Danny Phantom - Gender Bender (Discontinued)

Chapter Six

Maddie and Jack rushed upstairs, straightened themselves up, and then opened the door. Maddie greeted them with such enthusiasm, it seemed as explosive as a nuclear power station. It didn't seem to bother the guests. 

"Hello, Mr. Nguyen!" Jack greeted, firmly shaking the scientist's hand. Maddie followed suit.

The man stepped inside with a great smile. He was in a simple business suit, holding a black brief case by his side. "Nice to meet you two, but please, James is just fine." Maddie ushered him inside and invited him to sit down. The teenager and young adult greeted him politely and introduced themselves. He seemed friendly. As Jack gave Vlad a brotherly welcome and gently French kissed the other lady, the pair stepped inside. Vlad's eyes immediately fell onto his niece and nephew. Jaz rolled his eyes and stood up to greet Helen. She wasn't a young woman, much to Danny's surprise and delight. She was just an ordinary - but remarkably beautiful - middle-aged woman. She had light brown locks that fell to just below her shoulders and was wearing a very swish black dress. Danny followed her brother and greeted her. As everyone settled down to their positions in the living room, where finger foods had been placed on the coffee table, the parents stuck into their science talk with James. Vlad, still with his arm wrapped around Helen's turned to the kids again. "Hello, children." His smile was unsettling, but only to Jasper and Danielle.

"Hey, Vlad," they responded in rehearsed unison. While her parents were stuck into their discussion, Danny grew curious about Helen.

"So, Helen," she said with a genuine smile. "Are you from Sydney?" Vlad glared, but she ignored him. 

The woman cleared her voice before she spoke. "No, actually, I'm from England." Her elegant accent said it all. "Brighton, actually. But I came over here on exchange for a university course, which they didn't offer at Brighton Uni. Also because I had always wanted to travel to Australia, and found whatever excuse I could to come." She laughed softly. "That's where I met Vlad all those years ago. He was doing science, and of course as the fairy tale goes, I was doing an English course. And we have kept in contact ever since. Usually Vladdy would come over to England to visit, as money was a big of a struggle for me, but since he became Mayor," she looked at him with a proud smile, "I thought I could make some sacrifices."

Danny nodded agreeably. "So have you two always been, uh," she questioned, pointing at their intertwined arms. 

Vlad chortled. "Oh no, my dear Danielle. We have always been close friends, yes, but only in the past year have we really become close like this." Danny nodded again, and sipped her cider. She glanced over at Jaz, but he was being sucked into the science talk. Thanks, bro. In that moment of silence, Vlad, too, engaged with the scientific conversation. Now it was just Helen and Danny facing one another. Danny tapped her nails against her glass and looked about the room, when Helen spoke up.

"I don't really understand all that gibberish either." She smiled sweetly. 

Danny laughed. "Well, I never used to like ecto-science much, but it's funny what you pick up when your parents are ghost hunters. I've always been interested in astronomy though. However, English is my strong suit."

"Ah," Helen remarked, taking a sip of her rosé. "Well, a creative mind tends to have a fascination with the stars."

"Indeed! When I was in fifth grade, my only dream was to become an astronaut. The first person on Mars, I wanted to be, aha. But then I realised that that is a one way ticket, so that dream was a bust." Helen giggled with her. 

"What year are you in?" She placed down her wine glass, interested in this kid. 

"Year 10. Term two just started up last week."