Monday - Jazz
Danny has been acting weird lately. Jazz noticed a change in him four weeks and four days ago. He was more secretive and, frankly, skittish. She thought talking to Mr. Lancer would help, and sought him out. She found him outside the school that morning, jumping on a personal trampoline and, of all things, waving pompoms around.
"Casper! High! Spirit! Oomph!"
Mr. Lancer landed on his face after attempting a silly-looking jump. He stared up at Jazz, smiled, and stood, brushing off his knees. "Ahh, Spirit Week. I love it so. The pomp, the circumstance, and mostly the spirit sparklers!" He pulled out a photo of himself when he was younger. The image depicted him in a Casper High cheerleader outfit. "Jasmine, did you know I was a cheerleader when I went to school here?"
"Really?" Jazz said, her face scrunched up, trying to hide her horror. "Weird. No clue. Look, can I talk to you for a minute, Mr. Lancer? About my brother Danny?" They started walking into the school building as Jazz talked. "He's been acting really strange lately. Like he's not himself anymore. I'd talk to him, but I'm his older sister, and he's just going to think I'm being bossy. And if he doesn't get some help, if he doesn't talk to somebody, all that frustration he's repressing could come out the wrong way."
Mr. Lancer smiled. "Don't worry, Jasmine. I already have someone in mind."
They stopped in front of Ms. Spectra's office, and Mr. Lancer opened the door. To Jazz's surprise, the room was trashed. A filing cabinet sizzled, scorch marks burned on the walls, and a chair was overturned on the wrong side of the room. Standing in the center of it all was her little brother Danny.
Earlier - Danny
While walking past Ms. Spectra's office, Danny's ghost sense went off. He just took care of the Lunch Lady on Friday, and already there was another ghost? He peeked through the window of the office door. Yup. A ghost was in there. It looked like a classic sheet ghost with a round head and wavy lower half, only it was green with red eyes. It just floated there, but it smiled wickedly when it saw Danny. It showed jagged teeth.
Danny whipped his head around. He was alone in the hallway, and the security cameras faced away from him. He transformed into his ghost form and phased through the door.
"Okay, what do you want, buddy?" he asked the ghost–or tried to. As soon as Danny turned tangible, the ghost's fist hit the side of his head. Danny staggered back into the door, seeing stars. The ghost laughed, and Danny raised his arms to defend himself. He shook his head to clear it. He just managed to block the next blow. Danny retaliated with a punch, pushing the ghost back.
The fight took to the air. Danny struggled to hit the ghost. He wasn't used to fighting hand-to-hand while in the air. He switched to shooting ectoblasts but still missed.
An ectoblast finally singed the side of the ghost, who growled and flew through the ceiling. Instead of following him, Danny transformed back to his human self out of anger.
"Good one, Fenton," he muttered, glaring at his palms. "You let him get away, you idiot!" He growled at himself and kicked a chair across the room.
That's when the door opened. Danny's head shot up in surprise, his anger melting away. He was even more surprised to see Jazz there with Mr. Lancer. Only then did he notice the destruction around him.
Danny held up his hands placatingly. "I know this looks bad, but–"
"Save it, Mr. Fenton," Mr. Lancer said. "As soon as Ms. Spectra arrives, we'll all have a nice talk."
"I'm here," came a woman's voice. Ms. Spectra pushed her way into the room. Her red hair was styled in sweeping points like devil horns. She wore a smart button-up blouse and a short skirt that matched her pink heels. Her green eyes narrowed on Danny behind her thin glasses, but she smiled at the same time.
Behind her followed a short, graying man in a suit and bowtie tailored to him. He had green eyes above a tidy mustache. His suit jacket opened to reveal a red vest underneath. His expression was absolutely grumpy.
Jazz shivered and asked, "Is it always so cold in here?"
Ms. Spectra stood by the thermostat, which she lowered even more. The AC kicked on, blowing right on Danny. He shivered too, rubbed his arms, and even saw his breath.
"Of course!" Ms. Spectra sang. "I find that cold temperatures keep the mind icy sharp." She went to her desk and straightened up. "And don't you worry about this mess of an office, either. Stuff happens! No biggie. Right, Jasmine?"
"It's Jazz. My friends call me Jazz."
"Yeah, well, your brother calls you fink!" Danny butted in. Anger prickled the back of his neck.
Jazz pleaded with him, "Danny, I'm just trying to help. Come on, we used to talk all the time."
"Yeah, when I was eight and you weren't a fink!" Danny countered.
Mr. Lancer said, "That's more than enough out of you, Mr. Fenton. Get to class while Ms. Spectra and I decide what your punishment is."
Danny scowled at Jazz and then stormed out of the room. Jazz was meddling in things she didn't understand! Sure, it was Mr. Lancer who said he needed to see the school counselor, but Jazz obviously had something to do with it. Why else would she be talking to Mr. Lancer?
And he let that ghost get away! He should transform right now and go after that ghost. 'Course, it was probably long gone by now. Why was it there in the first place? Why were ghosts showing up at his school all of a sudden? It all made him so angry! He didn't have time for ghosts! Or counseling, for that matter.
Jazz
Mr. Lancer continued talking to Ms. Spectra. "Unlike her brother, Jazz is one of Casper's best and brightest. She'll be giving the keynote pep speech at our centennial Spirit-a-thon on Wednesday."
Jazz preened under the praise, and Ms. Spectra said, "Right on! That's why I'm here. To pump up the pep, one student at a time." She pointed to a set of photos on the wall, in each of which she looked ecstatic while the various students by her side all seemed depressed.
"Jazz," Mr. Lancer said, "Dr. Spectra is a highly respected motivational speaker and teen therapist. She's agreed to help pump up the volume on that old Casper High spirit this week."
Ms. Spectra motioned to the short man and said, "And this is my assistant, Bertrand."
Jazz waved at him, but he only sniffed back. Her hand and smile fell.
Ms. Spectra acted like nothing happened. "Jazz," she said, "we're gonna have a super week! Wait'll you see what we have planned for the Spirit-a-thon! Right after your speech–show her, Bertrand."
The assistant held up a picture of the words "Casper High" written in dominoes.
Ms. Spectra went on, "We'll set off this domino chain that says 'Casper Spirit.' Dominoes represent how each person's spirit affects the next person they touch. Slammin', huh?"
"If by slammin' you mean weird, then yes," Jazz said. She wondered if Ms. Spectra noticed that the phrase in the picture and the phrase she said didn't match.
Mr. Lancer asked, "And the spirit sparklers go off afterwards… right?"
Ms. Spectra's enthusiasm peaked. "Oh, you bet they will." She pulled out a pair of sparklers and jumped onto her desk. "After all, what's spirit week without spirit sparklers?"
Jazz put a hand to her chin, considering. "You know, you're a little over-peppy, but my brother might benefit from talking to you. But he's so mad right now, he'd never listen to me."
"Yes," Mr. Lancer said, grinning, "well, he'll listen to me."