ayyy it's Dannymaaayy. Anyway word on the street is that ffnet is on its last legs so like... when this shitshow of a website inevitably bites the dust, you can find me and this fic over on AO3 under the same title and pen name.


Miracle of miracles, Dash didn't bother them for the rest of the day. Dash didn't do much of anything, actually. Or Kwan. Sam overheard that the two of them had been taken to the principal's office after the incident in the hallway, but the truth of what happened was anyone's guess because no one in administration believed for a second their story about a haunted mirror, even if it was from Locker 724.

They didn't hear a peep out of Sidney, either, though their respective ghost senses went off from time to time throughout the day, so they knew he was still around. Not a problem for Danny, whose sense manifested in a cool wisp of air which he could easily hide behind his hand, or Tucker, whose hands only buzzed with small little shocks. But Sam's ghost sense was hot and the resulting puff of smoke which escaped her lips was thick and to the ignorant eye might resemble cigarette smoke. She'd only just barely avoided getting caught and even then only because she'd been sitting in the back of the class when it happened.

But at least it proved that Sidney was willing to uphold his end of the bargain: stick around, out of sight, and behave until school let out and he'd get a guided tour of twenty-first century Amity Park.

After the bell, Sam stopped at her locker long enough to put her things away and grab her backpack, then dipped into the bathroom to transform and flew to the roof. Sidney was not hard to spot. Even if he wasn't a splotch of monochrome in a world of color, it was hard to not notice someone floating on their back a few feet off the ground.

Sidney watched the sky with his arms folded beneath his head. Comfortable, relaxed, almost entranced. It was the strangest thing Sam had ever seen and as a goth, she'd seen some shit. He looked like he'd just stepped out of the TV from the 1950s family sitcom her parents liked to pretend their lives were. She could understand why he wore those clothes, but why was he in black and white?

He startled a little when Sam materialized but his eyes returned to the sky after only a few moments.

"You said your name is Sam, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's me."

"Is that short for Samantha?"

Sam grimaced. "I prefer Sam."

Sidney nodded. "You can call me Sid, if you want. That's what my friends used to."

You had friends? Sam very nearly blurted out. From the story, it'd seemed like Sidney Poindexter was totally alone at Casper High. But of course, that couldn't have been right. There had to have been at least somebody he could talk to, others in the same boat as him. Nerds. Outcasts. Even if he was on the bottom of the food chain, he couldn't have been totally alone. Though he probably must've felt like it. The story wasn't specific on the details, but it was known that Sidney had never graduated.

"Alright," she said instead. "Sid it is."

Sidney grinned and patted the open air behind him. Sam floated over to his side and after a moment's indecision, decided to copy his position, and looked up at the sky. She enjoyed cloud watching sometimes but she got the feeling that wasn't what Sidney was doing. Or at least, not all he was doing.

"Have you been looking at the sky this whole time?" she asked.

"Mostly. I thought about going down to check out some of the classes but…plenty of time for that later."

"The sky isn't going anywhere," she pointed out, "and the forecast says clear skies for the next few days."

"And I haven't left the Ghost Zone in over fifty years."

"So?"

Sidney gave her a curious look but didn't immediately reply. Then something seemed to click, and his eyes widened almost comically. "Have you never been in the Ghost Zone?"

Sam shook her head. "No. We've thought about it but…no."

"Jeepers Creepers, how did you manage to avoid it?" Sidney sat up, still floating. "I would've thought…well, actually, come to think of it, I have no idea how it's even possible for you to exist. Any of you. But I would've thought you'd at least been in the Ghost Zone. It's…uh…." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "It's like…a void? I guess? Up or down depends on you and it goes on forever."

"Like space?" Sam asked.

"You mean like…outer space?" He cocked his head. "I guess it could be, but no one's ever been to space, so who knows?"

"Well, actually…."

Sidney sat up straight. "Get outta town!"

Sam laughed and rolled upright, hovering just a few inches above the roof. "Dead serious. Astronauts went into space back in the '60s. We've been to the moon, we've got satellites in orbit around the planet, and some other stuff I can't remember, but Danny's super into space so he can tell you all about it if you ask."

Sidney's monochrome eyes practically shone with wonder. "Holy cats. What else have humans done?"

"Uh…" Sam wracked her brain. What would a kid from the 50s be impressed by and actually have a frame of reference for? "Oh, all TV shows and movies are in color now."

"Like the Wizard of Oz?"

"Better."

"Baloney! It was like you were in Oz with them!"

"Yeah, and I'm telling you, it's better."

When Tucker showed up a few minutes later to Sam explaining heavy metal, he quickly hijacked the conversation to tell Sidney about the technological advancements of the late 20th century. Including the internet. He'd just looped back to arcade games to build a foundation for what the hell computer games were when Danny finally arrived, citing his sister as the cause of his tardiness. He, too, jumped in on the conversation of video games.

"We should go to the mall," Sam said, drawing the ghost boys back to the purpose of their gathering.

Sidney was practically vibrating with excitement, eyes shining with amazement, as he turned to her. "Mall? What's a mall?"

"Did they not have malls in your time?" Tucker asked.

"Nope! What is it?"

"It's…." he trailed off and frowned, wondering how to articulate it, but fortunately, Danny was already on it.

"It's a huge indoor building with multiple different little stores inside."

Sidney cocked his head.

"So. you know when you walk down the street there will be stores and restaurants in the buildings as you pass? Well, it's like that, except it's all enclosed in one big building."

"Ooooooh, sounds neat!" Sidney chirped, floating higher into the air. "What are we waiting for?"

"Ah, ah! Hold it, mister." Sam wagged her finger at him. "You can't just go flying into a public place like that. Most people don't believe in ghosts and the ones that do are gonna shoot first and ask questions later."

Danny grimaced but nodded in agreement.

That gave Sidney a pause. He placed one finger on his chin thoughtfully. "So, you mean to tell me, that no one knows about you three?"

The halfas shook their heads.

"How in the heck have you managed to keep it a secret?"

"Honestly?" Sam began.

"Not a clue," Tucker finished.

"Very carefully," Danny added, the little shit.

Sam threw him a look but continued without addressing his comment. "People have caught glimpses of us but no one except Danny's parents think we're ghosts."

Sidney gave Danny a funny look and received a shrug of his shoulders in response. "They're paranormal researchers. Ghost hunters."

"Yeowch. Tough break, man."

"No kidding," Tucker muttered.

"The mall?" Danny prompted and Sidney clapped his hands together. "Just stay invisible and close to us and we'll be good."

"You got it, Danaroo!" Sidney zipped into the air and disappeared, with the halfas right behind him.

Amity Park Mall was about as busy as one might expect at 3:30 on a Friday afternoon. The oldest of the four malls within the greater city limits, its central location made it the most popular despite not being the largest, especially among teenagers and young adults. The food court was predictably packed, as were the stores which catered to the tastes of the youth. Catchy modern hits played over the PA and filled the space behind the general chatter of the patrons, though the former would be drowned by the alt rock coming through the open door of Hot Topic if one got close enough. Or by the energized dance music from the arcade which seemed to permeate half of the third floor.

For Sidney, the proverbial kid in the candy store, it was love at first sight.

He zipped around the mall, darting between storefronts faster than a jackrabbit, surveying the entirety of what the first floor had to offer before any of the halfas even realized they shouldn't be able to see him if he was still invisible.

Once more, Sidney was surprised at how little they knew about being ghosts, and so he explained. They could enter a state which rendered them visible, if somewhat transparent, to supernatural eyes, but completely hidden from the humans around them. Mostly hidden. If someone sensitive to the supernatural was around that'd be a different story, but none of them would be able to avoid detection anyway in that case, so it was a rather moot point. Besides, now that they knew such a thing was possible, achieving it didn't take more than a quick pitstop in an empty, locked room to work out how to do it themselves, then they were back out to the shops.

Sam figured Sidney would've preferred the large Borders Bookstore or perhaps the RadioShack, he'd been so fascinated by the technological advancements Tucker had spoken of, but to everyone's surprise, he led them to the candle store first. He weaved through the rows, never once straying from their sight, carefully sniffing each and every candle. He rendered lids intangible with a simple placement of his finger.

He caught Danny watching him with barely disguised curiosity and simply said, "I forgot how nice things could smell."

It made Sam sad.

Eventually, he deemed his olfactory senses suitably stimulated and allowed Tucker to lead him into RadioShack. At first he seemed interested in the various gadgets Tucker was pointing out to him, but the moment he spotted the array of TVs in the back displaying an episode of Power Rangers, it was all over. He floated towards them almost as if in a trance and stared, jaw slack. After a few minutes, he flipped so he was floating on his stomach, chin propped in his hands, looking like an ordinary kid watching TV.

For a while, Sam, Danny, and Tucker were content to watch him and the episode. But when the credits rolled, Sam finally floated up to him and said, "Told you."

"No kiddin'," Sidney replied without taking his eyes off the screen. "I want one of these."

"Uh, I hate to break it to you, but this thing's probably a couple grand, and they will notice if one of them suddenly disappears."

Sidney shrugged, unbothered. "Not like they'd find it."

"It also won't fit through the mirror."

At that, Sidney's face fell and finally he turned to look at her with big, soulful eyes. "Oh, yeah. I guess that's true." He sighed and turned back to the TV. It quickly entranced him once more, but she could see the disappointment still writ on his face…and it gave her an idea.

She pulled Tucker and Danny to the other side of the store and whispered her plan to them. Tucker was on board before she'd even finished speaking but Danny was less quick to throw his support. After all, they didn't really know how the Ghost Zone worked. For all they knew, technology that wasn't ghost-proofed would break in there and there was no way in hell he could get his parents to do something like that. But, really, there was only one way to find out. So Tucker went to work while Sam slipped off to the restroom to transform.

Danny kept Sidney's attention on him and the TVs while Sam and Tucker carried out their plan and only once Tucker gave him the thumbs up from across the room did he suggest they move on. Sidney looked mournfully between his new friend and the TVs and for a moment, Sam thought the TVs might actually win out.

But then Danny asked the fateful question: "Have you ever had pizza?"

Which was how they found themselves floating thirty feet over the food court watching a dead kid try his first slice of pizza in fifty years. Sam wouldn't have thought ghosts would be able to eat since they were, according to Danny's parents, made of nothing but ectoplasm, but Sidney wolfed it down like he was any other teenage boy and promptly flew back down to steal another slice. He came back with the entire tray of pepperoni pizza, leaving behind one very confused employee, and while Danny and Tucker accepted his invitation to take a slice for themselves, Sam politely declined.

Sidney's face fell. "Do you not like pizza?"

"Oh, no, I love pizza," Sam replied, "but I don't eat meat."

The ghost looked down at the remaining slice on the tray. "Where's the meat?" he asked, nonplussed.

"The pepperoni," she explained patiently, pointing with her free hand at the round cuts of salami embedded in the gooey cheese.

He let out a quiet 'huh' but then shrugged his shoulders, pulled the tray back to himself, and went back to eating.

When they were done, Sidney returned the tray to the Pizza House down in the food court and they took him to see the arcade where they proceeded to waste an entire hour. At first Sidney was content merely watching others play games but eventually the urge to play won out. Danny and Tucker transformed back, armed themselves with tokens, and carefully positioned themselves in front of the games Sidney wanted to try so no one would see that neither of them were actually the ones manning the controls. When they disappeared inside a racing simulator, Sam used the opportunity to slip away to the nearby video store. She wasn't sure what Sidney would like so she grabbed a few black and white classics, including season 1 of the Addams Family, and a DVD boxset of the most recent Power Rangers series. It was hard to tell, but she was pretty sure she recognized one of the villains on the back of the box from the episode he'd been watching earlier in RadioShack. Regardless, these were sure to keep him busy for at least a few weeks, assuming he had nothing else to do.

"Hey, Sam!" Sidney greeted over the music blaring from the speakers throughout the room. "Where'd you go? You missed it! Me and Dann-o raced!"

She looked past him to Danny and couldn't quite keep the smirk off her face. "Who won, Dann-o?"

Danny threw an annoyed scowl her way.

Sidney puffed out his chest and pointed to himself with his thumb triumphantly. "I did. …Even if he was going easy on me."

"Hey," Danny protested weakly.

Sidney waved a hand dismissively. "Don't even bother. There's no way I'd have won my first try and I know it."

"Well, guess that means you'll have to keep practicing," Tucker pointed out. "Guess we'll have to keep coming back."

Sidney grinned, dark eyes shining. "That'd be real swell." He faltered, glee fading into uncertainty. "That is—I mean—i-if you really want to. You don't have to go out of your way on my account, y'know."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, they love coming here."

"You don't?"

Sam shrugged. "It's not my favorite. But, that being said, I'll never pass up the opportunity to completely destroy them at DDR."

"What's that?"

Which was how they found themselves in line for the DDR machines. Tucker, of course, took Sam's statement personally enough to declare a challenge. Danny knew better. Sidney floated a few feet off the ground, staring raptly at the current match. By the time the halfas had reached the front of the line, Sidney had a pretty good idea of the game's objective and how to win. Danny took their backpacks, Sam pulled off her boots, and they stepped up onto the game.

She let Tucker choose the song and difficulty setting, though not without offering to let him reconsider challenging her on hard mode. But Tucker wouldn't have it. "I've been practicing!" he insisted and Sam didn't doubt it. Except, between the two of them, she was pretty sure only one of them had a DDR machine in their basement.

"Wowsers, they're serious about this aren't they?" she heard Sidney ask over the din.

"Yep," Danny replied, almost smugly, and Sam smirked. "Just watch. This is gonna be good."

The opening sequence began to play on screen.

"…She can't really beat him though, can she?"

"She usually does."

"But she's a girl…."

The countdown began. Sam faltered under an unexpected flash of anger because, honestly, she should've seen something like that coming, he was from the nineteen-fucking-fifties—

But then Danny laughed, as one might laugh at the ignorance of an impudent child, and the sound curled Sam's anger into something more productive: spite. "Sid," he said, "you got a lot to learn."

She didn't have time to turn to see Sidney's reaction but if he responded verbally it was lost beneath the fast-paced europop and Sam focused her attention on the arrows which were beginning to fly up the screen. It did not take long for the ghost to get into the hype and she heard his echoing cheers over those of the other onlookers who'd gathered at the prospect of a duel. Honestly, it was a miracle no one else realized something was off.

When it was over, both Tucker and Sam were breathing heavily, he was sweaty, and Sam knew her legs would probably be a little sore later, but the WINNER icon flashing across her screen was well worth it.

"Close!" Tucker yelled, pointing at his score which was only about fifteen points shy of her own.

"But not close enough!" Sam shouted back then hopped down from the machine, grabbing her boots, and headed away from the DDR machines towards the nearby benches.

Tucker took his bag back from Danny, fished out his water bottle, and collapsed onto the bench next to Sam, chugging at it.

"That! Was! Amazing!" Sidney crowed while Sam shoved her feet into her boots. "How'd you get so good at that?!"

Tucker stopped drinking long enough to mutter, "That's what I'd like to know."

Sam smirked at the transparent ghost floating in front of her. "Not bad for a girl, right?"

"I'll say! Jeez Louise!"

Sam ducked her head to hide her eye roll and focused on getting her boots re-laced. He was from the 50s, a product of his time. They could work on the sexism thing. Danny wordlessly rifled through Sam's backpack while she laced up her first boot and handed her her own water bottle. She accepted it with a thanks after finishing her second boot. She took a long swig then accepted her backpack from him. She paused only to check that the bags hiding her purchases were still secure before she tucked the water bottle back inside.

"What next?" Tucker asked, zipping his own backpack.

Sam turned to the boys fully expecting to see Sidney still floating in place with a manic gleam in his eye, but he looked…dazed. As she watched, his otherworldly glow seemed to dim and he slowly sank to the floor. When he touched down, his entire body slumped, head drooping like his neck could no longer support its weight.

Sam lurched to her feet. "Are you alright?"

Danny whipped around and inhaled sharply at the sight. "What happened?"

Sidney smiled weakly but it didn't reach his eyes. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. Swell. Peachy. Just…feeling kinda tired…."

Understanding filled Danny's expression and he took a step closer. "You've never been in our world this long before have you?"

Sidney hesitated, and for a moment he looked like he wanted to deny it, before shaking his head. "Not since I died."

Danny nodded once then to Tucker and Sam explained, "My parents theorized that ghosts who spend too long in the living world will become weaker. That's what's happening here, right?"

Sidney bobbed his head weakly. "It's true…for some of us, at least. I thought I'd have more time."

"Maybe it's something you have to practice," Tucker suggested. "The more you're out here, the easier it'll be."

The ghost himself didn't seem too sure but he didn't disagree, either. Sam looked around for the nearest bathrooms and, spotting them across the hall from the arcade, she slung her backpack over her shoulders. "C'mon, we gotta scram."

"But we're having so much fun," Sidney objected weakly.

"Won't be fun if you melt into ectoplasmic goo on us or whatever," Danny retorted. "The mall's not going anywhere. We can come back."

This seemed to perk him up. "Really?"

"Promise."

"I'll hold you to it."

They slipped into the nearby bathrooms to transform and floated out through the roof. Sidney was barely floating an inch off the ground when they found him, so Tucker offered to help. Sam almost expected Sidney to refuse. Someone with his history probably didn't trust easily at the best of times, never mind while vulnerable. That he didn't spoke volumes. Tucker guided Sidney's arm around his shoulders and slipped his own arm around the ghost's middle for support.

"Wait," Danny blurted out, reaching for his backpack. "I've got an idea." He turned his hand intangible and rifled around inside for a moment before withdrawing his thermos.

"Oooh," Sam murmured.

"What," Sidney asked flatly, "is soup gonna do?"

"It's not for holding soup, it's for holding ghosts. My parents invented it. I don't really know how it works but I know it's some sort of stasis. If you go inside, we can carry you back to the school without risking you…uh…." He faltered. "It'll be safer."

Sidney regarded the thermos with trepidation but not, Sam was pleased to note, with suspicion.

"It doesn't hurt," Danny added. "Tucker sucked me into it the other day. Feels weird going in and a bit disorienting coming out but that's it. I promise."

"He wouldn't offer if we thought it'd hurt you," Tucker added, quietly.

Sidney was quiet for a few moments as he deliberated. Then, he said slowly, "I think I'd rather fly."

Danny held out the thermos for a moment longer, perhaps to see if Sidney might reconsider, but then he shrugged and clipped it to his belt. "Suit yourself."

The flight back to the school was slower than Sam would've liked but with Sidney barely moving by his own power, it couldn't be helped. She wondered if he really would dissolve like Danny said, he hadn't denied it, but maybe he didn't know himself. What would happen then? Would he die, again? Could he reform or something? It seemed insensitive to ask right now. But that was fine. She could wait. She had so many questions already, what were a few more added to the pile?

Casper High came into view and Sam breathed a little easier. Judging from the amount of cars in the parking lot, most of the staff had already gone home, and the football team was still practicing on the field. Good. The school would be nearly empty.

"This isn't my hallway," Sidney remarked when they flew through the wall. "Where are we going?"

"My locker," Tucker answered. "Things were a bit crazy earlier, so I figured putting your mirror back might get it broken or worse. It's in my locker."

"Oh." Sidney didn't quite seem to know how to take that. "Thanks."

"I can put it back if you want me to, or, need…me to?" he asked, voice pitching upwards at the end. "I assumed your mirror was the only important thing."

"I'm not sure," Sidney admitted. "I guess it's okay for now."

Landing on the ground, Tucker eased Sidney's weight off of his arm and reached out to enter his locker combo.

"Sam," Danny muttered, "are you gonna….?" He glanced at her backpack pointedly.

"Oh, crap. I nearly forgot." Sam slung her backpack around and kneeled on the ground before opening it. She carefully eased the two bags containing her purchases out and let her backpack slump to the floor. "Here, Sid, we got these for you."

"What is it?" Sidney asked. Sam glanced between his arms, both slung around the boys' shoulders, and decided to pull the box out of the bag for him.

"It's called a portable DVD player," she explained, holding it out to him. Sidney stared for a few seconds, then lifted his arms over the boys' heads and reached for the box. "It'll let you play DVDs wherever you want, even the Ghost Zone."

"We hope," Danny added.

"We hope," Sam echoed. "And these are some DVDs I thought you'd like. Movies, TV shows, there's a mix in here."

Sidney shook his head slowly. "I don't understand. You're just giving this to me?"

The halfas nodded. "Yeah," said Tucker, pulling his locker door open. "It was Sam's idea."

Sidney stared at her and shook his head again. "But why?"

Sam folded her arms and shrugged her shoulders. "Why not?"

"You barely know me."

She shrugged again. "And? Besides, it's a good way for you to catch up on the times, see what you missed."

"Ooohh, we should get him a library card." Tucker muttered.

"Don't you need an adult for that?" Danny pointed out. "And an actual address?"

Tucked rolled his eyes and smirked. "Not if you're me. Do you want a library card, Sid? They have all kinds of DVDs you can borrow, and not just movies. They'll have documentaries, too, and TV shows like Power Rangers."

Beaming, Sidney nodded his head. "That'd be real swell, uh, dude. Did I use that right?"

"Heck yeah."

"Heck yeah!"

"For the record," said Sam, "I got you the most recent Power Ranger series in here." She gave the bag of DVDs a little shake and Sidney looked ready to cry. He didn't though, whether from an inability to do so or a shred of self-control. He accepted the bag of DVDs from her with another word of thanks.

"What if it needs to charge before it can work?" Danny realized with a gasp.

"Charge?" Sidney cocked his head to the side.

"You plug it into the wall and the battery inside absorbs power through the cord. It's called charging the battery. It might not be charged at all yet since it's still in the box."

"Oh." Sidney frowned down at the box. "It just needs electricity?"

"Yeah."

"I know a fella. A total square," he said as if he were not himself an outcast of literal legend, "but he knows his technology. I'd bet my peepers he can get this thing up and going." He nodded once, seemingly satisfied, then smiled almost bashfully at them. "I…I guess I'll be seeing you guys."

"Totally," Tucker agreed.

Sidney's retreat into the mirror was far less dramatic than his emergence. He simply turned intangible and flew straight inside, with nothing but a brief flare of light and a shimmer on the glass to indicate something otherworldly had occurred. The three halfas stood around Tucker's open locker for a few long moments, simply staring.

"So," said Sam. "We still on for my place tomorrow?"


Sam had lived in Amity Park since second grade

Her grandfather had passed away when she was barely eight, leaving behind grandma Ida all alone. There had been some arguments, Sam remembered clearly, but eventually her father persuaded her mother to let them move to Amity Park. Back in those early days, Sam was starting to claw her way out from beneath her parent's thumbs, and she'd seen the new city and school as the perfect opportunity to try something new. Especially now that she would be going to public school!

Sam was quick to establish herself as someone to be reckoned with on the playground hierarchy. She won the monkey bars by right of conquest and presided over them for the rest of the year. And she wasn't afraid to banish people from her territory, oh no. She kicked Ricky Marsh off for throwing up in her lunch box and didn't let him come back until Spring when it was warm enough for them to have outdoor recess again.

It wasn't until sixth grade that she ended up in the same class as Danny and Tucker. She recognized their faces, knew them from recess and other communal activities their grade did together, but she'd never tried being their friends, nor did she that year. Then they came back from winter break and found that their teacher had rearranged some of the desks, placing Sam's in the same group as Danny's and Tucker's. It still amazed her how quickly they'd become friends after that. Danny and Tucker were good, the Smart Kids in class, and she was…well, she wasn't a troublemaker, but she was a tomboy and far too outspoken for her own good. Yet, somehow, they'd clicked. And her social standing had taken a brutal hit for it.

Keeping her family's social status from her newfound friends had not been a conscious decision in the beginning. She never told them simply because she'd never told anyone. But then in March, Dash got PlayStation 2 at launch and Tucker was absolutely green with envy. Sam didn't understand. If he wanted one, why didn't he get one, too?

"'Cos it's three hundred dollars!" he'd exclaimed, like she was an idiot. Then Dash had made fun of him because his parents didn't make enough money to get him one, throwing in a couple jabs at Danny's parents, too, for good measure. And Sam had been too stunned to say anything. Later though, she'd sat down with her grandma and asked her about it, and Ida had explained that not everyone had money like her family did. In fact, most didn't.

Eventually she would make the connection between wealth and popularity. Eventually, the decision to hide her family's wealth became conscious and as far as she knew, anyone who might've known back in elementary school had long since forgotten it beneath the layers of black, combat boots, and the two dorks she called her best friends.

…Honestly, why was she nervous? They had ghost powers, being rich shouldn't be anything on that. Danny had a portal to another reality in his basement. She was old money. There was absolutely no reason to be nervous. Really.

(Maybe if she told herself that enough times, she'd believe it.)

Her parents left at 4pm sharp, as expected, not due to return until Sunday evening. Ida kept to herself upstairs, leaving plausible deniability while the deliveries Sam had scheduled made their way to her door. Refills for the popcorn and soda machines, a box of donuts from the bakery they loved, several boxes of movie theater candy, all the ingredients of ice cream sundaes, three party-size bags of their respective favorite chips, and a copy of Dumpty Humpty's new album that didn't even officially drop til next Friday.

In between deliveries, she took advantage of her powers to get the basement set up on her own. She plugged in the DDR and Pacman machines, dragged the foosball table out from the storage room, and plopped the biggest of their beanbag chairs and a pile of pillows between the two recliners in front of the TV. She stored the supplies for the ice cream bar in the mini fridge behind it, refilled the soda machine, and got the popcorn machine going.

When she was done setting up, she looked around and wondered if she wasn't maybe overdoing it. What if they thought she was showing off or…or…thought it was too excessive?

No, she told herself firmly. They're your best friends and they're gonna love it.

At 5:45, about fifteen minutes before the boys were due to turn up, Sam ordered their pizzas, and then there was nothing left to do but wait. She changed into an Evanescence t-shirt, red Casper High sweatpants, and black socks. She checked in with her grandma to make sure she was okay, and the older woman simply chortled and waved her off, telling her to have fun with her friends, and that she'd probably be down there to bowl later.

Sam sensed them before they arrived, of course, that subtle but notable shift from simply feeling them in the back of her mind to being aware of were together, meaning one must've swung by the other's house or simply met on the way. Sam checked herself in the mirror one more time, grabbed a ten-dollar bill from her wallet to tip the delivery driver, then hurried downstairs to meet the boys at the door.

The doorbell rang and she cleared the last few steps in a jump. Opening the door, she found Danny and Tucker, each dressed comfortably with an overnight bag. The former peered up at her house with his brow furrowed thoughtfully, while the latter grinned at her as if he hadn't even noticed anything usual about her house or neighborhood.

"Hey, Sam!"

"Hey guys, come on in." Sam stood aside to let them walk inside and was about to shut the door when she spotted a familiar brown sedan with the lit Crusty's Pizza sign on top pulling up to the curb. The driver, a skinny redhead upperclassman from school named Nate, got out and hurried to the door with the boxes in his arms and a smile on his face. "Hey," she greeted. "You have the best timing."

Nate's smile broadened, showing off his braces. "Don't I always? Sorry it took so long, we're swamped."

"You're all good, thanks, Nate." She took the pizzas in one hand and fished the ten out of her pocket with the other, handing it to him. "Be careful out there, and don't deliver anything to Dash's tonight."

Nate nodded seriously then looked down at the bill she'd given him. "Thanks, Sam." And with that, he turned and hurried back to his car.

"Did you just tip the guy a ten-spot?" Tucker asked in bewilderment.

"Uh…." Sam's first instinct was to lie, because she knew in her position that either of them would've tipped, at most, three dollars, but she stopped herself before she could. The cat would be out of the bag in a matter of seconds anyway. "Yeah, I did."

Danny was still peering at his surroundings with a mix of suspicion and awe. Her parents had extravagant taste—pristine white floor, a fancy rug, an ornate mirror, a table with a plant in a crystal bowl, not to mention the chandelier above them or anything he might glimpse further in the house. It was nothing like the Fenton house. With Jack around, Maddie couldn't put breakable decorative items on any surface even if she wanted to.

"Come on," said Sam, starting towards the stairs. "We're gonna be hanging out downstairs."

"Whoa…."

"This is your downstairs?!"

Sam set the pizzas down on the bar and glanced around. "What…too much?"

"Uh huh," Tucker replied, gaping at his surroundings, but he ventured further into the room regardless.

"Sam," Danny said slowly, and she knew from his tone that he'd figured it out,"don't take this the wrong way, but are you loaded?"

She smiled sheepishly. "Weird, huh?"

"Dude, what?!" Tucker spun around and his bag slipped from his shoulder to the floor with a heavy thunk. "No way!"

"I know I should've told you guys this years ago, but my family is kinda…filthy rich. Um. Yeah."

"For how long?!"

"A few generations."

Tucker looked at her like she'd sprouted a second, blonde head. "So, you've been rich the whole time you've known Danny and me?"

"Yes?"

Danny blew a raspberry and shook his head. "This explains so much. And I mean so much."

Sam frowned at him. "Like what?"

"Sam. You blew five hundred dollars on gear for us a few weeks ago like it was literally nothing and said it was allowance money."

"It was."

"Holy shit." Tucker laughed and vaulted himself over the back of the nearest recliner into the seat. "Exactly how rich are you?!"

Here it comes. Sam sighed, leaning against the bar, and folded her arms. "My great-granddad Izzy was an inventor. He invented that machine that twirls cellophane around deli toothpicks," she explained, twirling her finger in the air for emphasis. "And a few other things. And that's just on my mom's side. My Dad's side…um…" She cleared her throat. "Yeah. Uh. …Yeah."

"Duuude," Tucker drawled. "So like…do you go to fancy parties?"

"Yep."

"Do you know any celebrities?"

She shrugged. "A few, I guess. That's more my parents' thing. I met Marilyn Manson once though, that was pretty sweet. No relation," she added sharply when Danny opened his mouth.

"Hey, had to ask," he replied.

Tucker wasn't done. "Have you met the president?"

"Which one?"

"Is this your only house?"

"I don't think you want to know the answer to that," Sam said.

"Uh, yeah, that's why I asked!"

"Hey, Tuck, come on," Danny said, stepping in between them. "Cool it. You're getting too excited."

"No, you come on! How are you not freaking out about this?! Sam, our Sam, is stinking rich!" He threw his arms out wide for emphasis.

"Will you knock it off?" Sam snapped. "This is exactly why I don't tell anybody."

That, at least, seemed to get through to him. He lowered his arms, smile fading, and looked around again. "But I don't get it. If you've got so much money, why do you hang out with us? All you'd have to do is flash a little bling bling around and you'd be Miss Popularity."

She scoffed and turned away, wrenching the topmost pizza box open, and reached inside to grab a piece. "I don't need popularity, especially if I have to buy it. I hang out with you guys 'cos you're actual friends and that's the way I like it."

"So…okay. Two more questions, that's it," Tucker said. Sam squinted at him but nodded. "Are you richer than Dash?"

Sam snorted and nodded. "Absolutely. The Baxters are totally new money and not nearly as wealthy as he lets on."

Both boys looked rather pleased by that.

"And is all this—" Tucker gestured around the room in a sweeping motion "—for us?"

"Yep." She grabbed the remote for the stereo system off the counter and pressed play. "Let the 'Fuck Dash and His Stupid Party' Party begin," she declared and then the first track of the new Dumpty Humpty album began to play.