Sam walked through the doors of the Nasty Burger, dreading the fact that she had to resort to eating at the greasiest restaurant in Amity Park, but it was one of the only places that served a vegan meal. And weirdly, she had odd feelings associated with the place when she remembered times here. Though she had always sat alone, the memories always seemed happier.

It was an odd conundrum but she didn't care enough to explore the thought, so she continued into the diner. However, she quickly reached for the exit when she saw Danny Fenton sitting in a booth.

Oddly enough he was alone, and he looked sort of freaked out. Sam, despite her desire to escape, searched for the rest of his posse, at least for Paulina or Tucker, Danny's best friend. But neither was in sight.

Danny's eyes flickered toward the front door and his eyes widened in recognition, she decided she was no longer curious, and not in the mood for another argument. She quickly tried to retreat but a voice caught her attention.

"Sam!"

The girl was slightly taken aback because while yesterday she could clearly hear the sarcasm in his voice she realized that Danny had called out to her genuinely. She turned and glared at him, making sure that whatever plot he was working on wouldn't fool her.

"I'm not in the mood, Fenton," she spat.

"Why? Tucker trying to get you to eat meat again?" He joked. His voice carried an unusually light air and Sam stood there bewildered for a second. She'd never heard him talk like that, at least to her, before.

But the topic brought unwelcoming feelings so she ignored the fact and glared. Purple eyes pierced blue and his smile faded. "I'm not interested in your games, Danny."

"Sorry," He awkwardly laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't realize you were still sore about that," His laugh was sheepish and provoked a goofy smile. Sam's eyes widened and she took a small step back, countless unfiltered emotions flittered in her heart and she stood still for a moment. A peace, a serenity, washed over her. As if this one moment was something she dreamed about; to be friends with Danny. To hear him talk to her without any resentment or fake smiles. It felt so normal she could taste it.

But the moment passed when those electrifyingly blue eyes met hers.

"Stop that," She hissed at him. "I'm not an idiot, I know you and your little 'gang' are just trying to set me up, so knock it off." her voice rang firm in his ears and he looked both distraught and confused. But she had stopped carrying. "Go bother somebody else, and leave me alone."

Sam turned her back on him and quickly exited the restaurant, not wanting any of those strange feelings or emotions to continue. Still, as much as she tried to ignore that small moment, for the rest of the weekend she continued to reimagine the way he looked and smiled at her as he spoke. Though she would never (ever) admit that.

—-

The weekend rolled into Monday and Sam had all but decided that she would ignore their interaction on Saturday, since it was just best to assume that he was messing with her and that things would go back to normal. Well, as normal as the ghost-infested town could get.

And just as she expected, Paulina and Dash had 'bumped' into her and started another argument. They kept bothering her till the late bell rang, laughing along as they watched her miserably trudge to class.

"Manson," Dr. Roberts called when she opened the door to her first class. "You're late,"

"I hadn't noticed," She bitterly mumbled but made her way to her seat anyway. She hated her first period. Well, she hated every period, except for her fifth. Fifth was art, and as cliche, as it sounded she enjoyed sitting in the class and learning about art. Fifth was also the one class she had with Valerie, a girl who would talk to her despite her bad reputation.

At first, she was hesitant, since Valeria had once been a part of Danny's lackeys, but an incident with her dad's job and a ghost left her broke and no longer 'cool'. But if Sam had wanted a second chance, then she supposed Valerie deserved one too.

The two formed an unlikely friendship and became partners for projects, but besides that, she really didn't know much about Valerie. Even though she had two jobs, one at the Nasty burger, and one working for some random rich guy, Sam wasn't supposed to know the latter.

Sam continued her day after first, going through each period with more stress and curiosity as Lunch approached. Apparently her heart didn't get the memo about dropping the subject of how Danny would react today.

Perhaps she was just nervous about the onslaught of laughs she would receive for 'thinking they could be friends.' Or what other lies Danny must have told his group to get a few quick laughs.

She walked through the cafeteria, the same way she had been for as long as she could remember. If it was like any other day, she would enter, make her way to sit down, and get interrupted by Danny, they would fight and argue, and people would laugh at her but she would always have the last word and watch as his smile dropped. She walk out of the cafeteria and that would be the end of it. Some days it was worse, like the time he brought a water balloon full of paint and splashed her perfectly white shirt, and some days it was a quick jab and the two would carry on their way. But it was always something.

And she waited for it. Expected it. The whole cafeteria did. It was a show. An entertaining laugh at the goth girl nobody liked or a sickening blow to the few haters of the 'king'.

But today: nothing.

She was on edge all of the lunch because nothing happened.

It wasn't like he wasn't there. Oh no, he was there. Their whole table full of jocks, cheerleaders, and important students sat there and talked. She, at first, was excited about the change in pace. I mean, a few minutes before the jostle began gave her time to relax, but the more time passed on the more anxious she got.

Even at one point, she looked towards their table, and she only saw him with his head bowed at the table. She was stumped. But as she made her way out the cafeteria doors, she knew she felt a pair of eyes on her back, watching as she left.