It was passed midnight and Sam still lay wide awake, staring at the moon through the gaps in her curtains. She had tried everything to get herself to fall asleep to no prevail, so she decided to give in to her current insomnia. She stepped out of bed and pulled on black leggings then put on a large gray hoodie over her shirt. She slipped on her sneakers and grabbed her phone and earphones to put in her hoodie pocket. Carefully, she made her way downstairs, not wanting to be too loud and risk waking her parents up. She grabbed her house key, her trusty mace, and locked the door behind her as she exited the house. Pulling her hood up, she placed her earphones in her ears to listen to music as she walked. She did this often when she couldn't sleep, thinking it was better than laying awake restlessly. She always stayed in the neighborhood just in case she had to make a mad dash home for any reason. The park she was going to was only a few minutes down the road which she was thankful for; most nights it was her only escape.

When she looked up, she could see in the distance two figures in the sky. One of them was wearing black and white with white hair to match. She already knew it was Phantom, the ghost kid that appeared three years ago. A lot of people were wary of him, but Sam wasn't. She felt he was here to protect everyone and he proved that by keeping the other ghosts at bay. Currently, he was fighting another ghost that looked like some kind of mutant squid. Her ears were probably ringing but if they were, it was drowned out by her music.

When she finally made it to the park, she parked herself under a tree and laid down with her hands behind her head. She set an alarm, a habit she started when she accidentally fell asleep here once. That was a crazy morning. She had woken up at the crack of dawn dazed and confused before booking it back to her house where her parents were furious. Since then, the alarm was a must. Her eyes were fixated on the moon and stars above her as she lay there for a while. Halfway through an album that was playing, her view was blocked as her eyes came into contact with bright green ones. She sat up and pulled her earphones out of her ears, confused as to why Phantom was floating in front of her. Up close, his hair was the color of snow and she noticed how his eyes had a slight glow to them.

"You know, people usually scream and run away when I get too close," he said to her with a friendly grin.

"I've seen worse things," she told him with a shrug, but he gave her a confused look in return.

"Like what?"

"Trust me. You don't want to know." She wrapped her earphone chord around her phone and stuffed them into her hoodie pocket. "So to what do I owe the pleasure of meeting the ghost kid for the first time?" He seemed to get a little bashful and started to rub the back of his neck.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay. It's dangerous to be out alone at this time." She stared into his eyes and, for a moment, thought she saw flashes of something familiar in her mind, but she couldn't make out what it was.

"I do this all the time," she said, but he shot her a disapproving look.

"You really shouldn't."

"Who's gonna stop me?" He opened his mouth to answer but stopped himself, knowing she was right.

"You're gonna make me fly past this park every night to see if you're here."

"I'm not making anyone do anything. It's just the hero in you," she told him with an amused smile. He crossed his legs and slowly floated to the ground so he was sitting across from her.

"You think I'm a hero?" The question was genuine, and it made her a little sad that a lot of people were against him. He seemed like a normal teenager to her. Well, except for the ghost powers.

"Of course, I do, Phantom."

"Danny," he told her, and she looked up at him with a puzzled look. Naturally, Danny Fenton came to mind, even if she had just met him today.

"What?"

"My first name is Danny. What's yours?" She thought it was weird they had the same name, but she shook the thought from her head. It had to be merely a coincidence.

"Sam." She held out her hand for him to shake which he did happily.

"Well, Sam, I think you should head back home before it gets too late."

"What if I don't want to?"

"Please? For me?" He flashed her a bright smile in an attempt to convince her, and she actually found herself giggling at his concern.

"Okay, fine, but only because you're way too invested in this." They both stood and she started to walk in the direction of her house with Danny by her side.

"So why are you even out here?" He asked.

"I couldn't sleep. I get insomnia sometimes." She stuffed her hands into her hoodie pocket as he nodded to acknowledge her answer. "I saw you fighting on my way to the park."

"Did I look brave?" He asked with a cocky smile, one that she found herself grinning at in amusement.

"Yes, you're very brave," she said with a roll of her eyes, even though she was still smiling as she did. She realized how natural she felt around him and how easy conversation came as if they were already friends. She almost wished they were, but that'd be preposterous. She was a lame teenage girl and he was a crime-fighting ghost. Looking up, she saw that they were at her house and she stopped outside. "This is me."

"This is your house?" He was stunned as he looked over the ginormous mansion. "This can house like, three families!"

"Four, but who's counting?" She responded with a smirk. She reached for her keys in her pocket and unlocked the door, lingering in the doorway to say goodbye. "I guess I'll see you around."

"I hope you get some sleep."

"Thanks." He gave her a smile before he flew off and she closed the door behind her. She, in fact, did not sleep. She probably dozed off around four in the morning before her alarm went off at six. Two hours of sleep was better than nothing, she thought. Well, that's what coffee was for.

She felt like a zombie all day at school and decided to use her free period to go to the computer lab. Maybe playing a game would help wake her up a bit. When she entered the lab, a flash of red caught her attention. Realizing it was the red baret Tucker wore, she found him and Danny playing a game she recognized.

"Great minds think alike," she told them, getting their attention as she walked up. "I also came here to play games."

"Are you skipping class, too?" Tucker asked, and Sam acted shocked.

"You're skipping class for this?"

"I'm guessing that's a no," Danny spoke up, and she looked at him and realized he had slight bags under his eyes as if he hadn't slept. Join the club.

"I'm on free period. What class are you guys skipping?"

"English," they answered in unison, and she snorted.

"Let me guess, Lancer?"

"Yup," Danny said as she sat down in between them. She looked at their computer screens as they played and leaned back in her chair.

"Airshock, huh? The second one?"

"Yeah, we're impatiently waiting for the third one to come out next month," Tucker told her with his eyes glued to the screen. Sam reached her hand into her backpack and grabbed something from inside.

"I already played it." Tucker scoffed in disbelief until she pulled out the game, causing his jaw to hit the floor. Danny grabbed the game and opened it to see the disc inside.

"How did you get this?" He asked, causing Sam to shrug.

"I know a guy," she said cryptically.

"I'm starting to think we should all hang out after school today," Tucker stated.

"And it's definitely because of my sparkling personality and not because of the game, right?" Sam said as she snatched the game back from Danny.

"Can't it be both?" Tucker asked.

"I'll accept that answer." They were interrupted when Mr. Lancer stormed into the lab, causing Danny and Tucker to exchange concerned glances. Their teacher stood there with a cross expression and his arms across his chest. "Oof, that sucks. I'll meet you geniuses after detention," Sam teased before leaving the scene of the crime.

"It was all his idea," Tucker said as he pointed to Danny, causing Danny to look at his best friend in disappointment.

"How was detention?" Sam asked smugly as Danny and Tucker approached her in front of the high school.

"A snooze fest. And I mean that literally. Tucker fell asleep," Danny told her.

"What else are you supposed to do in detention?" Tucker exclaimed.

"Anyway, we can all go to my house to hang out if you guys want," Danny said as Sam pulled her car keys out of her backpack.

"You have your own car?" Tucker asked.

"You really think I'm going to ride the bus?" Sam replied with a scoff. "Come on, we don't have all day." She led them to her car and had Danny tell her where to go from the passenger seat. They eventually pulled up to a two-story building with a large sign that read 'Fenton Works' and Sam raised an eyebrow at Danny.

"My parents are kind of inventors," he explained lazily as they all exited the car.

"Really? That's pretty cool," she said, almost catching Danny by surprise.

"You don't think it's weird?"

"Oh, trust me. It takes a lot to weird me out." They all entered the house and went up to Danny's room where they pulled out his gaming system to play. Tucker and Danny were not expecting Sam to be as good as she was. She put them both to shame as she won left and right, gaining all sorts of trophies in the process. After a few hours, they finally gave up on trying to beat her.

"And here I thought I was actually good at video games," Danny said, his tone dripping with disappointment.

"Don't be too hard on yourselves," Sam said as she waved a hand in dismissal.

"I feel embarrassed yet impressed at the same time. I knew you were cool," Tucker said, causing her to smile.

"You guys aren't too bad either." Danny suddenly yawned loudly, causing them to look at him.

"Sorry, I didn't really sleep last night," he explained.

"Neither did I," Sam responded.

"Why?" Tucker asked.

"She has insomnia," Danny answered for her, causing Sam to raise an eyebrow at him.

"How did you know that?" He looked surprised for a moment before shrugging.

"Oh, I, uh... just assumed," he said quickly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I get it too sometimes. If you're ever awake and want to call me you can."

"Not me. I need my beauty sleep," Tucker commented.

"How nice of you," Sam said sarcastically as she gathered her belongings before standing up. "I have to go. Homework isn't going to finish itself." They said their goodbyes and Sam made the short journey home, pleased that Danny only lived a few minutes away from her. She completed her homework before showering and then collapsed into her bed. Turning off the lights, she tried to get comfortable but couldn't. An hour went by. Then another hour. She wanted to rip her hair out in frustration. She really didn't want to have two sleepless nights in a row. As she glanced over at her phone on her nightstand, she thought about taking up Danny's offer of calling him. She didn't want to bother him, but she figured if he didn't want to talk or was asleep he just wouldn't pick up. Rolling the metaphorical dice, she picked up the phone and dialed his number.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asked as soon as he answered, causing her to scoff.

"What do you think?"

"Yeah, me neither." She thought she heard wind rustling in the background as if he were outside, but it was probably just a weird connection.

"What are you up to?" She asked as she put her phone on speaker and laid it on top of the pillow she wasn't using.

"Watching a movie. What kind of stuff do you usually watch?"

"I like a lot of things. Mostly sci-fi and horror, though." She heard him chuckle at her response.

"I figured." She scrunched her nose at his reply.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That you seem like you'd watch that stuff. It's not a bad thing, I like that stuff too. What's your favorite movie?"

"Hmm," she paused to think and a yawn escaped her, "Clockwork Orange." Danny laughed from the other end of the phone.

"Oh, my god. Of course, it is. That movie is dark."

"Hey, it's a cult classic," she grabbed her blanket and pulled it closer to her as she closed her eyes.

"I never said it wasn't."

"Well, what's your favorite movie?" Danny could hear the energy fading from her voice, signaling that she must be getting tired.

"One of them is Kill Bill."

"That's a great movie. I approve." Danny chuckled at her.

"You sound like you're getting sleepy."

"I think I am," she said between yawns.

"Okay. Well, get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Sam ended the phone call and plugged her phone into her charger before laying her head down on her pillow to sleep. She kind of wanted those nighttime phone calls to be a common occurrence. She liked talking to Danny. He was the last thing she thought about before drifting off to sleep.

Quick PSA: Definitely don't roam the streets at night by yourself. I've seen enough true crime to know that's a big no no... ANYWAYS

Danny Phantom is now introduced :D Yaaaaaay

I'll see you guys at the next update :)