"L A B E L S"

Episode 88

Dani woke up with the previous day still full on her mind. She couldn't get Joe's stunned and sympathetic look out of her head. She can still see him standing there with the water rising in his eyes as he shakes his head continually, telling her she's wrong and everything is going to be fine. She wanted to be wrong, she wanted everything to be fine, her father wanted everything to be fine. But just because you want something, doesn't mean it's destined in the stars...she knew that all too well. She dresses slowly that morning, knowing she's already going to be half an hour late. She trudges down the stairs, feeling exhausted even with a full nights sleep.

Mr. Landon's standing by the door, putting his jacket on, about to leave for work when he sees Dani walking down the stairs. "Hey, Dimples. Everything okay?" She nods, trying to force a small smile for her dad's benefit but failing miserably. "What's wrong?" He asks in concern, seeing right past the facade.

She sighs and stands on the first step, so her eyes are in direct view of her fathers. She runs her hand through her hair, pushing it back out of her face and stares at her father with uncertainty. "I told him."

His eyes widen in surprise. "You told Nick?" She shakes her head. "Joe," he guesses once more and she nods in response. "That's probably a good thing, hunny. It's good that somebody you care about knows. You need someone to talk to besides your old man." He smiles halfheartedly then gives her a look of curiosity. "How did he take it?"

"Not so good."

"That's expected. He cares about you; anybody close to you is going to have a little trouble processing news like this. Just give him some time." He smiles and places a comforting hand on Dani's shoulder. She nods and forces another small smile, this time covering the truth a little better because he didn't questions it.. He removes his hand from her shoulder and grabs his wallet from the table by the door, stuffing it into his pocket. "I’ll see you after school?"

"I was actually going to hang out with Nick. I feel like it's been forever since we did anything and it might be best if I told him too. It felt really good telling Joe...I just dread seeing another person I care about with that utterly horrified expression on their face."

Mr. Landon gives her a serious look and states matter-of-fact. "You have a Doctors appointment, Dimples."

"Another one?" She sighs and tosses her head back. "We should get a priority club rewards or something, at least." She rolls her eyes. "As if Christmas wasn't enough. Alright, I’ll come home right after school." She flashes her dad a small smile as he leans forward and kisses her forehead.

~~~ 

Jake notices Scarlett standing at her locker after second period and walks up behind her with a smile. "Hey."

She turns to face him with a small smile. "Hi."

He stands there in awkward silence for a moment. He opens his mouth to say something but all he can do is stare and stumble over his words. "Did you need something?" She asks with a curious expression.

You. He shakes his head, trying to come back to reality. He puts on another one of his famous smiles and gathers his thoughts. "Yeah, yeah. I just wanted to see if I could borrow your English notes. I was kind of distracted in class today and didn't really get a chance to write much down." He failed to mention that the reason he was distracted was because she sat directly in front of him and all he could focus on all class period was the back of her head as she twisted her hair around her finger.

She smiles and reaches into her bag. "Yeah, sure. Lot on your mind?" She pulls out the notes and hands them to him.

He looks down at the notes and takes them then looks back up at her for a moment before answering. "Yeah." They stare at each other for a moment before Scarlett realizes someone is standing behind her, making Jake's expression extremely on edge. She turns to see Logan standing close behind with a scowl on his face. She smiles, trying to cut the tension. "Hey, Logan."