Chapter 07
Danny awoke the next morning and found the dorm room empty once again. I guess they had early classes, he thought as he rubbed his sore back, which seemed to be Vlad's preferred spot to attack. Standing, he yawned and stretched as he glanced around the room. He had already done most of the cleaning the previous day. It's amazing how much cleaning you can get done when you have nothing better to do, he thought and took a seat on the couch. Maybe I can earn some money doing laundry and other chores for people. I can't just mooch off Vlad and Dad the whole time. When the door creaked as it opened, Danny leapt to his feet. He almost switched to his ghost form until he saw Jack stick his head into the room.
"Oh, you're awake," Jack stated the obvious as he entered the room. In his hands, he held a white paper bag and a cup holder with two Styrofoam cups.
"I'm sorry," Danny said, frowning in confusion as he fell back onto the couch.
"I was afraid I would wake you up," explained Jack and joined Danny on the couch.
"Don't you have class?"
"No, my first class doesn't start for another few hours." Jack set the bag and cup holder on the table. "I went out to get us some breakfast. I didn't know whether you liked coffee or not." He picked up one of the cups.
"Coffee is fine," Danny said as he took the proffered cup. He didn't much like coffee, but he felt it would be rude to reject the drink after his father went out and bought it for him. "What's in the bag?"
"Doughnuts," answered Jack, but he left the bag sitting on the far end of the table out of Danny's reach. "However, I want to hear the truth about where you were last night. I may not look it, but I can tell when Vlad isn't telling me the full truth."
Danny frowned. He didn't often get to see this side of his father, the serious, no jokes side. "I - I wouldn't feel right about telling you something that Vlad might not want you to know," Danny said, though he didn't understand why Vlad had wanted to keep it secret.
"Vlad and I share everything," Jack said then he paused and dropped his gaze to the coffee cup in his hands. "Almost everything. There are times when Vlad keeps things from me, and there are some things I can't share with him."
"What can't you share?" Danny stared at Jack and pretended to be curious. He already guessed that it was about his relationship with Maddie.
Jack lifted his gaze to Danny and stared for some time before he sat back. "This conversation never happened. Everything we say right now remains between us." Once Danny agreed, Jack continued. "Vlad and I have been friends with this girl Maddie for quite a long time now. Maddie and I… We've been in a relationship for the past six months. At first, we tried not to admit our feelings. We didn't want to make Vlad uncomfortable by having a relationship. But what Maddie and I share, I think it's real love, like we're soul mates. I want to tell Vlad, but I don't want to hurt him. He won't like that we kept our relationship a secret from him. What makes the whole thing worse is that I think Vlad might like Maddie. He never came out and said it, but I still feel like I'm betraying him by dating the woman he likes."
"Vlad may feel betrayed, but it's Maddie's choice who she dates," Danny said. "And Maddie chose you, not Vlad."
"Maddie said things like that too when I told her I thought Vlad liked her," Jack admitted. "But I'm still afraid of destroying our friendship because of this." Jack took a sip of his coffee. "I just wish there was someone else for Vlad to fall in love with. But that just makes me feel selfish. I want Vlad to have someone to avoid feeling guilty about my relationship with Maddie.
"Maybe a little selfish," mumbled Danny, realizing he was also being selfish with his motive to find someone for Vlad. "I set Vlad up on a blind date last night. It ended pretty badly though. Vlad got upset when one of the girls said she wanted to work for the Starlight Exaggerator."
"Oh," said Jack, wincing. "Yeah, I can understand that. Vlad was really offended when they published this totally bogus article trying to prove that ghosts don't exist and that the field of paranormal studies is a joke. The worst part of it all was that they didn't even bother with scientific research. They merely had one of their random writers voice their thoughts on the field. Maddie was angry with the article too." Jack picked up the bag and held it open for Danny, who eagerly took one of the glazed doughnuts. "That also explains why Vlad didn't say anything about it," Jack said as he took a doughnut for himself. "Vlad doesn't like talking about failed dates, even to me."
"When you say it like that, it sounds like he has a lot of failed dates," mumbled Danny as he licked the icing from his fingers.
"I can't say for a fact that it happens a lot," Jack said, finishing off the last bite of his doughnut. "As I said, he doesn't talk to me about them, and I've learned that I shouldn't ask about them." He glanced at the clock and stood. "And I need to get going now. I'm supposed to meet with some students who had questions about the class I TA for. The rest of the doughnuts are for you. And remember, this conversation never happened."
"What conversation?" Danny asked, grinning widely as he reached into the bag for another glazed doughnut.
"I'll see you later then." Jack waved as he walked out the door and left Danny to finish off the doughnuts alone.
Once he had finished the doughnuts and coffee, Danny wiped his hands clean before he got up to change his clothes. "Now to check on that Proto Portal," Danny mumbled as he transformed in his ghost form.
If my parents or Vlad are there, I don't want them to see me, he thought, flying through the wall and out of the building. He floated around the campus for some time before he finally found the science building where he remembered they tested the Proto Portal. Dropping down to ground level, he flew into the building and wandered the hallway until he found room 101.
When he entered, Danny found it empty. He walked around as he scanned the room. It wasn't much different from how he remembered it when Clockwork sent him back in time. Papers and books were scattered a few of the tables. Some of the tables contained bits and pieces of experiments or labeled beakers and vials. He found the Proto Portal on one of the tables. The Proto Portal only had its base constructed with a few other pieces lying strewn around it.
"They've only just started it," murmured Danny with a sigh. His shoulders drooped, and he hung his head. "I guess it'll be a while before I can get into the Ghost Zone to talk with Clockwork."
Danny had no choice but to wait for his parents and Vlad to complete it. If he were to complete it himself, it would affect the future too greatly. For one, Vlad wouldn't get hit by the explosion created during the testing of the Proto Portal. Danny, also, had no idea had to actually build the Portal, and he didn't dare try.
"I just hope it won't be too long before they finish building the Portal," said Danny as he floated out of the science room. But since I'm stuck here, I might as well make some money to help out my dad and Vlad, he thought, flying back to their dorm room. When he reached their room, he checked the room to make sure Vlad or Jack hadn't returned while he was gone. Finding the room empty, Danny transformed back to his human self. "Now to get to work," he mumbled as he left the room. He walked down the hallway to the next door. His hand raised, posed for knocking, when the door suddenly opened.
"Can I help you?" the man asked, frowning. He held a basket of clothes in his arms.
"Actually, I was hoping I could help you," replied Danny. "I would like to offer my services to you."
"What kind of services?" the man asked, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.
"I'll do your laundry for you or clean your room," explained Danny then he realized he might sound like some sort of crazy person.
"For a fee, of course," said the man, smirking. "Well, I do need to get this laundry done, but I have a big paper I need to write."
"You're in luck then. If you let me do your laundry, you'll have more time to work on your paper."
The man handed the basket to Danny. Then he reached into his pocket for his wallet. "I've only got five dollars on me. My roommate may have more, but he's in class at the moment."
"Five bucks works for me," said Danny, grinning as the man handed him the money. He headed down to the Laundromat, which had three other people already there doing their laundry. I guess it wouldn't be smart to do more than one person's laundry at once, he thought, setting down the basket. I wouldn't want to have to refund the money because of stolen items. After sorting the laundry, he put the first load into the open washing machine. He sat watching it for five minutes before it occurred to him that he should have brought something to do while he waited.
Danny spent most of the morning sitting in the Laundromat. Out of boredom, he settled for watching the other people in the room and observing their little quirks. By the time he switched loads, two of the other people finished. That left one other person in the Laundromat. It was a tall man with spiky blond hair. He had his head leaned back while he spit into the air and caught it again in his mouth. The silence dragged on until finally the buzzer went off loudly. Danny dumped the dry clothes into the basket before switching the second load from the washer to the dryer. He took the basket back to the spot where he was sitting and started folding them while he waited.
After all the laundry was washed and folded, Danny headed back up the stairs. He walked down the hallway until he reached the right door. Shifting his hold on the basket so that he had it held with one arm and supported by his hip, he knocked on the door and waited for the man to answer it. When the door opened, Danny was shocked to find a woman standing there in only jeans and a bra.
The woman raised an elegant brow as she stared at Danny. "What do you want?"
"I, uh, I," stuttered Danny, his cheeks growing red at the sight of the woman's exposed flesh. He tore his gaze from the woman. When his eyes landed on the door number, he realized his error. "I'm sorry! This is the wrong floor," he said hastily before he turned and jogged down the hallway. He ran up the steps to the next, and correct, floor and down the hallway to the proper door.
"Dude, you are a life saver!" exclaimed the man when he answered the door. He took the basket from Danny.
"No problem," said Danny, grinning. "If you want me to do your laundry again, I'm in the room next to yours." He pointed in the direction of Vlad and Jack's room.
"Cool. Hey, I'll even tell my friends about you." The man smiled and waved as he closed the door.
Danny walked toward the next door. His day continued on this way, with an occasional man slamming the door in his face. After he returned another basket of folded, clean laundry, Danny turned around and saw Vlad walking toward him.
"What were you doing?" Vlad asked as he glanced between Danny and the door he stood before.
Danny followed his gaze a little nervously. Then he had a sudden idea. "Oh, nothing," he replied with a tiny smirk as he walked past Vlad.
"You're coming out of some random guy's room, and you call that nothing?" Vlad demanded angrily.
"I never even went into the guy's room. So how could I be coming out of it?" Danny tried to sound nonchalant about it, but the accusation made him a little annoyed. "It's nothing for you to concern yourself with."
"You're keeping things secret from me again," stated Vlad; his lips pursed in an angry line.
"You make a poor role model sometimes," muttered Danny as he turned around to face Vlad. "You get upset when I keep things from you, but you go and keep things from Jack. I thought you two were supposed to share everything."
"I – I-" Vlad stuttered, trying to think of a comeback, but Danny's statement threw him off. "I don't like discussing my failures with anyone."
"Do you think he's going to laugh at you or something?" Danny asked, his brow drawing together in confusion. "Everyone goes on a few horrible dates during their lives. I bet Jack could tell about some of the date disasters he's had. Besides if he was going to laugh at you, it would more likely be about your knitting than that blind date last night."
"I never thought about – How do you know about that?" Vlad's expression changed from thoughtful to suspicious within seconds. "I don't even keep any of my knitting supplies here."
"I, um, I overheard you talking about it in your sleep," replied Danny, wincing and praying Vlad believed him.
"I don't remember having any dreams about knitting," Vlad said, completely puzzled.
"Do you actually remember every dream you have?"
"I suppose not."
"So what are you doing back here?" Danny gave a mental cheer at the change of topic.
"I thought you might have forgotten about sitting in on the calculus class," Vlad replied.
"I didn't forget!" argued Danny, though it did slip his mind while he was doing the laundry. "But it's a good thing you came to get me because I don't remember what building that class was in or what time it was at."
Vlad wore a look that said "I knew that would be the case" as he shook his head. Turning down the hall, Vlad led the way down the stairs and out of the building while Danny followed after him. They walked in silence toward the building housing the class in the mathematics field.
Danny began wondering what exactly he should do now. My reason for finding Vlad a date is kind of selfish, he thought with a frown. But it couldn't hurt to try finding him someone. I just went about it all wrong last time. I should look for someone he's more compatible with instead of setting him up with some random girl I met. And if I leave things as they are, Vlad will just become obsessed with my mom, and we'll still be enemies in present time. Danny sighed and lowered his head.
"Something wrong?" Vlad asked as he held the door open for Danny.
"Ah, no, nothing," answered Danny quickly. "Just, you know, thinking about how confusing this class is." He forced a grin to his face and walked past Vlad and into the room.
Vlad frowned as he watched the younger man. When the teacher started talking, Vlad joined Danny in the last row of seats. He handed Danny a piece of paper and pencil and leaned over toward him, and the tutoring session began.