Eva, Part 3
Anyone can hack a computer, but not everyone can forge documents. It's easy for Eva with her photographic memory and being able to write with both hands. She loves to read, having read all sorts of stories to Mackenzie at bedtime, anything from children's books to Shakespeare. I love A Midsummer Night's Dream and incorporated it into the story. I remembered that Nicolas knew Shakespeare as well and thought about having them become friends, although it turned into something much more.
Time for gym class. Danny hated gym class. He got enough exercise running around all night fighting ghosts. He didn't need to be running after a ball that Dash was going to hit him with. Same old, same old.
But there was something new. Two things new, in fact. There was a girl with short pink hair in a gym uniform and next to her was a rough looking brunette with shoulder length hair wearing black sweat pants and a baggy black T-shirt. Danny couldn't tell if the brunette was a guy or a girl. Both were about his friends' height and age.
"New students?" Danny asked Tucker.
"Must be," said Tucker. "That girl with the pink hair is fine."
Sam said to them, "I heard they were at the buses this morning, Danny. Both of them are from France. Their English is great, though."
"Did you talk to them?" asked Tucker. "I would love to know their names."
"All right!" shouted Ms. Tetslaff. "Let's warm up!"
They began with stretching and jumping jacks.
"Does she remind you of anyone?" Aelita asked Eva with a bright smile.
Eva gave Ms. Tetslaff a good looking over. "She reminds me of Jim."
Aelita laughed. "You see it, too!" she giggled. Her smile turned wicked. "I can also see her being an older version of you."
Eva stopped and turned to Aelita with a cold look, but this quickly melted into one of amusement.
"All right! Today is track and field day," said Ms. Tetslaff.
"Perfect," said Eva with a smirk.
Aelita looked at Eva. "You have been restless."
"You have no idea," said Eva, already shifting her weight from one foot to another.
Eva's attention was turned to a large blonde boy that had more brawn than brains. He had a cocky smirk on his face and was eyeing some of the smaller students.
Aelita saw the glimmer of disapproval in Eva's eyes as she looked at the student. "Don't get any ideas," she said. "This isn't Kadic."
"No, it is not," said Eva.
"We'll do the hundred meter dash first," said Ms. Tetslaff.
Ms. Tetslaff began assigning groups of three to run the hundred meters.
Sam, Paulina, and the girl with the pink hair were in a group.
"I like your hair," said Paulina to the girl.
"Thank you," said the girl.
"I'm Paulina."
"On your marks," said Ms. Tetslaff. "Get set! Go!"
The three of them ran as fast as they could. Sam came in first, followed by the girl with the pink hair, then Paulina.
Aelita jogged over to Eva.
"Not bad," commented Eva.
"Thanks," panted Aelita. "All those times going to the factory paid off."
Eva's attention went back to the blonde boy. He was tormenting two other boys. Some of his friends were standing around adding to the insults being thrown at the two boys. The boys seemed to be used to it and tried to ignore them. Eva narrowed her eyes. Bullying was one thing she did not like and if she could put a stop to it, she would.
Aelita saw and turned to Eva to see what she was going to do about it. There was a fire burning in Eva's dark eyes. This young man had just stirred the ire of Phantasm.
Finally the last round of runners was called.
"Baxter! Fenton!" shouted Ms. Tetslaff.
Danny groaned as he took his starting position next to Dash.
"You're going to be smoked, Fenturd," sneered Dash.
There was another name called to join them. "Maverick-Morales!"
The brunette of indeterminate gender stood next to Dash.
"Ready to lose, nerd?" Dash jeered.
"Are you?" the brunette asked cooly.
Dash snarled. "You're going down," he promised.
The brunette simply looked away, preparing to race.
"Go!" shouted Ms. Tetslaff.
The students and teacher were stunned into silence as Eva sprinted into the lead like the boys were standing still. She ran to the finish line and turned around to see them trying to catch up.
"Go, Eva!" cheered Aelita.
"Eva?" Paulina repeated stupidly. "Your friend's a girl?"
"Yes," replied Aelita.
Eva walked passed Dash. "How does it feel to get beat by a girl?" she asked.
Dash growled. He stepped up behind Eva and swung at her. Eva felt it coming and whirled around, batting the fist away from her. Dash gasped at the cold eyes she had. They held the silent threat that she would beat him to a pulp. Eva did no more and walked away.
"That was so cool!" said Tucker to Eva, keeping stride with her. "I'm Tucker, by the way. Eva, was it? How about you and I get together some time?"
"No," said Eva.
Tucker stopped in his tracks at her cold tone. "Okay, then. See you later."
"That was seriously weird," said Danny as Tucker walked back over to them.
"Yeah, she's colder than anyone I've ever met," said Tucker. "I'm used to being shot down, but this time was different."
"I wonder what her problem is," said Sam.
They started heading inside to get changed for their next class. Sam followed the two French girls into the girls' locker room. Sam watched Eva disappear into a bathroom stall and Aelita toss Eva's clothes over the door. Sam decided she should try to strike up a conversation with them. Just as she was about to introduce herself, Paulina stepped between her and Aelita.
"Where did you get your hair done?" Paulina asked. "It looks great."
"Would you believe me if I said it's natural?" asked Aelita.
"Really?" squealed Paulina.
Sam scoffed. Aelita and Paulina looked at her.
"Don't you have a dark room to haunt?" asked Paulina.
"Don't you have a clown to visit to fix your makeup?" Sam shot back.
Paulina quickly took out her compact and checked her makeup. "I hate gym," she said, hurrying off to fix her makeup. "This is what happens when beauty meets sweat."
"Sorry about her," said Sam. "I'm Sam. It's Aelita, right? And your friend is Eva?"
"Yes," said Aelita, changing her shirt.
"So what do you think of Casper High?" asked Sam.
"It's not that much different from our school," said Aelita.
Sam frowned. "Didn't you move here?"
Aelita shook her head. "This is just for the day," said Aelita. "One of the buses was collateral damage for a ghost attack this morning and we're stuck here until it's fixed."
"You were there?" asked Sam. Aelita nodded. "Did you see Danny Phantom?"
"Yes, but I didn't get a good look at him," said Aelita.
"Well, you don't have to worry about him," said Sam. "He's really nice contrary to what others say."
Aelita smiled. "I know," she said. "Eva has this weird ability to know when people are good or bad. Right, Eva?"
"Right," said Eva. "Aelita, I need you to do something for me."
Eva opened the stall door just a bit for Aelita to see. Aelita gave her a lookover. "You're fine," she said.
Eva came out of the stall, adjusting her shirt in her belt. "Is that jock always like that?" she asked Sam.
"Every single day," said Sam.
Aelita looked at Eva. "Don't get any ideas," she said quickly, seeing the scheming look in Eva's eyes.
"Only if he strikes first," said Eva.
Sam gave them a confused look.
At last period they all met up for Mr. Lancer's class. Team Phantom sat in their usual corner of the room. Eva and Aelita took two seats in the row closest to the windows, Eva sitting behind Aelita. Eva was scanning the room. She had a strange feeling. The dream she had last night was coming back to haunt her in her waking hours. Her eyes settled on a raven haired boy with ice blue eyes. He was one of the boys who was being picked on, the one she ran the race with.
Mr. Lancer came in and took role. Eva quickly learned that the boy was named Danny Fenton. Mr. Lancer then introduced Eva and Aelita, explaining why they were there. The students looked over at Aelita and Eva and said hello. Eva locked eyes with Danny Fenton.
For one moment, everything around Eva vanished and she could only see Danny. Danny had the same look on his face. The moment quickly ended when Eva forced herself to break eye contact.
"Now that the good news is out of the way, I do have some bad news," said Mr. Lancer. "The DJ for the back to school dance has canceled. So unless we find someone to fill in for him, there will be no dance."
There were murmurs and whispers. The back to school dance was very important to the popular crowd.
"We can do it!" Aelita said, nearly jumping out of her seat.
All eyes turned to Aelita.
"You?" asked Mr. Lancer.
"Yes, Eva and I can do it," said Aelita. "It's no different than playing a concert."
The students and teacher stared at them, having no idea what Aelita was talking about.
"Oh, come on," said Aelita. "Haven't you heard the techno duo L'Elfe et le Fantasme?"
Team Phantom jumped.
"You two are L'Elfe et le Fantasme?" asked Sam.
Aelita nodded. "The tour bus that got damaged this morning belongs to the Subdigitals. We're their opening act. I'm sure we can get permission. Besides, I started out as a DJ for a school dance."
"Please, Mr. Lancer?" asked Tucker. "I've heard their music. They're really good."
"All right," said Mr. Lancer. "The dance is saved."
"Yes!" said Aelita.
"Now, to class," said Mr. Lancer.
"Aw," groaned some of the students.
"What?" asked Mr. Lancer.
"We wanted to know more about Aelita and Eva," whined Kwan.
"Maybe later," said Mr. Lancer. "Right now we have a discussion on Shakespeare."
Eva's mood improved when she heard they were going to be discussing Shakespeare.
"Yesterday we were discussing Macbeth's descent into madness," said Mr. Lancer. "As a refresher, can anyone tell me why Macbeth went mad?" Mr. Lancer searched the room for hands. He raised an eyebrow when he saw one hand up. "Miss Maverick-Morales?"
"The madness was not Macbeth's at first, it was his wife's, Lady Macbeth," said Eva. "When Macbeth told her what the Weird Sisters prophesied, she became power hungry. She was willing to commit murder and she did in order for her husband to become king. As the play goes on, her madness becomes his madness." Eva paused. "I think I remember all that correctly."
Mr. Lancer looked at her. "You know Shakespeare?"
"Yes," said Eva. She frowned. "What?"
Mr. Lancer thought for a moment, trying to find the right words.
Eva spoke first. "I don't look like I understand Shakespeare, do I?" she asked. Eva was not hurt by this. "I understand. It's okay. People take one look at me and see a sloppy teenager who doesn't look like she could pass a test. It's okay. I keep up that appearance because I want to be able to show that appearances don't matter."
"Miss Maverick-Morales, what grade are you in?" asked Mr. Lancer.
"Technically, I graduated," said Eva. "I completed my studies at Kadic just this past semester."
"And you're how old?" asked Mr. Lancer, shocked.
"Fourteen," answered Eva. "I'll be fifteen in October."
"Mr. Lancer, may I use the bathroom?" Danny suddenly asked.
"Yes, Mr. Fenton," Mr. Lancer said with an exasperated sigh.
Danny jumped up and ran out of the room.
Eva watched him run. This wasn't just an emergency bathroom break. She had seen that type of mad dash since she started Kadic. It was the dash that signaled danger and the willingness to stop it. Danny did not come back for a long time.
After class, Aelita and Eva caught up with the Subdigitals at the hotel they were set up in. They told them what happened at school. Chris wasn't sure that they should be performing while they were supposed to be relaxing.
"It's relaxing to us," said Eva. "We can go. You don't have to look after us. We can take care of ourselves. Besides, there are going to be teachers there. What trouble could we possibly get into?"
"All right," said Chris. "Just be back before midnight."
"Got it," said Eva.
They had time before they had to go back to Casper High and get ready for the dance. Eva took that time to check her e-mail and look at the footage from that morning's ghost attack.
"Hey, Eva," said Aelita, carrying an outfit in one hand. "Do you think I should wear the pink dress with a darker camisole over top or just my cropped vest?"
Aelita frowned at Eva. Eva had the most peculiar look on her face. Her brown eyes widened.
"Fenton is Phantom," said Eva.
"What?" asked Aelita.
Eva quickly turned the laptop around. "Look at this," she said. Aelita looked at the screen, a still of Danny Phantom showing. "Now think about Danny Fenton."
"They look alike," said Aelita.
"They're the same," said Eva.
"How?" asked Aelita.
"Don't ask me how," said Eva. "I just know. I saw their eyes. They have the same eyes. The same look of determination and secrecy."
Aelita looked up from the screen. "Eva, there's something you're not telling me."
Eva looked away.
"Eva," pleaded Aelita. "Whatever it is, you can tell me."
Dark brown met green and Eva answered, "I watched you die, Aelita. You were murdered. We all were, by a monster."
Eva explained her dream.
"You think Danny Phantom is going to kill us?" asked Aelita, horrified. "That he's a mass murderer?"
"Not yet," said Eva. "This Phantom was older, heartless. When I made eye contact with Danny Fenton in class, I could see a fear, a fear of becoming a monster."
"Eva, how?" asked Aelita. "I know you can tell if people are good or bad just by looking at their eyes, but how can you tell that he fears becoming a monster?"
"Because I've had that same look," replied Eva. "I know what it feels like. And honestly, I've almost done horrible things before."
"What did you almost do?" asked Aelita.
"I rather not talk about it," said Eva.
Aelita giggled. "You're starting to sound like Jim." Her smile faded a little. "Eva, it was a dream and a coincidence."
Eva shook her head. "No. It was a warning."
Danny, Tucker, and Sam walked home from school together.
"What was that in Lancer's class, man?" asked Tucker. "You, like, spaced out on us for three seconds."
"There's something about Eva that looks familiar," said Danny.
"Like you've seen her before?" asked Sam.
"Not like that," said Danny. "The look in her eyes. I don't know how to tell you guys, but there was something about her that just screamed, 'Ghost!'"
"Your ghost sense didn't go off until later," said Tucker.
"Do you think she's the one who helped you out with Skulker?" asked Sam.
"It could be," said Danny. "She was there. If it wasn't her, she probably saw who did."
"We can ask her at the dance," said Tucker.
"Yeah," said Danny.
Kayla, Part 1
Kayla was created to be Eva's opposite in someways. She is much more open about her emotions. She does not like keeping secrets that are unnecessary. When Kayla first met Eva, she wanted to tell someone about the abuse that Eva was enduring but Eva did not want her to tell. Kayla is an enabler and will do what she can for Eva, including stitching up Eva's wounds. She does not like that Eva is a criminal though she's never been caught, but now and then supports the decision for less than legal action. It was Kayla's idea for Eva to forge her way into Kadic Academy.