I don't own DP
The idea i had for this one is that after PP, Danny does incredibly well in school and balancing things because he has support, but he's already so accomplished that by the time 12th grade rolls around he has no desire to go to college. And this is him telling his parents (it's the biggest secret he's kept since the half-ghost bit).
1,988 Words. Rated k
"Okay, Danny, you got us all together. What's on your mind?" Maddie asked, setting the cast iron on the trivet.
Danny shrugged, immediately chickening out, and reached for the vegetable medley in front of his sister. He ducked out of her stern gaze.
"We just don't eat as a family anymore. I thought it would be nice."
"That is not why we're here, and you know it."
"Danno, you're usually the one trying to get out of dinner these days; but it's one thing to go out with your friends and it's another to avoid us."
"You caught that, huh?"
Maddie sighed, and passed out the steak. She put a slab on Jack's plate and then cut the next one in half and put her hand out for Jazz and Danny's plates.
"Sweetheart, there is a difference between pretending and lying, and you are terrible at one of them. You know can tell us anything, Danny. What's on your mind?."
Jazz flicked her gaze between her family members, then down to her food. She ignored Danny's silent plea for help, shaking her head at her plate; he groaned.
"Okay, fine. Yea, I uh. Mom. Dad," He sat up straighter, leaning his arms on the table.
"I don't want to go to college."
Jack raised his eyebrows, letting out a held breath, and sagging from the what if's that rapidly filled his mind. He turned to his wife, who shifted from initial bafflement and worry to actual confusion.
"Uh, huh. What, what brought you to that decision?"
"A lot of things." He mumbled. Danny rolled his head back, cracking the joints in his neck.
"Okay, mainly, I'm just tired of school right now."
"Summer is in three weeks, you can enjoy all that free time before your first semester."
"We've gone through fifty university letters and there's still more every day, kiddo. Why the sudden change?"
"It's not so sudden, actually. I haven't wanted to go since January."
"January? No, you told us you applied to your favorites in March." Maddie stated, punctuating her sentence with a bite of steak. The half-ghost side-eyed his sister.
"Yea, I uh. Pretended."
"What?"
"You guys were just so proud, and I was interested at one point, last July, who's keeping track, but I really just want some free time. I mean, look at today: I was up an hour before school ghost-hunting, then I had school, met with my senior advisor at lunch, practice ended at six. I had two hours of homework, we're eating dinner now, and then I have to go to bed and do it all again tomorrow."
"Honey,—" Maddie started.
"I know, I took on the gymnastics thing, and the ghost-hunting thing, and the schedule is working, I get a lot more sleep, but geez when is the last time I picked up a hobby? Christmas break, maybe? I don't want to do it anymore. I'm burnt out— I just need a break."
"Danny," she tried again.
"I'm on a roll, please let me finish. I will go to college, at some point. But I don't have anything specific right now that I want to study, and taking general education to get it done is only gonna aggravate the situation. I just sat through four years of gen. ed, I don't want to do it again. I want to get a job, or travel, or. Actually, I guess those are the options, but I need to do something that isn't at a desk in a building that doesn't see sunlight for eight hours of the day."
"I just." He took a deep breath, calming himself down. "I need some time to figure out what I want to do. On my own."
"Danno, you can take a gap year. You can take as much time as you need, provided you do something responsible with those hours. A job, maybe some volunteering, and some hobbies. But it needs to be something other than ghost-hunting and keeps you active."
"I expected more fight on this."
"I told you."
"Shut it." He glared.
"What I mean, is that you guys hold education really high up, and with so many doors open I figured you would be more insistent." He leaned back in his chair, using his fork to push the food around the plate.
"While it is surprising, after the last two years, it's not unreasonable for a new adult to want to explore their options. There are plenty of important careers and lifestyles that don't require a four year degree. And if you decide you want to learn something, but not commit to a big school, you can learn a trade. Besides, you're right, with a little less on your plate, you can take the time to rediscover your interests."
"It's important to us that you're happy, Danny. As long as you understand that we are not going to coddle you if we think you're stalling or avoiding whatever is next in your life. We just need to know that you're thinking things through, but clearly, you are. You're becoming quite the adult already."
"Wow, okay. Since that's the case, and I have college money set aside from the last two years, Sam and I are gonna drive Tucker to California and hang out there for a while."
Jack laughed, uneasy; Maddie stared at their son with disbelief.
"Okay, kiddo, one secret at a time. Eat your dinner."
The teenager took a bite, flicking his gaze away.
"You still live under our roof, young man. You are not moving to California."
"No, we're going to tour it before he starts his first semester. I want to see the Redwoods, Sam wants to go to Gothapalooza in August, so we're going to help Tuck get situated and then drive the country on our way back."
"A road trip? Alright." Maddie nodded, wrapping her head around the revelation. "You're going to stay in some hotels, then? Separate. Rooms. Hm? Who's going to pay for that?"
Danny flushed, carefully wording his answer.
"Sam's going to pay for rooms, and I'm taking everything else, depending on the different costs. We've got a budget and money breakdown worked up already. I read a couple of finance books for this trip too, so we stay proactive. See? Already living like an adult."
"Who's car are you taking?"
"Well, Tucks pulling a trailer for his apartment, which will have his motorcycle on it, and Sam got her grandmother's gifted Subaru, so we're taking that. It's one of those adventure ones, with the roof tent and everything, so we thought we'd go camping a couple of times too. Joshua Tree is out there, and that park has some of the best stargazing in the country. Plus," he pointed at his parents, clicking his tongue with a grin.
"It saves us money on housing."
"Do you hear that, Jack? Our baby has the rest of the year planned out already."
"Not that you can't have some adventure and see the world, Danny, but can we talk about the career you've wanted for eighteen years? What happened to the NASA fast-track—the planes, and the planetary sciences? You wanted to fly a space shuttle when you were five. Where's that kid?"
Danny shrugged, looking at the remaining food on his plate with a bored expression.
"I've already been to space twice, and there was that time I landed the space shuttle in Cape Canaveral. I already achieved those goals. I'm sure when I do go to college it'll be something related to physics and astronomy, you know, do it the right way and be official or whatever, but it's not really a driving force in my life anymore. Oh, there's a famous observatory in L.A. we're going to go to, and a couple of museums, so you know, I'm getting some education, even on the trip."
"What about mechanical engineering, or physics? Your science fair project has the potential to get you a doctorate." Maddie tried.
"Mom."
"I know, sweetie. You want a break. You can have it. But I'm making rules for your trip. You have to check in every single day."
Jack waved his arm, shaking his head in confusion as he interrupted.
"Sorry, go back, when did you go to space?"
"When Technus tried to take over the Axiom satellite? I told you about that already. Or do you mean when Plasmius's technology exploded in the rings of Saturn and sent a ghost-deterrent asteroid to Earth?"
"That came from Saturn— you've been to Saturn?" Jack stated, slack-jawed in disbelief. Maddie shook her head, laughing.
"Of course he has. How did you get there?"
"We took the Specter Speeder. Vlad stole the Infi-Map from The Far Frozen and we followed him through the portals. He shot at us and ended up hitting his own space station."
"We?"
"Yea, Sam, Tucker, and I. Did I not tell you guys about that? I coulda sworn…" he shrugged and focused back on his meal.
"My son's been to space."
"I don't remember you landing a space shuttle." Jazz questioned her brother.
"You were kidnapped by Freakshow, you weren't there. Oh. Mom, one time Freakshow— from the goth circus— he tried to destroy me when he escaped prison and the GIW chased us across the country, but that timeline doesn't really exist anymore."
"You're really not selling me on an unsupervised road trip, sweetie. If you get into this much trouble at home, how do we know something won't happen when you're out on your own?"
"I mean, none of it was my fault, so really, I was just solving problems, which is good, because that shows I can think on my feet in California. We get a flat tire, I'll fix it."
"Do you know how to change a flat tire? Did we teach you that?"
"No, I learned how when we took the, uh, Sam's car, on our country road trip that didn't happen."
"Smooth."
"Shut it."
"What were you going to say?"
"Nothing."
"What, did you use, to travel the country?"
Maddie's glare bested Danny's evasive, flighty glancing and the truth tumbled out.
"The Fenton Jet, and then it got blown up but Sam and Tucker escaped the blast by using the hover ATVs and one of them got a flat tire in Utah when we landed to get food."
She sighed and rubbed her forehead.
"Well since it technically didn't happen, which I now have to accept that you changed the very nature of our world,—"
"Technically it was the Reality Gauntlet, not me. Not even CW has power like that."
"—Then, I suppose there's no room for punishment, because you were trying to save your sister."
"And you guys, and Tucker and Sam's parents," They locked eyes and Danny clammed up. "Right, yes, it was for the greater good, and I would never intentionally get myself into trouble."
"Jack, do you have anything to say about this?"
"He's more accomplished than Neil Armstrong." The man stated, still staring at the cast iron in the center of the table. Maddie reached over and put a hand on his shoulder, recentering his attention.
"Jack, dear, did you hear any of that? Our son stole the Ops Center and used the jet to travel the country while being chased by the old Guys in White."
"Huh? What? You did? And you never got caught? You're quite the little genius, Danno." Jack responded, nodding proudly through a forkful of food.
Maddie frowned, scolding her husband through her expression. The teenagers laughed.
"Well, I do know how to get around undetected. Ghost powers, and all."
"That is so not how it happened and you know it."
"Wait, did you say Vlad had a space station?"
"So we're good, on the whole, not going to college thing?"
Danny's ghost sense activated, and he sighed a breath of relief.
"Oh, thank goodness."
Ya'll, I felt this one in my soul. Repeat after me, 'Community College or a trade school is the best first step for higher education. Student loans do not make you smart.'
Also, I'm on a roll right now. I just wrote like 8 chapters for a new story over the past two days— a story that was originally a one-shot. So that's exciting. I think I'll publish it before it's done, since it was originally a one-shot and i don't know if I see my self finishing it as a full story.