Thanks to aniura and TwilightWakerofTime for beta reading this!
Written for Phic Phight! This prompt was by Rikaleeta: "Danny wants to ask his crush to the upcoming school dance."
Cover art by deuynndoodles on tumblr!
Danny had been staring at the poster on the wall for just long enough for his friends to get worried about his mental state when he let out a long-suffering sigh. Four years of high school was a long time. Four years of ghost hunting was longer.
Yet in all that time, Danny had never actually gotten to go to one of the dances.
There was that one time their freshman year, but the ghost attack in the middle kind of ruined it.
Tucker patted Danny on the back and said brightly, "Cheer up, man, there's always next year. Wait…"
"Oh, cut it out, Tuck." Danny laughed and smacked Tucker in the stomach. It was light for Danny, which meant it was enough to knock the wind out of Tucker.
"Look, all I'm gonna say is I'd rather spend a night at home playing games than go to some stupid dance." Sam chuckled and leaned against the wall next to the poster. She flicked the poster, mildly impressed that they had bothered to laminate it, though the ectoplasm stains on the board indicated that had probably been a good idea.
Danny let out a sigh again. "Yeah… you're right," he said, looking up at the gaudy poster. It depicted two people dancing under a spotlight. The woman's dress was coated in glitter, and the whole picture was a mess of half a dozen shades of pink and blue pastels.
There was a moment of silence. Tucker glanced between Danny and the poster. "You still want to go, huh?"
"Well, yeah!" Danny shouted, throwing out his arms. "Look, the last dance I went to, Sam turned into a dragon. Also, she tried to eat Paulina."
Sam chuckled dangerously. "Glad you stopped that; that would have ruined my vegan diet."
"I just…" Some of the energy that Danny had bled out, and his shoulders slumped. "I kind of want to get one chance to go, you know?"
Tucker patted Danny on the shoulder in commiseration. It's not like the others of them had ever gone either. While Danny had never gone before because of his job as Phantom, Sam never went because she claimed she thought the idea of the dance was stupid.
Tucker just never got a date.
"Sooo…" Sam began looking anywhere but Danny. "If you did want to go, anyone in mind?" she asked, a bit of hope bleeding into her voice.
Danny looked back at the poster. "Yeah, I do have someone I'd like to go with, but there's no way she would want to go," he responded listlessly.
Tucker waved his hands at Sam, a panicked expression on his face.
Sam ignored him, however. Instead, she focused on Danny, a slight blush dusting her cheeks. "I mean… the only way you'd know is if you asked. Right?"
"Yeah…" Danny began pensively. Then he nodded resolutely. "Yeah, you're right." He turned towards Sam, and she smiled brightly. "Thanks, Sam. I'm going to go ask Ember now."
"What?" Sam shouted, but Danny had already turned and started jogging.
She turned toward Tucker. "What just happened?"
Tucker groaned into his hand. "You just got him to work up the courage to ask Ember out."
"I thought he was going to ask me!"
"You kept calling it a stupid dance!"
"It is stupid!" she groaned. "Not the point…" She sighed and waved her hand about in Danny's retreating direction. "When did he start having a thing for Ember?"
Tucker shrugged. "A while ago," he said, not really answering the question, but then again, he knew Sam didn't really want an answer.
Sam sighed and leaned against the wall again. "A while ago, huh…"
Tucker shoved his hands in his pocket and kicked at a scuff on the floor. "Sorry, Sam."
Sam scoffed. "Don't be. Not your fault, and it's not like he owes me his heart or anything."
Ember blinked in confusion, her mouth refusing to work for a moment. When she opened the door to her lair, she had expected Johnny in front of her, not Phantom . And she definitely did not expect to hear what came out of his mouth next.
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" she eventually managed.
Phantom floated in front of her door - and since when did he know where her lair was? - and repeated, "I said, I was wondering if you'd like to go to the school dance with me?"
Nope, still not computing.
Ember pinched the bridge of her nose. "Wait, let me get this straight, Baby Pop. You want me , the ghost who tried to take over the world and kill you, to go with you , the one that stopped me and thwarted my plans, to go to a school dance?"
"Yup."
"Nothing I just said bothered you, did it?" she asked flatly.
"Every girl I've dated has tried to kill me at one point or another, at this point."
"You got issues, and if I'm telling you that, you know something's wrong…" Ember said flatly. "And as for the take over the world bit?"
"At least you have high goals?" Phantom said with a chuckle, leaning back and reclining in the air.
"Cute," Ember said, rolling her eyes. "Still not explaining why you're asking me, though."
Phantom shrugged. "Cause life is short, and you are hot?"
Ember narrowed her eyes, her flaming ponytail flicking in suspicion.
"Look, pun aside, I do think you're attractive. I honestly know you better than any other girl at my school except Sam, who…" He trailed off before shrugging. "Not the point. As for the dance thing…"
He deflated, shoulders falling and his eyes going downcast. Ember couldn't help but recognize the look of someone who had something weighing on him. Most ghosts did.
"I've spent four years doing this ghost hunting thing, and the only school dance I went to was the one where Dora accidentally turned Sam into a dragon. This is the last chance I have to be a normal human teen for once."
"And you chose the ghost of a rock star as your date?"
Phantom smirked. "It's not like I can actually be a normal human teen. I might as well have fun with it."
Ember smirked. That was something she could get behind.
Ember yelped when she got pushed away from the doorway. "Kitty!" she shouted. She tried to pulled her back. "This is a private conversation!"
Danny blinked as Kitty crowded the door frame. "Kitty? How long have you been there?"
"Since the beginning," she answered. She pointed a finger in his face. "She'll go. She'll meet you at the school. Let's not have her meet your parents in their lab. She'll see you Thursday at 6!"
Phantom raised an eyebrow. "Wait, how did you know what day it was?"
"Bye, Phantom!" Kitty shouted, slamming the door in his face. Phantom's panicked response completely shut down with no say or input from him or Ember. She turned around and leaned against it. "So you have a date!" she practically squealed.
Another knock sounded on the door.
Kitty didn't react to the sound, instead bounding in place and laughing. However, when Ember glared at her as the knocking continued, she rolled her eyes and opened the door. "Yes, Phantom?" she asked, sickeningly sweet.
Phantom narrowed his eyes at her. "I'd rather hear Ember answer for herself."
Kitty tilted her head and contemplated him. Slowly she opened the door more so Ember could be seen.
Ember looked at Phantom and felt a blush on her face beginning to form. "Thursday at 6:00?"
Phantom smiled brightly. "Thursday at 6:00."
Kitty closed the door as Phantom flew off. She turned back toward Ember, who brushed some hair behind an ear. "I guess I got a date."
Danny stared at the mirror on his bedroom wall, contemplating how weird his life had been the last week. After he had told Tucker and Sam about his success in asking Ember out, Sam had huffed and walked away angrily. When he asked Tucker what was wrong, the way Tucker groaned and slammed his head against his locker made everyone look at the two of them.
The resulting explanation from Tucker made Danny feel like a complete jerk, but what was done was done.
Apparently, though, Sam wasn't completely furious with him, he mused as he tightened the tie on his neck and inspected the cuffs on his suit. It wasn't a rental. He had planned to rent something if he couldn't fit into the old suit that his parents had bought him a while back. However, when he mentioned that to Sam, she had looked him up and down, let out a sigh, and then called someone.
The next day, when Skulker showed up for his monthly attempt on his life, the fight hadn't even gotten a chance to start when Johnny had come out of nowhere, wrapped a chain around Skulker's neck, took off on his motorcycle, and dragged him down the street.
Then Kitty and Sam followed in Johnny's tire tracks, by hauling Danny off to get fitted.
He'd have preferred the fight, honestly.
That day was filled with Sam and Kitty snipping at him. He didn't blame Sam. He had been more than a little rude. Unintentionally. But still. It was easy enough to let her vent her anger.
The look on Sam's face when Kitty said she sounded like she did when she was mad at Johnny made it all worth it, though. Sam had needed to sit down and rethink her life.
Danny looked himself up and down. The white button-down felt tight around his neck, and the black vest was constricting. The suit coat was tailored to him, making him realize that his shoulders had broadened at some point during the last four years. Sadly, not quite at the point where he didn't fit into a locker anymore; it just had to be sideways specifically.
Danny pulled out a tie bar from his pocket and affixed it to his tie — a thin silver bar with a skull on it. A small bit of punk in the suit to reflect Ember.
Danny looked himself up and down in the mirror and smirked. Okay, maybe he could see why Vlad always wore suits. He felt badass.
Danny turned and opened the door, quickly making his way outside. He checked that no one was around before going into an alleyway. Clear of anyone's eyes and his parents' million and one inventions meant to hunt him, he transformed into Phantom and flew off to school.
At some point, he'd get his driver's license.
Eventually.
Maybe.
It took him just a minute to get to Casper High and a few seconds more to get to the meeting spot for Ember. He landed and transformed back. He took a moment to try and straighten his hair.
He thought he had gotten it smoothed out when he felt a hand reach up and tussle his hair. "Don't fix it. It looks good when it's a little windblown."
He turned and came face to face with Ember. She was wearing a red dress with black lace that went a little past her knees and a pair of black kitten heels with skull bows on them. The leather coat she was wearing had small touches of her punk nature on it, the pockets and lapels adorned with a few metal studs here and there.
She took a step back and played with her hair. She kept it in her usual high ponytail but had pulled a few strategically placed loose bangs out to frame her face. "Got to say, Baby Pop, you clean up well." She tapped her lips in thought before stepping forward and loosening his tie. "You look great, but I like my men a little messy," she said, winking at him. Danny fumbled for a minute, and Ember bent down just slightly and looked up at him. "I take it you like what you see too."
"Yes!" Danny said quickly. He coughed into his hand, thankful his voice hadn't cracked as she cackled. "Yeah, you look great."
"Of course I do! I'm me," Ember said, twirling in place, sparks flying off of her hair.
Danny chuckled and held out his arm. "Ready to go turn heads?"
Ember slipped her arm into his. "You know it," she said, walking arm in arm with him. They had a short walk to the school, so they had a moment to themselves before being in the middle of a crowd. "I'm surprised you asked me out."
Danny chuckled. "I'm surprised you said yes."
Ember hummed quietly and looked forward. She leaned on Danny as they walked. "Hey, you said it first. Life is short, and you are hot." She looked up at him with a smirk as he blushed and stammered. "God, Baby Pop, you're literally walking into your school dance with a rock star on your arm. Where's that hero's confidence, eh?"
A calm washed over Danny. "I've spent four years trying to keep Phantom and Fenton as different as possible."
Ember cocked an eyebrow. "Well, you screwed that over tonight."
Danny shrugged. "Yeah, well, I have no clue what my life will be like after graduation anyways." Danny broke out into a smile and continued. "I'm also taking you to the dance, so... worth it?"
Ember laughed loudly. It was enough to get people further away to look back at them. People paused as they took in Ember's glowing hair. Ember bumped Danny with her hip but kept him from stumbling too far by hanging onto him. "Good answer, Baby Pop."
Danny laughed as he looked down at Ember. He hadn't noticed before, but now that she wasn't wearing her platform boots, and now that he was a little bit older, he was taller than her. The lack of floating helped, too.
"To be honest, I wanted a chance to be a normal human again, too," Ember said quietly, just above a whisper. "This is Casper High's last dance of the year… I never got to see it."
"Well, Mr. Lancer said it's going to be one of the best nights of our lives," Danny said dryly as the two of them moved up toward the gym doors.
Ember laughed. "Well, here's hoping he's wrong. I'd hate to find out I did miss out."
The two of them walked up the steps, only stopping briefly for Danny to smile at Mr. Lancer, whose jaw dropped at seeing the two of them. Rather than wait for him to collect himself, the two of them walked in. Ember dissolved into a fit of giggles. "Did you see his face?"
"His face?" Danny laughed, Ember's giggling infecting him. "Have you seen everyone's face?"
Ember stopped laughing and looked around, a wicked smile spreading on her face. "I don't know why everyone is staring. We're just here for the dance."
Danny chuckled as he looked about the gymnasium. They were there on time, which really meant early. Not very many people were there yet. There were less than a dozen couples out of the two hundred some students who were probably going to show up.
Danny pointed over at the area set aside for dancing. "Well, the music's playing. Shall we?"
Ember grabbed Danny's hand and dragged him in front of one of the speakers before turning around and wrapping her arms around his neck. The music was just on the right side of obnoxiously loud, so she had to raise her voice to be heard. "So, think you can keep yourself from embarrassing me on the dance floor?"
"Nope," Danny said. "My motto when it comes to dancing is to dance like no one's watching."
Ember laughed and lightly pushed Danny back. "That's a good idea, but tonight we've got an audience," she said, starting to sway to the music.
Danny felt a part of his brain stop as she started running her hand through her hair. She bit her lip and stepped closer to Danny. The dress she was wearing wasn't super tight or revealing, but as she swayed her hips, Danny could see the outline of her curves.
She ran her hand up Danny's arm before pulling him closer. He gently placed his hand on her lower back, and she looked up at him with a coy smile. She squeezed his arm and forced him to hold her a little tighter and a little closer, which he obliged.
Ember guided him to dance to the beat. That made him aware he stopped moving when she started, though he was pretty sure his jaw dropped. She stepped a little closer, and Danny could feel the chill from her body seeping into his suit.
Between the dancing and the people coming in, all it really did was encourage him to hold her closer while they were dancing. The heat in the room couldn't just be him. He was tempted to cool himself off with a subtle use of his ice powers.
But that would have involved taking his hands off Ember.
Danny wasn't sure how long they danced together. The songs were just the background music to watching Ember dance. For a brief moment, Danny was worried she had hypnotized him, but that was quickly dismissed as every other time he had his mind-controlled, he had never worried about that.
It would have been a little concerning he had a baseline for that if he wasn't so focused on dancing.
Ember smirked and got up on her toes, leaning closer to his face. Danny had thought the room was hot before, but now he felt like his face was on fire. She brushed his cheek with hers, leaving a ghostly chill along it, and whispered in his ear. "Come on; I'm getting thirsty."
"Wait," Danny began before getting dragged away from the dance floor. Danny let her lead him through the crowd that had grown while they were dancing. "You get thirsty?"
Ember turned around and walked backwards to stick her tongue out to Danny. "No, but you do." She led him over to the punch bowl and grabbed two Solo cups filled with punch for the two of them. Danny tilted his head toward a doorway, and Ember shrugged.
He led the two of them out into the hall, where a few people were gathered, murmuring. Ember took a drink as Danny guzzled his down. "So, I got to ask, Baby Pop… why did you ask me out?"
Danny raised an eyebrow. "Didn't we go over this already?"
Ember rolled her eyes. "You know we didn't. I just didn't want to talk about it while Kitty was there." She sipped her drink and ran a tongue over her lips. "You don't just ask someone out of the blue, and you and I have known each other for years. So spill, Danny, when did little ol' you start crushing on me. Was it at first sight? Was it one of the times I shoved you through a wall?"
Danny shrugged and smiled. "Would you find it cheesy if I told you when I first listened to your music?"
Ember's hair flicked back and forth like an annoyed cat's tail as she looked him up and down. She raised an eyebrow, "You mean, my first attempt at world domination four years ago?"
Danny shook his head. "No, it was a while after." Danny leaned back against the lockers. He took a deep breath as the cool metal combated the heat he was feeling. "When you first showed up, your music was everywhere, but it was always at max volume, or Tucker was singing it."
Ember groaned quietly as she recalled that. "Yeah, he can ruin any song…"
Danny laughed but didn't disagree. "So, later, like… six months or so? Jazz was cleaning out her room and was throwing away some stuff that she didn't want anymore. Including one of your CDs."
"Oh, did she now?" Ember scowled.
"Well, to be fair, it does have subliminal messaging and hypnosis in it, so. Kind of a health risk." Danny pointed out. He tipped his cup in Ember's direction. "She kept one of the tops with your name on it and a guitar."
Ember's scowl slipped into a smirk, and she ran a hand through her hair. "That's better."
"And I kept the CD," Danny said with a shrug. "Honestly? It wasn't even intentional. The CD fell out of the box and got kicked into my room. Didn't find it again till a week later." He wiped some sweat from his forehead. "I'll have you know, that sent us all into a panic. We thought you had some evil plan involving placing your CDs everywhere and getting people into your music again."
Ember smirked into her cup. "Well, there's an idea."
Danny ignored that and continued. "So after a while, I realized I had never actually sat down and listened to your song. I never really got a chance, so… I sat down, put some headphones in, and listened."
Danny took the plastic cup into both hands and fiddled with it, rolling it back and forth as he talked, not looking at Ember at all. "I realized something when I was sitting there, and that was I had been fighting you guys all the time, trying to keep you from taking over the world or hurting anyone, but I didn't know you guys at all. You felt like monsters at the time, but I realized that that wasn't right. You're ghosts . That means you were once living, and you had your own hopes and dreams and goals that I didn't know anything about." He shrugged and tossed his cup into the trash. "After that, it was harder to fight you. Skulker or Spectra? Yeah, they're getting a punch to the face, Skulker keeps trying to skin me, and Spectra is-"
"Spectra," Ember said with a shrug. "Trust me. You don't need to explain that one."
Danny looked at Ember for the first time in a while. "Aren't you two friends?"
"Spend 20 years floating in an endless void, and your standards for friends drop eventually," Ember deadpanned.
"Ah," Danny vocalized before clearing his throat awkwardly. "It uh… it got harder to fight everyone for a bit. It didn't feel so much like I was a hero. It felt more like…" He trailed off.
"You were keeping us from realizing our dreams and humiliating us?"
Danny winced. "Uh, maybe a little?" He shook his head. "Over time, I started getting back into the groove of it, and it was easy to remember that, yeah, you guys had goals and dreams, but that didn't give you a right to hurt people in the process. But I would still listen to your CD…"
Danny trailed off, unsure of where to go from there. Ember let out a quiet hum. "That's very sweet, Baby Pop." He chuckled and blushed. "For the record, for me, it was at first sight."
Danny's head twisted so fast his neck cracked. "What?"
Ember handed Danny her drink. "Now drink this. Let's find a place to stash our coats, and let's get back to dancing."
Danny looked at Ember, down to her drink, and back up to her, before knocking back the whole drink. "My locker's this way!" he said quickly, throwing the plastic cup towards the trash. Judging by the repeating bouncing, he missed. He grabbed Ember's hand, and she laughed as he led her through the school.
It didn't take Danny long for the two of them to get to his locker. He started putting his locker combo in and then stopped. "Wait…" He looked up and down the hall and, seeing them alone, just phased the lock off. He opened his locker and put his jacket up in the locker. He took Ember's jacket and placed it on the hook that usually was reserved for his backpack.
He closed the locker and turned toward Ember. "Shall we?"
Ember eyed him up and down and smiled. "One second." She took off his cufflinks and started rolling up his sleeves. "Just making some minor alterations…"
As she rolled up his sleeves, she paused as a scar became visible on his forearm. She ran a finger along it, causing Danny to look at it. "Oh," Danny said quietly. "Skulker and a new toy made that one."
"You remember them?"
"The ones that remain are usually pretty impressive." Danny shrugged but didn't move to take his hand away from her.
"Why do you do it?"
"Do what?"
"You know…" Ember said, taking her finger and indicating the two of them. "Deal with us."
Danny frowned. "It's my fault… I got the portal working, and well… I'm the only one who can. You've seen my parents, the Guys in White are a joke, but at least Val is competent." He sighed. "But none of them are doing the same thing I am, and all of them would rather destroy you…"
Ember looked up at Danny and raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean it's your fault?"
"I got the portal working?"
Ember waved her hand. "Yeah, but that's like blaming the city planners for a car crash. It's not your fault we're coming through and causing problems." Ember poked his chest and kept her finger over his heart. "You're not responsible for my actions."
Danny opened his mouth and closed it a few times. "I never thought of it like that."
Ember went back to rolling up his sleeves. "Well, I do appreciate you not handing us over to the Guys in White… or your parents."
Danny smiled. "You're welcome." He wet his lips and asked, "What about you?"
Ember ignored his question for a moment. She finished rolling up his sleeve before meeting his eyes. "What about me?"
Danny shrugged. "Why music? Why take over the world?"
Ember grabbed Danny's other hand and started rolling that sleeve as well. "Before I died, I wanted to be a rock star. I wanted to travel the world and sing and make everyone love my name. Love me. It's what I wanted for as long as I can remember."
She finished rolling up his sleeve and placed a hand on his forearm. "And it was pointless. It didn't even feel real when I was up there." Her nails dug into his arm as her grip tightened. "I didn't feel alive at all…"
Danny pulled her closer. "So what does feel real to you?"
Ember buried her head into his chest. "Stuff that makes me forget for a while, music, dancing... fighting."
Danny chuckled, a bit nervous at the mention of fighting. He didn't believe for a second that she was about to attack, but that would put a serious damper on the night. Tonight was meant to be fun. "Well, there's more music and dancing back in the gym," he said in a rush. "Ready to get back to it?"
Ember pulled away from him and started walking back toward the gym. "You know it. I liked dancing with you. You can't keep a beat to save your life, but hey, points for trying."
Danny huffed before smiling. "Well then, guess I'll need to keep practicing."
"Hmmm… yeah, I think you will," Ember said, throwing a smirk over her shoulder as he caught up. She wrapped her arm through his. "I think you're going to need a lot of practice. Good thing I'm a patient teacher."
"You've been teaching me?" Danny scoffed.
"Keep watching me, and maybe you'll learn a thing or two," Ember chuckled. She ran a finger along his arm. "Or maybe you won't. Either way should be fun."
Danny and Ember made it back into the gymnasium. The two of them had barely gotten back when Tucker ran up to the couple. "Dude!" Tucker shouted. "Did you not check your phone?"
"Uh, no?" Danny patted his pockets and came up empty. "I left it in my jacket. I think it's on silent anyways, and-"
Tucker dismissed him with a sweep of his arm, cutting him off. "Lancer saw Ember when you guys came in. He's practically on the war path!"
Danny leaned back and looked about in, his brow furrowed when he noticed Lancer wasn't guarding the door entrance anymore. "What? Why?"
"He said something about ruining class and his lesson plans!"
Ember groaned as Danny ran his hand down his face. "You know, honestly? I should have seen this coming." He looked at Ember and gave her an apologetic wince.
Ember let out a suffering sigh. "I guess it'd be poor form to start a fight here," she said before she shrugged. "Well, why don't you and I blow this popsicle stand and get out of here."
Danny smiled. "Sounds good to me."
Ember turned around. "I'm not leaving without my jacket though, Kitty lent it to me, and she'll want it back."
Danny and Tucker followed Ember back to Danny's locker. Danny phased the lock off again and went to open the door when the sound of someone fast approaching made him drop the lock. The lock clattered on the ground as Mr. Lancer turned the corner.
"Heart of Darkness, people! What in the world of literature do you think you're doing back here, Ms. Ember? Haven't you caused enough trouble?" Mr. Lancer shouted.
The two humans turned toward the ghost, who pointed at herself. "Me?"
"You are not allowed on school property! Not after the stunts you've pulled!" Lancer folded his arms. "Mr. Fenton here doesn't need another bad influence in his life."
"Bad influence?" Danny questioned, glancing at Ember.
Ember winked at Danny. "Can't say he's wrong."
Tucker whispered to the others, "Uh, guys? I don't think he ever found out Ember's a ghost!"
Ember flipped her hair over her shoulder. "I think Danny is mature enough to make his own decisions on who he goes out with."
Lancer turned toward Danny. "Daniel Fenton, I suggest you return back to the gym. Ember, I suggest you leave before I call the proper authorities."
Danny shifted, mechanically following orders like he usually did, before he blinked and turned back. "No."
Ember raised an eyebrow at the same time Lancer did. "No?" Lancer repeated.
Danny folded his arms. "No, Lancer, Ember's my date. I invited her here. You can't just tell her to leave when she hasn't done anything. If you're gonna call the cops, call them on me, too."
Tucker raised a finger. "I will however stay out of this."
Danny rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Tuck."
"Acknowledged," Mr. Lancer said, not taking his eyes off Danny or Ember. His voice was flat and clipped. "And dismissed. Get to the gym, now."
"Well, thanks for sticking up for me, Baby Pop," Ember said, smiling. She leaned against Danny and took his hand in hers. "That does mean a lot to me."
Lancer folded his arms. "Is she the reason why you've been truant so much, Mr. Fenton?"
Danny hesitated. She wasn't, not in the way Lancer was referring to, but well, she was a ghost, and he was a ghost hunter.
The hesitation was all the confirmation Lancer needed. "I'm so disappointed in you, Mr. Fenton, truly. You used to be such a gifted child! You had such potential."
Ember narrowed her eyes and turned around to face Lancer. "Had?" she growled. Her hair lashed about when she spoke, causing sparks to go flying.
Lancer followed the falling embers with his eyes. "Your rock show antics will not intimidate me, Ms. Ember." He then focused on her and looked her straight in the eyes. "And yes, had," Lancer said clearly, he held his hands out. "When Daniel joined this school, his parents were excited to see him advancing his education. They had even called me ahead of time to talk to me about making sure that he would be on the path to being an astronaut!" Lancer sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "But now… with all his truancy, none of the teachers are comfortable writing a letter of recommendation for him to go to college."
Danny took in a sharp breath. "I didn't know they did that," he whispered quietly, looking down at the ground.
Ember looked back at Danny, then at Lancer. She took a step forward. Everyone jumped when the sound of her stomp echoed through the hall. "How dare you." Her voice was eerily calm. But it cut through the air between them like thunder. "I can't believe that you are just as bad as my teachers."
"Excuse me?" Lancer said, narrowing his eyes at her.
Ember's hair whipped about as she spoke. "I had a teacher like you. He thought he was a great teacher. He spent hours after school helping students, trying to help them pass. But he had his favorites. The jocks, the cheerleaders, the ones with school spirit."
Ember's eyes blazed as she looked at him. "He just didn't get it when some of us said we didn't like going to school. How could we not? It was a place of learning, of aspiring greatness, according to him."
Lancer folded his arms. "It is unfortunate that some students don't understand the joy of learning."
"Because we hate being here!" Ember hissed. "I dreaded going into his class. I was the outcast, the one who didn't fit . The cheerleaders passed notes all the time, but I was called out for writing music. The jocks would literally throw the football with him during class, but me humming while doing my classwork was distracting. I wonder if any of this sounds familiar?"
Lancer took a step back away from Ember. "I assure you, I do my best to treat all my students equally."
Danny and Tucker both scoffed. "Lancer, when have you given Dash a detention?"
Lancer turned toward Tucker. "I believe I told you to go back to the gym!"
Ember smirked and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "But he's got a point, doesn't he?"
"I believe that I have been as fair as I could be."
Ember scoffed at the diplomatic response and she looked back at Danny.
Danny rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, Lancer? The first time you ever punished me, Dash started a food fight. You told me that since he had done so well in the game that week, you didn't want to punish him."
Lancer shifted uncomfortably. "I don't recall that."
Ember took a step forward, causing Lancer to take a step back again. "But Danny does," she whispered dangerously. Danny took a step forward to stop her from attacking. Ember looked at the hand he had placed on her shoulder and then back at him. She smiled and patted his hand before turning back to Lancer.
Ember planted her feet and pointed at herself with her thumb. "I was told that I wasn't living up to my potential, and here I am now." She grabbed Danny's hand that was still on her shoulder and squeezed it. "Danny doesn't owe you anything," Ember growled. "You think you know what's best, but you don't. You say that Danny had potential? Well, guess what, he's more accomplished than you'll ever be… or know."
The hall was silent for a moment, before Danny spoke up. "You really mean that, Ember?"
"Of course," Ember said, before she let out a gasp as he hugged her from behind. She laughed and patted his arm. "Don't get too sappy on me here, I do have an image to maintain."
"Well, you screwed that over tonight." Danny laughed, not letting her go.
"Yeah, well… guess I did." Ember looked up at Danny. "Can we go now? I don't want to dance anymore."
"Sure, let's get out of here," Danny said. He didn't even look at Lancer. Ember buried her face into Danny's shoulder and leaned on him as they walked past the teacher.
Lancer turned toward Tucker. "Mister Foley, uh…" he began. He adjusted his tie and straightened his collar, attempting to regain some sense of dignity.
Tucker looked at Lancer then at Danny. "I'll see you in class tomorrow, Mr. Lancer!" he said quickly, running past him. He quickly caught up to Ember who was leaning heavily on Danny, though she had a bit of a grimace on her face.
It was something Danny had noticed as well. "Everything okay, Ember?"
Ember shuddered. "I'll be fine. I just… remembered some things that I thought I had buried. I forgot how much I hated Casper High..."
The two humans had no idea what to say to that.
"I'm sorry," Danny began.
"It's not your fault," Ember responded immediately. She was quiet for a moment before she whispered, "thanks."
Ember straightened. "Come on, the night is still young, and I don't want to end it on this," she started, pulling Danny towards the exit. "Betcha we can find a karaoke place that's open!"
"There's one downtown," Tucker offered.
Ember turned and grabbed his hand. "Well, come on! Let's go!"
Danny laughed as Ember dragged the two of them down the hall toward an exit. "You sure you want to bring Tucker with us?"
"Karaoke is meant to be badly sung! He'll be perfect to bring along! Besides, he's not worse than your dancing!"
"Hey!"
Tucker slipped his hand out of Ember's. "Actually, I came with Sam."
Ember glanced at Danny, who gave her a raised eyebrow. She looked back at Tucker. "Would she want to come, too?"
Danny blinked. "Uh… you sure?"
Ember brushed one of her bangs behind her ear, which did absolutely nothing when it fluttered and went back into place. "Not one bit, but I want this to work… so I want to try."
Tucker spoke up, "Well, let's find Sam and ask!" He jabbed a thumb in the direction of the gymnasium and as a group they went back in.
Danny glanced about looking for Sam, before Ember grabbed his arm. "Danny, why don't you go check out the dance floor?" she asked, pointing at the crowd of people. Danny raised an eyebrow, but didn't get to say anything before Tucker dragged him off.
Ember turned toward the drink station and walked over. Sam watched her walk up over the lip of a plastic cup. "Come here to gloat?"
"Not at all, but if it makes you feel righteous I will," Ember said with a shrug. She ignored Sam's glare and got herself a cup of punch. "I don't want to be the asshole here, but I will."
Sam sighed, anger deflating. "No, it wouldn't," she said, disappointed, "I don't want to be that girl." Sam swirled her drink a few times before taking a sip. "It'd be easier if you were an asshole, but… it's not like Danny owes me a date or anything."
"Good," Ember said, before taking a drink. "I'm not here to rub it in your face or anything, but I'm also not going to apologize."
"Then why are you here?"
"An olive branch," Ember said, pointing toward the entrance. "Me and Danny are going to go find a karaoke place, do you want you and Tucker to come with?"
Sam raised an eyebrow. "You… do remember Tucker ruined your world domination plan by trying to sing your song, right?"
"Karaoke is meant to be terrible, he'll fit right in."
Sam looked at Ember, and then toward the dance floor. "You know what, sure, let's do this. Anything's better than this stupid dance."
Ember followed her gaze over the crowd. "The music does kind of suck, doesn't it."
"It really does. No offense, but pop is just not my thing."
"Some taken," Ember said, smirking. "But mostly cause I prefer rock over pop. It sucks that my breakout song was more pop. Come on, let's find our dates and get out of here, before the night really goes to the zone."
Sam nodded and led the way into the crowd to find Tucker and Danny. "Best night of my life, my goth ass."