He made his way through the throngs of people coming inside for lunch, through the library doors, down the steps and saw Lacey standing a few feet away. Her hair was down and she was wearing a brick orange sweater and mini skirt with the tall boots and thigh-high socks she favored. She looked so pretty it almost hurt his eyes. "Last time you texted me for a secret meeting, things got a little intense" he said with a grin. He was purposefully provoking her.

Lacey, her eyes huge, immediately tensed up. "Danny" she began. "We need to talk."

"Yeah, I agree" he replied noncommittally. He wanted to see if she was going to bring up their mutual attraction herself.

She shook her head "Not about that. Its about 5 years ago." She nervously adjusted her grip on her book bag.

Not that again. Danny was disappointed but made a half hearted attempt to deflect with his trademark humor. "The 2008 election of Barack Obama? It was historic, Lace, but what else is left to say?"

"You know what I mean" Lacey said looking him in the eye. "I want to discuss that day, what happened with Tara."

"Now? Right here?" Danny's tone reflected his frustration and disappointment that this is what Lacey wanted to talk about. Killing his aunt was not exactly an appropriate topic for school. His body language had shifted subtly. "Right here at school? Why now?" his tone was harsher.

"Why not now?" questioned Lacey.

"God Lacey, I can't take all these mixed signals. You stand up for me to Archie, and then you avoid me. You kiss me and then you say you can't do it again. You text me for some secret meeting and then you ask me weird questions about my aunt?" His eyes were dark, glittering.

"Its not a weird question." Lacey shot back.

"Lacey, that kiss" began Danny, ignoring her. "Its all I think about. All day. Every day." He struggled not to lose control as he spoke to her but he couldn't keep the tension and fervor out of his voice. "Don't you think about it too?'" His eyes didn't leave her's. He moved closer to her. He was incredibly into Lacey and he knew she reciprocated some of that. He knew from her returned glances and the way she looked at him and the way she kissed him after fall fest. If there was one thing he could say about himself is that he was extremely astute at reading people. And he knew without a doubt that Lacey had feelings for him too. Why wouldn't she admit it?

Lacey, eyes wide, appeared frozen to the spot. "Danny, I…" she looked away with a slight shake of her head.

"You don't feel the same way" Danny nodded his head as if he understood. But then he drew even closer to her. "You and I both know that is not true." His tone was slightly menacing but he didn't care - he was calling her out.

Lacey stood there for a moment, trying to read his eyes, then lowered her eyelids and brushed past him as she walked rapidly towards the library doors. Danny didn't even turn around; he knew she would be long gone, she would not look back. She got scared too easily. He wasn't sure what else he had left to try. Apparently being completely forthright and trying to force her to be transparent in return was not it.

He ended his day at pottery class with Tess, who complimented him on his vase. Danny didn't see a need to tell her that pottery was one of the electives he had to take in Juvie - they wanted the kids to gain some culture there. But he did tell her he coveted the relationship she has with Jo because he can't talk to his own mother so easily. Tess blushed; Danny knew how to flatter her. Danny mentioned that he liked a girl, and quickly assured Tess that it wasn't Jo because "she's my best friend". Her advice was to hang around her, so she knows he's not giving up, "but not in a stalking way".

Just then Danny noticed a text from his coach asking him to come to his office to talk about Cole. The coach told him that a half empty package of moth balls was found in the weight room trash after Danny and Cole's practice and that mothballs can mimic the symptoms of food poisoning. It looked like Cole was poisoned and because the coach was getting complaints from the other players, he needed Danny to resign from the team. Danny was in shock. Seriously, if he wanted to poison Cole, he would certainly not be stupid enough to be the only one seen with him just beforehand and then leave a bag of evidence in the open trash bin. He recognized that someone was trying to frame him; suspects rushed through his mind. He decided it must be Archie, and even if it wasn't, he decided to pin his anger on him. He was going to make Archie pay for this one way or another.

Danny was still fuming when he ran into Jo in the hallway leading to the North wing of the school. He really had no wish to talk about how he was feeling. Mostly because he hadn't had a chance to figure out what he was supposed to be feeling. What he mostly felt was anger at not being able to get what he wanted - and that was to play soccer. He also felt rage towards Archie. But he recognized that he needed to tone down the anger and project disappointment and sadness because those were the emotions that would get him sympathy and support.

Some dude named Tyler walked up to them and asked Jo to come to his birthday party. Jo didn't seem too keen on going… she didn't even seem to know him. But then Tyler added "Your friend Lacey Porter will be there". Danny's head snapped up and he pounced. 'We'll be there." Wasn't that Tess' advice - to just be around her? He'd be around alright - she would not be able to escape him.