#[yes sam is an a-lister too i rubbed my greedy goblin hands over this au to add some casual goth princess because i can]

[heyheyitsstillgay]

Escaping the Eyes

Phandom Phic Phight Entry #1 based on a prompt from @gottacatchghosts

#TeamGhosts team leader: @ibelieveinahappilyeverafter

Also available on FFN ; Next Entry

Words: 2,411; Status: Complete

Preparing himself as he clicked open the lock, he walked out of the cubicle and over to the sinks.

There it was again. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Adamant to ignore it, he kept his eyes straight, washed and dried his hands and left the room.

It got worse. Contorting his face into a casual bored smirk, he waved to the friends waiting for him. Waved as though his skin wasn't currently trying to crawl away from him.

"Come on man, are you tryin' to make us late?" Called the tall blond, turning away and leading the group down the corridor.

"I'm sorry," Danny retorted, "did you want to arrive at English early? Personally I don't want to be sat at a desk listening to that voice drone on for a single second more than necessary." He snickered.

A sigh escaped the purple lips of the dark haired girl next to him.

"And you wonder why you're failing English."

"Hey! Don't act like you find it remotely interesting. You were complaining about the poetry he's assigned us for the whole of lunch break."

"That's because it's a billion years old written by fancy white guys who weren't even trying to include any of the symbolism we're supposed to be able to see."

"Maybe you're just not looking for their visions hard enough?" Her girlfriend teased.

Despite their apparent running late for class, Dash felt the need to break apart from the front of the group. Of all the gazes on them currently, it was Nathan's he took issue with specifically. How many times did the girl he was unashamedly drooling over have to say no before the geek got the message? Sooner or later the kid was going to get his glasses broken from being stuffed into his locker at the wrong angle. Serves him right. Two less eyes on them. Two out of hundreds.

Needless to say, Danny didn't focus in class. He took his seat, at the far back right, like always. To get as far away from the teachers scrutinising gaze as possible. To get as far away from everyone's dissecting glare as possible. Of course, that feeling was still there. Something still studied him. It was almost tangible, wind clawing through and ruffling his hair. Externally, boredom seemed to weigh him down, slumping backwards in his chair. In reality he was clenching his jaw and leaning away from the stress biting at his neck. Oh my god, can he spend one second not being torn apart, please?

He can't help that he's 'special' or 'better' or 'skilled'. He was born to successful parents, very well off inventors. They have an… interesting hobby. They just had to rope him and his sister into it. He's a Fenton, that comes with intelligence and precision. His dad's gene pool perfect for muscle development, his mom's skills perfect for fighting. Fentons were supposed to be ghost hunters, he'd been raised to defend, protect and fight from a young age. He enjoyed it, learning 'ghost hunting skills' was about the only time he actually saw his parents because they were so busy with the family business.

The school bell was like a starting horn. Sure he'd been roped into being on the football team, how couldn't he with his athleticism? But track had always been one of his favourites. Over the sound of chairs scraping against the floor, he yelled a "Laters!" to his friends as he threw his bag over his shoulder. He bolted out of the door.

Too many, too many, too many. He weaved through the groups of people beginning to form in the hallways. No way was he spending one more moment than necessary here. Sure he loves the friends he's made but, there's always just, so many eyes. So many people. Looking up to him? Watching him? Another one of the cool teens who could have no imperfections. Having to exist around the sheep who ate at his soul with just their stares, day in, day out. A nightmare. It drains him, makes him feel dead on his feet. Slamming out of the doors, smirking in anticipation, he darts behind a shed.

Why? This wasn't right. It was supposed to go away. If he was truly alone then how can he still feel it? His senses are heightened now, he knows that that's why his school life is so much more difficult than it used to be, ever since the accident. His body can't be lying to him about feeling something nearby, if it is then he may go insane.

"Hey Phantom." He scowls as he finally notices the techno-geek crouched in the dirt.

"I told you not to call me that, especially when I look like this. The hell are you doing here Foley?" Calm washes over Danny as Tucker looks back to his PDA.

"Waiting for you. You realise it's painfully obvious that you always hide behind here-"

"I do not hide."

"-after school at every opportunity and that you're never seen leaving this spot either. Sure morons go to this school but I didn't take you for one of them."

Danny knows Tucker doesn't understand him. Sure, the teen was there when it happened but that was all, he was still a nerd. Tucker wants attention from other people, Danny wants to be left to his friends and hobbies without everyone else's judging looks. Thoughts running through their heads, about him, as though they knew anything about him. He used to want to trade places with Tucker, he came across as kind of a loner but he has the ability to blend into the background, to do what he wants without scrutiny from everyone. When people look at Danny, they could be thinking anything about him; jealousy, loathing, admiration, hatred. When people look at Tucker, their eyes gloss over him, no second thoughts needed. When Danny glares at the people who look at him, it's out of envy that they don't know what it's like to live in a constant spotlight. Being in the A-list is so much, too much, it burns, his skin bubbling and melting under the pressure.

"Then what do you suggest?" Danny folds his arms and stands with his shoulders back.

"Dude, mix it up a bit, there are other places to hide in this school. Or just like, walk off school grounds like a normal person and duck into an alleyway on your way home."

"Yeah? Because normal people duck into alleyways?"

Eyes still locked on his PDA, the boy sighs and shrugs his shoulders.

"You're not normal anymore, man. If you're so insistent on hiding yourself then you should make it so no one will guess where to find you." Tucker stood from his spot on the floor and hoisted his backpack on.

"Tsk, whatever." Danny mumbles as he turns away.

No one is looking at him anymore. Otherworldly energy thrummed from within, Danny grasps at it, pacing forward slowly and increasing his speed, light surrounds him as he envelopes himself in the instinct he'd been suppressing all day. Mid-jump, he vanishes.

It's like surfacing from water. He inhales deeply and soars. His hair pushed back by the breeze, body spinning occasionally from the thrill of it all. He doesn't have to look down to know that the earth is moving away from him, or rather, he is pushing free of it. He reaches out his hand above him as the clouds near his fingertips. They don't feel like anything but they were still magnificent. The world morphed to pinks and blues and yellows as he moves through them and drops the invisibility. He doesn't need it anymore. No one could see him up here, he may as well not exist. It's bliss.

The stark green glow of his eyes reflect onto the clouds as he races above them. He can't stop the laugh that escapes his throat, so he doesn't, he doesn't need to.

Time passing is shown by the oranges swarming in the sky. If he pictures the clouds as a couch then he can just lounge among them. It's still too bright out to see the stars but that doesn't bother him much. There's always later, if he awakes at night from the cold again, he can come see the stars then. Some day he's gonna decide to be stupid enough to go further and see how close he can get to touching them without killing himself again like a total imbecile. Is it supposed to be worrying that he looks forward to it? He doesn't think he's meant to. Death has had a strange beauty and grace ever since he became part ghost about four months ago. It's so much happier than he expected it to be when he was human. Times like these, getting away from it all, makes him want to go through another tomorrow, to do it again. He has so much hope, he wants to stay here forever.

He doesn't, obviously. He has to eat at some point. Remind his parents, hilariously, that he's not dead.

He doesn't change back to his other form when he reaches the ground. Just casually strolls around as if the fact that he's glowing shouldn't be a big deal. He curls into himself to keep from being too recognisable as his human counterpart. No one gives him a second glance. It's like he's still invisible. He didn't try this for the first two months after the accident but since the beginning, other ghosts have been popping up everywhere. His parents have been overjoyed with the hunt, regular people give them a wide berth and try to pretend like the dead aren't floating among them.

He loves that. Doesn't even have to be invisible for people to look through him now. A blanket of calm envelops him for the whole walk. Arms hanging loose at his side, he takes in the beauty of the sky and trees from the ground and grins to himself. He doesn't notice any other ghosts on his way back, which is kind of a shame. Danny loves hanging out with the spirits, no one around even stops to wonder what they're doing, too busy backing away attempting to give them as much space as possible. It was Saturday tomorrow, he'd normally meet up with Ember and her friends and mess around on the high-street. He'll have to find something else to do this weekend though, she's been super busy working on an upcoming album for the human world. Danny had promised he'd tell his human friends about it, spread the hype around Casper High. She'd jumped at the idea, offering backstage passes for himself and his friends. He'd had to turn her down of course, there's no way he's being spotted with VIP passes to a concert as Fenton when he could hang from the rafters and prat around as a Phantom instead.

It's odd how he can sense that more people look at him as Fenton than they do when he's Phantom. He could float into Nasty Burger via the wall and the people inside would actually try to avoid his gaze. Thrilling.

His stroll home is quiet, even the voices in his head are calm. There are never more than two pairs of eyes on him at a time. Even then they always look away quickly. Transforming back in the alleyway by the side of his house, he scales the drain pipe to get into his room.

It's funny how much he enjoys being at his house too. There's a basement full of devices being designed to hunt things like him. It doesn't bother him, it's the portal in that room that makes it all worth it.

He's been there before, the first time was about a month after the accident. Spirits live there, they're actual people, a whole manner of shapes, but they all glow, like him. They glance at him with only mild curiosity and then they move on with their afterlives. Understanding is beginning to form for his parents obsession. It's like a whole other world. Green as far as you can see but there's more to it than that. So many greens, so many shapes and textures and things with purposes he can't even begin to comprehend. He really wants to though.

The beings there speak in a strange language too, he's heard them, is somehow able to understand them. Crowded around the portal, he's overheard rumours. Someone said they saw a being that was half ghost half human. It took a moment to think, maybe that's what he was? Everyone around the ghost who spoke about it laughed though.

"A creature of both worlds, you say?" They had been shaking their head in disbelief, "don't be ridiculous, something like that couldn't truly exist."

In a moment of courage and curiosity, Danny had nudged a child at the edge of the group, the boy was dressed like a wizard, a skeletal owl perched upon his shoulder.

"Y'know," Danny whispered, "I'm a human who can make myself look like a ghost, what does that make me?"

The kid who was already holding back giggles about the current topic burst into all out laughter. He curled his knees up into his chest as tears formed in his eyes.

"Stop it! That's so silly!" the boy exclaimed.

"No, I'm serious, I can." Danny smiled.

"Yeah?" said the boy, his eyes shone "Wanna play a game with it?"

The boy, Youngblood he called himself, ended up dressed like an Olympic racer. They spent an hour or so running back and forth across a long floating rock. "Running on our feet of all things!" Youngblood had laughed, both moving as though gravity affected them. Danny even let him win a few times. He made a new friend. The best bit? Anyone who noticed, didn't care. This was his life now, no one back home would figure any of it out just by looking at him.

Ghosts didn't think he was anything special. He could be invisible just like the rest of them. He could be himself and he knew none of them even cared. Didn't even believe he was human, Youngblood had decided he could shape-shift, Danny had shrugged his shoulders and went along with it when the kid told anyone.

His human friends were fun. His ghost friends made him feel free.

Based on GottaCatchGhosts' Prompt - A-lister Danny Fenton likes to relax on his days off by hanging out around town as his nobody counterpart, Danny Phantom. (basically, an AU where fenton is popular and phantom isn't.)

I accidentally glazed over the "on his days off" parts and only dedicated two paragraphs to "hanging out" whoops, hope it's okay