This chapter proudly contains a full serving of vitamin G. Also, stuff may or may not happen. It depends mainly on your definition of happening.
Over the next week, school settled into its same old boring routine, and Illusen settled into their group of friends in a very similar fashion. In the group, she was quiet and mild mannered, but with Danny there was always talk of ghosts, with Tucker, circuitry, and with Sam… Well, Danny just assumed they talked about girl stuff. Nonetheless, Illusen had warmed to them, and Danny found that although she was weird, he didn't find her dangerous. Still, he didn't know much about her personally.
"Alright class, time for English projects." Lancer said one otherwise enjoyable Friday morning. "Go ahead and groan" They did. "but you still have to do it. Groups of four, and I want a full five minute presentation on The Scarlet Letter in one month. I'll hand out sheets with details in a moment." Danny sighed, and sat back in his chair. A project already? And he didn't even want to read The Scarlet Letter. It was boring and drawn out and probably a girl's book. "Participation will be a part of your grade."
"Hey Danny, can we do it at your house?" Sam asked, turning around in her chair as Lancer began handing out half slips of paper. "My parents are being a little weird, so my house is out." She thought grudgingly of the dress that she was going to have to wear the next day, in order to appease her mother and get her computer back. How her mother had swiped the desktop while Sam slept just a few feet away was still a mystery. "If we start tonight, they'll be way less to do later."
"Good plan." Danny said, leaning back is his chair. "I don't think my parents are doing anything that would make them mind." Last he had checked, his father was working on a cross between a ghost catching net and a potato chip dispenser. Weird, but probably harmless to any guests. "Just right after school work for everyone?" Illusen, Sam and Tucker nodded, Illusen looking around distractedly. "Cool."
Things went fine that day, no ghosts making the first fully normal week since Danny had opened the ghost portal. Illusen left halfway though the day when the loudspeaker informed her that she was being picked up for a dentist appointment. She promised that she would be at home by the time school let out, and ready to work on the project. At the end of the day, the trio left school in a bright mood, laughing as they headed back to Danny's house.
"Man, that was the biggest wad of gum I have ever seen." Tucker laughed. "What was it, like five pieces? How do you ever get that in your mouth?"
"Or out." Danny said, smiling widely. "Who even eats that much gum anymore? Who eats gum at all?"
"Star does." Tucker said, sighing and going starry-eyed. "She manages to make bubblegum so beautiful…"
"Oh, gag me with a spoon." Sam said, rolling her eyes theatrically. "You boys need to realize that those ridiculous girls aren't beautiful, they're freakish Barbie imitators with no personality or self-esteem except what they can slather on with jailbait make-up. In ten years, they'll be trophy wives or just hollow shells with no future."
"Ah, but today, they're among the loveliest our generation has to offer." Tucker said, smiling wistfully. "And living in the present is so much more fun." Sam took a playful swing at his head and he ducked easily as she cracked a grin. "Come on, loosen up Sam, its all in good fun!"
Sam began to chase Tucker down the sidewalk and Danny ran after them, just trying to keep up. It was a bright, exciting day with gorgeous weather and the three were happily falling into its spell. They continued giddily half-running, half-falling over each other as they tried to get to Danny's house in the sun.
"Hey hey, let's get Illy, okay?" Danny said, still smiling broadly. "She said she would be back by now."
"Alright!" Tucker exclaimed, making a quick turn. "She lives right next to you, right?" Danny nodded, and together they marched up to Illusen's front door.
Sam was elected - nose goes style - to be the one who knocked on the door. She did so loudly, and in just a few moments, a smiling Recut opened the door.
"Well hello there, you must be Lou's friends." he said cheerfully, his voice a little more resonant than Sam was used to. "Danny, know you, guessing you're Tucker," He gave Tucker what seemed like a threatening glare. "and the lady must be Sam. Come on in, come in, Lou's up in her room if you want her." They did come in, and Recut pointed up the stairs. "Right on up and at the end of the second hallway, the door with the big I."
"Thanks!" Danny said, heading up the stairs as Recut seemed to chuckle to himself.
"Ah Lou, might as well give your friends a couple of hints." Recut said to himself as he watched the teens disappear to the next floor. "I already know that you'll end up telling them." A smirk, and he walked to the kitchen, opening the refrigerator. "Besides, I'm sure your parents would trust them…"
Once on the third floor, Danny spotted the aforementioned door with an I and walked towards it, waving to Sam and Tucker behind him. He got to knock this time, and when the door swung open wide, he only saw Illusen for a second before he noticed the walls behind her.
"You know you don't-" Illusen stopped mid-sentence, seeming to have forgotten how to speak. "Oh, hi guys, uhm…" Danny stepped into her room and she stepped back, suddenly fascinated by her shoes. "Heh… See you noticed the posters."
"Holy cow." Tucker said, and Danny agreed. Seemingly every available inch of wall space was covered with poster upon poster, all of them depicting the same thing: Danny Phantom. There were action shots, pictures that seemed to be enlarged photographs, artistic interpretations, even one that featured him carrying a dark-haired girl that looked suspiciously like Sam.
Where there weren't posters, there were figurines, action figures, picture frames, shot glasses, a book, t-shirts, pants, maybe shoes, her bedspread and even a chess set. Various villains were also represented, from the Fright Knight and Vlad to what was definitely Lydia and Freakshow. It was creepy, but in an almost flattering sort of way.
"Heh…" Illusen choked out, a nervous grin plastered to her face. "Uhm, please don't run away screaming?" As Danny looked, everything was painted either black, white or an ectoplasmic shade of green. "Because, uhm, normally the neighbors come out for that and the neighbors are you parents so that could be… bad."
"This…" Tucker whispered. "Is so cool! Did you rob ComicCon or something? This is amazing, where do you get it all?" He reached out and carefully picked up a Danny Phantom bobble head doll, flicking the head. "Seriously, this is awesome." Illusen smiled a bit less nervously, tucking her left foot behind her right ankle.
"Uhm, most of it I get online." she said. "Though some of it is from conventions… And I have some friends." She was blushing furiously and biting her lip when she wasn't talking, and Danny saw her kick something under her bed. "Anyways, uhm why did you guys come over?"
"We were gonna ask you to come work on the project." Sam said, her eyes focused on a poster. "Where exactly did you get that one?"
"Huh?" Illusen turned, looking at the poster right above her bed. "Oh, that one, it was a really limited release. I think they only made twenty or so, in honor of it being two thousand and twooo." She slurred the last word nervously and looked away. "They, uhm, say its one of the heroic rescues, apparently this girl fell off a bridge or something when there was some kind of evil spirit thing in the town, I'm sure you guys know the real story."
"Oh, I bet that was Freakshow!" Tucker said, only to receive a quick punch in the arm from Sam. "Ow, what was that for?"
"Its one of my favorites." Illusen said, looking at Danny. "I kinda makes me believe that there's always a hero nearby, you know?" She smiled softly, a real smile, and her eyes softened behind her glasses as she glanced back at the picture. "Everyone needs a hero…"
"So did you come here for Danny Phantom?" Sam asked, scanning the room quickly.
"Not just for Danny Phantom." Illusen said. "Mainly for the research, Uncle suggested it even before I realized this was his hometown… But it doesn't hurt that I have a chance to see my hero now, you know…" She looked back down, pushing her glasses up. "You must think I'm some crazed fan."
"Yes." Sam said, at the same time Danny and Tucker chorused "No." She turned to glare at Danny as Illusen tentatively looked up.
"Its totally fine." Danny said, ignoring Sam. "I mean, the town is full of fans… And you don't seem crazy. Just enthusiastic."
"Yeah, as long as you don't freak the next time he swoops in to save the school." Sam muttered, still eyeing Illusen suspiciously. "Which will happen. I will be watching you."
"Hey, let's go to my house now." Danny said loudly, not sure if Illusen had heard what Sam said, or if he was just imagining how she was glaring. "Uhm, we can start on the project. And, you know, stuff."
"Yeah, totally." Tucker said, tucking in his pockets in quickly. "Let's go, I'm hungry. Doesn't your dad still have all of that ham?"
"Its technically backup ham, but yeah." Danny said, grabbing Sam's arm and pulling her back. "C'mon Illy, you too, let's go." He got Sam out of the door and Tucker followed close behind.
"You guys go ahead, I just need to find the book." Illusen said, smiling when Danny looked back over his shoulder. "I'll be right over." The trio made their way down the stairs and out of the door before Sam rounded on Danny.
"Danny, I don't like this." she whispered, looking back up at the house. "She is weird. Like dangerously weird. Don't all those posters bother you, like she might find out? Or, I don't know, attack you?" She was frowning and looking directly into Danny's eyes, making him feel more than a little uncomfortable and he had to brush her comments aside with a bit of lingering feel.
"She's not going to attack me." Danny said simply. "Danny Phantom has so many fangirls and they're all totally harmless. Has Paulina ever tried to attack me?"
"Paulina can't think long enough to focus on anything that isn't coated in glitter." Sam said with obvious disdain. "She's a nitwit, and I'm telling you, there is something about Illy… She's weird Danny. And she seems too familiar."
"You noticed it too?" Tucker asked. "You think maybe we saw her at the convention? She seems like the type who would have stood out." Danny nodded, maybe remembering her if he thought back far enough. "Anyways Sam, don't be so paranoid, she's just a fan. Why don't you like her?"
"Its just something about her." Sam insisted. "She's too familiar, its just…" She sighed. "You guys are probably right, its probably nothing." She shook her head, ponytail bouncing. "I do not like fangirls."
"Uncle now they will never like me!" Illusen hissed softly, glaring at her uncle with as much force as she could, pacing around her room. "They think I'm crazy now, I look like some desperately deranged fan why did you let them come up here and see that I'm entirely mad?" Her face was flushed and she was tugging at her hair. "Why couldn't you just let them like me?"
"Lou, trust me, they will still like you." Recut said, standing in the doorway. "I know, I've been there before. And they would have found out eventually, you know they would. They'll be fine with it. Danny Phantom is a celebrity."
"Its different, you don't understand." Illusen insisted, stomping. "You're not him, you aren't my only friends, you aren't an unsure teenager you're an adult! You were a teenager once but its different, you just don't get it!"
"You think I wasn't there once too?" Recut asked. "Because I can assure you, I was."
"I don't care if you were there." Illusen said, staring him straight in the eye. "I'm there now, I have to deal with it now, I have to go over there and act like I'm not crazy, like I'm not some freakish pathetic fangirl" She spat the words out, venom in her voice. "that's going to sit around putting a drain on their lives and stop them from ever doing anything worthwhile stop them-" Recut stopped her, taking her by the shoulders and frowning slightly, looking into her eyes.
"Illusen." he said carefully. "Stop that right now and listen to me. These are your friends. You're going to walk into Danny's house, you're going to complete your project and everything is going to be fine. You are fine. You are not crazy, not pathetic, not delusional, none of that, understand?" She nodded and he let go, rubbing her head. "Now, go out and get 'em Lou. Don't you dare worry, alright?"
"If you promise." she said quietly, looking back over her shoulder, just above her bed. "A real promise, you have to mean it. Promise that this will blow over."
"I swear on my name." Recut said, sounding entirely serious. "All of this will blow over and you will all be friends, all four of you." Illusen wasn't convinced, but she bit her lip and nodded. "They'll like you Lou, because you're likable. It doesn't matter if you're weird, I'm sure they're weird too."
"Well Tucker's sure to be friends with me, no matter what." Illusen said, with a faint grin, picking up her copy of The Scarlet Letter. "Just… wish me luck, okay?" She tapped the facedown picture frame and walked toward the door, Recut sidestepping her.
"Good luck." he said, watching her straighten her hair and hurry down the stairs, shaking his head. Illusen was a tough girl, but she was far too self conscious, no matter what she looked like. He was sure that if she had any lower opinion of herself, she would become completely invisible.
"Invisible Lou…" Recut muttered, hearing the door close. "Oh man, that would be horrible… Never again." he said, chuckling. "Nope, never again… I should probably build something."
True to his promise, no one really mentioned ever being in Illusen's room, though Sam did seem a bit more hawkish than usual. Illusen rather meekly helped with the project, looking down and fidgeting and with her shoelaces but did contribute, and all was well.
All stayed well. The well continued into the next day and then the next, the next of the next and everyone just assumed that Illusen was a friend now, Illusen herself included. Time passed and after one, two, three months, it was November and everyone was happily bundled in their winter clothes, getting ready for the upcoming cold as Danny marveled at the lack of ghostly interference.
Since the fight with Freakshow, Danny Phantom fought and defeated exactly one dozen foes, most of them far too easily. It was strange, but still nice to not have to worry about ghost attack and just act like a normal high schooler. At the same time, his family was acting rather placid, not being overly violent, almost as if they all could feel the unsettling feeling Danny could.
It was like a tension between his shoulder blades or a vertebrae that stubbornly refused to pop, and often he didn't notice it, but when he did it was nagging. Like the feeling on having a shirt on inside out, like the feeling that something had been forgotten. It wasn't urgent, but it grew stronger daily and Danny sometimes fell asleep trying to think of what could be off.
He never woke up with the answer.
Insecurity, teenagers! Ah, if only this furthers the plot... Also, does anyone feel like I'm going too slow? I'm secretly afraid that I am very slowly boring my readers to death with monotony. Anyways, if you like then you should put a ring on it. Or, alternatively, just find wherever the review button may be at the moment and press it. And then leave a review.
~Natalie