Hello!
Now that we've gotten a feel of Sam's home environment, it's time to take a closer look at Danny's school experiences, as well as Sam's. I'm anxious to reveal Danny's ghost half to Sam, but I'm trying to slow myself down a little and keep a good plot pace . (:
How about some suggestions on how he should be caught? And please, give me some tips on what you think makes a good story! Your input is always appreciated!
R&R!
The next day...
Slam!
The lockers closed in on Danny Fenton, making the air stuffy and hot as he heared manical laughter from outside beginning to fade away. He was getting really tired of this.
With just a bit of concentration and a feeling of pins and needles, Danny slipped out of the locker using intangibility. The halfa took in a breath of fresh air and ruffled his hair with a sigh.
"I don't see why you keep letting them do that to you." His best friend said, approaching with his PDA in hand. Danny found his backpack on the ground and slung it over his shoulder.
"It'd be weird if weak little Danny Fenton could suddenly take down a ton of jocks," Danny scowled. Tucker snorted.
"Yeah, but they'd be too stupid to figure out something's up."
"But other people aren't," Danny said with a sigh, walking in the direction to homeroom. "People notice things, Tuck. If a wimpy nerd could suddenly take on five jocks at once, don't you think they'd be a little suspicious?"
"Not really," came the breezy response, to which the ghost boy rolled his eyes.
"That's because you're used to it."
"Yeah, probably."
The duo continued down the hall, keeping close to the lockers to avoiding running into someone. Well that, and not wanted to get tripped by the populars again.
Tucker fiddled with his PDA as he trailed behind his friend, who stared blankly forward. He was still a little sleepy from being up so late. Last night he'd gotten home almost an hour later than usual. And after, he couldn't get adequate sleep due to his mind being plagued by a... peaceful encounter with nice, pretty-eyed, non-hating non-obsessive Sam Manson.
Danny's face heated up a little.
'Danny paused, staring at her. "...Yeah," he finally nodded. "You know, you have really unnatural eyes."
Sam looked down, eyebrows furrowed. "I know. It's really freaky."
"Oh, no." He laughed. "Coming from a person with glowing green eyes, I didn't mean it like that."
She looked back up at him, curious.
"I mean, I've never seen that color before. It's really pretty."
"Oh." Sam murmured, turning beet red. Danny's cheeks tinted slight pink as the girl across from him blushed. "I...see. Thanks, I guess."
"Uh, yeah." He coughed, looking away and scratching the back of his neck. "No problem.." '
The halfa's hand reached up behind his neck. Jeez, what did he think he was doing, saying something like that? He was a horrible flirt, and once he said that it just got awkward.
'Bah,' Danny thought, his head slumping a bit. 'Not like I'll ever see her again. Tuck's right, she probably goes to some rich kid school...'
With that last thought, he sighed, dragging his head back up to look for his classroom.
Pretty, bright, amethyst eyes stared back at him.
With an electric shock running up his back, Danny watched as a raven-haired girl walked towards him from down the hall. He felt locked, her eyes peering at him as she reached closer and closer.
What would he say? Did she recognize him? And why was she still staring at him?
Danny halted at the corner of the hallway, his heart beating erratically. Behind him, Tucker bumped into his friend's back, looking up from his PDA in annoyance. "Dude, what-?"
"That's her!" Danny said in a frantic, hushed tone. Tucker looked confused.
"The rich girl?" He asked. Danny's eyes widened as his shoulders raised. "Yes!"
"Oh, where?" His friend asked, becoming excited. Danny thumbed across the hall to the nearing female.
"That's her?" Tucker raised an eyebrow. "The creepy goth girl?"
"No! I mean, yes!" Danny slapped his forehead. "She's not creepy."
"She looks like a vampire," the other boy commented. "And she's coming this way."
Danny turned quickly, watching with wide eyes as she walked closer and closer and...
...Walked right past him.
He blinked, Tucker looking back and forth between his friend and the goth girl. "Uh, Danny?" He grinned with a knowing expression.
"...What?"
"I don't know if you recall or not, but the night you talked to her? Yeah, you were Phantom."
"...Oh."
"Welp," Tucker laughed, patting his friend on the back and walking ahead of him. "You sure overreacted."
Danny's face turned hot. "Shut up."
"You act like a chick when you're freaking out."
The halfa sent his friend an embarrassed glare, then stomped into his classroom with his best pal laughing behind him.
"Move it, freak."
The beautiful Latina chick shoved Sam Manson into the lockers with a flick of her dainty hand. Sam glowered.
"You are such a priss, Paulina." Sam growled, giving the girl a scathing glare. Paulina only flipped her hair in response.
"Don't be jealous, vampire girl." The latter girl said coolly, walking off with her posse. Sam cursed under her breath and walked off into the hall in a bad mood.
Surprisingly, she calmed herself down much faster than usually. She'd been in a chipper mood lately, despite the arguments with her parents. She wondered why, knowing that she hadn't changed anything in her routine lately. She had no friends and no one to hang out with, so it couldn't be a boost in her social life either. So then, what was it?
'Danny paused, staring at her. "...Yeah," he finally nodded. "You know, you have really unnatural eyes."
Sam looked down, eyebrows furrowed. "I know. It's really freaky."
"Oh, no." He laughed. "Coming from a person with glowing green eyes, I didn't mean it like that."
She looked back up at him, curious.
"I mean, I've never seen that color before. It's really pretty."
"Oh." Sam murmured, turning beet red. Danny's cheeks tinted slight pink as the girl across from him blushed. "I...see. Thanks, I guess."
"Uh, yeah." He coughed, looking away and scratching the back of his neck. "No problem.." '
Sam blushed at memory. She'd never actually been flirted with before. Besides the looks she'd get from the local goth boys from the clubs, and the occasional check-out from the boy from Skulk and Lurk. And to top it off, it had been ghost hero Danny Phantom.
But then again, he didn't really flirt with her. He just said her eyes were pretty. Did that count as flirtation, or just a compliment? Either way, it was a nice experience.
She remembered the way his face had turned red after she said his first name. Her ears burned.
Her cheeks felt tight, she noticed, and then she realized she'd been smile. Strange, considering this was the first time she smiled in a long while. Well, not counting the sadistic grins and sarcastic smirks. This was a real, honest to goodness smile. She felt her entire body seem lighter, and she walked through the hall with ease.
Across the hall, some boy caught her eye and froze. She stared at him, confused. Did she know the guy? If she remembered right, it was that clumsy kid everyone made fun of, and Dash's favorite victim.
Okay, she knew the guy. But not directly. So why was he continuously staring at her?
Suddenly feeling self-conscious, which was again, very strange for her, she looked past the strange boy.
Yet out of peripheral vision she could see him talking to his friend behind her. As she neared closer, she could faintly make out some conversation.
"...ere?"
The blue-eyed boy pointed his thumb at her.
The other boy looked confused. "...ats...er?" He raised his eyebrow. "The ...epy...oth girl?"
Creepy goth girl. Of course.
"No! ... Yes!" The other boy slapped his forehead. "...not creepy."
Sam flushed as the boy stood up for her. Did he know her?
"She looks like a vampire." The other boy commented, and said girl resisted the urge to punch him. "And she's coming this way."
The two stared at her, one nonchalant and the other wide-eyed and red-faced. She walked right past them.
She tuned out the rest of their conversation as her face remained red, and quickly darted off to her first period class.
That boy, she didn't know personally, seemed to know her. She didn't recall them ever meeting, though.
And yet, her heart had a fluttery feeling.
He had stood up for her.
A few minutes from dismissal, the halfa was falling asleep on his desk.
'Getting about four hours of sleep is really taking its toll,' he thought as his eyelids drooped. Lancer was at the board, going on about some test tomorrow or something. Danny couldn't really understand; he was so tired he was sure he was going to doze off.
"...Mister Fenton..."
Danny tried to keep his head up, but his arm felt weak and could no longer support his chin.
"Mister Fenton."
He blinked, feeling his eyes close for about three seconds before blearily forcing them open. They went about half way, until they turned to slits.
"Mister Fenton!"
"What!" Danny yelped, jolting up from his seat with his eyes barely open. He looked around, his vision blurry as he heard laughter all around him.
"Well, considering your condition," Mr. Lancer crossed his arms, "I assume you didn't get proper notes."
"Uh..." Danny trailed off and looked down at his blank notebook.
"If you really find my lesson so boring you feel the urge to sleep," the bald teacher scowled, "I'm afraid you'll have to make them up yourself without my aid, in detention."
Danny groaned, rubbing his eyes as the snickers began to subdue.A bright pink slip with the word 'DETENTION' written in thick, block letters was placed on his desk. He sighed, wondering how he'd make it through the hour without falling asleep.
The bell rang, and he picked up his things and began his way to the detention room.
A certain violet-eyed goth scowled at her science teacher.
"Miss Manson, I understand your concern," the teacher said, obviously irritated. "But these animals were bred and raised to be dissected, not taken out of their habitat abruptly."
"How does that make it right?" The girl argued back, arms crossed. "Animals are animals, and no matter how you put it they are still born to die. It's cruel, unusual punishment that should be made illegal."
The mentor sighed, rubbing her temples. "They are just animals, Samantha. They are giving a single shot at the peak of their health and age that gives them a painless death, which enables us to use their bodies for science in a more humane way than just unnatural selection and slaughter."
"Just animals?" Sam cringed at her full name, but otherwise ignored it. "They are beings of this earth and we have taken away their homeland! If they were born and raised to be killed, how is it any better than to picked from their natural habitat? Either way, they're going to die! Animals feel pain too, you know!"
"Yes, but, they were well cared for during their lifetime."
"Before we decide to slice 'em and dice 'em." The goth snorted. "You're saying that as long as the animal is taken care of and born for that purpose, it's okay to kill them? What if you bred a human being, raised them to be healthy, and decided to kill them and use their bodies for science? Would that be fair? Hmm? Because we seem to be doing that to every other species on this planet!"
"Samantha Manson, I will NOT have that kind of morbid speaking in my classroom!" The teacher roared, reaching her peak. Sam held her tongue, tense.
"I will see you after school today, in detention, where you can make up the assignment by writing a multiple paged essay since you ever so rudely refused to do it!"
The class was silent. Sam frowned, and glared at the floor. "Fine."
"Good," the teacher spoke, her face red and her tone weary. "Now class, finish your assignments tonight and turn them in by tomorrow. Have a nice day, and have an...educational time in detention, Miss Manson."
Sam held back a snark reply, and packed up her things. She gave her science teacher one last heated glare as she snatched the hot pink detention slip from her hand. As the girl stormed out of the classroom, the science teacher leaned heavily on her desk. Kids these days.
Sam crumpled her detention slip and shoved it into the recycling bin, feeling more agitated and angry than she had in her last period. Everyone was the same- taking the animals for granted and treated them as if they were below us. It disgusted her.
She shoved the detention door open, not bothering to look up at her other trouble-making classmates. She didn't care who was there, so long as they kept their mouths shut she wouldn't have to rip them a new one.
Danny Fenton looked up at Sam in surprise and mild fear.
'What's she so mad about?' He thought, watching curiously as she shoved her notebook on her desk and heatedly rummaged to find a pen. He watched in caution as she found on, clicked it open and clenched it so hard her knuckles turned white, then began furiously writing. The halfa was two desks away, watching her out of the corner of his eye. He could only hope she wouldn't snap out at him.
Suddenly she looked up, and looked around the classroom. Her eyes set on him, widened, then narrowed as he gulped. So much for hope.
"Where's the teacher?" She asked, fighting to control her temper. If she was in a better mood, she probably would have turned pink at the sight of the boy she so fondly remembered from this morning.
Said boy stuttered slightly, feeling threatened by her vicious aura. "H-he's um... Mr. Lancer said.. said he'd be in here in a few minutes.."
Sam calmed slightly, seeing the frightened look on the clumsy boy's face. "Sorry about my bad attitude," she muttered, rolling her eyes as her mother came to mind. "I had a bad eighth period."
"Oh... s'okay.." Danny murmured in response, looking down at his own notebook and English text. He wished he could say more, but he was too afraid to set her off again.
The halfa tried to focus on writing his notes, but to no avail as the girl a few desks down let out a frustrated sigh and turned to face him.
"You know how today is frog dissection day?" She asked, more so demanded as he nodded vigorously. Settling sideways in her chair, she huffed in annoyance. "My teacher tried to make me split open a frog, and I flipped out on her."
Danny raised his eyebrows "Um, why?" He inquired, turning to face her as well.
"Because it's cruel and unjust animal abuse!" She exclaimed, causing Danny to wince at the tone in her voice. She slumped slightly, noticing his reaction. "Sorry, I'm still kind of upset over it."
"I can see that," he noted, accepting her apology. "But I get what you're saying. I never liked picking at frog guts. It's gross, and I'd hate to be in the frog's place."
"Exactly!" Sam grinned. "Finally, someone who gets it! You should've seen Dash. He thought the stomach was the heart."
"For a guy like Dash, the stomach and the heart are the same thing." Danny replied dryly. Sam giggled slightly. Danny's cheeks turned pink at the sound. 'She laughs kinda... cute,' he thought, watching her eyes crease up as she smiled.
"Anyway, I downright refused to do the assignment, which is why I'm here." She gestured to the classroom and her notebook. "So what'd you do to get jailed?"
"Ha," Danny shook his head humorously at the joke. "I almost fell asleep in English. Lancer caught me."
"Oh... that boring, huh?"
"Well yeah, that too. But I didn't really get good sleep last night. I came home kind of late."
"Same here."
Danny stared at her as she looked up at the ceiling, probably thinking about the previous encounter. She smiled slightly, then looked back at her new found acquaintance. "I'm Sam. Sam Manson. Call me Samantha and I will hurt you."
Danny smiled uncertainly, not sure if she meant it or not. "Danny Fenton. Don't call me Daniel though, I hate that name."
"Why do parents give us such stupid names?" Sam rolled her eyes. "I mean, not really stupid, it's just I like Sam so much better than Samantha. I wish I just could've been Sam in the first place."
"Same here," the boy shook his head. "I hate it when people call me Daniel. It makes me sound like some stuffy, stuck up prince... or something."
The goth bit her lip and fought laughter. "...or something." She smiled.
"I hope you two are done socializing, because it's time to get started on your assignments." Lancer spoke as he entered the room, a large book in hand. Sam and Danny gave each other one last glance before turning to do their work.
The clock ticked again and again, the minutes passing by.
Occasionally they'd hear Lancer flip a page in his book. Other than that, the only sounds in the room were the scribbling of pens and the ticking of the clock.
Halfway through, Lancer stood up. The pair looked up at him as he neared the door.
"I'm going to the men's room," he stated, giving the two teens a stern gaze. "Behave."
As the door shut, Sam slumped back in her chair and sighed as Danny stretched his arms and yawned.
"Man, I'm so close to passing out right now." He mumbled, rubbing his eyes with his fists. Sam's eyes widened as she thought of something, then went rummaging through her backpack. He glanced at her curiously.
"Wait a sec, I got something." She said, reaching in and grabbing whatever she found. She pulled her arm out, fist enclosed on something small. Danny stared at her in confusion.
She moved her bag and notebook onto the desk to her right, one desk closer to the boy. She then climbed over her desk and reached out with her closed fist. "Here."
After a moment of hesitation, he extended his hand and accepted whatever she had dropped into his palm. He recognized it as candy.
"It's super sugary, so it should keep you awake for a while." She smiled, sitting back into her new desk. He blinked and thanked her quietly.
Unwrapping it and tossing the garbage into his bag, he popped the light purple square into his mouth. His eyes widened as an explosion of sugar and tang erupted on his tongue. "Woah," he mumbled.
Sam chuckled. "Yeah, I know."
After giving the surprising chewy candy a hardy chew and swallowed, he found himself slowly coming out of his sleepy stupor.
"Uh, thanks... again."
"No problem."
The door clicked open and, yet again, Lancer entered the room. He sent Sam a confused stare as he noticed something odd about the seating, but shook his head and brushed it off. Sam grinned, earning the same expression from Danny.
The next half of detention went by much faster, and the two finished their assignments just before their bald watchman stood up to announce detention over. The duo gleefully packed up their belongings, and, with a speedy farewell, left their teacher to eat their dust.
"Whatever candy that was, it kept me wide awake." Danny grinned as he walked side by side with his new buddy. "It tasted great, too!"
"I know," Sam snickered, adjusting her backpack strap as she grinned at Danny. "My grandma gets them from a friend in the Philippines."
"Wow, so far." Danny said in surprise.
"Not really," Sam shrugged. "I mean, it's just a plane ride or two away. And we usually get it by mail in less than a week."
"Hey, Danny!"
The goth and halfa looked ahead at the sound of a new voice. Tucker speed-walked over to them, his trusty PDA in his hand.
"Hey Tuck." Danny greeted, watching as his best friend approached. "What're you still doing at school?"
"Oh so loyally waiting for my best friend, duh." Tucker rolled his eyes, catching sight of the goth beside Danny. "And who's this lovely lady?" He asked, getting his flirt on. It was now Danny's turn to roll his eyes.
"This is Sam Manson," he said with a pointed look. Tucker grinned slyly.
"Nice to meet you, Sam." Tucker smiled, giving the girl a flirtation wink. "The name's Tucker. Tucker Foley. Try not to wear it out!" She cringed.
"I hope you're not hitting on me," she said, and when Tucker opened his mouth to respond she quickly added, "because if you are then I might puke on you."
Tucker's facade faltered. "Uh... okay. My bad." He laughed nervously, stepping slightly away from the girl.
"Anyway," Danny broke in, saving the techno geek from further embarrassment. "Tuck, wanna hit the Nasty Burger?"
"Sure," he chirped happily, turning to Sam as though her previous statement was forgotten. "Wanna join us?"
Sam looked up at the clock, and realized she only had about twenty minutes to get home. She smiled apologetically at Tucker. "Sorry, I gotta get home before my parents skin me alive." She turned to Danny with a slight smile. "It was nice meeting you... two."
"Yeah," he swallowed and smiled awkwardly, fighting a blush. "You too."
Her cheeks tinted pink as she smiled at the halfa. "Bye Tucker. See you around, Danny."
Danny waved feebly as she walked off, to which Tucker called, "Later, Sam!" Before turning to smirk at his best buddy.
"Is it just me, or are you stalking that chick?" He laughed.
Danny turned red. "Shut up, Tuck." He said, hiking his shoulder strap higher and setting off to the Nasty Burger. "We ended up in detention together."
"I see, I see." Tucker turned his head to the sky, dramatically. "The fates have decided a soulmate for our dear ghost boy, and it is the beautiful gothic creature Sam Manson!"
With a flash of light and a gust of wind, Tucker found himself alone at the Casper High exit.
"Hey!" He called out to the sky, "Wait up!"
Feedback? How'd I do? (:
Was it good? Bad? Any tips? I aim to please!
Thanks for reading!
~12Hues