"DANIEL FENTON WAKE UP AND UNLOCK THIS DOOR!" I groaned and rolled over. CRAP! How could I sleep in the late? Why didn't my alarm go off? Oh, err, right. I don't have an alarm clock. My alarm clock is my sister, who's currently pounding on the door.
"I'm up Jazz, don't go get an ecto-gun and blast down the door." I yelled out to her.
"You know, I wasn't planning too, but now that you mention it, I might. No, I'm going to go get a Fenton Thermos too, so, if you're not up and dressed and the door is unlocked by the time I get back up sleep, I'm dropping you off at school in your pajamas." I heard her walk away.
I doubted Jazz would make good on her threat, but I rolled out of bed, just in case she was serious. Not that I'd get to school much. Ghosts had been attacking left and right lately, so, I was on the brink of getting expelled for all of my tarties, missed classes, days I just didn't plain show up.
I pulled on a pair of jeans off the floor, and tugged on a t-shirt. I started out the window, lost in a daydream, when the door banged open and my dad ran in. If this is Jazz's work she'd certainly pulled her last resort.
"Danny!" Dad shouted urgently, "There's a ghost in here!" Ghost? Oh, yeah, me.
"Dad, there's no ghost in here, Jazz just threatened me with something that had ectoplasam all over it." I invented, well, it technically wasn't a lie, and it probably had ectoplasm inside of it.
"We'll get that ghost sooner or later!" Dad growled into the room, before I steered him out of my room before following him downstairs to breakfast. I'd just collapsed at the table when Mom shoved a bagel in my mouth.
"You're running late, your sister is waiting outside." I grumbled something unintelligable and wobbled outside, collapsing in the front seat of Jazz car.
"I don't see why I can drive myself!" I moaned. I'd gotten my liscence last month.
"Because you can't seem to save up enough money to buy a car." Jazz taunted me. I stuck my tongue out at her.
"Jazz, you're going ten under the speed limit!" I complained as a snail went flying by. That made me take a second look. "Jazz?"
"What?"
"Why does that snail have wings?"
"WHAT?"
"Yeah, that snail, it just went flying by." I just hoped she didn't slam on the brakes because then we'd never catch it.
"Is it glowing?"
"Yes . . . why?" I know I'm an idiot sometimes, but did I really deserve the look she gave me. When I heard her answer I decided I did.
"Then it's probably a ghost." Jazz said and pulled out a thermos. I trapped it just as Jazz stopped to let me out.
"See ya."
"Bye Danny."
"Danny!" Tucker came over. "You look really tired. Is everything all right?"
"Everything's fine, I just didn't sleep well last night."
"Number one, we people say everything's fine, nothing is. Number two, how could you pass up a night of sleep? No ghost attacks after midnight. If there were than I would have known about it."
"Everything's fine, Tucker. And, I couldn't sleep for a different reason." I really hoped he dropped it, or at least got what I was talking about.
"A different . . ." Tucker trailed off as he got it, and he gave me a hopeless look. "Danny, I've been a good friend right?"
"Yeah, one of the best."
"Good. So it's my job as one of the best friend I guy could have to give you a quick slap of reality. This is really going to hurt, and you'll hate me until you figure out I was right." I didn't like where this conversation was going. "Danny, it's your fault!" What? My fault? How was any of this my fault?
"You didn't trust her," Tucker continued. "You lied to her, you barely spoke to her-"
"To save her," I interrupted him. How dare he blame this on me? I did nothing wrong. I didn't blame anyone.
"You could have told her that. She told me her parents gave her a choice. She could have stayed here in Amity, but she went with them, the people she hated the most in the world just so she could get away from you."
The words stung, swirling in my head, and the worst part was, he wasn't done. I hadn't known she'd had a choice. I hadn't even known she was moving until she was gone, and Tucker told me when I asked where she was.
"Danny, you broke Sam's heart."
***
"Sam, you look so tired," Jay commented.
"I couldn't sleep." I snapped. I had no patience today, make matters worse I was almost late, and I got no sleep.
"That's obvious," Jay commented as she ran to catch up with me. "Why couldn't you sleep?"
"No reason for you to know of." I growled, yanking open my locker door.
"Come on, I'm your best friend, I know everything." That stopped me cold. I whirled around to face her.
"Do not make presumptions," I told her harshly. "I'm sorry, but I don't consider you my best friend. I already had a bad experience with one of those, so I don't let anyone that close anymore."
Jay stopped, her expression froze, first in anger, then sadness, then some unreadable emotion. I pulled out my math book. I hated having Math first period. I hated having math period, at all. And it wasn't just the subject I hated.
"Oh, Sammy, I'm so sorry for whatever you went through," I turned to face her. Jay was an awesome friend, she really was. And she was my only friend since moving here, but . . . well, she knew nothing about me. I couldn't bring myself to tell her anything, since I still couldn't think about it without it killing me, yet, it was the reason I couldn't sleep at night.
"Do not call me Sammy." Two things this morning that brought me back to him. He was the reason I'd left Amity. I thought that if I moved I'd be able to forget.
"Sorry, again, it would be easier if I knew . . . but I'm not going to pressure you Sam." Jay gave me a small smile. "But if you ever want to talk . . ."
"You're there, I know. And you've been a great friend, it's just me who's all messed up." I told her as we took our seats.
"We're all crazy Sam." Jay commented as the teacher started a lecture.
***
The floor fell out from beneath me when I heard her name. In the whole year she'd been gone, it had gone unspoken. I hadn't heard it once. It was like there was some sort of taboo on it. I was glad. The feeling of falling I'd felt when Jazz mentioned that her new boyfriend's nickname was the same as hers. Needless to say, I never met the kid.
I fell against the lockers, needing something to brace myself against, unable to stand on my own.
"Danny!" Tucker was shaking my shoulder. Suddenly I got angry. Extremely angry. I felt like I could blow up the entire world. Where was Vlad when I needed a punching bag? I pushed Tucker away and stormed into class. Class after class came and went, but not one word did I say to him.
I knew deep down that he was right, that I had forced her away because I couldn't live without her. Not that I'd call this sleepless, emotional, state I was in living. Every moment was devoted to her, whether I was forcing my mind away from her, or, remembering her.
I could see her smile every time my eyes closed, whether it to blink or sleep. In the year since she was gone I'd probably only gotten 100 hours of sleep. Which, was really bad, at least I was used to little sleep so I wasn't hallucinating.
I still sat with Tucker at lunch. I sighed, and tugged as my ear, a habit I'd gotten into while thinking. It was the ear with my earring in it.
"Tucker," I said finally. He glanced up from his PDA. "Maybe you were right. What am I saying? You were right. I forced her away, but, now I have no way to make it right."
"Don't think about that, try to move on."
"I can't Tuck. I've been trying for the past year, to forget about her. It's impossible. I love her more than life itself. I need her Tucker." I confessed, still not saying her name.
Tucker stared at me. I knew he'd never expected that I love her that much. I knew she felt the same way. She'd told me before . . . Tucker's cell phone rang.
"Hello?" He asked, mechanically, still staring at me.
I heard sobs from the other end, which brought Tucker's attention to the phone. "Whoa, whoa, calm down. What happened?" More sobs.
"Well, I don't know what to tell you, I'm not really all that good at helping with this kind of stuff."
"Who is it?" I mouthed at him. He looked at me and his eyes lit up in that scary Tucker's got a plan way.
"Why don't you talk to D-" He was caught off with a scream from the other end of the line. "Fine, fine, maybe not. I still don't know what to tell you-Right across from me. I won't but I st- Fine, fine, Tucker won't say- Yes I realize -but what if he- Fine, fine. Tucker tell nobody. I stil- I realize you're not interested in my opin- I thought you called because of- Yes, yes, Tucker's very mean. What do you mean? Grrr, look, Miss I- gotta go to class. Call me later." Tucker hung up as the bell rang. We darted off to history.
"Who was that?" I asked, curious.
"Tucker can't say." The tone of voice he'd used, the way he spoke, it reminded me of something I'd seen somewhere else, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
***
I hung up the phone. Tucker could be so annoying! The one person in the world he knows I want nothing and everything to do with and he wants me to talk to him! Besides, I had called about Jay. She'd been driving us home from school (it was a half-day) when a drunk driver rammed us. I was so scared for her.
I paced in the hospital. Her parents were in Mexico and couldn't be reached. A doctor came out. I jumped at him.
"What's happening? Can I see her?"
"She's fine. A couple of broken bones, a slight concussion. She is in a coma though. So it wouldn't make much sense to go see her. Go home, get a good night's sleep and come back in the morning."
"I haven't slept all year, doctor." I said as I stormed out the door.
The poem still belongs to nolapeep. I have some Danny Phantom summaries that I'm willing to hand out if anyone needs something to write. Just pm me. Ideas are appreciated, you'll get your credit. Complaints ignored unless it's in the form of constructive criticism. Reviews motivate me. Don't own it.
~DI4MGZ~
