Chapter 2: Seed of Doubt
After a week of lying, hiding my cuts, and family vacation time, I got home, and collapsed on my bed. I take a deep breath to calm my nerves, and fiddle with the pocket knife, I found that it eases my anxiety. I get up and walk to my closet, it's time for a new outfit, I don't want anyone seeing my scars.
I walk into school on Monday, and Tucker and Sam are delighted to see me, waiting by our lockers, I feel a swelling in my chest, I'm so happy to see them, but there's something else too, anxiety, and fear. I'm afraid they'll find out.
"Hey, you changed your look! Nice!" Tucker points out, and in response I look down at my new shirt and jacket, "You think?" I ask, unsure. "Yeah, glad to see you kept the jeans and converse though!" He laughs. "I have been wearing the same look for a year and a half now, I figured it was time for a change." I shrugged, hoping to god no one would get suspicious. I glanced at Sam, if a long sleeve shirt AND jacket wasn't suspicious, I would be in the cool.
To my very dread, she gave me a look that nearly gave me a panic attack right there, but then she smiled slightly, "Yeah, it looks good on you." I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, and we walked off to class together. I was good.
After the most stressful day of school ever, I walked home with Sam and Tucker, and a sudden thought occurred to me, did I even put away my pocket knife? It still had some dried blood and ectoplasm on it, Sam would be able to put two and two together, and Tucker would be stupid enough to point it out. In the midst of my panic attack, a part of me was surprised I started calling it MY pocket knife, I mean, I had stolen it.
For the first time in my life, I was relieved to feel my ghost sense go off. "Sam, Tuck, cover me!" I whisper yelled, diving into an alleyway and behind a dumpster, before transforming into Danny Phantom.
After the fight, which was easy, I turned to Sam and Tuck, "Hey, I better get this ghost back in the Ghost Zone as soon as possible, see you guys at my place!" I turned myself invisible as rushed to hide the evidence, the thought that I was now also lying to my best friends make me depressed. I could tell them, but I never wanted them to see me like that.
Sam and Tuck arrived just as everything was in place, the evidence was hidden and the ghost was in the Ghost Zone.
I heard them bounding up the stairs, and in my haste to pull my sleeve down I brushed against the scab, and hissed in pain. I pulled a smile on my face just as they opened the door.
"You know, you need to be careful with what you wear, that black tee, with that radioactive green hoodie, just screams 'Phantom'!" Tuck tells me, flopping down on my bed, leaning back, arms crossed behind his head like he owned it.
I force a laugh, but what really scared me was how good I was at this, the laugh sounded natural. I feel my heart sink to my stomach, and I feel a familiar itch on my wrist, just below the skin. The kind of itch I know only a blade can scratch.
I swallow the lump in my throat, and I feel I've probably paled a couple shades. If my friends notice, they don't say anything, and a tiny voice in the back of my heads whispers 'Great friends they are! They don't even notice!', I quiet it by thinking that's because I don't want them to notice, but it's too late... that seed of doubt has been planted.