A/N: I've got more inspiration now, and I want to write while I still have it. For those of you waiting for I'm Surrounded By Vampires, I WAS working on it, but then someone flamed all three chapters, you can't see their reviews cause I deleted them, I've had enough blows to my already low writer self-esteem about that story than to read those things over again, and now I've lost all motivation for it. Sorry, but that's how it works. If my muses would help me, however, I'm sure I could overcome this writer depression but . . .

BlueMouse: I can has a cookie?

Kara: We need to help around the house!! We shouldn't be writing now!!

Chibi: I WANNA WRITE THIS STORY!! Now help me!!!!

BlueMouse: Cookie?

Chibi: (sigh) I own nothing . . .

Chapter 21: Secretive Dilemmas and Boxes

Danny woke up the next morning to a chill going up his body and then coming out of his mouth in a slight mist. He gasped as his eyes opened, and he knew that something was wrong. That's when the only box in the room started to float with a bluish-green glow around it. Danny's eyes widened and he leaned down and shook Tucker from where he was sleeping in the sleeping bag on the floor.

The techno-geek shot up, still half asleep. "Wazza?" he asked sleepily before he saw the floating box.

Danny frowned and instinctively changed into his ghost form, preparing for a fight when the box opened and out flew . . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . . a ghost in overalls who didn't look particularly frightening.

"I AM THE BOX GHOST!!" he said, waving his hands over his head. "FEAR ME!!"

The two boys fell back, laughing uproariously, Danny changing back to normal. "Whooo!!" Tucker said, waving his hands over his head as he mockingly imitated the ghost. "Fear me!!" he said and then burst into a new wave of laughter.

Danny joined in. "Beware my fearsome box!" he said, also waving his hands over his head.

The box ghost seemed to deflate a little but quickly puffed himself up as he made the box float. "You will not be laughing for long! For I am the BOX GHOST!! I have the power of anything that is of cubical containment! BEWARE!!" he said as he opened the box and made the contents fly towards the two boys.

The boys blinked as dusty sheets flew from the box and covered them. They only laughed harder, but that soon stopped as the blankets started getting tighter. "NOW YOU SEE!! FEAR MY CONTROL OF THE CONTENTS OF THE MAJESTIC CUBED CONTAINER!!" he yelled. Danny and Tucker struggled against the suffocating grip of the possessed sheets, looking a bit like ghosts themselves. And that happened to be when Danny's parents burst in, having been woken up by the boy's laughter and then hearing the commotion.

"EAT ECTOPLASM GHOST!!" Jack Fenton shouted, aiming at the Box Ghost, who, instead of fleeing, turned towards the noise and got hit square in the chest by the ecto-blast from the ghost-hunting gun. The Box Ghost shot backwards and fazed through the wall and as he retreated, the sheets lost their ghostly aura and Danny and Tucker burst out of them, panting. Danny was glad that, though it would have been easier to change into his ghost form, he didn't so his parents didn't find out. He did NOT want to be dissected in the many ways they had ranted they would do to a ghost if they ever caught one . . .

Maddie Fenton went over and hugged her son. "Are you alright Danny?" she asked worriedly. "That evil ghost didn't hurt you did it?" she asked as she pulled back, looking him over.

Danny shook his head. "I'm fine Mom . . ." he muttered, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Before Maddie could continue to coddle her son, the doorbell rang. "Oh! That must be Sam!" she said and then left the room, her husband following her, to go answer the bell.

Danny sighed. "Time for school . . ." he muttered, not actually that excited as he went into his closet, pulling out an outfit for the day while Tucker grabbed some clothes from his suitcase and headed into the bathroom to change.

000

As Danny tromped down the stairs, he was rather pissed that he had been . . . well . . . almost helpless against the box ghost. At the bottom of the stairs, Sam was waiting for him, smiling a little as she almost sensed the dark aura surrounding him. "You seem a bit angry this morning." she said cheerfully.

Danny glared at her, which only caused her to smile a bit wider. "That's great! Now! Let it out! Let all your frustrations find an outlet! It's actually healthier for you, you know." she said, grinning a bit.

Danny sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "You're starting to sound like my sister." he muttered, earning an indignant "Hey!" from Jazz who was sitting at the table, having a bowl of cereal.

"Sorry Jazz." Danny said, smiling sheepishly at his sister who sighed and shook her head.

Sam just got an evil, catlike grin as she thought on the situation. "Or . . . you could just hold it in and let build up inside of you until it explodes in a rain of violence and misplaced aggression!" she said, seeming rather excited about the prospect.

Danny blinked. "I'm not so sure exploding would be a very good idea. . . ." he muttered, feeling a little confused.

Sam sighed and did a face-palm before smiling a little. "You really are a clueless wonder . . ." she said, shaking her head with a small laugh.

Danny just continued to blink, not understanding what it was that he had missed.

000

Tucker, Sam, and Danny walked down the street, making the six block walk to school together. The techno geek was giving a detailed account of the Box Ghost that had attacked them that morning, leaving out, of course, Danny's ghostliness. He wanted to tell Sam how Danny was Phantom, but it wasn't his secret to tell . . . and besides, his friend already had some major trust issues as it was.

"And then his parent's burst in and the ghost ran away." he finished rather anti-climatically.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Jeeze Danny. No wonder you were in such a foul mood this morning." she said with a bit of a smile. Even though she was upset at the ghost for attacking her friends, she really was fascinated by them. They were creatures of death's domain and as a goth, she had to respect that as cool.

Danny shrugged, looking a bit nervous and sheepish. "Well . . . it's not like I had any ghostly powers to fight it off or anything . . . heh . . ." he muttered quickly, finishing with a nervous chuckle.

Once again, Sam knew that Danny wasn't telling her something but she, conveniently for Danny, was as of yet, unable to figure out what it was.

000

Exciting as the first day of school was at first, Tucker and Danny soon found themselves the subjects of torment at the hands of one Dash Baxter and Mr. Lancer. The teacher droned on and on and on and Danny had actually found that he had fallen asleep in his seat after having been rudely awoken by a spitball to the face delivered by the aforementioned bully and then nearly falling back to sleep by the following lecture from his teacher on falling asleep in class.

Now, it was lunchtime and Danny was in a bad mood again, sitting at the outside tables, but this time Tucker joined him in his gloom even as he pigged out on a plate full of food that would make a lion drool.

Sam joined their table, her lunch consisting only of a salad and water. Tucker made a face at her choice even as she showed disgust at his carnivorous choice of consumption.

"So . . . you two enjoying your first day at Casper High?" she asked with a bit of a grin, asking the question knowing she'd receive responses that were the exact opposite of enjoyment.

Danny groaned. "After the Guys in White, you'd think I'd be able to handle a bully and an overweight teacher . . ." he muttered, picking at his greasy pizza.

Suddenly, they heard a very girlish scream as Dash Baxter ran out of the school, pursued by boxes and their Styrofoam contents. As Tucker laughed at the humiliation of the bully and Sam punched him for laughing at someone in danger and telling him they should be finding a way to help him, Danny slinked off to the gym. However, this was not unnoticed by Sam and her eyes watched him suspiciously as he entered the building.

To Be Continued . . .

A/N: Whew. Took me forever to get past the writer's block that flames give me. Anyways, next chapter will have my attempt on a fight scene . . . and quite possibly something happening between Sam and Danny. I'm trying to make Sam a little less violent. Please tell me how I'm doing and reviews are always a feeder to my inspiration. (smiles) Thanks to my friends who wouldn't stop bugging me about this chapter. It would have been longer, but I didn't want to leave my readers waiting any longer.