#then it JUMPS like 1-3 weeks i don't really remember. huh? then she can kiss violet or louis? really?? i don't feel connected with these

[imekitty]

Star Error XII

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11

Star investigates Danny’s glowing freckles.

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A back door near the dumpster opened. Star jumped but relaxed when she saw Valerie walking out wearing a Nasty Burger shirt and hat and carrying a black trash bag.

"Valerie!" Star held her hands behind her back sheepishly. "I was just—I mean, I forgot you work here."

"Every Thursday after school," said Valerie dully.

"Ah." Star nodded. "So, taking out the trash, huh?"

"Well, yes." Valerie lifted the dumpster lid with one hand and swung the trash bag in with the other. "But it was really just an excuse to come out here and talk to you."

"About what?"

"I think you know about what. I saw you come out here with Danny."

Valerie put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot. Star tried to look innocent as she waited for Valerie to elaborate.

"Star, we don't really talk as much anymore," said Valerie with a sigh. "But you and I are still friends."

"Of course we are," said Star. "You've just been busy with all your part-time jobs."

"Seems you've been busy, too," said Valerie. "Spreading nasty rumors about Danny."

Star rolled her eyes. "It was one rumor. Singular."

"Doesn't make it less nasty," retorted Valerie. "And Danny doesn't deserve that. Danny's my friend too, and I know how vicious you can get. That rumor you made up wasn't even half as bad as you could've made it."

"True." Star shrugged. "I'm saving some tricks up my sleeve."

"Tricks for what?" Valerie glared at her. "Star, what exactly is your beef with Danny? First I hear you two are dating, then I hear you haven't kissed him yet because you're waiting for him to get more practice, and then he breaks up with you publicly in a video everyone in school has seen by now?"

"I—" Star twirled a lock of her hair. "It's kind of hard to explain, but—well, I'm trying to prove something about him because Paulina, Dash, and Kwan all think I'm crazy."

"What are you trying to prove?"

"Uh—well—" Star paused. "Wait, you dated him for a little while, didn't you?"

Valerie tensed. "Yeah, for like a little little while. But I had to break it off because I was too busy with—er—work."

"But you got to know him pretty well, didn't you?" asked Star. "You must've seen his freckles glow, right?"

Valerie raised a brow. "I must've seen what?"

"His freckles. You've seen them glow, haven't you?"

"Uh…" Valerie glanced up at the sky before shaking her head and looking at Star again. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"No!" insisted Star. "Look, when I was tutoring him in math earlier this week, the questions were all space related and he started talking about stars and galaxies and light-years and he got all excited and his freckles just lit up."

Valerie laughed. "Yeah, he does get pretty excited when he's talking about space stuff."

"Right?" Star held a hand out to her. "So you do know what I'm talking about! You've seen his freckles glow, right?"

"Uh—well, no." Valerie pouted in thought. "I remember talking about it over text, not in person."

Star groaned. "Come on, you've gotta know what I'm talking about. It's like tiny stars on his face."

"Star, that really does sound kind of crazy," said Valerie. "I don't blame the rest of the A-List for not believing you."

"But it's true!" insisted Star. "I saw it with my own eyes! I'm not making it up. Come on, Val, you really never noticed anything weird about him when you two were together?"

Valerie pursed her lips and folded her arms, looking off to the side. "I didn't say that."

"You mean you have noticed something weird about him?" asked Star eagerly.

"Nothing like his freckles glowing, but uh—well, you know that I've been dabbling a little in ghost hunting ever since that Phantom dick lost my dad his job."

"Yeah," said Star. "I mean, I've seen some ghost-hunting gadgets in your room. Are you still doing that? Going after Danny Phantom for revenge, I mean?"

"Never mind that," said Valerie, waving her hand to dismiss the question. "But there were a couple of times when my ghost detectors went off around Danny. At first I thought it was just a coincidence, that there just happened to be another ghost somewhere nearby, but it's happened so many times around just him and no one else. So it must be something about him that sets off my detectors."

"What about him?" asked Star. "I mean, do you have a guess?"

"My only guess is that it has something to do with his parents' research," said Valerie. "Like he just carries some spectral residue from home sometimes. Or else he's just been exposed to some kind of spectral radiation that he's been breathing in or soaking up in his skin."

"Have you ever used the detectors around his parents? His sister? She goes to our school," said Star. "Or what about his friends, Manson and Foley? They go to his house all the time, I think."

"Hmm." Valerie thought for a moment. "No, they've only ever gone off around Danny. Never his sister or his friends or even his parents."

"But what does that mean?" asked Star.

Valerie shrugged, running her shoe over some loose gravel on the ground. "It means there's definitely something weird about him. Maybe weird enough to make his freckles glow."

"So you believe me when I say his freckles glow?" asked Star, glad to get even just one person to believe she wasn't crazy right now.

"It wouldn't be the weirdest thing I've seen," said Valerie. "I've seen a lot of weird things, Star. Ever since ghosts started appearing in Amity Park, literally anything seems possible to me. I mean, I never thought ghosts were real before."

Star looked up at the sky, searching for signs of any ghosts that might be flying above them. "Neither did I," she murmured.

Valerie checked the time on her watch. "I have to get back to work." She pointed a finger at Star. "But promise me you'll leave Danny alone, all right? Or you're gonna have to answer to me, friend or not."

Star cocked her head. "Do you still like him? I mean, like, like him like him?"

Valerie smiled fondly. "What's not to like? He's sweet, he's funny. Pretty cute, too."

The memory of Fenton's smile flashed in Star's head, causing her to blush and attempt to shake it out.

"But he and I aren't ever happening," said Valerie, smoothing out her work shirt and adjusting her hat. "But I'll tell you what, whoever does finally land that boy is gonna be one lucky girl."

Star could feel even more warmth creeping into her face but tried to play it off with a dismissive wave of her hand. "As if. That geek isn't any kind of prize."

Valerie shrugged. "Agree to disagree, I guess."

Valerie opened the back door and reentered the Nasty Burger. Star made a face and started on her way back home, trying to come up with the best yes-or-no question to ask Fenton, one that would somehow reveal whatever his big secret was.

Part 13