Some time after Jo found out about Danny and me, I decided to pay her a visit. She had missed a day or two of school but when I saw her that day at her locker the look she gave me just, so full of – I don't want to say hate, but it was close. I knew I had to talk to her. It was really time she got off of her high horse and got over the fact that we lied to her, by omission, which in my book has nothing to do with lying. What Danny and I had, had nothing to do with her. Not at that time anyway. She and I weren't even close to being the friends we almost became. I owed her nothing just as she owed me nothing.

I mean, so what, Danny and I had a relationship, it wasn't like her body was living in perpetuity on every teenager's phone in town. I was the one who should have been mortified. I should have been the one shunning all outside interaction trapping myself inside my room not daring to come out. But I wasn't. I swallowed all the humiliation that enshrouded me and continued on living. I'm not saying it wasn't hard. It was especially hard considering I was completely friendless, no Danny and no Jo. I was handling things on my own, something I was good at.

Jo was bent out of shape all because she loved a boy who didn't love her back. Because of that, she was acting like someone killed her puppy, and she woke up with the head in her bed. It wasn't that serious. Who hasn't been there? I might have been in same situation with Danny without even knowing it. He certainly didn't seem to care much about me.

School had ended, and after going home, doing some homework, and meandering around my room for a while, I finally decided I should pay Jo a visit.

I tentatively knocked on her door. I was a bundle of frazzled nerves.

"Lacey?"

"Mrs. Masterson." She looked at me sadly. I was sure Jo told her everything. Everything. But she didn't seem upset with me, like I assumed she would be, mostly she just seemed concerned and maybe sympathetic. She was a mother and probably could imagine how her daughter would feel if something happened to her like what had happened to me.

Gesturing for me to enter her home, Jo's mom opened the door wider. "She's upstairs in her room." I smiled weakly at Mrs. Masterson and made my way up the stairs.

Once at the door, I stood there. I was about to enter a war zone. No matter what I said, Jo was going to be on the defensive. She believed she'd been wronged. This was not going to be some kumbaya, hand-holding, conversation. We were going to argue, since we started trying to be friends that is what we've done. Argue.

When I got the nerve, I opened the door. I didn't knock. She wouldn't have answered anyway. When I entered the room, I was met with her sitting on her bed, back to her backboard, arms wrapped around her raised knees, and an angry glare directed towards me.

Neither of us said a word. She was obviously still worked up over something that didn't involve her entirely. Her eyes said it all. She hated me because she loved Danny and I was the one that got him. As if me telling her that Danny and I were together was going to stop her from falling in love with him. From what Phoebe said one day when Sarita was making fun of Jo for dating the socio, Danny told Tyler that Jo was like his sister. So, either he was lying, which is highly likely, or Jo was falling in love all by herself with no help from Danny. So, how was I to blame for this mess?

As I stood in the doorway watching Jo glare at me, I felt myself begin to burn inside with anger. She just had to be the person that was wronged. It really – if I allowed the anger to fester, I wouldn't be able to make my point without scratching her judgmental eyes out. I needed to calm down. I quickly took a deep breath before marching to Jo's bed taking a seat at the end farthest from her. Sitting on her bed, I was no longer facing her but the wall in front of me.

I heard her squirm before I turned to look at her.

"Lace – just-" Her eyes were hard and glazed. I was not going to let this turn into a woe is me bit.

"No, Jo. Stop it." I bit out, but that just incited more anger from my former friend.

"Stop what? Being heartbroken, betrayed? Because I don't think you can control that." She batted her eyes furiously biting her bottom lip before rolling her eyes and focusing them on me again. "You lied to me, I was honest with you, and you lied to me, Lace. Don't. Just don't."

I immediately, jumped from the bed spinning around to face her. It took all I had not to yell in Mrs. Masterson's home. I wouldn't disrespect her; she's too nice of a person. "God, why do you have to be this person? Huh, Jo? Why do you have to make everything about you?"

"I – what – I didn't make this about me. I told you I loved Danny and you didn't say anything, Lace. You were with him and you didn't say anything. I don't know why you didn't just tell me; instead, you had to make me look like a fool. I practically told the town, that I was in love with your boyfriend." She said with disdain.

I threw up my hands and turned my back to her shaking my head. I had to get this out I couldn't just brush it under a rug and go on with my life because honestly I came here to hash things out and possibly move on. As friends. Roughly running my hand through my hair and shoving it behind my ears, I refaced her still sitting on her bed, eyes ablaze with self-righteousness. "That's not my fault. No one told you to do that. We weren't even together then Jo." I said pointedly. "Don't you remember how upset we were that he lied to us about the necklace? He lied to me. I can't trust him. I broke up with him. I didn't think it mattered. Why would it matter? How was I supposed to know that some creep loser had a video of me and Danny hooking up? And don't get me started about lies. If I lied to you, you certainly lied to me. Why didn't you tell me that you were going to speak on Danny's behalf? Since you were so honest with me."

Jo didn't respond. I had no idea what was going through her mind. Couldn't she that things weren't unicorns crapping rainbows for me?

Jo opened her mouth then abruptly clamped it shut. She glowered at me for a few second before worrying her bottom lip and turning to peer out her window. I didn't care how much egg was running down her face; she was going to hear me out.

"Yeah, Jo, everybody has seen me. They saw me. More of me than I ever wanted anybody other than Danny to see." Jo swiftly found my eyes, but I averted them looking out the window she had just turned from. I didn't mean to say that. I pulled back my tears; I was so tired of crying tears no one cared about. "Jo, my parents know about the video. Thank goodness they haven't seen the video, but now I'm their wild daughter. And school. Sure it was okay for Danny; nobody is going to call him a slut for sleeping with me. I know you've heard it. You have no idea how hard it's been for me."

Deflated, I sat back down on the bed facing Jo. "Do I really care about Sarita and the rest of them and their friendship? I haven't really cared about that for a while. It wasn't the same…but they control the school and…things have been terrible. And what's worse, Jo, I don't have you or Danny." They fell from my eyes. The tears fell but I swiped them away until they were no more. I didn't cry. I learned not to do that a long time ago.

Through the haze of glassy eyes, I saw Jo's emotions soften then instantly harden.

I didn't know she was this self-centered.

"I don't know what I expected from you, sympathy, compassion, understanding? I don't know, but I do know that I want you to know that I was glad that we were becoming friends again. Believe it or not, I missed you. The you that had my back. I really liked having a friend, someone I could trust."

Sadly, I rose from the bed not sparing Jo another glance.

Did you catch the reference to the Godfather?

The next chapter is Danny and Lacey.

Hope to have this all completed before the show airs Tuesday, fingers crossed.

nakala