AN: I should be doing something else...but this story leapt out at me and begged to be written. It has a long term plot and everything XD. Anyway, this is based around that scrapbook we see Jazz working on in 'Forever Phantom'.
No PP, post D-Stabilized.
Update: 11/8/2011: I've started going through the first couple chapters, and just proof-reading them a little bit, since the earlier chapters didn't have a beta and I was a little lax about grammatical errors and the like. So no significant changes to the writing, but hopefully there will be less distractions.
The Scrapbook:
The room was a mess.
The bed was unmade, and covered with notes and a half open satchel. But it was nothing compared to the desk; papers were strewn everywhere, and Maddie wondered how anything could be found in that dump. Pencil shavings were all across the computer's keyboard, and she found several mugs which contained coffee sludge.
She smiled ruefully, and picked a cup off her daughter's desk. If she'd come into her son's room and seen it in such disarray, she was have been annoyed, to say the least. But Jazz was usually neat and organised, and Maddie knew this disorder was being caused by the stress of senior year and university applications. Maddie felt sorry for her.
Jazz was out right now- after some pestering, Maddie had finally got the girl out the door. "You've got to relax a little, sweetie- you'll drive yourself insane if you don't."
So Jazz got one night with her friends, and Maddie got a chance to help her out a little, even if it was just taking away the dirty dishes from her room.
She rummaged through the papers, smiling when she saw a few things she recognised from her short stint at psychology at university. It was an interesting topic, Maddie thought- she wouldn't mind getting back into it. She found herself flipping through the pages, skim reading her daughter's notes. News articles, journal entries, photocopies- and then one paper which stood out from the rest.
It was cut from a news paper- not exactly surprising, really. What made it stand out was the brightly coloured picture of a ghost, smiling daringly up at her. Danny Phantom.
She dug deeper into the papers, and found it lying next to a black sketch-book. Maddie pulled it out and opened in; her mouth twitched in annoyance.
It was a Phantom scrapbook. For the past few months, Maddie had seen Jazz working on it. She was always collecting Phantom memorabilia for it; there were news cuttings, photos printed off the internet, ghost-art, pictures of those ridiculous Phantom plushies, and even the lyrics of what appeared to be a fan made theme-song. Every time she'd seen it, irritation had flared up. Each time, Maddie had pushed it away. But now, finding that scrapbook here, with Jazz working on it when she should be concentrating on school work, Maddie found herself actually angry at the sight of it.
She knew that Phantom was popular among the younger crowd. He was good looking, and powerful, and just the type of charismatic young man that most teenagers either idolize or crush on- even if every ounce of common sense and reason says they shouldn't. And yes, he certainly put up a good public face.
But Maddie never would have believed that Jazz would fall for him.
She'd always had a tight head on her shoulders- she was brutally realistic. Jazz had never even seriously crushed on any movie stars. But quite honestly, Maddie would prefer she crush on any of them, even the most superficial, compared to the ghost boy.
Most superstars were irritable, egotistical, and as shallow as hell. But at least they were human. And none of them had ever tried to murder anyone. Phantom had in fact tried to murder them, personally. Maddie simply could not believe she looked up to this creature in any way, shape, or form. How on earth could Jazz believe the half-baked lies of some glamorous ghost, compared to the actions she'd witnessed firsthand? Didn't she realise how powerful and manipulative Phantom was?
It was dangerous. Maddie shivered, imagining what such a creature could do.
She wished she could make Jazz realise that.
But now she stood in Jazz's room, one of her daughter's most private possessions in her hands. It was her journal, but it was filled with pictures of a vile ecto-entity. One which could put her horrible danger. She was all alone- no one could see her. And so, Maddie did something that went completely against her principles. She took it.
Now she stood in Jazz's room, with one of her daughter's most private possessions in her hand.
It won't do much, Maddie thought, and she stole it away to her own bedroom. She opened one of the lowest drawers, where Jack's T-shirts resided. But hopefully, it will take some of Phantom's influence away from her. And neither Jack nor Jazz would find it there- her husband never wore anything but his jumpsuit, and Jazz was too trusting and respectful of her parents to go rummaging through their things.
Besides, searching through private possessions is what I do, thought Maddie with guilt.
She shook her head, and tucked the scrapbook inside a red shirt. Carefully, she closed the drawer, sealing the book in side. She smiled gravely at her work. She felt almost as though it were Phantom himself she'd captured.