Here's the next chapter. I'm really liking how this story is coming together and I hope you guys are too. Thank you for all the support! Feel free to leave a review as well!

I wasn't sure what exactly to expect the next day at school. I had briefly told Tucker that Danny and I "talked," but then decided to ignore him when he started bombarding me with questions. I swear he is worse than my mother sometimes.

I woke up early, unable to sleep from the nervous feeling growing in my stomach. I think they were butterflies, the same kind that a kid gets on the night before Christmas or while counting down to a vacation. I didn't like this feeling.

My mind was strictly reserved for Danny at the moment. I wondered if he thought of me as much as I thought of him, although I doubted it.

My cheeks burned as I remembered how he had embraced me near my window. I wished I could still feel his arms around me but by now it was already just a memory. Gosh, that sounded awful. I really was turning into your classic, love-sick, teenage girl. Expect my inner monologue to star in the next rom com.

If Danny was to be my friend again, then I was no doubt excited. It was enough to get me out of bed a whole hour earlier than usual. I was ready for school, left to count down the minutes until I could appropriately leave. It was the longest 45 minutes of my life.

My mom was left in shock to see that I had been ready for the day long before she was. She called after me, most likely wanting to have a morning bonding session, but I yelled back a quick goodbye, not stopping for a second for her.

The sun was still rising when I stepped outside. A blue hue spread across the streets and the buildings crammed along it.

Amity Park wasn't a big city, but it was still a city nonetheless. Life began early here. Already, cars raced up and down the roads. It was the beginning of the first rush hour.

On my walk to school, my eagerness began to fade away. I was still in the conflict where Danny believed that Tucker and I were actually dating, even though the idea of it was completely outrageous.

A part of me wanted to believe that Tucker was right about Danny being jealous, but there was still Valerie I had to worry about. I should've asked Danny what had happened between them yesterday, but I was too caught up in his presence alone.

My strides began to slow. I decided that I would take my time on my walk to school, even though I was already halfway there by now.

I was beginning to actually hate having a brain, it caused me to overthink way too much.

When I finally stepped inside, there was still 20 minutes until class started. The hallways were barely crowded. Some kids sat on the floor along the walls, finishing last night's homework.

I spotted Tucker hanging around my locker. He was impatiently tapping his foot while typing away at his PDA, probably trying to occupy his time while waiting for me.

I contemplated turning away and going back home, just to avoid him. Tucker is going to be rather annoyed that I didn't come clean to Danny, or that I had been ignoring him for most of the night.

"Sam!" his head snapped up at me with a somewhat eager smile plastered across his face. A gave him a weak grin while proceeding to unlock the handle. "Why weren't you answering any of my calls or texts last night?" Jeez he really was starting to sound like my boyfriend.

I nonchalantly shrugged my shoulders. "Sorry," I really wasn't. "I guess I got caught up."

Tucker rolled his eyes at me. "What were you and Danny doing last night?" I saw the twitch of a sly grin in his expression. Oh, he sure thought of himself as sneaky.

"Nothing at all," I narrowed my eyes at him. "We just talked for a couple of minutes and then he left."

"Did he tell you why he was acting so strange?" Tucker pressed.

I shook my head. Whatever Serena had told him surely seemed to affect Danny. Hopefully she'll be over soon. I recalled the bits of information I had learned about her yesterday. It was a good start in figuring out her motives and stopping her.

"No, but get this," I held his attention, "Serena used to go here."

Tucker cocked an eyebrow, "You mean to this school?"

I nodded my head. The only other known ghost to have gone to Casper High was Poindexter, and he was more of an annoyance than a threat. I had actually ended up feeling bad for the guy, even though he did ultimately try to take over Danny's body and trap him inside a locker but those are little details. Poindexter was still the victim of relentless bullying. Maybe Serena was a victim too.

"I actually went to the library yesterday," I continued with the nod of my head. "I found a few yearbooks with her in them. You can see the year she died and all."

"Did you tell Danny this?"

"No," the few seconds that my mind had not been on Danny were destroyed. "I will today, probably during lunch."

Tucker waggled his eyebrows at me. I swear he puts too much emotion into them. I wouldn't be surprised if one day they just hopped off his forehead and walked away.

"So you guys are really on speaking terms now?" he mentioned suggestively.

"Not that it changes much," I half whimed. "He still thinks we're dating."

Tucker dramatically sighed, throwing his hands in the air. "Why won't you just tell him? Can't you see how relieved Danny would be? Or I would be?"

"It's not that easy," I groaned. I was more than ready to return the attitude that Tucker had developed. "He still has Valerie and I can't think of a good excuse as to why we would fake date."

Tucker thoughtfully looked me over. I purposely looked towards the ceiling, feeling uncomfortable under his gaze.

"You know, Sam," I could have sworn Tucker sounded somber, "maybe you don't need an excuse. Maybe you should just tell him the truth."

I didn't answer Tucker. I wasn't going to further push my habit of avoiding the truth when I already knew it was wrong. Sometimes it felt necessary while others it seemed just plain idiotic, in this situation it was a cross in the middle.

I slammed my locker shut, hoping that Tucker would take the hint that I was ready to talk about something else, anything else. "Let's focus a bit on Serena, okay?"

Tucker nodded his head. "Weird chick, I don't like her." I rummaged through the stack of books I held onto. I pulled out one of the yearbooks I had remembered to bring with me and handed it to Tucker. He flipped through the pages until he stopped on the memorial page in her honor.

"She manipulates people into saying things they usually wouldn't," I was sure to speak hushed so that only Tucker could hear me, "or things you would hide. I think her hatred towards liars has something to do with her death. Maybe someone betrayed her."

"Well I hope we find out soon cause so far simple hand to hand combat hasn't been working in Danny's favor. She must have a weakness."

Tucker stopped in front of the classroom door. He looked inside where Lancer sat alone at his desk. I squinted my eyes at the cover, recognizing the book as a notorious smut story. I haven't read it myself, but all the housewives have. I always knew Lancer was somewhat of a pervert.

"She used to go here, right?" I nodded my head to confirm his statement. "Well right there is an adult who had been teaching since the Stone Age," Tucker motioned his thumb at the older man. "I bet Lancer knows something."

I glanced between Tucker and Lancer, wondering how I could casually ask him about a dead girl.

Tucker did have a point though. Lancer was the only teacher who had worked at Casper High through the 90's that I talked to on a daily basis, by force of course. While I'm certain that there must have been at least one other teacher who had worked here longer than him, I barely knew of any of them.

"No one else is in the room yet," I murmured looking around. "I guess now is better than ever."

Lancer didn't spare a glance at me as I pulled the door opened. He was still caught up in his book as both Tucker and I walked up to the front of his desk. I cleared my throat after a moment of awkwardly staring at him.

Lancer jumped up slightly. His forehead turned red as I saw a bead of sweat drip down the side of his face. Tucker and I spared a glance between one another as he frantically shoved the book away into a drawer.

Lancer tried to regain his composure as best as he could. "And how can I help you two?" A fake smile slowly spread across his face as he intertwined his hairy knuckles.

"Um, I have a question about a family friend that you may have known of," I lied. How ironic: I was lying to find out more about a ghost who hates lying.

Lancer arched an eyebrow at me.

I turned to Tucker, who opened reopened the yearbook to a picture of Serena. The instant Lancer saw the picture, I saw his eyes widen ever so slightly. It was enough for me to know that he recognized her.

"Serena Valentine," Lancer thoughtfully murmured to himself. He brought a hand up to his chin and scratched the area. "Why do you want to know about her?"

"Family friend," I repeated right away, "like I had said."

Lancer nodded slowly, still thinking silently to himself. "So what do you want to know? Wouldn't your parents be a better source of information?" Lancer finally asked.

"My mom and her mom were friends," I continued on with my fake story. "My mom used to live in Chicago, so during Serena's high school years she wasn't exactly in Amity Park. It had always bothered her that she never knew exactly how Serena died. So I was wondering if, on my poor mother's behalf, you could shed some light on the situation?"

In some miraculous way, Lancer bought the story. It was a bit of a stretch really, and I hadn't expected him to give in so easily.

Lancer sighed heavily, "She was a student of mine once. I had her during her freshman and senior years of high school."

Many times before, Tucker and I had joked about how old Lancer was, but now I was really starting to see how he's aged. He looked worn and tired, as if something was haunting him. Maybe teaching after so many years was more stressful than he thought it would be, surely he had not expected to deal with a haunted high school.

"Serena-," Lancer paused as he tried to collect his thoughts, "Serena was a nice girl. She was smart and successful in her student career. As a teacher, you tend to notice things. As I notice some students pick on you, back then I noticed that Serena was bullied heavily her freshman year."

I couldn't help but feel some contempt towards the man. He had seen Danny get shoved into lockers multiple times before and had never done anything. I wonder how many of his students suffered because he wouldn't step in and help them.

"By senior year," Lancer continued, "she wasn't just academically successful, she was also very popular. She actually hung around the kids who used to torment her the most. In her last few weeks attending here"- a.k.a. Serena's last few weeks of being alive- "I noticed a shift in this. Her friends had once again turned on her. I guess she couldn't handle it because before anyone knew it, she never showed up to school again. She jumped off a cliff."

I clenched and unclenched my fists at Lancer's word choice. No one should have to "handle" bullying. While he probably didn't mean to sound so biased about it, he did. Lancer always managed to defend the bullies. He favored Dash or Paulina over me any day just because of their social status.

I hoped he felt guilty for never stepping in.

"That's it?" Tucker sounded unconvinced at my side.

Maybe Serena did commit suicide, but what did those kids do that was so bad? There had to be more.

"That's all I know of," Lancer heaved another sigh.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek. "What about the names of the kids who harassed her?"

Lancer opened his mouth to answer, but before he got a word out a group of students suddenly came into the classroom. Their louder demeanor cut Lancer off from furthering the conversation.

He stood up at his desk. "I'm going to get my coffee," Lancer quickly, or as quick as he could, spun on his heel away from us, "I suggest you two take your seats."

Tucker and I shared one last look before heading to the back of the room. I hadn't even sat for a second when a sudden extremely familiar voice was right by my side.

"Hey guys," Danny gave us a small wave. Oh boy did he look uncomfortable.

Tucker didn't seem to notice the tension when he eagerly waved back. "Danny! I didn't even see you come in!"

"I guess you could say I was as invisible as a ghost," Danny joked. I inwardly groaned at his awful attempt of humor.

"I wished you'd be as quiet as a ghost," I couldn't help but tease.

Danny frowned at me, holding the most serious expression I've ever seen on him. "You should know by now that ghosts aren't quiet in any way."

I grinned at him. This brief moment felt right. It was almost as if we were back to normal. Almost.

Danny stiffened when I noticed his eyes dart between Tucker and I. Maybe it was obvious, but I could tell he was physically straining himself to keep calm.

So Danny was still upset over Tucker and I dating, even though it wasn't true. I couldn't help but think back to how much Tucker tried to insist that he was just jealous. As much as I hoped for it to be true, something was holding me back from accepting it.

I thought back to seeing Phantom and Valerie sitting side by side alone. The image was going to be bored into my brain for the rest of eternity, I just knew it.

Last night Danny and I hadn't talked about it. Although I wanted to ask him about it, I also didn't want him to realize I had been crying over him, even though he was likely going to be asking about it at some point.

My mind kept bouncing back and forth between the images of Valerie and the feeling of Danny holding me. I had the strong urge to hug him back. I didn't like this feeling, my arms literally ached to hold him.

"You sure are early," Tucker commented.

Danny walked around me and took a seat at the desk on the other side of Tucker. "Jazz actually gave me a ride to school today." He brought his hand up to rub the back of his messy hair, "I don't know about her though. I feel like she's up to something. All she's been wanting to do is 'talk' lately. I hate when she plays therapy with me."

"Talk about what?" I wondered out loud.

Danny's head snapped towards me. His eyes were widened slightly, allowing for the blueness in them to intensify. I raised an eyebrow when I noticed a redness grow in his cheeks. "Um- nothing," he stuttered. "You know Jazz, always saying crazy stuff."

"I could say the same about you," I muttered.

Tucker snickered, which earned him a punch on the shoulder from Danny. He grumbled something incoherent while rubbing the assaulted area.

I took this as my opportunity to get to business. "I found some things out about Serena." I once again met the gaze of Danny. I gave him the rap about how I went to the library and found her in several yearbooks. I left out how Serena had met me on the front school steps, feeling as if that bit wasn't necessary.

"Maybe mentioning those students could be her weakness," Danny thoughtfully pondered. "I mean I could distract her during a confrontation and then one of you guys could pull out the thermos."

"Do you think it's enough?" I wondered.

Danny shrugged, "It could be. Whatever they had done to her was enough to push her over the edge, literally."

Neither Tucker or I laughed at Danny's lame pun. We both gave him a look of mutual disappointment before turning to the front of the room as Lancer had returned to begin his lecture.

The rest of the day was somewhat returned to the normalcy that I was comfortable with. We danced around the topic of Tucker and I "dating," much to my relief.

Although, it did get on my nerves that Tucker would cast me a look that said something along the lines of, "You should just tell Danny right now that we aren't dating so you two can admit your feelings for each other and live happily ever after," every time Danny's head turned in another direction.

Part of me wanted to see Serena today, but there was no sign of her anywhere. Every time Danny's ghost sense went off, it was just a regular such as box ghost. I wonder if she was purposely staying away, although I doubt she had anything to lose since she was already dead.

I would have preferred to run into her rather than Valerie, any ghost would've been better. Valerie wasn't a bad person despite my habit of disliking her presence. She was a regular teenage girl, save for the whole ghost-huntress thing, but I couldn't judge her for doing that since hunting ghosts was my nightly ritual.

All I had needed was one more minute and I could've avoided her, just one more minute and I would've been out of this school.

"So you and Danny are friends again?"

I outwardly groaned, hoping that she would take the obvious hint and leave. "Not that it's any of your business, Valerie, but we had always been friends." I turned my head to look her over. I was shocked to see a bruise ringing around her left eye. Her darker skin made it less noticeable, but if you stood as close to her as I had it would be the only thing you could see

"What happened to your face?" I bluntly asked with a slightly nicer tone.

Valerie just rolled her eyes. "It's nothing," she obviously lied.

I thought back to everything that had happened yesterday. Danny fled his fight with Serena and ended up at my house, that probably left Valerie to hunt more ghosts than she was used to. I hate to admit that she has a notable skill, but her technology could only take her so far without ghost abilities of her own.

"Was it that ghost with the red hair?"

Valerie narrowed her eyes at me, "How do you know about her?"

I was surprised she didn't try to deny any associations with the ghost, usually Valerie would play dumb.

"Um -yeah," I stammered. "I saw her yesterday in the hallway," even though I wasn't at school during the time of the attack.

Valerie's expression slackened as if she had nothing to suspect. "Yeah, I guess you could say I got in the way," she glanced down at the floor. Something was bothering her.

"But that's it!" Valerie hastily added, snapping her head up.

Before I could even respond, Valerie took off down the hallway. "I gotta go," I heard her murmur without a single glance back at me.

That exchange surely was weird. I was expecting her to taunt me more, but we barely argued.

The unusual behavior had quickly slipped my otherwise preoccupied mind of a certain dark haired, blue eyed boy until later that evening.

Danny sent me a brief but self-explanatory message that he wanted help on ghost patrol for the night. We, Tucker, Danny, and I, wanted to keep a close eye out for Serena. Danny tried to reason that I might also be a target for her, so it was best for all of us to stay together. I was conflicted between wanting to prove that I was an independent woman who could handle herself or being flattered at how protective Danny was being.

After very little protests, I agreed and decided to remain in the trio. Tucker was still bothering me to confess my "undeniable, everlasting love" for Danny. Somehow he remained oblivious to what we were arguing over. I decided to end the conversation by pulling Tucker's red beret over his face.

In a sudden flash of red and green, Serena fell from what appeared to be the top of a nearby building. Several branches from a tree were pulled down with her as she hit the cement. Despite being a ghost and immune to any real body injuries, she winced.

"Wow, talk about dropping in," Danny quipped.

Serena glared at Danny. She pushed herself back up before any of us could pull out the Fenton Thermos.

His green eyes met mine before he took off to the sky after her.

I thought back to yesterday, when Serena had sat on the front steps with me. Then, she seemed as if she just wanted to talk, but now she was back to her usual, wanting to destroy us self.

Valerie then came out, but now in her red hunter uniform. She flew down on the hoverboard paid by, yours truly, Vlad Masters. It was an easy assumption that she had been fighting Serena just seconds before. I remembered the bruise that had stained her face. If Serena gave it to her, it would only make Valerie more determined in battle.

Tucker and I glanced between one another. I felt pretty helpless on the ground. I lightly tossed the thermos from hand to hand, thinking of what I could do.

I pulled Tucker to the side when I saw a ghost ray soaring in our direction. He shot a glare up at Danny, who responded with a weak apology.

After the ectoplasma hit the ground near our feet, Serena spun her head in our direction. I had a feeling I was about to get pretty involved in this fight.

Serena reached out both of her arms before diving right towards me. I raised my arms to shield my face, bracing myself for impact.

"No!" I vaguely heard Danny yell as she pushed me through a wall and inside the nearest convenient store.

The wind was knocked out of me as I felt myself crash into stacked shelves. The metal bars felt like the weight of a full forced train. I groaned as I tried to pick myself up from the pile of doughnuts and medicine that mountained on top of me. The best that I managed was to prop myself up onto my elbows.

"I wasn't planning on running into the drug store until this weekend," I managed with another groan.

"Your jokes are almost as bad as that ghost boy's," Serena sneered. I snapped my head to see her staring down at me from the ceiling. Her eyes were glowing green as her mess of hair flared out, burning a bright, unnatural red. Maybe she was a little angry.

I picked up the nearest box, it was cough syrup, and chucked it at her as best as I could. I completely missed since I was feeling sore all over, yet my throw was still better than Danny's and Tucker's in gym class. Speaking of Tucker…

"Hey!" he complained as the medicine bounced off his head. "I come in here to save you and this is the thanks I get?"

"My hero," I deadpanned, not feeling particularly safe.

A cold hand gently touched my arm. I turned my head to my other side and found Danny looking at me with concern. He was so close that the tip of his hair tickled my forehead. Despite how cold the air around him was, I felt my face heat up.

"Are you okay?"

I gave him a lopsided grin, "As okay as slamming into a pile of metal and drugs would make me." Danny helped pull me up.

"Oh isn't that sweet," Serena mocked.

Danny instantly pulled his hand away. I had to remember that, in his mind, Tucker and I were together. For some reason, I felt very guilty in that moment.

"I don't have much of a sweet tooth," Danny lifted himself up into the air, "but how about a knuckle sandwich?"

Tucker brought a hand up to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose. Even Serena halted in her attack.

Danny looked around, recognizing our looks of disappointment. "That was a bit of a stretch, wasn't it?"

"Never say that again," I bluntly responded.

Before he could respond, a pink ray burst through the window and shot Serena squarely on the back. With a cry, she launched forward. Of course, out of every freaking place in this entire store, she just had to land on me. I'm sure by later tonight I'm going to be as purple as my lipstick.

Valerie came through the broken glass. "Ha! Take that!" she triumphantly boasted. I could see Valerie's head shift between looking at Tucker and I. "What are you two losers doing here?"

I decided to ignore the "losers" part. Wouldn't she know why we were here? She had to have known Danny was both Phantom and Fenton after yesterday, and as his best friends we would faithfully be here for him.

Could Valerie not have known of his secret? No. I saw her sitting with Danny Phantom.

"Can't a girl just buy some," I read the label of a random box in my hand, "irritated… skin… ointment?" Tucker raised an eyebrow. I could tell he was physically trying to contain his laughter.

Before Valerie could question me anymore, Serena pulled me up with her. Once again she was carrying me in her arms as she flew away. I was really starting to feel like a rag doll.

I felt a strange rush as we went up through several floors of the building. I saw flashes of different apartments as we sped through them. I could only imagine how confused some of the apartment residents must be.

When we broke through the final ceiling, Serena dropped me onto the roof as if I was nothing.

I remembered how Danny mentioned that just physical fighting didn't seem to be working with her. I decided that now would be a good time to use my words, and I mean the nice ones.

"Wait!" I called out before she could attack my once again. Serena froze in mid-movement, with a single fist raised in the air.

"What is it?" she spat.

I tried to think on the spot. I had to be brutally honest. If I lied, she would know for sure. "Why are you doing this?" I hoped that maybe she would feel like participating in story time, then I could get her side of her death.

She sneered, "Do I have to have a reason?" Serena bitterly laughed. She swung her arm in front of her. Simultaneously, I felt an invisible force knock me over.

By now, I felt so much pain that I barely comprehended the ache. I stood back up as quickly as I could. "I know you do," I further pressed. "Why else would you hate liars so much?"

I knew then that I had brought a temporary change to Serena. Her fiery hair began to die down as her limbs fell to her sides. Serena landed her feet on the ground and slowly walked towards me. I took a couple steps back, making sure the keep a consistent amount of feet between us.

"You really want to know?" Serena smiled at me, although I saw no joy behind it. Her eyes began to shimmer in the dark lighting of the night.

I gulped, "Yes. I heard about those kids who used to bully you, and how you jumped off a cliff."

As soon as I said that she froze in place. "You think that's all that happened, don't you?" She let out a brief sadistic laugh before regaining her composure. "You know nothing."

"Then tell me," my voice was shaking. I wasn't scared, but Serena's bipolar emotions was making her become unpredictable. "I'll understand you."

"They didn't just bully me," her voice was about to break. "They made me think we were real friends, that they cared about me. He convinced me that he loved me." Serena inhaled deeply as her unnecessary breaths became short and rapid. "I didn't jump off that cliff," she said in a much stronger voice, "I was pushed."

I gasped lightly. That surely was news.

Before I could respond, Serena's hair began to light up once again. It appeared as if flames were coming from the curls this time.

"I didn't kill myself," she yelled. "I was killed by liars like you!"

I was about to take another step back when I realized that I was standing on the edge of the building. Plummeting several stories onto the sidewalk was not my idea of a fun time, but apparently for her it was. My eyes widened when I realized that she was about to push me over, and I couldn't do anything.

Suddenly, green ectoplasm hit her side, knocking her over several feet. I breathed out the air I didn't realize I was holding in relief.

I knew it was Danny when I felt a pair of arms pull me from the edge.

"What took you so long?" I grinned at him, even though my hands were shaking. I couldn't stop the uncontrollable shiver.

Danny gave a sheepish smile, "Ghost hunter down there was kinda giving me a hard time for invading on what was apparently her catch."

Both of us turned our heads in Serena's direction. She was lying on the ground while half propped up by her arm. This was probably the weakest I've seen her.

"I don't get it," her voice was now quiet. Several tears began to run down her cheeks. "She lied to you, and you still care about her."

It was clear that Serena was now talking to Danny. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him turn his face towards me, but I purposely avoided meeting his look. I was becoming so anxious that I could've thrown up.

"What is she talking about, Sam?" He was so close it was hard to ignore him.

Serena smirked while she continued to cry. "Don't worry," she said in a sickly sweet tone, "she'll tell you."

In that instant I brought my hands up to my mouth. Serena flicked her wrist in the same moment, causing me to speak against my will. I thanked whoever was in the great beyond that I was quick enough to muffle my own voice.

Now would've been the perfect moment to pull out the thermos, but we were too caught up in the confrontation. Serena disappeared before Danny could throw another attack.

I wished he would have chased after her, but instead he stayed at my side.

"Sam," I finally turned to him, seeing a look of uttermost confusion on his face, "what did you just say?"

I really didn't want to have this conversation. "Um- nothing," I tried to laugh it off. He didn't laugh with me.

"Sam-"

"You let her get away!" I didn't think I had ever been so thankful for Valerie. She flew in over our heads before angrily turning to Danny, pointing an accusing finger at him. "I thought when we agreed to work together I wouldn't be doing all the work around here!"

Danny narrowed his eyes at her. I had never seen Danny annoyed with Valerie, but a part of me was liking it. "I had to protect Sam," he motioned to me with one hand still resting on my shoulder.

"How do you even know her?" Valerie suspiciously glanced at me. I pretended to not recognize her.

"I don't," Danny quickly defended himself, "but when I see a random civilian in trouble I have to save them as their hero." I snorted when I recognized Danny was using his "hero voice."

It suddenly clicked that they were speaking as if Valerie didn't know who Danny Phantom really was.

"Whatever," Valerie brushed off his excuse. "Just because I didn't attack you then doesn't mean we're friends now. Next time I expect you to actually help." After she spat her last words she took off, probably going to hunt down some other poor ghosts in an attempt to restore her pride.

"Guys!" A faint voice called out to us.

Danny and I looked at one another. A gust of wind blew my hair into my face, I didn't bother to push it out of the way.

"Guys!" I recognized it as belonging to a familiar technogeek. Danny's eyes widened as he probably had forgotten about Tucker just as I had.

We rushed to the edge of the building, peering over to see a tiny body frantically waving up at us.

"You guys left me behind!" he accusingly cried out.

Danny and I exchanged a half-guilty look. "No we didn't," I replied unconvincingly.

Tucker stopped waving. "Thanks for including me in your rooftop party," he sarcastically commented while beginning to pout.

I rolled my eyes, not bothering to explain how I was having the complete opposite of a fun time.

"Maybe next time you'll get to almost fall off a building," Danny retorted on my behalf.

Even though I almost died and had been thrown around a couple times, I couldn't stop thinking about how close Danny was to hearing me say that I liked him. I definitely wasn't ready for the truth. Not now, not ever.

Honestly one of my favorite parts of Danny Phantom is all the one liners he says when he fights ghosts.