Author's Note: Thank you for the favourites and follows and reviews! And Johnathen, thank you for the ideas! I've recorded them all and I'll see what I can do. I definitely want to cover Jack, Maddie, Jazz and Dani at some point. Vlad would also be interesting, as would Dan – I hadn't thought of them.

Enjoy this next chapter! I hope imekitty will like it…

Paulina Sanchez

How much? How much?! Only INFINITELY! I've always been a sucker for the ghostly guys.

I'm not a stranger to the supernatural. I've been talking to spirits for as long as I can remember. My first birthday present from Mama was a full-length mirror, a family heirloom with luminous emeralds embedded in a garish gold frame. It doesn't just tell me how beautiful I am. It's a portal to the Ghost Zone.

Yes, trying to communicate with powerful beings from another dimension is pretty dangerous. Too many spectres are simply mindless and brutal. We've had a lot of close calls and broken china. But since the third grade I've met a few "friendly ghosts" – spooks who trust me and wouldn't want to hurt me. (They couldn't even if they wanted to. They'd have to get past Papa. And Papa is not a man you want to anger.)

When I was smaller, Youngblood and I had thrilling adventures in his pirate ship. Nowadays I like to help Poindexter and Dora sneak out of their lairs and have some fun in the 21st century. And Ember McLain is probably my oldest ghost friend; she's always been there when I need her advice.

But Danny Phantom was completely different. I didn't like him. I loved him. The shaggy white hair, the piercing green eyes, the lightning-fast reflexes … it was love at first rescue. I'd never seen him in the Ghost Zone before, and I wanted to find out everything about him. I wanted to be the Lois Lane to his Superman.

I did everything I could to bring him to me. On the Day of the Dead, I built a little shrine for him and made a path of marigold petals from the mirror to the altar. They were so bright and orange that I was sure he couldn't help but find me. And yet he never turned up. So I did something more drastic. Whenever the Fentons spotted an ecto-storm and sounded the alarm, I didn't run away – I ran towards the chaos. I wanted to let myself be captured so Danny Phantom could swoop in and carry me to safety in his arms.

I'm blushing just thinking about it!

As for his secret identity, I figured it out pretty quickly. It was after that floozy Kitty possessed me. She's never been a friend of mine, only a friend of a friend, and I doubt she'll ever be more than that now. She used my body for at least a week, just to get back at Johnny in a ridiculous fight, and then she left me with a violent headache and vague memories of dating a total loser.

There was one reel of footage that stuck out more than the others. One minute, Inviso-Bill (as he was called then) was floating beside the pool. The next, Danny Fenton stood in his place and leapt over the railing. The "loser" who never did anything to get himself noticed was really the ghost boy who'd saved my life!

I kept it to myself. When the kids at school complained about Inviso-Bill ruining their day, I quickly hid the pictures of him in my locker. When he saved Amity Park and everyone changed their minds about him, I was the first to appear on TV congratulating him. When Danny Phantom dropped little hints about how "Paulina Fenton" would be such a nice name, I smiled and played dumb, pretending Danny Fenton meant nothing to me. It was simpler than admitting the truth.

I was going to come clean someday, maybe even ask him to be my boyfriend, but I left it too late. Why? I was scared, I guess. No-one besides Mama and Papa knew about my ghost pals, not even Star. I didn't know what would happen if I opened up. Would he think I was a weirdo? Would he think I was the enemy, canoodling with the ghosts he had to fight off day after day? It took me months to find the courage to tell him everything.

But by the time I was ready, he'd moved on. To the Goth. She makes my blood boil. She liked him for years, but she never admitted it. And while she didn't have the guts to ask him out, no-one else was allowed to even look at Danny. Hello? That's called "being a control freak!" I don't know what he sees in her.

Then again, what does he see in me? Why would he want to be with me after everything he's gone through? When he looks at me, he probably just sees a stupid shallow airhead who can't keep herself out of trouble. He'd have to spend half his life facing untold horrors to pull me out of the wreckage, and I'm sure he wouldn't want to put that weight on himself. He needs an equal, a girl he doesn't have to worry about, a girl who can stand up for herself … I hate to say it, but he needs someone like Sam.

I used to think he was annoying when he crept up on me, stuttered the old clichés about how it must have hurt when I fell from Heaven, and ran off. Now I'd give anything to go back in time and treat him better and date him while I still had the chance. He's gone beyond the hormones that once pushed him towards my pretty face. He's matured. I'm standing still, and he's moving forward. If we dated now, I would only hold him back.

Still, I guess a girlfriend who holds him back would be better than a girlfriend he couldn't trust, a girlfriend who was once trying to kill him. How could Valerie hold her grudge against him for so long? What happened to her daddy was an accident! It wasn't even Danny's dog! And I'm sure he would have apologised if she didn't keep shooting him! I did feel kind of sorry for her missing out on Dumpty Humpty concerts and stuff, so I tried to keep our friendship going, but we fell out over Danny Phantom. I believed he was good. She didn't. It was as simple as that.

I hate thinking about what that witch must have put him through – the wounds, the terror, the ruthless pursuit. Valerie was an enemy who showed no mercy, and I don't believe her sudden conversion to Team Phantom. I think Danny ought to have another ally, a better ally, someone who's always had his back and always will.

Maybe it's time to take a good long look at myself and work on being the knight in shining armour rather than the damsel in distress. Maybe it's time to borrow a jumpsuit from the Fentons and ask Mama and Papa a few more questions about the Sanchez family history. Maybe it's time for Youngblood, Poindexter, Dora and Ember to teach me their skills.

There'll be no more foolish mistakes and screaming for help. I'm going to show the world what I'm made of. I'm going to become a better me, more worthy of Danny Phantom.