Chapter 2

Sam slammed the book shut and looked at Danny and Tucker. She wasn't sure if she should share this with them. She certainly didn't think she should be reading it. Danny and Tucker were still looking at her from down the hall. They were concerned that maybe she hit her head on the locker as they hurled her into the lockers.

"I'm fine," Sam assured them rather absently as she looked down at the book. "I-I just need to rest a minute." She stood and moved out of the way. Danny and Tucker watched her for a second then went back to sliding down the hall.

Sam bit her lip in indecision then took a deep breath and reopened the journal. She knew she shouldn't be reading someone's private thoughts, but for several reasons she was intrigued beyond her own control The first reason being that it was surprising that someone like Dash kept a journal, let alone wrote. The second being what was written inside. Sam shot a quick look at Danny and Tucker. They were too busy to pay her much notice, so she slid down to the floor and reopened the journal.

Dear Mr. Journal Sir,

She kissed me. I don't know why she did it, but she did. At the Ember concert. She kissed me. I pretended that I was grossed out, but…I still can't believe she kissed me. Sam Manson the Goth Geek girl! And I think I love her…

Sam slammed the journal closed and took a deep breath. She was feeling a little queasy. She closed her eyes then steeled herself to read more.

She's such a geek, but look how cute she is in those little ugly boots she wears! And her hair. It's just not right! But every time I see her I want to talk to her. I want to worship at her feet. I should be in love with Paulina. Paulina is beautiful. She has money, connections, popularity…everything, but she's nothing compared to the flower that is my dear little Samantha Manson!

Sam shuddered then looked up toward Danny and Tucker. They were standing at the end of the hall, watching her.

"Are you all right Sam?" Tucker asked. "You look kinda…green."

"I'm fine!" Sam yelled then caught herself and said softly. "Just need some air."

"If you're gonna puke," Danny called, "There's a trash can around the corner behind you."

"Uhhh thanks for the info," Sam said. She watched them for a moment then looked back down at the journal. She wasn't sure she wanted to read more, but it was morbid curiosity that made her reopen the journal.

Dear Mr. Journal Sir,

I slammed Danny's head into his locker today…again. I wish I could keep smashing his face in over and over and over and over over and over over. Sam made one of those cute angry faces at me.

Sam looked up at Danny and Tucker. Dash sure was a violent guy. She wished he'd direct his violent nature at someone other than Danny. She looked down at the journal, the next passage caused her to raise her eyebrows.

Sam loves Danny. I hate him! Could Sam ever love me? Why not? I'm rich and popular. I've got all it takes. But she favors that loser Fenton! Fenton? Why? What does he have that I don't? I want to pound in Danny's face over and over and over and over and over and over again! Maybe if I show her how pathetic Danny is compared to my strength, maybe then she'll notice me.

"Errrrr not likely," Sam said as she shuddered again She was disturbed that Dash was observant enough to know how she felt about Danny. She wondered how many other people had guessed. She turned the page and gasped at the next entry:

Oh Samantha of the amethyst eyes.

When you walk by you cause me to sighs.

You're truly a princess. I want to be your prince.

We can have five children and name them all Vince.

You are so hot,

But your friends are so not.

I could change your life oh Goth Girl of Mine.

Please say that someday you will be my Valentine.

Oh beautiful beautiful, beautiful Sam

Your lips are much softer than that other girl I kissed, named Pam.

Your hair is like velvety chocolate cake

Or some other dessert I don't know how to bake.

So I will kiss Pam and you will kiss that loser who I'd like to kill named Danny.

But still I think you have a nice…

Sam slammed the book shut. She could feel her face burning. In embarrassment or rage she wasn't be able to say. It took a great deal of strength not to hurl the journal across the hall.

It was time to put the book back. It was better not to show Danny and Tucker, they would tease her about this forever and with the sick feeling in her stomach, the thought it better to never let anyone know. She stood to put the book back when something happened….the book floated away.

It took her a moment to realize what had happened and then she yelled, "Danny! Give that back!" The book was floating high enough in the air that she couldn't catch it, and he was obviously reading it. Finally Danny made himself visible again wearing an expression of complete and utter horror. He looked at Sam for a moment. She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.

"What's going on?" Tucker asked as he walked up. Sam went from nauseous green to blood drained face pale. He looked up and saw the book. "What is that Sam's journal?" He shot her a quick side long glance. Unbeknownst to her he'd read it a few times, but it really didn't tell him anything he didn't know. She had a head over heels crush on Danny and was desperately trying to squash it.

Danny looked at Sam a moment. He floated back down to the ground and changed to human form. He looked a little shocked and upset. Tucker wondered if he'd read Sam's journal and…No, he loved Sam too, he wouldn't be upset at anything she'd written. Danny swallowed hard and handed the book to Tucker, who had no qualms about reading another person's journal cover to cover.

Tucker's eyebrows raised as he read the first few lines of the journal. At first he laughed out loud, but then he hit the few pages that Sam didn't read. Disturbing entries. "Whoa," he said. "Dash Baxter is a pig, and he's got it bad for Sam. He really, really hates Danny."

"Well we knew he hated Danny, but now I guess we have a good reason why. He thinks Danny and I are a couple." Sam said as her face turned a little redder. Danny smiled a little. He didn't mind if people thought he and Sam were together. Too bad it upset Sam so much. Danny sighed wistfully and Sam shot him an annoyed look.

"It could be a joke though," Tucker said as he leafed through the journal. I mean I can't imagine that Dash would have a crush on Sam, and even if he did why would he keep a journal and keep it at school?"

Sam walked over to Dash's locker. She liked Tucker's theory about it being a joke on her, but she frowned as she looked at the picture of Paulina taped to the inside of his locker. The contents of the journal were more humiliating to Dash than they were to Sam. She lifted the picture of Paulina and beneath it she found a picture of herself, with a big heart drawn around it and "Dash and Sam Forever" written on the bottom. Her stomach churned again. She could think of few things more disturbing or disgusting, than being the object of Dash Baxter's affections.

"Well," Tucker said. "I guess it's a free country. He can have a crush on anyone he wants, even if it is totally disgusting."

"Are you saying that having a crush on me is disgusting?" Sam asked threateningly as she grabbed the journal from Tucker, threw it in the locker then slammed the door shut with a angry look on her face.

"I meant to say that Dash having a crush on you is disgusting!" Tucker tried to clarify. Sam stood with her hands on her hips and glared.

Tucker gave Danny a pleading look and held up his hands. "I'm not going to help you out of this one!" He said. "I'm amazed that the whole world isn't in love with Sam!" He caught the smirk on Tucker's face then mentally rewound. "Ooo," he thought. "I can't believe I just said that." Sam was standing with her hands still on her hips, so he had time to escape. "I'm um…gotta go! I think I hear ummm the Box Ghost! Yes!" he changed to ghost form and flew off down the hall.

"You know what Tucker," Sam said as she walked toward him, a menacing expression on her face. "Just about now would be a good time to keep your mouth closed." Tucker gave her a wide eyed look and made a zipping motion across his mouth, so she backed off.

They walked down the hall a little way when Tucker finally said, "I'm getting hungry. Let's go find Danny and get some lunch!" Sam said something almost unintelligible about lunch and appetites lost because of Dash. Tucker laughed.

Sam didn't want to leave the school. Not if there was a chance they'd run into Dash. There have been several times in history, that when a girl found out a guy had a crush on her, even if it wasn't a guy she particularly liked, then a little seed of affection formed from the flattery and she fostered a crush on the guy crushing on her. This wasn't the case for Sam. She'd just as soon skin a rabbit alive with her bare hands, cook it, eat it, and wear it's skin as a hat, than foster any type of tender feeling for the odious Dash Baxter. She didn't hate Dash, but she did find him pretty repulsive.

They had just reached the door of the school when Danny reappeared beside them. "No ghosts," he said as he took Sam and Tucker by the shoulders and phased them through the door.

"I hope Dash isn't around," Sam said as she looked about warily.

"Afraid the sight of him will make your heart go pitty pat?" Tucker teased.

"No," Sam replied. "I'm afraid that the site of him will make me hurl."

The three friends walked away from the school. No bus ghost. No box ghost. No ghost at all appeared. They walked into the Nasty Burger and found Dash waiting for them.

"Eww Geeks!" Dash said to his friend as he pointed. The friends around him laughed. Danny stepped in front of Sam to shield her from Dash's gaze. Sam was exceedingly grateful. Though, she conceded, it was better to face him here and now than at school with everyone watching.

Nothing more happened. Much to Sam's relief. She sat down at their table as Tucker and Danny went to get the food. She was adjusting her coat behind her when a large, football player shaped shadow fell over the table. Sam swallowed hard and looked up into the evil blue eyes of one Dash Baxter.

"If you want to get away from the geeks," he said. "You can come join us cool kids at the cool kids table." He smirked a little.

"I am at the cool kids table," Sam said then smiled at the look of confusion that washed across Dash's face.

"What ever!" he said then turned and came face to face with Danny.

"Get out of my way Fenton!" he said as he pushed Danny out of the way and left. Danny said something under his breath.

"Leave it alone Danny," Sam ordered. "We have nothing to fear from Dash."

"Yeah only I do," Danny said. "It's me he'd like to get out of the way so he can get to you." He looked at Sam for a moment then they both started laughing.

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The rest of the day was blessedly Dash free. Sam was able to relax as they sledded down hills and skidded across frozen ponds. Tucker and Danny knew better than to tease her too much about Dash, so they left the subject alone, for now.

By the time the sun began to set, the three friends were exhausted and the walk home was slow, leaving them wishing for the ghostly bus. Danny said he was too tired to go ghost so they clomped slowly down the sidewalk. They had just turned a corner when Danny was bombarded with a flurry of snowballs. Again, Dash was standing there with his friends, laughing.

Dash grabbed on to Danny and was about to throw him in the snow when Sam screamed, "Stop it right now Dash!" The big jock hesitated for a moment as he looked at Sam striding toward him like a thundercloud.

He smirked as he hoisted Danny higher in the air. "How are you going to stop me?" He asked. Sam smiled evily.

"I'll tell Pam all about us." She said wickedly.

"P-P-Pam?" Dash stuttered. "How do you know about Pam? What did she tell you? What did you tell her?" Sam grabbed hold of Danny's arms and forced Dash to put him down.

"Stop beating up us!" She said. "Or I'll tell all your friends about your buddy Mr. Fluffy Lumpkins." She was glad she read into his journal far enough to know about Mr. Fluffy Lumpkins, Dash's teddy bear. Dash paled and stepped back a few paces. He looked at Sam a moment then turned and ran. His friends disappeared with him.

"Wow!" Tucker said. "You like, totally have power over Dash!"

Sam smiled proudly. "Yeah I do! Life is going to be fun!"

"Um Sam" Danny asked. She turned to look at him quizzically. "Special powers are a responsibility Sam," he said. "You shouldn't abuse them."

Sam's eager expression fell. "You're right," She said.

"Aww man!" Tucker cried. "Why did you have to say anything Danny?"

Danny shrugged. "I just feel bad for Dash is all," he said sadly as he walked. "Just imagine what it's like to have a crush on someone, and there is no hope of them ever returning your feelings."

Sam's frown deepened as she contemplated what Danny was saying. "Yeah," she said softly and sighed. She waited until she didn't think anyone could hear and said. "It totally sucks."

Tucker looked at his two friends and smiled. "Love birds," he thought to himself and then silently thanked Dash and his crush on Sam for bringing his two friends that much closer. He just wondered what it would take to get them to finally admit they liked each other. He watched them brush hands as they walked and smiled. Someday…and when that day came, someone would owe him lots of money.

THE END

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Ha no one guessed that Dash could possibly be harboring feelings for Sam eh? Hmmmm See no resolutions just realizations. I hope you liked my little fuzzy sorta fluffy non-story. I wanted to write something that you could conceivably see on the cartoon. Though there wasn't enough action I suppose. And well face it, you're going to be subjected to things like this until little stories stop growing in my head….and they may never stop growing, I have a fertile imagination. Thanks for reading. I hope you didn't hate it too much.