Popular Outcast
Chapter One: Lacey's Dream
Summary: Lacey and Rico have nothing in common. She's part of the popular crowd; he's one of the 3 main outcasts of the school. There's no way things could work out for them romantically, is there?
Disclaimer: I don't own Twisted.
He's staring at me. He always stares at me. Even when he's with her, I notice him staring at me. I know that he likes her; it's not that hard to figure out. He's protective of her, and tries to tell her not be hang out with the other guy. I've tried to tell her too, but she's stubborn and won't listen to us. Us… is there an us between me and him? I don't think so. We barely know each other. As far as I can recall, I've never said a single word to him, and he hasn't said a single word to me, but he still stares at me. When Archie kisses me, it doesn't feel right. When we pull away from each other, he's there, about ten feet away, glaring at Archie with his hands clenched into fists. It's the final straw this time. He doesn't even wait for Archie and me to pull away from each other. He comes right over, pulls Archie away from me and punches him straight in the jaw. I can see the look of confusion on my boyfriend's face. There's only one other person who has ever gotten into a fight with Archie over me, and that was the other guy. After regaining his bearings, Archie looks at me and then back at him.
"What was that for?" Archie asks.
"I never want to see you touching her again. This is a school hallway. Have some decency, why don't you. She deserves to be treated with respect, and groping her while kissing at school is not treating her right."
I've never seen him show that much emotion concerning me. I didn't even know he felt that way about me. I look at him and he gives me a small smile. After giving me a wink, he walks away leaving me standing there, staring after him, and trying to contemplate just what exactly happened. Did he want to be more than acquaintances? Did he want to be on more than a first name basis with me? I have no answers to these questions, but I also don't have a chance to try and figure things out because Archie is ranting at me now.
"Babe, do you have any idea why he just did that? He's an outcast. He's friends with DePsycho and with DePsycho's loser girlfriend. Where does he get off telling me where I can and can't kiss you? He doesn't own you, and he isn't the boss of me. Next time I see him, I'm going to show him who's in charge around here." Archie said.
"Archie, will you please calm down? Rico is just trying to be protective. You're right, he doesn't own me, and neither do you, but I know that he at least cares about how girls are treated. Does he care a little too much about me? Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't; but there's nothing that we can do about that. And you aren't in charge around here. You can't beat him up just for expressing an opinion. I'll talk to him; maybe I'll be able to get him to back off. You already got in trouble for getting in a fight with Danny, I don't want you to get into a fight with Rico and get into even more trouble." I reply. At least this way will get me a chance to actually talk to Rico and see what's going on with him… with us.
"Fine, talk to the loser, but if he tries anything with you, I'm going to kill him." Archie says.
"Don't talk like that Archie." I say in a small voice as the principal walks over with Chief Masterson.
"Mr. Yates, did I hear you correctly just now when you said that you would kill a young man if he tried anything with Ms. Porter?" Principal Tang asks.
"Principal Tang, it's nothing; really; only a really bad choice of words in a moment of frustration." I say quickly to save Archie's ass.
"Be that as it may Ms. Porter, with everything that is going on, we cannot condone such talk." Principal Tang says.
"Archie, will you please come with us?" Chief Masterson asks.
"Yeah, sure; whatever you want Chief." Archie says with a roll of his eyes before following them towards Principal Tang's office.
I'm standing there alone for only a moment before Rico comes back. I glance at him, and he's staring again. I turn to face him fully and give him a look that says to start talking. I don't know what it is about the way he's looking at me, but I lean in and kiss him. I'm shocked when he pulls away a second later.
"I will not do this here Lacey." Rico says.
"You seriously think that PDA shouldn't happen, don't you?" I ask.
"I do. And while I know that it stands for Public Displays of Affection, I honestly think it should stand for Private Displays of Affection. What two people do with each other should be their own business. Not for the knowledge of everyone else." Rico says with a sigh. "Meet me in the parking lot after school. We can continue this conversation then." He adds before walking away. I'm stunned. I don't know what to say or do anymore. I start to get lost in thought but am quickly pulled out of it when the bell rings to begin class. I don't move, but the bell keeps ringing.
I open my eyes slowly and all but throw my alarm clock across the room. At least it had the decency to let me get through the kiss. But why would I dream of kissing Jo's best friend? I don't know him. He doesn't know me. We have nothing in common, and we really haven't said a single word to each other, ever. As I get up and start to get ready for school, all I can think about is Rico. Usually as I get ready, I think about Archie, or a test that I have that day, but today, today it's only Rico. What is it about him that has me so caught up in thinking about him?
"Lacey, sweetheart, are you coming down for breakfast?" My mom asks from the doorway.
"Yeah mom, I'll be there shortly." I reply as I finish curling my hair and apply a small amount of lip gloss.
As I give myself one last once over, I take a quick intake of breath. I'm dressing to look nice for Rico. Most days, I dress to look nice for Archie, and that involves straighter hair, lipstick and slightly more revealing clothes. Today I was wearing dark blue, skin tight jeans, a pair of black ankle boots, a salmon pink shirt and a black leather, three quarter length sleeved jacket. When I walk downstairs, I find that my mom isn't alone. Surprisingly, my mom is standing in the kitchen talking to Jo.
"Jo, what are you doing here?" I ask as I grab a bowl out of the cupboard and the cereal box out of another.
"I need to talk to you about something. And I figured it would be easier to do that here rather than at school." Jo replies. When I nod, she continues. "Danny and I are going to a show on Broadway this weekend, and Rico is going as well. He isn't dating anyone, and we were wondering if you wanted to go with us? There's no obligations attached. You don't have to include us in your popular activities or anything like that; we such thought that it would be nice." She explains quickly.
I had stopped when she mentioned that Rico was going. I turn around slowly and look at her. She's smiling, and I really hope that it's in an attempt to get me to agree to go. Because me liking Rico would be yet another thing that could possibly ruin me if anyone found out.
"Um, sure; that sounds like fun. What show is it?" I ask.
"It's Cinderella. Surprisingly the guys readily agreed to it when I suggested going to see it." Jo replies.
"Okay, yeah, that sounds good; just, um, text me the details." I say with a small smile.
"Oh, I actually have a ticket with me. You know, on the off chance that you had said yes." Jo says as she pulls the ticket out of her pocket and hands it to me.
"Thanks." I say before turning back to my cereal.
"So, um, I guess I'll see you at school then." Jo says awkwardly to my back.
"Yeah, see you there." I say with a small nod.
"It's nice to see you and Jo getting along Lacey. It's just like it used to be." My mom says.
"Nothing's the same as it used to be mom. Everything is different now." I say before pouring some milk into the bowl and silently eating my breakfast. The only thought that is running through my mind is that I'm going on a double date with Jo and Danny, in which Rico is my date. My life could not be any more screwed up.