Author's note part 1: First I'd like to thank you all for your interest in this story. I appreciate it more than you know. Secondly, I'd just like to clarify something. This is NOT a love triangle! I don't even consider what was going on on the show as a love triangle. Danny made it perfectly clear who he wanted from the first episode. I have yet to see Danny agonize over who to choose between Lacey and Jo. He wanted Lacey as his girlfriend, and he said Jo is like his sister. That is not a love triangle. I think the show, Jo and Janny fans made it into that because of Jo's feelings for him. What Lacey went through with Danny and Archie is my definition of a love triangle, and she obviously chose Danny.
Author's note part 2: I'm picturing Danny and Lacey as they are as Avan and Kylie, since they're adults in this story. Though I may have embellished just a little on Danny. Maybe I'm picturing him how I'd picture an adult Danny. And for the record, Danny is 26 in this story. I don't exactly know why, I just wanted him to be older than Lacey is.
Thanks again for reading. Enjoy!
Lacey quickly hurried to her classroom. She needed to get as far away from Danny Desai as humanly possible. She needed to avoid him at all costs. Unless it was absolutely necessary for her to interact with him. She couldn't believe he came up to her in the office just now. But it was partly her fault. She should not have lingered so long in the office. Had she checked in and went directly to her class, that little exchange would not have happened. He was stressing her out, unnerving, unraveling, and just plain irking her. It would not be a problem if he was ugly, or a jerk like she hoped. He was unbelievably charming and charismatic. And he really didn't have or need to be. His looks spoke for themselves The hair alone was a conversation starter. She tried to imagine that she didn't notice the way he smelled, the scent of his hair, or what he was wearing. He had on blue jeans and a white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a blue and white tie. She also noticed the veins in his forearms. That was reason enough to make her jet from the office.
She hurried down the hallway to her classroom. She needed to be alone if only for a moment. She headed into her classroom and put her things on her desk. She immediately walked over to the window to look out it. She heard the sound of heels approaching her room. She heard the door close and finally turned around. It was exactly who she expected to see.
"So you met the hot new coach, huh?" Sarita asks.
"Yes. Yesterday. We met after school to discuss soccer and cheerleading practice." Lacey says without emotion. She knew that exchange in the office would send Sarita running.
"Interesting. So what's his name?" Sarita asks as she walks over to sit in her usual spot on a desk.
"Danny Desai." Lacey says and desperately tries not to blush or smile. She doesn't want to give Sarita any more ammunition than she already has.
"Danny Desai? Even his name is sexy. He looked like he was ready to jump on you in the office. What else did you two talk about yesterday?" Sarita asks.
"What do you mean what else? I told you what we talked about." Lacey responds.
"Yeah, but you're also leaving something out. I know you better than you think I do, Lacey." Sarita says.
"Fine, but it doesn't leave this classroom. Ok?" Lacey says.
"It won't." Sarita says honestly.
"He asked me out to dinner." Lacey says.
"And let me guess, you refused because of Jo." Sarita states confidently. She knows she's right.
"Yes, I refused. I had to. You saw and heard Jo yesterday." Lacey says.
"And I also saw the way he checked you out and didn't pay her any attention while we were in the office. He watched you walk away when you left." Sarita says.
Lacey perks up and blushes. She didn't mean to though. "He did?" Lacey asks.
"Yes, he did. He looked at you like he was on death row and you were his last meal." Sarita says.
Lacey scoffs. She walks over to sit at her desk. "That doesn't mean anything. Men check me out all the time, Sarita. It's no big deal." Lacey says.
"Yeah, men check you out because you're gorgeous. But none of them have you wanting them back. I can tell that you're interested in this guy. Cole checks you out all the time and asked you out too. And so have plenty of other guys when we've went out. And you go back to being your normal self. Now, you're not. And I think that's a shame." Sarita says.
"Ok, Ms. Vasquez. I hear you. But it's not a big deal. I know he'll like Jo once he meets and gets to know her. He only talked to me for like 10 minutes. It's not like he now wants to marry me or something. I'm not going to stand in her way. And we're not going to talk about this anymore. Lunch is in your room today, right?"
"Right. I'll see you at lunchtime." Sarita says as she gets off the desk and leaves the room. She decides she'll keep her mouth shut and won't mention Jo, Lacey, or Danny anymore. For now. She hates how Lacey sacrifices herself and her happiness for other people. She can't help but wonder if Jo would do the same thing if the tables were turned.
Lacey made it through her first and second period classes uneventfully. Her third period class pulled her out of her comfort zone. She was standing at the chalkboard going over a lesson when she heard a lot of commotion outside her window. She turned around to glance out the window when she saw the gym class outside. That wasn't a problem. She could handle that. What really messed her up was the gym teacher.
Danny had taken his gym class outside to play dodge ball. That was a given considering how nice it was outside. And that really wasn't a problem. Sometimes the students being outside distracted her students, but that wasn't the problem either. The problem was the gym teacher. The extremely sexy gym teacher. And specifically what he had on. And what he was doing to Lacey. To anyone else he was just wearing a Green Grove Middle School tee-shirt and shorts. But to Lacey, he was wearing something that he looked ridiculously good in. She could see his muscles under the tee-shirt. And that fabulous head of hair was in a bun. Ok. And his legs. They were toned and hairy. And Lacey could swear she saw his lips on the whistle as he blew into it. She closed her eyes to remove the image from her mind. When she opened them, she saw Danny looking into her classroom. He smiled and waved at her. That was it.
"Class. Read amongst yourselves quietly. I'll be back in 5 minutes. And no funny business or I'll send Ms. Vasquez in here." Lacey said as she left the room. The class groaned at the thought of her sending Sarita in the class with them. Lacey needed to be by herself to get her emotions and feelings in check. She walked into the teacher's restroom down the hall. She just leaned against the door and took a deep breath and gave herself a pep talk.
"Come on Lacey, get it together. You can do this. He's just a man. That's all. You have to get yourself together." Lacey says to herself as she calms her heavy breathing. Once it returns to normal, she makes her way back to her classroom. Of course her students were talking, but they weren't rowdy or loud so she really didn't care. She finished with her lesson and didn't glance out her window once. She was glad when the bell rang signaling it was time for lunch for her. As her students filed out of the classroom, she did some minor desk straightening for her next class since she'd be leaving to have lunch in Sarita's classroom. A knock at her window startled her as she turned around to see Danny standing at her window. Oh god.
"Hello again, Ms. Porter." Danny says.
Lacey tries to hide her amusement. "Hello again to you too, Mr. Desai. Don't you have students waiting?" Lacey asks in the same even tone she uses with him.
"No. It's my lunch time. And I'm assuming it's yours too. Am I right?" Danny asks.
"Yes, you're right. It is my lunchtime." Lacey says.
"Do you want to have lunch with me?" Danny asks as he flashes her that killer smile.
Thank god she has an excuse! "I'm sorry, but I can't. I usually have lunch with a few female teacher friends of mine." Lacey says.
"So, if you weren't having lunch with your friends, you would have lunch with me?" Danny asks.
"No." Lacey says with finality. She tries not to notice the disappointed look on his face.
"You're the women I saw looking out the window yesterday." Danny says accusingly. Lacey's embarrassed and surprised expression amuses Danny. "It's ok. I don't mind that you were watching me." He says as he smirks at her.
"We weren't watching you." Lacey lies.
"But you were watching me earlier." Danny says cockily.
"No, I wasn't." Lacey lies again.
Danny again smirks at her. "You and I both know that is not true." Danny says as he walks away from the window. Lacey is stunned speechless.
Lacey warms her lunch up in the microwave she has in her classroom. She grabs her food and her lunchbag and walks from her classroom to go to Sarita's. She runs into Jo in the hallway. Lacey sees that her lips and tightly pursed together into a straight line. Lacey knows what that means. She's upset about something. And Lacey knows exactly what it is. She's upset about what happened in the office that morning. Lacey approaches Jo with kid gloves on. She hates dealing with another adult in this way, but she knows how Jo is. As much as Lacey tries to deny it, she knows that Jo has been treated like a privileged princess her entire life. The world had Kyle and Tess Masterson to thank for that. If she weren't so clueless, she'd see that Rico was willing to treat her like a delicate flower. He already did. She just didn't notice it. Which is strange considering how much attention she requires. It's the weirdest thing in the world to explain to someone.
"Hey Jo. How is your day going?" Lacey asks as she stops outside her classroom beside her friend.
"Fine." Jo says. That's all she's giving her.
"Are you ok?" Lacey asks. She knows she can get more out of Jo if she allows her to talk about herself.
"I'm fine. Why didn't you tell me you knew the new soccer coach?" Jo asks.
And here it is. "I don't exactly know him. I just met him yesterday when we talked about practice for the soccer team and the cheerleaders." Lacey says. There's no way she's telling Jo the other part.
"But why didn't you tell me you met him?" Jo whines.
"I didn't have a chance to, Jo. It was just a quick meeting after school. That's all." Lacey says in her defense.
'Well, why didn't you introduce me this morning?" Jo asks. "You know I'm interested in him."
"Do you want me to introduce you two now?" Lacey asks. She'll do almost anything to get them talking so Jo can shut up about meeting him.
"No, not right now. You can do it when you have practice after school. Is that ok?" Jo asks.
"Yup, that's perfect. Meet me at my classroom." Lacey says.
And just like that, Jo is happy again. She starts beaming. "Thanks, Lacey. I owe you one." Jo says.
"It's not a problem. I'm happy to introduce you to him." Lacey says as they make the short trek to Sarita's room. Things don't go well when they enter. Sarita, Regina, and Phoebe are standing at the window. They can only be looking at one thing. Danny.
"What's going on?" Jo asks as they enter the room.
Regina goes into attack mode. "We're enjoying the view." Regina says. "Our little boyfriend is pretty hot. Jo, you picked a good one."
Sarita bursts out laughing and Regina joins in. Lacey and Phoebe say and do nothing. Jo, is again not pleased.
"What do you mean by 'our' little boyfriend? I told you he's mine." Jo says sharply.
"Well, judging by the way he looked at Lacey this morning, I think that ship has sailed." Sarita says as she and Regina crack up laughing again. Jo is making it too easy for them. Lacey looks horrified as she looks at Sarita and cuts her eyes at her. Sarita just hunches her shoulders and smiles.
"Ha ha. That's a very funny joke ladies." Jo says as she walks over to the window to stare at "her" man.
"Who's joking?" Regina asks.
"I get what you two are trying to do, and it's not going to work. Just you wait and see. He'll really be mine soon enough. And there won't be anything you guys can say." Jo says confidently. They decide to let her have her moment. There's no need to pick with her further. They walk away from the window and enjoy their lunches.
At the end of the school day, Jo arrives at Lacey's classroom as expected. Lacey was finishing up with straightening up her room. Lacey is extremely glad she can finally get their introduction over with. She prays that the meeting goes well and that they hit it off so that Lacey can completely remove herself from the situation. So that she no longer has to worry about Jo, Danny, Sarita, or Regina. The only person that wasn't on her nerves at the moment is Phoebe. She's banking on that changing in a few minutes.
Lacey gathers her purse and her gym bag. "Ready, Ms. Masterson?" Lacey asks as she smiles at her longtime friend.
"Very ready." Jo says. She seems to be on top of the world.
They leave Lacey's classroom and head towards the gym. When they walk in, they see Danny putting the balls away in the rack. He is happy to see Lacey when he looks up. He vaguely remembers the other woman with Lacey.
Lacey walks up to him and smiles. "Hello. I'd like to introduce you to my best friend, Jo Masterson." Lacey says.
Danny smiles and extends his hand to Jo. "Danny Desai. Nice to meet you." Danny says as he shakes Jo's hand.
Jo is grinning profusely. "Nice to meet you too." Jo says.
"Well, I'll let you two get acquainted. I'll be back after I change." Lacey says as she walks away.
The smile disappears from Danny's face once he realizes what Lacey introducing him to her friend really was about.
The smile also disappears from Jo's face once she realizes that Danny watched in disappointment as Lacey walked away.
Danny decided to be a gentlemen anyway. "So, what do you teach?" Danny asks.
"History. Do you like it here so far?" Jo asks.
"Yes. Even though I've only been here a full day. But so far, so good." Danny says.
"Well, that's good." Jo says. They both stand there in an awkward silence. Jo is waiting for him to ask her out. She doesn't understand what's taking him so long.
"So...Uh...How long have you and Lacey been friends?" Danny asks.
That isn't the question Jo wants Danny to ask her. "Almost 20 years. Would you like to go out with me sometime?" Jo asks. She decides to grab the bull by the horns and go for what she wants. He's dragging his feet.
Danny can't say that he isn't surprised that's what she asked him. He's used to women asking him out. Not that he's conceited, he knows that he's attractive to women. It comes with the territory. And while he knows he isn't attracted to this woman, and really doesn't intend to lead her on, being a jerk and hurting her feelings isn't something he intends to do. They'll both see how incompatible they are once they go on a "date." "Uh, sure. Is tonight ok? We can meet for dinner after practice." The sooner they get it over with, the better. Her enthusiasm makes a lump form in his throat and it's almost impossible to swallow. He's starting to think saying yes wasn't such a good idea.
Jo lights up like Times Square on New Years Eve. "That's great. Is Lucy's ok?" Jo asks in excitement. She's so happy she doesn't realize that Danny does not seem as excited as she does about going out to dinner with her.
"Sure. I'll meet you there at 7. I'll get your number from Lacey." Danny says less than enthusiastically.
"Ok. I'll see you there." Jo says as she walks away. And purely by coincidence, Lacey walks back into the gym as Jo is walking away. She sees how excited Jo is as she walks up to her. "We're having dinner at 7!" Jo says as she practically squeals.
Lacey felt like she had been kicked in the gut, but didn't let it show. "That's great, Jo! I want the juicy details soon." Lacey says.
"I'm pretty sure I'll have something juicy to tell you." Jo leans forward and lowers her voice. "Make sure he doesn't tire himself out at practice." Jo says.
"Oh wow. Sex on a first date, huh? You are a bad girl Jo." Lacey says. She can barely get the words out.
"You'll find out later." Jo is still excited as she gives Lacey a hug and walks over to the gym door. She stops and turns around to wave and smile at Danny before she exits.
Lacey tried to pretend that she didn't see the look of displeasure on Danny's face the entire time she was talking to Jo. But she isn't going to dwell on it. Her job is done. She walks up to Danny who is still angry about being ambushed.
"What was that?" Danny asks while trying to mask his anger.
"What was what?" Lacey asks innocently.
"You set me up." Danny says.
"What? She wanted to meet you. Anything that happened after that isn't my fault." Lacey says to her defense.
"And you still set me up." Danny says as he admires her beauty. He really isn't that mad, but he doesn't appreciate what she did either.
"And I didn't hold a gun to your head and make you ask her out to dinner." Lacey says as she looks at him and tries not to focus on his lips. They looked so soft. But those lips are untouchable.
"I didn't ask her out to dinner, she asked me. I couldn't say no unlike you did when you turned me down." Danny says as he eyes her suspiciously. "Is that why you turned me down? Because you knew your friend wanted to ask me out?" Danny asks.
Lacey decides to ignore his question. Her job is done. "I think we need to get to the field before they think practice is cancelled." Lacey says as she walks toward the door that leads to the field.
Danny again watches her walk away from him. He was perfectly willing to play her little game because he knew he'd win in the end.