AN: Sorry, guys. I kinda hit a rough spot in my life. It'll get better with time. I don't think anything important happens in this chapter. I was going to put something significant, but it got kind of long. Next time...

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom and all related characters, locations, and all that other junk belong to Butch Hartman.

What Once Was

Chapter 3

Sticky seats, grease-covered tables, and pungent air were the trademark of Amity Park's top teen hangout. A place for students of all social classes meet up and interact, but not with each other.

Pushing the door open, Tucker took a deep breath to inhale the aromas of the fast food joint. "Mmmmm... Nasty Burger... Home of the nastiest burgers EVER!" He threw his arms up for emphasis. "I mean nastiest as a good thing, of course."

"There's no other way to enjoy a burger if it doesn't have the word 'nasty' in front of it," Danny agreed, sliding into the trio's familiar booth.

"Why do you guys like burgers so much? They're just a putrid conglomeration of the remnants of a helpless animal, unable to protect itself from the clutches of glutenous human beings!" raged Sam, with a look of revulsion on her face.

"Well, Sam, meat is delicious! You wouldn't understand. Just go back to eating your green, crunchy veggies cause meat is, and always will be, the best!"

"UGH, TUCKER! I am going to shove a salad up you nose! Then you'll have to admit that vegetables are the more superior food group!" When Sam took a step forward, Danny finally decided to intervene.

"Calm down you guys, we've been over this before. Both protein and whatever's in vegetables are essential to a healthy diet. But there are alternative methods of ingesting such nutrients, so let's tone down the volume because people are starting to notice."

True to Danny's word, a few upperclassmen had turned their heads at the quarreling duo; only to resume their previous activities once they saw that their attention had been averted by two loserish freshman.

"I think it's my turn to order, so I'll go do that. No more arguing! At least until I get back." Danny reprimanded them before walking off towards the counter.

"What, does he think we're babies or something?" Sam rolled her eyes at Danny's retreating figure.

"I don't care what he calls us, as long as I get my super deluxe double nasty burger combo with extra meat sauce!" Tucker exclaimed as he began bouncing up and down in his seat. "Double the nasty equals double the delicious! Is that an oxymoron?"

"The only moron here is you, Tucker" Sam said, relaxing into her seat.

...

Danny approached the counter, mentally reviewing everything he had to order so he wouldn't embarrass himself by screwing up.

"Next." the cashier called.

Danny walked up to the counter. "I'd like a number 3 with cheese, no tomatoes, a number 5, and a number 7 with double the meat and extra meat sauce on the side. Also, a large basket of cheese fries and 3 large strawberry nasty shakes."

"Is that all?" Danny nodded. "That'll be $19.85"

As he pulled out his wallet, Danny noticed a familiar face standing on the opposite side of the counter. "Hey Valerie!" Danny shouted, waving the arm that wasn't holding his wallet.

Valerie looked shocked when she heard Danny call her name. She hastily replaced the mascot head back over her own head and scampered out the back down.

"Huh, maybe she didn't hear me." Danny reasoned as he laid the money down on the counter. He took his receipt and waited for his order number to be called.

After a quick wait, Danny's number was called. He walked up to take his order and returned to the booth where his friends were waiting.

As soon as the tray hit the table, Tucker's hands snatched up his burger.

"Ahh, the perfect combination of grease, fat, and meat!" Tucker sighed contently as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

Sam rolled her eyes at Tucker's antics as she reached for her own sandwich.

"Hey guys," Danny said, sliding in next to Sam, "I just saw Valerie behind the counter. I waved and said 'hi', but she just ignored me."

"Are you sure she heard you?" Tucker asked with a mouthful of burger. "It's probably pretty loud back there with all the deep fryers and stuff. Mmm deep fry" He shoved a few fries into his mouth.

"Well she said she'd talk to you when school came around. Maybe she still needs some time away from you to think things out. Plus, starts back up on monday., so you'll she her then. It's only wednesday; you can wait till then. I guess there is a positive side to global disasters after all." Sam responded, hoping to snuff out any talk about Valerie.

"Yeah, you're right, Sam. She'll talk to me when she ready." Danny nodded with his head down. "I hope she wants to remain friends."

"You're a superhero dude!" Tucker proffered while sipping his milkshake. "Don't be so mopey. And eat your burger already because I'm almost done mine and I'm totally going to dig into that if you don't."

Danny snatched his burger away before Tucker could make any advances on it. "Fine, whatevs,"

The three friends idly ate their meals in reticence.

"So Tucker," Sam jumped in before the silence dragged on too long. "When does your job at the Axiom Labs start?"

"On Friday. Actually, it officially starts on monday, but I have to go there friday morning to learn all the ropes of the place. And they're gonna give me my pass card then! I'm so excited!"

"Awesome! Are you gonna give us a tour afterwards? The one we took on that field trip was neat, but I think you'd make a waaay better tour guide." Danny smiled, burger crumbs sprinkling his face.

"Danny! You've got crumbs all over your mouth!" Sam complained, grabbing a napkin to wipe off the accused food bits. When Danny's face was cleaned to Sam's satisfaction, the pair noticed a goofy-faced Tucker staring at them.

"Shut up, Tucker!" Sam raged, kicking Tucker in his shin from under the table. The sharp pain caused Tucker to jerk his knee up, hitting the underside of the table. The action caused everything on the table to jump, and knocked over Danny's milkshake container.

"Tucker! You're lucky that was empty." Danny said, picking up the container and placing it right-side up on the table."

"Ouch! Sam!" Tucker whined, ignoring Danny's laments. "I didn't say anything! That really hurt..."

"Well don't make that face again or you're gonna be uninvited from bowling night at my place."

"I'm still invited to bowling night?" Tucker said surprised.

"Yeah, why wouldn't you be?" Sam inquired.

"I thought that maybe you two were gonna hang out by yourselves. You know, cause you're together now." Tucker responded, smirking.

Sam's face began to flush. "Just because Danny and I are dating doesn't mean we aren't going to hang out with you. But for your unnecessary comment, you can throw away our trash. Cmon Danny"

Danny placed his and Sam's trash onto the tray before sliding out of the booth.

"Guyyyss," Tucker frowned, "That's so not fair."

"Then maybe next time you'll keep quiet, you know Sam's sensitive about that stuff."

Sam punched Danny in his shoulder. "I am not sensitive! You guys just annoy me." Sam's face showed her ire. "I'm leaving. Feel free to catch up."

Danny sped up to his departing girlfriend and slid his hand into hers.

"Wait up guys! I'm coming!" Tucker snatched the tray off the table and dumped the trash in the trash can. As he quicken his pace to reach with friends, he suddenly slowed down again when he passed a booth that held a single, disconcerted young blonde.

"Star..." Tucker sighed dreamily before quickly sliding into the booth and placing an arm around the lone girl. "If you were looking for a handsome young man to accompany you, you should've just asked."

"If you're looking for action, go play with your dumb video games." Star retorted, slipping out from under Tucker's arm, "I'm not in the mood."

As Star turned to glanced up to scowl at Tucker, the tear tracks on her face became more apparent.

"Hey Star, what's wrong?" Tucker asked, genuinely concerned.

By this time, Danny and Sam had noticed Tucker's absent and had walked back to see him in a booth with Star. "Yeah, Why aren't you sitting with Paulina and the other A-listers?"

"Well," She sniffled, "It's wednesday and Paulina said my shirt is too peach to count as pink, so she kicked me out of her table! Now I have to sit here all alone and I hate it! Why is she so mean.." Star's voice faded into a whisper as she put her head down to conceal the newly budding tears.

Tucker made a significant look at Sam, accompanied with an arm gesture when Sam had chosen to ignore him. After several long seconds, she finally gave in.

"Ughh Star? The three of us are going bowling at my place and since you're all by yourself, would you like to come with us? It'll be a blast." Sam asked as monotonously as possible and simultaneously rolling her eyes at Tucker's thankful grin.

Star glanced over at the A-list table to see Paulina flirting with Kwan while sitting on Dash's lap. "Yeah sure, it's not like they're going to miss me anyways."

Tucker pumped his arm under the table in excitement and slid out of the booth. Star followed him out. As the foursome passed the A-list table, Star flipped her hair and held her head up high. Nobody even looked up because they were too busy listening to Paulina talk about how she thought her breasts were lopsided.

The four teens exited the building and made their way down the street towards Sam's house.

"When are we going to get there!" Star groaned, "these boots were not made for walking."

"I could always carry you there if you wanted," Tucker suggested, looking over at Star.

Sam flipped her head around to look at Tucker. "Shut up, Tucker. And Star, it's coming up right after the bend.

The four made the final turn onto Sam's street and saw a lonesome building surrounded by lush grass and exotic flora. Star stopped dead in her tracks.

"That is your house?" Star's fell agape as she stared at the massive mansion.

"Yeah Tucker, what a great idea! Let's bring the girl with the biggest mouth in the whole school over to my house!" Sam punched Tucker in the arm with all her might. "Now, Star if you don't mind, could you not tell anybody that I'm rich? That'd be great."

"Dude that really hurt!" Tucker exclaimed as he nursed his injured arm. "And you don't have to be mean to Star! I'm sure she won't tell, right Star?"

Star gave them a disbelieving look. "Uhhh are you serious? You could buy Paulina out like 3 times over!"

"But you're not going to tell anybody that or I'm going to have to thrown off my property!" Sam glared over her shoulder at Star. "So either don't say anything or get lost."

"Fine, fine." Star relented. "I won't tell anyone, but that's only because I want to see the inside of your house..err.. mansion."

"House. And don't think you're going to get a grand tour or anything, we're just going to the basement for bowling." Sam walked up to the front door and fiddled with her keys before finding the right one. "Welcome to the Manson Mansion," she said dryly.

The four friends filed into the house and started towards the basement. Sam, Danny, and Tucker were unfazed by the luxurious décor that surrounded them and walked the familiar path towards their destination. Star, however, felt compelled to stop and appreciate everything she passed by. She sped from one object to the next; eyes scanning hungrily over the whole room. "Ohhh mann, Paulina would be sooo jealoussss!" She whispered to herself.

"Hurry up, Star!" Sam called from down the corridor, "Get your butt over here, or we're going to start without you!"

Star scrambled over to the basement door and scurried down the steps only to skid to a stop when she noticed the shocking bowling alley in front of her. "You've got to be kidding me. YOU HAVE A BOWLING ALLEY IN YOUR HOUSE?"

"Yeah, what else did you think I meant by 'We're bowling at my place'?" Sam asked as she walked over to the monitor and began setting up their game.

"I knew you said that, but I never thought you'd actually have a bowling alley in your house! This is too cool." Star said as she relaxed into a bean bag chair.

"As long as you don't tell anyone, I don't really care." Sam typed one last thing before hitting 'enter' and walking towards the ball return to start. "And I'm totally going to own you at bowling anyways."

"No way! I rock at bowling!" Star challenged.

Danny and Tucker plopped down in their usual seats. "Oh no," Danny said looking at the two girls, "if they start up, we could be here a while."

"I could deal with that," Tucker replied, putting his arms behind his head. "I love Sam's house. Plus, cat fights are the best."

Danny smacked Tucker's knee. "Ow, Danny!" Tucker winced. "I see Sam's habits have begun to rub off on you." That shut Danny up.

Sam picked up her favorite purple bowling ball with the subtle amount of sparkle. Making sure the surface was buffed to her satisfaction, Sam walked over and rolling the ball onto the lane. The ball cruised down the lane and knocked over 7 pins. A silence fell over the group as Sam waited for her ball to appear through the ball return. When it emerged, Sam took it and observe the remaining pins. The 6, 9 and 10 pins remained. Easy enough, she thought. With immaculate form, Sam rolled the ball down the lane and knocked down the last three pins, earning herself a spare. Satisfied, Sam returned to her seat next to Danny and raised an eyebrow at Star, waiting for her to challenge Sam's score.

Jumping off her seat, Star strutted over to Sam's collection of bowling balls to pick her favorite. After testing the weight of several balls, Star selected a creamy peach one. She carried it back to her lane and gave Sam another look. With a harrumph, Star tossed her hair and rolled the ball down the lane. 9 pins fell. Star smirked. After retrieving her ball from the ball return, Star stared down at the last remaining pin. She rolled the ball with a slight grunt. It passed by the pin, leaving it standing. "Dang it!" Star spun around on her heel. "It's only the beginning, I'll pass you in a minute!"

"Yeah right!" Sam countered. "You'll never catch up to this!" She got up and walked over to get her ball.

"Wait, Sam!" Danny got out of his seat to stop her. "What about me and Tucker's turns?"

Sam sighed, "Ughhhh hurry up! I wanna win!"

"In your dreams, Manson!" Star shouted.

This is going to take a while. Tucker thought, putting his elbow on his knee and resting his head on the palm of his hand.

...

She looked up at the stark white building. "This looks like the place." She took a deep breath before walking up to the entrance.

Opening the front door, Valerie Gray stepped inside.