"I don't have anything to say to you Lacey." Jo said stiffly as she pursed her lips.
Lacey sighed. "God Jo are we seriously going to do this?" She leaned further into the lock, cocking her head to the side.
Jo didn't answer as she slammed her locker.
"What happened to us still attempting to be friends if Danny had moved to Arizona?" Lacey asked desperately.
Jo turned to Lacey. "That was before I knew you two were screwing each other."
Lacey blinked rapidly. "We weren't screwing each other." She protested.
"I'm just some big joke to you guys." Jo said, her face getting red as she tried to hold in her emotions.
Lacey's bottom lip trembled. "It was just one time…Jo I had no idea you were in love with him."
"Would that have made a difference?" Jo snapped back.
Lacey stood up straight and looked at her like she was insane. "Yes it would have." She said in disbelief at the question flung at her. "Danny and I we never would have-"
"I gotta go to class." Jo said cutting her off. She turned around briskly and walked away.
Lacey sighed, refraining from rolling her eyes. You would think by now, Jo would have ceased on her emotional tantrums. She held on to her book bag and hurried after her. "Jo, Danny is your best friend."
Jo stopped and turned around, "Don't talk to me about best friends!" she yelled. "You don't know anything about that."
The noises in the hallway subsided as people started looking at them. Jo glared at her. Lacey turned around as she saw curious glances thrown their way and ears perked to their conversation.
Lacey turned back to Jo, her hand tightening on her black book bag strap. "Jo in all honesty, I don't even know what you're so upset about." Lacey said lowering her voice as she stared pleadingly at her friend. "This isn't like you."
"Don't tell me what I'm like." Jo said clenching her teeth.
Lacey rubbed her lips together as she swallowed hard, trying to maintain some kind of control. "I don't know how else to fix this." Lacey said.
"Don't-
"We made a mistake." Lacey said cutting Jo off. "We we're emotional and vulnerable and we went to each other. Are you going to stand here and tell me you've never made an irrational decision in your whole life…in the heat of the moment?" Lacey asked. Jo clutched her books tighter as she looked away from Lacey's gaze. "God, I needed somebody and he was there, we weren't thinking. If I could take it back I would."
Jo looked down at the ground as she swallowed hard. Nervously tucking her hair behind her ear, she tried to control her breathing as she pulled her yellow sweater tighter around her. Her comfort sweater.
"I know this probably doesn't happen to you but sometimes in life we don't think about the consequences of our actions until after the act." Lacey said emotionally.
Jo looked up at Lacey guiltily and then quickly looked away her eyes tearing up.
Lacey stood up straight and gave off a dry chuckle. "For some reason, I thought you Jo Masterson would be able to see past all this." Lacey said. With that she turned around, on the verge of tears but mostly annoyed. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. Their reunion was not supposed to be destroyed even before it begun. And to think she had started to let her guard down. She'd thought the past was finally being put behind them. The nostalgic feeling of having both Jo and Danny in her life came to crashing halt. Turning the corner, Lacey stared straight ahead, her fingers tightening around her book bag strap. Danny had been right. Jo was beyond mad.
"Lacey!" Phoebe screamed loudly down the hallway. She looked behind her and hurried over to Lacey.
Lacey looked up from her thoughts as she saw Phoebe jogging towards her. "Hey Phoeb-what the hell?" She asked as Phoebe grabbed her arm and dragged her over to a corner. "What is wrong with you?" Lacey asked confused as Phoebe turned around nervously as though expecting somebody to pop up.
"This is bad. This is really bad." Phoebe said looking behind her again. Lacey turned to look with her, but all they say were students rushing to their classes. Classes should be starting anytime soon. In fact there went the late bell. But Lacey and Phoebe didn't budge.
Turning her attention back to her friend. Lacey took in Phoebe's rather eccentric appearance. But then again, she always looked like that. "What happened?" Lacey asked.
"Guess who showed up at my house last night?" She asked, her big eyes getting even wider as they focused on Lacey. Lacey opened her mouth. "The cops that's who." Phoebe said answering her own question.
Lacey's face fell. "What did they want?" Her voice dripped with dread. She already knew what they wanted.
"They were asking all these questions about Danny. When we last saw him. What happened at the Diner? His relationship with you. With us. Did he have a hiding place." she said rattling off on her fingers.
"Oh God, what did you say?" Lacey whispered.
Phoebe stared at her in surprise. "I told them the truth."
Lacey blanched as she tried to catch her breath. "What?" she asked her eyes opening wider in fear.
"I told them how you completely disowned him in front of everybody and then you got mad when you found out your ex boyfriend poisoned Cole and you left." Phoebe said. She shrugged and flung her wavy brown hair back. "Then I told them how I went to your house and we talked and I came back home."
"You didn't tell them about-" Lacey stared at Phoebe, nodding her head to see if she understood.
Phoebe pursed her lips and furrowed her eyebrows. "Tell them about what?" She asked.
Lacey looked around and then settled her gaze back on Phoebe. "About Danny coming to my house." She whispered.
Phoebe looked even more confused. "Danny came to your house?" she asked slowly in shock.
Lacey stared at her in disbelief. Phoebe kept her gaze innocent as she looked back.
"Oh…oh right…." Lacey said as it dawned on her what Phoebe was doing.
Phoebe smiled brightly as she wiggled her shoulders. "I know I deserve an Oscar."
"Thanks Phoebe." Lacey said softly.
Phoebe smiled softly as she stepped closer to Lacey. "Lacey I don't think you need to associate with him…" she said her eyes big with concern. "Like he really killed Regina, they have proof."
Lacey stared up at her feeling the fear creeping up. She shoved it down as she shook her head. "I think it's more complicated." She said, not sure if she was trying to convince Phoebe or herself.
"Hey Lacey…."
Turning to the left they saw Jo approaching them slowly and cautiously.
"Jo…." Lacey said not bothering to hide her surprise.
"Can we talk?" Jo asked nervously. She brought her long sleeved hand to her face as she chewed on her finger. She looked smaller than normal in her oversized yellow sweater. In fact she looked distressed as she held the books to her chest.
Lacey nodded. The thing with Jo is she was so upfront with her feelings, you couldn't help but notice something was wrong. But for some reason she didn't think it had to do with the make-out tape. Maybe that would explain her irrational anger towards them.
"Aren't you supposed to be in class?" Phoebe asked staring at Jo in confusion. Lacey noticed the way Phoebe stared Jo up and down. Her shoulders stiffening.
"Yes Phoebe." Jo said not looking at her as she kept her eyes on Lacey. "As we all are." She added smartly.
Lacey held back a smile. "I'll talk to you in second period." Lacey told Phoebe, turning around to dismiss her.
Phoebe grabbed Lacey's arm, stopping her. "I think this calls for a trip to our spot." Phoebe said excitedly.
"Phoebe…." Lacey looked at Jo, knowing Jo wouldn't want her in the conversation. She turned back to her eccentric friend. "Phoebe, I'll see you after."
"Lacey…" Phoebe said putting a smile on her face. "I know too much…I have to be in on whatever is going on here." She said eagerly.
"Phoebe…" Lacey said, her shoulders slumping.
"I am now an accomplice." Phoebe said nodding. "I can't just keep something like seeing Danny-"
"Danny?" Jo said speaking up. "What about Danny? You saw him?" She asked confused.
"Wait…" Phoebe turned to Jo, looked her over and then turned to Lacey. "Does she know about-" She trailed off as she questioned Lacey with her eyes.
Lacey stared at Phoebe not sure where her eagerness in all this came from. And she didn't like that it seemed as though Phoebe was giving off a loose threat about knowing Danny's whereabouts and forcing herself into the situation. Lacey shook her head, to erase the thought. She couldn't be paranoid and start questioning everybody. Her brain was just trying to find reasons, any reasons to make Danny innocent. If only to ease her mind. "I was trying to tell her earlier." Lacey said.
Jo held her books tighter. "Tell me what?" She asked worriedly.
"Hey!" A loud voice snapped them out of their conversation. "Why aren't you ladies in class?" the security guard asked as he came towards them.
"Headed there right now Mr. Monroe." Phoebe said sweetly. They quickly all turned around and headed down the hallway. Making a sharp right, Lacey nodded at Phoebe and they both went upstairs. Confused Jo, followed behind them. The third floor was off limits, as far as she was concerned there was nothing up there. Quietly the three girls looked around the dusty hallway.
"What are we-"
"Shhhh…." Phoebe said sternly to Jo.
Lacey gave Jo a small smile as she walked down the hallway. Coming to a door marked private, she turned her bookbag around. Jo watched as Lacey took out her wallet and pulled out two small skinny metal stick. She watched in shock as Lacey bent in front of the doorknob. Never in a million years would she have thought Lacey knew how to pick a lock, or open a closed door. But the way she kept moving the metal sticks and staring intently at the locked handle, you can tell she'd done it a few times. When they heard a click and Lacey turned the handle, looking back at them with a smile on her face, Jo couldn't erase her look of shock.
Lacey gave her a sheepish smile as she got up and dusted off her skirt. "Just a little thing I picked up." She said explaining her skills lamely. There was more to it, but Jo probably wasn't interested.
"A little thing?" Phoebe scoffed. "Please, Lacey can unlock anything."
Lacey shook her head at Jo. "Not anything."
Phoebe thought. "Oh yeah…combination locks aren't you thing." She said. "I remember you couldn't open Principle Tang's safe that other time."
Lacey looked at Jo nervously and then looked away. "It was for a prank." She tried to explain.
"He deserved it." Phoebe said. "That pathetic man." She turned to Jo. "Do you know he tried to pull away the drama club funding? Like who the hell does that?"
Jo opened her eyes wide at Phoebe's intense reaction. "So…what did you guys do?" she asked mostly turning to Lacey.
Lacey shrugged. "I couldn't open the safe, so I went as look out." Lacey thought for a minute. "Well actually somebody else opened it."
"Regina." Phoebe said quickly.
"We just found an empty camera and a hair brush, nothing to blackmail him about. But who puts things like that in a safe?" Lacey said. "We have the strangest principal ever." She said opening the door wider and going in.
Jo and Phoebe followed in, closing the door behind them. They walked into a surprisingly clean room with just a black table in the middle.
Jo turned away from Phoebe and focused her attention on Lacey. "So you know where Danny is?" she asked softly.
Lacey nodded. "He came to my house after he found out about the murder weapon."
Jo nodded.
Lacey stared at her. "It had his fingerprints." She said slowly.
Jo's mouth dropped.
"It did?" Phoebe asked confused as she looked up from her phone.
Lacey and Jo turned to her, forgetting she was in the room. She looked surprised and put a smile on her face
"It doesn't mean anything." Jo said. "He didn't do it."
Lacey looked away at the way Jo said that without hesitating. She was so mad at him yet she still believed that he wouldn't do something like this.
Phoebe shrugged. "He seems pretty guilty to me." She said as she turned to look at Lacey.
"Lacey you don't actually believe he killed Regina do you?" Jo asked.
Lacey moved her bangs out of her face. "I don't know what I believe." She told Jo with raw honesty.
"So why are you hiding him?" she asked.
Lacey shrugged pathetically. "I don't know." She admitted.
"It means a part of you knows he didn't do it." Jo said.
"No it means a part of me wants to believe he didn't do it." Lacey whispered as she tried to control her emotions.
Jo looked up at Phoebe and then turned to Lacey. "So what are you going to do?" she asked
Lacey looked at Jo and blinked a couple times. She turned to look at Phoebe who was staring her down and turned back to Jo. This type of silent communication only ever worked between her and Danny. Jo needed verbal communication at all times. But right now she needed Jo to help her…to let her know. To understand where she was coming from.
There was a loud bang on the door, startling the three girls. Having left the door unlocked it was yanked open and in stepped in a very angry Sarita.
"Have you lost your god-given mind?" Sarita asked stepping into the classroom.
Lacey stared at her in shock. "Sarita…how…?"
"Phoebe." Sarita answered promptly as she slammed the door behind them. Locking it, right before turning around and crossing her arms across her chest. She glared at Lacey.
Lacey and Jo turned to Phoebe.
Phoebe smiled guiltily. "She forced it out of me last night, the cops had went to her house too."
Lacey's mouth dropped.
"But she's the only one I told. I swear." Phoebe said quickly.
Jo rolled her eyes.
"I can't believe you didn't even tell me. I actually can't believe you're even doing this." Sarita exclaimed. There was hurt in her voice as she walked towards them. She froze and turned her head slowly to take in Jo. "What the hell is she doing here?" she asked her voice laced with bitterness.
Jo stared back at Sarita, clamping her mouth shut. She didn't like her either.
"Jo's my friend." Lacey said.
Jo looked at Lacey in surprise, while Sarita looked at Lacey in betrayal and confusion.
"Look Sarita, I didn't think after last night you wanted anything to do with me." Lacey explained.
"I'm your best friend." Sarita explained. She side-eyed Jo before turning back to Lacey. "I think I have every right to be upset that you've been lying to me for God knows how long."
"I know and I'm sorry-I wanted to tell-" Lacey stopped what she was saying. All three girls staring at her where in different positions in her life. They each knew a different story. One more than the other two. But it was all different.
"I may be mad at you but I'm not letting this thing…" Sarita said pointing to Jo. "Take my place."
Jo frowned. "Excuse me." She said shaking her head at Sarita. "Wow Sarita, I think you've forgotten that-"
"Look you guys." Lacey said sitting up straight on the table.
"I'd forgotten what?" Sarita demanded, turning to Jo. "Please don't use that lame ass excuse that you were Lacey's friend first…" Sarita smirked. "It's all about who stayed around-"
"Can we not do this?" Lacey asked loudly. "Look there is something really big going on right now. And I need you guys. All of you guys." An immediate image of Danny yelling at her and Jo for bickering when they were in Connecticut came to mind. Now she understood how uncomfortable he must have felt.
Sarita rolled her eyes at Jo and turned back to Lacey. "I'm not helping you hide the Socio." She said confidently.
Lacey stared at her friend and then took a deep breath. "Then leave…" she said softly.
Jo bit her bottom lip as she tried to hide her smile.
Sarita's confident smirk dropped. "What?" she asked in shock.
"I just need your support.-"
"He's completely manipulating you Lacey." Sarita said angrily. "For Christ sake he murdered Regina!"
Lacey looked away. "We don't know that."
A small smile formed on Jo's lips.
Sarita stared blankly at her best friend. "God no…you don't…you don't think he did it?" she asked her voice trailing off.
"I don't know!" Lacey said speaking up. "I don't know if he did it or not. I want to believe he didn't. But I could be wrong."
"The sex was that good huh?" Phoebe joked.
All three pair of eyes turned to her sharply. She shrugged and put her hands up. "I'm just trying to lighten the mood."
Sarita stared at Phoebe like she was the dumbest thing she'd ever seen. Jo clenched her jaw and looked away. Lacey avoided looking at Jo's response to the comment.
"Look, I just need people I can trust." Lacey said looking up her eyes resting on Sarita. "You guys have been there for me through a lot of stuff."
Jo looked down at the floor guiltily so she missed Lacey turning to stare at her too.
"And I just need help with this one thing." Lacey said turning back to Sarita. "We just get him out of Green Grove and after that we will have nothing to do with him. Whether he's innocent or guilty is not up to us. If he's guilty the police will find him either way. If he's innocent, then he gets to prove himself."
The other three girls were silent as they noticed Lacey's voice shaking uncontrollably with emotion. "When we were little he was the first friend I made here…" Jo looked up at Lacey the same time that Lacey turned to her. "And then Jo." Sarita rolled her eyes at Jo. Lacey took a deep breath. "Before he killed his aunt…" Her voice broke. "He meant a lot to me…and he…" Her voice trailed off. There were some secrets between her and Danny that even Jo didn't know about.
Lacey straightened up and collected herself. "I just owe him this favor." She shook her hair off her shoulders and cross her arms across her chest. "And after that, I don't want to have anything to do with him."
Lacey looked at Phoebe who's mind seemed as though she was preoccupied with another thought. She turned to Sarita who was staring at her blankly. Her lips pursed looking unamused. Lacey kept staring at her friend until she saw Sarita's shoulder relaxed and her sharp eyes soften. Lastly she turned to Jo. Jo stared back at her, unable to hide the hurt and sadness in her eyes. But Lacey couldn't understand why Jo looked down in shame breaking their eye contact.
Lacey inhaled deeply and exhaled softly. " So are you guys in?"