Chapter Two

She hadn't been to school for an entire hour and the stories that circulated the halls were already filled with his name. Jo expected the name-calling to be more along the lines of freak, psycho, socio, or even freakazoid. So, imagine her surprise when she heard his name being associated with the words hot, sexy, and -creepy enough- yummy.

She'd be lying if she said hearing Danny Desai's return to town didn't put her on edge. It had taken her six years and a lot of therapy to get somewhat past what happened that day and she still had nightmares about red jump ropes. Even walking through the school's doors gave her a sinking feeling in her stomach. Every corner she turned, she feared running into him.

What would she say? What would she do? What would he do? She remembered wondering these questions to herself last school year when she heard of Danny's return. Back then, she wasn't expecting him to return to Green Grove at all and almost went into a full-blown panic attack when she realized she would have to face him again. Her anxiety was through the roof during the first few weeks he was supposed to be there. Every time she heard a door creak open or an unfamiliar voice she expected it to be Danny. It got to the point where her parents forced her to see Dr. Shin again.

While in therapy, Jo came to terms with the fact that she might run into him one day whether he came back to school or not. And whether it was in one year or ten, she wanted to be ready. Oddly enough, she realized she wanted to see him again. Not to be his friend, but to tell him exactly how much she resented and hated him for ruining her childhood. A thousand different scenarios raced through her mind, but her favorite was when he would approach her and try to apologized only to be disappointed when she blew him off. Now that he was definitely here, she could turn that fantasy into reality. She took deep breaths to calm her drumming heart and tried to seem unfazed as she made her way to her second period class.

"Buenas diez, Senorita Cates." she greeted as she walked into the classroom. Grumbling a few unintelligible words, Ms. Cates sipped her coffee. She didn't need to look up to know it was Jo since she was always the first one to class. On her way to her seat, Jo placed a bright red apple on her desk and waited expectantly for Ms. Cates's reaction. She sighed when she didn't even so much as glance at it.

Ms. Cates was a hard one to please. Every other teacher in the school loved Jo. She was a refreshing change from all the other disrespectful, loud-mouthed teens they had to put up with. She was smart, respectful and made their jobs easier. They'd all comment on what a good student she was and how she was a pleasure to teach, but not Ms. Cates. Jo never had to work his hard to get a teacher to like her. But it wasn't just Jo. Ms. Cates never liked any student, and it made her wonder exactly what made her decided to become a teacher. She obviously hated having to deal with any children whatsoever. Jo was determined to find her weak spot and break down her walls... If that were even possible.

Beside the fact that she was actually very pretty, fit and young, Ms. Cates had recently went through a divorce and since then, she seemed to hold no tolerance for men. She was hit on by both male students and facility, and never showed any interest in even what Jo would admit as the hottest guys in school. It was rumored that she was now batting for the other team, which didn't surprise Jo in the least bit seeing as she was a huge feminist and never missed the chance to let anyone know much all men where lying, cheating dogs. Instead of reading romance novels like most women her age, Ms. Cates chose to read battered old Penguin Classics you could only find in thrift shops and garage sales.

Flipping open her notebook, she began doodling as she waited for class to begin. It was a nice distraction from the Danny situation. She didn't even notice when students started filing in until the sound of Ms. Cates slamming the classroom door -as she does every morning- brought her from her mindless doodles.

"Get to work on your bell ringers. We have a lot cover today." Ms. Cates ordered in her thick accent before plopping back down in her chair. Pulling her textbook from out of her booksack, Jo flipped open to her page and happily began her work. She wasn't afraid to admit that she was a bit of a nerd. Lacey had her popularity; she had her books. It was her own way of coping with things, and her escape from reality. Knowing that her grades could take her out from under her father's overprotective wing and far away from the smothering town of Green Grove brought her comfort. Mostly because she knew it was possible. She wasn't like those students that relied on flimsy dreams of being a rockstar or a star-athlete with a zero percent chance of making it big, and she most definitely weren't like those that planned on being a shitty self-proclaimed artist living in a small studio apartment their entire life. Jo knew that in ten years, 'swag' and 'YOLO' weren't going to get her bills paid, which is why she mocked those who lived by it. Besides, swag is boys. Class is for men.

"Yes?" Ms. Cates asked without looking up from her book. In her peripheral vision, Jo saw a hand being raised. "What do you want?"

"Lo siento mucho para interrumpir de su lectura de la Sra. Cates, pero como usted puede ver que soy nuevo y no he recibido un libro de texto todavía." Jo's head snapped in the direction of the voice that spoke the Spanish she'd had yet to perfect so effortlessly and so did everyone else's in the room.

There sat the last person she expected to see so soon. Giving him a once over from the feet up, Jo stared at the boy that now resembled the man he'd grown up wanting to be. If Danny wasn't a spitting image of his father, she didn't know what was. It may have had something to do with the slightly tanned color of his skin or the bushy eyebrows, but Jo knew just by looking at him that he was no longer the whiny, childish boy he used to be.

"Ms. Cates?" he asked grinning. Finally tearing her eyes from him, Jo looked over to Ms. Cates. She sat in stunned silence as she stared at him out from under her reading glasses. To her credit, she only missed a few beats before lifting her jaw from off the floor and wiping the drool from her mouth.

"Ummm. Yes." She scrambled out of her seat to get him a textbook. "Here you are, Mr..." she trailed off.

Getting up to retrieve his textbook Danny replied in a smooth voice, "Danny."

Ms. Cates nodded. "Mr. Danny." The entire class snickered; including Danny. Except his laugh wasn't a snicker, it was more of an alluring, rhythmic sound that grabbed the attention of everyone in the room.

"Just Danny. Please." Taking the textbook and returning to his seat, he began his work as if the entire class weren't watching his every move; making Jo wonder if he really was oblivious to all the attention or if he was just that arrogant. Either way, Jo's eyes couldn't help but follow his every move. His grace was entrancing. Had the Danny she'd grown up with always been like this? Jo only remembered him being clumsy and goofy.

Throughout the remainder of Spanish, Jo watched and listened with increasing astonishment at his fluency and the way his tongue rolled smoothly over his 'r's'. Mrs. Cates never missed a chance to compliment him.

"Muy bien, Senor Desai." she praised. Every now and then she would send him a beaming grin from behind her desk when she thought no one was looking.

Jo stared, willing him to look at her. But he wouldn't so much as glance. Did he recognize her?

It wasn't until the bell rung, signaling third period, that she realized she'd just spent the entire hour obsessing over whether or not Danny Desai had noticed her. When she should have been asking herself why she even cared.

What do you think? I saw Jo as being confident on her school work and grades. She knows she's smart without being too arrogant about it, but she also knows the power it can bring. She sees the popular crowd as being better than her now, but at their high school reunion, she'll be the most successful one. Anyways, thank you for the reviews so far. Also, I pictured Ms. Cates as being Gloria from Modern Family.

I completely forgot to tell you all, there's a LINK TO a picture of what DANNY'S TATTOO looks like on my profile. It's the very first picture that comes up.

I want to finish this story before season ends for Twisted, but I doubt it going to happen. I'll be posting whenever I have a chapter up instead of once a week... Which should be soon.