From the moment I walked into Casper High, I knew what things would be like. All of the teachers knew and loved Jazz. She was always their favorite. Everyone else knew who she was. Imagine their surprise when they see me trailing behind her when we walk through the doors.

"I didn't know you had a brother, Jazz."

"Yeah, this is Danny."

A meek smile, a little wave, and then I fell back into my stupor. Until I saw that Sam and Tuck and I were going to be in most of the same classes, I was scared. Yes, scared. Before Danny Phantom, this was all I had. The students treated me like some pompous brainiac, because that's what Jazz was. The faculty tried not to care, but I could tell that they had higher hopes for me than for my friends, because of my sister's report card. Mr. Lancer was by far the worst, though.

"Fenton, Danny."

"Here."

"I expect good things from you, Mr. Fenton." I scraped by, in his eyes. I usually got between a B or a C on everything I did, but I could see it. Disappointment. Lancer was hoping for another Jazz. I couldn't be her, no matter how hard I tried; and believe me, I tried. For about a week, I blew off my friends and tried my very hardest to study, to bring myself up to Mr. Lancer's standards. But it wasn't enough. It was never enough. When I started hanging out with Sam and Tuck again, they were pretty mad at me. Well, at least Tucker was. Sam refused to speak to me; it took weeks for her to forgive me.

By this point, life had settled into a routine. Go to school, get beat up by Dash, gaze longingly at Paulina from afar, go back to my place for a while. Every day was the same, and everyday, I was stuck in my sister's shadow, her footsteps. It's depressing, knowing that everyone judges you based on your sister. It's even worse when you can't meet their expectations.

Then, it happened. About a month after school started, Sam and Tucker convinced me to go inside the Ghost Portal. I did something to make it work, and here I am now, a human-ghost hybrid. The first month after that was the hardest. I kept finding myself pant-less because I kept accidentally turning my legs intangible. I couldn't hold a spoon for a while, because it would fall through my hand. At home, I would look in the mirror and see nothing there. I thought I was more of a loser than before, because I couldn't be normal. That, plus all the beakers I dropped, really solidified my place at the bottom of the social ladder with Sam and Tucker, though they deserve better.

But then, I finally got the hang of my powers. It was like being released from a cage, now that I think about it. With all the ghost attacks, and me being the only one to stop them, my priorities changed. My grades got worse, and I found myself tardy and in detention a lot, but it was worth it. I got better at using the powers I had, and even gained some new ones. Ecto-blasts, ecto-shields, cryokinesis, even my Ghostly Wail. I learned to be afraid for other people, to keep them from getting hurt. I learned to forgive. Even when Valerie showed up as the Red Huntress, I never once had a grudge.

Looking back, I can see what happened to me, clear as day. I still walk in my sister's shadow everyday at school, sometimes to the point where it threatens to swallow me whole. But, with just a thought (and usually the prompting of my ghost sense), and I can leave her shadow behind. I can fly from it, like a bird from a cage. I can fly above her shadow as long as I like, and enjoy the view.

I don't blame her for what I went through the first few months of school. It wasn't her fault, and it's kind of humbling. Until you walk in someone else's shadow, you can't appreciate what it is to be free.