"Wither and decay…End this destiny…Break these earthly chains…And set the spirit free…The spirit free." I gasped at the voice and looked to see that I was in the bedroom, only to realize that I had to stay home after a call from the school. Realizing that the voice sounded like me but more…haunting, I walked down the stairs, seeing no one around, only to see Danny walk in with his school bag. He smiles as I yawn, "Hey, Danny, how was school?"
"Mr. Lancer saw you collapse yesterday on the stairs." My head fell back, groaning at knowing it was after dealing with thirty ectopuses that night, and I was up working on homework. Danny had studied but was able to get some sleep. We switch every other night since the change so that the other can recover for the next week of ghost fighting. I had to make sure Mom and Dad's weapons didn't shoot at us. I had made sure that Danny got more sleep and time to study. He needs to show that he can be someone. I had collapsed due to no food that would make me sick, hardly any sleep, and pain from the fights. How did Danny do this himself in the show before I was reincarnated? I walked up the steps again; this time, Mr. Lancer walked down when I tripped by missing a step. I had collapsed onto the tile with Danny hanging onto me, "It's why Mr. Lancer told our parents to give you the day off." Nodding to him, I am dressed in white wedges with cream color shorts, a tank, and a long-sleeve blouse tied under my flat bust with the sleeves rolled up to my elbows.
Walking down with Danny, Dad sits in a chair, wearing a soda hat I had gotten for him for Christmas. Along with his fishing vest, he sips his soda. Danny and I see the glowing-white fishing line in the open Ghost Portal. Groaning in defeat as Danny moves in front of me since he knows I don't like being anywhere near that thing. He drops his bag to the floor, walking up behind Dad, "Hey, Dad. What are you doing?"
"Danny, keep it down. You'll scare away the ghosts." Looking at Danny, who snickers at the idea of scaring away ghosts. Dad points to the fishing pole, "It's the Fenton Ghost Fisher. I'm fishing for ghosts." Danny and I look at one another when I grab my throat at the sudden pain, breathing out a fog of red smoke, looking at Danny, both of us at the portal. He stops reeling on the line, stretching out in the chair, and stretches the line back out, covering my mouth, "Check out this line. Coated with a special high-test ectoplasmal resin that ghosts can't break. Quiet now. Don't wanna spook 'em." Ducking down at Dad's recast of the line, listening to him sip his soda. Popping back up at hearing his stomach rumble, "Whoa! That soda goes right through you like Sherman through Georgia." He thrusts the fishing pole at us, making us watch him run to the bathroom, "Here! Hang on to this. I'll be right back after I use the Fenton Urinal."
"What did your ghost sense tell you?" Removing my hand to see that I had a large amount of smoke come out of my mouth, "Oh. That's a big ghost—" We both look at the fishing line reel as the fishing line suddenly goes taut, seeing Danny's ghost sense going off, escaping from his mouth, "Oh no." Wrapping my arms around his waist as we strain against the fishing pole, suddenly the fishing line breaks like something has given slack, oh no, watching as a sizeable scaly arm reaches through the portal. Gasping at seeing a giant blue ghost dragon with a golden necklace around its neck, the fishing line is hanging from its mouth. It roars, seeing the broken line smacking us in the face, "Da—"
"I want to go!" The dragon bellows out, making me wince. I don't need this after the creepy voice wakes me up.
Jumping out of the way, seeing Danny run, "D—ahhhh!" Running away in terrified fright when the dragon grabs him.
"I have to go!" The ghost grabs both of us. I gasped, seeing that it was a woman through the dragon rage, and then I saw an elder brother; he was a jerk to her. The images begin racing through me as I realize she wanted to go to the ball, not the bathroom like Danny thinks.
"You'll have to stand in line behind my dad. In the meantime—" Both of our changes into our ghost form, I stay in the scaley hand as Danny becomes a blue ghostly mist to escape her fist, reforming beside me. Dora has her sights on my brother while I am struggling, while Danny gets all the talents when she looks at me, turning intangible, allowing Danny to kick the dragon in the face.
Dora is surprised by Danny's escape when she tries to hit him twice before hitting him with fire, dodging the flames as I dust off my skirt that was on fire, seeing that Danny never got hit. Good. Watching him return with a kick sends the dragon flying across the room, slamming into the wall next to the portal. Danny flies beside me as I fly to Dora, touching the now-transformed girl.
She looks at me, "All I wanted was to go to the Princess Costume Ball, and my horrid mummy won't let me!" Falling surprised at her wail, she flies back into the portal. Transforming again as Danny helps me. I sit in the chair as I rub the bridge of my nose, and Danny transforms back just in time for me to sock him in the shoulder.
"Ow!" Rubbing his shoulder, "What was that for?" He looks at the portal, "If that dragon suit's her idea of a costume, I'm on mummy's side." He leans against the chair, chuckling, "Phew! That's a relief."
Turning to see Dad walking back into the basement, "I'll tell you what a relief is…Darn, I almost forgot!" I shoved the sodas into Danny's and my hands and heard him flushing the toilet. Rolling my eyes at this as Danny laughs.
(He's a phantom)
(Danny Phantom, Danny Phantom, Danny Phantom)
Young Danny Fenton, he was just fourteen,
When his parents built a very strange machine.
It was designed to view a world unseen.
(He's gonna catch 'em all 'cause he's Danny Phantom.)
When it didn't quite work, his folks, they just quit,
But then Danny took a look inside of it,
There was a great big flash; everything just changed,
His molecules got all rearranged!
(Phantom, Phantom)
When he first woke up, he realized,
He had snow-white hair and glowin' green eyes.
He could walk through walls, disappear, and fly,
He was much more unique than the other guys.
And it was then that he knew what he had to do,
He had to stop all the ghosts that were comin' through,
He's here to fight for me and you!
He's gonna catch 'em all, 'cause he's Danny Phantom,
Gonna catch 'em all, 'cause he's Danny Phantom,
Gonna catch 'em all, 'cause he's (Danny Phantom.)
Danny Phantom and Elle Phantom starring in Parental Bonding in sensational dragon-vision!
The bell rings loud as I rub my head, opening a book about myths dealing with ghosts; well, I am looking up Greek mythology more like if there is anything about Pandora. Blinking at hearing Tucker's voice, "Hey there, I—"
"No!" Girl number one shoots him down, seeing that it is a girl with brown hair in a green dress, turning her head away. Rude.
"Hi, would you—" Tucker holds his arm, raising an eyebrow.
"Forget it." Girl number two shoots him down, as I feel bad for him. Maybe I should take pity. Seeing that it was a blond-haired girl with an orange spaghetti strap shirt that exposed her midriff, green khakis, and wearing Converse. Ick.
Seeing Rebecca come out of the door, "No!" Pouting at the rudeness, shutting my book as I put it in my bag.
Tucker stomps his foot, missing my foot. "I haven't asked you yet!" He closes the door as I put my hand on his shoulder, "Elle, would it be bad if I asked you to the dance?"
"Comb the hair and lose the hat. You got a deal." Tucker smiles at me as I walk down the stairs with him. I look at him, "If girls got to know you as I have throughout the years, they would see a guy that would devote himself to his girl. You learn differently since that nose of yours," Tapping my fingernail on his nose only for me to giggle at him, wrinkling his nose at me, "You could guess their perfume and give them that to them as a gift. What they don't know is that you have potential with that mind of yours."
"You think so?" Tucker looks at me, ruffling his hat, making it twist. He laughs as he frowns, looking at the other girls. He sits down, and I sit across from Sam. She is eating a salad, and Danny is munching on a sandwich. As I lay my head down, I have no idea why I get the weird singing ghosts. They look like messed up Mozart alike.
Danny snickers, "Strike 3, Tuck?" I am in a mild sleep as I feel Sam reach over, rubbing my back. The sensation of her nudging something against my arms, and I see she has another salad. I smiled as I opened it to dig in, as this does not have ectoplasm. Jazz tries so hard to cook or make food, but then it gets ruined by the ectoplasm in the fridge.
Munching on my salad as Tucker pouts, "Try strike 3,000." He looks at me, "Elle said she would go with me." Danny spits out his food all over me as I blink at the pieces of food all over me.
Sam turns to glare at Danny as he glares at Tucker, who is holding his hands up. She begins plucking the food out of my hair as I pick the food off my blouse, "I don't know what the big deal is about going to some stupid dance. I don't need to be asked to do some dance to know I'm special. I—" We both look up to see Danny and Tucker staring off behind us, looking in a happy daze and not paying attention to Sam as she is talking. Sam annoyedly growls, "What?"
Danny and Tucker dreamily said, "Paulina."
Sam and I turn to see Paulina walking down the pathway, thinking she was Miss Perfect, looking at Sam as she rolls her eyes, and I rub my temples, still feeling Paulina yanking my head back this morning in the girl's restroom. She nearly snapped my neck; luckily, I will say this: she ran away screaming when The Lunch Lady came through the restroom with her hair flaming and shouted at her, "HERE'S A DISH OF DOOM!" Paulina and Star run out of the restroom when The Lunch Lady floats away before I can say anything. Valerie walks in to see that I am rubbing my head; she sees parts of my hair on my floor. Valerie may be with the A-Listers, but is still my friend sometimes. It is one thing that I will be lucky to have someone like her. Sam and Tucker are Danny's friends, and I am the fourth wheel and want my own friends.
Looking back at Paulina after putting the food on the table, she sees boys staring at her distractedly when one boy slams more like crashes into a tree, wincing at him and slamming headfirst into the tree. Sam sighs as we watch another guy walk right into a guy sitting on a fountain. Splash! Both of them sit up in the water and continue staring. I look at Sam and do a wiggle in place, "Bounce. Bounce. Bounce." Sam covers her mouth just in time to hold in the snicker.
I roll my eyes and see Danny and Tucker standing up to stare. "Paulina." In that annoying, dreamy voice.
Sam growls, "Oh, please! Paulina? Girls like her are a dime a dozen!"
My jaw drops at seeing Danny and Tucker dig through their pockets and start pulling out some change; he turns to Tucker, "How much change you got?" Then he turns to me, but not really looking at me, "Elle, how much change you got-t-t?" I know my eyes have to be glowing, narrowing my eyes at him as I stand up, grabbing my salad. Walking away from Danny, hearing him holler, "Elle!"
Walking past Paulina, who snickers, "Ah! Did you and your brother get in a fight?"
Luckily, I calmed down so my eyes weren't glowing, turning to her. "How about you do me a favor? Go do what you do best. Go down on someone because that's all you do." I walked away with her shocked face, and she didn't notice Sam and Danny, but I did, walking off to another part of the school. I tossed my salad in the trash as I walked further into the school. Knowing that today is going to be a long day.
Rubbing my temples as I come around the corner, only to bump into Tucker, he slams into me, making me fall on my butt, "Tucker! I have a headache. Please do not make it worse."
Tucker sets his books down and helps me up. "You alright?"
"Try opera ghosts," Wincing at my headache, the pounding in my skull as I still feel like I have to ring in my ears, "Five of them, all those stupid Viking types, but one of them sang an A above high C." Walking more like stumbling as Sam comes around the corner, raising my hand to her, pointing a finger at her, "Don't talk loud."
Tucker whispers, "Opera singers."
Sam winces as she looks at me, "No medicine will work. How's everything going on that down low?"
Looking at Tucker, "Tucker, girl stuff. Scram!" We walked to the girls' restroom, and I looked at the stalls, ensuring there weren't any other girls, "Alright, Jazz took me to the doctor's again after Mom tried to sue the doctor again."
Sam crosses her arms over her chest, "Who in the world and why?"
"After the accident, after the hospital stay, and me dying. Mom had me go do a full check-up. Embarrassing." Wiping away the tears in my eyes, I took a shuddering breath, "The test came back, even though I have my organs and all that. The doctor said it was like I had a total hysterectomy, and I am in the late stages of menopause." Giving a laugh, which is a hopeless laugh, the one that gives you no hope of anything, "I always thought I would have children; after all, I had a child in my past life."
"Didn't you lose him in a car accident?" Sam frowns deeply; she is the only one who never calls me crazy, as Jazz thinks I am just trying to reach for attention, while Sam knows what I am talking about. Jazz knew I was speaking another language since it was something in my old life. I took a class in Esperanto, which Wulf speaks; the only thing is that my mom was fluent in it, and she taught me along with taking the class. Nodding to Sam, she looks at me, "I keep forgetting that you weren't a typical teenager in your old life. You were raising a baby while you were going to high school." She hugs me, "Maybe we'll find a way for you to have kids."
"Yeah, maybe, one day, it would be a miracle." Wiping away the tears, feeling my eyes begin to hurt, "Can you make sure that Tucker ain't making a fool of himself." She nods, listening to her booted feet walking out of the restroom.
I cleaned up my face, fixed my makeup, and walked out of the bathroom to see Paulina in the hallway waving to Danny, "Bye, Danny. See you!"
I walked toward him and heard him muttering, "Or I could worry about that later. Because Paulina said yes! Woohoo!" Raising his fist triumphantly in the air, only for me to wince as his pants fall down, showing off his red and white polka dots underwear; raising my eyebrow at him. He looks at me, and I point behind him to see Mr. Lancer walking up behind Danny.
"Pant-less again, Mr. Fenton? Third time this week I've caught you—how do you kids say it?" Wincing as he pulls out the book called, 'How to Sound Hip For the Unhip.' "Dropping trou. I think it's time I saw your father for a parent-teacher conference," He gives Danny a notice slip, "And you, Miss Fenton, I need to speak with your mother about your name-calling other girls."
He gives me a note as I look at Danny, and then we turn our heads, looking at him, "Oh, man/great! Our parents."
Mr. Lancer looks at him, "Until then, here." He holds a belt to him, "It'll help you to keep your pants up and—" Lifting up that stupid book again, "Out of trouble with the man." Danny takes the belt and looks at me. When Mr. Lancer looks at me, "I will see you later, Mr. and Miss Fenton."
Danny looks at me as we walk outside of the Fenton Works. He looks at me and says, "What did you say to Paulina for her to report you to Mr. Lancer?"
Sighing as I fold the paper into my back pocket, "I told Paulina to leave me alone and do what she does best. Go down on someone." Jumping back at the sudden spray of water, I saw that Danny had been drinking a water bottle, looking at me as I raised an eyebrow at him, "What?" He blinks as he looks at me, "Seriously, she pissed me off." Walking down the basement steps, sitting down at the bottom step as Dad was right near the portal, and right now, I ain't ready to go toward the portal with the door open, "Besides, you have to talk to Dad about the pants."
He groans, snapping his head back, "Can't you talk to him. You're a daddy's girl." We are talking near the stairs, and he leans toward me, "You have a better relationship with Dad than me."
"Fine. You talk to Mom for me." His eyes widen as I grin, and he grimaces, "Didn't think that one through, did you?"
Walking toward Dad, I stood still before Danny could say anything, only for Dad to do a double take, "Hey, Elle. What's up, Chatter?"
Giggling at the nickname since I was chattering box when I first spoke the language. I didn't speak English, but I spoke Esperanto to my parents, and it took forever until I was five years old to talk to English, "Decent, just got in trouble with a girl being a jerk. How's mom's mood today?"
"Your mom and Aunt Alicia got into it again. Why was this girl being mean to you?" He slurps a drink, "Besides, from what you have told me, some of those girls are just jealous of your beauty." He turns to me as I am frowning; as I stand behind him looking at the ghost portal, he looks at me, "You want to know something, Elle." Walking near him, looking at him, "Your mom and I began this ghost portal project with a friend of ours, Vlad Masters. Vladdy is or was a good friend of ours, but after the accident, that was similar to yours and Danny's. We never really saw him again after that. If I could ever see him, I would say sorry to him for hurting him."
"Do you really feel sorry for what you did?" Knowing we will soon see Vlad, I want to learn more about him. Dad looks at me as he nods, combing my hair back as I smile, "Sometimes we have to ask for forgiveness before we can move on with our mistakes?" Maybe I can change course; after all, the two big players and events I want to stop are Pariah Dark, Dark Danny, and saving Vlad from being trapped in space forever.
He gently taps my chin, "Sometimes, I swear you are our most mature child. Jazzy-pants thinks she is mature, but she is trying too hard, but you are more mature in age than her. When did you grow up so fast?"
"When I was reborn from another dimension and be reincarnated to be your daughter." I say with a serious face, then I giggle at my dad's serious face, "I'm sorry, but my level of maturity. Because I could read so much from my books when I was sick, I could see the world more than I could at any time. Dad, do you realize I see things differently than Jazz and Danny?" He chuckles as he ruffles my hair, making it stick up, "Dad, I love you, but I wish we could go back to have something to do with y'all, but sometimes I wonder if you are going to see us grow up so fast that you wish that we were little once again so that you could fix the mistakes of the past."
Dad softly smiles, "You are the youngest of the Fenton, yet you are the most mature and serious. Elle, your mom, and I love you; it's why we are trying to create so many inventions so that if anything happens to us. You are safe with our weapons protecting you."
Rolling my eyes, "I know, but right now, I just want to finish high school with my smarts. Right now, I got to talk with Mom about something."
"Good luck with that one, Chatter. Listen, be careful of your words. You know how she is when she and your Aunt Alice get into it." Nodding, I walk toward the stairway and wave to Dad. "See you later, Elle."
Danny walks back in as I see him shake his head, so the talk with Mom didn't happen, damnit, "Catch anything, Dad?"
As I walk away to deal with Mom, I hear Dad talk with Danny, "Son, I couldn't catch a cold. I've been sitting here all day without a single bite."
Seeing Mom in the kitchen as she works on something at the table, "Hey, Mom, do you have a minute?"
Mom looks up and smiles, "Hi, Elle! I miss our Mom-and-daughter talks. Mr. Lancer called," She puts down the blow torch after turning it off, "What's this about you calling another girl's name?"
Sighing as I sit down at the table, "Mom, this girl Paulina thinks she is better than everyone else, but she is not. She thinks because she has money, she can flaunt it like it doesn't. She makes it seem like someone to promote that the money is the big people on campus."
Mom sighs as she looks at me, "What did you say to her?"
"Do what she does best. Go down on someone." Mom's eyes widened as she looked at me. "Apparently, she went to Mr. Lancer about that, but I know she would never admit she did it." Mom's eyes widen, and I lay my head on my fist while resting my elbow on the table. "The one time that Danny and I went to a football game. It was before it started, and…" Sighing as I pull back to lean against the chair, looking away, "She was going down on Dash Baxter. I got out of there, waiting for a teacher to get onto them, but no one said what happened, so I told her after she made fun of Danny and me getting into it."
"What was the fight about?"
"Tucker got turned down by every girl. Mom, he has asked, and there is nothing wrong with him. He is super intelligent in technology, and with the economy going, he could be the CEO of a great company, but no one gives him a chance. Tucker turned to me asking if I would go, and I said I would." Mom puts her hand on my hand as I look at her, "I was going to enjoy myself after all; I don't want to go alone; at least with Tucker, it is someone I can trust."
Mom looks at me, "I'm sorry, Elle, but Mr. Lancer—"
"That's not fair. Why can't you be on my side?" My hand goes intangible, making me shoot forward into her as I feel weird, only to see Dad's glowing green as I put my hands on my hips, well, Mom's hips, "Jack, is everything okay?"
"Now, it is, after all, Mr. Lancer needs a word with us. Don't you think," Winking at me, "Maddie?" Danny overshadowed Dad as I held a fist, bumping this fine idea, "Let's do this."
Sitting across from Mr. Lancer, Mr. Lancer looks at the paper and says, "Thank you for coming to discuss your children's schooling, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton.
Danny begins to overdo it, "Well, sure!" He points to himself, "I'm a parent, and that's…what parents do. Uh, right?"
"Yes, we want to know why Danny and Elle are being treated when teachers are supposed to be mentors of the future, from what I have been hearing. Casper High School needs to be a school that looks beyond our education system to have them learn more. After all, teachers have it the hardest; you all deal with teenagers. You have no respect, but can't you have the decent to look at the respectful ones. I know Elle doesn't give you trouble; her friends are always doing well. They didn't complain about cleaning up the mess, even though Elle was sick most of the night."
Mr. Lancer looks at me, well, Mom, as he looks at the papers, then at me, "I never really thought about it. Elle always tries to get Danny out of trouble, but there were a couple of incidents…with his pants."
"Sorry about that. Danny has a weight problem, so his pants don't fit him comfortably, and he is a bit underweight, which the doctor said is normal, but I still worry about him." Seeing Dad's head turn to me, as I lightly kick Dad's leg, he nods.
"Did Danny's pants fall down again? We have been trying to get him to take breaks from studying so hard that he forgets to eat. I know these things because I'm his dad and not him." He sounds like Dad talks about things with me; that's why it is scary.
Mr. Lancer rubs his chin, "Hmm…That would explain things."
Danny speaks, "It worked?" Kicking him in the leg, Mr. Lancer notices as Danny tries to save himself, "I-I mean, of course, you understand. No wonder you're Danny's favorite teacher."
"I am?" Mr. Lancer looks surprised.
"Well, you are the only teacher who has contacted us about Danny. You are the only teacher that cares about our children's future." I give my mom a smile, "After all, a teacher is an excellent mentor."
"We Fentons consider teachers to be underpaid and underappreciated." Seeing Dad's face is giving off a hopeful smile.
Mr. Lancer smiles, "I like your style, Mr. and Mrs Fenton." He gestures toward a dance flyer he's holding, "In fact, Mr. Fenton, I'd like you to chaperone the upcoming school dance."
"Chaperone? Well, I'm not sure." Danny tries to get Dad out of it.
"I am, but for Elle, I am not sure if that fool language is improper."
"Have you ever noticed that Miss Paulina thinks she can behave? If Elle gets in trouble, I think you should be looking deeper into this, Miss Paulina; after all, school districts would not care to hear from their neighboring schools that students are conducting sexual activity on the school property. It seems the teachers can not control the students on school property."
"I see, but please warn Elle that those remarks will not be tolerated." I nod, and then he looks at me, "The thing that concerns me is when Elle fell, it looked like she had bruises on her body."
Danny and I turn to each other; which bruises could it be as my mom's eyes widen, putting a hand to my mouth, "Oh, dear. It must have been from her martial arts tournaments, which left bruises." It was true, but those healed within two days, while the ghost bruises take weeks, "She can easily bruise, and it takes weeks for her bruises to heal."
"I see; well, this concludes the meeting. Mr. Fenton, I will see you on Friday," Pulling out the book, 'How to Sound Hip,' "Or, as the kids say, catch you later, G!" Points to Dad with a handgun gesture, "Tell Elle to control her remarks."
Both of us worryingly grimace at the news of our dad chaperoning.
I look around at the Amity Park Mall and am eating along with Sam, Danny, Tucker, and me at one of the tables. I eat some salad and try to decide what dress to wear. Tucker looks toward a girl, and he has a mouthful of food when she walks by. "Mmm!"
The girl said, "No."
My nose wrinkled at her cruel no, while Tucker chuckled as he patted my hand, ensuring it wasn't the one holding the hamburger. Sam sighs as I try to tuck a wayward strand of hair out of my face, "So, your dad is going to chaperone the dance?"
Danny sighs, clutching some fries in his hand. He has his head in his hand but isn't too happy, "Yes, but he doesn't know he's going to chaperone because he doesn't remember that I made him say yes!"
I sigh, trying to figure out what to do. As I see Sam handing me a magazine, I see it has prom dresses, and Tucker hums, "Let me get this straight. You can just walk into people and take over their bodies from the inside?"
Danny shrugs, "Yeah, pretty much."
Turning to see Tucker rubbing his chin, he sees a girl with a book, "Hey. Danny. If you could control a girl for just about two minutes…"
Danny glances along with me to see the girl; her name is Emily; she has big glasses similar to Tucker's own glasses and always wears purple. She has her curly hair in a bun and is wearing a long purple blouse with purple earrings today. She likes to wear light purple eyeshadows. Danny glances at the girl and then back at Tucker, "Forget it. You can get your own date for the dance like I did."
Sam chuckles, "Does he have to take off his pants and act like a dweeb?" Holding in my drink, I try not to spit it out as Sam smiles, "Or will either one do?"
Swallowing my drink to speak, "Besides, even if Danny overshadows the girl. She'll forget that you had a conversation with her."
Tucker starts panting, "All man!"
Sam giggles when she sees me looking at a dress with sleeves, "What's with the sleeves?"
"I hate my scar, and it gives me ideas on what dress I want." Rubbing my arm, as I have had gloves from my wrist to my shoulder. I told Sam once that some people wear them to hide cuts, and she decided to buy me gloves that work with any outfit.
"How about I help you with a dress?"
"That would be lovely."
Sam turns to the guys, "Honestly, guys. I'm glad I'm not going to the stupid dance. Saves me the embarrassment of wearing the lame dress my parents bought me." Raising an eyebrow, Sam waved a hand under her chin in motion, off with her head, shrugging as I looked at the magazine again.
"So, no one's asked you, huh?" I ask Sam when I look at her. She flicks a piece of lettuce at me, pulls it off my shirt, and eats it. Sam rolls her eyes as she grins at me.
"Maybe if I was as pretty as Paulina." She blinked her eyes like it was something that Paulina would do. She flutters her eyes at someone, and they are puddles.
Danny puts his sandwich, wiping his mouth with his napkin, "Why are you so down on her? So, she's pretty. It's not a crime."
Sam rolls her eyes, too, "Looks are deceiving, Danny."
"True beauty is in the heart; our group has the true beauty." Sam looks at me when I grab my throat; as it burns, people start screaming and running away behind the trio. I twist and turn, trying to figure out what's going on, when Danny's ghost sense goes off, revealing that a ghost is close.
Tucker looks at Danny, "Ghost time." He holds up Danny's French fries, "Can I finish your fries?" Glaring at Tucker, he put Danny's fries down, "Never mind."
Danny and I run into an open spot going ghost, flying up into the air in front of the dragon, but she doesn't feel ghostly, "Say, haven't we met somewhere?" She roars, breathing green fire at us and separating to avoid the flames. "Let's try this again. Hi, I'm Phantom, and you are?"
She roars, flying up only to see Danny hit with her tail, wincing as he yells, crashing into the kitchen of the nearby Weenie On-A-Skewer. Sticking my tongue out in disgust, I turn to the dragon as she roars at the store doing a Fleecy Tees Sale, "What's your name?"
"Want fleecy tee!" She slams her tail into me, screaming in surprise, slamming into a box of fleecy tees boxes, as I look around, trying to find a size small, knowing that if this is Paulina, and that necklace around her throat is the same one. Why did Danny give that to Paulina? What have I told him about ghost items?
I found a size small when Danny flew back up, "Sorry dude, I think you got the wrong weenie." Ducking my head as I try to find anything to do to calm her.
Paulina lets out a loud yell, "Must have tee!"
I found one as I flew up as Danny came through the floor, "Have some punch!"
She slammed into her stomach as she flew through the air, making her necklace fall off, landing on the floor, and transforming as I walked over, hearing Paulina disoriented and throwing the shirt on her head. "Hey! What hit me?" She rips the shirt off her head as she squeals, "Hey! My fleecy tee! They must have had it in my size!" I pick up the amulet only to have Paulina slap my cheek, "My amulet, loser!" She folds up the tee over her arm, putting the necklace putting it back on as I rub my cheek, "I guess good things happen when you maintain a positive attitude, unlike you loser."
"Why are you always such a bitch?" Fisting my hands, I place a hand over my heart, "What have I ever done to you to make you hate me so much?"
"I don't hate you; I just dislike you. You're a freak of nature." As I see Kwan run up to Valerie, I hear Paulina giggle, "Looks like Tucker is going out with my girl; looks like you're a loser even within your little friend circle."
"I bet you're a hundred dollars, and I can have a guy ask me to dance with him on the dance floor without having me ask him."
Paulina scoffs as she snorts, "I pick the dress." Shaking hands as I walk up to our group as Valerie leaves. I felt my eye twitch at seeing the horrible dress, and I took it from her as I had the shopping bag in hand.
Tucker has his back to me, "Some call it the rebound, but I call it a yes! I got a date! Whoo! And the pants are still on!" Danny and Sam look at me as I sadly shrug my shoulders when Tucker points to his pants, and he stiffens at seeing me with a dress in the bag that was in my hand, "Oh, crap." He whirls around to see him sadly smiling at him, "Elle."
"Don't you dare cancel on Valerie, or I will never forgive you." He nods as I hug him, "You better dress to impress."
Wincing as I pull the last straight pin after forgetting five pins, looking at the newly decorated dress, I hear Mom knocking on their bedroom door; she opens it to see me looking in the mirror as she coos, "Oh, baby. You look so beautiful." She comes over, cupping my shoulders as she looks over my shoulder, "I knew you had impressive taste," She sighs, "At least you're better than your father."
"Orange ghost suit with a tie." She nods as I have made the black and pink sequin mermaid dress into a black floor-length dress with the sequins making it look like ocean waves at the bottom of the dress. The fringe went down the sleeve of the right arm while the dress was a deep V. I made the top part of the dress into one shoulder, making sure to cover my scar. The left leg has a long silt that bares the hip. I turn to Mom as she dabs her eyes, "Next year will be prettier than this ugly thing."
"Sweetie, one day you will find someone who can make you feel beautiful in anything." Hearing hollering as she sighs, "I better make sure your father hasn't ruined his outfit in the lab." I hold high heels as I walk across the room toward Danny's.
Walking out of our parent's room, knocking on Danny's door, "Yo, Danny, coming in." Opening the door and shut it as I turned to the boys, seeing Tucker's jaw-dropping as I moved in front of the computer to see Sam typing on the computer, she looks up only to gap too.
Danny looks at me, and he blinks in surprise. "You usually go light on the makeup, but wow. You look great, Little Sis."
"Thank you, Big Bro." I did curls in a half-up, half-down ponytail style with black smokey eye shadow and a white star liner to make it seem like I had stars across my eyes with ruby red lipstick.
Danny adjusts his tie as I sit on the bed, crossing my leg over my skirt making Tucker groan. I chuckle while Sam snickers, "Tie straight. Shirt tucked in." He picks up the Fenton Fisher, retracting the pole, and hiding it in his jacket, "Unbreakable ghost fishing line tucked nearly away just in case," He turns to Sam, "What's taking so long with the dragon research, Sam?" Putting on my heels, I see Sam getting frustrated with him.
"Alright! Jeez!" She types on the laptop, and he winces when I pop Danny upside down. "Here. I'm sending you the link. Nice head slap; give him another one." Danny blocks my right hand only for me to finger-flick him in the center of the forehead, making him wince as Sam and Tucker snicker.
Turning to the computer, I see a webpage of an image similar to the ghost dragon on Danny's computer screen. As I sit down, Danny exclaims, "That's it!" Reaching back to slap his knee, making him hop on foot to hold his leg as I had sent some static to hit his leg, he hisses, clicking on the more info link as Danny looks over my shoulder reading out loud, "Medieval ghostly legend held that the cursed Amulet of Aargon could transform any wearer into dragon form under the states of extreme duress or anger. That's the amulet I gave to Paulina." Turning to the stressed-out Danny, "It must have accidentally fallen into my backpack." Counting down on my fingers, "Wait." There it is, "You mean…I'm going on a date with a dragon?"
"Like I said, looks are deceiving. I'm sure you boys will have a wonderful evening. See you later, Elle." She ends the video chat as the screen clicks back.
Danny looks at Tucker and me, "She really wants to go to the dance."
"But she says she didn't want to," Tucker whines as I tap his shin, making him hiss in pain, rubbing it.
"There is a thing called pride, and every thought about her is like that of every other girl. She wants to be asked to the dance, too." I stand up to be the reference for this one.
Danny nods, "We're her best friends, and we should have known better."
"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now, right?" Danny taps his chin when he smiles mischievously, making his eyes flash green. He looks at Tucker as I sigh; they never listen to what we girls say. "No way. Forget it. Absolutely not. No!" Moving to stop Danny as I look at Tucker as he sees me, then sighs, "I promise I won't do anything."
"You guys keep your dates. I will get Sam." Transforming as I fly toward Sam's house, landing in front of Sam's house and knocking on the door after transforming back into human form.
Sam opens the door, "Elle! What are you doing here? Where's the boys and their dates?"
Grinning as I look at her, "Sam, sometimes we have to be the first one to put our best foot forward; let's show Casper High that you don't need a man to show you how to have a good time." As I hold out my hand, "Do you think we could go together—you know, as friends?"
She smiles, then frowns, "Uh, I don't know," Shaking her head, "This is so last minute. And I do have plans, and –"
I chuckle as I walk away, "I guess the next dance. You will show the world that you are a confident woman."
"You know I hate how you are right sometimes," Turning back around to have the dress swirl around me as Sam sighs, "Okay, but I'm going because you don't have a date. I'll change into that dumb dress I wouldn't wear." She shuts the door as I chuckle, leaning against the step as I look up at her seeing a beautiful young lady, "Come on, we're gonna be late!" Grabbing her around the waist as I transform, flying through the air as she shrieks in laughter.
Everyone is enjoying themselves as I see Danny overshadow Dad. I sigh when I see Paulina walk toward me, "Looks who's dateless."
"The dance isn't over, Paulina. Besides, it barely even started." Crossing my arms over my chest, wishing I could be mom's size, but I am still fourteen; when Paulina looks over my shoulder, her jaw drops, making me wonder who she is looking at. I turn to see a handsome boy; he doesn't go to our school, and his long white hair shines in the lights. His glowing cat eyes were deep, and a scar under his left eye made him more attractive. He stands taller than me, even with me in heels. It was strange to see another person with two different eye colors only to see a scar under his left eye as he bowed at the waist, holding out his hand, "Uh, hi." I respond to that.
He gives a slight smirk, "Danielle Fenton, it seems that I am heartbroken," He rose up and looked down at me, his light scarred gray eye looking down at me, "I cannot believe that you have forgotten about me." Raising an eyebrow, I have a good memory, but something about him is not clicking. He chuckles, tucks his arms behind his back, and tilts his head. "How about a hint?" He puts his finger to his lips in a hushing motion, "Denbora."
My body moved before my mind could think, but as I wrapped my arms around his neck, his arms wrapped around my waist as he chuckled, "It seems you remember me."
Whispering into his ear, "It's good to see you, Clockwork." As I pull back, he chuckles, "It's been so long."
"How about that dance?"
"I will take it."
Paulina scoffs, walking away, as I see Danny trying to distract Mr. Lancer while I dance with Denbora. As I look at him, he twirls me around, "What are you doing here? Aren't you going to get in trouble?"
"Why should I get in trouble for visiting an old friend?"
"Denbora, it's been years, but you always visited during difficult times. Please tell me I was able to stop him from turning." He looks at me with a slight grin as I sigh, "I guess that's a no."
"There are things that are meant to be." He twirls me as I see Paulina walk past Sam, and Denbora stops us twirling, kissing my cheek, "Good luck, my dear." I curtsey as I walk behind Sam.
"Hey, Paulina. Nice dress." Sam tries to be social.
"I have to agree with Sam. It is a lovely dress." We need her calm.
Paulina turns to us, "Yes, and it goes so nicely with your amulet, don't you think?"
Stopping Sam from talking as I spoke, "The gold is lovely, but green clashes horribly with your pink. Also, it's not Sam's; it's actually mine. Danny wanted to give it to you as something—"
"Forgot it, sweeties. I'm not giving up this trinket or your little boyfriend Danny."
"My boyfriend? Ha ha. And they say pretty girls can't be funny. Danny is not my boyfriend."
"He's not."
"Danny and Sam are best friends. It's why she and I are on the same page on being hard on you."
"What a bummer! I only agreed to go out with him because I thought I was stealing him from Sam." She yanks off the amulet only to put it around my neck, "Here, take your crummy amulet." Turning to watch her walk off, she said, "I'm going back inside to dump your dorky friend and idiot brother."
"Bitch!" I don't know what happened to me as I felt anger course through me as I roared out, "Bitch!"
Hearing Sam holler, "Elle, calm down." This makes me mad when Sam hollers, "Danny will be upset that he has to hurt you. He admitted to me that when you broke your arm after climbing the tree, to follow him. He felt guilt; he always feels like he will hurt you no matter his actions."
I feel calm as I float down to the football field, Danny's hands removing the amulet. I grasp my head and hear Danny, "Elle!" Blinded by the light transforming Danny into Fenton as he kneels down beside me, "Are you alright?" He hugs me as I groan, "You okay, Sam?"
We walk in, and I see an empty gym, "Wow." Sam and Danny help me sit down, "I wasn't even that angry, but wow. At least I had fun."
Danny smiles, "Well, uh…" He chuckles at me, "Let's just say you had a roaring time."
Tucker walks over, "Sorry your date didn't pan out. Where's Paulina anyway?"
Looking over to see Dash leaning over Paulina, "So, do you like quarterbacks?" When Mr. Lancer comes over, I see them start to do the nasty as I see Mr. Lancer chasing after them.
I roll my eyes as I lean back, cross my arms over my chest, cross my leg over the other, and watch Sam throw her thumb over her shoulder. "Ah, who cares? Look!" The DJ was doing a slow song when I felt someone touch my shoulder. I saw Denbora holding and grabbing his hand as he moved me to follow him on the dance floor. "The DJ's still playing." Denbora grabs my hand, and he lays my hand on his shoulder. I smile, and we slowly waltz as I hear Sam, "And I think there's time for one last dance?"
Danny chuckles as I nod to him, "Sure, I'd love to." Seeing him handing Tucker the amulet, I think, "Keep an eye on this, will you?" Tucker nods to this comment.
Listening to Sam speak, "Promise me you'll keep your pants up."
Seeing Sam with her direct Danny's shoulders and his hands on her waist, "I'll do my best."
Twirling around as Denbora flips me over his arm, leaning back to see Tucker blinking in surprise, "Wait a second. I'm dateless again?! What must a guy do to get hooked up around here?"
Princess Dorathea floats close to him, "I want to go to the ball!"
Denbora flipped over as he twirled me in a waltz, only for him to lift me up, "On second thought, I don't need a date that badly." Seeing Dora come closer, placing her directly on his shoulders as I hear Tucker running toward Sam and Danny, yelling at the top of his lungs, "Hey guys, wait up! Can I cut in?"
I continue dancing with Denbora through the night as we float above the city, like Clockwork and Lady Phantom; he chuckles, "By the time you are older, you will become a gorgeous woman."
"I trust your word; after all, you have seen everything." He fades as Danny flies up close to me, "Sam, back home." As I fly higher into the sky, my dress rag is floating in the air; when Danny pulls on my dress, I look at him, "What's up?"
"Who was that guy you were dancing with tonight?"
I twirl as I float on my back and smile, "An old friend that came to my rescue when I was still a spirit."
"Wait, you remember him from your first life." Danny hovers over me as I twirl around him, "A good friend, and maybe mentor. You will one day see it, too." He shakes his head as we continue to go to be protectors.
After all, Clockwork never steered Dany wrong. It was when Danny didn't listen to the lesson. All that I hope is that we survive Phantom Planet.