Justin looked over at Lacey who had barely been eating her lunch. It was a Saturday, and it had been weeks since Danny moved to Arizona. Justin brought her to Johnny Cakes because it was her favorite place to eat, hoping to cheer her up.

"When you texted me, I thought you maybe wanted to talk or something. You haven't said a word to me. Are you even going to eat?"

"I'm sorry, Justin you're right. Phoebe's out of town, and Jo is over at Rico's working on a project. I just didn't know who else to call."

He grabbed her by the hand. "And I'm glad you called on me. I just hate seeing you down like this."

Lacey sat silently for a moment, she finally spoke up,"Archie's funeral is coming up soon."

"Yeah," he said softly, trying to empathize with her.

"Don't you think it's strange that they haven't identified any suspects? Or found any evidence besides Danny's phone being there, and that clearly wasn't enough to convict him or he would be in custody by now-"

"Lacey please, don't stress yourself about it. You just have to accept that this is the way things are right now. I'm sure Danny will be fine in- Where did you say he was going?"

"Arizona."

"Right. Wait, why Arizona?"

"To live with his grandma."

"Oh, well I'm sure he's thinking about you." He added hopefully.

"Yeah, well he hasn't even called." Lacey replied sadly.

"Well it's only been a week, maybe he's having a hard time adjusting to missing you too. As pretty as you are? He'd be crazy not to miss you." Justin casually flirted with her, but she knew it was harmless. He was just a flirtatious guy, he didn't mean anything by it. "Look, maybe you should reach out to him. I'll even go with you." He added.

"All the way to Arizona?" Lacey asked doubtfully.

"No, I'd drive you to the airport, then take off." They both laughed.

Lacey sighed, "But I could ask Mrs. Desai for his grandmother's number, that way I could at least call him."

"That's a more subtle a start." He joked, "You're going to be okay." Justin was looking intensly into her eyes. "I promise."

Lacey smiled, it wasn't a genuine smile, but it was her first in days.

"Now, my lady, allow me to escort you out of here, and we'll continue our chat elsewhere," Justin stood up and reached for her hands. Lacey just looked at him and squinted her eyes. He could be so corny sometimes. "Come on." He threw his arm around her in a friendly manner when she finally stood up. Lacey allowed Justin to wrap his arm around her, it was comforting, just being around him. She was happy to have him as a friend.

As they were heading out of the diner, they bumped into Jo and Rico.

"Jo, Rico, hey." Lacey greeted them, now wearing the biggest grin she'd worn in weeks. "I thought you guys had a big project to finish."

"We do," Rico spoke up. "We just came by to get some brain food. Well pie is not exactly a mind stimulating dessert, but it is yummy." Rico flashed a giddy grin, which faded when he that no one else seemed amused by his attempted humor.

"Rico, did you ever find your 'red jacket'? Lacey teased.

"What?" He looked confused. "Oh, my red jacket." Rico remembered the lie he and Jo told to get Lacey in the boys locker room alone with Danny. "Yeah, I never could find it. I guess the guy burned it. Bullies." He rolled then walked up to the register to place an order.

"Lacey can I talk to you, alone?" Jo looked over at Justin who was standing patiently.

"Sure what's up Jo?" Jo had been really distant since Danny left, Lacey wondered if it was just her way of trying to cope with him being gone again. She remembered how depressed Jo had gotten when he left before, and figured the same feelings had resurfaced.

"What are you doing with him?" She looked over at Justin, who had walked over to talk to some people from school who were sitting in one of the booths.

"He's cool, he's a really good friend."

"Are you sure about that Lacey?"

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, I just don't believe he wants to be just friends with you, that's all. And I just get a weird feeling about that guy, he's too nice. Nobody is that nice, especially to someone who broke their heart. No offense Lacey, but that wasn't too long ago."

"Well some people are mature, genuine human beings. If you weren't so judgmental, of everyone, maybe you could make more friends." Lacey snapped.

"Oh I'm judgmental? I'm judgmental? That sounds like a lot of judgment coming from a person who tried to hide their relationship so that her shallow little friends wouldn't know she was dating the 'Socio.'

Jo had crossed a line. "Whatever." Lacey grabbed her purse and motioned for Justin that she was ready to leave.

"Lacey I'm sorry-"

"No!" She rejected her apology. "Come on Justin, let's get out of here.

...

"Okay, you can open your eyes now." Justin had her to close her eyes and cover them with her hands the entire time he was driving to their mystery destination. Lacey opened her eyes to see that they were in a wooded area. In the middle of no where.

"What did you bring me out here to kill me?" She joked. Justin laughed as he walked over to his car to retrieve something from the trunk. He came back with a gun.

Lacey's eyes grew large.

"Relax," he smiled, observing Lacey's facial expression. "It's a paint gun." When I get, mad or, frusterated, sometimes I like to come out here and blow off some steam.

"So what do you shoot?" Lacey asked, interested.

"Eh, trees, maybe a bird or two."

"Justin, am disappointed in you, that's animal cruelty," Lacey joked.

"Yeah, well it's something me and my dad used to do. He always wanted to hunt, but my mom wasn't too fond of the idea."

Lacey realized she didn't know much about his home life.

"Do you still do things like this with him?" She asked out of curiosity.

"Nah, the bastard took off."

"I'm sorry," Lacey felt bad that she'd asked.

"I'm not," he shrugged." He handed her the gun. "Wanna try?"

"Okay," Lacey grabbed the paint ball gun cautiously. "What do I do? I just-" she pointed the paint gun downwards as she tried to figure it out. Justin started to approach her to show her how it worked but she figured it out, accidentally shooting him in the groin area.

Justin's eyes grew large, yellow paint marked the center of his pants. He grabbed himself. "It's okay," he squealed in pain.

Lacey couldn't help but to laugh. She was laughing hysterically, tears even started to leak from her eyes. "Oh my gosh, Justin I am so sorry." She tried to regain her composure.

"Really? You look sorry." He said sarcastically as he watched her start giggling again. "Well then, this means war." He grabbed the gun from her hands and smiled playfully threatening. Lacey took off running, Justin trailed behind her, still cupping his privates. Lacey darted into the woods running as quickly as she could.

She was surrounded by trees, and tripped over some branches. As she fell to the ground, Lacey heard a noise in the slight distance. She saw something move quickly. The figure was black from behind, and ran on two feet. It was a person. "Justin?" She called out' but he was too far behind to have heard her. She felt like she was being watched, and she looked over her shoulder, but didn't see anything.

Justin finally caught up to her, he was running out of breath. "Woman, you ought to be a track star." He looked at Lacey who was still lying on the ground. What's the matter?"

"Nothing, I just fell." Lacey brushed herself off and stood up.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You okay?" He reached out to help her.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She forced a smile. "Can we get out of here?"

"Of course," Justin dusted the remainer of dirt off of her pants, and helped to the car.

Lacey looked back into the woods, with curiosity and discomfort.

Okay, so that's it for this week. Do you guys think Justin is only trying to win Lacey back now that Danny is gone? Or do you think he's a genuine guy and a good friend to her? Also, what or who was in the woods? And will Lacey try to contact Danny? I don't know. Thanks for reading. More to come soon!