So, four chapters. It took four chapters for me to put Desktop mode on my phone. Which means I can post these chapters the same time that I post em on Ao3. And that helps me a lot because i write on my phone and it was a hassle to switch between my phone and my laptop for this website.
Moving on, ill put my review notes up here from now on to match my AO3 set up.
InvadorJohnny: Honestly, really glad you caught that! But yes, during their truce Valerie learned to "tolerate" Phantom enough to care about him. Though she hasn't realized that yet lol
Anyways, actual chapter note before we start. I have to admit the pacing is kinda weird. But I hope it's enjoyable
Now on with the chapter!
Chapter Four:
What's going on..?
The talk with her dad went surprisingly well. Damon was okay with Dani staying until Phantom returned. Valerie did leave out the part of Phantom's strange behavior and her not being able to find him. But noted to her father she might stay longer than he might think. If something did happen with the GiW, Dani would be safer with her.
Speaking of Dani, the young girl still hasn't woken up. Either she was just that injured or the poor thing hasn't rested in a while. If ghosts sleep often. Valerie remembered Phantom telling her, during one of their many portals, that Dani tends to travel around. Which she noted to ask about after the girl woke up. For now, however, Valerie let her rest. It took her a little debate on whether or not she should go to school with the girl at her house.
In the end, Valerie left for school. She did leave a note for Dani, in case she woke up. On the note, she notified that she would be at school and the ghost girl would be free to make herself at home until she comes back. Valerie was sure Dani wouldn't leave the moment she woke up. After all, just like her, she would have questions.
Valerie felt her breath hitch the moment she saw the entrance of the highschool. Those singed marks were still there. Shaking her head, Valerie hurried past and went through the front doors. She was greeted by the crowded hallway. It was filled with new freshmen, sophomores, and more. The familiar setting calmed her down, and soon she was back to herself.
Getting to her locker, she was soon greeted. "Hey, girl!" A familiar voice exclaimed.
Valerie turned to the direction of the voice. She saw a blonde girl walking towards her. The teenager wore a white floral cold shoulder peplum shirt along with red pants and white platform low-top sneakers. A white flower hairpin with orange accents in the side of her freshly curled hair. Star Strong didn't change much look-wise throughout the years. Only getting more toned and fit from cheerleading. Personality-wise, Valerie was the first to witness Star coming out of her satellite role with Paulina and continued to be on her side as her best quit the A-listers along with Kwan. It was safe to say Star was much happier after that.
"Hey Star!" Valerie greeted, as the head cheerleader made it up to her.
Star smiled and turned to her own locker. "Did you finish your homework for Lancer?" She asked. "I was sooo confused on the third question. I'm like one hundred percent sure I got it wrong."
Valerie playfully rolled her eyes, opening her locker. "Girl, you say that every time." She started to put some of her books in the locker, while taking some out for her first class. "You always get them right."
"But what if I get it wrong this time!" Start exclaimed, dramatically turning her head to Valerie.
"Yeah," Valerie turned to her best friend. "You say that too."
Star pouted.
"Just saying, you're probably worrying over nothing." Valerie gave Star a smile, closing the locker with her books in hand.
Star huffed. "Says you. You haven't complained once about it."
"So?"
"So, you obviously did better than me!"
Valerie rolled her eyes. "Please, I was just hurrying to get it done so I could sleep." Which wasn't a lie. She doesn't remember a single question in the textbook from how much she was speeding to get it finished.
As Star began talking, Valerie found herself zoning out. Her eyes went to a specific spot in the hallway as she noticed two people passing by. The resident goth girl and the nerd. For the first time in a while, she watched the duo go straight to their own lockers. Valerie's brows furrowed. That wasn't right. Those two would normally wait on their third member. Even if it was just for a minute. Then there was something else. "Huh," she unconsciously breathed out.
Star looked at her quizzically, "What?" She turned to see what Valerie was staring at. Unlike the other, however, she just recognized the locker and looked back at her friend with a comical look. "Seriously?"
Valerie took her eyes off the duo and focused back on Star. Only to notice the look on her face. "Uhh, what?"
"Girl, you need to move on."
"What?!"
"You were staring at his locker, Val. You do remember Fenton got a girlfriend that he's been dating for two years straight right?"
"I don't think straight counts since they take a 'break' every two months."
Star raised an eyebrow. "How do you know that?"
"He tells me. You do know Danny and I are still friends, right?"
"..of course I do," Star said hurriedly. "I still say you have a problem."
Valerie sputtered before giving her best friend a stern frown. "I do not have a problem. Plus I wasn't purposely looking at his locker! I just noticed something weird with Manson and Foley."
"Really? What?" Star quickly turned back around ignoring her best friend's protests. She whistled lowly at the sight of the two. "Is it just me or do they look closer?"
Valerie frowned, but looked in the same direction. "It's not just you."
There was a sudden gasp from the blonde. The action surprising Valerie. Before she could ask what was wrong, Star turned to her with wide eyes. "You don't think it's an affair, do you?"
"No, it's not an affair," Valerie sighed. Of course she couldn't be sure. But that's something she'd rather not think about.. ever. "Something probably happened. They went right past Danny's locker. You think he's sick?"
"Or they finally got used to him being so late to class." Star quickly added.
Valerie knew where she was coming from. Almost everyone in Casper High knew or heard about Danny's weird, yet impressive attendance, or lack thereof. It wasn't too strange nowadays. But, she noticed that Danny was getting better compared to freshman year. "You're probably right." She sighed.
"Of course I am," Star smiled, books in hand as she closed her locker. "Now, let's get to class before Paulina gets here."
Star was the first to leave the lockers. Valerie stood, her eyes on the locker for a while more before following Star to their first period class. She believed her friend was right. If she knew Danny, he would be running into class minutes after the bell rang.
Danny did not run into the class after the bell rang. Nor did he show up for any class before lunch.
Once their second period had passed, Valerie simply shrugged it off as a sick day and continued on with her school day.
Or she tried to.
Valerie was walking with Star to the cafeteria, for lunch, when she showed up.
Jasmine Fenton was mindless walking past the duo. Her usual straight red hair was messy, sticking up in all directions. Her blue headband barley on her head. Her skin was glossed with sweat. There were barely visible bags underneath her eyes like she hadn't slept all night.
Star gasped when she noticed the teen. "Jazz," she exclaimed. "Are you okay?"
"Huh?" Jazz turned around and sighed. "Oh, it's just you two. I'm. okay. Just a long night."
"Are you sure?" Valerie asked. Her brows furrowed in concern.
"Yeah," Jazz responded. The tone didn't relax the two.
After a moment, Star grabbed Jazz's wrist. "Come on." Before the girl could fuss, Star and Valerie took Jazz to the nearest bathroom. Star led Jazz to the mirrors while Valerie checked to see if anyone was inside the stalls. Once it was confirmed that they were alone, they stared at Jazz.
"Please don't tell us you went to class like this." Star huffed as she took out a hairbrush, handing it to Valerie.
"Actually," Jazz started, her tone soft. "I just got here."
The two gaped at her.
"You just got here?!"
"Don't you like.. strive for perfect attendance?" Valerie nudged Star with her elbow. Making the girl yelp. "What?! Am I wrong?" She pouted and took out some of her spare makeup as Valerie, rolling her eyes, went behind Jazz.
Jazz let out a weak chuckle, feeling her headband being taken off her head. "No no. You're right. I'm normally really big on my attendance since it's good to put on my application for college."
Star looked at her closely as she used a paper towel to wipe away the sweat. "You didn't pull an all-nighter, did you?" Her lips were pursed up as she began to focus. "If you did, you need to tell me who's class I need to worry about."
The older teen let out a proper laugh that time. "It wasn't for any classes, don't worry."
Star let out a relieved sigh before touching up her face.
Valerie was silent for a moment. Brushing Jazz's soft hair as she thought. "Then what happened? This kind of thing isn't like you." She didn't want to intrude, but she just had to know.
The duo watched, Valerie from looking at the mirror and Star from being in front of her, Jazz's face fall for a moment. Then quickly gave them a weak smile. "Oh, nothing, just my parent's being crazy like always."
"Is that all?" Valerie found herself asking against her better judgment.
A silence fell over them.
"No." Jazz eventually said with a groan. Her eyebrows were pressed together as she entered a deep thought. Then she met her own blue eyes in the mirror. "Danny hasn't been here has he?"
"Nope," Star answered.
"We just assumed he was sick." Valerie spoke up, placing the headband back on Jazz's head.
That didn't appear to be the answer Jazz was looking for. Any hope in her eyes disappearing. "Oh," was all she said. After what seemed to be a mental debate, she continued. "Well, if any of you see him, please let me know. He…." She trailed off. Suddenly tense. The other two looked at each other confused, but stayed silent. "How do you guys feel about Danny?"
Valerie and Star blinked. Surprising to the former, Star was the first to answer with a smile. "He's actually really cool! Which sounds weird, but I wasn't expecting him to be.." She frowned for a moment, trying to find the right word. "Well, he's a lot different outside of school than he is at school. Fun too! It's a shame he's not like that here."
Valerie looked at Star incredulously. "How do you know how he's like outside of school?"
"Oh," Star exclaimed. "I shouldn't have brought that up." She chuckled nervously. "Some time last year, Kwan and I were hanging out and saw him being a loner for once. So, we invited him to join us. Well mostly Kwan. I was kinda against it because of how Paulina felt about him. Danny was obviously awkward around us at first, but he relaxed enough for us to have a good time. After a few more hangouts we became friends! He's fun to be around when he's not quiet and awkward."
Valerie wasn't expecting that answer and by the looks of it, Jazz wasn't either. Both stared at Star like she had grown a second head. But Jazz nodded, satisfied with it. Then she turned to Valerie.
"What about you?"
"Well-" the dark-skinned girl suddenly felt hot.
"Yeah, Val," Star spoke up. A playfulness in her tone. "How do you feel about Danny Fenton?"
"Danny," Valerie tore away from their eyes, hoping it would keep her from feeling less nervous. "Well he was a jerk at first, but he was different from what I thought too. It took that dumb flour baby project for me to see that. He's a nice guy."
Jazz saw the smile that made its way to Valerie's face. She was genuine. Or genuine enough for her. "He ran off last night." She winched the moment the words left her mouth. That was sudden. Yet she took a breath. "I was trying to look for him."
Star paused. "Ran off? Like he ran away?"
"No. Yes? Maybe… I don't know. He said he was going to come back, but a minute passed then ten then an hour-" Jazz sighed. "I thought he'd at least show up at school."
That wasn't what either of them expected. It wasn't really a normal thing to say to someone. A runaway story wasn't unusual. But for Danny? Neither of them could see him doing that. At least not without reason. Even then, to leave without saying anything to his sister?
"Do Manson and Foley know?" Valerie heard herself ask.
Jazz tensed, her state darkening. "I don't think I even want to see them right now." Then she huffed, her face falling. "I doubt they'd tell me anyways."
Valerie and Star glanced at each other once more. Then nodded. Valerie places a hand on Jazz's shoulder. "We'll be on the lookout."
Star nodded her head. "Yup! I'm sure Kwan would help too."
Jazz looked at the both of them. "Thank you. I owe you guys one."
Valerie brushed off the faux dust that was in the air. "No need for that. We know how much you care about Danny. He is your brother after all. So it's only fair."
"All I need you to do is not cry, then we're good." Star said, noticing the tears that were welling up in Jazz's eyes. Valerie gave Star a look. "What? I just finished fixing her makeup!"
"It's okay," Jazz chuckled, looking back in the mirror with a smile. She looked a lot more well put together than how she did when they first came into the bathroom. Her messy hair was now straightened. Not a flyaway strand in sight. Despite not being Star's skin tone, her make up was somehow fixed up as well. It wasn't too much. Concealer, eyeliner, and lipstick. "It's only fair."
The three exited the bathroom and went to the cafeteria. Luckily they had a few minutes to get something and eat before the bell rang. Star separated from the two to sit with her boyfriend; Kwan. Leaving Jazz and Valerie to sit together. Which shocked the dark skinned girl, but she didn't mind it. The moment she sat down she fully processed the new information that was given. Danny runs off a lot but always manages to make it back somehow. Even if it took a day or two. Why was this time different? Valerie caught glances from a certain goth and nerd. They know something about it, don't they? They knew almost everything about Danny. But as much as she caught them glancing at her and Jazz, she'd seen Jazz shoot back some stern looks. Something happened between them. But she won't ask. Not right right then and there, anyways.
The teen almost found the situation humorous. Fenton and Phantom seemingly disappearing? A strange coincidence.
Fenton and Phantom.
Fenton and Phantom.
The bell rang.
And something clicked.
What's up with Sam and Tucker? Do they regret their decision? Is Jazz going to be okay when she finds out? Did Valerie finally figure it out?
Find out next time on Dragon Ba— I mean, RwftW (acronym pending)
Anyways onto the actual notes.. Giving side characters last names are not really my thing. But one was needed for this chapter.
The dialogue in this entire chapter is probably my favorite thing I've written so far. I'm a huge dialogue person and the ideas I had were zooming. I loved writing the dynamic between Star and Valerie, then adding Jazz in was just a cherry on top. I want these chapters to be a refresher and such before everything picks up. But that doesn't mean these chapters aren't important.
As for Star, in general. In the original work, it was much later on when it was revealed that her, Kwan, and Danny got along before he went "missing." So, i thought it would be better for that to be revealed earlier in Valerie's perspective. Obviously, with Danny being Danny.. they wanted to keep the friendship a secret. Hence Valerie's surprise and the "I shouldn't have brought that up."
I might make a small one shot of how exactly the friendship started one day. Maybe. If I need a break from these next few chapters.
Speaking of, once the next chapter comes out next week, there will be a small pause on chapters. Just for another week as I write a few more chapters. Might make a few "fillers" too keep you all entertained.
That's all for notes! Hope you all have a wonderful night/day ~💜
Next up: Dani wakes up; Valerie has questions and a deal