Hiding - Chapter 5
A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I've incorporated information from the show and released clips I've seen for episode 1x09, so keep that in mind.
*Jo's POV*
It was odd, having Danny at my house. I couldn't get away from him, so I ended up spending most of my time in my room to avoid him. The first couple of days I spent at home, I used my time to catch up on the work that I'd missed at school and to sleep. I didn't see much of Danny because I chose to ignore him. My mom seemed concerned about the whole thing.
"Are you and Danny fighting? What's wrong?" She wondered one day, at the breakfast table. Danny wasn't there and my dad had gone to work early.
"Nothing is wrong, I'm just exhausted, that's all. I feel like there's so much stuff I have to do since I missed two weeks of school," I said.
"Well, if things are uncomfortable with Danny you can talk to me, right?" I nodded, feeling guilty that I didn't feel like I could tell my mom what was really going on. I felt even guiltier because I was mad at Danny because he'd lied to me about him and Lacey, yet I was lying to him about being able to see things since my coma. It's not the same thing; I tried to convince myself, even though I didn't really believe that. I avoided Danny at school, making a point to sit with Rico and not talk to Danny when he attempted to sit next to us. Rico noticed.
"Are you and Danny having some kind of fight?" Rico wondered quietly when he and I were alone.
"Yes," I admitted, sitting on the front lawn of the school, our books out in front of us.
"He saved your life Jo, and you're already fighting with him?" I sighed.
"There's a good reason, Rico. He and Lacey are a thing, apparently, and they decided not to tell me," I revealed. I swore Rico to secrecy, but honestly, I didn't think the whole thing would be kept secret for long. Tyler could reveal it if he wanted too, and I hadn't told Danny that. Yet another lie that made me as guilty as he was.
"So, Danny and Lacey are together but she wants to keep it a secret?" Rico asked, sounding incredulous. I nodded.
"And he's been lying to you about it for several weeks now," Rico said and I nodded again.
"And you got mad at him for lying to you," Rico continued.
"Yes, and I told him that he'd promised to not lie to me and I was done being made to look like an idiot. Maybe I'm too trusting, Rico. Maybe I'm too nice to people," I glared down at my Calculus homework.
"You're too nice to the wrong people, I guess," Rico said, "I know that you've known Danny a long time, but has he given you a good reason to trust him?" I looked up. Rico's shimmering lights were mostly blue and calm looking.
When he was close to me, it flared pink. Not pale pink, like friendship. Bright pink, like love. I'd known, my first day back at school, that Rico had feelings for me. I didn't know what to think about it. I tried to wrap my brain around the idea of being with Rico in a romantic way. He's pretty cute, I thought privately, but could I see him as more than a friend? I didn't know. I didn't say anything. I couldn't say anything, how would I explain myself?
Lacey's lights had been a misty gray color, which to me said ambiguity and conflict. She didn't know who she was or what she wanted. She was stuck in the middle. I made sure to pay attention to her and Danny when they got close. Her lights flared red, which mean passion, but Danny's flared pink, for love. I got the feeling that Lacey didn't quite feel the same way about Danny, not really, that he did about her.
Being able to see the lights around people complicated many things. Archie's lights were a muddy brown and black, indicating he was in a depression. I felt bad for him. I couldn't reveal any of this to anyone.
I looked at Rico, who was waiting for my answer.
"I was basing my trust on having known him for so long. Everyone deserves a chance, don't they?" I wondered and Rico shrugged.
"Maybe they don't," I said, feeling angry again. Rico looked mildly surprised.
"So, you don't trust him?" He wondered.
"Not anymore, Rico. Not after this. Him living in my house makes it all the more awkward," I revealed and Rico nodded, tapping his pencil on his notebook.
"Look, I need to use the bathroom; I'll be right back, okay?" I said, getting up and leaving to go inside.
"Sure thing," Rico said, watching me leave. The bathroom was thankfully empty and I immediately took over the handicapped stall. I sat and took deep breaths, trying to get ahold of myself. I closed my eyes and counted to five, slowly. At five, I opened my eyes and jerked up, stunned. Alexander, from my coma, stood there, staring at me. All I could see was an immensely bright light with green eyes in the middle.
Are you happy, Jo Masterson?
No, I thought to him, I'm not happy.
Why not?
Because Danny lied to me about him and Lacey. Even though he said he thinks of me as a sister, I was hoping that maybe there could still be a chance, one day. Now I know that there won't be. I don't want to be with Tyler because he's just as manipulative. Now I've discovered Rico likes me, too and it's all getting so complicated. I hate myself sometimes. I hate how vulnerable I make myself, how people can just tell what I think right away. Plus, I'm not talking to Danny because he lied to me and I'm lying to him! I'm such a hypocrite sometimes and it makes me mad. I want to be put together, sophisticated…. I don't know, bitchy, even, I revealed to Alexander.
His response indicated that he was doing the telepathic equivalent to smiling.
Then why don't you be those things?
It's not that simple, I replied, people think I'm smart Jo Masterson. They don't think anything else about me unless they're making fun of my hair.
Why not?
I don't look like any of those things, I replied with my thoughts.
Then make yourself look like those things. Act like those things. This is your life, Jo Masterson. I came to warn you that your abilities will be gaining a new component. I got nervous.
What do you mean?
You will be able to do more than just see people's auras, for that is what you can see. An aura is the essence that makes up their soul, their unconscious, whatever you want to call it. You will know immediately when it occurs; I'm not allowed to reveal it to you.
So, I'll be able to see something else?
Yes, you will.
And you're pretty much telling me that if I want to be those things I need to look like those things, right?
Yes, if you think that will help you.
I don't even know where to start.
Find someone you admire that has those qualities and emulate them.
You make it sound so easy.
It is easy; you just have to make the decision.
Okay, then that's what I'll do. I'm a new Jo Masterson, I told him.
In that instant, someone opened the door and Alexander winked out of existence. I flushed the toilet even though I hadn't used it and opened the door to find Lacey, checking her makeup in the mirror. She looked at me silently. I stared at her, keeping my face blank. I washed my hands.
"Jo, I…"Lacey began, but I walked passed her as if she wasn't even there, leaving her alone in the bathroom.
*Danny's POV*
"I tried to talk to Jo in the bathroom, but she just looked at me like I wasn't even there," Lacey said. I sighed.
"Why are you trying so hard? If she doesn't want to talk to you anymore then leave her alone," Lacey said.
"Lacey, Jo and I have known each other since before I was potty trained, okay? I'm not giving up on her, not ever," I said. Lacey bit the inside of her mouth and I could tell she was frustrated.
"I'll try talking to her at home, today," I said.
"You mean.. . At the Masterson's home," Lacey corrected.
"Yes, that's what I meant," I said. Lacey and I spent the afternoon together in her room, but I got the feeling she was mad at me because I was upset that Jo was mad at us. She didn't say anything and I left before five so that I could get to dinner on time. I walked back the Masterson's house and said hello to Mrs. Masterson, who was in the kitchen.
"Hey Danny! Have you seen Jo around?" She wondered.
"I saw her after school, studying with Rico. Maybe they went to the diner?" She nodded.
"Is Jo answering her phone?" I wondered.
"She hasn't yet, and it's starting to worry me," she replied. I went and put my things away in the guest room and came back downstairs. She looked relieved.
"She texted you?" I asked and she smiled.
"Yes, she said she's running late and that she'll be here in an hour," Mrs. Masterson looked relieved. Since I was pretty much alone, I went back upstairs and worked on homework. I got my math work finished easily enough, along with some science and history. I had to read for English and that wasn't terribly difficult. I'd gotten most of the way through the chapter when I heard the door open downstairs. Mrs. Masterson said something and Jo responded. I marked my place in the book and went to go downstairs when I heard Mrs. Masterson shriek.
I bolted through the door and raced down the stairs.
"What's going on, are you okay?" I asked. Mrs. Masterson's eyes were wide and she turned to look at me briefly before looking over at Jo. I descended the rest of the stairs and stepped into the kitchen.
"Jo! What did you do to yourself?!" Mrs. Masterson gasped.
*Jo's POV*
Danny was staring at me with his eyes practically popping out of his head. His mouth opened, but no sound came out.
"I wanted to change it, so I did," I replied calmly. I decided that the first step as the new Jo Masterson was to do something about my hair. So I had gone to a salon and asked the woman to make it beautiful. She'd chemically straightened it before lightening it up considerably. I would say it could be classified as bleach blond, practically. I'd bought some makeup, but had not yet tried any of it on.
"It's….really blonde," Danny said, "and straight."
"Yes." My mom came closer and examined it.
"I…well, I suppose you used some of that money you had saved up?" I nodded.
"Okay. I wish you would have told me before going out and doing this, but it looks nice, Jo. Just don't surprise me like that again!" I smiled.
"Do you need special shampoo?" She asked and I nodded, holding out the products that the salon had given me.
"I have some," I replied, as she looked at the bottles in the bag.
"Well, uh… dinner will be ready in about thirty minutes, so be on time. You should probably text your father before he sees it," she advised, turning back to the chicken on the counter.
Danny was still gaping at my hair as I walked towards the stairs. He followed me up and grabbed my arm, stopping me before I made it to my room.
"Why?" He wondered.
"Does it matter?" I replied, using Lacey's favorite phrase to dodge a question. Danny let go of my arm.
"Jo… are you having some kind of weird mental thing, because of the coma?" Danny asked and I turned to glare at him.
"Changing my hair means I'm having some weird mental thing? Maybe I wanted to change it Danny, why do you care anyway?"
"I care because I'm your friend and I'm worried about you, that's why," he said quietly.
"If changing your hair is a sign of a weird mental thing then someone needs to tell Phoebe Daly that she needs a psychiatric evaluation," I snapped.
"Why are you so angry?"
"Do we really need to rehash this, Danny? I'm mad because I decided to make a change to my hair and you assume I'm having some kind of mental breakdown. If any other girl at school had changed their hair it would be no big deal. You probably wouldn't even notice until she asked you, 'Do you notice anything different' and then you'd stand there, staring at her, trying to figure out what it was. Since Jo Masterson is the one changing her hair, that obviously means she's crazy!"
"I didn't mean to make it sound that way, it's just…you wouldn't normally do that so I was just…."
"You were just….? Being nosy, that's what you were just. Don't pretend to care about me when you're just mining me for info to see how I found out about you and Lacey. I'm not stupid Danny, so cut the crap," I hissed. His eyes narrowed.
"I do care about you, it's not pretending. If I didn't care about you I wouldn't have put so much effort into looking for you with Rico and giving you CPR!"
"So it's okay to lie to me after promising you wouldn't? Since you saved my life, I'm supposed to put up with your bullshit? No, I don't think so. I thanked you for saving me but that doesn't give you free reign to treat me however you please and then I'm supposed to just lie there and think of England while you screw me over."
"I'm not screwing you over! I'm trying to be happy!" I wondered how happy Lacey was making him; did she ask him about his favorite things?
"You're trying to be happy in a relationship you can't even share with anyone else, Danny. You can't go to the movies with each other! You can't even sit together in the cafeteria!" Danny's facial expression grew serious and I could see the outline of his aura growing dim and cloudy. He was getting angry.
"Did it ever occur to you that perhaps Lacey thinks of your relationship differently than you do?" I asked, before giving him a chance to retort.
"What? What does that have anything to do with what we're talking about?"
"Who has the power in the relationship, Danny? Is it equal?" I wondered curiously and he frowned.
"Do you make decisions as a couple or does Lacey make decisions for the both of you and you go along with it? Who decided it should be a secret, you or her?" I knew all of this of course, but I wanted Danny to think about it. Danny sighed and grabbed my arm, pulling me into my room and shutting the door behind me.
"Why do you care so much about Lacey and me being together?"
"Because, Danny! I'm trying to help you and you're running around, doing things to make it more difficult! You aren't acting like someone who is trying to blend in. What do you want?" I asked.
"I don't know anymore, okay?! I don't know!" He said loudly, the aura surrounding him looking like it was undergoing some type of thunderstorm.
"I won't blend in, no matter what I do. Did I tell you that I've seen those masked people before? The ones that were at the party? Lacey and I were in McNally park and…. And they came up to us. I threw something at them and they left, but I've seen them before," he said. I wanted to resist the urge to get pulled back into the mystery, but this had me interested and made me angry.
"So those people know you're together, too. Perhaps you two should just come out with it already, on your own terms, instead of waiting for it to happen through them. You be in control," I said.
"Look Danny, I…" I started to say, but my phone beeped. I looked down at it.
Tyler texted me, saying,
"The video I showed you of Lacey and Danny at the party? The person who sent it to me just uploaded it to YouTube."
"What?! Who uploaded it, what's their screen name?" I texted back frantically.
Tyler answered,
"DannyDesai-TheSocio."