#NO COMMENTS NO CHAPTER
God, this chapter gave me problems!
I hope you still enjoy it, I really tried my best. T.T
(*)
Julia was excited to participate in her first Spirit Week at high school.
This activity was unavailable in Germany, and the red-haired girl had high expectations after watching all those American teen movies.
She arrived at school pumped up, only to hear from Mr Lancer that she was scheduled for an appointment with the new school counsellor.
"But why?" she asked, following Mr. Lancer. "I don't need a session; I'm fine."
"Julia, you are one of the brightest minds in this school. Your grades in Germany were impressive, but now you're slipping.," Mr. Lancer replied.
Embarrassed, Julia blushed.
Well, in Germany, she didn't have to fight ghosts.
As Danny had once said, it eats away at your study time.
And now it was catching up on her.
"Moving to another country, along with your grandmother's health…", Mr. Lancer continued, "It clearly affects you, so a session with Ms. Spectra can only benefit you."
Not that she had a choice in the matter.
The school decided this, and her dads probably gave their permission.
Alright, how bad could one session with this counsellor be?
Julia found herself sitting in a chair outside Ms. Spectra's office, waiting for her turn.
When the door opened, she was surprised to see Danny walk out, looking worse for wear.
"Danny?", she called out, but strangely, her friend and secret crush didn't hear her.
He walked away with a literal cloud of depression hanging over his head.
All in her wanted to go after him, but Ms. Spectra stopped her.
"Julia Heinrich?", called the counsellor. "Please come in."
Being the obedient girl she was, the red-haired girl stepped into the office.
The first thing she noticed was how cold it was in there.
The second was how young and cheerful Ms. Spectra appeared.
"Please take a seat, dear.," Ms. Spectra invited her.
Unsure, Julia sat down.
Humming a little tone Ms Spectra read papers before her.
Julia guessed it was her school records.
"So, Julia, dear, you are German, correct?", Ms. Spectra asked with a friendly smile.
Julia didn't like something in her tone. "I'm a second-generation German; I have roots in Ireland as well."
"Oh, how interesting! But one of your grandfathers was German, correct?"
"Yes, my grandfather, Fritz Heinrich; he was my father's father."
Ms. Spectra clasped her hands together and leaned her head on them. "How are you dealing with the guilt of the Holocaust?"
This made Julia gasp in shock. "My granddad didn't fight in the war; he was in the resistance against Hitler!"
"But your great-grandparents weren't, right?"
That was sadly the truth and the old shame came up in Julia.
"They didn't know better. Germany was in a bad state when Hitler got to power. He promised them work and he delivered. His whole disgusting nature came up later."
"It's okay to feel ashamed Julia.", told Ms Spectra. "Their blood is in your veins, it's only natural."
Ms Spectra walked up to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. Julia felt now even worse.
"I think we need more sessions to work with your guilt, so come by later, alright?"
Dizzy and sick Julia walked out of the office.
She needed to use the bathroom, urgent!
After she left all her guts in the toilette, she wobbled her way to her first hour.
(*)
The four friends are walking to their next hour, Danny looking dejected and angry and Julia like she was going to break apart any second.
"Guys, you ok?", asks Tucker worried.
"Danny looks like he could murder someone and you Julie look like you saw it.", added Sam also worried.
"I am a bad person?", wonders Julia quietly. "Only because I am German?"
"Where is this coming from?", wanted Sam to know.
"I rather not repeat it..."
"Speaking of Spectra...", grumbled Danny in between. "I can't believe my sister told that shrink I'm a loser."
"We tackle your issues in a second Julie.", promised Sam. "Are you sure Danny, Jazz said that? That doesn't sound like Jazz to me."
"Hey, you guys.", speak of the devil and she shall appear. There was Jazz blocking their way. "What doesn't sound like Jazz to you?"
Danny scowls and his friends, beside Julia, look sideways at him.
Yikes, someone was pissed.
"Still mad?", asked Jazz rhetoric.
"Wow, youarethe smart one.", sasses Danny.
"Danny, I know you're angry, but I'm worried about you. Ever since the accident-"
"Jazz, I know youthinkyou're helping, and I'm sure when I'm older I'll appreciate it, but right now, I don't."
"You have to talk to somebody, Danny. You barely have any friends."
This makes Sam and Tucker frown offended, while Julia still doesn't react.
What were they?
Chopped liver?
"Besides these three.", corrects Jazz herself. "And you have absolutely no extracurricular activities."
"Unless you count the ghosts.", mumbled Tucker to the girls.
Sam hit him in the stomach with her elbow.
"Shut it!"
"Well, maybe this is me now, huh? Not everyone's pumped up full of spirit all the time, you know."
Suddenly Danny's Ghost Sense goes off, and Julia touches her necklace. It's so cold in Casper High that both can't really tell if it's just breath or the necklace warm from her skin.
Jazz lays a hand on the shivering Danny, worried for him, but he runs away, Julia follows close behind.
When they are sure the coast is clear they transform into their ghost halves.
Phantom and Cosmos find a large ghost hornet, who is currently licking Jazz's face!
"Oh no!", gasped Cosmos. "I'm allergic to hornets! Do you think it counts for ghost hornets too?"
Her crime-fighting partner ushered her away.
"Let's not find out during battle, I will smash the bug alone, okay?"
"Thanks, Danny."
They split up, Cosmos to transform back and Phantom to fight the ghostly bug.
Sadly Phantom didn't catch it.
(*)
The next day Julia, Sam and Tucker get cornered by Jazz.
"Don't you think he's been acting weird?", the older girl asks. "I mean, haven't you noticed how gloomy and negative he's been lately?"
"Uh, Jazz, we're Danny's friends. That means we keephissecretsfromyou.", points Tucker out.
Nonchalant Jazz hands him 20 Dollars.
"Although..."
Sam snatches away the money and hands it back to Jazz.
"We've all got our problems, Jazz. I know you're worried, but Danny's ok."
Julia says nothing, just standing there looking half-death.
"Julia, are you okay? You look like a second away from dropping dead!", worries Jazz for her.
"He keeps some things to himself, like I do. But it's not like he's doing anything criminal.", says Julia just, rubbing tired her eyes.
It's like the universe wants to prove her wrong since the Fire Alarm springs on, wetting everyone and the one responsible for it is apparently Danny.
He gets a month of detention and Ms Specter lets him walk around school with a diaper, a cylinder and a sharpe.
It's just humaliting!
How should this help Danny?
If her own brain wasn't so mushy after her sessions with Spectra Julia would try to help him, but alas both lay their heads on the table of the Ice Cream Parlor, Elmer's Pharmacy, while Tucker enjoyed his Ice Cream and Sam some Tofu.
Tucker tells Danny how brutal it was to watch him walk around in the baby suit but he made some good pictures with his PDA.
Angry Danny wonders who side he is on, as Sam reminds him how Tucker was just messing with him.
"Ah- Yeah, I know.", signs Danny and drops his head into his arms on the table. "I don't get am I so depressed and angry all the time? That shrink was supposed to be helping me. Ever since I started talking to her, I've been feeling worse."
"I am with you.", mumbles Julia. "I feel just bad after every session with her and without forces."
Both sign together.
Before Sam or Tucker can say something to cheer them up, Jazz walks up to them asking Danny and Julia how they have been.
Crossly Danny spats back as if she cared.
Of course, Danny and Julia's Ghost Senses go off and they see a Ghost formed like a pickle behind a Paulina, who is powdering her nose.
They have to keep Jazz busy!
"Yeah, well, if you're gonna take her side, then you hang with her too!", fake-accuses Danny Sam and Tucker. "Here, take my seat you've already taken my friends. I only have Julie left!"
Dramatically he lays an arm over his head and takes it with his other hand Julias.
Both race out to the back door of the pharmacy, where they transform into their ghost halves.
Never realising Jazz saw them!
They phase back into the Ice Cream Parlor, where the Pickle-Ghost cozzies up to Paulina, making her and the clerk scream in fright.
Together they tackled the Pickle-Ghost away from them.
Pickle-Ghost backhands them, then shoots ectoblasts that Phantom and Cosmos narrowly escape, instead vaporizing book displays.
Shoppers are starting to notice the fight.
The Halfa-Due dodges more ectoblasts as people start to run around screaming, and Tucker and Sam come back inside.
Pickle-Ghost punches Phantom into a wall of backpacks and Cosmos into a table head first.
She loses all her senses for a short while and regains them after the fight is over.
Again they let a ghost escape, which makes our Halfa's feel even worse.
(*)
The next day at school Danny and Julia aren't the only ones who look half-dead.
It seems the whole of Casper High has fallen into a depression!
"Uh, is it just me, or is this the worst Spirit Week in the history of Casper High Spirit Weeks?", speaks Sam aloud, what they all think.
"I was so excited for Spirit Week now I just want it over.", whines Julia, trying to hold her tears in.
"And to make it worse, we're all gonna have to sit through Jazz's idiotic speech when she tries to put the "I" back in "spirit" or some other nonsense.", adds Danny angrily.
They see her walking happily around.
"What the heck is she so happy about?"
Sam shrugs her shoulders.
"Don't ask me. I'm usually the sour one around here. But compared to everyone else, I'm the goth bird of happiness."
"Me too! And we're the only two people in this school whohaven'thad a session with Dr. Spectra.", tells Tucker.
This makes Danny and Julia perk up.
Danny grabs Tucker's PDA searching for the photos he took this week. There is one in the baby suit where he can see his breath. Tucker says he was going to delete that, but no one buys it.
However, Danny was glad, because he pointed out how he thought he saw his breath the whole time thanks to the cold.
Yet, what if it was his Ghost Sense?
What if Spectra was a ghost?!
Julia agrees with the theory and states that thanks to the cold she couldn't feel in school her necklace heated up.
So how were they gonna prove it if Spectra was really a ghost?
Brave Sam and Tucker volunteered to have a session with her, while Danny and Julia should as their ghost halves watch it.
The Goth and the Tech-Nerd came out of the office half-death like everybody else.
"I hate my life!", groans Tucker.
"I hate your life more.", groans also Sam.
"Buh-bye! And remember, there's only an 'I" in "misery" if you spell it that way!", calls Spectra after them before she closes her office door.
Invisible Phantom and Cosmos phase in there and find Spectra in a swirl of ghost energy, breathing it in and becoming younger-looking in the process.
"Ahhh. Man, that's good.", musses Spectra looking through the student's files. "I'm gonna miss these kids. They're a waterfall of misery."
Pickle-Ghost flies through the wall.
"There you are. You hooked up the device?", asks Spectra.
"Of course. And when the spirit sparklers go up, vaporizing the only chipper kid left in the entire school, there'll be enough misery and anguish in that room to keep us looking young forever!"
Still invisible, the Halfa's listen in horror.
The bell rings, making them all look up.
"Well, there's the bell. Shall we go hear a speech and bum some more kids out?", grins Spectra.
The two merge into a single blob of ecto-energy and zap through the wall.
Phantom and Cosmos go visible again.
"Jazz!"
"I know, we have to stop them and save her!"
Fast they fly after the evil ghost duo.
They confront them and while Phantom fights Spectra, Cosmo fights the Pickle-Ghost who turns out to be her assistant Bertram.
Cosmos is proud of herself since she can keep up with the older ghost, even if he tries to go into her head.
Then he transforms himself into a Ninja with Nun-Chucks and Cosmos just get's out her Fenton Thermos, sucking him in.
She hears then cheers coming from the Aula, meaning Phantom managed to save Jazz and defeat Spectra.
Sneaky she joins her friends at the bleacher and applaudes Jazz.
At least Spirit Week ended on a happy note!
(*)
It's night at Amity Park and Jazz watches from her window how Danny Phantom and Julie Cosmos fly around and seem to play happily tag with each other.
She smiles and promises to keep their secrets till they are ready to tell them.
(*)
#NO COMMENTS NO CHAPTER