Chapter 18:

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

It took some major strength not to blast my alarm clock to pieces this morning. I literally rolled out of bed and banging against the floor seemed to wake me up a little. I got ready and headed out the door, kissing my aunt and uncle good morning.

"Hey, Sara!" a voice called.

I turned around and smiled. "Hey, Danny!"

"So, I see you're actually fine now." Danny teased.

I rolled my eyes. When we arrived at the school, the people hanging out in the front were staring our way.

"Why are people looking over here?" I said.

Danny turned his head. "I don't see anything."

"Are they looking at us?"

Danny shrugged. "I don't know."

We continued walking, trying to ignore the whispers of the others as their eyes traced us. When the doors opened, everyone in the hallways turned and stared at us. The air was quiet with whispers.

"Uh..." I said, glancing at Danny, "...did somebody die or something?"

"I... don't know." Danny said.

As we walked, everyone was whispering.

What's going on?

Tucker and Sam approached us with teasing looks on their faces.

"Guys, what's going on?" I asked.

"Like you guys don't know..." Tucker said.

"Huh?"

"Everyone's talking about it!" Sam said.

"Talking about what?" Danny said.

"When were you going to tell us?!" Tucker said.

"Tell you about what?!" I cried.

Tucker and Sam glanced at each other.

"About you two dating!" Sam said. She actually looked excited. "Duh!"

Danny and I looked at each other with wide eyes.

"WHAT?!"

~DANNY~

"What do you mean we're... dating?!" Saralyn cried.

"It's all over school!" Sam said.

"It's not true!" I said, crossing my arms. "It's OBVIOUSLY just a rumor."

"But WHO would spread something like that?" Tucker asked.

"I don't know," Saralyn said, clenching her fists. "but we're gonna find out!"

"I know who it is." a voice said.

We turned around. It was Aaron, standing a few feet away from us.

"You know?!" Sam said.

"Yeah, I just said that..." Aaron said, rolling his eyes.

"So? Who did it?" Saralyn asked.

"Why tell you when I can show you..." Aaron said.

Aaron looked around to make sure no one was around before snapping his fingers. A mini T.V. appeared in his hands. He turned it on and the screen panned to City Hall. It showed Vlad, giving a speech.

~TPPOV~

"Citizens of Amity Park!" Vlad exclaimed into the microphones on his podium. "Lately, you may see that Valentine's Day has come early this year. For you see, there have been many sightings of, how you say, young lovebirds around the town."

The crowd rippled with skeptical murmurs.

"I can see you are all a bit in disbelief: 'Valentine's Day is over-exaggerated!' you may say. 'There's no such thing as love in the youth of today!' Well..." Vlad said, and a mysterious smile curled on his face. "I have your proof right here."

He pulled out a remote and pressed a button. A large T.V. hovered down behind him and hummed. The picture came clear. It showed two people, a boy and a girl, sitting on a hill, talking.

Everyone's jaw dropped. It was Sara and Danny.

"Yes, yes, as you can see," Vlad continued. "love is definitely in the air. Especially for Danny Fenton and Saralyn Matthews!"

~SARALYN~

"VLAD'S the one who spread the rumor?!" I cried.

"More like he totally spied on us!" Danny said. "This takes his fruitloopiness to a whole new level!"

"Man, oh, man, just wait until I get my hands on him!" I said, clenching my fists. "How could he do something like this?! Now the entire town thinks we're...!"

I stopped.

Everyone thinks we're dating... I thought. It's like one of those movies I've seen. If we pretended we were dating... it could eventually become something real!

"Sara?" Danny said, waving his hand in front of my face. "Are you okay? Why are you smiling?"

My hand trailed up to my mouth, which was curled up into a smile.

"Huh?" I said. Then I blushed. "Oh, nothing."

"Anyways..." Aaron said as the T.V. dissolved away. "What are we going to do to make this rumor go away?"

"We're going to go to Vlad and make him tell the town that we're not dating!" Danny said.

Everyone looked at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Well, you've stood there smiling this entire time." Sam said, crossing her arms. She had a smile on her face that indicated she could see right through me. "Anything you want to share with us?"

"Uh... I'm just thinking about...uhh... DINOSAURS!" I blurted out. "I mean, they're so BIG, and VICIOUS! And they're like, ROOAAAARRR!"

Everyone stared at me strangely. My cheeks flared red. The hallways blared with the sound of the first hour bell, making the term "saved by the bell" suddenly make sense, and I turned around and speed-walked down the hall.

~TPPOV~

A smile formed on Vlad's face came through the air and returned to him.

I believe that will keep Daniel and his friends busy. I don't need those wretched juveniles getting in the way of my plans. He thought. The goddess has already come in contact with one of them. Could she have visited any of the others? Who knows what she's bestowed upon them?

Vlad's smile drooped into a scowl.

That power should belong to me. She's wasting it. I must find her before her guardians are assembled.

~SAM~

I was in science while the teacher was droning on and on about elements in the elements table or something. I leaned over to Saralyn, who was sitting next to me.

"So, I'm guessing you don't seem angry about this little rumor." I teased.

Saralyn lightly shoved me away. "Maybe. I don't know."

I leaned over to the table where Danny was sitting.

"So, what do you think about the rumor?" I asked.

"I think it's crazy." Danny said.

"Uh... really?"

"It's so like Vlad to do something like that." Danny said. "What's even more confusing is people actually believe that Sara and I could be dating."

"Danny, don't you ever think about how that could make sense?"

"Please. You'd have to be crazy to think that I would ever want to have a relationship with Sara like that. She's... too good a friend."

I scowled. "So that's it?"

"Uh... yeah... What's wrong with it?"

I ignored him. I sat up straight.

"So, what did he say?" she asked. She wrung her hands nervously and her eyes sparkled with excitement.

I'd be the one to extinguish it.

I took a deep breath and told her what Danny said. Her face turned from hopeful to horror. She glanced at Danny, then back at me. I could see the tears fill her eyes. Saralyn slowly stood up, and walked quickly out of the room, ignoring the prodding questions of the teacher. She walked through the door quietly, and the door slammed, causing everyone to jump.

"Is she okay?" Danny asked.

I answered with a glare and turned back to the teacher. When she turned around to write on the board. I raised my fist and punched Danny in the arm.

I sneaked out of the room during the free time we got to get homework done (like I'd use that wisely). I must say, the hallways were kind of creepy when they were empty. I heard a faint sniffling sound. I followed it to the janitor's closet and tapped on the door lightly.

"Sara?" I said. "It's me, Sam. Are you okay?"

"Go away." Sara said.

"Please, let me in." I pleaded.

It was silent for a while. Sara threw the door open and collapsed into my arms, letting out heaving sobs.

"It's okay." I said, awkwardly patting her back.

"How can he say something like that?!" Sara cried.

We heard footsteps. We turned around and saw Danny and Tucker, looking at us.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Tucker asked.

Danny stepped forward and Sara's eyes hardened.

"Sara, have you been crying?" he asked. "Is everything okay?"

Sara looked at the ground. The air grew intense from the silence. Danny approached Sara. He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.

After a millisecond of feeling his touch, Saralyn's face distort into a dark scowl. She lifted her head, revealing two neon green eyes that glowed with anger. She grabbed Danny's arm and flipped him over and onto his back. Danny wheezed out a "OOF" as his back slammed against the tiled floor. He scrambled onto his feet.

"Saralyn! Stop!" I cried out.

"What's gotten into you?!" Danny said.

My voice couldn't penetrate. The sound of his clueless voice only intensified her rage. Sara grunted in frustration and shot her hand out as a ghost ray zoomed towards Danny. It nailed him in the stomach and he went flying. He landed against the lockers on his side. He groaned, pushing his upper body up.

"Saralyn, stop!" I cried.

I reached out to grab her arm, but Aaron held me back.

"What are you doing?! Let me go!" I said.

"I'm not gonna let yourself get killed!" Aaron said.

"You're the magical one! Stop her!"

"I can't." Aaron looked at Sara with a troubled expression. "This is beyond even Sara's control."

"What are you talking about?" Tucker said.

As I looked at Saralyn, I noticed what Aaron was talking about. Her eyes were different. From the deathly neon green of her ghost eyes, they now displayed two different colors: one gold, one white.

"What's going on with Sara?" I said.

"This is bad..." Aaron said. "It can't be..."

"How about you stop conversing and HELP ME?!" Danny said. "Saralyn, you've gotta calm down! What's wrong with you?!"

Sara's face was as hard as stone. She grit her teeth and raised her hands together. A ball of light blue power form in between her hands. Her hair began to change as well. The tips of her hair changed color.

I was wrong. It was changing multiple colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. The ends of her hair had changed from brown to the colors of the rainbow in a matter of seconds.

And my parents thought it was absurd when I dyed my hair black.

The power in the magical ball pulsed intensely, and I felt if I looked at it a few seconds more I would disintegrate. Danny's eyes widened as the ball reached maximum capacity.

With a scream, Sara threw it.

"Danny!" Tucker and I cried.

Danny shielded his head with his arms and braced himself. The ball exploded, creating a thick layer of smoke in the air.

Saralyn blinked rapidly and her eyes went back to their lavender color. She watched the smoke rise and reality struck her. Tears filled her eyes and she pressed her hands against her heart. A sob escaped her.

"What have I done?" she whimpered.

She turned and sprinted down the hallway, eventually changing into her ghost half and flying out of the school.

"Danny!" I said as the smoke began to clear.