Before I begin, I'd like to thank everyone for reading up to this point. I'm sure you're all enjoying this story, and I'm more then glad to continue to supply you with such entertainment. I am on spring break, and because I've been getting some seriously awesome love for this story, I'm writing another chapter. Now, I'd like to address a question that a few people asked me: Does Dark Dani have a chance of existence? The simple answer is: No. There shall NOT be any Dark Dani in this story, nor in any of the sequels. Sorry, I got nothing against her, and usually enjoy a story that's done well her, but I'm not going that route. However, though I cannot give you specific details, I can say that Danielle will be going to the Dark Side, so to speak. And no, it's not because they have cookies. Also, if you have any question after the chapter, I may be able to answer…or not. You'll have to ask and see. Lol. So, I hope you're ready, because it starts here:

Chapter 23: New Friends

Danielle tried to focus on her note taking, but with the constant nasty comments from her fellow classmates surrounding her, not to mention the multiple spitballs and crumpled up paper balls, she was finding it impossible. Holding her pencil limply in her hand, Danielle could only keep her eyes, which were red and slightly puffy, on her paper. She had learned early on during the lesson that it was best for her to not look up because people would only sneer and glare at her. Luckily, Mrs. Otree seemed to have noticed this as well, and refrained from asking her any questions.

Danielle wanted to look out of her peripheral to her left where he former best friend was sitting, but after the incident earlier where she had been left to the mercy of the student body with no one to help her, she knew it was pointless. Unbeknownst to Lin, Danielle had seen her looking and turning away when she had been on the floor crying. That hurt Danielle more than anything else because a small part of her held hope that Lin would help her when she most needed it. That small part no longer existed.

As the bell rang, and everyone gathered their things, Danielle made no attempt to move at all. As the students passed by, many of them shoved her chair or desk, snickering at her discomfort, but still, Danielle made no indication that she cared. Once everyone had cleared their way out of the room, Danielle placed her pencil into her backpack as well as her notebook.

"Dani?"

Looking up for the first time, Danielle looked at the only person left in the room, her teacher.

"Yes, Mrs. Otree?" she asked sadly, knowing where this was going.

"Are you feeling alright, dear? Your eyes are a little puffy," she said as she walked over to her desk and placed a hand on Danielle's shoulder. Danielle wanted to tell her so badly about what had happened earlier, but she knew it was pointless. There was nothing her teacher could do, and anything she did would probably only make things worse for Danielle. If that were even possible.

"I'm fine. I guess I'm just a little tired is all," she said as she tried to not look as broken as she really felt.

"Well…alright," she said, hesitantly. "But you know if you need someone to talk to, you can talk with me or Lindsey."

Danielle stiffened slightly at the mention of her former friend, but nodded her head. At least she had one person she could turn to if need me.

'But what good is one person who can't always be there for you?' she told herself as she stood and grabbed her backpack. Her steps were slow and hesitant as she headed to the door, much like they had been when she walked into the classroom. Raising her hands, she took off her denim beanie and shook out the loose spitballs from her raven colored locks. Behind her, Linda Otree raised a single hand to her mouth as each one fell to the ground. Of course she had warned all the students about spitballs and paper throwing, but she hadn't thought that they would have hit Danielle with so many without her seeing.

Placing her hat back on her head, Danielle exited the classroom and headed toward her next class.

By the time she made it to gym, Danielle was the only one in the girl's locker room, which she was beyond thankful for. She was already teased enough as it was for being small for her age, especially when it came to her chest and curves, but with the way things had been going, she could only imagine the kind of crazy assumptions people would make about her. Now that everyone knew she was a clone.

Adjusting her shirt over her belt, Danielle exited and entered the gym where everyone was conversing quietly while waiting for the teacher. A few people glared at her or turned away in disinterest, but Danielle ignored them as she stood against the back wall.

"Alright, settle down," the gym teacher said as he started to check off students on the list. "Today, we're gonna be playing dodgeball." Mixed groans and cheers came from the small group but the teacher seemed to ignore it. "Now, we're gonna pick teams. Ramses and Deirdre, you're captains."

The two stood in front of their classmates, and began the elimination process until all that was left was Melvin, the most uncoordinated person in class, and Danielle, who hadn't said a word as she continued to stand against the wall.

"I pick Melvin," Deirdre said.

"What!? No way, we don't wanna be stuck with the freak," Ramses protested.

"Well that's too bad because we already picked and if you don't, you'll be one short."

"Well I'd rather have that then have her on our team!" he shouted back. Though his words stung, Danielle said nothing, adverting her eyes to the ground in a mixture or rejection, shame and embarrassment.

"Alright, that is enough!" The teacher said in annoyance. "Ramses, Danielle is on your team, that's the end of it."

"Fine," he grumbled as Danielle left her place on the wall and walked over to her team. Everyone parted and moved away from her as if she was diseased, and Danielle could feel herself wanting to cry, but held the tears back. Why give her tormentors more ammunition? "Just don't get in the way, freak."

As the game started, one thing became very obvious to Danielle: everyone was out to get her. In the beginning of the game, she mostly stayed in the back, dodging any ball that came her way, and avoiding touching any because her teammates made it very clear to her that she was not supposed to. As their numbers began to thin out, her team was getting too short on numbers, and so Danielle was forced to go on the offensive as well. Luckily, she wasn't as weak as she feared without her powers, which seemed to upset the other team. Soon, they all began to throw balls at her simultaneously, but with Danielle's natural agility and the numerous times she had to dodge ecto-blast, she was able to avoid being hit, and a small spark of her old personality began to ignite.

"Hey, that's no fair! She's cheating!" A boy on the opposing team yelled.

"Yeah, she's probably using her powers to make it so we can't hit her or something," Deirdre yelled.

"No I'm not!" Danielle said, lifting her shirt slightly to show the silver belt. "I can't use any of my powers with this stupid thing on."

Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, Deirdre and her teammate picked up two rubber red balls, and tossed them as hard as they could at Danielle. Not having enough time to dodge, Danielle felt the impact as one hit her in the stomach and the other hit her face. As she hit the ground with a loud thud, Danielle brought her hands up to her face as the pain came at her full force, something she was not used to and didn't expect from something as light and bouncy as a rubber ball. A few drops of blood hit her hand as well as a few tears as she sat up and cradled her face as everyone laughed at her.

Danielle had never had a nose bleed before, but that wasn't the thing that shocked her the most. It was the fact that no one was even concerned about the fact that she had been hurt. Sure, no one liked her and they all thought she was a freak, but did they all hate her so much that they were willing to laugh at her pain?

A loud whistle flew through the air as the gym teacher walked over and kneeled in front of her, silencing everyone. Holding her chin slightly, he tilted her head back and examined as the red liquid came from her nose.

"Well, it doesn't look too bad," he said, as he let her go and handed her a paper towel. "You'd better get dressed and head to the nurse, but make sure you keep pressure on it."

"Ok," Danielle said, getting to her feet and holding her nose with the towel.

"Later, freak," Deirdre taunted, gaining a laugh out of the rest of her team while Danielle's team only scowled at the young phantom as if it were her fault she got hit.

"Deirdre, you're out," the teacher said in a no nonsense tone. "And you can get dressed as well because I'm giving you a zero for the day."

"What!? Why!?"

"You know the rules. Hitting someone in the face is an automatic out. Doing it intentionally gets you removed from gym for the rest of the day, and it's clear that what happened was done intentionally."

That was the last that Danielle heard before the locker room door closed. As she finished getting dressed, Danielle was starting to get a bit worried that her nose was still bleeding. She couldn't name the countless times she'd been wounded in battle or had flesh wounds, but each time, they would heal fairly quickly. But her nose hadn't begun to heal even the slightest, and that was something that worried her greatly.

'Why aren't I healing?' she thought to herself. With a sigh, she grabbed her backpack and headed back into the halls of the school to the nurse.

As she walked out of the nurse's office, still feeling a little unsettled at the way she was being stared at as well as the questions she asked about her differences between herself and regular people by the nurse, Danielle heard the bell ring, signaling that her lunch period had started. Grasping her backpack in her hands, Danielle turned toward the direction of the cafeteria where the sounds of student chatter could be heard, but instead of heading there to sit with her friends, Danielle turned on her heels and made a dash for the closest exit.

As she stepped onto the grass of the schoolyard, she headed straight for the completely empty playground, her inner child leading her to what she felt was a sanctuary. Her shoes made a pleasant crunch as they came into contact with the woodchips that were laid out so that the kids didn't hurt themselves, but Danielle paid it no attention as she headed for the one thing that she hoped would bring her comfort; the swing.

Dropping her bag by the pole next to her, Danielle plopped onto the unoccupied swing. Pumping her legs a little, just to get some motion, Danielle closed her eyes, imagining that she was flying over the city, something she hadn't done since the incident. For a few minutes, she just let the wind blow around her, trying to let all her problems seem weightless and fly away with her.

As she started to slow down, she began to let everything that'd been happening to her since the day started build up inside her chest. All the taunting, all the bullying in class and in gym, and let it all out in a loud cry as she let her tears flow and her soft sobs echo around her. Eventually, she came to a complete stop, and pulled her knees up as she let her emotions leave her body in a hurry.

"Well, ain't this a surprise."

Danielle, startled, looked up with a wet face to see a pale skinned boy with short blonde hair hidden under a dark brown balmoral that matched his eyes as he sat a top of the jungle gym. Danielle quickly wiped her eyes as she took in the brown cargo shorts and green shirt he was wearing as well as the green gym shoes, and recognized him from her first week when Lin was telling her about some of the more dangerous and infamous kids at the school.

"What's so surprising?" she asked, averting her gaze and trying to hide the disgust in her voice. "The freak girl being able to cry like a normal person?"

"Now don't get your pink panties in a bunch," he said, jumping down from his spot. Danielle could feel the heat rush to her face as she realized she was in a denim skirt, and though she knew she wasn't wearing pink underwear, decided it was better not take a chance. "I'm not here to make fun of you. The names-"

"I know who you are, Nicholas," she sneered as she climbed off of the swing and picked up her bag.

"Actually, I prefer Nick. Know-it-all Nick Hancock, at your service," he said as he removed his cap and bowed to her, though it didn't impress Danielle in the slightest.

"Again, I know who you are. What I don't know is what you want, and to be honest, I don't really care," Danielle said as she started to walk away. To her annoyance, she could hear his footsteps as he followed her further into the school yard.

"Now don't be like that. I'm only here to have a bit of a chat. You look like you could use a friend, especially with all the crap that happened to you this morning."

Danielle felt her heart drop into her stomach at his words, but she refused to let him get even a small amount of satisfaction at her pain. She had already had enough of that today to last her a life time.

"I don't need a friend, especially one like you, and I don't wanna talk. Why don't you just get lost like everyone else," she said as she spun around and glared at the nonchalant boy as he walked with his hands behind his head. "Besides, haven't you heard? I'm too dangerous to be around."

"Everyone needs a friend. You know, it was pretty cool the way you got back at the Turner twins for what they did to you. And I bet their lackeys wouldn't have even thought about doing anything to you if it weren't for that belt you got on. You're way too awesome and strong to let something like that get to you," he said with a smile as Danielle looked at him in confusion.

"Are you hitting me? Cause if you are, I'm not interested," she said as her mind wandered back to the school dance a few months ago with Youngblood. Though she was still a bit confused on her feelings for him, she didn't want to deal with that anytime soon.

"No, no. You got it all wrong. Like I said, I just want to chat," he said, walking past her and climbing into the nearby tree. Danielle's patience was beginning to evaporate, though to her own credit, she was surprised she had any at all.

"Look, Nicholas, I'm sure that you're a nice guy with good intentions and whatever. But I'm not interested in whatever this little game is that you're playing, so why don't you just get to the point of whatever it is you came for."

"Fine, fine," Nick said with a sigh, seeing that his smooth talking wasn't going to get him anywhere. "I'm here for the same reason I said before. You look like you could use a friend. I know what it's like to be an outcast. We all do."

"We?"

"The Renegades. I'm second in command, and it's basically my job to find kids like us that are in need of a place they can call home; a refuge where they can escape and not have to worry about their problems, even if it's just for a short amount of time."

"And you think I'm one of these kids?" Danielle asked.

"Well, based on what I've seen, all your friends have abandoned you. I'm also guessing that your family doesn't understand because if they did, they wouldn't have sent you back here."

"No, that's not it. My family…" Danielle paused, biting her lip. Though she hated to admit it, what he was saying was true, and she couldn't lie to herself that she hadn't thought the same thing. "Well, regardless, I'm not like you."

"Oh really? I heard about the dodgeball incident earlier today," he said with a cheeky smile that he knew irritated Danielle, and based on the look in her eyes, he knew he had it the nail on the head. "Do you know the kind of kids that come to us? Orphans, kids who have been bullied and abused, kids looking for protection. They come to us because they know we can help them, and that's why I came to you."

"Well, I'm not interested in whatever kinda service you guys are offering."

"Well, take this, just in case you change your mind," Nick said as he hopped out of the tree and handed her a piece of paper. With a smile and a tip of his hat, Nick turned around and headed back toward the entrance to the cafeteria. Danielle watched him walk until he disappeared inside before she opened her palm to find a slip of paper in it. Carefully unfolding the paper, Danielle found that it had a number for a place in the warehouse district in town, a phone number with Nick's name on it, and a message.

"If you ever need a friend, just give us a call or come see us here. The door's always open," she said as she read the message. Danielle crumpled the note in her hand, preparing to throw it away, but for some reason, she couldn't convince herself to let go of the paper. With a groan of frustration, she slipped the paper into her bag and pulled out her sack lunch.

The rest of her day had gone much like the beginning, and when Danielle finally made it home, there were no words to describe her relief. Walking into the house, which was strangely quiet for her family, she was instantly greeted by her loyal companion, Cujo.

"Good boy, Cujo," she said as she petted him. "You still love me, right? You wouldn't just leave me like everyone else who I thought was my friend, right?" as she said that, her mind was drawn back to her backpack that still housed the note from Nick. She had been thinking about it ever since lunch, making her already overcrowded thoughts even more crowded. Danielle let out a sigh.

It was common knowledge in town that the Renegades were a group of kids that caused a few problems for the people in town. She had heard Tucker talk about them quite a few times, but mostly petty crimes like spray-painting graffiti all over town and pulling pranks on people. No one really knew exactly who or what it was that made up the Renegades, but the students in her school knew who they were whenever they came down the hall or sat in the lunch room. It was easy to tell because many students started to act or dress differently than they had before. Nerds were fighting with bullies, honor student's grades would slip and kids who used to be kind were suddenly arrogant and uncaring about anything. Danielle had been warned by Lin to avoid them at any cost because kids who feel into that crowd always changed, though some say for the worse, they often said for the best. Now that they had approached her, the smart thing for her to do would be to forget it even happened, and just go back to her normal life.

'What normal life? Everyone at school hates you,' she thought to herself. 'Nick was the only person other than a teacher who didn't sneer or throw something at you. The least you could do is thank him for trying to help.'

"It's not like I have to join, right?" she said as she sat on the floor with Cujo looking up at her with confusion. "I can just…go there, later tonight, and thank Nick for being considerate enough to offer me an invitation to join. It's just being polite and grateful." Cujo said nothing as she looked at him as if he were going to start talking to her. "Then it's settled. I'll go there later tonight, after dinner." With that, she petted him on his head and crawled over to her desk drawer where she pulled out a treat for him. Cujo began to bark excitedly at the sight and smell of his favorite treat as she gave it to him with a small smile. "Thanks for listening, Cujo."

With her choice made, she climbed onto her bed, and rested against her pillow as she suddenly found herself extremely tired from the day, and closed her eyes as she slipped into a short nap.