Chapter 11

"I can't believe you're making me wear this," Danny groaned, pulling on the white ruffle bordering the bottom of the black skirt that he felt was far too short. The maid outfit came with a white apron that he sloppily tied around his waist and a white headdress that Vlad forced him to wear with the outfit.

"Stop fussing with it," Vlad ordered, slapping Danny's hands. He adjusted the attachable white collar with a black ribbon tied in a bow.

This is more embarrassing than that time the whole school saw me in the My Fair Lady dress, thought Danny as he fought back a blush. "How long are you going to make me wear this?"

Vlad lifted his gaze to stare thoughtfully into Danny's eyes. "At least a month," he answered flatly. "And I'll know if you've cheated."

Danny groaned and hung his head. "Wait," he said, lifting his head and raising a brow. "How would you know if I cheated?"

"He has his connections," Jack explained as he flipped through his class notes. "Not that it matters." He turned around to face the two men. "Danny's too much of a nice guy. Even if he has the opportunity to cheat in this, I know he won't do it."

Why am I not surprised that Vlad has connections even in college? Danny wondered as he watched Vlad gather his things for class. "You just love to humiliate me," he grumbled, mostly to himself.

"Consider it payback for setting me up on that horrible date with Laura," Vlad countered with a smirk as he walked toward the door. "I'll see you both later tonight."

"You're evil!" Danny shouted with no real heat to his voice. "And your date was Sara, not Laura!" The door shut behind Vlad, and Danny wondered if the man even heard him.

"He's not evil," said Jack.

Frowning, Danny plopped onto the couch beside his father. "He's making me wear this. And you say he's not evil?"

"Being a little cruel isn't the same as being evil." Jack closed his notebook and set it on top of his other books. "Anyway, shouldn't you be happy about passing the test?"

"It was only about a B minus." Danny shrugged, though passing did make him a little happy. But now Vlad won't tell me about their theories on ghosts, he thought sadly, which means I won't know how they're progressing on the Proto Portal.

"What would Vlad have to do if you had won the bet?" Jack asked, drawing Danny out of his thoughts.

"Oh, um," Danny mumbled, fussing with the skirt again. "I asked Vlad to tell me about your ghost theories."

"I didn't realize you had an interest in ghosts." Jack stared at him in mild surprised. "Well, if you want to know anything about our research, you can always ask me." He grinned widely. "Unfortunately, it'll have to wait. I have to get to class now."

"Oh, all right." Danny climbed to his feet as Jack did the same. "I'll see you tonight." He closed the door after Jack left. Walking back to the couch, he cleaned away the mess they made while eating their breakfast. Once that was finished, Danny grabbed the room's key. After searching his outfit, Danny exclaimed, "Shoot! This thing has no pockets." Sighing, he tried to find some place to store the key. In the end, he stuffed the key into his shoe and left the room. "This is so humiliating," Danny grumbled as he walked down the hallway. His stomach twisted in uncomfortable knots. I don't want the guys to see me in this, he thought, but he knew there was no way he could avoid it.

"Whoa!"

The exclamation made Danny stop. His muscles tensed recognizing the voice. The first guy to see me just had to be Digory, he thought, glaring at the ceiling. He hits on everyone in a skirt!

"Hey, there, sexy," Digory said, trying to sound cool. He walked up to Danny and slipped an arm around his bare shoulders. "How about you and I go back to my room and play a little game of the naughty maid?" A sly smirk spread over his face.

"Isn't it usually the naughty nurse?" Danny asked in a low, flat voice. He glared at Digory, who jumped a few feet away.

"D-D-D-Danny!" Digory's gaze traveled up and down Danny's body before he slapped a hand over his eyes. "Why are you wearing that? I just hit on a guy! What is wrong with me?"

"I'm not wearing it because I want to," Danny mumbled, unable to hold back the dark blush that graced his face. "You've hit on other guys." His eyes narrowed when Digory started to deny it. "I've seen you. You were totally flirting with Ben, not that he even noticed."

"Ben can be a bit dim." Digory wore a fond smile. He snapped his worried gaze toward Danny. "You're not going to say anything about that, are you? Ben is so straight it's not even funny."

"As long as you don't try hitting on me again, I won't say anything. So how long have you known that you're… you know?"

"I'm not!" Digory quickly denied. "I'm totally a big boob guy. It's just – Ben makes me feel something I've never felt for anyone else." He shrugged and scratched behind his ear. "I guess that doesn't make any sense. Uh, so do you want to do my laundry?" He pointed back down the hallway in the direction of his dorm room. "We've got a large load that needs to be done."

"That's what I'm here for." Danny followed after Digory as they walked down the hallway. Is a person still considered gay if he only feels attracted to one man? he wondered. He shook his head as he sighed. Why am I even wondering about that? It's not like I'm in a similar situation or anything.

"So why are you wearing that?" Digory asked as he opened the door to his room.

"Lost a bet," grumbled Danny. "Can we not talk about it? I would rather delude myself into believing I'm not wearing this at all."

"Then I guess I shouldn't pry." Digory turned to grin at Danny. "But you probably shouldn't be making any more bets with that person. Who knows what he would make you wear next."

"I don't even want to think about that," groaned Danny as Digory returned with an overflowing basket of clothes. "And I think I've learned my lesson." Danny took the basket from the man. "No more bets for me."

"That's probably for the best." Digory handed Danny fifteen dollars as payment. "I may be in class when you finish. If so, you can leave the basket in your room, and I'll stop by later today to pick it up."

Danny nodded as he lifted his foot so that he could stuff the money into his shoe. "Vlad could have at least picked something with a pocket," he grumbled, making Digory chuckle. He walked down the hallway and headed down the stairs to the Laundromat.

Today was a slow day. When he arrived, Danny found no one in the Laundromat. He sighed in relief, glad that he would be spared great embarrassment for few people would be visiting the Laundromat that day. Setting the basket on a table, he started sorting through the clothes.

Danny finished putting in the first load of laundry when the door opened. He glanced up from his task of trying to find a more comfortable way to store the money and key within his shoe. When he saw the woman who entered the Laundromat, Danny's throat ran dry. He forgot that she also lived in the dorm building. "L-Laura!" stuttered Danny.

Laura stared at Danny. Her expression twisted into one of disgust. "Why are you wearing that?"

"Oh, um, I lost a bet to Vlad," mumbled Danny, lowering his head to hide his blush. "So, um, I'm sorry about what happened." He lifted his gaze when he received no response. He saw a smirk on Laura's face and frowned, disliking the look. Why do I have a bad feeling? "Things were said that were regretted later. Do you think we could let bygones be bygones? Forgive and forget?" He gave a hopeful smile.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure." Laura waved her hand. "Already forgotten." She crossed the room and took a seat beside Danny. "Actually, I was kind of hoping I would bump into you again."

That was a quick dismissal. Danny frowned, feeling puzzled. "Why?"

"Yeah." A sheepish grin crossed Laura's face. "See. I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, and that date came up. So of course, I told her about Vlad. Nothing bad," she added quickly when she noticed Danny's disapproving frown. "Anyway, my friend wanted me to ask Vlad to have a look at her dorm room. I figured Vlad wouldn't want to speak to me, much less do a favor for me."

"Why does she want Vlad to look at her room?"

"She seems to think there's a ghost living there. I told her there's no such thing as a ghost, but she won't listen to me. She's totally freaking out about it." Laura laughed.

"Ghosts aren't something to laugh about," Danny stated, annoyed. "It's fine if you don't believe in them, but don't go around making fun the people who do."

"Y-You believe in ghosts?" Laura asked, trying to keep the disgust off her face.

Why did I ever let her talk me into do that stupid blind date? Danny felt so irritated that he almost wanted to prove to her the existence of ghosts, but he knew it wasn't worth the risk of exposing his secret. "Yes, I do, and I would appreciate it if you stopped laughing at me and everyone else who believes in the existence of ghosts." He wanted to make a dramatic exit right then, but he had to stay and finish doing the laundry for Digory.

"I'm sorry." Laura tried to make it sound like a real apology. "Will you at least ask Vlad to look at my friend's room?"

Danny sighed as he stared at the woman. After a moment, he answered, "Yeah, okay." I can't just let a ghost wander around. "You'll have to give me her name and room number."

"Oh, right! Of course!" Grinning, Laura reached into her purse for a pad of paper with a pen hooked on the spiral binding. She scribbled down her friend's name, dorm building, and room number. Ripping the sheet from the pad, she handed it to Danny. "Thanks for doing this."

"It's no problem." Danny glanced at the note before stuffing it into his shoe.

"Well, I should be getting to class now," Laura said as she stood. With a smile and a wave, she left the Laundromat.

Frowning, Danny watched Laura until the door closed behind her. Why do I feel like she's planning something I won't like? He remembered the smirk on Laura's face. He saw that kind of smirk on a far too many ghosts' faces. It was a smirk they used when they planned something horrible. Well, whatever it is, I'm sure it can't be as bad as something a ghost could do. Danny shrugged off the bad feeling as he stood and went to change the load of laundry.