2021

Danny's been missing too many class hours.

Enjoy.

———•••———

"Daniel Fenton, please report to the principal's office, immediately," voiced the overhead intercom.

Danny groaned and gave his friends a confused look. "What did I do that I have to go before class even starts? I was trying to actually be here on time today." Begrudgingly, he walked the hallways to Principal Ishyama.

Opening the door to her office, Danny was met with the shining, smiling faces of both his principal and some other lady he did not recognize. Most of the time, he was called to the office for messing something up and they were never smiling, and yet seeing this in front of him somehow made him more nervous.

"Mr. Fenton, hello. I am Mrs. Jones." The other woman stuck out her hand in a greeting.

Suspicious, Danny shook it but eyed her the whole time. "What did I do?" He ripped off the bandaid and finally asked what had been plaguing his mind.

Principal Ishyama gestured for him to take a seat, and then she started explaining. "Well, Daniel, it is your lackluster attendance that is bringing you in today." She looked at the papers on her desk before flipping them around and showing him. "As you can see, you're missing several necessary hours for your education. And your teachers are worried—we have all seen the rapid decline of your grades."

"I'm trying my best—" He tried to say, but was cut off.

"Yes, well, Mrs. Jones here will make sure you're doing your best. She is with the school board and has come all the way from Chicago to help you."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I'm going to be with you throughout the school day for the next few days, just taking notes, observing, and making sure you're in class," Mrs. Jones informed.

Danny looked between the principal and the woman, narrowing his eyes. "Isn't that a violation of my rights or something?"

"Mr. Fenton," Mrs. Jones started as she readjusted her glasses, "Think of me as a second teacher. You still get privacy and time alone when necessary, but I'm going to be there to make sure you're in class and help you get your work done."

Principal Ishyama made a noise like she was clearing her throat. "This is one of our next steps to avoid any legal action. I'm sure your parents don't want to bother with court dates and legal fees, and I'm sure you don't either. Please, let Mrs. Jones help you."

With an inward sigh, Danny obliged. He stood from his seat and made his way to the door—the woman in the glasses following him. Shaking his head, he knew his life was going to suck with this lady attached to his hip.

But, in order to not cause a stir, he didn't argue and let her follow him to his first-period class. It felt so unpleasantly uncomfortable having Mrs. Jones seemingly watch his every move. With his first four classes, she sat either beside or behind him and continually scribbled notes. He didn't even know what she could have been writing because half the time he didn't do anything. Luckily, though, there were no ghosts trying to wreak havoc, so he didn't have to formulate any excuses to get away.

As the lunch hour rolled around, Danny thought he could finally shake the lady, but she pulled out a sack lunch and sat right by him and his friends in the cafeteria.

"What's with her?" Sam asked in a barely audible whisper so Mrs. Jones couldn't overhear.

"She's here to watch over me," Danny responded with a roll of his eyes. He gave the woman a side glance before turning back to his friends. He would not be able to endure this torture much longer.

"Why does she have to watch you?" Tucker asked in between bites of his food.

"'Cause you know what keeps pulling me out of class. I guess it's so bad that the school thought I needed her to keep me from leaving."

"That's rough, dude. But what happens if you need to go?"

Danny simply shrugged. He didn't have an answer, but he hoped he wouldn't need one either. However, with his luck, he found out exactly what would happen, if he needed to go.

Sitting in his fourth period only a few minutes after it had started, a ghost finally decided it was time to attack the school. Anxious, Danny gave a glance over to Mrs. Jones sitting beside him. She looked back at him, sternly. He was going to just let it go until his ghost sense went off again.

Now he couldn't ignore it.

Playing it like he had to pee very badly, he crossed his ankles, clutched the edge of the desk, and almost bounced in his chair. He then raised his hand vigorously to make it look urgent. His teacher looked at him pointedly before asking what he needed. "Can I please use the restroom? It's an emergency!" Danny rushed out, becoming flushed in the face.

His teacher let him leave, and Danny all but rushed out of the room. And, just when he thought he was free of the lady and could fight a ghost, she was following him out the door, only a few feet behind. "You really have to follow me to the bathroom?" He asked, turning to give her an incredulous look.

"It's protocol. Any time you're out of the classroom I have to make note of where you go and how long you're away." Mrs. Jones shrugged as she momentarily put away her notebook.

"Fantastic," Danny muttered mostly to himself as he pushed open the door to the restroom; at least she wouldn't follow him in there. Quickly, he transformed and flew out to capture the ghost that was making his life more difficult.

As a change of luck, it was only the box ghost, so he fought with the specter and returned within five minutes. As he stepped out, Mrs. Jones quickly scribbled the time and then followed Danny back to class.

Internally, he felt like it was a win-win overall because the ghost was easy to catch and he didn't get reprimanded by his follower. However, when there was yet another ghost come sixth hour, Mrs. Jones gave him a quizzical look when he asked to use the restroom again after such a short period of time.

Nevertheless, she followed him out of the class and waited. But, to Danny's chagrin, his next foe took a little more time to beat than the last. It also left him with injuries.

As he exited the bathroom, walking slowly and clutching his side, Mrs. Jones donned a concerned look for the teen. "Are you okay?" She asked hesitantly, placing a hand on his shoulder gingerly.

"I'm fine. Nothing I can't handle."

———•••———

At least the lady was convinced for a little while that Danny just had bathroom issues. But halfway through the second day of her watching over him, she became suspicious and started asking questions.

While Danny moved to raise his hand for a second time in his fifth-hour math class, Mrs. Jones questioned him. "You just left ten minutes ago. You can't possibly have to go again."

"I drink a lot of water—"

"I haven't seen you drink anything. You don't even have a water bottle." She let out a heavy sigh. "This is why you're missing so much class time."

"I just really have to go," he pressed as he continued to raise his hand. Soon, his teacher walked over with a slight glare. "Do you have a question, Mr. Fenton?" He asked.

"No, I need to—"

"No. Sorry sir, but this pupil cannot legally leave this classroom again until the hour is up." Mrs. Jones cut Danny off and showed her notes to his teacher who simply nodded his head.

"I'm serious," Danny pressed, trying to get out of class yet again.

"As am I. You're walking a thin line between visiting court and staying in school." She looked at him sympathetically, almost like she cared for the teen, which had been a 180-degree flip from the serious face she usually wore. But Danny sighed and shook his head, hoping that the ghost would go away on its own.

Agitatedly bouncing his knee up and down, Danny fretfully worked through complicated equations all while concerned about a ghost causing chaos somewhere. The longer he was stuck in class, the more of a risk everything became, especially if the ghost started attacking students.

Glancing up from his work, he looked at the clock; there were still twenty minutes before the next class. That was twenty minutes of an unknown ghost flying around campus and ruining things. It was twenty minutes of having to wait to fight it. Twenty minutes of pure unrelenting torture.

"Students of Casper High," the muffled voice of Mr. Lancer crackled to life in the overhead intercom. "As your vice principal, it is my duty to inform you that we have a slight situation in the gymnasium. Nothing to worry about, but teachers must keep their students in the classroom until it is resolved."

Danny could have facepalmed. Of course, the classes would go into lockdown. It was because of the ghost, but the ghost would not get stopped if he could not leave class. With worried eyes, he watched as his math teacher locked the door to the classroom. Taking a quick look behind him at Mrs. Jones, she was simply jotting down more notes in her never-ending collection of notes.

"Like Vice Principal Lancer said, there's nothing to freak out over. I shouldn't share this, but we did get an email explaining that it is only a ghost, which will be dealt with as soon as that ghost kid shows up," Danny's math teacher said, trying to dampen the worried murmurs wafting around the room.

However, they did need to worry because there was no hero to stop the ghost any time soon. Fidgeting even more, Danny turned to the lady with the glasses. "Are you sure I can't leave for just a second?" Whispering, he asked in desperation.

"Absolutely not: we're in a lockdown, Mr. Fenton. I don't understand the whole ghost thing, but if we're locked down, then it is serious."

"But it's a really, really big emergency."

"I don't believe that."

Danny racked his brain for an answer that could solve his problem. While there was always the obvious, he would not out himself—not unless the situation was much worse. But for this one that was mildly terrible, he couldn't think of anything. "You want the truth?" he asked quietly. The woman nodded her head like it was an obvious question. Sighing, Danny mentally prepared himself for what he was going to tell her. "The reason why I'm always out of class and needing to leave," he took in a deep breath and paused for dramatic effect, "is because I've got serious stomach problems."

To further emphasize his point, he gingerly placed a hand over his stomach and faked a wince. "Can't quite figure out why, and I can't seem to stop it from happening. So, it's a real emergency."

"Oh, you poor thing." Mrs. Jones sincerely empathized. "I'm sorry you have to deal with that, and you should have said something to the front office a while ago. But, for right now, you still cannot leave due to the lockdown."

Dejected, Danny turned back around in his seat, giving up on the hopes of getting out of class. He really thought that last one would get him a way out, but it embarrassed him more than anything. Now he was going to have that on his school record, and it wasn't even true.

Wiggling his pencil with his fingers, Danny continued to eye the clock. Another five minutes had passed and in the distance, there were shouts and screams ringing out from the far end of the school. The ghost wasn't going to give up without a fight, but that fight would not happen so long as the classes were in lockdown. As a loud crash rang out a few classrooms over, Danny became desperate. With as much emotion as he could muster, he clutched his stomach, groaned, and fell out of his chair ungracefully.

Mrs. Jones quickly stood from her seat and rushed to his side. "I know you said it was an emergency, but I didn't think it was this bad," she said with a slight tremble in her voice.

Still keeping up his act, Danny croaked out a wish to be excused. His math teacher, who hurried over once his student fell from his chair, quickly nodded his head, allowing Danny to finally leave. Mrs. Jones, however, insisted that she go all the way with him.

While triumphant to an extent, Danny was not happy about having to maintain his bodyguard. But, luckily he had the Tucker Alibi O'matic on hand, so while he fought this ghost, Mrs. Jones would think otherwise.

Danny, finally entering the fight, came face to face with Skulker.

"Took you long enough, punk," he shouted with a sly grin, "when you didn't show, I figured I'd torture the humans to lure you out."

"You'd do all that just for me?" Danny mocked as he prepped himself for battle. He knew he needed to work fast since he was being waited on. "You shouldn't have."

———•••———

Danny frantically returned to the restroom Mrs. Jones expected him to be in. The fight took way longer than he expected. As he exited the stall, Mrs. Jones stood before him, angrily tapping her foot and holding the Tucker Alibi O'matic.

"I can explain," he started, holding his hands up in a surrender-like fashion.

"Please do. I have been outside the only exit the whole half hour you've been in here. I've been stuck out in the open during a lockdown for you to be in there. Except you weren't here, so where were you?"

"I, uh, I—"

"Casper High staff and students," the intercom crackled out and interrupted Danny in the middle of his excuse. "The lockdown has now been lifted and the ghost has been dealt with. Please proceed to your sixth-hour class."

Mrs. Jones narrowed her eyes at the teen, suspicious, but she didn't say another word and simply followed him to his sixth-period gym class—if the class was even going to happen. Skulker, in his tormenting of the school, did some damage to the gymnasium before Danny could intervene.

"Oh my," Mrs. Jones said to herself under her breath as she and Danny walked into the gym. She turned to him with a frown and asked in a loud voice, "does this sort of thing happen all the time?"

Ms. Tetslaugh walked in at the same moment and laughed at the woman. "It only happens if that ghost kid doesn't show up fast enough." She looked around the damaged room with her hands on her hips and an evil smile on her face. "This just means you kids get to run the mile today."

Danny shook his head and left to go to the locker room, leaving a gaping Mrs. Jones. As he exited, now clothed in his gym uniform, she rushed up to him. "The ghosts," she started as she blinked rapidly in thought, "You're tied to it all, aren't you?"

"W-what? What gave you that idea?" Danny asked. He was already sweating and class had not yet started.

The woman pulled out her notes, shoved them in his face, and ran her fingers along the times she had written down. "Each time you asked to leave class, it coincided with the times there was a reported ghost attack. And there's far too many for that to be coincidence."

Staring at Mrs. Jones with wide blue eyes, Danny tried his best to brush her off and make his way to the red track outside where all the other students were stretching for the run. "I-I think you're grasping at straws here. I mean, I told you I have an uncontrollable stomach problem."

"Okay, but explain today then. Your school's gymnasium is in shambles because it took the town hero an extended time to get to the fight. It was the same amount of time it took before you were allowed to leave the class—not to mention you were not in the bathroom at one point. I've made some important connections, Mr. Fenton, but I would appreciate it if you cleared everything up for me."

"I, uh, I have to run." Danny rushed out and turned away without giving the woman the time of day. It was not good for him for her to have figured everything out so quickly in only a few short days. And, at that moment, he didn't know how to handle it.

But Mrs. Jones would not let up. During any break in his gym class, she was at his side questioning him; on the walk back to the locker rooms, she relentlessly hounded him; and, she stood right next to him with an interrogation on her mind the moment he stepped out of the locker room.

"Mrs. Jones, please just let it go," Danny said, tired of her cross-examination.

"Absolutely not. You still have not provided me with a sufficient answer that would cover all these instances. Today is my last day with you, and I have to report something to the board, otherwise, you will be seeing me in court," she stated, matter-of-fact.

Danny stopped his walk across gym to his locker. While he really just wanted to go home for the day and never see this lady again, he knew she wasn't lying about going to court. With a sigh, he turned around to face her with a hard look. "Please, just tell them I have tummy troubles. I'd rather the embarrassment of that than the truth."

She slowly nodded her head and cocked an eyebrow as she scribbled down a few more notes. "So you're telling me that you would rather be known for ill health than be famous for saving the town?"

Choosing his words carefully, he made sure to not confirm nor deny anything that could go against him in a court of law. "I'm not saying any one thing in particular," he said slowly, before turning his back on her and walking the rest of the way to his locker so he could finally go home and be rid of the lady for good.

Thankfully, she took his advice and informed the proper people that he had an unidentified stomach problem. It worked out really well for Danny, for his teachers let him leave class whenever there was a ghost—except they didn't know it was because of a ghost.

———•E N D•———