Hi everyone! I have worked very hard on this chapter all week, so (finally) here's Chapter 2! Please review:)

Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own Danny Phantom :(

"Jazz, did you take my toothpaste?!" a grumpy Danny hollered. He had done his homework, taken his shower, and was especially exhausted from the overwhelming afternoon. Though he loved his extremely intelligent older sister very much, sometimes she really got on his last nerve. Suddenly, a bewildered redhead appeared holding a tube of toothpaste.

"Yes Danny, I was out, sheesh," Jazz muttered, raising an eyebrow at his cranky attitude.

Danny snatched it. "Good-night Jazz," he muttered, retreating back to the bathroom. He walked inside the bathroom, grabbed his toothbrush, and squeezed a blob of toothpaste on it. Tired and his mind wandering, he began thinking while brushing his pearly-white teeth (he took surprisingly good care of his teeth for a teenager with more important things to do, such as ghost-hunting).

Danny looked at his muscular chest; he hadn't bothered to wear a t-shirt because the weather had been so hot lately, and was only dressed in plaid pajama bottoms and old slippers. The past year had been good to Danny and Tucker, since both juniors had received huge growth spurts that were attracting attention from all the ladies. Both seventeen year-olds had grown to a healthy six feet tall, and, with their new, incredibly fit bodies, were attracting so much attention you could actually say they were popular.

And what about Sam? Well, she was definitely attracting attention from all they guys, and all the girls, including Paulina, were definitely jealous of her. On top of being best friends with two of the hottest guys in school, Sam was beautiful herself. Only sixteen years old and a healthy 5' 5 inches, she was still a goth, but had toned it down a little. She wore light black eyeliner, light purple eye shadow, and light purple lip-gloss. She had cut her hair a little shorter than shoulder length halfway through junior year, and had short side bangs that looked stunning on her. However, although the trio were being noticed by classmates a lot more now, Sam absolutely hated it, saying that it could split the trio apart if they weren't careful enough. Danny and Tucker, who were enjoying every second of the benefits of their new popularity, claimed she was being too dramatic.

Thinking about Sam reminded Danny once again about the long day. He truly felt sorry for Sam; she really had worked so hard to get into varsity soccer, having practiced every single day all summer long so that she might have a chance on the team. Danny smiled, remembering one particularly happy memory he and Sam had shared when he went to visit her one evening in August, and found her practicing again:

It was an extremely hot August evening; the air was moist with heat and sweat, and it couldn't have been less than 80 degrees. A white-haired halfa, unbothered by the uncanny heat due to his cool body temperature, could be seen flying to his best friend's house on the very night. He flew over the enormous mansion his friend lived in and was about to phase into the exact spot of the house he knew his best-friend's room was, when he heard something shatter from the backyard.

Panicking, he quickly flew towards the source of the noise, but was only greeted with a crushed garden pot, a soccer ball, and a pretty goth who was currently fuming over the scene, her fingernails digging into her clenched fists. He sighed in relief; nothing had happened. A second later, however, he stopped breathing again.

Since it was unbearably hot outside at seven o' clock in the evening, it was logical for a person exercising to be wearing as little clothing as possible. And there was Sam, clad in nothing but cleats, shin pads, white knee-high socks, white short-shorts, and a gray sports bra. Her sweet pale skin was shining from the moist air and sweat, and her flat abs, lean body, and matured parts of her body made Danny remember that she definitely wasn't "little Sammy" anymore.

Danny gulped.

Before he could turn around and fly away so that his teenage hormones could calm down a little, Sam who had felt the refreshing drop in temperature looked up and smiled at him.

"Danny!" she cried. Danny hesitantly flew down and she ran to him and hugged him tightly. The kind gesture might have been a bit odd, but the two hadn't seen each other all summer since Danny's parents had decided to go on a family summer road trip around the country for most of the season.

Danny was still trying to control his red face, but he squeezed Sam as tightly as he could nonetheless. He breathed in her familiar scent of herbal aromas that always calmed him down, and remembered how small and fragile she seemed at times like this, when he hugged her and towered over her, realizing now how much he had really missed Sam.

"I really missed you," he murmured into her ear, then turning his eyes so that he could look at her beautiful face once more. Sam was mesmerized; she hadn't seen his amazing blue eyes in over a month.

"Me too," she whispered.

Then, as soon as the intimate moment of reunion had started, it suddenly stopped just as abruptly when the two realized how close they were to each other, and how Sam's upper body was only clad in a snugly-fit bra. They both jumped and let go of each other, blushing.

Danny, who had been eyeing the shattered garden pot during the uncomfortable silence, joked, "So, you've been practicing soccer all summer? And yet, you still manage to hit a poor garden plant; that's skill," he teased.

Sam suddenly flared up at his words. "For your information, mister," she objected, poking his chest with her pointer finger when she said 'mister,' "I was doing an extremely complicated move that I'm hoping will impress the coach enough to get me on the team, so shut up!"

Danny was about to tease her again, but he stopped, shocked, when he noticed that her eyes were glistening with tears she was trying to hold back. Sam, embarrassed, made an attempt to run into the house, but Danny, stronger than her, grabbed her arms gently and pulled her back. He softly put his hand under her chin and drew it up so that she had to look at him.

"Sam, what's wrong?" he asked soothingly, concern etched in his voice.

Sam, who hated feeling so vulnerable since she knew there was no point lying; Danny would see right through her anyways, muttered, "I've been... busy, fighting ghosts with you and Tuck these past two years, and now that Amity Park's ghost attacks have gone down exponentially, I finally have a chance to join. I really want to make it in, and I'm a junior this year, so I only have this year and next year left to do that," Sam weakly finished. Feeling extremely guilty, Danny pulled her into another hug.

"Sam, I'm so sorry for stopping you, this is entirely my fault-" he began.

"No, it's not your fault Danny, never think that! Honestly, I could have tried to join the team years before, but I was too much of a chicken to," Sam muttered into his chest.

"You are anything but a chicken, Sam," Danny chuckled, "and, like Tuck and I and practically everyone else have said before, you're extremely talented, you'll make the team, practicing everyday just guarantees it even more."

Sam laughed, but she was still upset at herself. She hated it when she cried, especially in front of Danny, it made her so weak, and it was so foolish to cry over something like this! "Yeah yeah, thanks Danny."

"No problemo," Danny replied. Sam laughed, and Danny grinned.

"So, you want to play a little one-on-one soccer?" Danny asked, and was already dribbling the ball past Sam.

Sam laughed. "You're so on," she cried, and began running towards him. For the next few hours the two of them would just play outside, laughing and enjoying each other's company just like how it was in the good old days.

Danny smiled; he knew that memory was an odd one to enjoy looking back to, but all the intimate hugs, and playing until one in the morning made it such a fond one. He finished brushing his teeth, washed his face, and was about to get into bed, much calmer then before, when his ghost senses went off.

Danny groaned and kicked his bed in anger, instantly regretting it when he had to stifle a cry from stubbing his toe. But honestly, couldn't the ghosts attack some other time? Sighing in frustration, he whispered, "I'm going ghost," and quickly transformed into Danny Phantom.

Danny quickly flew outside, prepared for a surprise attack, but there was no ghost in sight. He took another ten minutes to quickly (yet thoroughly) check Amity Park for any sign of a ghost, but found none. Confused, he finally flew through his house, checking each room, and then into the lab, sure that the ghost had to be here. When he found nothing but a vacant laboratory, he stopped, puzzled.

Had his ghost senses malfunctioned? Did he miss the ghost? Danny quickly scanned the lab for anything missing, but nothing was gone, nothing had moved. Wary but exhausted, Danny flew back to his room, transformed back into his human self, and finally went to bed, although he was now worried and his thoughts were unsettled.

He had a nasty feeling that something bad was going to happen soon.