A/N: Once again, thanks for the reviews. Hopefully this chapter is a little longer. The others have been kind of short. Anything in Italics are thoughts.

(Just Want You Around-Lauryn Hill)

Chemicals React

Chapter 4: Just Want You Around

"3…2…1!" Tucker and Danny jumped out of their desks as the bell for lunch rang. They slowed down once they got into the hallway as they made it to their lockers. After their books were messily thrown inside, they walked down the hall to Sam's locker, where she was carefully putting her books inside. They all stood in awkward silence for a few seconds, until Tucker spoke up.

"What is so good about a clean, organized locker? I mean, why take the time to put those books in right when they're just going to get messed up when you get pushed against your locker?" Tucker joked, trying to lighten the mood. "Not all of us get pushed into our lockers Tucker." Sam snapped. She was obviously in a bad mood.

"What's your problem?" Tucker snapped. Sam glared at him.

"I don't have a problem Tucker. Can't I just be in a bad mood?" She slammed her locker shut and stomped down the hall.

"What was that all about?" Danny asked, his eyes filled with concern. Tucker shrugged.

"PMS?"

"I heard that!" Sam yelled from down the hall.

"You think she's okay?" Danny asked. Tucker started walking down the hall towards the cafeteria, shaking his head. Danny followed.

"I know she's not okay, but that doesn't mean there's anything we can do about it."

"Maybe we should try a little harder."

"Maybe you should try a little harder. I've been friends with Sam since kindergarten, and I've learned to avoid her at times like these. But you can go for it." Danny sighed.

Why is it always my job to do this stuff? He thought.

He started walking down the hall, trying to figure out where Sam had disappeared too. He walked up to a window and spotted her outside at the picnic table where they sat earlier that day. She seemed to be talking to someone, but he couldn't see anyone around her. He moved away from the window and walked outside, then stopped. There was a girl sitting with Sam.

Was she there before? No, I didn't see her. I wonder where she came from…

He walked over to the picnic table and sat next to Sam, who jumped a little, not realizing he was there.

"Hey Sam." He said, looking over the girl who sat across from Sam. She had short hair, around shoulder-length, that was the color of darkness. She wore all black, with lots of spikes, chains, and dark makeup. She wore two small silver rings: one on her lip and one on her eyebrow. Danny couldn't tell if they were real or not. All of the aspects of her appearance were scary, but the scariest part was her eyes. They were unlike any eyes Danny had ever seen before. They were large and round and looked as if they should be on the face of an insect, not a teenage girl. Her pupils were so large that he couldn't tell what color her eyes were. They just looked like two big, gaping holes with white around the edges. They reminded him of bottomless pits.

"Hey Danny." Sam noticed Danny staring at the other girl. "This is Sarah. She's new here."

"Hey." Danny smiled at her. All he got in return was a blank stare.

"Hello." She said quietly. "I'll talk to you later Sam." With that, she was gone.

"She's a little…strange." Danny said. Sam nodded.

"Yeah, but I feel bad for her. Being the new kid is hard enough, but being the Goth new kid? That's asking for trouble."

"Yeah. Listen, Sam, are you okay? You seemed a little, bitter earlier." Sam looked down at her feet. Danny knew she was hiding something. "Sam, what is it?"

"Well, I-" She was cut off by Danny's breath becoming visible.

"Not now…I'll be right back…" He quickly ran behind a tree, then reappeared a few seconds later as Danny Phantom. He flew into the air, looking for the ghost, but everything seemed normal.

"Why hello Daniel. How are you today?" Danny spun around quickly and came face-to-face with Vlad Plasmius.

"What do you want Plasmius?" Danny said through gritted teeth. Just the sight of his archenemy made him mad.

"Hmm. The Packers, eternal youth, your mother…" Danny fired an ectoplasmic blast at Vlad, but Vlad simply put up a shield, causing it to bounce back and hit Danny. He flew backwards and landed on the roof of the school. Vlad followed. "I want a lot of things Daniel. But there is one thing I want above all, and you can help me get it. I want your mother." Danny started to get up, but Vlad fired another blast at him and he fell down again.

"There's no way I'm helping you!" Danny yelled. They had fought like this many times before, but something was different now. It seemed as though Vlad was…mocking him.

"I know Daniel. I'll just wait until you're ready. Goodbye." And then he was gone.

"Wow. That was pointless." Danny flew behind the school and changed back to his human form, and then walked back to the picnic table only to find that Sam wasn't there anymore. He sighed as he sat down and rested his head in his hands.

She was just about to tell me what was wrong. Stupid Plasmius and his pointless fights.

A/N: It's a little longer I guess. It took me forever to find a song for the title. None of them seemed good. The title now doesn't really go with the chapter, but it'll make sense. Eventually. Hopefully this part's not too horrible. It's 7 in the morning and I'm not really thinking straight.