There was no chapter last week because my creative muses were being fueled into an anime music video (AMV).

Chapter 7: And so the day goes on

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As he caught Valerie, Danny dropped a few feet so the effects of stopping were lessened. For a few moments, she lay in his arms, dazed.

Danny could almost see her blink behind her mask as she focused on him. She snarled, "What do you think you're doing? Let go of me!" Valerie squirmed in his arms as he struggled to hold onto her.

"I don't think you want me to let go of you thirty feet above any surface. It wouldn't kill you but it might break some bones and it would hurt." She snarled wordlessly at him but let up on squirming. "What do you think you're doing infuriating the book obsessed ghost? That's my job," he joked. There was a high-pitched whine as a charged up ecto-gun was shoved in his face.

"Uh, that's not a good idea. Like I said before, I don't want to drop you. Besides, that ghost still wants to teach you a lesson," Danny told the red-suited ghost hunter as he placed her on the ground. She fired the gun at him. Danny allowed the beam to pass through his now intangible body. He had been expecting an attack like that. He sighed, "I know you despise me with every fiber of your being but I'm not trying to hurt you…or any other human for that matter."

"Shut up, ghost," Valerie hissed, not taking her eyes off Danny for a moment.

Before either could say anything more, Bookworm fired off a few ecto-blasts, proving she was not just a bubbly air-headed bookworm. Valerie rolled away from the attacks while they passed through the still intangible Danny.

Danny rolled his eyes, "Just how do you plan on chasing her down since you lost your hover board?"

"I'll, um…oh drat!" she said, actually stomping her foot in frustration. She jumped out of the way of a stray ecto-blast. Angrily, she turned her ecto-gun on the bookish ghost.

Danny had to admit (only to himself) that she had an accurate aim under duress. Bookworm dodged the blasts very clumsily, finally being taken down by one well-placed shot. "Hah!" Valerie scoffed, pointing at Danny, "See, I don't need the board you stupid ghost!"

Danny smacked his face and shook his head. There's no way she'll listen to me. "Fine. I'll let you take care of her," Danny said as he flew off.

He heard Valerie yell at him, "Come back here, ghost! Don't think you can run from me." Danny swore he could hear her shake her fist at him. A glance back proved he was correct. It also provided him with enough warning to dodge a barrage of blasts from the irate ghost hunter (and sort of girlfriend).

Landing in an alley, Danny looked at his watch. "Aw crud! I am so late! And if dad is the only one home, he will put me in the Fenton Stockades," Danny said, running for home.

To his immense relief, his mom was the only one home. "Sorry I'm late, mom. I got distracted by watching a fight between a ghost and that red suited ghost hunter," Danny said rapidly, to forestall the triad that was brewing on his mother's face.

As if someone flipped a switch, she was all ears, "Really? What happened?"

Breathing an internal sigh of relief, Danny went on to tell what happened with some careful omissions and half-truths. As he finished up, he noticed that his mom was taking notes. Maddie put down her pen and looked at her watch with surprise, "Sorry, honey, I didn't realize I was keeping you from your homework!"

"It's okay, mom," Danny said. It's not like I actually want to work on homework. He took his backpack and ran up the stair. His mother yelled up at him, "No going out until your homework is done!"

"Fine!" he yelled back as he closed his bedroom door. He dropped his backpack on the floor as he flopped down on the bed. He rolled over to stare up at the ceiling. "What a day. Is it me or are there really more ghost attacks? Where are they coming from?" Danny closed his eyes, "I hope Plasmius isn't up to something again."

Fifteen minutes later, he was woken up by his cell phone ringing. "Uh, wha-?" he started, trying to figure out the sound. He jumped off his bed and dug through his backpack. "Hello?"

"You're late, Fenton," Sam growled at him from the other end.

"Drat! Sorry, Sam. More ghost stuff and my mom happened after I went home. I can't come tonight," Danny apologized.

"You sound like you just woke up."

Danny laughed nervously, "Uh, yeah, I just did. I kind of fell asleep."

Sam made a disgusted sound and said bye. Danny closed the phone and looked at it longingly wishing he could go and have some fun without worries.

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Danny let out a long-suffering sigh as he closed the textbook and put it back in his backpack. Judging by the sounds his classmates were making, they were all in general agreement, the only thing drier than reading the textbook was the teacher reading it aloud in class.

He could hear one student mutter, "Why can't a ghost attack when we really need it?"

Danny stopped himself from nodding in agreement when the teacher flashed a look of irritation across the room.

Quickly, to avoid even more ire of the teacher, the students scurried out of the classroom for the short freedom that existed between classes. It was at his locker that Danny was ambushed, not by Dash or his friends but by Valerie.

"Hey, Danny," she said, giving him a flirty look.

He blinked and smiled at her, "Hey, Valerie. What's up?"

"Not much. You want to go out to dinner tonight?" she asked casually.

Danny sighed, "I can't. I'm kind of have to stay home this week after 4." He perked up, "How about we go out for shakes after school? I think I have some time for that."

"You've got a date," Valerie said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before running off to the next class.

Danny grinned foolishly for a moment before he ran off to his next class. Around the corner, Sam was grinding her teeth as she watched the pair. Tucker stared nervously at her before he stepped away. "Heh. Calm down, Sam. Everyone's going to know you're jealous if you keep acting like that."

"I'm not jealous," she said, stomping off to class.

Posted: 3-4-06