My head aches, I think it's from that photographer last night.
"Danny!" I hear my mom call. "Come down for breakfast!"
I sigh and sit up in my bed. Good. I'm starving.
I'm too lazy to walk. I close my eyes and turn my whole body intangible. Then I slip through my bed and right through the floor, landing perfectly in the kitchen chair, with pancakes already on my plate.
"Good morning, little brother," Jazz giggles.
"Hey, Jazz," I croak.
"Sweetie," Mom says, worried. She has her normal blue jumpsuit on, with her helmet off, showing off her short brown hair and unnatural purple eyes. She puts her gloved hand on my forehead. "Are you okay? You're burning up."
I sigh. "It's nothing. I just had a rough time last night."
"But you went to a movie with Sam," Jazz points out, obviously.
"Exactly." I say. "I was mobbed by fan girls, the paparazzi- actually, the fan girls I didn't mind too much." I take a bite of my pancakes. "Where's Dad?"
"He's probably making new updates on the ghost portal," Mom answers.
"What?" I gasp. "What's he doing to it?"
"Well, he's updating it from the inside-"
I interrupt. "Why didn't he ask me for help?"
"He wanted to do it alone." She shrugs.
Jazz snorts. "Calm down, Danny. It's probably not on."
"It's always on!" I growl to Jazz, getting close to her face.
"Danny, go to school," my sister sighs emotionless.
I puff, showing my annoyance to my sister, and go upstairs. I take a shower, brush my teeth, and pack my backpack.
Now I walk outside with my purple backpack hung lazily on my shoulders. I glance wildly around to make no one is watching. Wait...why am I being cautious about going ghost? The whole world already knows I am one. Maybe I'm scared of the paparazzi? That's a logical answer. Two rings appear from my body and transform my outfit, hair, and eyes.
I wonder where my backpack goes when I go ghost? I think, then my legs disappear into a black ghostly tail and I start flying towards Casper High.
Tucker. He's coming to school today. Now since he's mayor of Amity Park, Danny and I hardly get to see him now. But he text-ed me this morning and he said he was coming. I grin, thinking about seeing my long-term friend again. As soon as I reach the entrance, cheerleaders block the doors.
"Hi, Samantha," Paulina says, a little too cheery.
"No one calls me Samantha," I growl at her. I still hate her. She doesn't deserve my friendship.
"Where's Danny?" Star asks with a suggestive grin.
"I don't know," I huff, shooing them away. They all part for me and I open the doors. The first person I see..is Tuck.
Other than Danny, Tuck is one of my best friends. When Danny had his moments (about being a jerk, a rich, snobby jerk, a stupid jerk) I turn to Tuck.
"Tucker!" I exclaim and before he could even react, my arms were around his small shoulders in a tight hug. "I've missed you!"
"I've missed you too, Sam," Tuck says happily, putting a hand on the small of my back.
"Hey, Sam," a familiar voice croaks behind me.
I whip around, ripping from the embrace with Tuck to see dreamy green eyes. "Danny!" I say. "Are you okay? You look..."
"A little out of it, dude." Tuck finishes my statement.
"Why didn't you change back?" I ask, seeing that he's still in his black and white jumpsuit. His white hair looks so unkept.
"I have a major headache," he finally says, out of breath. He limps into my arms, his head on my broad shoulder. I rub his back.
"Why did you come to school today then, baby?" I ask sympathetically.
"Because I wanted to see you," he answers with the most cheesiest line, I laugh.
"Hey," grumbles Tucker, "you didn't come to school for me?"
Danny stands up from my shoulder; I can tell his eyes are a little dazed. "Of course," he says. "I wanted to see you too."
"Thank you."
"Hey, Danny," someone behind Danny greets my boyfriend. Danny turns around and it's Paulina. She's leaning on the lockers, looking atrtactive. I growl. Why does she have to go to this school?
"Hi, Paulina," Danny smiles weakly.
"Are you okay?" She asks.
"He's fine," I answer for him as I shove my way in front of Danny.
"You can't speak for him; you don't know how he's feeling!" Paulina grunts. Her small, tan hands shove me sideways, out of the way. She snakes closer to Danny, her hips almost touching his body. She takes her hand and brushes his snowy-colored hair
By now Danny is wide awake, but before he could do anything I completely lose it.
"Get away from him you bitch!" I hiss and slam her small body into the lockers.
Paulina places her hand on the back of her head, where she hit it on the lockers, and looks up at me with scared blue eyes.
"You know-" I start.
"Ms. Manson!"
I whip my head around to see a small belly barely fitted into a blue dress shirt. His pants were tan with brown belt holding them up. I slowly raise my chin to see a growling Mr. Lancer.
He was looking down at me with the angriest eyes ever.
"She pushed me into the lockers when I didn't do anything to her! She had no reason for it!" Paulina whines to the principle.
Mr. Lancer had called my parents and Paulina's parents to come and have a talk with Mr. Lancer and Mrs. Ishiyama, the school principle.
My mom and dad are shadowing me as I sit growling in the blue office chair next to Paulina. Paulina had her dad with her. He is standing next to Paulina; his eyes focused on me. They copied Mr. Lancer's eyes.
I look up at my parents and they were unhappy as well. They refuse to look at me. Dad had his arms crossed over his chest, his angered eyes rested on the principle.
"Well, you were gonna do my boyfriend!" I yell as I reach over the seat d come close to Paulina's panic-stricken face. "My boyfriend!"
I feel Dad place his hands on my shoulders, jerking me back to my chair.
"My daughter wouldn't...um, do anybody. Especially someone else's boyfriend." Paulina's dad inquired. With his heavy Hispanic accent, it's hard to take him seriously so I have to suck in my breah to keep from laughing out loud.
But to Paulina, her dad's dialect sounds normal and stern. She slumps back in her seat and I can tell she's hiding something. Did she lose her virginity?And...to who? Dash? Most likely...
Mrs. Ishiyama is quiet. The she speaks, " Sam?"
I perk up, "Yes?" I say. What does she want me to say?
She nods.
"Um," I start, unsure. "Mrs. Ishiyama, I didn't mean to push her her-well, I mean, I did, but...I just had enough of fan girls touching and being all over my boyfriend. I just want him all to myself. No camera crew, not paparazzi no fan girls-just...us. And I'm sorry I pushed Paulina and called her a bitch but I'm just really tired of this whole situation."
"I can understand that." Mrs. Ishiyama smiling and nodding.
"Who cares if you're tired of it! You cannot just push students around whenever they touch Danny!" Mr. Lancer defends Paulina.
"Mr. Lancer, calm down. It's not like Paulina needed to go to the emergency for it." Mrs. Ishiyama says camly.
"Yes, I do." Paulina whimpers.
"Oh, hush up." I huff, not looking at the cheerleader. "You're fine. You're not in a coma."
"Sam." My mom's harsh voice comes from behind me. I glance up at her.
"What?" I whisper. "It's true."
Mrs. Ishiyama clears her throat before saying, "Well. If no one is actually hurt, then I think we're done here."
"What?" Everybody, excluding me, exclaims. I sit back in my chair, satisfied, and cross my arms over my chest.
"But we barely talked!" Paulina's dad points out as Mrs. Ishiyama pushes herself up from her chair.
"Yes," she sighs, "but I'm missing the new episode of Sex House. I have to go." She walks to her door, opens it, and before walking out, she calls back to Paulina and I, "see you kids in school!" She slams the door, leaving me alone with the four people I hate the most (I don't really hate Paulina's dad, he just gets annoying sometimes.)
Mr. Lancer folds his arms across his chest. "Well, Samantha, you at least need to apologize."
"I did." I roll my eyes.
"No," he grows, "to Paulina."
"Shut up, Box Ghost," I growl. "I don't have time for you! I'm hungry."
"Your face is hungry!" Box Ghost threatens lamely, pointing at the boy whose floating in front of him lazily, tired, dizzy, and staving. He's pointing at me.
"Yeah," I say boringly (I really am bored), "I am hungry. Now would you just go away?"
"NEVER!" Box Ghost shouts, then he laughs his same, hillbilly laugh.
I lift my hand slowly, making my fingers form a white gun. Out of my pointer finger, a green ghost ray beams at Box Ghost, flinging him easily back into Fenton Thermos in which my sister is holding. Jazz places the cap over the ghostly cylinder, sealing the not-really-threat-to-anything-living ghost in the cramped space.
"Got him!" Jazz exclaims excitingly.
"Good job, babe!" A boy in black clothing stands up, joining her in heer mental party for her capturing the easiest ghost ever in the Ghost Zone. Ever.
The boy dressed in black, I recognize, is her boyfriend, Damien Rodgers. They started dating when I was still fourteen but after I had revealed my secret to the whole world.
I am staring at Damien and Jazz so much that I don't even notice the cheering and clapping of the cafeteria.
Sam isn't here.
Neither is Paulina.
Or Mr. Lancer.
And I know why.
Sam got in trouble. She got in trouble for pushing Paulina into the lockers; she was protecting me, she said to Mr. Lancer as the plump English teacher dragged her away to the principal's office.
What if they suspended her?
Or expelled her?
Whatever they did to her, I would find out next period, where I had English with Mr. Lancer.
I lower myself down to the ground and quickly transform into a normal boy again. As soon as my feet touch the floor, I am greeted with hugs of appreciation, happiness, and gratitude from students I am familiar with, to students I am not.
I turn away from Danny. He is fine now, getting hugs from popular kids his grade, like Dash, Star, and Quan...
While I have my beloved boy Damien. He is the most perfect guy in the whole school, North America, the world...at least, that's my opinion. Danny could say different.
Damien and I are both seniors so we want to go to the same college next year. He's in to the same stuff I'm in to, except that he's a Goth.
Although, he's Sam-Goth, not Goth-Goth (I wouldn't even be dating him if he was Goth-Goth.) You know what I mean? Sam wears Goth clothing, suggesting to people who don't know her or talk to her that she is Goth, but if actually get to know her, her personality is quite different from her looks. Just like Damien. Damien's attitude has no effect from his clothing.
"It's so cool that your brother is Danny Phantom, Jazz," Damien comments as we sit back down. He has the biggest blue eyes...and his short, blackish-brown hair lay neatly atop his head, forming into a little point at the front.
"I know," is all I say. "Sometimes I wish I was Half-Ghost."
"Me too," agrees my best friend, Stella. I have to rip my blue eyes off of Damien to focus on the blue-eyed, short blonde hair girl I call my best friend. She's sitting at our table with two more of our guy friends, Patrick and Eric.
"Jazz, you should have a party this weekend," Eric suggests.
"Why?" I ask, looking at him; my red hair slapped Damien in the face because I turned my head so quickly.
I feel his soft hands grab my hair gently. "What shampoo do you use?" he asks, laughing to background it. "Your hair smells good."
I pull my hair playfully away from him before he could sniff it again. "Why do you need to know?" I snap, a hint of laughter in my voice. Then I turn back to Eric.
"Well," Eric starts, "We've all hosted parties at our houses except you."
"Hm..." I think aloud, putting a finger dramatically on my chin. That is true. A slideshow of memories from my friends' parties start playing back in my head in about a second. Stella's party was awesome, with teenagers filling every corner of her house, boy to girl, having fun. Then, when everyone left, Stella, me, and a few other of our girl friends slept over. The picture of Patrick's party came into mind next. It was a study party for that big science test we all had the day after and everyone was saying it was the hardest thing ever. Eric's party was just all five of us huddled up like penguins in a blizzard on his leather couch, watching an inappropriate movie.
Damien's party was where we almost...well, I'm not going to mention that word. Not even here, in my brain. I don't even think about that word, let alone saying it aloud. And I wouldn't still be a virgin today if it wasn't for Eric who interrupted our 'private party.'
"I'll ask my parents," I say, smiling at them. They all return the smile and then I look at Damien who wraps his masculine arm around my little shoulders, rocking both of us back and forth...back and forth...