In the Dead of Night You Went Dark On Me

But I Just Wanna Hear Your Melody

Mr. Lancer checked his watch again, before he sat at his desk, and looked at the duo in matching hazmat suits. "I guess we shall start without Daniel. Hopefully he will arrive shortly. I wanted to talk to you both about your child's wellbeing."

"What about it?" Maddie said curtly. She didn't like the idea of another adult questioning her child, no matter how they were behaving.

"Your son has been late to class almost every single day this year so far, or if he isn't late, most of the time he will end up running out of the class halfway through the class and not come back. On the off chance that he does manage to stay the entire class, he sleeps during it. He hasn't even bothered to bring his backpack to school, and he doesn't bring any textbooks throughout the school. I care for Daniel, and I care that he gets an education. I wanted to discuss with you both, alongside Daniel, to see what we can do to make sure he gets the best education he can. Giving him a detention hasn't helped him to catch up on his school work, because he just won't show up. I want to know what you think would be best for your son." Mr. Lancer said in the most un-accusatory tone he could muster.

It was safe to say that the Fenton parents were not necessarily in his good books. The fact that they allow their child to skip classes as frequently as he has, and by the looks of it, they haven't even tried to feed the boy, let alone make sure he was healthy. Ever since Jasmine went off to college, things went even more down hill than Lancer had even believed it could. Thank the Lord she is away from her parents, but that leaves poor Daniel to deal with the brunt of their extravagant thoughts of ghosts and the like. "Have you ever dealt with something like this before, Mr. Lancer?"

The teacher turned to look at the larger man. "Not to this extent, Mr. Fenton. Students will occasionally skip class, sure, but I have never seen it to this extent. Has Daniel spoken to either of you about experiencing poor mental health, anything like that?"

"No, not that I can remember, and Dan-o usually talks to us when he's feeling stressed out." Jack said, looking concerned for his only son. Maddie scoffed. "Please Jack, he hasn't talked to us about his feelings since before his freshman year. Not that we haven't tried, but great heavens, he doesn't even stick around for more than two minutes before he makes a break to his room, or shouts that he's going to Sam or Tucker's house."

"I see." Was Lancer's curt reply. He could tell that Jack truly had a worry for his son, but he could only see annoyance and irritation in the boy's mom. "I would like to give your son tutoring lessons, I just am not sure as to how I should go about making sure he actually attends."

"You don't need to go about it in any way, I'll come." Danny had suddenly appeared in the doorway, wearing a large black, white, and green hoodie that reached well past his thighs, might have been his dad's that shrank in the wash. "I'm sorry I'm late. I didn't realize the time."

Mr. Lancer watched as the boy walked, no limped, over to the last remaining seat, and slouched down into it. He made sure not to touch his dad with his shoulder as he sat, keeping a blatant space between the two of them. Even though he made a show at looking relaxed and bored, Mr. Lancer could see the tension in the boy's shoulders as he crossed his arms in front of his stomach. Maddie looked at her son. "How could you not realize the time? It is right after school. You could have just come here right after your last period."

Danny shrugged and didn't speak to or turn to look at his mom. "Thank you for coming, Daniel. As I was saying to your parents, I want to begin tutoring you. With your current grades as they are now, you will not be progressing to your senior year with your classmates at the end of next semester. Even if you utilized summer classes, you would be behind. With my help, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoon after school ends, we can get you back to where you need to be."

"Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday?"

"Yes Daniel." Mr. Lancer saw the way his student's thoughts bubbled over in his head, unable to figure out what he wanted to do, to say. "I don't know if I can promise that, Mr. Lancer."

"What are you doing with your time, Dan-o? What is more important than your future, your happiness?" Jack said, turning to face his son, worries clearly about his features. Instead of answering his dad, the three adults could see the muscles working in his jaws as he thought about what he should say. "I'll try, but I can't make any promises. I'm sorry."

"That is bullshit Danny! Tell us what you are doing? You've been skipping school, sleeping through class, you are failing every single class! What is going on with you?" Maddie did everything in her power to keep herself from shouting. Before Danny could answer, a violent shiver moved through his body, and as he coughed, his breath was visible to everyone. Danny stood quickly, barely hiding his wince as he stood on what appeared to be a bad knee.

A box to the side of Lancer's desk containing all his student's test papers suddenly erupted with the familiar "I am the box ghost! Beware!"

Lancer calmly ushered Danny out of the class as his parents got out their ghost hunting technology, and quickly took care of the friendly foe. "I will see you tomorrow Daniel. Try to be on time tomorrow. If not, the principal won't have any choice but to take further actions."

"Yes sir, thank you. And, I'm sorry again. I am trying." Danny said, his voice sounding hoarse.