Seeing Lacey at school was awkward because of the previous days' confrontation. Danny had wanted to walk up to her twice during the day, but she was occupied by other student's attention. He was also scared that she would turn him away. He regretted not going after her yesterday, especially after Jo's rant, and he realized it may have seemed like he took Jo's side. He didn't want Lacey to feel second to Jo, because the two relationships were on opposite ends of the spectrum.
Rico, Danny, and Jo were outside on the grass studying for their history test when Lacey walked up.
"Jo, Danny, could I talk to you for a second." She moved her eyes to Rico and added "Alone."
"Oh you want me to go, Right because my name's not Jo or Danny. I'm not a part of the three musketeers or anything. It's okay, I'm extremely uncomfortable right now, so I'm just going to go," Rico said as he grabbed his books and stalked off.
Lacey wanted get this awkward conversation over and done with, so she quickly spoke. "About the diner, I'm sorry that I had an attitude and I'm sorry for running off." Lacey wouldn't let Danny and Jo talk. "Before you say that I have nothing to be sorry about, don't lie. I was being rude and everything you said was right Jo, and I know that I haven't been a good friend to either of you, but I'm still trying to—just give me time."
Lacey feared an emotional breakdown coming especially if she continued staring into Danny Desai's eyes so she hurried off before they could tell she was about to cry.
Danny was about to get up, but Jo asked him to let her handle this. She had a feeling Lacey needed a girl to talk too. Jo found her sitting in the stairwell with her head in her lap.
"Lacey, it's Jo. I know you probably don't want me here, but I'm staying."
Lacey dried her tears and looked up at her. "I'm not going to say anything."
"It's ok, you don't have to say a word; I'll just sit here with you." Jo sat down next to Lacey and looked at her. She wasn't good with girl drama; in fact she hadn't had a girl best friend since Lacey.
Silence went on for a minute, and then Jo decided to talk. "Yesterday at the diner, you weren't the only person being rude. The things I said, Lacey – I didn't—"
"Jo please, it's ok. I know you're sorry. "
"Lacey I want us to be friends, you, me, Danny, even Rico. Do you think that's possible?" Jo looked at her, because she wanted Lacey to no how sincere her question was.
"You know I was just looking through some old stuff from our childhood last night and I found something." She reached in her bag and pulled a stuffed frog that Jo had given her as a birthday present when they were 9.
"I remember Franklin the Frog, I gave it to you for your 9th birthday because your mom and dad wouldn't let you have a real one. I still remember it like it was yesterday, because it was your first birthday we celebrated as friends. You know Danny helped me pick it out."
"Yeah, I never went anywhere without Franklin. I found some old photos too, maybe you could come by one night and we could have pizza and look through them. We look pretty crazy in them too, we've changed a lot." Lacey was laughing and Jo was happy to see her smiling.
"That'd be fun. I haven't seen your mom and Clara in such a long time. Do you think you'll invite Danny?" Jo knew she probably shouldn't have asked her that but she wanted to see where Lacey's head was at with him.
"Jo, I don't know, me and him it's complicated we—
"You love him, but it scares you. I get it, but he all he wants is a chance Lacey. So far, he hasn't let me down and I have no doubt he'll prove himself to you. Just think about it." Jo got up to leave and she turned around when Lacey called her name.
"I'm having a party this Saturday night at my house for my birthday; you should come, and bring Rico."
Jo wasn't going to ask if Danny was invited, because clearly she didn't want him. "Sounds like Fun. I'll see you later."
"Jo one more thing, Can you not tell Danny about this conversation, about any of it."
"Of course Lacey, It stays between us." Even though she would be stuck with Danny's overbearing questions, she was never going to tell Danny about the discussion between herself and Lacey.
"Thanks, for everything. See you."
Jo walked away and Lacey dried her eyes. She sat there thinking about Danny as she pulled something else out of her bag. In her hand, she now held a colored stone. On it was the word I, followed by a pretty crappy drawn heart, and then her name Lacey. It came from Danny and she could still remember the day he gave it to her. He'd come home from a carnival that his parents took him too and they had an activity involving stones and a sharpie marker. It was supposed to be where you wrote a wish on it and threw it in a pond, but Danny kept his stone, because he couldn't think of what to write on it. He told her he wrote in the car, hence the crappy drawn heart and that he couldn't wait to give it to her. When he gave it to her, she was blushing, but she managed to crack a smile and give him hug. This stone was special and though she'd thought about getting rid of it when he left, she held onto it and for that she was glad.
….
Lacey had made a decision, it was time she laid out her feelings for Danny on the table, well not everything, but she no longer wanted him to feel like she didn't care. Jo's advice, coupled with the fact that she realized she overreacted at the diner the other night; she was at least ready to be honest about some of her feelings for Danny.
She was standing in front of his door, trying to gather the courage to ring the doorbell when Ms. Desai answered the door.
"Well Hello Lacey, this is a surprise, it's really good to see you sweetheart."
"Hello Ms. Desai, you look nice. Are you going out?" Talking to Danny would be much easier if his mother was not here. She hadn't even thought about her presence while driving over to his house.
"I am going on a date actually. I figured I might as well put myself back out there. She chuckled. "I assume you're here to see Danny, go on up he's in his room."
"Ok thank you, I'll see you later Ms. Desai, Have fun."
Lacey climbed the stairs and she stood in front of the bedroom that used to seem familiar to her, and her stomach grew tight. She knocked and he opened the door half dressed, lacking a shirt and she nearly melted at the sight of his upper body. Sure she had seen Archie shirtless a time or two, but neither times compared to the view in front of her.
Danny wasn't expecting to see Lacey, in fact he was headed to bed early for the night. "Lacey, what are you doing here?"
Lacey was still a little frozen at the sight him being shirtless. "I— uh will wait for you downstairs." She walked away without giving him a chance to protest. She really wasn't ready to be in his room alone with him.
Danny came down fully dressed and sporting a confused look on his face. '"Lacey what's wrong?"
She was still standing. "I'm sorry for coming by unannounced. I probably should've texted or something."
"It's ok, I was just getting out of the shower; I'm surprised to see you. You've been freezing me out and you canceled our last session today."
"That's actually sort of what I came to talk about. About the argument at the diner, I was jealous." She laughed. "I'm sure you could tell, and trust me I beat myself up about it later that night at home. I shouldn't have gotten so upset with you, especially after our conversation from the night of the dance. I'm sorry I'm not able to be there for you like Jo is. I wish that I could be, that we could be—" She paused and went on. "But we can't, for a lot of reasons."
Danny came closer to her and he took her hand. "Lacey, I appreciate your apologies, but you're not the only one who was wrong. I made some mistakes that night at the diner. I shouldn't have forced you and Jo to tell me why you weren't friends anymore and I should've came after you once you left. I just didn't know what I was going to say; because I'm the reason you're hurting. I'm always the reason and I hate myself for that every day."
Hearing Danny say he hated himself broke something inside of her. All she wants is for him to be happy. "Danny the only way we're going to be ok, you're going to ok is by forgiving yourself. No matter how hard it is.
"I just want to know that you and Jo believe in me. Losing you guys was the hardest thing I've experienced in my life and I don't want to mess this up. Jo's accepting me back as friend, but I'm more concerned about where you and I stand."
She reached into her pocket and clutched the stone, but wouldn't allow it to be revealed just yet. "That's also what I came here to talk about. I'm done with Archie, but I know that he's bitter about the breakup and he hates you even more. If we're going to do this, you have to be comfortable with it being a secret, at least for now. It can't be like with you and Jo."
He kissed her and held her face in his hands. "Does this mean I get to call you my girlfriend?"
She laughed. "Sure. But you've got to keep the staring to a minimum or people will know."
"Oh, I'm sure I can do that. You're the one that practically drools at the mouth when you see me. Let's recall when you just saw me shirtless a few minutes ago." Danny was laughing.
Lacey was embarrassed, and she hit him. "Danny Desai, I do not drool especially over guys. " She thought about the stone in her pocket. "Hey, I brought something with me that I think you'll be happy to see."
She pulled out the stone and put in his hand. She didn't miss the nostalgic expression that formed on his face and she knew she had made him think about the old days.
"I remember being so nervous to give this to you. I thought you would throw it back at my head."
"I wanted to get rid of it when you left, but it was too hard. I had already lost you, I couldn't let this go. I kept it and I'm glad, it's the best thing anyone's ever given you."
Danny came to her and took her in his arms. "It's the best gift so far. Someone's birthday is coming up, and I have something in mind. I want to be with you on your birthday. You could come over and I could cook you something special."
"Sure I'd love that, but it has to be Friday, because I'm going to my grandparents' house Saturday with my mom and Clara." Lacey was really good at lying except when it came to being about Danny. Go figure. She just didn't want to hurt his feelings by saying he couldn't come to the party. She'd have to remember to remind Jo about not telling Danny about the party.
"Sure that'd be great. Lacey, I want to make sure that you know you have nothing to be jealous of where Jo is concerned. She's my friend, nothing more."
"I know, I know." She kissed him. "I should get going, before my mom starts calling me. "We can have our last tutoring session tomorrow, that way we get alone time together at school."
"Lacey Porter, I like the way you think. I'll see tomorrow night. Text me when you're home."
Lacey kissed him goodbye and walked off. He finally had her whether it was secretly, she was his. Most importantly, he was determined to not mess this up, because everything almost seemed too perfect.
Sorry for the delays, University has started back for me so I'm juggling a lot, but school, writing and twisted are priorities, who needs anything else? LOL….Will Lacey lying to Danny about the party come back to hurt her? We find out in the next chapter hope you're enjoying….