Edited: 9/25/2016
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Daniel Fenton pushed his square framed glasses back up his nose on his way to the library of Casper High. He pushed open the doors and looked around, sighing in relief at the sign of no bullies. He waved to Mrs. Chap, the librarian, as he mulled over the Astronomy books in the reference section.
"How can I help you, Mr. Fenton?" Daniel looked up and smiled, clearing his throat. "I have a project in Astronomy….just looking over the books to use." Mrs. Chap smiled at the shy boy, and clapped her hands. "If you need to check any of those out you can. I trust you to take care of them."
"Thank you, Mrs. Chap." He smiled, and pushed his glasses back up his nose again. He continued browsing the books, stopping on a book called Constellations and Their Meanings. He pulled it out, brushing the dust off of the book, the musty smell filling his nostrils. His nose crinkled and he flipped through the pages, not loving the old book smell.
He waved to Mrs. Chap, who checked out the book and he exited the library, and left school.
Daniel James Fenton was something of a genius. He could do the quadratic formula in his head in thirty seconds (tops), could tell you what Shakespearean novel it could be just from the setting, and could tell you all about the constellations and what they mean. Shadowed only by his sister, Jasmine Fenton, Daniel came from a family of geniuses.
Madeline Fenton graduated with a Ph.D in Philosophy and Paranormal Science. Jack Fenton graduated with a Ph.D in Physics and Paranormal science. They were sometimes called a match made in heaven, their love of everything ghostly bringing their love together.
Their oldest child, Jasmine Fenton, had a knack for psychology. Many students of Casper High came to her for advice instead of counselors. She was a shoo in for Harvard, not even worried about her high school ACT score, which she blew out of the water and was a valedictorian at her class graduation.
The family's love of knowledge made them close, but also made people wary of them. Jasmine and Daniel did not have friends outside of each other, though Jasmine did have more acquaintances than her little brother.
Daniel had an extreme form of social anxiety that paired with his genius. He was bullied at school (though his family were in the dark about that) and nobody paid him any attention.
Which is why he was very surprised when a girl (Caspers independent goth girl) stopped him in the hallway. "Hey, Daniel right?" She called out. He turned sharply, and a blush spread over his face. "Wait up, I gotta talk to you." She said, her steps rushed forward towards him. Every fiber of his being told him to run away, but he didn't. He planted himself with only the slightest trace of fear in his eyes.
"Don't be scared of me, okay? I just need your help on the Astronomy project." She said, her arms crossed over his midsection.
Daniel sighed and urged her to go on, not having the social strength to tell her with words. "...You left for the library before Dash complained about doing it by himself. Mrs. Parsons decided to let it be a, um, partner project." She said.
Daniel paled. That didn't mean anything to him, he usually did projects alone anyway. He pushed his glasses on his face again, and sighed. "O-o-okay. W-what did you need then?" He willed his lips to move.
"I offered to take you into me and Tuck's group if that's okay. We didn't want you to have to be alone." She whispered. "I know that you have anxiety about this stuff, I was just wondering if you were okay with that."
Daniel didn't know what to say, so he didn't. He nodded his head. "O-oh. Th-Thank you."
"My name is Sam. Sam Manson. Tucker Foley is the other in our group." She, Sam, told him.
Daniel tried to smile, a small smile carefully place on his lips. "J-just tell me whenever y-you want to meet up for the p-project." He told her, turning around and walking away.
"No problem, Daniel." She called back, her footsteps going the opposite directions.
Daniel James Fenton had no friends.
Why did he get the feeling that that wouldn't be the case for long?
/
Daniel opened the door to his house early, his teachers just allowing him to skip class for he had the highest marks in class. His mother was in the kitchen, tinkering with a device. "Hey Dannyboy! How was school."
"Fine…." He sighed in relief, happy to have someone he was comfortable with talking to, his stutter disappearing. He shrugged out of his backpack.
"Classes are still too easy for me. Project in Astronomy…." Danny paused, taking a deep breath, just the thought of Sam and Tucker made him feel anxious.
"I have to be in a group." He told her. His mother looked up in concern. "You going to be okay?" She asked. He nodded. "The girl who approached me in the hallway told me she knows that I have bad anxiety about stuff, makes me think Mrs. Parson let it slip when she announced groups." I rolled my eyes.
His mom looked up at him again. "I'm very proud of you, Danny." She smiled, patting his hand with her own. "Get to your homework." She winked. Danny rolled his eyes.
"Okay, mom." He said, picking up his bag and heading down to the lab to visit with his father.
"Hey Danny!" Jack called to his son, who made his way carefully down the stairs. "Hey dad." Danny waved, setting up at his desk.
"Your sister never comes home early from school anymore." Jack pointed out quietly. Danny looked up, his pencil still going in his hand.
"She has a project she's working on with Jess." Danny told him, and Jack nodded.
"How was school today, D?" Jack finally asked. "The usual." Danny stated simply, focusing on his physics homework.
Suddenly, the alarm started blaring in the lab. Jack turned sharply to look at the portal, the green depths seeming to jump out. "Daniel, get your mother." He said darkly. Danny jumped up and rushed up the stairs to grab his mother.
Daniel slowly turned towards the lab, hearing the sounds of his parents fighting the ghost. He told himself not to get involved. 'Danny you aren't needed.'
He heard a gasp and a thud, His mind racing. His mother came up the stairs, looking irate and concerned. "The ghost got loose in the town." His mother said guilty. Danny nodded. "Want me…?" He asked, but she just glared.
"Daniel, don't. Your father and I will find a cure to your condition. Don't give in to the cold temptation it brings." She told me with a glare, but stalked off to her room to grab her teal jumpsuit.
Danny sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. His father came up seconds later to join her, already donned in his jumpsuit.
"Stay put, Daniel." He told me, the cold, angry look also in his eyes. Daniel looked down at his shoes, not able to look his parents in the eyes. The front door shut and Daniel finally looked up, his face full of sorrow and confusion.
Daniel James Fenton had no friends. He was not normal.
/
He was part ghost.
It had been a bad lab accident, his parents told him. Daniel used to help out with the ghost projects, his mind sharp for anything science or math. Jasmine would sit on the sidelines for input, but Daniel usually ran the show. It had been a construction error, he had told his parents. The on switch had been put on the inside. When going into the portal to see if he could indeed fix it, he tripped and turned it on.
He came out only half human. His parents called him an abomination that first year, his mind thick with verbal abuse from his parents. Not the best fifteenth birthday, since his parents gave him something to limit his faulty powers. He grew smarter, and taller. His eyesight was still poor, but that was fine.
He never went ghost like he used to when he was fourteen. His parents didn't even know what his ghost half looked like. They had seen nothing, because they suppressed the memory. They didn't want to see their son become something they hated.
He kept the cold away, but could feel his powers grow as he aged. He grew taller, but his confidence remained small because of his parents.
Danny thought about this as he wrote his English essay. What it would be like if he had been accepted. His ghost half could do great things. Save people.
Danny remembered he always felt confident in the air. He hadn't gone flying in two years. He kept the urges down, but always wanted to soar again. He sighed, typing fingers pausing as he remembered the cool wind blowing back his white bangs that late September day, the last flight he took.
He swiveled around in his desk chair, gazing longingly at the sky, when the door to his room burst open and his mother was standing, covered in ectoplasm. "Dinner is ready if your homework is complete." She told him, looking him up and down. Her eyes lost the motherly warmth each time his ghost was brought up. It angered him to no end. It wasn't his fault he was this way.
He sighed and hopped from the chair, eyes going back to the sky, feeling constricted and trapped.
"Danny…..we will fix you." She whispered, looking him in the eyes. Her eyes were the hardest part, Danny decided.
"And if you can't?" Daniel asked. "It's not probable you will find a cure since we don't know exactly what cause this mutation." He said, "And it is also probable that, since I've lived three years with it attached to me, I would be killed at any attempt to remove it." He said, his voice analytical and cold as he told her the facts.
His mother sighed. "Then I don't know what we'll do, Daniel."
He was always Daniel in these moments. Never Danny.
Danny nodded, and walked past her, not letting her grab at him with apologetic hands. He knew his place in the family by now.
Jazz sat at the dinner table with their father, talking about some early college psychology program being offered at CHS.
"Danny! Did you finish your homework?" He asked. Jack was the more forgiving of the two parents. He nodded and sat down next to his sister, who grabbed his hand and squeezed. His sister knew how much it actually bothered him that they didn't accept something that had been apart of him for three years. Blindedly searching for a cure that could kill him.
They ate dinner in silence. Those silent dinners were not fun to Danny. His parents only making conversation with Jazz about school somewhat of the time to make it not seem awkward. When Danny finished his plate, he looked to his mother for confirmation that he could leave. "You are excused." She said, her eyes downcast at her own untouched potatoes. He got up sharply and went to leave, not looking back at his family that could never truly accept him.
He went up his steps and quietly closed the door to his room, where he spent most of his time alone, honing his abilities in his human form. He sat back down at his computer, where a notification popped up that he had an email. Puzzled, he click on the link. Nobody ever emailed him.
To: dfenton fentworks
From: smanson casperhigh
Daniel,
Hey! Sorry to intrude on your emails, but I need to know if you are okay with meeting up in the library before first period to discuss the project. Tucker can only meet in the mornings because of Tech Club after school, so its the best I could do!
Thanks!
Sam.
Daniel's eyes flicked through the screen, catching on the name and the email. Sam Manson.
Something about her intrigued him. She was the first to openly talk to him, albeit in an empty hallway. He click the reply tab, and was about to type out a reply, when small knocks tapped on his door.
He turned towards the offending piece of wood, and muttered, "Come in."
His sister walked carefully through the door, shutting it softly. "Hey, little brother." She whispered, not wanting our parents to hear this conversation. I sighed and looked at her, not wanting to show any emotion.
"What did they do this time?" She asked. Jazz always knew when something was wrong with the family. Danny smiled bitterly at the thought that Jazz would make an excellent Psychiatrist.
"Usual. I was an idiot and forgot that if I offer to help with anything, powers or no powers, Mom gets cold and analytical. She can't even look at me without seeing a monster Jazz, how am I supposed get through you leaving for Harvard next month?" He asked her, eyes showing sadness beneath the frames.
She frowned. "I just wish that they would accept you. It's not healthy for you to keep all this in." She told him.
"You think I don't wish for either of those things? Do you know how badly I just want to leave? To take to the skies and never come back?" He asked her, eyes filling up with tears. "They would just hunt me down and force me to be their perfect genius son again, find a cure for my powers, and kill me in the process of having them removed. They would talk about how it was for science, and they'd get away with my murder Jazz. I can't do this anymore!" He wheezed, chest tightening in the beginnings of a panic attack.
Daniel collapsed on the floor, unaware that he had even gotten up from his seat, and curled his legs inward. He heard his sister's voice in the background, telling him he needed to breath. He would pass out at this rate, from hyperventilating. His parents would take him for more medication that would just make his world blurry and his brain dumb. He took a deep breath, trying to stop the mild panic attack from escalating.
"There you go, calm down….how long have you been holding that in?" She asked him. He laughed bitterly, tears still falling down his pale cheeks. "Three years."
To: smanson casperhigh
From: dfenton fentworks
Sam,
That works for me. I get to school early anyway.
Daniel
Danny clicked send after his short reply, still not knowing what to say even if they weren't in person. Jazz had finally left him alone after he calmed down. He sighed, his eyes feeling irritated and red. He hated crying.
His glasses laid abandoned on the desk next to his Physics book as he got up to go to his bathroom. The freedom of having his own shower was something he never took for granted. He locked his bedroom door and walked swiftly to his shower, turning it on and letting it heat up. Hoping he had it at the right setting to be lukewarm, he stripped out of his sweater, khakis, and socks, leaving him in his boxers in front of the mirror.
He wasn't bad looking. He was skinny, but not lanky. He had a lithe, graceful appearance that he hid under clothes just a bit too big.
He ditched the boxers and stepped under the spray, wincing when the water was still a bit too hot. Hot showers had bothered him since the accident, making him believe his ice core applied to his human half as well.
He sighed and scrubbed himself clean, feeling tired and drained from the day. He can't do this anymore, he told himself again, staring at the water running down the drain. Suds left his body and he turned up the heat on the water, letting himself be more than uncomfortable.
He didn't deserve this, he thought.
Daniel James Fenton was a freak. He had no friends, and his family didn't accept him.
But goddamnit, he didn't deserve it.
/
I do not have an explanation on why I have no posted in so long. Probably because I've been in and out of the fandom for a couple months.
I rewatched the show recently and found I'll never truly let it go, even if I am a senior in high school now ;p
Please review and tell me if you would like me to continue!