going to have an emotional breakdown.
"Yeah, it is. You let me borrow it the one time that thing exploded in your parents' basement and got my other shirt all gooey, remember?"
"Yeah," said one of the guys. "It sure was an explosion!"
The boys began laughing hysterically as Danny regarded them with confusion.
"Whatever that's supposed to mean," he said lowly.
"Yeah," Sam replied, although a bit more embarrassed. "Well I think my mom's calling my phone, so I'll see you later."
"Alright Sam," Danny said with a smile.
As Sam walked away, Valerie started to make her way over to the camera, but Paulina swiveled her chair in front of the screen before the other girl could say anything.
"So Danny, I haven't seen that jacket in a while. What happened to it?"
"Oh, something broke inside and the blue patterns weren't glowing. Tucker took it back to his place for a while and fixed it up."
"Hear that Star?" Paulina shouted to her friend. "Tucker's good at fixing things!"
"I knew that," Star said absently as she took a seat next to her friend.
"I bet you did!" one of the other guys shouted at the camera.
"Dude, give it up," Kwan said as he started playing Uno on X-Box LIVE. "There's nothing sexual about that one."
"So, you guys having fun?"
"Within reason," Danny replied.
"Yeah, but once we get the gaming started, it will be off the heazy!" Danny, Paulina and Star cast Tucker strange looks. "Well, slightly less boring than it is now."
"So Danny, surprised to see Sam here?"
"Yeah, a little bit. But she's surprised me before, so it's cool."
"In what way?"
Danny raised an eyebrow. "Well-"
"Don't answer that, Dan, it's a trick question," Tucker interrupted, saving his friend from embarrassment.
"So what do you two have planned for tomorrow?"
"Sleep in," Danny said immediately. "Then probably nothing all day. Well, hopefully nothing all day." Tucker nodded in agreement.
"So I take it you two wouldn't want to accompany us to the movies?" Paulina asked with a pout.
Danny's eyes widened. Tucker smiled. "I think we could change our schedules for that."
Danny glared at Tucker. "What he means to say is-"
"DUDE!" Danny and Tucker jumped from the sudden outburst. Kwan was shouting unintelligible words at the screen. From what Danny had seen, Kwan had lost the round in his game. "You SUCK, Chuck E. Cheez! I wish that stupid rat was alive so he could-"
"So you have wished it, so shall it be!"
Danny gasped as the green stream of mist began to trail from his nose. He clasped his hands over his face and ran off.
"Where's he going?" Paulina asked worriedly.
"Uh, nosebleed!" Tucker said quickly. "Yeah, he's been getting them bad 'cause, you know, allergies and stuff."
"Aw, poor Danny. Does that happen a lot?"
Tucker looked on as his friend ran off to the bathroom. "More than you know."
To Be Continued.
A/N
More social interaction, more flirting, more cluelessness and more devious plots. Hooray! I guess, you know, if you're into that kind of stuff. So, Someone wished for Chuckie Cheeze to come alive? And Desiree heard him? Damn you Kwan! No, I think you'll like the rest of the story. Very interesting.
Now I'd like to address two issues that I think need addressing. First, and infinitely more important, is the conspiracy circulating around the other authors. I swear, as soon as I update this thing everyone else updates their stuff so fast that my story disappears from the first page within the next twelve hours. Do you know how ridiculous that is? CONSPIRATORS, I'm on to you. I know what you're doing and I AM NOT AMUSED. Tsk tsk, shame on you.
Now the other, and not nearly as important issue, I have a myspace! No, I'm not an emofag that wants the attention. I'll tell you why I have one. My friends threatened to make a profile for me. Seeing as how they have a bunch of pictures of me, it wouldn't be too hard to ruin my good name. Sorta. Not really, but I decided to beat them to it and made the profile there now. If you search for user names, type in Uncle Grumbles and mine is the one with the picture of my face with Darth Vader's body. Send a friend request, cuz the profile is private and staying that way, then comment on my Transformers comics I'm working on! I need the self esteem!
There, now, onto reviews. I think the new character will be in the next segment, the way things are going. The story line for this segment is moving too fast and smoothly to just toss in a new character, so he or she or it will debut in the next segment. ONLY 30 REVIEWS TO GO, let's step it up, people!
Special thanks to all who reviewed, especially Celestial Maiden Sukira, Skye-chan, MissMeliss4251, Fulcon, Musicallity, Twilight-Phantom66, TDG3RD, Warrior of winds, Silverline Scimitar, slyfoxx and Bitchy Princess.
IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR COTTON-EYE JOE . . .