Chapter Text
Cheer season was officially over, which meant Paulina and Star finally had a Friday off from practice, competitions, and games. They no longer had to worry about strength training or fitness routines, meaning it was time to let loose and have a full-glam, chocolate-binging sleepover. Sprawled out in the basement of Star’s mom’s house, the two senior girls were surrounded by mountains of pillows, plushies, and blankets. Both of them had long since ditched their crop tops and skinny jeans in favor of baggy sweaters and hot pink sweatpants—the matching ones Star had bought them both for this exact moment, with little white fluffy hearts decorating the sides.
Glitter glue, beach magazines, and craft supplies covered the floor between them as they worked on their summer vision board. Star had thrown on the latest Love’s Direction CD, filling the basement with a pop beat as they worked. This summer would be their last before moving out of Amity for college. It needed to be the best summer ever.
Paulina pasted the finishing decoration on her board--a rhinestone heart on the corner of a news clipping of Phantom. A summer romance, of course, needed to be a part of her vision; it might be her last chance to steal the elusive ghostly hero’s heart. Her vision board also featured a coastal beach, an airplane, and iced lattes.
Paulina looked over to where Star worked on her own vision board, pressing flowers to fill in the empty spaces until the whole page was covered. Glancing down at her phone, she read the time: half past eleven. Way too early to call it a night, but what to do now? They had picked up a few different movies from the video store at the mall after school—including the most recent horror flick that Paulina was just dying to watch, though Star always said they made her queasy. They could always watch one of the movies in Star’s rom-com collection.
“Hey,” Star said, pulling Paulina out of her pondering as she popped the cover back on her glue stick, “I have an idea for what we could do next!”
Star smiled, a devious glimmer in her eye as she leaned forward. Paulina raised a brow. “Oh?”
Star nodded her head. She turned around, rustling through the blankets until she found her backpack buried at the bottom. Grabbing the bag, she flipped it open and pulled out a large book. Paulina crinkled her nose. The thing looked ancient. Its black cover was torn, and the pages were yellowing. It had thick silver coverings on the corners, though the metal was tarnished.
“Eww, Star—where did you even get that thing?” Paulina cringed away. “It looks like something Murder Manson would read.”
Star’s grin only grew. She held the book out to Paulina. “That’s exactly where I got it—Manson’s locker.”
Paulina shook her head. “Okay, but, like, why???”
Rolling her eyes, Star let out a puff of breath before pulling the book back to herself and flipping through the pages. “At first I thought it was some sort of diary or like murder book—but it’s like way darker. It’s got all these dark rituals. Real witchy stuff.”
“No duh, chica, this is Sam Manson we are talking about.” Paulina crossed her arms over her chest.
Star waved her off. Finally landing on the page she was searching for, she lit up. “Ah-ha!” She held the book back out to Paulina. “Then I found this in it.”
Paulina leaned in, reading the page. Most of it was in a language she couldn’t recognize, and there were some strange symbols along the margins, but written in messy English under the top heading was a translation. Ghost Summoning Ritual.
A summoning spell for ghosts. Slowly, Paulina’s eyes widened. She glanced up, catching Star’s gaze. The blond leaned in and nodded. Without a word, they were on the same page. There was only one ghost in Amity worth summoning. The ever-ethereal Phantom, teen hero and heart throb.
While most crushes come and go, Paulina had been in love with the ghost boy since his first appearance—she found him dashing, determined, and brave. His constant glow softened his sharp chin and angular jaw. His radioactive green eyes held a vibrant intensity, like he was looking into your very soul. Even with all the ghost hunters and bad publicity, he protected the town and asked for nothing in return. But the ghost boy never let anyone close. As quickly as he came to the scene, he would vanish. He never stayed to answer the press's question. The few times he had saved Paulina, he would fly off before she could say more than thank you. If she could have a real conversation with him…well, she would be one step closer to actualizing her vision board.
“Okay, what do we need?”
Star squealed, “I knew you would love this idea! Alright, we need like a ton of candles, some salt…” As she trailed on, Paulina’s gaze landed on the photo of Phantom she had cut out. Best summer ever, here she comes.
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Star lit the last of the candles on the outer edge of the salt circle while Paulina put the final details on the sigils inside of the circle using some old chalk they found in one of the basement cupboards. They had moved from the finished half of the basement to the unfinished storage room to the side, since it was the only space with a concrete floor. Chalk lines finished, Paulina stood and dusted off the knees of her sweatpants. “That everything?”
“Yep,” Star nodded, grabbing the grimoire and looking over the words again. Paulina stepped out of the circle to stand next to Star and look over her shoulder. Neither of them recognized the language that the majority of the spell was in—Star knew it wasn’t Latin because she had taken a Latin course for a pre-med, and Paulina knew it wasn’t Spanish. Thankfully, someone had translated the supplies into English on the side like they had the title. They had also underlined a word in the middle of the untranslated spell and added the note “ghost’s name.” The rest of the spell remained untranslated, but together they figured they could pronounce the words close enough to their spelling and make the ritual work.
Star took a deep breath. The room felt colder. Paulina held back a shiver as she looked at her best friend. “Ready?”
“Bron ready,” Star winked.
Both staring at the page, Paulina and Star began to chant the unfamiliar words. At the first few words, nothing happened, then, as their voices grew steadier, the temperature in the room dropped. Wind gusted in even though there had been no breeze a minute earlier. The candles flared. Something in Paulina’s chest tightened. Speaking louder, she gripped Star’s forearm. Neither of them wavered as the whole circle began to glow. A white light consumed the space.
Reaching the final words, the light grew even brighter. The whole room rattled like an earthquake as the wind roared. The candles burst upwards. Star shrieked. They both ducked, unable to look at the circle any longer.
As quickly as it started, the light died away, and the wind stilled into an eerie silence. Paulina held her breath. Neither of the girls moved for a moment, waiting. When nothing happened, Paulina forced herself to exhale and raise her head.
Paulina froze again. This time, though, not in fear but in confusion. Standing in the middle of their summoning circle was not her white-haired hero. Standing in the middle of their circle was someone else all too familiar. Pale skin, ruffled black hair, and tired blue eyes wide in surprise stood Casper High’s biggest Dorkward: Danny Fenton.
Toothbrush hanging from his mouth and dressed only in an oversized black NASA sweatshirt and neon green boxers, Danny blinked. He glanced between the two girls. Slowly, he took the toothbrush out of his mouth and swallowed. “What the—"