Item number 3029

This entry is taken from pages 1-12. The first two sentences have been scribbled out, but as they remain legible in the original source, they have been transcribed in underlined print. Two words on page 12 are crossed out in a similar manner, but are again legible. They have been underlined as well. These seem to be the only changes to the journal, as the rest of the entry remains unedited. However, from the binding of the journal, it looks as though four or five previous pages have been ripped out near the front cover. Family members have confirmed the entries are written in the subject's handwriting. The contents are as follows.

June 18th

Danielle still hasn't shown up.

Danielle is still missing.

Danielle is dead. I think it's my fault.

I'm getting rid of the first few pages, tearing them out right now, because they're wrong. It doesn't really make sense to keep them in the journal anymore. I just feel like an idiot looking at them now.

I guess I need to start new then. The first page is gone, and that's where I outlined all my reasons for having this journal. I don't quite remember every reason, but I can't say it matters, since most of them have changed anyway. At this point at least. I'm trying to sort things out in this journal, so I'll at least re-explain myself here. It's not vital that I do—this journal is just for me anyway—but Jazz says it'll help me sort through my thoughts if I write them all down. So I guess I will explain it here, just for myself. No one else reads this.

Jazz bought this journal for me three weeks back. She keeps one, and she says it helps her to write down things she can't talk to other people about. And hell if that doesn't apply to me, I don't know what does. At first that's what I did. I wrote about a few ghost incidents, the late night patrols, the toll it took on my sleep. You know, things I can't complain about to anyone else, at least without feeling guilty about it. Jazz was right, it did help.

Now though, I'm using it for something a lot more important. I need it to keep my thoughts straight, so I can think this through. Best case scenario, I can use it to prove I'm wrong.

The introduction I wrote on the first page was better, a little more clean-cut I think. Sorry, but it doesn't really matter. I know why I have this journal, and that's all that matters.

I'm just going to get to the point.

I saw Danielle two weeks ago. Or maybe, more accurately, I should say she saw me. Invisible and intangible and completely untraceable. From what I can gather, she followed me for at least two hours that morning before I caught her, and she could have lasted a heck of a lot longer like that if she didn't give herself away. I was mid-way through Lancer's final when she gave herself up, and for the stupidest reason possible. She whispered an answer in my ear—scared the crap out of me actually—just as I was finishing up the multiple choice. I don't think Lancer's ever given me a nastier look. To his credit, the stress of finals was getting to all of us. I sure as hell wasn't in the right state of mind.

I don't remember the conversation exactly, but I'm going to try my best here.

"Psst, it's D. 'Like a bird' is a simile, not a metaphor."

"Holyf—" I hit my right knee on the desk then. Danielle laughed, quietly at least, and Lancer glared daggers at me. I tried to respond without looking up from the paper, but I didn't pull it off as smoothly as I'd hoped. "Danielle? Is that—"

Her voice was back immediately, on the other side now. "Yeah. Geez I've been here all morning you know…" Just saying, when you're not the ghost pulling these stunts, that switiching sides thing gets pretty damn creepy. "So this is what high school is like? Long classes."

"It's the final. Go away." I looked up at Lancer, who was kinda sorta still watching me. "You'll get me in trouble." I talked into my desk the whole time, so it at least didn't look like I was cheating. I probably just looked crazy, come to think.

"Can I watch?"

"No, you—Why?"

"It's…kind of interesting. I promise I won't talk anymore. Pinky-promise!"

"Fine, just…don't talk, okay? Lancer'll hear you, and I need to think." I glanced around, but I still couldn't see her. Still, I knew she was right next to me. "And don't hover over me like that."

"I'm a ghost. I can't help hovering."

Mr. Lancer finally spoke up. Guess he'd been watching the freak show long enough. "Mr. Fenton, is there a problem?"

"Wha—no. No I'm just trying to uh…to think this problem through."

"Thinking does not require talking. Please don't disturb your other classmates," he answered.

"Sorry," Danielle and I both answered at the same time.

I might have gotten some parts of that wrong. Maybe the order's messed up, and the dialogue isn't verbatim. But more or less that's what happened.

But that's not important part of the story. It's a necessary part, but the important part followed.

I handed in my test when the bell rang. I would have left the building with Sam and Tucker if I could, but they both had 2nd timeslot finals. I was actually the lucky one, since my second period class happens to be a study hall. It was the one day I got to leave early, and I didn't waste any time. I found the two of them, wished them luck, and got the hell out of there. I never mentioned Danielle had followed me.

I got a good 200 feet out onto the sidewalk before I talked to her again. The school was far enough behind us, hidden around the bend, and since the school is on the very edge of town, most people head home the other way.

"Danielle?" I called. No response. "Danielle? Are you…are you still here?" Again, nothing. "Guess she left…" I muttered to myself, and set off down the sidewalk. The area was getting pretty wooded, and soon enough I'd have been covered enough to transform and take the fast route home. My mind wandered back to finals, and I mentally marked the spot ahead of me where it'd be safe to take off.

"So how'd you do?"

I practically fell into the street.

"Jesu—Can't you at least turn visible before you…Why didn't you answer when I called you?"

"Sorry, it's just way too much fun." This time she appeared next to me, transforming in the bushes to my left. There wasn't anything remarkable about her appearance. I mean she looked the same as I'd remembered: pony tail, black hair, same little hat. But something seemed different. I'm still trying to figure out what.

"Yeah, careful who you're messing with. You know I could get you back in a second."

"Like you could ever surprise me." She laughed pretty hard at that. It was quite clearly a challenge—you know, if you ask me.

So I responded with the only logical thing I could think of. I stole her hat.

"Hey! Give it back!" She jumped up and down for it, kind of swatting at the air. I was way too tall for her.

"Not a chance. This is payback." I held her hat a little lower, just within her reach, and pulled it back with every jump. I know. I'm an ass.

"Really Danny! I just…" She jumped some more, but finally slouched over and gave up. "Not funny anymore."

"It totally is."

Danielle sat down on the sidewalk, chin in her hands.

"Alright alright," I said, and I bent over to give her back the hat. She wouldn't look at me though, let alone take it. "You followed me to see what high school's like." I plopped the hat on her head. She at least seemed to brighten up a bit at that. "And there are bullies in high school. Bullies who will steal your hats. I'm just trying to help with your experience."

She fixed her hat.

"Do you forgive me?"

"Do bullies really steal your hats?"

"Well not my hats, because I honestly can't remember ever wearing one to school, but they'll steal everything else. Shirts, shoes, backpacks, Fenton Thermoses, lunch money."

"They've stolen Fenton Thermoses?"

"Yeah, probably thought it was part of my lunch. Dash nearly wet his pants when he loosened the lid and the Box Ghost popped out." I did a quick double take around the place, but I don't think anyone saw us. I took a seat next to her on the curb. "He thought I'd booby trapped it for him, so he steers clear of anything lunch-related I bring to school. Sometimes I wish the box ghost would haunt more than boxes. He'd be a useful weapon."

She tried to hide it, but I could see her smile.

"So you do forgive me now?" I asked again.

"Maybe." Her smile gave it away.

"Good then," and I patted her on the back. She at least didn't shy away. "You know, for a girl with superpowers, you're not very resourceful."

She put a hand on her hat and kept it there. "What does that mean?" I guess she still didn't trust me.

"I mean, what kind of ghost-girl obeys the rules of gravity when there's something just out of reach? I seriously thought you'd float up there and nab it back in a second."

Danielle snorted. "Yeah," She put both her arms in the air, like she was showcasing something. "'Local girl spotted flying in plain daylight, brought back to deranged father for scientific testing.'"

I laughed with her, but it was rather dark humor. "Eh, don't be like that. No one can see us here." I was at least pretty of certain of that. There was only one house in direct view, and its windows ere tightly shut. I'd wager it was abandoned.

"Coming from the boy who spilled his secret to his sister and arch enemy in the most OBVIOUS way possible." She let go of her hat. "Seriously, I'm trying to NOT do what you've done, no offense."

I punched her in the shoulder, but not all that hard. "Hey, if it weren't for my recklessness YOU wouldn't exist. Vlad would just be another half-ghost, cheese-headed, deranged evil billionaire WITHOUT a genetically engineered daughter."

I got another laugh out of her.

"So again, why'd you follow me?" I asked. "I'm not sure we went over this."

She stopped laughing, looked down at the road again, and shrugged her shoulders. I couldn't get her to answer right away. "I don't know…I've been wandering around for a while, never really settled down, and today I kind of—kind of came by Amity Park by accident. I guess I never really went far, and—and anyway, I thought I'd visit you this morning." She kicked at a tiny mound of dust in the road. "You didn't see me when you left. You were in a hurry, literally flew out the door!" She laughed at the pun, and I did too, a little. "So I followed you there. Invisibly. I would have stayed quiet until your class was over, but man that was a terribly easy question to get wrong!"

"Yeah but…why?"

She gave me kind of a funny look. "As in, why was the question easy or—"

"No no, why would you want to come to school? It's torture."

She shifted her feet again. They were getting pretty dusty at this point. "Just…you know. I wanted to see school I guess. I wanted to know what school was like."

I laughed, and pretty damn hard at that. It seemed to piss her off.

"Yeah yeah laugh all you like," she answered. "I've just never had the chance to find out!"

I took a second to calm down. "Fine then, I'll show you." I stood up. "Face me."

She did.

"Now, what's 12 times 6?" I asked her.

She hesitated, staring down at her hands. "Uhh…"

"Wrong! F!"

"You didn't give me time to think!"

"And that is what school is like."

"…It's 72."

"What?"

"The answer is 72," she said again "To your question."

"It is?"

"Yeah."

"Oh." I sat back down. "What was the question again?"

"You're not a very good teacher, Danny."

I smiled at her. "Most aren't. Now imagine that for 40 minutes apiece, class after class every day. Scared yet?"

"Not really," she answered.

I crossed my arms. "Well then I didn't do a good enough job."

She chuckled a little bit, but kept her eyes to the ground. I can't really say why, but it was an upsetting sight.

I rested my hand on her head. "So you're really interested in class?"

Her hands snaked up, swatting my hand from her head and grasping firmly at her hat. "Yeah…I guess. I've never been in school."

I looked around. Still no one here.

"Well then come on," I told her.

"What?"

"I said come on."

I transformed right there, and Danielle reeled back a little bit.

"Geez Danny, someone'll se—" she started to say, but I cut her off. My hand wrapped around her wrist, and she phased invisible right alongside me. It wasn't her choice; I did it.

She tried to protest a bit, but I lifted her up and took off into the sky. By flight, the school was only a few seconds away, and I probably covered the distance in half that. The harder part was finding a proper classroom. I was hoping to phase through just a couple of rooms and stumble upon either Sam or Tucker, but I didn't have the first clue where to start. Instead, I settled for the joint final going on in the Lecture Hall. The Lecture Hall is big.

"Stay invisible, okay?" I told her once we landed in the back of the room. I think she nodded, because I was met with a split second of silence before I heard her say, "Oh—oh right. Yeah."

I tugged her along with me to the front of the classroom, and briefly let go of her hand as I snagged a Scantron sheet and test from the front of the hall. I threw a quick glance at the rows of students behind us as the the pencil and paper I lifted disappeared right along with my hand. Hopefully no one saw them go.

"Just stick with me. Back row and to the right," I whispered to her.

"Okay," was her response.

"No talking!" I whipped around. The voice didn't belong to either of us.

I looked quickly up and down the rows, turning back up front when my eyes settled on the slightly-graying teacher in the very front of the room. Sweat dripped down her face and her eyes surveyed the room like daggers.

I laughed a bit, even answered with a rather loud "Sorry!" The teacher looked straight through me, at the desk of lonely test packets. The look on her face was priceless.

"Come on."

My hand fumbled in the air a bit, looking for Danielle's. I grasped on to her leg, and she grabbed my hand from there. She let me lead her to the back of the room, to the very back row, all the way to the right. I slipped the papers onto the floor, hidden beneath the table top and chair. After a quick look around, I tossed a pencil under too, and they all reappeared.

"Seriously, Danny. What are you doing?" she asked.

"Welcome to your first and last day of class." I pulled her underneath with me and shoved the pencil in her hand. "Work fast, because you lost about 15 minutes already."

She was silent for a while. I can guess she was looking over the test. "How can I take a final? I don't know any of this."

"Neither do I," I told her. "That didn't stop me from taking any of my finals."

She laughed again. "Fine," she said. "I'll try then."

The pencil flickered through the air, and I saw it scratch her name at the top of the page. First name only, I guess I understand that.

And for an hour and 45 minutes, I sat, and I watched her disembodied little pencil fill in bubble after bubble under the cover of the chair. Once or twice I thought about my finals the next day, and mostly about how I should be studying for them, but each time I let the thought go. It was mesmerizing, that little pencil…

…

When the bell rang, I snagged the paper from beneath her, despite her little squeak of protest. The line of students was filing out at the other end, so I followed them, hovering just above as each of them handed in their papers. A little gap opened up between two students. The first handed in his papers, and the second had turned to ask her friend for a ride home. I took the chance and dropped everything where it belonged. I saw them reappear, both the test packet and the Scantron slightly askew. I didn't risk fixing them though, as the girl behind me came up, dropped her papers on top, and walked on. I'm certain even now that no one saw me.

…

"You didn't have to hand the paper in, you know."

"Hmm?" I looked down at Danielle, her little head bowed as we walked along the sidewalk outside the school.

"It was pretty damn stupid of you." She straightened her hat as it started to fall. "What if someone saw you drop the papers?"

"Ghosts attack this school all the time, you know. You need to think of it on the big scale. Whatever terror a 'paper ghost' would bring, I doubt anyone would even bat an eye at this point.

"It was still stupid."

"I've done a lot of stupid things. Plenty worse than that."

She shuffled on a few more feet in silence. I walked with her. Honestly, I wasn't too sure where we were headed.

"What'll they do with it?" she asked, breaking the silence.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Beats me. Hopefully they'll grade it." She seemed to stiffen at that. "I'll even let you know how you did!"

"Oh god no…" She shook her head, but this time with a little smile on her face. "I guessed on at least ¾ of them."

"For someone who's never taken the class, that's pretty damn good."

We walked for a few moments in silence. The school fell farther and farther away.

"Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"For sneaking me in there. It…it was fun."

I laughed at her, but she didn't seem offended this time. "Seriously? I was trying to prove my point about how horrible school is. I really am a terrible teacher." I stopped dead and turned to face her. "Don't ever set foot in that building again. It is significantly more evil than you seem to realize, and I wouldn't want you falling under its spell."

I really did stop this time, because I finally noticed the tears in her eyes.

"Oh, Danielle no—No I didn't really mean you couldn't go back. I-it's a joke—"

She held up a hand, cutting me off, and wiped her eyes with the other. "Danny, I know. I'm not…I'm not really crying. I'm just happy." She dropped her hands and smiled. "I'm happy because I feel like a normal teenager for once." Her eyes trailed to the sky and she laughed one final time. "I didn't just go to school today. I completed the class. I took the final." She looked back at me, a few more tears welling in her eyes. "Does that mean I graduate?"

"I, uh…well it depends on what class that was. Not to mention how many credits you actually need, plus fine arts and…" I stopped there, because I didn't feel like being honest to someone so happy. "Yes, Danielle. By decree of…me, I officially say you graduate. Happy?"

"Yes," she wiped at her eyes, "very."

"Geez, you even graduated before me then." She smiled wider, so I kept at it. "But at the rate I'm going I'll probably never graduate you k—"

I didn't finish. Danielle wrapped me in a hug before I could. So I let the subject go, and I hugged her back. "Nice reunion, huh?" I asked. "Might be the first time I saw you without that fruit loop lurking in the shadows."

"Yeah, it's been nice," I heard her say. My eyes were shut, but I opened them when my hands fell through the air. The weight around my neck was gone; I was grasping at nothing.

Danielle was gone.

I wrote about this on one of my earlier pages. It was much shorter, a much more abridged version, but I can't risk letting any details slip this time. I'm still hoping, buried in these pages, I'll remember something to prove I'm wrong. It was a happy memory back then, even if I bombed the English final, I was happy. Maybe it's clear what happened from reading this, maybe it's not, but I really think I've figured it out. The guilt is slowly eating me alive, because I know I think I've killed my cousin. No, no it's probably not obvious yet.

I thought she'd run off, disappeared like she always does, but I have a different theory now. I'm scared—scared and angry and guilty—because I think I get it.

But I've been writing for too long. My hand hurts, and the sun's setting. I should have been sleeping, but I just couldn't get my brain to quiet down. I feel better now—like this is a good stopping point. I'm glad I got this all down on paper. It makes a lot more sense looking at it this way.

I'll just finish later. I'll explain everything a little better

Really, I just hope I'm wrong.

Author's note: So this is a oneshot-turned-twoshot. It started getting way too long as one chunk, and there's a significant style change in part two, so it seemed appropriate to split them up. Part two will be up pretty soon, and it'll make this chunk make a lot more sense. It's an idea I've been contemplating for a while, so I'm pretty glad to get it down in writing.

Reviewers are forever loved, and I appreciate whatever feedback I get.