Well, you guys said you wanted the sad one, so here you go. Vote on my profile page poll if you want to tell me what to put up next. :)

Hooky

February 18, 2013

Death lies heavily on someone who, known to all, dies unknown to himself – Thyestes

Danny was positively beaming as he walked down the hallway to meet up with Sam and Tucker.

All of his homework was complete and intact. He hadn't been kept awake by any ghosts last night and was actually at school on time… a couple minutes early, in fact, so he wouldn't get a detention. Dash was nowhere in sight, but Paulina had actually looked his way.

Seriously. Nothing could ruin this day…

Except for his two best friends pulling him into an empty classroom to lecture him with grim expressions on their faces.

They whirled him into a seat and both stood opposite him, their arms folded.

He quirked his eyebrow and looked at them with an expression that was part confusion, amusement, and apprehension. "Umm, guys…?"

"Danny," Sam sighed, putting her face in her hands. "You can't keep on doing this."

"Doing what?" he asked, thoroughly confused. He didn't know that he had done anything wrong. And certainly nothing that they had talked to him about before this… he was totally lost in this conversation, but from the look on Tucker's face, Danny realized that he should know what was going on.

But he didn't. And that confused him even more.

"Coming to school. You can't keep coming to school."

Danny looked at Sam in disbelief. "What," he began to chuckle. "You're trying to get me to play hooky now? I don't get it. I go here. Why can't I come to school?"

He watched his friends' faces fall even further and he realized that he had somehow said the wrong thing. But he still didn't get this. He didn't get this at all. He was a student at Casper High- why shouldn't he be here on a Tuesday morning?

Sam licked her lips and worked her jaw a couple times, looking like she was about to say something, but was ultimately unable to spit it out. Tucker put a reassuring hand on her shoulder as emotion threatened to overtake her.

Danny tilted his head, his brain racing through everything that could have made Sam this upset. She never showed any kind of emotion, and yet now it looked like she was about to start crying.

What had he done wrong?

He reached out a hand. "What is it, Sam?" he asked softly. "Why can't I come to school?"

Eyes bright with unshed tears looked up at him sharply. "Because you're dead, Danny, that's why!"

At her outburst, Danny fell back in shock, his mouth falling wide open and his eyes growing wider still. He looked at the way she had emotionally crumpled after telling him, and then to Tucker, who stood holding her and silently nodding, confirming what Sam had just said.

He was… dead?

"I… I…" his brow creased and he looked up with a pained expression.

Sam looked into his eyes for just a moment before dashing out of the room.

Danny looked to Tucker for help. His friend dug a small mirror out of his pocket and held it up in front of him as if it were habit.

Danny hesitantly moved to the image reflected back at him.

Green eyes. White hair. Ghostly glow.

He looked back to Tucker, a thousand unasked questions flooding his mind, but his mouth was unable to form any of them coherently. It was alright, though; Tucker understood.

"It was the accident in the portal. It… killed you." He waited for it to sink in. "The portal killed you, Danny."

Danny looked down as the truth was finally beginning to dawn on him.

"Please," Tucker said. Danny looked up to meet his eyes, wondering what his friend meant by that pleading tone, that hitch in his voice.

"Please… stop coming to school. It…" his voice threatened to give out again, so he stopped and swallowed to steady himself. "It gets harder to tell you every time…" he ended with a whisper before moving toward the door, leaving behind a stunned and devastated image of his best friend.

Then Tucker walked out without turning around…

He had to get to class.

The end. Bonus feature in the next chapter.