So this is just a little (Well actually it's not that little. It's kind of long.) one-shot, that I figured I'd write. It's based on The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen. I'd really recommend it to anybody. It's honestly a great book, and I've read it at least three times. It's that good.

Anyways, please enjoy!

Also, I don't own The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen, or her idea about The Truth Game. And I don't own Danny Phantom. I just 'own' the plot.

The Truth Game

Today was great —no ghosts had nagged me all day, my usually stubborn hair looked fantastic, and I wasn't at school on a school day.

Instead, the entire junior class was lugged on an hour and half long trip on a less than comfortable bus to the Milton Art museum, all thanks to Mr. Lancer. Apparently, today the museum was allowing students get in free, so after much persuasion, Lancer convinced the school board to take us here.

Sure, going to a museum wasn't something to get excited about, but it was my first field trip since sixth grade. I was willing to make compromises. And it was way better than drawing ghosts in my notebook and listening to my teachers drone on about useless subjects.

At last the bus arrived at the museum, the screech of the rusty wheels against the coarse pavement notifying the Casper High students that their journey was over. While I groaned in relief and stretched out my stiff muscles, Paulina and Star whipped out their mirrors and lip gloss for one last pampering.

"Finally." Paulina sighed from the seat next to me, while her perfectly manicured fingers placed her mirror back in her designer purse. "Let's just go in and then get out of this dumb museum."

"Totally." Star responded immediately, like a robot trained to agree with Paulina's every vain statement she said.

Paulina was refrained from saying anything else once Mr. Lancer stood up from his seat in the front of the bus and began instructing us the rules for our behavior.

"…and be sure to listen to our guide, because there will be a quiz when we get back—now don't start complaining, you all know this is the only way to get any of you to listen. Once you get off the bus I would like everybody to stay with the group."

After Lancer's speech, all the students grudgingly trudged off the ancient bus in a state of boredom. As a pack, with Lancer and the other three chaperones leading the way, we all followed, our aimless chatter filling the air around us with a subdued buzz while we entered the large brick building.

Eventually we acquired our tour guide, who motioned to the statues and paintings in excitement. Instead of listening, I allowed my mind to wander away from the bland architecture and to just relax in a state of oblivion. Even though we were going to have a quiz once we got back to school, I didn't have to worry about that, since my father had taken me here a couple years ago. I still remembered all of the details that I absorbed way back when. I sighed, content in knowing that I was free to bask in my freedom, away from the stresses of the clustered school hallways and the intensely bland atmosphere of the classroom.

Abruptly, my daydreaming was ruined when I heard a terrified shriek and felt the familiar drop of temperature that usually accompanied it.

"A ghost? This far out of Amity?" I mumbled to myself, mentally cursing a few harsh words I had learned during my years.

I quickly snuck out of sight of my classmates and ran out of the museum, my blood rushing throughout my body in frustration. For good measure, I concealed myself behind a large bush, and became the Red Huntress. Reflexively, I immediately jumped on my hover board and started to carefully scan the barren landscape for the ghost, but I was still fuming. My rare and cherished moment of peace was ruined by a filthy ghost. At least since I was so far out of town, that no-for-good ghost Danny Phantom wouldn't be here.

"What are you doing out here? Don't you have to make out with your girlfriend?" I heard a way too familiar voice yell.

Crud. There went my perfect day.

I flew outside towards the sound of the noise and ended up seeing Phantom, in all his ghostly glory, and a large, mechanical ghost circling each other. Phantom was gripping onto a strange thermos-like device in his hands and wore a bored expression. Or was it irritation? I couldn't tell.

"No, as a matter a fact, ghost boy. I'm just here to snatch up your pelt one and for all." The ghost growled while soaring higher into the air, his fists charging with a green ectoplasmic light.

"Oh, I'm scared." Phantom said in mock fear, his face transforming into an almost comical expression. "How about I save you from getting your butt kicked again and suck you in the thermos already?"

If I wasn't so caught up in the fight, I would have noticed the faint screaming from down below as a crowd of people rushed out of the museum to the safety of their cars. I also would have seen Lancer quickly loading the class on the bus and driving urgently away moments later.

"Really?" I yelled, catching the two ghosts' attention for the first time. "You two chose the wrong day to bother me." I pulled out my gun, charging it for my next shot.

"Wait—" Phantom put his arms up in a placating 'don't hit me' kind of gesture, but I paid no attention. I knew about Phantom's manipulative mannerisms. I still didn't understand, after all of these years, why he still tried to act innocent around me – I wasn't going to fall for it, ever. Without acknowledging him, I propped my gun up and pressed the trigger. It hit the larger ghost's stomach on the dot, and out of the blue he disappeared into the light of Phantom's thermos.

"Wow! Nice shot!" He exclaimed. As if complementing me would cool down my anger.

"You want to be next?" I demanded, my face contorted in rage while I raised my gun. Its powerful whine filled the silence like a wicked warning bell, and I smiled at how intimidating it sounded.

Phantom's eyes went wide, and he opened his mouth like he was going to quip back at me. Once I put my finger on the trigger, his mouth snapped shut with an audible 'pop' that echoed throughout the deserted parking lot. Immediately he bolted away, and all that was left of him were phantom traces of wind following his trail of flight. On any other day I would have chased after him, but today was meant for relaxation. Now that I had gotten rid of the ghosts, there was still time to spare, and I was going to make the most of it.

"You got it easy today, ghost." I growled softly while I flew back down to the ground, changing out of my ghost hunting gear.

I started to walk towards the museum again, when I felt that something was out of place. It was like an itch I couldn't cure, and my curiosity and frustration rose with each passing second. My eyes roamed around the landscape, trying to figure out what was bothering me so much. The plants seemed fine – nothing was burning as a result of the ghost fight. The museum was in one piece, its brick tiles not looking any more run-down than they were when I arrived.

While tensely running my hands through my hair, I realized what was wrong.

The Amity Park school bus was gone, along with all of the other cars in the parking lot. Gone. I couldn't believe it. Everybody must have evacuated during the ghost fight. If I wasn't so worried about how I was going to find my way back home, I would have been fuming over the fact that my class had abandoned me.

Lucky for me, I didn't own a cell phone, due to recent family budget cuts, so I couldn't call for a ride or ask one of my friends to tell the bus to turn around. I kicked a rock in frustration and then briskly walked to the museums' entrance to try to find somebody to help me. I assured myself that they would have a phone.

Lost in my own worries, at first I didn't notice that I had accidentally run into somebody. My head snapped up and I was welcomed with the image of a timid, yet frazzled, Danny Fenton. "What are you still doing here?" I asked, incredulous.

Out of everybody in our class, I figured Danny would be the first one to pile on the bus after seeing Phantom and that other ghost. I knew he was afraid of ghosts; it was common knowledge at school that he always ran away whenever one was within sight.

Danny shrugged and stuffed his hands in his baggy jeans. "The bus left. So, you know, I am kind of stranded here."

"Don't you have a phone?" I asked, hopeful.

Once the blue-eyed teenager shook his head, my spirits dropped. "My parents won't let me buy a phone. They insist that they have to make me one, since they are 'scientists', but they always seem to blow up when I use them."

"Oh." I sighed in disappointment. I was about to tell Danny that I was going to go check inside the museum for a phone, but he started talking before I could say anything.

"And—" Danny started saying, and I immediately took in a breath, feeling the chill of bad news coming. "Don't bother trying to get in the museum. It's locked, from the…er, ghost fight."

"Really? How the heck are we supposed to get home now?" I was enraged. As soon as I got back to Amity Park I was going to have some things to say. Them leaving two students behind? Preposterous!

"We could find somebody." Danny mentioned lamely.

"I hate to break it to you, but this place is deserted." As if to prove my point, I gestured to the empty parking lot yards away from us. "And this place is nowhere near any town at all. The closest place is an Amish village, and that's at least an hour away. Why in the world a living, breathing person would put a museum in the middle of nowhere, I don't know." I hadn't noticed before, but I had started pacing. I'd started getting that bad habit a few years ago, while I was a freshman, after ghosts started attacking Amity Park more and more.

Oddly, Danny didn't seem fazed by my furious outburst.

"I guess we will have to start walking." He muttered, his voice so muffled by the metaphorical smoke coming out of my ears I almost couldn't hear him.

I had nothing to say to that.

"Oh my God." I groaned, feeling the rough sand nudge painfully through the soles of my sandals. My most valued sandals, may I add. It had been at least a half hour since we departed the museum, and I was already having a rough time.

I was tempted to get out my hover board and ride home—since that would be so much more easier, but I knew that by doing that, Danny would question as to why I had a hover board in the first place, and thus find out my secret. And, of course, I wouldn't want Danny to know anything about my double life. I didn't want anyone to know.

"What?" Danny asked, although I had a feeling he clearly knew why I was complaining.

"It's just that I'm not used to walking this much." I replied while nudging a small rock out of my way.

"Me too." He commented, although he didn't appear at all to be showing any signs of exhaustion. Danny was silent for a moment, and the only sounds that could be heard were the crunching of rocks underneath us and our own breathing.

Abruptly Danny broke the quiet. "I think we have to do something to distract us."

"Like what?"

"I don't know." He paused, as if thinking of an idea. "A game, maybe?"

"Hmm." I pondered Danny's suggestion. Anything was better than walking awkwardly together. Anything for me to forget that I was talking to the guy I'd dated for a little while, although now any of those feelings I used to have for him were just memories of the past. Anything to pass the time would be better than saying nothing.

Then before I could stop myself, I started talking again. "There was a game…" I paused, "… I used to play with my mom when I was a kid."

I saw Danny look up at me in the eyes for the first time since we started walking. Whether he noticed that I said 'used to,' he didn't show it. I took his reaction as a cue to keep talking.

"Well—it's called the Truth Game." I started, unsure whether I should even be mentioning it. But the fact that Danny was still eyeing me and the mumbled "okay" that came from his lips urged me to continue.

"It's kind of like Truth or Dare, but without the dare. Each person takes turns asking the other person one question, and they have to respond honestly. If you lie, well…then good for you for cheating." I pursed my lips together, hoping he understood my warning.

"I won't." Danny responded, absently scratching the back of his head with his left hand. "And what happens if the person answering the question won't give an answer?"

"Then the person that doesn't give an answer gets to ask the other person a question. If they answer the question, then that person wins."

"Alright." He nodded in a subtle way, his voice and expression so neutral I wondered what he was thinking. "Let's go."

I gestured for him to go first, but in response he shook his head. "Ladies first." He said, his lips forming into a sly smirk that made me want to laugh.

"Fine." I paused for a moment, partly for dramatic effect, and partly to think of a question. At first I thought about asking a tough question, like what my mom and I would do all the time, but then I decided against it. This game required strategy, and no matter how over-dramatic that sounds, it's true. I had to start out with a simple question to break the ice, and then gradually get to the more difficult ones as I gain his trust.

"Okay. I've got my question." Danny stared at me curiously, his face seeming to be trying hard not to look excited. "What is your favorite color?"

"Really?" Without noticing, Danny started laughing, his chest heaving with dramatic breaths. I figured any moment he would collapse onto the ground. I had no clue what was so funny about my question. "Out of all the questions in the world, you ask me what my favorite color is?"

"It's not your turn to ask the questions. Just answer." I said, in the low tone that I once used on the kids I had babysat a long time ago.

It took a moment for Danny to take me seriously, but gradually he began to calm down. "White." He said so softly I was about to ask him again.

Honestly, I was a little shocked. "Seriously? I figured you would choose black."

"It's technically my turn to ask the questions." He joked back.

"And technically I didn't ask a question." I pointed out.

"I'm guessing you figure I'd like black because of Sam? Actually I don't, since white symbolizes good and kindness and so much in between. And it's like the color of angels." Danny smoothly disclosed.

Well. I sure wasn't expecting that. I was aware I shouldn't be so shocked, but the idea of Danny—the shy, clumsy teenager—saying something like that was hard to process. I guess anything is possible.

"And it's my turn." He added, oblivious to my tumbling thoughts. "I guess I will have to get even with you. What's your favorite color?"

"I'd have to say green, and I guess it is because I see it all the time. The trees are green, grass is green—it's everywhere. It's hard not to like it." And because it was the color of my mom's eyes—but I wasn't going to tell Danny that. I gave him a truthful answer, but I didn't have to tell him everything. I wasn't ready to get that personal yet.

From there we took off, shooting questions at each other and giving answers without thinking. We'd been walking for at least another three hours and I had learned so many things about him. Like how his middle name is James, that the feature he most hates about himself is his forehead, that his favorite food is Jazz's peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, how he wants to be an astronaut when he gets older, and so much more tidbits that I'd never thought I'd learn about him in my lifetime.

Spending this much time talking with him had made me remember how great of a person he is, back during freshman year when we had "gone out." He still had his easygoing attitude that made him effortless to talk to. We could have been good friends back then, instead of only exchanging subtle hellos and small glances at each other over the years.

It was my turn to ask the question, and I was willing to speak my mind. "What happened between us? I mean, we were close for a little bit, and then we just stopped talking to each other."

Danny was quiet for a couple minutes; there was no doubt he was thinking of an answer. "I actually don't really know what happened. It might have been because we both got caught up with our lives and with our other friends that we never bothered to talk to each other. I have to admit that Tucker and Sam don't really like you much."

To be honest, knowing that Danny's friends didn't like me kind of hurt, even though I knew that they had every right to hate me. I had been part of the group that bullied them on a daily basis.

Danny sent an apologetic glance towards me before continuing. "And your friends didn't like us either. Back in freshman and sophomore year, you guys weren't exactly nice to us, but I can tell you are a whole lot nicer than all of them. I think if things were different, we could have been friends."

I gave Danny a small, hopeful smile. I knew that if things would have been different, we would have been friends. If I wouldn't have been so caught up in being popular, my misery of the loss of my dad's company, and my ghost hunting, things would have been very different. I was sure of it.

Before Danny could voice his next question, I started talking. "I have to say I regret the things I have done before. I was bitter. I was just trying to be popular, but now I know there are better things than that. I wish things would have been different, without any hard feelings."

"I know. But we can always start now. I have a feeling once we finally get back home things will go back to the way they were, but at least let's try to talk to each other." Danny said, and although I didn't want him to be right, I knew he was. Our friends would never support us talking to each other.

I nodded my agreement. "Deal."

He smiled and let out a loose laugh, one that I had heard a dozen times during our trip today. "Now, I believe it is my turn to ask the question. Out of curiosity, why are you still friends with them?"

"Them?"

"You know, Paulina, Dash, Star…those guys."

I paused for a while. I couldn't really think of a reason. They were all shallow, stuck-up, and rude. But I guess that was my answer. "Actually, I really don't know. I guess it is because, well…" I paused, embarrassed to be even saying it. Right now I was actually thankful for the darkening sky so Danny couldn't see me blushing. "…because I really don't have any other friends to go to. Nobody talks to me since I am friends with Paulina and Star, and I did actually help with all the mean things they did to people. And I wouldn't be friends with them if I wasn't the only one that tolerated their attitude."

I was surprised I had said so much to him, the thoughts that I had been thinking for months now. In these last couple hours I never would have thought Danny would have been so easy to talk to. He actually listened, and didn't pretend to. I hadn't talked to somebody like that in a long time.

"I never knew that you had ever thought that. I think you should just ditch them, and find better people to be with. It will be hard at first, but I think you can do it." I couldn't believe how positive he was. That he thought that if I just was nice to other people that I would be friends with them. For me, things were never that easy.

"Thanks." I smiled, and then took a breath in, preparing for my next question. I had been waiting to ask him this for a while now, but I hadn't thought it was the right time, until now. "So. You and Sam." I nudged him jokingly, but I could still feel him tense up. "When you are you two lovebirds going to hook up?"

"We are not lovebirds." He blurted immediately, but his tone was more than unsure.

"Right." I snapped back, smiling. "Whatever you say."

"Okay, fine." He divulged after a long silence. I looked at him for a moment. Even though it was dark, if I looked closely, I could tell that he was blushing, and I could see his hand rubbing his neck nervously. "I may like her. A little."

"Just to remind you, this is called the Truth Game. Not the Bend-the-Truth-Game. And besides, my lips are sealed." I did the universal sign of locking my lips and throwing away the key.

Clearly, Danny wasn't ready to say anything from the way his pace was quickening. I had to speed up to stay with him. We were both quiet for approximately another mile, when abruptly Danny threw his arms up. "Fine. Just stop asking me!" He declared, his voice sounding exasperated.

"I only asked you once." I pointed out, while trying to hold in my laughter. Seeing Danny trying to hide his feelings for Sam was very amusing.

He started ahead once again, as if trying to avoid eye contact with me. Out of nowhere, Danny blurted, "IthinkIloveher."

"What was that?" I leaned towards him, pretending as if I didn't hear him. I was elated that Danny was finally admitting his feelings for Sam, even if it was only to me. It was a start.

Danny's pace slowed, and I was relieved that he finally slowed down. I was starting to get tired. "I. Think. I. Love. Her." Although he tried to say it nonchalantly, I could see the passion in his eyes. I knew he meant it, and I hoped that it felt good for him to be saying it.

"Finally!" I breathed. "I knew it! I've been waiting for you to say that for years."

He seemed surprised by my excitement. "Years?"

"Well, duh. Even a blind person could see that you really liked her."

"I…err, um—thanks?" He mumbled awkwardly. "I really do like her."

"And I think that is fantastic." I grinned at him.

"So. I guess it's my turn to ask the question." Danny commented, changing the subject. I wouldn't blame him. The blush on his cheeks looked like a permanent tattoo.

I nodded in response.

We walked quietly for a long time, lost in our own thoughts. It was good to have a break from asking questions and to have a little time just to think to ourselves.

"So." Danny's voice replaced the silence, and I was overcome with curiosity on what his question was going to be. "Before we started the game, you paused and said you and your mom 'used to' play it. What did you mean by that?"

So he had noticed. I knew I shouldn't have mentioned it.

Slowly the heavy tears that I had spent so long locking up began coming up to the surface, and I couldn't take it. I was not going to cry. I was not going to be vulnerable, even if it was only Danny who would see.

At first I tried keeping the tears inside, but then my body started getting tense and my throat felt like it would never breathe oxygen again. The pain I had tried forgetting for ten years was coming back, and even worse than before.

I would not break down.

I was tempted to give up and tell Danny that I wasn't going to answer the question. But the more I thought about it, the more I knew I shouldn't. He had told me that he loved Sam, so I owed him to at least tell him about my mom.

But I just couldn't.

I didn't say anything for at least a half-hour, but Danny didn't bother urging me to answer. We were getting used to the comfortable silences between questions while we gathered our thoughts.

And, once again, I was grateful for the blackness surrounding us. This way Danny wouldn't see the tears brimming helplessly around my eyes.

"I'm sorry." Danny whispered, and at first I thought he was talking to himself. "I could ask you another question."

"No." I choked out. "Give me a second."

I tilted my head up to look up at the quarter-moon glowing brightly in the sky. I scanned the area around it, gaping at all the stars hanging in the atmosphere, knowing that my mom was among them.

Then a deep sorrow gripped me so deep I collapsed onto the rocky ground, receiving only a few painless scratches.

I don't even know what came over me—whether it was the exhaustion of walking for at least five hours or the fact that I would never see my mom again—I had no clue. Tears flowed thoughtlessly from my eyes, robbing me of any emotional control. I vowed to myself, years after my mother died, that I would never cry for her. I would never show weakness; after death, she would have wanted me to get on with my life. And yet, here I was, breaking my promise.

What was happening to me?

I sat there on the ground, with my arms wrapped around my legs and my chin resting lazily on my knees, when I realized that Danny was crouched next to me, his hand placed on my shoulders.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

And when he said that, I knew I meant it. Danny really was a good guy. Sam was lucky to be friends with him.

"My mom and I used to play this game all the time." I started saying, looking anywhere but Danny's face. My voice croaked when I talked. "When I was really little. It just kind of happened. I would always win when my mom and I would get ice cream together and I'd ask her if she was cheating on her diet. She would never answer me." A ghost of a smile crossed my face, reminiscing the good times.

I only heard the muffle of cars on the highway over the hill and Danny's soft breathing, but that was enough to calm me down. The tears dried from my face, leaving only a trace of puffiness on my cheeks.

"It happened when I was six." I continued. "We were living in Chicago at the time, which was where my dad's current job was. We lived in a cheap, run-down apartment, but I didn't care. I was happy. One day I was lying down on the couch, and Dad was watching a baseball game. I remembered that I was going to ask Mom why Dad always watched sports for my next question."

I inhaled deeply to gather my words together.

"Mom was running late, and I told Dad to call her and ask what was taking so long, but she never answered. An hour later, all we got was a phone call that Dad answered, and then he locked himself in his room. I couldn't sleep the whole night, I was so worried, so I sat by the door, waiting for her to come home.

"The next day my dad started packing our stuff into our suitcases and then we took a train to Milwaukee. I kept on asking my dad where Mom was, and he said she was playing baseball with the angels. I thought he meant the baseball team."

I took in another breath, preparing myself to speak. "It was four years later, when I was ten, just before we moved to Amity, that I found a newspaper article in our house while I was packing. It was about my mom. She was shot by a gang member on the subway ride home, since we didn't have a car back then.

"It was then I went outside. It was nighttime—almost like this. I was staring at the stars, and then I was convinced that she was with the stars in heaven."

I stopped talking, and once again the silence consumed us. Danny didn't say anything, which I appreciated. No 'I'm sorry's' or sympathetic looks, which I had gotten loads of from my dad's workmates and my friends over the years.

I had told Danny too much, but even so, I hadn't told him all of it. I hadn't told him about the fierce fight between my dad and me, or how I'd ripped up the newspaper article of her and any other pictures of her I could find and burned them in anger. I didn't bother to tell him how afterwards I ran away, only to be found by the police and taken home hours later.

He didn't know the half of it.

I just then realized I had picked up a rock and was gripping it so tightly my knuckles were white. I dropped the stone from my hands.

We sat in silence for a while, knowing that words weren't supposed to be used. "How about we start walking?" Danny suggested quietly.

"Okay." I spoke for the first time in at least a half hour.

Once again the familiar sound of rocks crackling under our feet echoed around us while we began walking.

"So…" I said, my words getting lost in the wide expanse of land. "I guess it's my turn to ask?"

"Yes, it is. And even though that was a question, I'll let that slide."

"Ha."

I was still a little embarrassed by my breakdown, so at first I had a hard time thinking of a question. After a little while I finally thought of one. In my opinion, it wasn't too hard, but it wasn't too easy.

"What's your biggest secret?"

For a second I felt Danny's footsteps break out of pattern, but it was so quick I wondered if it even had happened.

At first he didn't answer, but I didn't think of it much. As the time lapsed he didn't answer, and soon it was as long as I took to answer to question about my mom. I wondered what he was thinking. The question couldn't be that hard, right?

Suddenly, out of the darkness surrounding us, came a bright light, no doubt coming from a car. I squinted, blinded by the abrupt brightness. I was expecting it to drive past us, like hundreds of cars had already done, but to my surprise the large vehicle stopped next to us.

When it was next to us, I realized it was a bus. The Casper High school bus.

The bus that ditched us at the museum!

I wasn't sure what to feel. Part of me was thrilled to finally be able to get home, but another part of me was disappointed it had arrived here right now. I felt like Danny was so close to telling me his biggest secret.

The bus door opened, and Mr. Lancer quickly walked out, rushing towards us.

"'Pride and Prejudice!' What are you two doing out here? Come inside!" Lancer exclaimed, frantically ushering us into the bus.

All eyes were on us as we walked on the bus and took our seats. Danny didn't even look at me as he sat next to Sam and Tucker. I took my spot by Paulina and Star.

Right away I saw the mud splattered all over Paulina's neatly ironed shirt, but I didn't dare ask what happened. I knew I didn't need to ask. Paulina would probably tell me right away anyways.

"Oh my gosh, Val. I can't believe you were stuck with that dork." Paulina began, her voice wrapped up with pure excitement. "I feel sooo bad for you. While you were stuck with him, our bus got stuck in a huge mud hole left over from the storm last night—and then we found out that you two were missing. We were going to find you ASAP, but it took us three hours to get out of the mud. Three hours. Can you believe it? This totally sucks, because now I am missing out on my beauty sleep, and you know how I hate wrinkles…"

I blocked Paulina's rambling out. No doubt she had already told this to Star at least five times already, and I didn't even want to hear it once. I looked over at Danny with his friends, noticing how they were talking excitedly to each other. Even though Danny's expression looked distant, it still seemed like he was having a better time with them than he did with me.

I wondered if they were talking about me.

Days passed, and our trip was the talk of the junior class. I'd heard people talk about how their parents had complained to the school, or about how Paulina freaked out when the bus got stuck in the mud hole and fell out of her window trying to scream for help.

I also heard some gossip about Danny and me, all of which I didn't listen to. I was too preoccupied with wondering what Danny's problem was. He still hadn't looked at me, or given me any sign that we had shared so much that night.

On the third day since the field trip, Danny finally talked to me. I was at my locker, preparing for my fifth hour class. I heard his voice before I saw him.

"So if I ask you a question and you answer it, you win. Correct?" He asked, his voice toneless. His hair was a little messier than usual, and his face seemed more tired than I was accustomed to. It bothered me more than it should have.

"Correct." I turned around to look at him, my books pressed against my chest. I tried not to be upset, but I was. I had told him something so difficult, and I asked him a simple question in return, and he was going to chicken out?

He took a deep breath, and then his baby blue eyes met my curious green ones.

"What's it like being the Red Huntress?"

I stared at him for a moment; my heart felt like it was going to break out of my chest. My palms grew sweaty, and I could feel my legs beginning to shake.

How did he know my biggest secret?

My expression at first was shock, and then suspicion, and finally anger.

Who cared how he knew my secret, all that mattered was that he did.

At that moment, time froze. I could have done anything.

I could have answered his question and won the game.

I could have hit him or stomped on his foot, like in the movies.

I could have made a sassy comment and walked off.

But at that time I was taken over by pure panic that somebody knew my secret that I didn't think of any of those. Nothing made sense.

I did the only thing that seemed rational at the time. I threw my books in my locker, slammed my locker shut in his face, and ran down the hallway. I ignored everyone's complaints as I pushed them aside, and headed to the exit, the only sanctuary I had.

Running away was better than facing the truth.

I hope you enjoyed reading!

Just thought I'd mention about Valerie's mom. They never actually said anything in the series about her...I think. So I made something up.

Please review, comment...give constructive criticism. I'd love any of it. I love reviews. (:

Thanks!

(Updated on 6/24/11)