Simply sitting there and breathing, Danny stared up at the clouds, scattered across the blueness of the sky. It was one ghost after another. Why didn't he tell his parents? Why didn't he at least ask them to tell him more about ghosts? As territorial as he became, when that state of mind wore off there was nothing more he wanted than to return to a normal life. But the more he thought about it, it was his fault the Portal was open in the first place. He'd activated it, hadn't he? By stepping in it.
Have some logic, said a voice in the back of his brain, It was probably gonna turn on eventually anyway.
That didn't change the fact—that—he was responsible for not letting people get hurt because of these ghosts. And the 'going ghost' thing. Well, it made sense. He was transforming into a ghost. For some reason he felt he needed a battle cry. All the other ghosts did.
But he wasn't actually a ghost. He was a human. A kid.
"You okay?"
Danny glanced at his friend. "I'm good. Just thinking."
"If you say so."
Ah, Tucker. He knew Danny well.
Both of them looked up in surprise as a sleek black limousine rolled up to the curb directly in front of the house and stopped. Their surprise turned to wonder as a chauffeur exited the vehicle and opened the door to the passenger compartment before turning to speak to them, "Misters Fenton and Foley, your ride is here."
Naturally, Tucker and Danny sat there awe-stricken, until, a familiar female voice emanated from within, Sam, saying, "Come on, losers, we haven't got all day." The black-dyed head Danny had known for going on three years poked out of the limousine.
"Whoa." Danny said.
"You said it, man." Tucker agreed.
Casting a semi-wary glance at the chauffeur (and then feeling foolish for it), they both walked up to Sam whose feet stuck out the door. "Hey! Um. What the heck?" Tucker said at once.
She raised a brow. "Is there a problem?" She teased.
"No! No problem at all. Except you have a limo."
"And you never told us." Danny added.
"This is a one-time thing, right?" Tucker sounded as if the question was rhetorical.
"Nope," Sam disagreed, "This is my family's limo. We're kind of rich. Are you gonna get in, or not? I have cool stuff to show you."
Sam shut off her Gothic metal music as they settled in. The only sound they heard was, well, them. The limo was insulated. Having never been in one, Danny didn't know if this was normal or not. Tucker and Danny were full of questions during the short ride to a part of town they'd never been in before.
"So...like, what?" Tucker asked first.
Sam rolled her eyes, very much like her, "My grandfather was an inventor. My parents leech off of his leftover money."
Danny thought that was kind of harsh, but didn't comment.
Tucker continued, "So it's your dad's?"
"Why the curiosity? And who says it's my dad's?"
"Okay, your mom then. I'm just asking 'cause...'cause!"
"No, it's my dad's. Though my mom has cash, too. I guess."
"Then why did you...?"
"You can't always assume it's the man making the money, Foley."
Tucker groaned. He walked right into that one.
"What are you gonna show us?" Danny inquired.
Sam uncrossed her arms from her chest, "The built-in home theater, the sculpture room, the...you should see your faces." She was sly. "After everything that's happened I just figured you guys ought to know more about me."
"I'd kinda like to know why you'd keep this a secret." Danny said honestly.
"I want people to like me for me, not because I'm wealthy."
Oh. That made sense.
Tucker didn't seem to see it the way Danny did. "Are you nuts? Think of the fame you could have around school! You'd be an A-Lister for sure!"
"Who said I wanted to be one of those jerks?" Sam flipped her hair behind her ear disdainfully.
Danny could sort of see her point, even though he would be attending a party with said jerks later that evening. "It's her life, Tuck'."
Tucker feigned despair, "I'm surrounded by crazy people!"
The limo finally stopped in front of a gate. Once inside the gate, the engine was put out smoothly. Sam stepped out first, Tucker second, Danny last.
Sam lived in a mansion. It was a bright white, completely contrasting the black Sam never failed to wear. It was quite posh looking...also contrasting her.
No one escorted them to the front steps. The boys just followed the girl's lead. Danny tried not to gawk at the finely trimmed foliage decorating the lawn. Was that a greenhouse over there? He squinted. It seemed like one. Hey, maybe it belonged to Sam. She was a big plant person.
Sam brought a key out of her small skull-patterned purse. "This is gonna sound stupid, but don't touch anything I don't say you can, my mom would have a fit."
Danny nodded politely. He was entering someone else's house. He got the impression Sam didn't invite people over often; what she just said was common sense.
The big door opened without a creak, unlike the front doors of Danny and Tucker's houses. Both had distinct noises when being opened and Danny knew them both by heart. Sam's place was alien. Where's the doormat? He wondered, but Sam stepped in without scraping her shoes on anything, so he assumed it was alright. Different home, different rules.
"Cool." He commented, feeling bland, for the sake of saying something.
Sam smiled but it didn't seem happy. "Yep. This is where I live. You guys must love it."
"You bet I do!" Tuck' said.
"Of course you do, Tuck'," Danny laughed, "You think you have someone to mooch off of now."
Caught, Tucker looked at him a little wide-eyed. "I would never."
"Yeah, you're right," Sam interrupted them, "Because I wouldn't lend you anything anyway." She paused. "Unless you really needed it, I guess."
Danny was surprised. She looked a little unsure when she said that, glancing off to one side.
"Like I'd ask for something from you." Tucker half-grumbled.
Danny asked, "Uh...so what do you want to do, Sam?"
"Wanna see a movie? I can get all the new ones. Or an old one. Whichever."
"Sure." Danny agreed immediately, honestly, he'd do whatever she wanted, it was her own house.
Tucker was right to the point, "The Doomed movie?"
"That's not out yet."
"Aww."
"And it sucks."
"Hey!"
They spent the day watching films and talking until conversation led to Sam saying, "Look, if this is too much for you, we can do something else."
"Are you kidding?" Tucker exclaimed. "This is great."
"Yeah, Sam." Danny added, "I dunno what you're worried about." Maybe that was a bit much, but she was taken aback by what he said, not badly. Catching himself staring at her, he glanced at the clock on the wall of the home theater room. "Oh, heck. It's almost five. I need to the get ready for the party." He was already in a suit, which he'd been careful not to ruin with the snacks Sam provided them.
"Oh, yeah," Sam said, almost sounding embarrassed, "I forgot about that. Sorry."
Why was she being so apologetic?
"It's okay." He said. "Today was really fun. Thanks for inviting us over."
"You're welcome."
The chauffeur drove them back to FentonWorks.
"I hope you have a nice time there." Sam bid him farewell.
Danny grinned at her, "Thanks, Sam." He was excited. She rolled up her window.
The limo drove away, leaving the two boys alone.
"Well, I'm going home." Tucker told him.
"See ya, dude." Danny replied.
Inside his house, he was greeted at once by his smiling mother. "Danny! You're sister's already left."
"This early?"
"She said she wanted to get some tutoring done before it started."
"Oh."
She looked him over carefully, "Are you sure you want to go in a suit?"
He was confused, "I'm supposed to. That's what the theme of the party is. The guy holding it told me so."
"If you say so. You look handsome, though let me fix your hair."
He sighed, some things never changed, "'Kay."
He hadn't seen his sister all day. She'd been locked up in her room talking to her friends and deciding what to wear. She'd never even seen him in his suit aside from the one time while they were getting ready for the school dance.
Danny knew the streets pretty well and got to Dash's place by himself on his scooter. There were bikes and even a motorcycle out front already when he got there, he just put his scooter with the rest of them and hoped it wouldn't be stolen. Risks had to be taken when it came to not being seen as a freak anymore.
He knocked on the door. Dash, it seemed, saw fit to answer it personally, or maybe he did that for everyone. The expression on his face was strange, and then Danny realized he was dressed casually even though music was coming from the inside of his house.
"Um..."
"Oh, hey, Fenton," Dash said, "I guess you didn't get the memo. We switched from formal to casual." He didn't say anything else, turning around and going back inside.
Danny stood dumbly upon the doorstep.
He'd been played like a violin.