Out of all of her classes, Jazz liked anatomy the most.
Science had always been her forte, whether she realized it or not, and it was calling to her once again. Psychology was a science, yes, and it was something of a sociology as well, and that was part of what drew her to it all of those years ago, but it was all… Speculative.
If she'd learned anything in studying psychology, it was that nothing was ever certain, and the science could be manipulated.
Behaviorism made sense, but wasn't practical, and probably not ethical.
Psychoanalytical theories were observably accurate, but often made assumptions based on whimsies.
Cognitive theories were convincing, but too general– too simple.
Anatomy, though.
There didn't seem to be much variability in it. Cells became amino acids which became energy. Muscles were formed one way, and skin and bones another. The brain worked like this, and organs functioned for purposes X, Y, and Z. And don't get her started on wisdom teeth or the appendix– what were they even for? She wanted to know.
Of all of her classes, it was the one she threw herself into. She was grateful to have at least one class that didn't utterly disappoint her.
Today, she was doubly grateful to it for giving her something to distract herself with.
In the anatomy lecture, she could ignore all of her problems. For those 75 minutes, she could be at peace. She was a college student, not a therapist, or a responsible older sister. She wasn't Jazz Fenton, daughter of ghost hunters and sister of Danny Phantom– she was just Jazz, and she was studying anatomy.
…
It was one of those rare days that Jazz was able to join her roommate for lunch, and they certainly needed it.
They hadn't been able to talk since Danny had first come to stay, and Jazz was starting to think that it was going to be for a lot longer than she might have first implied.
"How has he been sneaking in, anyway?" Charlee asked over a forkful of pasta, squinting, thinking deeply. "I swear, it's like, I never see him, except when he's asleep."
Jazz shrugged noncommittally, holding back a knowing grin. Sometimes it was kind of fun, keeping his secrets– knowing things that others don't.
Before she could get to the topic at hand, though, her roommate continued– "And where has he been showering? You know the other girls would have freaked if he was using our bathroom."
Jazz snickered behind her hand. "No, don't worry, he's been using the boy's dormitory for that."
Charlee laughed as well, shaking her head. How this kid was getting into all of these dorms, she didn't know, but she guessed the less she knew, the better.
"So, Charlee, I've been thinking," Jazz started.
Her roommate turned to pay attention.
Well, it was now or never. She might as well just spit it out–
"I don't think the situation at home is going to get any better."
"I see," Charlee said. She ran a few fingers through her hair, nervous.
How was she going to ask this? There was no way her roommate would be okay with it– they were crowded enough as it was. Making it permanent wasn't a smart move.
But Jazz could never know if she didn't ask.
"How would you feel about it if Danny stayed?"
The other girl sighed, put down her fork. She mulled the question over in her head.
"Your brother hasn't been any trouble at all, but- I don't know. Is this really the best option?"
"Honestly, I think it might be the only option."
Charlee rolled her eyes, shaking her head like she couldn't believe what she was about to say.
"If anyone asks, I don't know anything about this." Then she laughed quietly to herself– "God, no one's going to buy that."
Jazz felt herself relax, her heart leaping into her threat. She could barely form the words, thank you, but her roommate understood, squeezing her hand in return.
…
Danny had been with them for almost three days now.
He tended to make himself scarce whenever Charlee was around– sometimes, even, flying up to the rooftop to watch the stars instead of sleeping at night– but he wasn't able to avoid her forever– and he certainly wasn't able to avoid Jazz.
He'd promised her that he'd stick around, and when he wasn't back at her room that first night, she'd blown up his phone– bossy, protective older sister that she was.
So, he stayed.
For those few days, he stayed. He wandered around the campus and the city, just as Jazz had suggested. It took his mind off things, but only for a while. Beneath it all, behind the excitement he got from exploring a new city, he was still afraid.
He needed to make a decision.
Would he give his parents a chance? Or would he avoid Amity Park for the rest of his life? And if he did, who would protect everyone from the ghosts?
He called Sam and Tucker, letting them know he was okay, and when he saw the time, he headed back to the dining hall for dinner with Jazz.
He'd been leeching off of his sister for too long now. He saw how tired she had grown since he had arrived, how distracted she was with his drama– and how frustrated she was with her classes, something he'd never seen from her before.
This would have to be the last night he stayed with her.
…
Jazz was already seated at a table, a plate of food in front of her, scrawling across pages of homework. When Danny joined her, she smiled at him, weary, and waved him on to get food. There was something she needed to talk about with him, and she needed a few more minutes to figure out how to say it.
It had been a few days, just as they'd agreed, and yet– it didn't seem that the situation in Amity was going to get any better, and there weren't any reasonable solutions that she could think of, either.
There was always Vlad, but after all of his fighting with Danny (and general skeeviness), she didn't think that was a safe option.
After that, Danny might try escaping to the Ghost Zone,set up a lair, but that couldn't have been any safer than Amity, right? Wasn't there a warden and a trophy hunter after him in there? So, that was off the table, too.
The only other option was running away altogether. Stick around in the mortal realm, living anywhere that wasn't Amity. That he could do it wasn't up for debate– he was a ghost, he could easily get access to what he needed, just like he was now, sneaking around campus. Plus, Jazz has been told, that that was what Danielle has been doing for the last few months, travelling the world.
But Jazz wouldn't allow for that either. She didn't much like that Danielle was travelling the world by herself, and she really didn't like the idea of Danny doing it, too. He was 16. He needed to be in school, and he didn't need to be alone.
Danny sat across from her, his plate scantily topped with food. Still, he found a way to push the meal around on the dish rather than eating it.
"Danny, look," she started jumping right into the discussion. "I know you said you only needed to stay for a few days, but I think it would be best if– well, if you didn't leave."
He tried not to drop his fork. "Wait, what?"
She rambled on, "I don't like the idea of you going back to Amity if it's not safe right now, and I really don't like the idea of–"
"No, I mean," he said, stopping her. He didn't know what to say. "What about you?"
"What do you mean 'what about me?'" she asked.
"Like, your classes," he started, feeling particularly inarticulate. How was he supposed to tell her to focus on herself for once in her life? She'd taken care of him pretty much their entire childhood and this was her chance to escape that– and here he was again.
"My classes are fine," she said, perhaps a bit too harshly, then corrected herself. "You're not getting in the way of them, I promise."
He narrowed his eyes, doubtfully. "And your roommate? I'm not getting in the way of her and her classes?"
"Well, I suppose that could happen," Jazz answered and grimaced. "But I talked to her. She said it was fine. We'll work something out."
"Right," Danny said. He turned back to his plate, scraping the food across the surface again.
"Hey, I know it's cramped, but we've done pretty well the last few days, haven't we?" she tried.
When he didn't respond, she continued, "And, look, you won't be stuck at the dorm all day, every day. I found a way to get you enrolled at one of the highschools."
He was really surprised by that, and although a part of him liked the idea of it, he wasn't going to give it much thought. "What about Amity Park?" he asked "Who's going to take care of it?"
"It's not safe for you right now, so, I presume the ghost hunters."
Once again, she found herself feeling resentful– resentful of her parents and any other ghost hunter that had made their home in Amity Park. They'd pushed her brother out, so they were going to have to suffer the consequences. Besides, staying with her meant that he wouldn't have to fight ghosts anymore– if this worked out, this might become the most stable home and education he's had in years.
Then, Danny asked her something she hadn't been expecting at all.
"Do you want me to stay?"
She laughed quietly– "I'm inviting you, aren't I?"
He shook his head. "No, do you want me to stay? Or are you just offering because you think it's the right thing to do?"
Jazz didn't know what to say– of course she wanted him to stay, she wanted him to be safe. But was that the only reason she wanted him to stay? She hadn't really thought about it. No, these last few days, she's only been thinking about two things: what does she do about Danny? And what was she going to do with her life?
She didn't know the answer to that. But she knew that she wanted her brother in her life, and for that to happen, he would have to survive.
"Yes," she finally said, honest.
He studied her face for any signs of a lie, but he couldn't find any.
He laughed, shaking his head at the whole situation. "Alright, I guess. I'm going to need clothes, though." He pinched the collar of his shirt. "I've been wearing this for three days."
Jazz paled at the thought of spending so much money. She doubted her scholarship would help cover that...
Normally she wouldn't condone it, but she did know of a way that he could get clothes, and without getting caught. He had been sneaking into the dining room every day, afterall, so it wasn't as if they were completely against using ghost powers to do questionable things.
Ugh, this ordeal was turning them into Vlad.