Chapter 3: The First Day of School

"PHIL!" Lil yelled. "GET OUT HERE NOW!"

Phil, who had stopped by his house that morning to grab his backpack from his room, came dashing down the stairs. "Whatever it is, I didn't do it!" he said, quickly.

Lil was holding up the walkie-talkie that was hiding under the coffee table just seconds earlier. Fortunately, the other girls were outside waiting for her.

"I was cleaning up some of the popcorn that we dropped last night, and found this taped to the coffee table." Lil said, angrily.

Phil grinned. "My walkie-talkie!" he cried out, pretending to be surprised. "How did that get there?"

Unfortunately, as Phil figured, Lil wasn't buying it. "Start explaining." she said madly, shoving the walkie-talkie into his hands. "Now!"

Phil sighed. Sometimes he wished his twin sister wasn't so smart. "We just wanted to have a little fun! We were bored!"

"Just how much did you hear?"

"Just the truth or dare game."

Lil looked her brother in the eye suspiciously. "You promise?"

Phil nodded truthfully.

"Okay." Lil sighed. "Just don't do it again!" She suddenly smiled. "So, did you happen to hear Sam's question when you were snooping on us?"

Phil sighed. "Most of it. But when we were going to hear Sam's answer the walkie-talkie died." He smiled slyly. "So, what did she say?"

Lil lightly punched her twin brother on the shoulder. "I'm not telling you!"

"Aw, come on!" Phil groaned. "Why not?"

"Number one," Lil stated, holding up one finger, "it's Sam's business. Number two," she added holding up another finger, "if I told you, you would go running to Danny and tell him. Number three," she said, holding up a third finger, and grinning slyly, "this is your payback for spying on us."

"It wasn't spying! It was-,"

"Listening to our personal conversations? Eavesdropping? Snooping? An invasion of privacy?"

Phil stared at his sister with a strange expression on his face. "Okay, I know I've heard that somewhere before!"

Lil sighed. "Well, we'd better get to school. You've got everything?"

"Yep."

"Then let's go. Everyone's waiting for us."

Phil tossed the walkie-talkie on the couch, and the twins headed for the door.

Chuckie gripped his backpack straps nervously. Here he was on the bus, pulling in front of Emerson Elementary School. To make it more specific, it was his very last year at this school. Chuckie Finster had finally made it to the sixth grade. He was proud of himself. There was only one problem, though. He couldn't show it.

"This is it, Chuck." Tommy was saying, as he stepped off of the bus with his best friend. "Your very last year of elementary school. Are you ready for this? You've been looking forward to it all summer!"

Chuckie hesitated, then slowly shook his head. "Not really, Tommy." he admitted. "That was before I got my braces. I mean, what if someone sees them and makes fun of me?"

Tommy smiled as they walked toward the front of Emerson Elementary. "What's there to worry about?" he asked. "A lot of kids get braces. I'm sure you're not the only one who's gotten them during the summer! Now, smile and be proud!"

Chuckie nodded. "You're right, Tommy! I've got to show my smile to the world and not be ashamed of it!"

"That's the spirit!"

Chuckie walked toward the building with Tommy, smiling about his accomplishment and showing off his new braces.

Once they reached the hallway, a voice yelled, "Hey, Finster! Or should I say, metal mouth! Move it! You're blinding me with your teeth!"

Tommy and Chuckie turned to see a boy with short brown hair smirking at him. He was about Chuckie's height. The boy wore a red T-shirt, dark blue jeans, and brown sandals. He had a triangular nose, blue eyes, slightly crooked teeth, and was also wearing a red cap backwards on his head. He looked about eleven years old. He was standing with three of his friends.

Chuckie felt hurt. He stopped smiling, and quickly looked down at the floor.

Noticing this, Tommy walked up to the boy. "Back off, Josh. What did he ever do to you?"

Josh smirked. "So, Pickles, you're bossing me around. I see how it is." He and his friends laughed. Then Josh leaned into his face. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Report you to the principal for unnecessary bullying if I have to." Tommy replied without hesitation.

"Go ahead. I've already been there a million times. It doesn't bother me or my pals. Right you guys?"

Josh's friends nodded.

After trying to think of a good comeback, Tommy sighed. "Fine." he admitted. "I give up." He turned around, walking slowly toward Chuckie. Unable to resist that smirk that Josh was giving him, he quickly turned around, grinned slyly at him, and said, "You could use some braces yourself, Bucko."

Josh and his friends glared at Tommy as he and Chuckie continued on down the hall.

"Thanks, T." Chuckie said, grinning. "You're a real pal."

Tommy smiled. "Don't listen to them. They're just a bunch of jerks." Noticing a bulletin on one of the boards in the hallway, he said, "Hey, Chuck, are you interested in trying out for the tennis team?"

"What?"

"There's a bulletin for the tryouts over there." He walked over to the board and read it. "It says that tryouts start today after school."

"I don't know, Tommy." Chuckie replied, walking up to look at the poster. "I mean, I've never been good at sports."

Tommy nodded. "But, maybe it'll stop Josh and his pals from teasing you all of the time. And it won't give you much attention to your braces. Plus, even if we don't make it, it'll still be fun." He paused. "What do you say?"

Chuckie glanced at the bulletin once more and smiled. "Anything that'll get Josh and his friends off my back! I'm in!"

Tommy and Chuckie each ripped a tryout slip off of the poster, said that they would see each other at lunch, and headed in opposite directions to their classrooms.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker stared at their school in awe. After all, Casper High was way bigger than Spirits Middle School. How the heck were they going to find their way around this place?

"Great." Danny mumbled, turning to his friends. "Just great. What if I need to grab a bite to eat, or need to use the restroom? I'll never be able to find the cafeteria or any of the bathrooms!"

Tucker slapped Danny on the back. "Dude, don't sweat it! We'll find our way around. Plus," he continued, "we get new teachers, new classes, and," Tucker added, "there's all sorts of news girls we can hit on!"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Whatever." she said walking toward Casper High. "While you two are checking out the scene, I'm going to actually try finding my way to my first class." She then walked through the two double doors into the school building.

While the two boys strolled around the school, Danny's cell phone started ringing. He quickly pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID. It was his dad.

Danny flicked opened his phone. "Hey, Dad. What's up?"

"Hi there, son! How's Casper High working out for you so far?" Jack Fenton's cheery voice exclaimed.

"So far, so good." Danny replied. "I just got here two minutes ago."

"That's good. Oh, and Danny, when you're done with school, come home right away. Your mother and I have something to show you."

Danny grinned. He had already figured before he answered his dad's call that there was another reason his dad called him besides checking up on him. "What is it?"

"We think that we've figured out a way to open up a dimension to another universe."

Danny blinked. After all, that was unexpected. "Really?" he asked. "What universe?"

"Why, a ghost universe of course! It should be done by the end of school today. Bring your friends! We'll celebrate!"

Danny had to admit, out of all of the goofy things his parents had invented over the years, this one sounded really cool. "Sure! That sounds like fun!"

After a few more minutes of talking with his father, Danny hung up.

Tucker, who was hearing parts of the conversation, had an eager expression on his face. "What was that all about?" he asked.

Danny smiled. "We have to pay a visit to my house after school. Or should I say, ghostly dimension!"

Tucker grinned. "Cool! I'm totally there!"

That's when the five-minute bell rang, and the two friends ran to class.

After school that day, Danny, Sam, Tucker, Dil, Lil, Kimi, Susie, and Jazz arrived at Danny's house to see how the new ghost portal would work out. Dil and Kimi explained that Tommy and Chuckie were trying out for the tennis team and wouldn't be able to make it. Phil was checking the bulletins to see if he had made the soccer team. Susie told Danny that Angelica and her friend Harold were making plans for Angelica's thirteenth birthday party next month.

With that, the eight of them headed downstairs to the lab.

The Fenton's lab was pretty cool. It was a dark blue room, with light blue floor tiles, and was very big. There were books, boxes, test tubes, goop, and other things they couldn't recognize all over the floor, shelves, and counters. But, a new round carving in the wall with metal and wires all around it caught the eight friends attention.

"Whoa!" Tucker exclaimed. "I don't even know what this thing is, but whatever it is, it sure looks cool!"

"It looks like a portal into another universe!" Dil said in awe. "Cool! I can finally talk to my alien friends! Come to me my alien species!"

Danny chuckled. Ever since Dil was five, he believed in aliens. Maybe it because of when he and Tommy dropped Dil on his head when he was a baby by accident.

"It's not a portal to another universe, Dil." Danny explained. "It's a portal to another dimension."

"What kind of a dimension?" Lil asked.

"A ghostly dimension."

"Figures." Jazz mumbled. She thought this whole ghost thing with her parents was ridiculous. I mean, after all, who believed in ghosts anyway?

Danny glared at his older sister. "Come on, Jazz!" he exclaimed. "Who knows? This invention could turn out to be really cool! Give it a chance!"

Jazz paused for a moment, sighed, then said, "Fine." She headed toward the stairs and turned around to face her friends and her parents. "I'll be in the kitchen doing homework if you need me."

Jazz stomped up out of the lab.

Tucker leaned in toward Danny's right ear. "She's a constant downer, huh?"

Danny held back his laugher by asking his parents, "So, how does this…portal…thing…work exactly?"

Jack Fenton smiled at his son and said, "Well, if your Mom's calculations are correct, when we plug these two cords together, the portal should work!"

Susie grinned. "Why didn't you plug them in before we got here?"

"And let you kids miss out on all of the fun?" Maddie asked. "We wanted you guys to see it too!"

"Then plug those babies in, and let us see some magic!" Tucker exclaimed.

Jack smiled. Danny could tell he was very excited to see what would happen. He just hoped this ghost portal would work.

Jack lifted up the two cords.

The group of friends grinned.

He held them close together.

The seven kids watched excitedly. Danny thought he was going to collapse from the tension.

Finally, Jack plugged the two cords together.

All eyes were on the portal now. It didn't make a sound.

Jack and Maddie glanced at each other, shock planted on their faces.

"H-How didn't it work?" Maddie asked to no one in particular. "I checked, double checked, and triple checked the calculations! Something should've happened!"

Jack checked the switches and buttons next to the portal to see if anything was flipped the wrong way or if anything was pushed in that shouldn't be. Everything was the way it should be.

Jack sighed. "We were so close." he said sadly. "Come on Maddie. Let's head upstairs."

Danny's heart sank as he watched his parents gloomily walk to the kitchen. He had never seen them like this. The one invention that they tried so hard to make that would probably make them some decent money, didn't work. Danny felt something deep within his stomach. It was a feeling sort of like all of times Dash had punched him hard in his gut. It really hurt.

Danny walked over toward a wooden box near the portal, and sat on it, all his friends eyes on him. Sam walked up to him and put a comforting hand on his right shoulder.

"Are you going to be okay?" she asked.

Danny nodded without looking at her. "I'll be fine." He replied glumly. "I just want to be alone for awhile if that's okay with you guys."

His friends nodded, and quietly, but quickly, walked up the stairs.

Tommy, Chuckie, and Phil raced down the stairs to the lab to greet Danny with some good news.

"Danny!" Chuckie cried. "Tommy and I made the tennis team!"

Phil grinned proudly. "And I made the soccer team!"

Danny quickly glanced at his friends and said, "That's great you guys. Awesome job."

Tommy stared at his playmate. He knew Danny was upset about something. Normally, Danny was pretty enthusiastic about most things. Instead of telling his friends what happened on his first day of school, he was sitting on a wooden box look very depressed.

"Is something wrong, D?" he asked.

Danny nodded, pointing to the ghost portal. "That."

Phil's eyes widened. "Holy cow!" he exclaimed. "What is that thing?"

Danny explained how his parents were trying to build a portal to another dimension, and how it didn't work. "Now, I just feel really bad for them." he explained.

Chuckie sighed. "So that's why your Mom and Dad looked so sad when we came in."

Tommy shrugged helplessly. "There's nothing we can do now."

Danny sighed. "I know." he replied. "That's the problem." He thought for moment, then lifted his head up, and smiled at the ghost portal. "Unless…"

Chuckie's eyes widened when he figured out what Danny was thinking. "No way! You're not actually thinking of trying to go into that thing and fix it, are you?"

"Yeah, dude!" Phil cried. "That's really dangerous!"

Danny nodded. "I know. But it's the only way to make my parents happy again."

Tommy raised an eyebrow. "Really, Danny?" he asked. "Is that the only way to solve this? Why don't we run around the school buck-naked while we're at it? Or we can rob the AmityPark bank! How about we fly a kite during a thunder and lightning storm?" He smirked. "Or why don't you kiss Sam? If you're willing to do this, you should be able to tell her you like her, right? You seem to like her a lot."

Danny gaped at Tommy, trying to think of a comeback, but couldn't. "Look," he replied, "I'm going to go inside that portal and fix it, and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

Tommy smiled. "You're in denial, Danny!" he exclaimed.

"So in denial!" Chuckie said, happily.

"Hey, Danny!" Phil cried. "While you're at it, why don't you bring her some flowers and candy? She'll appreciate that!"

Danny rolled his eyes. He knew Tommy, Chuckie, and Phil weren't trying to be offensive. They just loved the idea that he and Sam should be together. Although, Danny didn't think so. He and Sam were just friends. Right?

Danny quickly grabbed, and slipped on a white jumpsuit with black gloves, boots, and belt, and zipped it up. He then, grabbed a toolbox and walked into the portal, trying to ignore Tommy's, Chuckie's, and Phil's chants of, "Danny and Sam, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" He looked around inside the portal, when he spotted something. An on button and an off button! And the off one was on!

"Hey, you guys!" he cried. "I think I found the problem! The off button in the portal was pressed in!"

By this time, Phil and Chuckie were making kissing noises. Tommy was laughing too hard to even make an attempt. He was giggling with his eyes slowly moving toward the floor. Suddenly, his heart fluttered with panic. The two cords were still plugged in!

"DANNY!" Tommy yelled. "NO! DON'T PRESS THE-,"

But, it was too late! Danny had already pressed the button! A flash of green light suddenly came. Then a large shriek. Then nothing.

Danny soon came stumbling out of the now swirling vortex that was in the portal. He was breathing hard, trying to keep from falling over. As he was trying to do this, he collapsed onto the floor.

Immediately, Tommy, Chuckie, and Phil ran toward him, panic in their eyes.

"I-Is he dead?" Chuckie asked.

Tommy bent down toward Danny's motionless body. "H-He's fine." He replied, his voice shaking. "He's breathing!"

"I-I'll go and get Mr. and Mrs. Fenton!" Phil said, running for the stairs.

"Is he okay?" Sam cried, rushing into the room. "Please tell me he's okay!"

Everyone was thinking just the same thing. Family and friends were crowded around Danny's hospital bed. He was still conked out from the shock of 3,000 watts surging through his body. Yet, Danny looked so peaceful, like nothing had just disturbed him. Like he had felt nothing at all…

Soon the doctor came rushing into the hospital room. "Great news, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton! I just got the X-ray back." He held the picture of Danny's skeleton up to the window so everyone could see it. "Apparently, Danny was so close to the edge of the portal that the electrocution missed all of his internal organs. Although, there is some plasma from the machine that seeped inside him through his skin. But, it should go away in a little while. It's perfectly harmless." The doctor laughed, and shook his head. "I don't know how he did it, or how he's still alive right now. I've had severe cases like this before, and none of my patients ever recovered. But, Danny's going to be okay."

Everyone sighed with relief.

"Thank goodness!" Maddie exclaimed. "Thank you Dr. Carson!"

Dr. Carson nodded. "Now, let's let Danny rest until he wakes up."

Everyone left except for Tommy, Sam, and Tucker.

"Come on, Tommy!" Chuckie said, smiling. "Didn't you hear what Dr. Carson said? We need to let Danny rest!"

Tommy shook his head. "Danny's been there for me through thick and thin since I was a baby. And if he's going to wake up expecting to see someone there to help him through his pain and agony, I'm going to be there for him!" He pulled out a chair next to Danny's bed and sat on it. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I second that!" Tucker cried pulling out another chair, and scooting to the opposite side of the bed from Tommy.

Sam glanced at Danny who was still sleeping, and nodded. "Me too." She stood behind Tucker's chair.

Chuckie shrugged, watching his three friends. "Suit yourself!" he exclaimed, walking out of Danny's room.

Angelica was sitting on her bed, tapping a pencil against her chin and holding a notepad in her left hand. She was thinking hard, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "Okay, we've got streamers, balloons, and some party games." she said, looking over the list she had just written. "Anything else we need to add?"

Angelica was talking to her friend since preschool, Harold who was sitting in a chair to the right of her. He had an uncomfortable look on his face. "Angelica, can't we do this later?" he asked. "I really want to go to the hospital! Besides, we've got plenty of time to prepare for this party!"

His friend sighed. "Harold," Angelica started, "this is my thirteenth birthday we're talking about here! So that means we've got to prepare for everything! Games, decorations, food…wait a minute! That's good!" she exclaimed jotting more stuff on her list. "Anyway, Tommy just called me. He said that Danny's going to be okay!"

"But I don't want Danny to think I ditched him in his time of need!" Harold cried.

"You didn't ditch him! You were helping him by caring for him while we had important things to do to help me!"

"Well, when you put it that way…"

"See, Harold? Have I ever steered you wrong?"

"Actually-,"

"Forget I asked anything."

Just then Susie popped into the room. She didn't look happy. "Where were you guys?" she asked. "Danny's in the hospital! Didn't you hear the news?"

"Of course we did!" Harold cried. "And I really wanted to go, but Angelica forced me to stay here! I feel terrible!"

Susie glared at Angelica and said, "You know Harold, that story sounded so desperate that I believe you!"

Angelica rolled her eyes. "Look, as long as Danny's all right, then that's all that matters, right? And I really needed to plan for this party!"

Susie furrowed her brows even more at Angelica. "Are you saying your thirteenth birthday party is more important than your cousin's best friend? What if Danny wasn't okay? Then would you still be sitting here planning for your apparently important party? He could've died Angelica!"

Angelica shrugged. "I would've rushed right over there and felt sorry with the rest of you guys! Just be thankful he's okay and will be back up on his clumsy feet doing who knows what with Tommy and his friends!"

Susie sighed. "Come on, Harold! I'll call Sam and tell her that you tried to make it to the hospital!"

Harold grinned with relief. "Okay, Susie!" He waved to his blonde haired friend. "See you later, Angelica!"

Angelica nodded, not glancing up at him from her list. "Whatever."

Tommy, Tucker, and Sam were still at the hospital at 8:00 that night. They were all really tired, but were going to stay up as late as they could to see how long it would take Danny to wake up from his long rest.

Sam's cell phone rang just as Tucker was about to doze off. She dug through her purple spider backpack, pulled out her cell phone, checked the caller ID, and answered. "Hello?"

Tommy and Tucker quickly sat up and watched Sam as she talked to whoever it was on the phone. After two minutes had passed, Sam smiled and said, "Okay! Thanks, Susie!" and hung up.

"What did she want?" Tucker asked.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Angelica forced Harold to stay at her house during visiting hours in the hospital."

"Why?" Tommy asked.

"Who knows?" Sam asked. "Anyhow, Susie says Harold really wanted to be he-,"

Tommy suddenly jumped up.

"What?" Tucker asked, frantically.

"I think Danny just moved!"

The three friends quickly stood up just in time to see Danny sit up and slowly open his eyes.

"Danny! You're okay!" Sam cried, hugging him.

Danny grinned, then frowned when he glanced around at his surroundings. "What happened?" he asked softly.

"You mean, you don't remember?" Tucker said, incredulously.

Danny shook his head. "All I remember was pressing the on button in the ghost portal, and then…nothing."

So, Tommy had to explain everything that happened afterward. Danny listened, his eyes widening.

"It was pretty scary." Tommy admitted. "We thought we lost you after that, D."

"Wow." Danny said, taking it all in. "I'm glad that's over." He quickly stood up and walked to the nearest chair that wasn't taken.

"So, that's it?" Sam asked. "You get injured, wake up, and now you're just going to walk around like nothing just happened?"

Danny shook his head. "I wasn't injured, Sam. I was just a little…shocked!" He chuckled at his joke.

His friends didn't find it very funny.

"Come on you guys!" Danny cried. "I'm fine! Just call my parents, and I'll get home and get plenty of rest! I promise!"

Tucker slowly pulled out his cell phone, and glanced at his friends uncertainly. "Are you sure about this Danny?"

Danny nodded.

Tucker quickly dialed the number.