The Thoughts of Them

SUMMARY: 'Oh my gosh! I wonder how big the Ghost Boy is without his clothes—' And with that, Danny spewed the soda he was drinking everywhere. OR, in which Danny discovers he can hear thoughts. He now has a love-hate relationship with this power.

XXX

Danny had a little problem. Scratch that—he had a big problem.

It had happened so strangely. He started hearing tiny, faint voices in the back of his mind. At first, he thought he was going crazy. But then, it was as though those voices stopped. He didn't hear anything for a whole two weeks, until they returned.

He found himself sitting at his desk, sighing in frustration. After forcing Ember back into the Ghost Zone, he had some free time.

Danny had been finishing his homework—the first time he had gotten the chance to do homework in a while—when he was interrupted by a little whisper in his head. He blanched, his thoughts instantly jumping to the conclusion that he was insane.

But when the voices grew louder and stronger, he could make out the certain pitches, tones, and emotions in them. He recognized his father's voice, which constantly spewed out "Fudge! Where's the fudge?!" and his sister's voice, which spoke, "Ugh, Dad is such an incompetent child sometimes."

Just moments after he heard those two voices worming into his mind, he heard his father's voice from downstairs.

"MADS! Where'd you put the fudge?!"

That didn't make any sense. It was as though Danny had foretold the future. Was that even possible? Perhaps he was hanging around Clockwork too much—oh God. Was he gaining some kind of new power?

Signing his name onto his homework, he folded it into his binder and then stuffed the binder into his purple backpack. He sighed in confusion, running a hand through his black tresses. Surely it was just a coincidence?

XXX

The following morning, he awoke to sunlight streaming into his room. He groggily got out of bed, yawning obnoxiously loud. It had been a while since he acquired a decent amount of sleep. He was extremely grateful that the only ghost out last night was Desiree. Unfortunately, it took longer than it usually did to fend her off, since she learned to control which wishes she can grant.

Nonetheless, he was satisfied with the many hours of sleep he got.

"What could Danny be doing? Why is he still asleep?" he heard his mother's voice.

Danny frowned in bewilderment, glancing around curiously. Her voice sounded so close to him; as though she were standing right beside him. So how had he heard her so well?

Maybe he gained enhanced hearing? Sure, his senses were already greater than that of a regular human, but perhaps they strengthened even more?

Danny cautiously looked around his bedroom, before getting dressed for the day. He pulled on a pair of blue jeans, a baggy red long-sleeved shirt, and his white sneakers. He lazily brushed through his ebony hair, and taking care of his teeth as well. Once he was done getting up and ready, he headed out of his room.

Once the teenager made it to the kitchen, he was yawning less. His eyesight was now clearer, and he was almost fully awake.

"Good morning, Danny," his mother, Maddie, greeted him.

Danny blinked in surprise. Her voice was significantly quieter than when he heard it in his bedroom. How could that be? Maybe his new power—whatever it was—was acting up?

"Morning, Mom," he replied in a dazed voice.

What if he hung out with Sam and Tucker, and got their input? Perhaps they could figure out what was going on?

"Hey, can I go meet up with Sam and Tucker?" he requested to Maddie.

Maddie nodded, turning away from the stove to face her son. "Sure, honey. Want some breakfast first?"

But when he thought about food, he wasn't in the best mood to eat. His appetite seemed to have plummeted since last night.

"No thanks," Danny murmured, before heading back upstairs.

XXX

Once Danny managed to call up his two best friends, he was out the door to meet with them at the park.

The raven-haired teenager sighed in content at the warm breeze, before ambling towards the nearly-vacant park. His thoughts were wandering aimlessly now, without a care in the world. The last two nights seemed to have been great. He accomplished a full night's rest, no ghosts so far, and here he was, strolling towards the park like a regular teenager, to meet with Sam and Tucker.

Danny smiled as the pair came into view. His friends were both sitting on one of the benches, chatting casually. When they spotted Danny, they quickly got up and approached him.

Sam wore her black skirt, blue ripped tights, combat boots, and a black T-shirt nicely. She had changed her style slightly over the past couple of years. Her hair was only an inch or two longer, while she switched out her ponytail holder with a small purple bow, which also contained a tiny skull clip.

Tucker was clad in a pair of brown jeans, blue sneakers, and a loose sky-blue T-shirt, along with his typical red beret. He still wore his glasses, only they were thinner. His knowledge over technology was still noticeable, and came in handy on several occasions.

"Hey guys," Danny murmured.

'Wow, he looks hot—as usual,' Danny heard another voice. He could have sworn it sounded like Sam.

Danny blinked in surprise, glancing around in confusion.

"Hey, Danny. Uh, something wrong?" Sam asked.

"Oh, uh…." The sixteen-year-old in question blinked slowly, before refocusing on his two companions. "Yeah, but there's something weird going on."

"You sounded kinda urgent on the phone, dude," Tucker added.

"What's up?" Sam queried with a hint of concern.

"I'm not entirely sure," Danny sighed. He took a seat on the bench, while Sam and Tucker each took separate sides to sit beside him. "I keep hearing… voices. Am I going crazy?"

"Totally."

Sam glared at Tucker, slapping the backside of his head. He yelped, instantly raising a hand to try and soothe the spot.

"What kind of voices?" the Goth asked kindly.

"Uh, well… sometimes they sound like people I know," Danny shrugged. "But here's the weird thing. Last night, I heard a voice that sounded like Dad. It said 'where's the fudge.' Next thing I know, Dad's asking Mom where she put the fudge."

Sam frowned, lost in thought. Tucker abruptly sat up, look excited. "Dude, can you see into the future?!"

Danny shrugged. "I'm not sure."

"What if you can hear thoughts?" Sam wondered aloud.

The halfa paused, pondering over the thought. It did make sense, actually. The voices, sounding like people he knew, and the aftermath of the voices.

"I think you're right!" Danny gasped. "That's AWESOME!"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Tucker spoke up. "Can you read my mind? What am I thinking right now?"

Danny frowned, but didn't hear anything besides his friends' breathing and the ruffling of leaves in the breeze.

He tried focusing on Tucker, straining his ears to hear the techno-geek's thoughts. Finally, he heard 'This is so cool! Man, what if he can tell me what girls think of me?! So I can actually get a date!'

"Uh, you're saying—thinking—about how cool it is and if I can get you a date by telling you why girls don't like you."

Sam blinked, staring at Tucker expectantly. Said boy just gaped at Danny, before breaking into a wide grin.

"That's actually what I was thinking!" Tucker exclaimed in shock. "Man, this is awesome!"

"Wait a second," Sam intervened. "Does that mean you can hear my thoughts too?"

"I'm not sure. I had to really focus to hear Tucker's. But it comes and goes," the halfa explained.

'That is so embarrassing. What if he finds out that I—wait a second, can he hear me right now?'

Danny blinked in surprise. "Find out that you what?" he asked.

"So you CAN hear my thoughts!" Sam gasped at him. "Ok, remind me to never think ANYTHING around you."

"Hey! It's not like it's my fault!" Danny pouted.

Tucker snickered. "Lovebirds."

"WE'RE NOT LOVEBIRDS!"

'Who am I kidding, I AM a lovebird!' Sam's thought invaded Danny's mind.

"Wait, you are?"

"SHIT."

XXX

Danny found himself walking nervously into Casper High, worrying over his new power. Sam and Tucker ambled beside him, staring at him expectantly. All of yesterday was filled with them trying to control Danny's new ability, while Sam would try to keep her mind off of a seemingly embarrassing topic. What it was, Danny had no clue.

"Anything happening yet?" Tucker asked. Instantly, several voices rang through his head.

'UGH! He tried to cheat on her?!'

'O-M-G! The Ghost Boy was out the other day!'

'Dude, I wonder if Tiffany got my note yet.'

'Wow, Sam is actually getting hot.'

Danny growled angrily, glaring at wherever the voice in his head had come from. He was horrified to see the thought had come from none other than Dash.

"Fuck off, Dash!" Danny snarled, unaware that Dash hadn't even said anything.

Sam and Tucker stared in shock at their friend, while Dash blinked at Danny in confusion, and then anger.

"Hey, watch who you're talking to, Fen-toenail!" Dash growled, leaning over Danny's slightly-shorter form.

"Uh, Danny… he didn't say anything," Sam whispered to the mind reader.

Danny inhaled sharply, redirecting his gaze to Sam. "He, uh, he didn't?" Both Tucker and Sam shook their heads. "Oh. Oops."

XXX

After escaping Dash, Danny found himself in the cafeteria with his two friends. The first few class periods had already passed in a slow trudge, which was extremely frustrating for Danny. It was still entertaining to hear a couple people's thoughts, though.

'Ugh, hopefully Danny can't hear my thoughts while he can't see me,' Danny heard Sam's voice in his head. 'I can't keep holding back all my stupid thoughts about him. Dammit, why does he have to be so perfect… and amazing… and handsome, and nice, and funny—'

Danny froze, going rigid. Did Sam like him? He liked—no, he loved her, a lot. He just never actually confessed for two primary reasons. The first being that she possibly didn't return the feelings, while the second was how he didn't want to destroy their friendship.

Danny abruptly heard someone drop a tray in front of him. He snapped back into reality, both shy and embarrassed to see Sam was sitting across from him at their lunch table.

"Hey, Danny."

'Shit, did he hear me?'

"What? Pfft, no, of course I didn't!" Danny blurted out before he could stop himself. Dammit! It was getting difficult to tell the difference between real voices, and thoughts.

Sam groaned, quickly hiding her face in her hands. "Danny, I'm sor—"

"What? Sam, no. It's okay, because—"

'There's that freaky lunch lady again. Ew, she gave me that gross jelly!'

'Wow, Dash is soooo hot.'

'Dang it! I think I forgot my English homework!'

'Gross! One of those losers looked at me!'

'Hah! I should—'

Danny grunted in annoyance, resting a hand on his forehead. He was beginning to get a headache from all the voices entering his mind.

"Danny are you okay?" Sam asked.

It took him a moment to realize she was talking to him. He stared blankly at her for a second, but then realized her mouth had moved. He quickly composed himself to reply.

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm fine…."

He then picked up his soda, downing a couple sips.

'Oh my gosh! I wonder how big the Ghost Boy is without his clothes—'

And with that, Danny coughed and spewed his soda all over the table. This was going to be a long day.

XXX

A/N: HAH. I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. XD

I'm not entirely sure if this is just a one-shot, or if I'll add more. Feel free to ask for more!