Scarlett sees Dani standing at her locker and walks up to her with a large curious smile. "So...how did things go? Has he confessed his love for you yet?"
She closes her locker and turns to Scarlett with a sad and slightly angry expression. "You were wrong."
Her smile fades as she stands there, listening intently to Dani. "What?"
"You were wrong, Scarlett and I am so unbelievably stupid for thinking that Joe and I could ever be anything other than 'just friends'."
Scarlett's head falls to the side in sadness as she gives her a sympathetic look. She reaches out to put her hand on Dani's arm to comfort her. "Dani..."
She pulls her arm away and shakes her head, giving Scarlett a fake smile. "No, no, it's okay. I'm okay. We both just agreed to forget this whole thing. He's going to continue dating Taylor and groping her right in front of me, we're both going to forget the kiss and I'm going to get all of my feelings for him surgically removed from my heart..." She pauses and shakes her head, giving Scarlett an unsure look. "...or brain...I'm not really sure how all that works."
She gives Dani a disbelieving look. "Dans...you know it's not that easy."
She looks at Scarlett with a serious expression and shrugs. "Maybe it is. Maybe it's just that simple...maybe it has to be." She can feel her eyes filling with water and she lowers her head, hiding the tears close to escaping.
She shakes her head in bewilderment. "I'm so sorry, Dans. I just...I can't believe he doesn't feel the same. I hate seeing you like this."
She forces another on of her famous fake smiles. "I'll survive...I always do." She walks past Scarlett and begins making her way down the hall.
She turns and stares at Dani with sadness, wondering how she could have been so wrong but deep down she knew she wasn't wrong. There was no way she could have been wrong...and she was beginning to get severely pissed at Joe. Her thoughts are soon interrupted by Mia rushing up behind her and jumping in front of her with a large smile. She can't help but smile at Mia's expression and wonder how she's supposed to act when one of her friends is heartbroken and the other is smiling like a kid at Christmas time.
"Finally! I come home last night and you're already asleep so I can't tell you my good news, then I wake up this morning and you've already left for school so I can't tell you my good news, and now I've been running all around the school looking for you so I can tell you my good news!" Mia takes a breath and continues starring back at her with the brightest smile she's had in months.
Scarlett laughs at her excitement. "Wow, somebody suddenly got a boost of energy. Well, don't leave me hanging...what's the good news? And please tell me it has nothing to do with that stupid band." She rolls her eyes with a small smirk.
Mia points a finger at her with a fake look of seriousness. "Hey! They're awesome!" She shakes her head, going back to the previous subject. "And no, they have nothing to do with my good news. Logan and I..."
Scarlett's eyes widen in excitement.
"...we kind of..."
Her eyes widen more with each second that Mia delays the news.
"....kissed."
Scarlett's smile fades and her eyes shrink back to normal size as she rolls them.
Mia gives her a surprised look and throws her hands up in confusion. "What's up with you?"
"Mia, your news isn't very...surprising. I was hoping for a little more than 'we kissed'. I mean, come on, we've been waiting for like 2 months!" She smirks and begins walking down the hall.
She crosses her arms and follows Scarlett. "It has not been two months...besides...I think kissing is perfectly appropriate." She turns to Scarlett with a smirk. "Unlike some people...I don't do the nasty on the first date." She snickers jokingly.
Her mouth drops in disbelief and she purposely bumps into Mia's side. "Hey, that rumor has almost completely disappeared...and I'd like to keep it that way if you don't mind."
She rolls her eyes with a smirk and whispers. "Slut is your label, babe...live with it."
Scarlett's eyes widen in shock as she looks over at her. "Haha, very funny. We'll see who's laughing when you're sleeping out in the yard tonight." She walks ahead of Mia.
Mia chuckles and lifts her arms with a smirk. "Aw, come on! What kind of slut makes her best friend sleep out in the yard?!" She chuckles and rushes after Scarlett.
~~~
Joe's walking up to the school when he sees Taylor sitting at a picnic table. He takes a deep breath before walking over to her and sitting down in front of her with a small smile. "Hey."
Taylor closes her notebook and looks up at him with a smile. "Hey."
"I wanted to apologize for being so weird the past few days."
"Yeah...me too."
"You were kind of weird, weren't you?" He smirks.
She shrugs with a forced smile. "A little."
He chuckles and glances down at the table before looking up at her seriously. "I need to tell you something."
Her face turns serious as she nods and takes a deep breath, preparing herself for the easy let down speech.
"There's a reason I've been so weird the past few days. See...Dani...she kind of....well, she has feelings for me."
She shows a barely noticeable smile and looks down at the table, waiting him to finish so she can make her graceful exit.
He suddenly gets very defensive. "I just want you to know that I had no idea and...also that...Saturday, after her party...she kissed me."
She looks up at him with a neutral expression.
He sits there a minute before giving her a confused expression. "You're not mad? I understand if you are Taylor..."
She shakes her head. "I'm not mad, Joe. I know that Dani has feelings for you."
His face turns to shock. "You do?"
"It was kind of obvious after your little performance, wasn't it?" She looks down at the table. "Well...I thought so." She looks back up at him with that same small smile. "I get it Joe. She's your best friend and I understand that her telling you how she feels has probably made you realize some things you didn't see before. So, I don't blame you for breaking up with me...I'm just glad you told me."
"Taylor, I'm not breaking up with you."
Her face turns to slight confusion as a real smile begins to take the place of her fake one. "You're not?"
"No." He reaches across the table and takes her hands in his. "I like you, Taylor and I want to see where this could go...I'm not giving up on us."
She looks down at the table to hide her pink cheeks but quickly looks back up at him with a smile. She never knew what it was like to be someone's first choice. He was so sweet to her and she had faith in that moment that he would never do anything to hurt her.
~~~
Dani walks downstairs in some jogging pants and a tank top as Mr. Landon turns his head from the TV and looks up at her. "Clearing your head?"
She nods and walks to the door. "I'll be back by curfew." She walks out the door.
Mr. Landon sighs and shakes his head before talking to himself. "Going for a walk; never a good sign with that girl." He looks back at the TV.
Dani puts her headphones in and begins jogging down the sidewalk. She begins thinking about everything that has happened these last few days and suddenly her speed picks up. She can't help but hope that maybe the faster she runs, the easier it will be to leave behind the pain inside herself. She glances down at her ipod for a minute.
Nick's walking down the sidewalk when he lifts his head up and groans before mumbling to himself. "Not again." Before either of them can respond, Dani collides with Nick and they both fall to the ground, landing in the same position they were weeks ago. Nick groans and slowly opens his eyes, turning over to face Dani in disbelief. "Seriously? Do you run with your eyes closed?!"
She gives him a scowl before pushing off of the ground and brushing herself off.
He stands up and groans before looking over at her with pained eyes. "You know, I could sue...I think you broke something." He lifts his hand to his shoulder with squinted eyes.
She rolls her eyes. "I don't think you even know what the word means."
He drops his hand with a smirk. "I'm not dumb, remember?"
She walks past him, purposely bumping his shoulder. "Maybe not, but you're still a monumental jack ass."
He yells after her with a smirk. "And you're still a whore!" He turns and runs after her, catching up to her so he can walk beside her. "So, do you think I could get some tutor time in tomorrow? I have a test coming up that Mrs. Smithson says I need to pass...it's like a...middle..." He trails off, trying to think of what it's called.
She rolls her eyes in disbelief and finishes his sentence. "Midterm?"
"Yeah! That's it!"
"Whatever...It's not like I have anything better to do." She mumbles the last part, hoping he didn't hear.
"Great! Just wait for me on the steps outside of school tomorrow and I'll give you a ride to my house so we can study."
She turns to him with confusion. "Your house?"
"Yeah."
She nods her head, agreeing just to get him to leave. "Fine. Whatever."
He puts a hand on her shoulder, stopping her and making her turn to face him. He gives her a sincere look. "Hey, what's up with you? I mean I'm used to you being cold and insulting but you seem...different."
"Different? No. Careless? Absolutely."
He stares at her, wondering what had happened since her birthday to make her so upset.
She stands there a moment before looking at him with a smile slowly appearing on her face. "Do you really want to study tomorrow?"
"Want to? No. Need to? Probably."
Her smile continues to grow as she get an idea. "What would you normally do tomorrow night if you didn't need to study?"
He thinks a minute. "The Shack."
She gives him a disgusted look. "Is that some sort of repulsive joke?"
He chuckles and shakes his head. "No, it's this club on 5th. They don't card and security is really loose. Cody and I go there all the time."
She nods with a smile. "Perfect."
He gives her a look of surprise. "You want to go?"
"Yeah, I do."
He stops walking and crosses his arms with a smirk. "Wow, who knew Demoted Danielle still had it in her?"
She rolls her eyes and puts her headphones back in before continuing her run. Before she gets to far off she turns back and points at him. "Tomorrow after school, don't leave without me." She turns back around and begins jogging down the sidewalk.
He snickers in clear confusion and stares after her a minute before walking off.
~~~
Mia's preparing a drink for the only customers in the coffee house while Jake wipes down some empty table in the back.
He looks up at Mia with a small smile and questioning eyes. "So...have you ever wondered why there are as many chickens on earth as there are humans?"
She looks over at Jake with an amused smirk and snickers at his lame attempt to fill the empty silence when James walks out of his office with a big excited smile. "Karaoke Saturday!"
Mia turns to look at James with confusion at the same time as Jake. "What?"
James steps closer to them with excitement clearly in his voice. "I ordered all the equipment and I really think we'll get a good crowd. Who doesn't love karaoke, right?"
James was obviously trying to pick up some business. Ever since a few months ago things have really started to die down around the coffee house and Mia knew if James didn't do something to bring in customers she may lose her job. She was up for anything that would save her job, even if that meant a lame karaoke session. She looks over at Jake with a small smile and raised eyebrow as he shrugs with a smile, kind of excited at the idea of karaoke.