Summary : Coming back to Amity Park after college, Star is in the process of acquainting herself with the town's particular quirk when she finds herself making peace with a former classmate. Set six years after PP.

Disclaimer : I do not own Danny Phantom.

Here is the head canon I used for this story:

1. Phantom Planet happened when Danny and co. were sixteen to seventeen. I'd like to think that three seasons in the show equals three years of Danny's progress after he got his powers. This is because I feel that if the stuffs that happened to him are condensed into just a few month to a year, there's just too much. It's a bit unrealistic to expect a 14 y.o. boy to go from being electrocuted, taking up the mantle as the town's protector, learning fighting along the way, being public enemy no.1, then slowly being reputed as the hero gradually after Reign Storm, facing Vlad as mayor, facing major ghosts like Undergrowth and Nocturne, then decided to lose his power in Phantom Planet before (after a period of time passed) getting them back in time of the Disasteroid.

And those were only the major ones. I haven't mentioned keeping up with schools, hiding his ghostly alter-ego from his ghost-hunting parents, and (as the theme song put it eloquently) stop all the ghosts from coming through (the portals, be it Fenton-made, Masters-made, or the natural ones).

Danny is younger than my current age. Even if he started the show with my age, then proceeded to do all those things in a year, he would go insane.

Furthermore, fighting skills cannot be acquired instantaneously. There has to be a built-up. Three years of practice putting the ghosts down, day by day, should do it for Danny. The show only shows the major, status-quo-changing events...I think.

2. I made Kwan as a future researcher in Axion. In TUE, Kwan was shown to be one. Source: DP Wiki

3. I took David Kaufman's guesstimate (Minnesota) in deciding where Amity Park is located. It's not in the East Coast (Star went there for university).

Without further ado, folks!


Day 22 : Star

"Alright! Alright! I told you. Time and time again. I'll pick 'em up at two, honey," exclaimed a blond-haired woman to the cell phone wedged between her head and shoulder, as she dove into the crowd of shop-goers, expression a bit harassed as she tried to maneuver her grocery cart. "Right after I finished doing my own things, Kwan."

A pause.

"What do you mean there's been a change of schedule!?"

Another pause.

"And you're telling me this now?"

The woman managed to reach the section of the supermarket which was less crowded by now.

"I know they get mad when it's late, but hey! No fair," she pouted. "You're the one who's into this part-time job!"

She grabbed two bottles of apple juice from the shelves on her right side.

"I have scheduled my clinic appointment before my voucher runs out. Today's the last day," she sighed. "I can't possibly make it at twelve! You have to be the one doing it."

She then grabbed a box of Lucky Charms, turned it over and examined the expiration date, then put it inside her cart.

"Kwan, I swear. If you're not my boyfriend, I'm so gonna ruin your life. Nope! No compromise from me! You're the one starting it, and you're the one doing it then."

Star closed her phone with a flourish. "No way I'm giving up my facial appointment today just from some stupid pick-up jobs," she muttered angrily. The 23-year-old woman was your typical college graduate. Star and Kwan had decided to live together in a rented flat back to Amity Park after they resumed their relationship post-college. Star was pursuing her tertiary education in one of the universities located in the East Coast, but her occasionally on-and-off boyfriend had managed to snatch a scholarship to Arizona State through his parents' connection with Axion Labs. The 4-year period of being separated had cemented their desire to move back to their hometown, trying to build a life (and a relationship) together. Now both were fresh out of college, and scrambling to find jobs amid the burden of tuition debt (for Star) and unpaid internship at Axion (for Kwan). It was the reason why Kwan picked up some stray small jobs here and there. Star only reluctantly tagged along. Today it was picking up somebody's kid from an elementary.

The two former A-listers found out the hard way that the leeway they were given in high school did not extend beyond it. Star herself was still sending applications after applications to Channel 9's doorstep, then Channel 6, and finally (when she became desperate enough) the Ghost Watch Channel – going as far as applying as the dreaded position of field reporter. She was trying to put her Communication degree into a good use. Kwan, on the other hand, was Axion's new R&D intern. It was surprising indeed, given his history as a jock in high school. However, Kwan found his identity, aside from being one of Dash' lackeys, during the after hours spent inside the school's science lab. Star was at the time the only one in his little secret; and while she did not hold any fondness for science-related things, she couldn't begrudge his newfound interest. It was a bit of a surprise for her when he decided to pursue it to college.

One thing that Star had not let go from her high school years was her beauty routine. She had, after all, gotten to the top of the high school food chain with her looks. Her parents' financial background was as average as the American middle class family. Now if she wanted that job in a respectable TV station, she had to maintain her poise – and Kwan, boyfriend or no boyfriend, should understand that. Hadn't he fallen for her due to her looks before?

Yet, here he was, demanding her to help him. As if, Star thought. He wouldn't have needed a freaking help if he'd just quit his useless, no money, job.

Star was just about to start heading to the cashier, cart full of the month's groceries, when a crash sounded from outside the supermarket. It was from the direction of the parking lot. A sudden silence befell the room, as the background music people took for granted in supermarkets was turned off. And then…

"ATTENTION LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. WE WILL SOON EXECUTE THE GHOST EVACUATION PROCEDURE. PLEASE REMAIN IN YOUR POSITION WHILE OUR GHOST SHIELD IS ACTIVATED. YOU ARE ADVISED TO FIND A STURDY COVER IN CASE OF FALLING DEBRIS. REMAIN CALM AND HAVE A GOOD DAY SHOPPING AT OUR STORES!" The sirens blared two more times with a somewhat inappropriately cheery-sounding male voice-over before the room became silent once more.

"Mommy, is Danny Phantom out there?" a child's voice became the first sound to be heard. Then, the room erupted into whispers and low murmurs while the mother tried to hold back her small son from eagerly rushing to the double glass doors, the only view to the outside world in the otherwise windowless supermarket.

Star quickly parked her cart to a corner before moving to an area with a less amount of tall shelves, joining a crowd of about 20 people. This was routine in Amity Park (the welcome sign read "Your Ghost Experience Starts Here!" when she passed the city border) – and Star admittedly missed this sensation after the years spent across the continent.

Another noise which suspiciously sounded like a mini-missile being fired was heard.

"They should'a let us out to watch the action," grumbled a tall teenager with spiky blonde hair.

"Aw, piss off Rick. The evening news prolly will tell us what happened."

"What ghost do you think today?

"I was there, I'll have you know, when he fought that T-Rex ghost. Downtown. About a month ago. Good thing my phone battery's still on to record the whole thing. It was—"

"—A dinosaur ghost?! How could I miss that?" moaned a boy.

"Ghost shield's in place. Think that'll protect us enough?"

"It's government-insured! I heard the U.S. government is planning to add one to the White House."

"Insured! Flippin' government won't even insure my damaged car!" a man dressed in a suit groaned. "And it was the company's car!"

"You know what they say 'bout collateral damage, Mike. At least it's not your body," his female companion tried to comfort him. "Or your personal car," she added as an afterthought.

"Hey, y'all think the ghost kid can be sued for damages?"

"Yeah right, bud. Just sue the guy who has no hand whatsoever in causing the damage. It's not like he protects Amity every day, right?"

"I'm not so sure about the no hand part. The ghosts….are here to attack him?"

"You're kidding me, right? This is Amity. Ghosts attack Amity. Phantom or no Phantom," a young woman in a green sweater exclaimed. "Remember when Daniel was gone being a speaker in that Brussels Summit two years ago? My dad's a cop, alright? He didn't even come home for a week!"

"Daniel? You're on a first-name basis with him?"

"Well, of course not, silly! That's his name, yes? Nothing's wrong with that," the woman chuckled nervously when finding herself to be the center of the group's attention.

"I think he prefers Danny," blurted out Star before her brain caught up with her mouth. "I heard him correcting our teacher, Mr. Lancer, when he continuously called him Daniel. I think he's only called that when in trouble." It was an A-lister's instinct. Be visible. Grab any opportunity to take the stage whenever possible. And she did; it was the only opportunity she could get after being left out of Amity's information vines for so long. It was a shameless grab, offering up her knowledge of her former classmate's sort-of personal information like that, a ploy to make her get the upper ground against the conversing citizens. They latched to her bait hook and sinker.

It's funny, Star thought. Years after Danny Phantom became Danny Fenton, people are still after even the tiniest bits of details of his life. It was perhaps something to do with her former classmate's considerable shyness – at least that was what he seemed to be in her knowledge of him, which was not much. She was not sure anymore.

"Wait a minute! Teacher? You're from Casper High?" a girl, eyes-wide with surprise, asked her.

"I was in Casper High. His year actually," Star said a bit smugly. "Danny's friend Tucker was my fling actually. You do know Tucker Foley, do you?"

The dinosaur-obsessed boy (although she doubted that it was his only obsession) spoke out, "Know him? Hello. Ex-interim mayor, head of Axion R&D, and overall technological genius? Not to mention he's best friend with Phantom!"

Star stiffened. Tucker Foley, Casper High's number two loser (the A-listers' number one was Danny, but of course that was before the revelation) and overall geek was currently her boyfriend's boss? What on earth…

"Ah….well, he's one of my friends too," Star smiled feebly. "…now, I mean, after we broke up. And Phan-Danny as well!"

"Really!?" one of the girls actually squealed. "So miss..?" a girl came up and shyly shuffled her feet. "Do you perhaps have his phone number? Danny's phone number, I mean?" Eager nods from the rest of the girls.

"Screw his phone number! I want to know if he wanna recruit sidekicks." Now a teenage boy countered the girls, rolling his eyes at them. "Ask him if he wants to open a school for that! Hey, that's an idea! I can help—I'm already red-belt in Taekwondo."

"What a great idea is to corner that Fenton kid and hold him accountable for the damage he's done!"

"Geez, uh..Mike, is it? I'd really like to see you getting thrown around into buildings and still thinking about damages…" Star countered the irate businessman. Then she turned brightly to the crowd, "Hold up those phone number requests, guys! Now my name's Star, and if you want to get to my friend, Danny—"

Before Star could take finish her sentence, the alarm blared once more. Belatedly, she realized that the sounds of fighting outside could not be heard anymore.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE GHOST EVACUATION PROCEDURE HAS ELAPSED. GHOST THREAT HAS BEEN NEGATED. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION." The speaker then played a country song she swore she heard this morning in the radio.

A distinction could be seen in the way the people went back to their respective businesses. The locals resumed their usual activities without as much as a blink, while the newer residents and visitors were much more interested in dawdling around, speculating among themselves about what just happened – and for the most interested ones, they promptly left the grocery carts behind and walked to the front doors.

Star sighed, a bit disappointed because of missing the opportunity to make herself known. After all, Amity Park's media scene was rather famous for hunting all things Phantom – since the guy himself was rather (okay, very) elusive, and she had hoped to score herself a connection to the channels. She walked to the corner where her cart was parked. Star looked at her watch. It was only 30 minutes before noon. Her mind wandered to the clinic she was going next. Suddenly feeling energized, she swiftly walked toward the cashier. There was already a line, but thankfully it was not too long. Star joined the end of the line behind a person in a gray hoodie.

Tapping her foot impatiently on the tiled floor, she observed her surrounding to pass the time. There were several lines; one for each of the station in the cashier. An old lady in a wheelchair was remarkably hefting two bags of groceries all by herself two lines beside hers. She surprisingly spotted the man in suit; his name's Mike or something else, talking obnoxiously to his phone; occasionally letting out a laugh, his previous grumpiness was non-existent. A girl with a ponytail was in the process of grabbing a magazine in the stand near a cashier station. Her gait unexpectedly reminded her of the times when she was just a high schooler, whose concern only involved catching up the latest fashion trend in the magazine. A guy behind her was nodding along to whatever song he had on his MP3 player. She could spot the telltale earphone cables on the person in front of her too. In fact, now that her eyes fell upon that person, who was fiddling with a knot in the cables (a hard thing to do considering his one hand was holding a shopping basket), a feeling of familiarity crept up on her psyche.

No way. No freakin' way, Star thought with increasing fascination. Strands of raven hair jutting out from his hooded head, a lean body which she knew used to be lanky in high school, trademark blue jeans faded due to constant use, and red sneakers which were the same style as his were nine years ago, albeit in a bigger size. She only needed him to turn around to confirm what she had already known.

Then as if Heaven itself heard her unspoken wish, Danny Fenton accidentally dropped his MP3 player instead of successfully getting a particularly tight knot loose. The device slid to rest behind his legs, closer to Star's current position.

"Ow, crud," he mumbled under his breath.

Still clumsy, I see, Star absently observed while watching the person in front of her turn around, bent down to pick his player, straightened up, and froze. His blue eyes were fixed on the blonde in front of him.

"S-star? Didn't expect to see you here!"

Getting her bearings together, Star managed to reply, "Uh… hi, Danny! You're..um…shopping here?" Wait, why did he greet me first?

"Yeah!" Danny replied, safely pocketing his MP3 player. "The usual drill, y'know? My mom's too busy to take the job. Dad's going crazy without a fudge! Eh, I haven't seen you these last couple of years, have I?"

"Well, I was in Oregon pursuing a bachelor," she said with a smile. Funny how years outside the high school cliques could make them talk together like a friend. "What about you? Oh wait, don't answer that!" she slapped a hand to her forehead. "I only saw you on TV like two nights ago!"

"Ssssh!" Danny suddenly said, looking around. "You wanna get mobbed? That's how you get mobbed," he said, a bit crossly.

"Oh yeah sorry!" Star almost giggled at the surrealism of their situation. "So how's the ghost before? I was here when the alarm sounded," she remarked with a casual air of someone discussing the weather. Ah, how I miss Amity Park.

"Uhh, yeah I know. It's only Skulker. You think he'd just give up after all these years but nope, not Skulker." He used one hand to indicate the quote-unquote sign, "the greatest hunter in the Zone. Yeah right," he scoffed. "At least, he won't show up 'till maybe the next three days after that beating. Ten minutes! Just wait until Tucker heard."

Although she did not know who or what a Skulker was, Star couldn't help but smile seeing the rather proud expression on Danny's face. "Ten minutes? It really felt longer than that. Are you sure?" she teased.

"Yep," he replied, popping the "P". Then he looked at her rather peculiarly, "You know what? You're an…alright person I guess? Why weren't we friends again in high school?"

"You're saying I'm not 'alright' before?" Star stated defensively with a quiet anger. "Look, I'm not the one spending their time pretending to be someone I'm not. You can't bitch on me, Fenton, for thinking you as a loser." Okay, how did their lighthearted atmosphere change into this?

Immediately, Danny looked crestfallen. Star's feeling suddenly backtracked. Why do I feel so wrong here? "Sorry I….," He let out a puff of breath, blowing his hair out of his face. "…can we just forget that? I have a habit of putting my foot in my mouth," he said, his hands trying to make a placating gesture. "I'm still loser Fenton, you know," he added self-disparagingly, surprising her. "…seems everyone just forget about it, then I make a comment or action out of place, then they'll all 'no you're not perfect Phantom'. And then them not talking to me as a person anymore," he half-mumbled, seemingly talking to himself rather than to her. "Just like high school, right?" he stared back at her with a wry smile.

It was then Star noticed a painful-looking bruise on the right side of his temple, previously covered by his hair. Her anger suddenly melted as shame filled her. "No it's…" she swallowed, "…there's nothing for you to be sorry for, Danny. That looks painful by the way." she intoned, pointing at the bruise. "Ten minutes but the ghost got you bad?"

"Nah, don't worry. I'm a fast healer," he said, face brightened with the change in conversation. "It's only a matter of routine. You should see the other guy, though," The confident smirk usually seen in his alter-ego was back again. "…although, the asphalt needs to be re-layered. Again," he said with a frown. "At least we didn't hit any car this time though."

"That's funny. Some guy earlier said about his car getting damaged. You should be careful of any future lawsuit."

"Oh, that guy?" he quirked a smile at her. There was a quality to that smile she could not decipher. They moved two steps ahead as their line was getting shorter. "He obviously hadn't heard of the new provision in state insurance laws. Or else he should know that he could make a legitimate claim due to ghost-related damage. But then, it was a company car. That would exclude him from the provision."

"You've met him before then. I shouldn't be surprised. He was a rather obnoxious person. Should be easy to remember."

"Yeah, I've met Mike about twenty minutes ago in fact," Danny grinned at the downing realization in Star's face. "I still think about damages though, when I get thrown into buildings. Old habits die hard after a year being public enemy number one," he chuckled. "Thanks anyway for the defense."

It was like solving a puzzle. The fact that he knew she was in the store when he turned around, his willingness to be incredibly open with someone who by all pretenses hated his social standing, his little references to the collateral damage discussion….Danny was there in her little group during the evacuation period. He had said he was done fighting in ten minutes give or take, while the period had lasted much longer than the ten-minute mark.

"How long were you there?" she asked faintly. Omygoshohmygosh, he must have heard what she was saying then. Her face reddened.

Their line moved forward again. Danny's turn would soon come. "Around the time a certain someone decides to correct my name's pronunciation actually," he said with a grin. "You're right, Daniel sounds a bit too posh for myself. Only Vlad keeps calling me that," he added with a scowl.

Star breathed in relief when she saw that his expression held no sign of annoyance, or worse, contempt. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that," she mumbled. Then she suddenly felt an overwhelming need to explain her action. "I was actually thinking doing that would help me in the media business. I'm looking for a job, really. I didn't mean to use your name like that, sorry," she honestly apologized. "Look, Danny. You have a point about me being…um…a not-alright person before. Now that I think about it, we're incredibly silly in high school, right? I just wish… it didn't take me long years in college to see that." Seeing Danny's understanding expression, she continued, "Who knows? Maybe Kwan and I could be friends with you, Sam, and Tucker."

"Hey, I don't mind, Star. See? No hard feelings at all!" he gave her a beaming smile. "'sides, you and Kwan, huh? How's he doing by the way?" At this point, Danny's turn at the cashier had come. He deftly lifted the grocery basket and prepared his wallet, all the while avoiding eye contact with the bored-looking woman serving as the cashier.

Star blushed, "We actually moved together last month. Kwan's an intern in Axion Lab. Oh! I get an idea! We should hang out together sometime…catch up with old times. With Samantha as well if you prefer," she said sheepishly.

Unexpectedly for her, Danny agreed. "Yeah, I'll ask Sam about that. You should call her Sam though. Friend or no friend, she's going to rain hell to anyone who calls her Samantha," he shuddered. "Except for her mother."

They were silent when Danny proceeded to pay his groceries.

Just before Danny left to gather his bags, he turned to Star as she loaded her groceries from the cart to the table. "Hey," he started hesitantly. "I know I don't usually ask this but…" he trailed off. "…my sister's been badgering me about getting a…publicist," He chewed out the word as if it was something disgusting. "I don't really trust those media people. You really mean it when you say we're friends now, right?" Star was just about to give him an immediate affirmation when his hopeful expression turned hesitant once more. "Listen, I kind of trust you right now. And you're planning to work with the media. Perhaps, you could…I dunno…find someone you trust for me?"

Her eyes boggled as a great idea came into her mind. "Hey, Fenton," she said with a light-hearted tone. "You think my performance back then isn't good enough as your publicist?" she grinned.

Danny smirked. "Why, Star, maybe if you managed to get your number out in the end…or just tone down a bit on the self-promotion side what with you claiming a fling with Tucker, then yeah."

She mock scowled. "Right, ghost boy…I'll make sure next time everyone in town calls you Daniel."

"Ghost boy? Ugh, you'll have to work on that next. I'm freakin' 23 year-old," Danny exclaimed. Star had to laugh out loud at that. "And don't you even dare. Anyways, I'll contact you once everything's done. See ya, Star!"

Star turned back to her groceries only to find the cashier smiling knowingly at her. "That's Danny Fenton, right?"

"Uh…you see…"

"It's alright. You guys should have been more discreet having this kind of conversation though."

Star only smiled sheepishly as she handed her payment. As she walked to the parking lot Danny was right; there was a medium-sized carter in the asphalt but no car was touched – she suddenly came to an epiphany. Before, she could only see a carter that symbolized the aftermath of another Phantom vs. the ghost of the week fight, even after the Disasteroid incident which revealed Phantom as her classmate. There was a strange feeling now seeing the debris from the fight after being friends with Danny. She was used to have Kwan as the only person to accept her outside of physical attraction. Even then she still felt insecure around him. Having Danny willing to give her a chance despite her obvious flaw – demonstrated clearly in front of him – was a surprise. Star was worth something outside of her former A-lister poise. Plus she got a new job!

She knew what to do. Star picked up her phone and called Kwan. When she realized she was wrong on a lot of things, this was one of them. No-paying jobs did not always mean useless jobs. Kwan did it for his future their future, dare she said it. After all, no one could say Danny Phantom was paid to do his job. Yet, there were people who still wanted to sue him.

"Hey honey, I'm on my way to the elementary now. Yeah…something came up. I'll tell you what tonight. And you know what," she giggled. "…to heck with my voucher."

"You just go on with your job. It's important to you, it's important to me too!"


Author's Note: *sigh* Writing this is...exhausting. Fear not, dear readers. I really plan to follow through my commitment in finishing the 31 prompts challenge. I apologize for not updating the previous days (I think I counted 5 lost days!). As a result, I'm really behind the schedule now. I'm in finale weeks though so I just ran out of time and energy to write!

I intended for Star and Danny's interactions to have meanings, not just a simple mindless convo. I was having difficulties in reconciling the loose ends to a neat wrap up at the end though. So I apologize if you find it confusing. :')

And yes, I have gravely misinterpreted the word "drabbles". It's all started with a plan to improve my dialogue writing, then it turns into...this.

I really appreciate the kind reviews from Lexosaurus as well as those of you out there who have favorited and followed these drabbles. Sincerely, it means a lot for me as a new author. You should check out Lexosaurus's works by the way. I myself very much like "Repressed Emotions" for the considerable amount of Danny!angst.

Adios 'till my next update then (which hopefully I'll post tomorrow)!

P.S. Reviews are a soothing balm to the writer's soul.