Plummeting In Love (Book 1 of Danny Phantom Trilogy)

It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times

Not counting this last summer, this was the best week of Kagome's life. Her home life was great, she was quickly making friends, and she was finally felt accepted by her peers.

Finally, her mom's store had been successfully opened and business was booming. Kimiko specialized in designing not only clothes for the rich and famous, but clothes for the everyday person. Her store held clothes for both types and the women in Amity Park were quick to eat it up. Judai had finally returned to his joyful, music-obsessed, prankster ways. While this caused Kagome to want to strangle him daily, she would rather it be this way. After their father had walked out on them, Judai had been so reclusive. Now, he acted almost as if it had never happened. Almost.

Kagome was quick to make new friends at Casper High. Two of the most popular girls in school, Paulina and Star, were quick to welcome her into the fold with a complementary A-Lister membership packet and everything! Paulina had even convinced Kagome to try out for the cheerleading squad. Some formerly senior girls had graduated and left a few spaces on the team that needed to be filled. And according to Paulina, Kagome was a perfect fit.

Not only was she making friends with the more popular kids, Kagome had been getting along great with Danny's friends. Tucker was always discussing her culture with her-being the most interested in it. The boy had been easy to get along with, especially since he and Danny were so much alike. Her relationship with Sam wasn't as fast-growing, but it was getting there. The two girls didn't have too much in common, besides Danny. There just wasn't much to talk about with Sam. Kagome also got the feeling that Sam was always watching her. It was creepy, but she was probably just being paranoid.

~:~

Not counting this last summer, this was the worst week of Sam's life. She was basically watching any hope for happiness go down the drain! If she had to hear about Kagome one more time...

"Hey, Sam," Danny greeted as he approached her.

Slapping a smile onto her face, Sam turned away from her locker to face him. "Hey, Danny. What's up?" Sam questioned as she closed her locker and clutched her books to her chest.

"Not much. I was looking for Tuck. I needed to tell him that I can't make it to the arcade after school," Danny told her.

"Is there something wrong? Do you need help?" Sam interrogated with a serious expression. Was there finally some ghost activity? Sam had known that the ghosts would come back. It was only a matter of-

Danny chuckled and waved his in front of him. "No. Everything's fine, Sam. I can't hang with Tuck because I'm meeting up with Kagome after school."

If she could have gone back in time, Sam would have to stop herself from saying what she did next. "You're blowing off Tucker to hang with Kagome?" Sam asked with slight attitude.

Danny's smile drooped slightly. "We're not hanging. Not really. She's helping me with my chemistry homework," Danny corrected.

"Oh... Danny, I know that this may sound strange, but...how well do you know Kagome?" Sam asked with in a tentative tone.

"Pretty well. We hung out all summer, Sam. Why?"

This was going to blow up in her face. Danny could be so dense and stubborn. Once she told him what she had been thinking for the past week, surely Danny would get mad. But it had to be said. "I just don't think that we should be so trusting of her. I mean, for all we know, she could secretly be hunting ghosts," Sam tried.

Just as she expected, Danny frowned deeply at her. "Sam, I'm sure that Kagome's not a ghost hunter. Just because Valerie turned out to be one, doesn't mean that every girl in my life is hunting ghosts."

"Do you know that for sure?" Sam persisted.

"What's with you, Sam? It's like you want her to hunt ghosts or something," Danny said, his tone now angry and defensive.

Sam sighed as she shook her head. "That's not it, Danny. I just think that she's hiding something. Sure, I don't know what it is. But, I have a gut feeling, Danny. You have to at least hear me out. You know better than anyone that you just have to trust your instincts with these things," Sam reasoned. "How can you call someone your friend, when they could be hiding something major about themself?"

Danny frowned deeply. "I haven't exactly been completely honest with her either, Sam."

Sam balked. "You can't be serious, Danny. That's completely different! This is your secret we're talking about here," Sam stressed.

"I don't see how it's different, Sam. Look, I have to go. I'll just text Tuck to let him know. See you later, Sam," Danny said and walked away.

"Danny! Wait!"

Sam growled lowly before kicking the locker below her own and producing a deep dent in the door. With a heavy sigh, Sam leaned against the lockers and ran a hand through her hair. What was she to do now? Danny wouldn't listen to her unless the proof was right in front of his eyes. "That's it!" Sam said to herself before quickly rushing out of the school. She would just have to get the proof that she needed. Could she involve Tucker? Only if necessary. Tucker was slowly being brainwashed into believing that Kagome was this perfect, little... Sam growled again.

~:~

Danny couldn't believe Sam. Well, that was a lie. Sam was never one to trust others easily. She was also fiercely protective. But he didn't need protection from Kagome of all people. It was Kagome! The girl he had spent all summer with.

Sam was just being paranoid. What would make her think that Kagome was a threat? Kagome was probably the nicest person that Danny knew. She's interested in singing, playing the violin, and reading fictional novels. She wants to be a vet when she grows up. She hates carrots and thinks that the word "ointment" sounds gross. Danny knew more than enough about her to know that she wasn't secretly a ghost hunter or anything worse.

But Sam had brought up a good point. Was he being a good friend when he was hiding literally half of himself from Kagome? He'd thought about this a few times over the summer, usually after having an extremely relaxing or fun day with Kagome. He would always feel guilty for hiding his double life from her. He tried his best to ignore the guilt though. He had gone two years without telling his own parents the truth. He could go without letting Kagome know.

Walking up the front steps to the Takahashi home, Danny stopped at the front door. He was about to knock, but froze when a chilled breath escaped his mouth. With wide, frantic eyes, Danny's gaze went to the sky. The blue skies were entirely clear with not a trace of ghostly activity. Maybe a ghost had just passed by? They could be on their way into town. He had to go ghost and do a sweep of the-

"Hello, Daniel."

Recognizing that voice instantly, Danny turned with a glare. "Plasmius," Danny sneered up at where Vlad was floating in the middle of the street. The vampiric-looking ghost grinned down at Danny with his arms crossed over his broad chest.

"Did you miss me, my dear boy?" Vlad asked with a chuckle.