Negative Feedback (Danny Phantom Fic)

Chapter 4

"Just a sec, Sam!" Danny called back before turning to me again. "Why don't you come sit with us and talk? I've got some food you can have."

I didn't really have the heart to tell him I probably wouldn't be able to pick it up in the first place, but I nodded anyway. "Thanks... I'm Camry, by the way."

"Danny," he said, holding a hand out to help me up. I accepted it and rose shakily, still floored at the fact that he didn't just go right through me. He led me over to his two friends and gestured to me. "This is Camry, guys. Camry, this is Sam and Tucker."

My face fell when they looked at him like he was going nuts. "You making invisible friends now, Danny?" the kid with the beret asked skeptically.

"In a sense..." I muttered gruffly and got no reaction or recognition. "They can't see me, Danny."

"Then why can I?" he asked, frowning in thought.

"Your phantom powers?" I guessed.

"Wait-- h-how did you know about that?" Danny gaped at me incredulously, taken aback.

"Uhm... It was kinda right there in front of me," I replied. "You look a lot like the pictures I saw in the newspapers. And you sound just like him. Well, like you."

"Danny? I'm really confused right now. What's going on?" Sam asked slowly, like she was worried he wasn't completely sane. "You didn't get hit on the head last night, did you?"

"No, guys, I'm fine," Danny insisted. "I assure you. For some reason you can't see her. I think she's a ghost."

"We see all the other ghosts you fight just fine," Tucker rebutted. "Why not her?"

"I'm not really sure." Nevertheless, he sat down and motioned for me to do the same.

"It's not gonna work," I sighed, but did it anyway and shut my eyes, bracing myself for impact with the ground.

Nothing happened. I stayed on the bench! "Whoa- what?" I gasped, looking back and forth between my lap and a perplexed Danny. "I didn't fall through!"

"Does that... happen often?" he inquired.

I nodded emphatically. "All the time."

Danny held out his apple to me, and with more hope this time I accepted it. When I didn't drop it I felt like doing a happy dance out of sheer joy. I was going to be okay!

"And now your apple is floating," Sam commented bluntly.

"Now do you believe me?" Danny asked, which earned him nods of assent. "Okay, cool. I still find it kinda hard to believe you two can't see her."

"Maybe we ought'a save this conversation for after school," Tucker advised with a glance at his handheld-- was it one of those old PDAs? "Lunch'll be over pretty soon and you're starting to get weird looks from people, dude."

"Sure, sure. We probably shouldn't go to my house after school, though. Who knows if she'll trip any alarms there."

I couldn't speak with my mouth full of fruit, so I raised a quizzical eyebrow at him. Thankfully, he got the message and answered. "My parents are ghost hunters, and our house is rigged for defense from ghosts."

My mouth was empty by the time he was done explaining. "Except for you?"

"My human side helps keep my powers from being detected."

"Whoa, wait," Sam piped up quickly, but in a low, secretive tone. "Danny, what're you doing telling her about that right off the bat?"

"She already figured it out somehow," he replied under his breath.