the hunted / the chosen few
Aposiopesis
Jack grinned. "So, Angie! You and your little friends want to hunt ghosts."
Danny smiled awkwardly. "Uh, actually, Dad, I want to be an astronaut." And my name's not Angie, he thought.
Sam made some excuse about cellphones, and Tucker said something about charisma. Danny wasn't really listening because of course the Fenton Portal had to open right then, and he was a bit busy rescuing Sam and Tucker from ectopuses to pay attention to what anyone was saying.
Somehow, Jack didn't even notice, which Danny was grateful for, but this wasn't the first time his dad had failed to notice the ghost boy in the room. Meanwhile, his mom was too convinced of her "daughter's" humanity to see the obvious in front of her.
Would they even know if I didn't tell them? he wondered. The question was multifaceted.
"I think I should tell them," Danny said.
Sam scoffed. "What? Why? Parents don't get it."
Danny kicked a stray piece of paper. "Maybe they'd be able to help. Maybe there's something, uh, chemical they could do."
Sam made a face. "What, like they stick you with a needle and suddenly no more you-know-what?"
"I don't know, maybe?"
"Your parents aren't exactly medical professionals. What if they made it worse?"
Tucker shuddered. "Can we maybe not talk about this right now?"
Sam facepalmed. "Right, you have a thing about hospitals. Sorry."
"Anyway," Danny said, accidentally walking through a trash can, "I just wonder if they might be able to fix me."
Sam put her hands on his shoulders. "Danny, it's okay to be different, and it's okay to change. Sometimes change is for the better! Like how I convinced the school cafeteria to go vegan and gluten-free for the week. It's healthy, it's good for the environment, and it's kosher!"
Tucker gasped. "Wait, what? No meat for a week?!"
"Or eggs, milk, honey, wheat — except for wheatgrass…"
Danny did a double take. "No wheat?"
Tucker put his head in his hands. "This has to be a cruel joke."
"Come on, Tuck, I bet you'll love BBQ tempeh burgers with mung bean sprouts and rice buns if you give them a chance!"
"That's it," Tucker moaned. "I'm going to starve."
Tucker, Sam, and Danny piled into Danny's room to pore over the books, magazines, and newspaper articles they'd gathered on the subject of ghosts. Sam had stopped by the Skulk and Lurk, Danny had raided his parents' collection, and Tucker had spent a good hour and a half on Amazon.
"A Goth's Gory Guide to Ghosts says ghosts can make walls bleed at will," Sam said. "Sounds cool. Confirm or deny?"
