Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or any of the characters. Danny Phantom is the sole property of Butch Hartman, Nickelodeon and Viacom International.

Dani Fenton: School Daze

Chapter 8: Meeting with Lucy

The next morning was eerily identical to the previous. Maddie was busy making breakfast and trying to make sure it no ectoplasm contaminated the food, Jack was busy tinkering with the weapons, Jazz was reading one of her psychology books and Dani was giving her brother the cold shoulder, which he returned.

"She can pout all she wants, I'm doing this for her own good….'Danny thought stubbornly as he looked at his little sister who was still refusing to speak to him.

He knew he was doing the right thing, ghost fighting was not easy and he faced a lot of close calls over the years. He knew it was very dangerous and while Danielle was strong in her own way, she was still a child. He didn't want to take that away from her.

He was thrust into this lifestyle when he was 14 and it wasn't easy with all the fighting, lying, keeping secret and making a lot of strong enemies. Sure things were different know with his secret being out and his family accepting him but the fact remained the same. He didn't want to see Dani risking her life on a daily bases, especially after all the trouble she's been through in her short life. He still remember the day when Vlad tried to melt her and how he was too close to losing her, had it not been for the ecto-dejecto.

"Danielle? Are you okay? You look awful. What happened to you? Last time I saw you, you flew off kinda dramatically..." Danny said to the younger hybrid.

"Do you know how hard it is to fly off dramatically?! That plus our last battle with Vlad left me really wiped out. As much as I've tried to save my strength since then, I keep getting weaker! I needed your help to see if you can make me stay whole!..."She said desperately as he saw part of her side that was already melting into green goop.

Danny snapped out of his unwanted flashback and his eyes were back on the pouting girl who still refused to speak to him. She still didn't understand how much she meant to him and that he only wanted her to be safe and happy. Dani didn't deserve to go through all of the trouble he faced when he still had his secret, she deserved to have a carefree life, having fun, making friends and just being a happy, normal kid.

"You'll understand someday Dani….This is for the best..." Danny thought to himself as he placed his empty plate in the sink and transformed into his ghost form.

"Have a nice day at school sweetie..."Maddie said from the kitchen.

"I will..."Danny waved to his family, and sighed when Dani pretended not to notice. Ignoring it, he took to the skies and was on his way to Casper High to deal with his own school issues

Later that morning

Amity Elementary

It was 7:50am at good old Amity Elementary and most of the young students were either on their way to class, goofing around or chatting with their friends. However, a young girl and her lowly follower were keeping their eyes out for a certain half ghost girl they needed to get on their good side.

"I can't believe your actually going to apologize…"Carly said in disbelief.

"Shut up, I just need to calm Danielle down and get her to reconsider joining our group…."Lilly whispered to her subordinate who nodded.

Lilly didn't understand why Danielle got so angry yesterday but Lilly regretted losing her temper, she needed to stay on that girls good side if she wanted to meet her brother, she couldn't afford to have her hanging out with losers and being upset with her for whatever reason.

"Do you really think you'll be able to get her to come to the slumber party and then to your birthday party?..."Carly asked to the school princess.

"I am Lilly Dubois and I always get what I want… A girl only turns 12 once and I already have my wish planned out…"Lilly said as she looked into her hand held mirror and applied more lip gloss.

"What are you going to wish for?..."Carly asked curiously.

"I can't tell you because then I might not come true…but I can say this is the year I'm going to get what I want most…all thanks to our darling little Danielle…"Lilly smirked.

She knew what her birthday wish was: To meet The Ghost boy and she was determined to make it come true, but she needed Danielle's help in order to make it become a reality. She wanted to meet Danny Phantom and she needed Danielle for that to happen. That girl belonged with the A-Listers and Lilly was going to make sure she joins by any means.

Anything else she wanted, her parents could easily buy it for her and her followers already received her "wish list" of pre-approved gifts they could give her, and along with the outfits she told them to wear. No matter what, no one would dare wear the same outfit she would.

All in all, everything was all set for the perfect party…the only thing left was her wish.

"All I have to do is get on her good side, hopefully being invited to my annual slumber party will help her see just how much she's better off as a A-List girl…"Lilly told her minion.

"There she is…"Carly pointed to Danielle who was once again swarmed by her adoring public.

"Let's get this over with…"Lilly said, not liking the idea of swallowing her pride but reminded herself it was for a good cause: Her.

Danielle finally managed to lose her fans once more, she was almost getting used to being bombarded only to turn invisible to escape them.

"Don't they have anything better to do?..."Dani mumbled in annoyance, tired of her "fans" not giving her any personal space.

"I don't believe so, but you can't blame the commoners for idolizing the elite, now can we?..."A snobby voice said and Dani turned around to see Lilly giving her a syrup sweet smile.

"Not her again…"Dani thought in annoyance.

"What do you want Lilly?..."Dani said in a hostile tone to the spoiled girl who still had that phony smile on her face.

"Now…Now Danielle…Let's be civil, I just came here to apologize about what happened yesterday…"Lilly said with a guilty look on her face.

"She's apologizing?...What game is she playing this time?..."Dani thought suspiciously, still not convinced.

"You…are apologizing?..."Dani said slowly to the girl who looked like she was about to shed tears.

"I shouldn't have done it…It was wrong and I am very sorry…"Lilly said in a soft voice, though Dani still didn't believe it.

"So you apologized to Lucy already?..."Dani asked to the spoiled brat and smirked when she saw her flinch.

"Uh…I plan to later today…'Lilly said hesitantly and Dani now knew what was happening.

"I find it strange that you would apologize to me before you gave one to Lucy…given that you pushed her into the trashcans…'Dani said coldly.

"I told you it was an accident!...'Lilly yelled only to cover her mouth at her own outburst.

"Spoiled little faker!..."Dani thought, feeling disgusted about Lilly's attempts at deceptiveness.

"I…What I mean is…I haven't seen her yet…"Lilly said uncertainly as Dani smirked.

"Well…Now's your chance…"Dani said as she pointed behind her. Lilly turned around to see Lucy getting her books out of her locker.

"Well…What are you waiting for?..."Dani asked smugly as Lilly started to glower a bit.

It was obvious Lilly didn't feel the least bit sorry about yesterday but for whatever reason, she wanted to make Dani like her and was trying to manipulate her.

"Stupid girl…You're still too green to pull one over me…"Dani thought proudly as she watched Lilly being forced to swallow her pride as she marched over to Lucy to "apologize"… Dani knew it wasn't enough to make up for yesterday, but she also knew that there was nothing more crippling to an egomaniac's pride then being told to apologize… with everyone watching it.

Lucy was getting all her books from her locker, she was happy that she managed to beat the clock and still had some time to spare before class started.

"I wonder how Dani will want to do the project later?..."She thought in regards to her project partner. She was still thinking about the events from yesterday, about how Dani defended her against Lilly and even helped cleaned her up with that "intangibility" power of hers.

She was suddenly brought out of her thoughts as she felt someone tap her shoulder, turning around she flinched when she saw it was Lilly, and judging by the look on her face, she wasn't in a good mood.

"L-Lilly?..."Lucy stuttered.

"I'm sorry…."Was said in a rushed voice.

Time seemed to stand still for the bespectacled bookworm…She was sure her ears were still in shock.

"I'm sorry…What?..."Lucy managed to say once of out her shocked state.

"Remember it's for the ghost boy…"Lilly reminded herself.

"You heard me…I said sorry...for yesterday…"She said, hating that everyone was staring at the interaction between the school princess and the book worm.

"Well bye…"Lilly quickly left, still hearing the whispers from the on-lookers.

"Did that seriously just happened? Lilly apologized?..."A 4th grader asked out loud.

"I dunno, maybe I'm dreaming…or your dreaming?...'His friend answered and many other children were thinking the same way.

Lucy however was still terribly confused by what happened….."What the heck just happened?...'She asked out loud.

"Just the school princess being forced to swallow her overgrown pride…and judging by what happened…she didn't like it…"Lucy turned around to see Dani approaching her with a grin.

"What?..."Lucy said once more in shock.

"That stuck up brat tried to butter me up again…She said she was "sorry" about what she did to you yesterday…though I know she just wanted to get me to stop being mad at her…'Dani said with her arms crossed.

"But how did-…"Lucy was cut off by Dani's hand wave.

"I told her that if she really felt sorry…she needed to actually apologize to the person she wronged…"Dani said smirking and Lucy realized what happened and started smirking as well. Lilly was an extremely proud girl and never apologized unless it was one of her manipulation tactics…but this timeLilly was the one being manipulated and she got to see it up close.

"I'm impressed…'Lucy said to the little ghost girl.

"Don't be…I had a lot of experience with those kinds of people…"Dani said offhandedly, causing Lucy to blink.

"Huh?...She's dealt with more Lilly's before?...'Lucy wondered. She was about to asked her what she meant only for Dani to cut her off once more.

"We better get to class…It's almost time…"Dani said as she pointed to the clock which read 7:58am.

"Oh man, you're right!...'Lucy exclaimed and she soon found herself rushing to Mr. Harrington's home room ,with Dani right behind her.

Class flew by for both girls and soon it was free period and both girls were on the way to the library to work on their project.

"So how are we supposed to do this again?...'Dani wondered to her project partner.

"According to Mr. Harrington's instructions, we have to study chemical reactions…"Lucy read her notes…."First we need to we fill a plastic bag with calcium chloride and some other ingredients and document the many changes and see if we can make a chemical reaction between two solids to create a gas to fill up the bag and we have to answer the following questions…."She said as she pointed to her notebook.

"Sounds like tons-o-fun…"Dani said sarcastically, already feeling bored.

"Yeah, like watching paint dry…"Lucy said in the same tone, earning a chuckle from Dani.

"What's the point of this project again?..."Dani muttered.

"The point is to do it or else we'll get an F…"Lucy answered.

"Yeah…Yeah…So what do we need again?…"Dani asked.

"Calcium chloride, baking soda, sandwich bags, spoons…."Lucy listed off.

"Well I already brought so stuff, the sandwich bags and baking soda but I couldn't find any calcium chloride…"Dani said to the bookworm.

"Don't worry, I brought some…but Agnes won't let us practice in here, we better get outside..."Lucy told her.

"Who's Agnes?...'Dani asked, though the name seemed familiar to her for some reason.

"Oh…Uh…Mrs. Langley…The librarian…"Lucy said as she pointed out to the elderly librarian who was busy doing her work.

"Oh…'Dani said.

"Now I remember, she said that name when her book got dirty the other day…"Dani thought as she and the bespectacled girl soon left the library together.

Soon both girls left the library and headed to the playground where they could do their experiment in peace.

Outside on the playground, another student was enjoying himself as he was taking pictures of the playgrounds flora and fauna.

"Wow…"He said as he zoomed up to see a bluebird's nest, with the momma bird feeding her babies.

The boy was young Mr. Sebastian Hayward who was doing his favorite pastime: photography. He was overjoyed that he managed to get an A on his quiz and that this weekend his father was going to take him to the Aquarium, he really wanted to take a pic of the new beluga whale.

"Come on…Move a little…I can't see…."He muttered as he tried to get a decent shot of a squirrel who was munching on an acorn but was obscured by some leaves.

Frustrated, he ran around the tree to see if he could get a better angle only to bump into someone.

"Ahh…" Was yelped simultaneously and Sebastian saw that he ran into someone.

"Oh man…I'm sorry…"He immediately got up and offered his hand.

"It's okay…No biggie…"He heard and Sebastian soon recognized it as that girl he ran into the other day.

"Hey…It's you…The boy from the hallway….Dani said as she pointed to the boy.

"Hey you're Dani…Uh…Sorry for bumping into you…again…"He said awkwardly to the ghostly girl.

"It's alright, no damage has been done…but where was the fire anyway?...'Dani asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I was taking pictures and I was trying to get a good angle of that squirrel up there…"Sebastian explained as he pointed up the tree and even gestured to his camera.

"Photography huh?...'Dani said in a curious voice.

"Yeah…It's kind of a hobby…"Sebastian said rubbing the back of his neck.

"Can I see?...'She asked suddenly and Sebastian blinked a bit.

"Uh…Sure…"He said as he presented her the camera and the pictures he managed to get today alone, about the flowers, birds, insects and even some of the clouds that were having interesting shapes.

"These are pretty good…"Dani said honestly.

"You think…Most kids find the idea of taking pictures as boring and would rather play video games or watch funny videos online..."Sebastian said, somewhat surprised.

"Well what do you think?...'She asked cheekily to him and noticed he light up a bit.

"Me, I think it's awesome… The world is filled with beautiful, unique moments that we tend to overlook or take for granted…but with this baby, I can make them last forever…"He said passionately, surprising Dani a bit in the process.

"That's pretty poetic…"Dani said giggling.

"Not really, Mother Nature is the artist and I'm just preserving her work…"Sebastian said to her.

"Hey Dani, I managed to get some plastic spoons from the cafeteria we could use…"Lucy ran up to the ghost girl and was surprised to see she had some company.

"Oh…Great, anyway it was nice talking to you again Sebastian but me and Lucy have some work to do…"Dani said to the dark hair boy.

"Oh…The chemical reaction bag project huh?...Me and my group are doing it too…Good luck…"Sebastian said before bidding adieu to the two girls.

"I didn't know you knew Sebastian Hayward…"Lucy said in a surprised voice.

"I ran into him in the hall the other day, and just now when he was trying to get pics of a squirrel…"Dani said. Lucy raised an eyebrow at that response but chose not to question it.

Soon both girls were experimenting with their chosen ingredients, analyzing and documenting the different changes and answering the questions the best they could do.

"The next question is: Does the get hot or cold after one minute?..."Lucy read to her project partner.

"Let me check…"Dani said as she picked up the bag filled with the unique contents, only to accidentally let it slip from her hands and onto the ground.

"Oh no!..."Lucy said in dismay as she watched their experiment become a slimy mess on the ground.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry…"Dani said quickly, feeling guilty she managed to destroy 15 minutes of research in less than 15 seconds!

"It's…It's alright…Accident's happen…but it looks like we need a new bag…"Lucy said pointing to the remains of their assignment.

"I got it…"Dani said as she picked up the slimy bag that busted open upon impact.

'Eww…"Dani said as she could feel the slimy content on her fingers. Only she froze as a memory came to her mind about slime…her own slime to be honest.

FLASHBACK

Several weeks before the Disasteroid Crises.

She was in Vlad's mansion, tied to an infernal device as Vlad was trying to deliberately melt her just so he could study the remains in order to further his own plots. She could see Danny and Valerie fighting off Vlad who being a complete sneak, used duplication and changed back before Valerie got there just so he could pull the victim card.

During the entire time, she felt such excruciating pain as she felt her toes, feet, ankles and shins melt away into nothing but a slimy puddle as Danny desperately tried to free her.

"I can't break them, Danielle. There's only one more thing to try. Feeling brave?"…He asked quickly to the girl that was slowly melting away into nothing but a puddle.

"A…A little…weak in the knees, actually. And I don't even have knees anymore!..."She exclaimed as she could feel more and more of herself dissolving into nothing.

"Well, then, I hope my dad didn't mend this Achilles's heel!..."He said desperately as he sprayed the ecto-dejecto all over her in desperate hope that it could do something…anything to save her.

But all Dani could feel was the rest of her body was about to give in, she no longer had the strength to keep herself together.

"I... I… think it's too late… Bye, Danny… Thanks for…She wasn't even able to finish what might have been her last sentence as what remained of her dissolved into a vat of green goop that once was Danielle "Dani" Phantom.

"Oh, no!...No!...No! Dani… I… I failed you… I'm so sorry…."Danny said as he felt his heart breaking in two.

END OF FLASHBACK

'DANI!..."Was said loudly, bring Danielle out of her horrible flashback.

The little ghost girl turned to see Lucy giving her a confused and concerned look on her face.

"Are you alright? You zoned out for a bit and started shaking like you saw a ghost….or something you and your family aren't used to fighting…"She backpedaled a bit once she realized her choice of words.

"I'm…It's nothing…Sorry for spacing out like that…"Dani said in a casual tone, surprising Lucy.

"I'm going to get another sandwich bag from the cafeteria, the sooner we get this experiment done with, the better…'Dani said as she left to the cafeteria, leaving Lucy alone with her thoughts.

"It's strange…It's almost like she was a scared of something…'Lucy thought as she noticed the behavior of the retreating halfa girl that was continuing to peak her curiosity.

Later they managed to successfully recreate the experiment and managed to answer 3 out of 5 of Mr. Harrington's questions. Just in time for the next class to start.

"I think we made some great progress today…"Dani said to Lucy who was smiling shyly.

"Yeah, it's the second day and I'm pretty sure we're ahead of the rest of the class…"Lucy said as she pointed to their classmates who were busy goofing off.

"Better for us…"Dani said chuckling.

Unknown to the two girls, Lilly was sending them a heated glare and nearly snapped her pencil in two as she saw how close they were being.

'What does that loser bookworm have that I don't?! She's just a geek and I'm the most popular girl in school, why the heck would Danielle bother with her?..."Lilly wondered as she kept glaring at the two girls who were laughing at something.

"Anyway, Lucy, I was thinking that after school we could meet up and finish the remaining questions…'Dani said, surprising Lucy once more today.

"She's really taking this seriously…"Lucy thought, before nodding.

"If you want, we could…We could go to my house and finish there…"Lucy said, feeling a little shy once more but smile when Dani nodded.

"Sounds like a plan, but I better call my mom and let her know first…"Dani said, not wanting to repeat what happened last Friday.

Lucy nodded and soon the teacher arrived and class was in session. The rest of the day was spent trying to pay attention, not die of boredom and in Dani's case, ignore her fans and Lilly as well. However, during final period, Mr. Harrington had to leave to make a phone call and Lilly took advantage of the opportunity to pester Dani once more.

"Excuse me Danielle, but I really need to talk to you…"Lilly said to the ghost girl who was clearly annoyed.

"Do you mind, we were having a private conversation…"Dani said annoyed while Lucy just remained quiet.

"It's just very important, please Danielle…"Lilly insisted and Dani soon found herself being dragged to the other side of the classroom away from Lucy.

"Hey! What's your deal?...'Dani demanded, her patience with the brunette brat was wearing very thin.

"Danielle, my dear friend, I know you're new here…but I believe it's my obligation to warn you about some things…'Lilly said seriously to the dark haired halfa.

"What are you going on about?...'Dani asked annoyed, wanting to get back to Lucy and away from her nuisance.

"Listen, I know you're obligated to do your project with that bookworm but I think you should be careful when outside of class…'Lilly said dramatically.

"What?..."Dani said not liking where this was going.

"I'm saying if you spend too much time with that bookworm, people will start to think you actually like hanging out with her…:"Lilly said snobbishly and failed to notice the glare Dani was sending.

"And what's wrong with that?...'Dani demanded and Lilly blinked, like she was confused by her question.

"Because of "Unpopularity by association"…It's the polar opposite of "Popular by association"…"Lilly said it like it was obvious.

"What are you talking about?..."Dani said, starting to get a headache b her.

"Popularity by association" is a good thing, when a student's hangs out with someone with a decent social standing, it will improve your PR, but if you hang out with a loser, your own status will dwindle…which is why it's called "Unpopularity by association"…Lilly said in a no-nonsense voice.

'And what does any of that have to do with Lucy?...;Dani demanded, but she knew what Lilly was trying to do.

"She's a loser with no friends and who always has her nose stuck in a book, and you're Danny Phantom's little sister, you're both from completely different worlds and shouldn't be interacting unless it's necessary, if not, your risking a major drop in popularity.…"Lilly said with her arms crossed.

Dani stood there agape, though she felt her blood boiling. She couldn't believe Lilly was flat out ordering her not to hang out with Lucy just because she's a so called "loser".

"Who does she think she is?..."Dani internally growled.

"You…stupid…shallow…brat!..."Dani hissed at the uppity girl.

"Excuse me?!..."Lilly said in a scandalized voice.

"Who do you think you are telling me who I can and can't hang out with? If I want to hang out with Lucy outside of class then I'll do it…Why? Because I think she's a nice girl and I don't give a darn what you think!..."Dani said angrily at the uppity brat who only stood there agape, completely shock at what was happening.

"B-But Danielle…"Lilly started only to be cut off.

"And don't call me "Danielle", it's Dani!..."Dani sneered before she felt the shell shocked wanna-be princess.

Dani soon marched back to her desk, just in time to see Mr. Harrington re-enter.

"Ms. Dubois, what are you doing out of your desk?..."He asked and Lilly was soon out of her stupor and quickly went back to her desk.

"What happened? What did Lilly say?..."Lucy whispered to Dani who was still angry about her encounter with the arrogant girl.

"Trust me…you don't want to know, she was just being stupid again…"Dani said before turning her attention to the rest of Mr. Harrington's lesson.

However Lucy occasionally kept casting glances at her project partner. She was absolutely nothing like how she thought she would be. Dani wasn't like that spoiled, snobby celebrity sister she imagined she be when she heard that the world hero's sister would join their class.

If anything, Dani actually seemed…nice.

"I think I really misjudged her…'Lucy thought to herself before turning her attention back to the lesson.

She didn't know why but she was really looking forward for later this afternoon.

-To be continued-

Next time on Dani Fenton: School Daze

Friends?

A/N: Also remember, don't be afraid to PM me if you have any questions or suggestions, I love being in touch with my readers ;)

REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewer's

Danifan3000: I agree it would be stupid of her, so that's why I tried to make her as manipulative as possible in this chapter…not that Dani is fooled.

TheMemeKing: We all experience that at some point.

Rogue Deity Master: Well whatever his comment is…it's welcome here.

LooneyAces: Thank you

PokeTennyson25: Don't worry, I will…

Guest: No there not related…It's just a coincidence that they are both spoiled, vain rich girls who like Danny and think they're entitle to everything they want.

DragoonSensei: Thank you, I try to make my OC's original with their own personalities.

Kimera20: Awe, your making me blush.

Alex: I guess you'll find out next chapter.

Christina730: She will in time…Remember that no matter what, Dani is a child and still has a lot to learn about life.

SheWolfCass: Dani's a smart kid…and she also has the Fenton stubbornness…She'll find a way but I can't say how or why just yet.

Till next time beautiful people, don't forget to review and see you next time