I'M ALLIIIIVEEEE!

Haha. Sorry for the long wait, guys.

Here's the brand new chapter I promised. :)

Enjoy!

Chapter 11 (Danny): Just walk beside me and be my friend.

One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.

-Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Danny was lonely. Danielle said that it was because he didn't have any friends.

Mom said that friends were people you could tell everything to, they were people you could laugh with and play with and share secrets with.

Danny didn't have anyone like that. He had Danielle- -but she wasn't his friend, she was his sister. And she was too little to do anything but cry sometimes.

There were other kids his age that he liked, like Valerie Grey, but he wasn't allowed to tell them that he was a ghost. And if he was scared to tell them his big secret, then they didn't really count as friends, did they?

There was always Auntie Ember and Uncle Skulker, but they were old and Uncle Skulker didn't like him much anyway. Auntie Ember was nice, but she was their babysitter, so Danny couldn't trust her not to tell on him if he did something bad.

Friends were people you told about bad things, and they would help fix it.

He didn't have friend.

Until he met her.

Danny wasn't sure what to make of the girl who could see his dog.

This wasn't weird; anyone could see a dog. But Cujo wasn't a normal dog; he was a ghost dog. So not everyone could see him when he didn't want to be seen. And Cujo never wanted to be seen by other people, because other people were bad and had hurt Cujo. That was why Cujo didn't want to be a normal dog anymore and turned into a ghost dog; so people wouldn't hurt him.

(That was what Auntie Ember had said. Danny had asked if that was why she was a ghost, and Auntie Ember suddenly looked like she wanted to cry. Danny didn't ask again.)

Cujo went invisible when there were people around. Danny always knew where he was, but that was because Danny was a ghost too. The dark-haired girl wasn't a ghost, but she was staring right at his dog.

Maybe it was because she was a kid, too. Maybe Cujo only hid from adults.

But Valerie Grey hadn't been able to see him when he was invisible either.

So why was this girl able to?

Her parents couldn't see the glowing dog; he knew that. Their eyes passed right over Cujo without seeing him, just like Uncle Jack's did when he and Danny were playing hide'n'seek. Back when Danny had called him 'Dad'.

He frowned. Maybe he wasn't the only one with the wrong dad. The redheaded mom and blond dad didn't look anything like the girl who could see his dog, and Auntie Ember said that kids always looked like their moms and dads.

He walked up to the girl and sat down next to her. She stared at him.

"I don't think your dad is really your dad," Danny said matter-of-factly. The girl looked confused, so Danny explained. "I was like tha' too. I thought Uncle Jack was my dad, but then it turned out he wasn't because I didn' really look like Uncle Jack. I look more like Dad so everyone found out that Dad was my real Dad."

"I don't get it," the girl wrinkled her nose. He patted her knee like Auntie Ember always did when he didn't catch on.

"Don't worry, you will when you find your real dad."

"I think my daddy is real," she protested. "I don't think your dog is, though."

He frowned and picked up his invisible puppy. Cujo turned visible. "Why isn't Cujo real?"

"'Cause he's green," she said. "Dogs can't be green."

"Why not?"

"I dunno," she admitted. "But they're always brown or white or black. I never seen a green dog before."

"That's because he's a ghost."

The girl laughed. "Ghosts aren't real, silly."

"Are too!"

"Are not. Tucker told me that they aren't real, and he's really smart! So there!"

"Are too! I'm a ghost, so there!"

"What?"

Danny slapped his hands over his mouth. Uh-oh.

"Nothing," he squeaked.

"You're a ghost?" the girl stared at him.

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes you are! You said so!"

"I lied!"

"No, you didn't!"

"How would you know?"

They glared at each other. Then the girl turned away, mumbling something.

"What?" Danny asked.

"I said," she scowled at him. "that you're really not a ghost, because you're too lame."

"I am not!" He yelled.

"You are! You didn't even fly here. Ev'ryone knows ghosts can fly," she crossed her arms.

"I can fly!" Angrily, he grabbed her arm- -

- -and suddenly she was screaming because they were high in the air, really high, next to the chandelier.

"Wow," Danny said, eyes widening. "I never flown this high before."

"You really are a ghost," the girl gasped.

Oh no. Dad had said not to tell anyone, because they wouldn't understand. They would hurt him and then he'd be a real ghost like Cujo. The girl would turn him away.

"Please- -" he began, scared.

"That is so cool."

"What?"

The girl grabbed his neck and hoisted herself up so his hands were free. "What else can you do? Can you go through walls and stuff? And haunt people? Huh, huh, huh?"

Danny's mouth fell open. "You don't...hate me?"

"Why would I?" she demanded. "Now show me what you can do!"

Friends were people you could tell secrets to.

He grinned, hands glowing green. "You're going to love this!"

He aimed at his target and left a scorch mark on the Persian rug. The girl laughed in delight.

Friends were people you laughed and played with.

The door creaked open before he could fire the second shot, and the blond dad poked his head through. "Samantha, honey? Sweetheart, we're going home, now. Where are you?"

The two children did their best to stay quiet, clinging to the crystal light fixture.

The girl's dad closed the door and left, yelling. "Pam! She's not in there! Did Mr. Masters say there was another playroom around here?"

Danny breathed a sigh of relief and lowered himself to the ground.

"So your name's Samantha?" He asked.

She scowled. "No, it's Sam. Samantha's stupid. Daddy's stupid, too."

Friends were people you could tell about bad things.

"Oh," he paused. "I like Sam better." Why was Sam turning red? Girls were weird. "I'm Danny."

"Sa-am-an-tha-a! Where are you-u?"

Danny and Sam cringed at the high-pitched, male shriek.

"I gotta go now," she sighed.

"Yeah," Danny said sadly. "Bye."

"Bye, ghostboy," she said, opening giant the doors with some effort.

"Come back again, sometime!" he yelled after her.

"I will!" she yelled back as her dad came back and picked her up.

"Samantha! Don't go running off like that! Do you know how worried we were, young lady..."

As the ranting trailed off, Danny stared at the chandelier and smiled.

It looked like he had found his first real friend.

Yay, Sam!

You know what? Without a deadline, I'm likely to forget to finish a chapter. The weekly updates don't really work because I usually forget what day it is anyway.

So, I'll post the next chapter when this story gets 220 reviews, how's that?

I appreciate all comments, even flames!

RnR please!