WoM- YAY FOR WEEKENDS! YAY FOR HALF DAYS! YAY FOR NOT HAVING TO DO A WORKOUT TODAY! 'dances around gleefully then regrets it when her sides start hurting again' Urg… Anywho, Glad so many people like this! Hope you enjoy this next installment! Now if you'll excuse me… 'Starts writing lines' I will not end in a cliffie… I will not end in a cliffie… I will not…
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on."
-Winston Churchill
Dangers of Love
"Sam, Tucker, Have you two seen Danny?" Mr. Lancer asked as he came over to the two remaining members of the trio when he found them outside, "He seems to have disappeared on me,"
'Interesting choice of words…' Tucker thought, sounding amused.
'He wouldn't believe us even if we told him,' Sam scoffed. Then they both opened their mouths to answer at tha same time.
"He's in the bathroom!" "He's looking for Jazz!"
There was a moment of silence as Tucker and Sam exchanged glances, where Mr. Lancer raised an eyebrow at the teens.
''Looking for Jazz?' No way Lancer's gonna buy that!' Tucker exclaimed mentally.
'We already used the bathroom excuse last Wednesday! People are gonna think he has a bladder problem if this keeps up…' Sam thought at the same time.
"Sorry, Mr. Lancer, what we meant was that Danny went to the bathrooms to look for Jazz," Sam said smoothly. "He wanted to make sure she made it out okay,"
"How noble of Mr. Fenton to look out for his sister in a time of crises," Mr. Lancers said, a little cooler then usual. He didn't like being blatantly lied to. Sam and Tucker, however, mistook the tone to mean something else.
'Urg… Why's he always gotta pick on Danny, anyways?' Sam thought sourly. 'As if he doesn't have enough problems already…'
'Considering what Danny's done to keep everyone safe, you'd think he'd be cut a little slack every now and then.' Tucker added in his mind. Neither teens said anything out loud, though.
'What's that supposed to mean?' Mr. Lancer wondered for a moment before he walked away.
It seemed that despite his new 'power' he was no closer to finding out more about the drastic changes in his student's attitudes and behaviors. Quite the contrary, things were getting more confusing now.
And his head was KILLING him…
'Was that Phantom?'
Eyebrow quirked, Lancer turned to scan the sea of faces curiously for the girl who had had that fearful thought until his eyes landed on Paulina, who was staring intently into a window with her face pale and eye eyes wide and fearful. As Lancer examined her, the girl let out a fearful gasp.
'It is! Phantom's in there fighting!' She thought frantically, her eyes scanning around until they met Mr. Lancer's and she stilled, trying to look bored again. 'He can't know about Phantom! I won't let them put up those ghost shields, not if it means hurting the one guy in this town who's actually interesting!' The teacher frowned.
'So she was protecting Phantom last night…' He thought to himself, 'But was he the one to cause all that damage?' Lancer sighed. It didn't matter. Other then his power, he had no proof Phantom had done anything wrong, no physical evidence, and so long as Paulina laid the blame on herself…
"LOOK OUT!"
Alarmed, Mr. Lancer looked up and went wide eyed when he saw a ghost with green skin and white hair on a collision path with him, apparently unconscious. A part of the teacher's mind screamed at him to move, (Though in his shock, he couldn't even tell if it was his thoughts or the thoughts of a nearby spectator) but he remained frozen, rooted to the spot. He shut his eyes instinctively when the ghost neared, preparing himself for a painful impact.
Only it never came.
Opening his eyes again, Mr. Lancer opened his eyes again to stare at the infamous Danny Phantom, who was hovering with one icy cold hand still on Lancer's shoulder, having just made him intangible to protect him from the crash.
'Well, that's one crisis eluded,' The ghost boy thought, turning away to eye the fallen ghost warily. 'And now that the threat of a sub for the next month has been taken care of, it's time to take this loser back to the Ghost Zone before he can cause the school any more damage…' Lancer blinked in shock, unsure of what to say or do was the ghost flew away.
"See ya, Technus!" Phantom called out, sucking the other ghost into a thermos. After he capped it, he frowned at the container.
'I wonder what he meant when he said there was a threat to my secret?' He mused, 'Not to mention his sudden interest in the Casper High Science department… Ah, well. He's captured now, and nobody got hurt. I guess I'll worry about the other stuff later…'
"Hounds of Baskerville!" Mr. Lancer roar, "What is going on here?" Phantom jumped, then cringed when he saw the teacher.
'Aw, crud…'
"WAIT!" two female voices cried out as one.
"He didn't do anything, Mr. Lancer!" Sam said, appearing out of nowhere right in front of Mr. Lancer.
"He was only protecting us!" Paulina started almost before the other girl had finished. "If he hadn't shown up, that other ghost would've fried everyone!"
'Come on, Danny, this is your cue to leave,' Sam thought, giving Phantom a pointed glare. This seemed to shake the ghost from his terrified stupor, and he hastily went invisible without another word, mental or verbal.
'Please don't hurt Phantom!' Paulina pleaded mentally, 'He didn't do anything wrong! It's not fair to kill him for wanting to protect us!' Lancer went from bewildered over how the Goth knew Phantom and why she referred to him by his first name to mild shock at Paulina's heartfelt plea.
"Well…" Lancer sighed, "I suppose I can overlook things this time…" Both girls sighed in relief. "But don't think I won't keep an eye on that ghost. And the rest of you," He gave both girls stern glares at that, making them flinch before they walked away.
'Urg,' Sam thought miserably, 'I can't believe I just actually agreed with PAULINA about something… Somewhere out there an innocent world just exploded in a fiery rage…'
'I don't know what that little freak was trying to do,' Paulina thought at the same time, 'but if she thinks for one second that I'll let her be 'cool' because she defended Phantom, she's got another thing coming! I'M the only one who Phantom needs defending him! He doesn't need HER at all!' Mr. Lancer blinked, stunned at the envy in the girl's mental tone.
Was she, Paulina Sanchez, the 'Perfection of Casper High' (Dubbed so by the football team when they crowned her Homecoming Queen) actually jealous of the less popular and more opinionated Sam Manson? Over a BOY?
'Well, this is an interesting twist…' Lancer thought wryly as students filed back into the school. And in all honesty, this was a subject he hoped to divulge in further. 'Something tells me I'll be putting this new power of mine to good use…'
'…Just now right now…' Mr. Lancer moaned out loud and resisted the urge to beat his head against the desk .Repeatedly. 'I'm not going down that road again, since Mrs. Ishiyama is still questioning my sanity as it is.' Though the English teacher couldn't help but wonder if she had a point…
He'd actually gotten around to the point where he was starting to enjoy his newfound power and the perks that came with it. He did notice that for some reason he still could not hear the thoughts of the other teachers and faculty members, but that wasn't an issue he concerned himself too much with.
It puzzled him, though, that he could not hear the thoughts of any teenager that wasn't in one of his classes, save the sole exception of Phantom. (Which baffled Lancer, since he wasn't even in the realm of the living.) Still, that to was ignorable.
Far less easy to brush aside were the loud, obnoxious thoughts currently running through the minds of most of the male half of his class as Paulina gave her presentation.
'I forgot how vulgar the mind of a teenage boy could be…' Mr. Lancer thought sourly as he glared around at the leering faces of his students, trying to block out the perverted thoughts the best he could.
"Thank you Miss Sanchez," Mr. Lancer said out loud, relieved to see the hour was drawing to a close. "Does anyone have any questions for Paulina?"
'Yeah. Why do you strut around like a tramp when you know everyone's watching you?' Sam though sourly. 'Ugh… what does Danny SEE in her? I mean, so what if she's pretty, that's not everything, right?' Mr. Lancer frowned slightly at the bitterness in the girl's tone.
'How ironic,' He thought dryly. 'Sam is jealous of Paulina because of the way Danny has a crush on her, and Paulina in turn is jealous of Sam because Phantom appears closer to her…'
High school love lives sure had changes since his times…
Still, he hadn't realized how unhealthy the jealousy and rivalry was becoming between them. At the rate they were going, one of them would end up severely hurting the other in a fit of rage when they finally just snapped.
'Unless they're forced to come to terms with their differences and get to know each other before that,' Mr. Lancer realized. Just then the release bell rang, and students rushed for the door. Narrowing his eyes in determination, he decided it was now or never.
"Paulina, Sam, a word please?" He called out. Both girls stopped short in surprise at merely hearing their names mentioned in the same breath.
'Me?' Sam thought, frowning, 'What did I do?'
'This had better not be about the lab again…' Paulina grumbled mentally, 'Why doesn't he just let that die already? I mean, I already took the blame!'
'What's this about…?' Danny wondered looking between the girls and Mr. Lancer as he and Tucker hovered at the door in hesitation. 'Sam never does anything wrong! …Well, at least she hasn't done anything major… Recently…'
"Just Miss Manson, Danny," Mr. Lancer said with a pointed look.
'Yeah, right,' Sam thought dryly, 'He's probably waiting to ask Paulina out again…' Oh yeah, this jealousy had to be dealt with immediately.
"I'll be fine," Sam reassured her friends when they still didn't move even after what Lancer had said, "Go on ahead, I'll catch up with you two later at the Nasty Burger."
'Nasty Burger?' Tucker thought, brightening. 'Sweet! I can try this new Mega Monster Meaty Monday Special!'
'Isn't that the one that isn't supposed to be safe for human consumption?' Mr. Lancer thought as The tech geek left with a 'See ya later!' to Sam. Then again, nothing on the Nasty Burger's menu exactly screamed 'Heath Food' to him…
Danny hesitated a moment longer before following his friend.
'Ah, I'm just over reacting,' He thought, 'Even if Desiree and Skulker are still loose, Sam can take care of herself…' Mr. Lancer blinked. Who and What now?
"I'll order a salad for you," Danny said before he closed the door behind him. Sam smiled ever so slightly, her cheeks warming slightly.
'That's Danny for ya,' She thought in wry affection, 'Always looking out for everyone else…'
'Ugh…' Paulina thought at the same time, rolling her eyes, 'Why don't they just start dating already and get it over with? That way there's less competition for Phantom…'
"I'm afraid there's something we need to discuss, ladies," Mr. Lancer said, folding his hands over his desk.
'Kinda got that much already,' Sam thought, rolling her eyes.
"It has to do with all the fighting between you two," Mr. Lancer continued, deciding to ignore that thought.
"Fighting?" Sam repeated. "What fighting?"
'No punches were thrown on school grounds that any teachers or faculty members know about, so it can't constitute as real fighting yet.' She thought firmly. Mr. Lancer's concern over the matter grew at that thought alone.
"Yeah, Mr. Lancer," Paulina said, a pained smile on her face. "When have Sam and I ever fought?"
'Eweweweweeeeeeew! I can't believe I'm actually agreeing with this loser about something!'
"I'm not blind, ladies," Mr. Lancer said with a pointed look at both of them, "And I will not sit by any allow a problem to escalate. So, I think I have a solution for you girls that should help you find some common ground."
'Common ground?' Sam thought, a look of horror on her face, 'With PAULINA?' Lancer didn't miss the shudder that ran down the girl's spine.
'This had better be a joke…' Paulina thought, blinking in stunned silence.
"It's no joke," Mr. Lancer answered the girl's thought before he realized what he was doing. "I want you two to learn that you cannot judge a book by its cover,"
'If I wasn't so horrified about this, I'd laugh at the irony.' Sam thought, still not saying anything out loud.
"I'm not asking you to be best friends, but I would appreciate less hostility in my classroom."
"Wait, what do you want us to do?" Sam asked at once.
"Considering your rigorous defense of Phantom a today, the first thing I'd like you to do is meet in this class every Tuesday to help us keep track of all the damage ghosts are causing this school and plot out ways to make it safer." Mr. Lancer said. Both girls relaxed.
'Well, that doesn't sound so bad…' Sam thought.
'At least it has something to do with Phantom,' Paulina agreed with the girl without knowing it. 'It might even be fun if I just ignore the loser while I'm doing it.'
"And the second thing I want you ladies to do is stay after an hour every day you're not helping with the tallies and speak to one another." Mr. Lancer continued. "Your conversations will be taped and I will play them back for myself as I deem necessary, which I will if I think you two are shirking the assignment and just sitting in silence, but other then that you'll be completely alone and may talk about whatever you wish,"
"WHAT!" Sam and Paulina protested as one.
'You gotta be kidding me!' Sam thought furiously.
'This is WORSE then detention!' Paulina wailed mentally, 'Alone with HER for an entire HOUR?'
"We could call your parents in as well, if you wish," Mr. Lancer said before the girls could begin to protest. "I'm sure they won't mind if instead you two are subject to stay at each other's houses over weekends, switching back and forward each week." Both girls paled.
'No way,' Sam thought with wide eyes, 'I'd die from a pink overload trying to stay in Paulina's room, and if she even gets within seeing distance of my house, it's be over my corpse! I mean if she meets my parents…' Mr. Lancer frowned in concern, worried if it was healthy for anyone to get so pale.
'That freak is not setting foot in my house!' Paulina thought, 'And no way am I going to hers! Who knows what kind of torture devices she had hidden in her room! I'd never make it back home alive!'
"I'll do it!" Both girls said at once.
"Anything but the sleepovers!" Paulina said hastily.
"Yeah, we'll talk about anything you want!" Sam agreed.
"Excellent," Mr. Lancer smiled. "I'll see you two tomorrow then. Oh, and Paulina? This experiment does not excuse you from your detention." Sam jerked in surprise.
'Paulina has detention?' She thought, confused.
'Of course it doesn't,' Paulina thought sourly.
"Yes, Mr. Lancer," She said out loud. Mr. Lancer smiled as he watched the girls leave, their postures tense and furious curses in his name running through their heads.
'Well, this should be the first step to solving one of my problems, then…' He thought, amused. 'Now to move on to the rest of them,'
WoM- See? That's not technically a cliffie! Ha! I CAN write without Sadie's input! (Though she probably got her fill from some of my other stories this week…) Anywho, I'm very happy tonight, since I finally got my piece for the chain to save Danny up on deviantart (See links on my profile for details)! It even comes with the following poem;
Our voices cry in protest
Of the loss we're told to face
But we refuse to end our hope
As this defense we brace
We will never end this fight
Won't rest until we've won
Why take the love that we all share
That only just begun?
Now we stand to face anything
For those we adore today
So hear the plea we beg of you
'Don't take our ghost away!'
Kinda corny, but it gets the point across. Anyone who wants to use it for anything to save Danny is more then free to do so, but please give me credit! I worked when I wrote this and won't appreciate other people taking the claim for it. 'glares threateningly.'
Thanks to;
Missmeliss4251
epobbp
the sleep warrior
Petitio Principii
Fey Phantom
Truth91920
Hiroshi Yakuza Ketchum
Insomniac Jaki
lilnovelist
My Eternal Facade
VoicesOfInsanity
conan98002
ShiroandFubuki
Laura
littlekittykat
kdm13
Firefury
ChaoticShadows
Darth Frodo
Inumaru12
The Great Susinko
ur1crazedupfruitloop
Dance of the Soul
KingSimba'sBestFriend
The Sole Survivor
ilikedan
Flairi Blue
dArkliTe-sPirit
giggleaid
Light Dragon SunsSong
Firehedgehog
AirGirl Phantom
Laughing Hyena
Moss Royal
midnightgoth9
PP. Bunny
Ghost Writer's Assistant
IwuvMyKenshyPoo
puppyface
PFEA PheelyForEva
Gmasangel
The Unknown Alias
SilverstarsEbonyskies
4everrandom
kinguofdoragons
SquirrelGirl
Pocky Katze
CarmenElizabeth
avearia
Next update; February 10th
See you then!