Chapter 7

**Author's Note: I could technically end the story at this chapter. Depending upon reader demand, I could be convinced to add a chapter or two. Let me know!**

**Lacey's POV – at the Masquerade Party**

I adjusted the wings hanging from the back of my dress, making sure they weren't bumping into anything.

"It's fine, you look great," Archie said, smiling. I felt myself smile back automatically, suddenly picturing Danny in his place. God, I can't keep doing that! I had pretty much accepted the idea that that would never happen unless I was willing to give up all of my friends and guarantee Danny's life to be even more of a living hell than it already was. I knew he must be going through a hard time, and while I wasn't totally sure of his innocence where Regina was concerned, I definitely didn't want to add fuel to the fire.

Certainly Regina's mom would never speak with me again, and she was my link to Regina that could get me more information about the necklace and where she may have gotten it. Danny was having a hard enough time getting people to accept him; I didn't need to create more enemies for him by doing something dumb. Besides, I thought, how well do I know him now anyway? I haven't really spoken with him since he got back. Do I like Danny or do I like the idea of it?

I fiddled with the long, flowing peach and gold dress I wore as Juliet. It was beautiful, but occasionally cumbersome when the chiffon material got caught under my heels. Did the real Juliet wear heels? Probably not, I thought, feeling like I didn't really look the part. Definitely not Shakespeare's version of it, anyway. It was almost 9pm and the party was supposed to officially start at 8.

"Where are Sarita and Scott? What's taking them so long?" I asked Phoebe, who was dressed as Hermione Granger from Harry Potter, all the way down to her Gryffindor socks. Phoebe shrugged.

"She said that they wanted to make an entrance and surprise everyone. It must be good, whatever it is," she grinned, twirling the fake wand around, pretending to put spells on people.

I looked at Archie, who shrugged.

"Don't look at me! I don't know what it is. Scott wouldn't tell me, either." Everyone was mingling and dancing. The drinks were already out and we were having a good time. My phone buzzed and I glanced at it. It was Danny, asking about how the party was. I felt a pang of guilt. I had tried to talk Sarita into inviting him again, but she flat out refused. I texted him back, telling him that I tried to get him a last minute invite, but that Sarita wouldn't budge. I replied, "It's good. Maybe you and Jo and Rico could go see a movie or something to pass the time."

He responded, "To bad I'm ignoring that advice. Just don't turn around and look up." I jerked up and turned around, looking around the room. Many people used the party as a chance to wear full face masks, concealing their identities well enough to fool others. I searched the room, and for the longest time, I thought Danny was playing me again. Then, I saw, tucked into the back corner, Danny and Jo.

I barely recognized the two of them, and I could see why no one else could. Danny was dressed as the Phantom of the Opera, except the mask covered pretty much his entire face. His hair was slicked back and hidden in a cape, but I recognized that smirk from across the room. Jo was wearing an elaborate white and silver mask made of lace covering most of her face, and she looked to be dressed as Christine, from the Phantom of the Opera, also. She smiled slightly, but didn't wave. Danny texted me, "We decided to gate crash the party."

I almost broke away from Archie to go talk to them, to warn them that Sarita would see through their costumes eventually, but the random guy Sarita had convinced to monitor the music stopped it for a moment to say,

"I'm told I'm supposed to announce the entrance of the hostess and her date." Everyone gathered around, looking at the staircase they would be walking down. Archie took my hand and pulled me closer. I glanced back and noticed that Jo and Danny stayed in the very back, blending in with many of the other guests.

"Without further delay, here they are!" People whipped out their phones, ready to snap pictures. Sarita always had the most elaborate costumes, what she wore was always the talk of the party long afterwards. People would try to copy her designs from previous years. The theatre geek in her couldn't seem to resist.

When Sarita and Scott appeared, I was confused. At first, I thought they'd gone with a horror movie theme. Scott was wearing an orange jumpsuit and white tennis shoes, a woman's wig with shoulder length dark hair, and he was wearing face makeup that made him seem much tanner than he was.

Sarita, on the other hand, looked oddly pale in the face and was wearing acid wash skinny jeans, large combat boots, a huge t-shirt with a random abstract design and a huge green sweater over it. She had crammed all of her hair up into a frizzy blond wig that fell almost to her elbows. Somehow, she'd forced an ushanka, one of those fuzzy Russian hats with the flaps, onto her head. Everyone whispered in confusion. Who were they supposed to be?

I realized as they got closer what their name tags said. Scott had a mug shot board dangling from his neck on a chain that read, "Danny Desai" and Sarita had a name tag that said, "Hello my name is Jo Masterson." Archie laughed and a lot of other people did, too. I stood there, frozen to the spot. Even though my instincts told me not to, I turned to look back at Jo and Danny. They had both backed away from the crowd of people.

"Look, Psycho Sex!" Sarita yelled, and I spun to see Scott holding her up and air humping her, making disgusting noises. They laughed and people took pictures and I let go of Archie's hand.

"What wrong?" He wondered.

"I need the bathroom," I said quickly, dashing off to find Danny and Jo, who were now gone.

**Jo's POV – at the Masquerade Party**

I saw Lacey across the room, looking radiant and perfectly beautiful, as usual. She was dressed as her own version of Juliet, which reminded me only slightly of the version with Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio. She seems to have it all figured out, doesn't she? How is it that she looks perfect all the time, and when I work hard at it, I end up looking only half as good? I wondered desperately.

Danny and I stuck together, and thankfully not many people talked to us because we stayed in the back of the room. The white dress I wore came from my mother's closet, and she generously let me borrow it as long as I promised not to ruin it. Danny wore one of his dad's old tuxedos and a white mask, slicking all of his hair back but leaving it down. I tried not to delude myself into thinking this was a date. As a couple.

"So, this party doesn't seem like that big a deal. I feel a little let down. What's this called?" Danny wondered.

"The term is anti-climactic, but I agree. It's a cool party idea and everything, but Sarita and Scott haven't even come out yet." Danny pulled out his phone and texted someone. The mask I wore was a little itchy, but I resisted the temptation to scratch any of the makeup off of my face. When he was done he chuckled.

"What?" I wondered.

"I texted Lacey, look." Lacey had spotted us, and looked like she was going to come over. She looked surprised and nervous, and I could tell that Danny thought it was funny. Danny turned to say something to me, but the DJ made an announcement about Sarita and Scott, so we moved with the rest of the people to their front staircase to watch them descend.

"Danny, you're tormenting her on purpose," I said and he shrugged.

"Maybe a little, but I feel like I'm allowed too."

Suddenly, I could hear people giggling and clapping, and people pulled out their phones. Sarita and Scott were making their entrance. Danny and I stood behind everyone else, allowing them to push ahead of us. I could see Sarita and Scott, and their costumes, but I couldn't tell who they were.

"Is Scott wearing a woman's wig?" I wondered. Danny had gone quiet.

"What's wrong?"

"They're dressed as me and you, Jo. Look." I stood on my toes and saw that Sarita had a blonde frizzy wig on, with a baggy sweater and boots. Pretty much my uniform, and in case anyone wasn't 100% sure who they were trying to be, they added helpful name tag identifiers. Mine was the average one, but Danny's was the mug shot sign that they made you hold when you were booked into prison. If anyone could see my face up close, they would say my skin had gone gray. My ears completely tuned out the people in front of us, focused only on Sarita and Scott and Danny.

"Look! Psycho sex!" Sarita(Jo) yelled, and suddenly Scott(Danny) lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around him and he humped her violently into the banister. They made sick noises and Sarita(Jo) laughed, tossing the frizzy blonde wig hair back.

"Oh Danny!" She cried out and laughed at the same time, "Let me lick alcohol off of you!" I turned and went for the door. I was out in the cool night air before I heard anymore of her annoying, high pitched voice. I lifted up the dress and ran as fast as I could in the silver flats I wore. I was almost all the way across the yard, ready to leave in the same spot where we'd snuck in when I felt a pull on my arm and I came to a stumbling halt. I turned and it was Danny, holding my arm.

"Let go," I said, hearing the tears in my voice. My eyes went blurry and I felt them spill onto and down under the mask. Danny yanked his mask up and flung it to the ground. His phone dinged and so did mine. We ignored them.

"No, I will not let go of you, not unless you truly want that," Danny said firmly. I couldn't stop the tears; they just rolled down my cheeks without my permission. He grabbed my mask and pulled it off of my face, pushing it up onto my hair. I probably looked horrible, but I let myself cry.

**Danny's POV**

As soon as Jo realized what was happening and Sarita and Scott did they're little act, she ran. I followed her, closing the door quietly after me. She ran pretty fast, considering she was wearing a dress that was too big for her. I caught up with her at the edge of the yard, grabbing her arm. She wanted me to let her go, and I said only if she really wanted me too. She shook her head no and I held on.

I took of my mask and then hers. She was crying, her huge blue eyes sparkling in the garden lights. The tears rolled down her cheeks and I felt real anger burn inside my gut for the first time since juvie.

"Jo…" I said quietly and she looked up at me, her curly blonde hair falling out of whatever she'd done to it and into her face. I had thought she was pretty at the Fall Festival, but I'd gotten distracted by Lacey. This time, I thought she was exquisitely beautiful. This time we were alone.

I let go of her arm and took a chance.

**Jo's POV**

I thought maybe he was leaving me for some reason because he let go of my arm, but then he leaned in and I tasted that minty mouthwash for myself. Danny wrapped an arm around my waist and the other went into my hair as his mouth moved onto mine. He ran his hand over my back and pressed me as close to him as I could be. I kissed him back, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and neck. I never thought I could feel something as warm, as comforting and as right as kissing Danny Desai. The rest of the world didn't matter anymore.

**Lacey's POV**

I ran outside, following Danny. He caught up with Jo and I could tell from far away that she was crying by the way she hunched her shoulders and tried to look away from Danny. I almost called out to them, when Danny flung off his mask and then hers. I knew then what was happening, and backed away slowly. I felt a stab of pain when he grabbed her and kissed her, but I'd decided to let him go. If I didn't go back to Archie, he would come searching, and I thought that Danny and Jo deserved to be alone.

**Jo's POV**

I don't know how long we kissed. It didn't matter, really. Danny and I pulled away from each other slowly. I stared up at him, surprised yet happy. He looked surprised, too, and a little nervous.

"I thought you wouldn't let me, I thought it would make it worse, but then I just did it anyway," Danny said, his breath shaky. He bent down and picked up our masks and I touched my lips.

"I'm sorry if you, if I made it worse," he said quietly, holding out my mask. I jerked out of my daze and took the mask.

"You didn't make it worse, Danny. You could never make it worse." He blinked and smiled slowly.

"In fact," I said, "I might need more comforting, once we get out of here." His smile lit up his whole face and he laughed.

"Speaking of which, we should go," Danny said, looking around. We were still alone, but there was no way we would be for long. We went back the way we came in, through a hedge that provided a gap in the wall around the community. We walked all the way back to Danny's house; he held my hand the entire way.

"What does this mean?" I wondered softly, as we walked along the road in the streetlights.

"What do you want it to mean?" Danny countered.

"I want it to mean that we're…together," I said. Danny smiled.

"Yes, we're together." He leaned down and kissed me again. It was perfect.