Hi everyone!

Recently, I've been having trouble with severe writer's block, as well as a few more personal issues. A few of those personal issues are resolved, although a couple are pretty much still going on, and my writer's block has eased somewhat. Unfortunately, it seems like the next chapters for Power of Blue (which is in the process of being renamed) and Aura Guardians in Time are on hold for the foreseeable future.

On the bright side, this fanfic was born! Some of the ideas for this fanfic were things I experienced, others came to me in the form of plot bunnies. I haven't seen a story out there like this one in this fandom, at least not in the last year or so (I haven't read every fanfic out there so there could be some for this fandom that I haven't read), so I decided to upload this fanfic.

One last thing, for any Valerie fans out there, sorry in advance. This fic will have Valerie bashing but not until later.

X-X

It all started with a rumour. A silly, childish rumour, spread through a school of young, impressionable teenagers; teenagers who would rather stab their friends in the back than stand by them. The rumour started with one Valerie Grey, resident ghost fighter and girlfriend to Tucker Foley. Started from feelings of jealousy, spite and anger, Valerie couldn't even begin to fathom the consequences of the actions she took. Not until it was too late.

Danny Fenton's day was turning out to be a good one. He woke up early, due to a night of peaceful sleep instead of patrolling the town for rogue ghosts, and was able to grab some food before fazing to the roof of his house, transforming into Danny Phantom and flying off to school, getting there in time to quickly finish his homework for Lancer's English class. His best friends, Tucker Foley and Samantha 'Sam' Manson, arrived not long after him and helped him finish his homework, then talked with him for a while before the school bell rang, signalling the beginning of class.

His first two classes went well, as they normally did. There were no ghostly distractions this time, which Danny was thankful for.

At first break, he, along with Sam and Tucker, sat together at one of the tables outside, discussing further ghost-related issues that had come up in the last week, such as Technus reappearing after almost a year locked in the ghost zone and Skulker's everlasting attempts at procuring Danny's 'pelt' for his collection wall.

Lancer's class after first break went surprisingly well. Danny handed in his homework to his surprised teacher, who graded it while his class read through three chapters of their assigned book, The Taming of the Shrew. After class, Lancer handed Danny his homework back with a respectable B- written in the corner in bright red pen. Smiling happily, Danny felt happier than he had in a while.

But at lunch time, that illusion came crashing down around him.

He sat with Sam in the cafeteria, eating his ham and salad sandwich while Sam had her 'Ultra Recyclo-Vegetarian' meal when Tucker came storming up, fire lighting up his normally dark brown eyes. Slamming both of his hands down on the surface of the table, not even caring that he'd almost knocked over Sam's and Danny's water bottles with the force of his slam, he glared daggers at his best friend.

Danny looked into the face of his best friend, frowning at the intense glare he was receiving. "Tucker, what's up?"

Tucker, in response, glared harder. "Well, when you go around calling my girlfriend horrible things, it tends to put me in a bad mood."

Danny started. "What? I-"

"You called her a slut! And a bitch!" Tucker raged, not letting Danny finish his sentence. "She just told me! She's crying her eyes out right now because of what you said, Danny! Don't you know that words hurt?"

Danny looked at Tucker confused. "Tucker, I didn't say anything like that to her."

Tucker saw red. His girlfriend told him what Danny had done and he believed her. How dare Danny deny what he did, Tucker seethed. "Don't lie, Danny! Valerie wouldn't lie to me, I trust her!"

Standing slowly, Danny met his friend's glare with a steady gaze. "I'm you best friend, Tucker. Why would I say those things to your girlfriend? What reason do I have to do that to Valerie?" He said calmly.

By this point, Tucker and Danny had amassed quite a crowd. Students stared at them with interest, eyes gleaming at the new opportunity for gossip for the grape vine.

"You don't like the fact that I have a girlfriend and you can't even muster up the courage to ask Sam out like you've always wanted to! You're jealous!" Tucker spat.

Danny was shocked. He took a step back from his raging best friend. "Tucker, I'm happy for you and Valerie. I wouldn't do anything to hurt you, Tucker, or Valerie. Please, believe that."

"I believe my girlfriend, Daniel!" Tucker yelled. "I believe the girl who was crying in my arms not fifteen minutes ago, afraid of hurting our friendship because of what you said to her!" Tucker shook his head and let out a dry, barking laugh. "You know what, until you admit what you said to her and apologize, I can't be friends with you."

Tears gathered in the corner of Danny's eyes, knowing he was losing his best friend. "Tucker, please, believe me. I wouldn't do anything to hurt either of you. I don't know where this rumour came from, but that's all it is. I would never say anything like that to her." Danny pleaded.

Tucker glared once more at Danny. "If you can't admit it, don't bother trying to talk to us, Danny. We're done." With that, Tucker stormed off in search of his probably still distraught girlfriend.

Danny watched Tucker walking away; feeling like a part of his soul was leaving him forever. Tears burned his eyes and he rubbed furiously trying to get rid of them. He turned back to Sam but froze before he could say anything.

Sam looked stricken. She knew that Tucker wouldn't lie about what he heard, but she didn't think that Danny was guilty of what he'd been accused of either. It left her in the middle, which was the one place she didn't want to be.

"Sam?" Danny asked tentatively, worried about her reaction.

Sam sighed, moving her amethyst coloured eyes to connect with Danny's ice blue. "I don't know who to believe, Danny. I really don't. I'm sorry." She stood, gathered her things and walked away in the same direction as Tucker, intending to talk to him and his girlfriend about Valerie's accusations against Danny.

Danny felt his heart fall into his stomach. His best friend had abandoned him and by the looks of it, Sam would be on her way to doing the same. He sighed, figuring Sam would help sort it out and it would be over by the end of the day.

Not feeling hungry anymore, Danny picked up his tray and dumped it in the trash can, walking out of the cafeteria, well aware of the stares aimed at his back.

By the end of the day, things had gone from bad to worse for Danny.

He walked outside with everyone else leaving the school and waited off to the side of the main steps for Sam to walk home with, as was their usual routine. Tucker usually joined them, unless he had chess club or some other after school club meeting, but Danny knew that Tucker would just ignore him when he came out.

And that's exactly what Tucker did. He looked at Danny, just a brief glance, turned his nose up and walked away, Valerie hanging on his arm. Danny frowned, upset that his best friend didn't even give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Danny Fenton!"

Danny snapped his head around to see his other best friend marching towards him, a look of anger on her face. She came close to him, raised her hand and swung, slapping him across the face. The slap echoed and the remaining students, including resident bully, jock and captain of the football team, Dash Baxter and his fellow jocks, stopped and watched the scene unfold before them.

Holding his red, stinging cheek with tears gathering once again in his eyes, Danny looked at Sam with pleading eyes, silently asking why she slapped him.

She just glared at him. "You know why, Danny Fenton. How could you hurt Valerie like that? She didn't do anything to you!"

Grasping Sam's forearms, Danny tried to plead with her again, make her understand that he would never hurt Valerie the way she claimed. But Sam ripped her arms away, glared one last time and stormed away, her backpack flung over her shoulder. She was furious and knew that if she stayed one more moment, she would do something else she'd regret.

Danny watched her leave, feeling like his heart was being torn in two. Both of his friends had left him in a single day. Could it get any worse?

Well, as Danny found out when he got home, it could and would get worse.

Danny's parents, Jack and Maddie Fenton, had spent the day working on a new invention, which had left a huge mess in the basement that they expected Danny to clean.

Not only was the mess in almost every corner of the basement lab but Danny had to wear two sets of gloves to avoid getting it on himself because whatever was in the chemical goo around the lab was affecting his ghost form, and his human form slightly. Already a small, blue bruise was blooming on the inside of his right wrist, making it feel tight and rigid.

Danny cleaned the lab as best he could, working on it for hours. At seven, he called up to his parents to see if he could take a break. His dad called back down that he could have a break when he finished. When he finally had finished, it was after 10 and his parents had gone to bed. Jazz, his sister, would be studying, or rather, cramming for next week's Spanish final.

Danny trudged up the stairs from the basement, stomach growling, to find that no food had been left out for him. He checked the oven, the microwave, the fridge; nothing. Dad must have eaten it, Danny thought bitterly. With nothing left to do, and no-one left awake, Danny phased up through the floor of his room, and got ready for bed.

Lying down, Danny finally left the events of the day overwhelm him and he cried. He cried for his friends who abandoned him, for his parents who forgot about him and for his sister who didn't care. He had no idea what the next day would bring but he hoped it would be better than this one.