Lacey and Jo emerged from Lacey's car at Green Grove high school. The girls were grabbing their backpacks and chatting absentmindedly about their day. Lacey listened to Jo to without really listening. This morning she had other, much more annoying, things on her mind. In particular, Danny.
"I went with Danny and Sasha to the diner yesterday, when you were on that date with Archie. She really likes him. She had a bit of a bitch face just like her sister though," Jo said nonchalantly as she put her hair into a ponytail. Lacey snapped to attention at this news. Danny and Sasha were hanging out again?
"They were pretty annoying the entire time. She kept sneaking his food and would get upset if Danny and I were having a conversation that didn't involve her. She's such a narcissist."
"Are you just learning that now, Jo?" Lacey asked with a laugh, "Do you think they are serious?" Lacey tried to appear as if she was just making conversation, but she felt the jealousy on the tip of her tongue. Jo didn't know the full background of her relationship with Danny, and right before school was not the time she wanted to spill everything.
"Yeah, they are definitely sleeping together. But Danny doesn't seem that into her. You know how he is with girlfriends," Jo added with a laugh and they were finally in the school. People greeted them all around and Lacey tried to smile but she kept thinking of how Sasha and Danny were still together. How could he do that? Why would he do that? Sasha was pretty, but not pretty enough for Danny.
"That's so fast. They've only really been together for like a week," Lacey pulled her books closer to her. The blonde beside her shrugged and they reached the row of lockers where Jo's locker was located. Lacey leaned against the metal doors as her friend began piling books into her locker.
"Yeah, but Sasha has always been fast and you know they have weird history. She's young but active. She's even been with Tyler." Lacey raised her eyebrows and smirked as Jo mentioned Tyler, her voice slightly trailing off.
"Have you been with Tyler?" Lacey joked but Jo didn't answer and a light blush appeared on her cheeks. Lacey wiggled her eyebrows, "Oh Jo Masterson. You sly, foxy lady! How could you not tell me about this sooner?!"
Jo laughed and closed her locker shut, "Hold up! We haven't been all the way. But almost there…" Lacey wanted to pry, but her friend quickly added: "Oh, I almost forgot to ask. How was the date with Archie?"
Lacey pouted at the subject change. She really did not want to talk about Archie at the moment.
"It was fine. He picked me up, drove to the restaurant, and bought my food," Lacey sighed heavily, "It was one of the most boring dates I have ever been on. All he talked about was soccer and how shitty his mom was being about doing his laundry."
"He's not really your type Lace, I always pictured you with more of a suave kind of guy. Not a jock."
"Danny's a jock," Lacey said matter-of-factly before she could realize. She snapped her mouth shut and her eyes went wide. Jo raised one of her dark eyebrows and opened her mouth to begin a confrontation.
"What–" she was cut off when the two girls were interrupted by a deep voice.
"Hey guys," Danny said with a grin. He had on a fitted grey Henley and dark jeans. His hair was out and bit messy. Lacey and Jo smiled back at him.
"We were just talking about what a jock you are," Jo joked and gave Lacey a pointed look. Lacey scoffed.
"Well okay then," Danny laughed and turned to Lacey. She was upset with him, but she wouldn't let it show. Not in front of Jo of course.
"Lacey, my mom wants to know if you will come over this weekend to help her with the fancy desserts for that Women in Leadership event she hosts every year," Danny said flippantly. Lacey groaned.
"Since when does she bake instead of hiring a caterer?" Lacey scoffed and Jo nodded in agreement. Karen Desai was not one to cook, and had enough money to buy the best pastries in town for the event.
"Well most is catered, but she wants to prove she is real 'wife material,'" Danny said with air quotes. His mom always had an inferiority complex, even though she seemed like one of the most confident women in the world. She had to prove that she was a good wife and mother to the rich, middle-aged women of Green Grove.
"Fine, but you owe me. And I will only do it if you are there getting flour on your face too," Lacey laughed and tapped his nose, she turned back to face Jo, thinking the conversation was over.
"Actually, I'll be out with Sasha then," Danny said, the smirk leaving his face.
"Welp, that's my cue to leave! I will see you guys later, I have to finish some of my AP Calc homework," Jo said hurrying off.
"Why would I hang out with your mom without you there?" Lacey asked crossing her arms.
"I thought you liked my mom."
"I do like Karen. But I would rather you be there too. We need a buffer," Lacey said sensibly. Danny ran a hand through his hair and had a pained expression on his face.
"Please, Lace?" he begged as she rolled her eyes. She wasn't trying to be a brat, but Danny made it so easy to be upset with him. Lacey definitely didn't mind hanging out with his mom, she loved her, but she wants Danny with them, not Sasha.
"I'll think about it. See you later," Lacey said curtly and sped down the hallway to her first class.
LUNCH
"Lace, how big is Danny's dick?" Regina asked with an innocent look on her face. Lacey looked up and furrowed her eyebrows, surprised by the sudden question.
"Excuse me?" Lacey almost spit out her salad
"I'm talking about Danny De-sigh," The girl chuckled at her own cleverness, "you never gave me any details about last summer when Sarita and I caught you guys in a very compromising position." Regina gave a joking smirk and waited for Lacey's reply. Lacey inhaled sharply and looked around to make sure no one heard what was just said.
"We are not talking about that right now," she said through her teeth, "and it was one time."
"It was the first time, but by the way he looks at you, it won't be the last. Oh! And it was your first time that's important. But once again, how big? You know I've always wanted to give him a go."
"I think he's with Sasha now. But knowing Danny he wouldn't deny you," Lacey gave a small laugh, even though she didn't find it at all funny. Regina loved to push Lacey especially when it came to Danny Desai and their history. Thankfully, Regina only brought it up on small occaisons, usually when she was almost black-out drunk.
Lacey's thoughts wandered back to a few months ago, in July, when her and Danny went farther than what they ever had and ended up having sex. It felt like ages ago and that they were just kids then, but it set them up for the weirdest relationship dynamic that they have now. It happened during Lacey's birthday pool party where Danny surprised her by showing up. At that time, he was staying with family in Arizona for the summer, and Lacey didn't think she would see him until school started back. He had said he couldn't miss her seventeenth birthday, and had bought her a cheesy snow globe of the Grand Canyon. After the party was a full-fledged rager they snuck off to her room together.
That was the night she lost her virginity to Danny Desai.
It wasn't the perfect moment. They were both inexperienced and trying to be careful with each other. Danny had a condom his mom gave him years ago in his wallet. They were only "doing it" for a little over a minute until Regina and Sarita busted into the room, drunk and looking for Lacey. They stood with their mouths open a bit before shrieking and closing the door. That put a damper on the situation and they got dressed quickly and tried not to address it.
Things were awkward between them after that. They never did anything again, not even kiss. Danny dated other girls and Lacey dated other guys, although, she never really liked any of them and her mind kept wandering back to Danny.
Lacey felt a shiver on her spine and looked up to see Sarita and Archie approaching.
"That bitch Scott is dating is hanging out with Freaky Phoebe now," Sarita greeted as she sat down. Lacey smiled at her crass friend. She gave a quick smile to Archie but returned her eyes to Sarita. She felt his eyes on her
"Phoebe's nice, you're the bitch here," Lacey said and Regina and Sarita scoffed simultaneously.
"You think everyone's nice." Archie said with a wink, Lacey grimaced inwardly.
Archie was an attractive guy. She understood why girls liked him, but she couldn't bring herself to like him. She enjoyed his company because he was a fun guy at parties, but she doubted she would ever be able to want to do any of the things she wanted to do with Danny, with him. Who knows, Lacey was open to anything at the moment. Anything that could get her mind off him.
"She really does," Sarita agreed and took out her lunch, "oh and guess who I saw coming out of my shower this morning?"
"Ooh gossip! Who?" Regina was intrigued now.
"Danny Desai. He had the towel wrapped around his waist. It was extremely hot. He's been fucking Sasha for so long she thinks she owns the place. But I think we all know a little birdie that hit it first," Sarita winked and Lacey kicked her leg under the table, "Ow!"
"Why are girls so obsessed with him?" Archie asked, the girls gave him a quizzical look, "Is it the hair? Anyone could grow out their hair like that. If he wasn't so rich people would think he was a homeless person."
"Oh, Archie. Bitter doesn't look good on you. And you look good in a lot," Regina said, giving him a pat on the hand. Archie rolled his eyes but seemed pleased with the compliment.
"Anyway, Lacey was just telling me that they were getting it on. I didn't know if it was true, your sister is kind of a slut."
"She is a slut. They were making out on the sofa last night before they went upstairs and were so loud I could barely do my bio homework. I left for the library before I had to hear Danny Desai pounding her in the room next to me." Sarita groaned.
"Can you ask Sasha how big his dick is?" Regina said with a bit of wonder in her voice. Lacey heard Sarita about to answer and immediately packed up her lunch to walk away.
"I'm leaving. I forgot I have to go talk to a… teacher." Lacey said abruptly and scurried off. She heard them shout their goodbyes, "Bye Lacey," (from Archie), "Later Bitch," (from Sarita), "Call me later! I love you!" (from Regina).
Lacey walked from the lunchroom to the hall where she ran into the last person she wanted to see.
"Hey Lacey," Sasha said coolly, "have you seen Jo? She was supposed to help me with my homework today. One of the perks of dating an upperclassman I guess, you guys have all the connections."
Lacey took in the sight that was Sasha. Sasha had long, dark hair and cat eyes. She was only about an inch shorter than Lacey but she was curvier. She had perfect bow lips and flawless skin like her sister. Lacey wasn't jealous of a lot of people, but she did see the appeal in the girl that was taking Green Grove by storm.
Lacey knew she was just as pretty as Sasha, but she couldn't help but compare herself being one of the other girls Danny has slept with. She's by far the only one Lacey feels threatened by.
"I haven't really seen her today. But I hope you find her," Lacey ended the conversation and began to turn from the girl. All she wanted to do was find a quiet classroom and get her mind off of Sasha and her perfect body.
"Wait!" Sasha called and Lacey turned back around with a tight smile on her face. Be cool. She told herself mentally.
"Danny told me that you were going to help his mom out with the desserts and that you weren't really up for it. I'm more than glad to help if you don't want to. I would love the bonding time with his mom."
"I'm fine with helping Karen," Lacey made sure that Sasha knew she was on a first name basis with his mom, "it just would've been great if Danny could've been there too. I haven't really hung out with in a while. But I understand he will be on a date."
Sasha's eyebrow twitched from Lacey's class about the situation. She always loved a good confrontation. She knew Lacey didn't like her and she didn't like Lacey either. Sasha wanted to knock the girl off her perfectly polished pedestal.
"Yeah well it won't really be a date, we are just going to hook up and have some sexy alone time. Danny is amazing in bed," Sasha saw Lacey clench her jaw, but she wasn't done yet, "but you know that, right?"
Lacey had to calm her breathing. Sasha knew her and Danny hooked up? How many people has she told about this? And why the hell did Danny tell her anything that had to do with Lacey.
"What are you-" Lacey began but was cut off by Sasha's phone vibrating loudly. Sasha smiled and held a finger up to pause Lacey, which pissed the older girl off even more.
"Oh, sorry! That's Jo calling. Bye Lacey!"
Sasha turned swiftly and walked away down the hall with a confident sway in her hips. Lacey stood dumbfounded but she didn't let it show. How dare Sasha speak to her like that? Lacey made a fist in her hand. She'd never been in a fight, and she sure as hell wouldn't get into a fight over a guy. But Sasha was out of line. Lacey made a mental note to take her down, right after she was able to fight Danny for sharing her business with random girls. Lacey didn't care if Sasha was his girlfriend or not. If people knew they were sleeping together Lacey would feel too exposed. She hated when people knew her personal business outside her small group of girlfriends, and she refused to tell anyone anything she hadn't properly planned for.
Lacey continued walking down the hall and to her classroom when she spotted Danny talking to Cole by his locker. She debated going up to him and telling him about her encounter with Sasha, but she decided against it. She would deal with Danny in time.
She decided to sit in one of the empty classrooms and attempt to do her homework. But she had way too many things on her mind.
PORTER HOUSE
Lacey dropped off Jo and was finally home. She put her shoes neatly in the closet by the front door and yelled to greet her sister. Her mother was at work until six.
"Lacey can you please take me to Brenda's house," Clara fell to her knees and put her hands into a begging stance.
"Oh god get up drama queen. I just got home can I please, like, relax for a few minutes before you ask me to be your chauffer right now?" Lacey barked and Clara sighed heavily.
"I need to go right now! We are working together on a project!" Clara put on her puppy dog eyes and Lacey couldn't resist. She was a sucker for big brown eyes.
"Fine. Get your damn coat." She gave in and Clara squealed. The thirteen-year-old did as she was told and the two girls were out of the house and into Lacey's car.
"How was school?" Lacey asked.
"It was okay. In health the teacher gave out condoms. All the boys were being gross and the girls made them into balloons," Clara said nonchalantly.
"What!? They give out condoms in the eighth grade now?" Lacey was bewildered. She didn't know Green Grove was pushing he sex talk to earlier in the curriculum. Lacey and Jo learned about sex from Danny, who showed them porn when they were a little younger than Clara.
"Yep, because, like, two girls are pregnant this year and a lot of parents wanted the kids to have realistic sex-ed. Mom signed the form for it."
"I guess it's a good thing. If people your age are going to have sex they should definitely be safe about it," Lacey turned on the music in the car but Clara was staring at her strangely.
"Lace, can I ask you a serious question?"
"Maybe?" Lacey knew questions from Clara could be random.
"Are you a virgin?"
Lacey nearly crashed the car. She rolled into the stop sign and relaxed into her seat. She didn't look at Clara.
"Umm," her voice was hoarse. She cleared it, "that's kind of personal. Ask again in a few years."
"Oh my god. You've done it! Tell me what's it like! Were you safe? C'mon Lacey we're sisters! Tell me everything!" Clara was hysterical. Lacey gripped the wheel tightly and glared at her younger sister.
"Why do you want to know? Are you planning on getting with a guy anytime soon?" Lacey smirked trying to change the subject.
"No but—please! I'm so curious," They were at Brenda's house but Clara wasn't moving to get out, "was it that Archie guy?" Lacey made a face, "Cole?"
"No way. I'm ninety-nine point nine percent sure Cole's gay."
"Was it Danny?" Clara asked in a low voice. Lacey looked at her younger sister who's face had softened. She was surprised she mentioned Danny because she knew they were only friends. Maybe Clara heard about some of their trysts from earlier in the year. No one knew the full breadth of her relationship with Danny. Regina and Sarita only knew the tip of the iceberg.
Lacey was about to reply when she saw a young girl emerge from the house. Clara waved to her friend and began getting out of the car.
"Danny's a really cool guy… I approve. But I also want details one day. Got it?!" Clara parted and waved goodbye to Lacey as she went into the house.
"Uhh, we'll see."
Lacey began her drive back home and all she wanted to do was sleep.
DINNER
Judy Porter was beat from work. She had just gotten off the phone with her ex-husband about the money problems they've been having. Her day was rough and it didn't help seeing the pile of dishes in the sink.
"Lacey Porter!" she yelled and put her work stuff on the counter. She had brought home Chinese so she set that on the dinette with some plates and forks, "Clara Porter! Get down here young ladies!"
"Clara's at her friend's house. They had to work on a project and she's eating dinner there. I'm going to pick her up in like an hour." Lacey explained and went to the table to begin eating.
"Uh uh. Clean up these dishes first, you've been here all day, but you can't do some simple chores?" Judy sighed and helped her daughter with the washing and drying.
"How was school? Did you talk to your teacher about extra credit?"
"It was fine. And yeah she said that if I stay after school once next week she can have me do a project and I will get some points. How was your day?"
"Terrible. Your father was being difficult, like usual. And I got a call from the school about your chemistry grade. Your friends with Jo. How about you have her tutor you or something?" Lacey was quiet so Judy kept talking, "I don't know what's gotten into you lately. Maybe you shouldn't be dating right now. All you do is talk on the phone and sleep. You need to be doing your homework. Maybe you could start running again? I just don't want you talking to that Archie boy anymore."
"Archie's not important mom," Lacey said quietly and Judy turned to face her.
"Why not? Did he do something?"
"No, I'm just not that into him," Lacey finished with a shrug. She went to the table and began getting her food out. Judy sat adjacent to her but didn't touch her food.
"But it is about boys, isn't it?"
"I really don't want to talk about this right now. Rain check? Please mom?" Lacey pleaded. She wanted to enjoy her dinner then go and try to do some homework, "I'm going to the Desai house this weekend to help Karen with baking. Do you want to come?"
"I would love to but I have work. And I still want to know what's going on with you so that we can find a solution."
Lacey didn't answer and began eating her beef and broccoli. Maybe if she ignored her mom long enough she would stop talking.
"Fine. But I want you to get your attitude and grades in check. No boys or parties or going out with friends until you do. You're practically grounded. The only thing you can do is help Karen."
"Alright, alright." Lacey conceded and the mother and daughter talked animatedly for the rest of the dinner.
LACEY"S ROOM
Lacey just got off the phone with Jo, who was a lifesaver and helped her with homework. Lacey laid back on her bed and groaned. She still had an English paper to do. She began to brainstorm ideas until her phone started to ring, it was Danny.
"I'm extremely annoyed," he said right as she answered his call. Lacey smirked to herself.
"Why are you annoyed?"
"Your window is locked. You never lock it."
"Are you here?" Lacey asked, but she already knew the answer.
"Yeah… I parked down the road and I'm outside. Unlock it and let me come in."
"What's the magic word?"
"Sarah Palin."
"Wrong, but points for creativity," She laughed as she made her way to her window to turn the lock.
"I will see you in a second," he hung up and she heard him climbing up the ivy trail to her window. He came into the room looking as handsome as ever. His eyes twinkled mischievously.
"What are you doing here, Danny?" Lacey said and sat on her bed. Her room was a bit of a mess and she had her bra from earlier in the day laying on her TV. He stood by the window and began closing it.
"I wanted to talk to you. Everything was kind of… weird today. There's some stuff we probably need to talk about. You know what I mean?" He sat on the floor, leaning against the window seat. He would usually sit next to her on the bed, but Lacey respected his distance. He had a 'girlfriend' now, and Lacey knew she didn't want to further involve herself with that.
"Yeah. You're dating Sasha? Officially?"
"Well," Danny started. He was lounging casually but Lacey felt stiff as a board. She didn't want to address her feelings or know the truth, she wanted to get through the night and wake up tomorrow able to push the thoughts of Danny and Sasha to the side. She didn't have the time (or grades) to worry about Danny Desai right now.
"We've been hooking up for a little over a month now. I wouldn't say we are dating but maybe… near dating?" Danny said quietly and ran his hand through his hair, not making eye-contact with Lacey. She could see the obvious guilt he was feeling.
"Does Sasha know you're here?"
"Why should that matter? You're my friend and I can come see you without telling her," Danny waved her off. Lacey stood up and paced the room. Danny watched her closely. He let himself fully look at her now that she was mobile. Whenever he saw her he thought about how beautiful she was. He started to think coming over here was a bad idea. He didn't know it would be so tempting to just walk up to her and kiss her. Or take her on her bed like he did in July.
"I don't think she would be okay with it."
"Why not? She told me she liked you," Lacey scoffed at that, "well even if she doesn't like you, I like you. That's what matters here."
Lacey stopped her walking and turned to face him.
"Maybe that's the problem Danny. I need to get some stuff together and I can't be worried about you and your girlfriend."
"Why would you be worrying about me and Sasha? You have Archie," Danny noted. Lacey crossed her arms and chewed on the side of her mouth, a habit she had formed when she was thinking, or stressed.
"Oh you know why Danny." She wanted him to leave, "Can you please go. I have work to do. And this conversation got really annoying really quickly."
Danny stood up and placed his hands in his pockets. He gave Lacey a serious look, "Why can't we talk? You have been pulling away from me ever since," he stopped midsentence and Lacey rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.
Danny glanced at the bed where that memory took place. It was his first time with Lacey and first time with anyone. He remembers telling her he loved her while they were kissing, then it led to them sharing that new experience. He meant it. He loved Lacey, and he still loves Lacey. But their lines between friends and lovers are very blurred. Danny wants Lacey to be by his side forever. He wants to keep his friend, but he also can't help but feel the gnawing inside of him, that wants to be with Lacey. He doesn't want to ruin their friendship.
Lacey was also looking at the bed. She wanted him to leave, but she also wanted to crash onto the bed and do the same thing they did months ago.
Danny knew that his past decisions haven't been the greatest. He had gotten more girlfriends and more sexual encounters, but none of them compared to the emotion he felt with Lacey. He cared about all the women he was with but he knew he would never love them with Lacey in the picture. He came to affirm that they would be just friends from now on– no more sexual tension or longer-than-necessary touching.
"Ever since that night I feel like we took a hundred steps back. I miss hanging out with just you Lace. No Jo, no anyone around. Just us being Danny and Lacey, best friends," Danny winced at his own words.
"Just friends?"
"Yes…" Danny agreed slowly. Lacey narrowed her eyes with a smirk. She felt the mood lightening.
"You don't sound too sure about that," she laughed a bit and looked away. When she met eyes with him again he had a sad look, "What?"
He sighed and took a step closer to her. Lacey felt her resolve weaken, "Yeah I think I'm sure. But I guess we should try the friend thing out."
"We were friends for seventeen years before this. I think we know how to be friends," she laughed again.
"I kind of forgot. I haven't thought of you in a," Danny added in air quotes, "'friendly' way in a while."
Lacey grinned and nodded her agreement, "So what do friends do? Shake hands? Hug? A high five?"
He smirked, "Let's try a hug."
They walked slowly and awkwardly towards each other. Danny had his arms out and Lacey had hers out as well. His hands met her waist and their bodies went flush against each other. Her arms were around his neck and her chin had a perfect fit atop his shoulder blade while his arms were secure low on her waist. His head rested against her hair. She smelled like vanilla and honey. He missed her embrace. They stayed in each other's arms for a while until Lacey broke the silence.
"I think this is longer than a friend hug," she mumbled but made no move to leave his arms. She loves the green jacket he always wore. It made her feel safe. He was so soft.
"You're right…" they reluctantly pulled from each other's warm embrace and locked eyes.
The two of them were so close—her hands were pulling on the sides of his collar, his were now on her lower waist. Their noses almost touched and they could feel one another's breath hit their lips. It would be so easy if they could have their lips meet. They could end their torture and be with one another. They could officially be Danny and Lacey. He licked his lips subconsciously and his eyes travelled down to her lips then back up to her eyes. He didn't know if he should pull away or kiss the lips that he dreams about.
Lacey felt weak in the legs, like she could collapse any second. In her mind she was willing him to kiss her, to make her feel full again.
But then she remembered. He had Sasha now, he had been with Sasha just yesterday. She couldn't do this with him. Not yet.
Lacey turned away and lightly shoved him back. She felt tears threatening to fall.
"Friends." She said with a close-lipped smile. Danny nodded and backed up as well.
"Yeah," Danny felt defeated, but he couldn't tell why. Or at least couldn't accept why.
"Um I think I'm going to head home. It was good talking to you Lacey… I will see you later for when you come over."
"I thought you had a date?"
"I might cancel. My mother can't cook for her life and I don't want you to have to pull all the weight." He grinned and had one leg out of the window. He looked back at Lacey before me made his descent.
"Did you tell Sasha about our… history?" Lacey blurted. She almost forgot to ask.
Danny's eyes went wide, a small smirk appearing on his face, "I didn't tell her anything. She just kind of… knew," he ended and left. She saw him jog across her lawn and into the night.
Lacey collapsed on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Were they that obvious?
DESAI HOUSE
Lacey had on jeans and a white t-shirt. She was dressed casually for cooking with Karen, even though she knew the woman always made everything into an event. She could hear the high heels on the hardwood floors and the door swung open.
"Lacey! I haven't seen you in ages!" Karen exclaimed and pulled Lacey into a hug, "Sometimes Jo would come around but not you. What are you too beautiful for me now?"
"Oh please I think you win in the beauty department," Lacey schmoozed.
Karen waved her off but Lacey could tell she was flattered, "Danny, Lacey's here! Oh and Lacey, my husband isn't going to be home so we will be able to have some real time girl gossip." Lacey laughed and set her purse down and pulled out the recipes. When they got to the kitchen every baking ingredient known to man was on the large counter.
Lacey heard laughing and giggling and soon Sasha came into her view. Danny was behind her and when he saw Lacey he stopped his laughing immediately.
"Hey Lace," Danny said.
"Hey. Hey Sasha," Lacey added but gave her attention to Karen who was skimming through the recipes.
"Danny and I were thinking of going to Boston. We would drive today and get there by like six. We could be home tomorrow by noon. What do you think Karen?" Sasha asked with a grin, Karen nodded nonchalantly.
"Sasha we already agreed that that would be impossible," Danny said pointedly, looking directly at Lacey. Sasha frowned when she noticed what he was focused on.
"You can go if you want to Danny. But I really need you two to get out of here so me and Lacey can get to work." Karen said sassily. Lacey grinned and pulled her hair into a high ponytail. Danny was still watching her every move.
"Yeah you guys go, Karen and I have a lot to do in order to feed that charity brunch," Lacey agreed with a forced giggle. Karen turned on some music and began reading through the recipes.
"Thanks Lacey but we weren't really looking for your permission," Sasha said. She had her arms crossed and Lacey didn't even bother looking at her. Lacey just began measuring out the flour with a roll of her eyes. She wanted to laugh at the drastic change in her interaction with Sasha from earlier in the week.
"I don't really want to go today. We should help…" she heard Danny trail off and noticed the two of them were having a small heated argument. They were whispering and he was trying to calm her down. When Sasha noticed Lacey looking she ushered Danny into the next room.
"Do you like her?" Karen whispered as she stood next to Lacey and began to mix the different batters. Lacey looked up in surprise.
"What do you mean?"
"What do you think of Sasha? I don't like her a lot. She's always here and I need my downtime to not hear her giggling all the time. She is probably the most annoying of Danny's girlfriends" Karen said with a roll of her eyes. Lacey giggled and nodded.
"I don't like her. But I'm sure she's a very… satisfying girlfriend."
Karen gave Lacey a mock, bewildered look, "My son's having sex?! Well I mean I kind of knew but gross. He's just a kid."
Lacey laughed outright at that and they continued baking and decorating. Danny came back into the room and silently put on an apron and tied his hair back.
"No, no, no. Even if you aren't going to Boston you still can't hang out with us while we're bonding."
"Mother, Sasha went home. Can I please just cook with you guys until she cools down."
"Fine," Karen said, deciding not to care anymore. Danny looked at Lacey who quickly averted her eyes.
Karen walked away to the sink and Danny stood next to Lacey, pretending to work on something.
"Look, I know that what just happened—" Danny began but Lacey cut him off.
"Remember what we talked about last night? The just friends thing? Well that's still in play so feel free to bang her in Boston all you want," Lacey replied smartly.
He put his hand over hers to stop her from stirring and she froze.
"Really? We're sticking to that?"
"Yes, Danny," Lacey said exasperatedly.
"Lace—"
"Stop. You moved on. We are and always have been friends," Lacey was trying to be serious. She didn't want to love with Danny anymore. She wanted her life back to the way it was before they took that step during the summer.
Danny looked grim, "Okay. Friends."
"Good."
Lacey turned away from him and slid the cupcakes into the oven.
She was done with Danny. She had to be. Right?