Never Too Late

Lacey's Point of View

After Lacey left my room, I did the rest of my homework. I texted Nick to see if he wanted to go to the Halloween party with me. He ended up replying he would. I texted him for a bit longer and went to bed. I woke up the next morning and got ready for school. I took a shower and got dressed, then I went downstairs and went to the kitchen. I grabbed a cup and poured myself some coffee. I drank my coffee in silence and texted Nick. Lucy finally came downstairs and we headed out for school. We made some small talk in the car and when we got to school we went our separate ways. I was at my locker when I felt like I was being watched. I looked up and saw it was only Nick.

“Hey, so what's the plan for tomorrow? Am I meeting you at the party or at your uncle's?” he asked.

“You can probably meet us at my uncle’s,” I said. “I mean, if you wanted to hang out tonight with me you could. I don't think they'd have an issue with it.”

“We'll see,” he replied. “My parents are actually in town for once so I think they want to go out with me for dinner.”

“Oh, well, that's cool,” I said, trying not to sound disappointed. “Random surprise trip I'm assuming?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” he nodded. “No warning, just ‘surprise, we’re here’ type of deal.”

“Just let me know,” I said. “I mean, I'll see you tomorrow anyway. Not like we have to hang out tonight. Lucy wanted to go look at outfits anyway for the party so I guess I could tag along with her.”

“How did the talk go last night?” he asked.

I closed my locker door and grabbed my backpack and put it over one of my shoulders.

“It was okay,” I admitted as we started to walk down the hall. “I'm hoping we can just move on from it. I just want things to be normal between us again.”

“Understandable. Just give it time. Time heals all wounds you know,” he said as he lightly bumped into my side.

I cracked a small smile and rolled my eyes. Nick walked me to my first class and we went our separate ways. The school day went pretty quick and I was walking out of the school when my phone vibrated in my pocket. I saw it was from John and decided to ignore it. I was done with him and wasn't about to fall for him or his bullshit again. I waited for Lucy next to her car and she came out about five minutes later. She unlocked her car and we got in.

“So I'm going to head to Spirit Halloween so I can get something for the party. Is that cool with you?” she asked.

“Yeah, that's fine,” I said.

We left the school and headed to the store. We got there and headed in. I was looking around while I was waiting for Lucy to come out of the fitting room. The door finally opened.

“So what do you think?” she asked, standing there in a short, tight black dress.

“I like it,” I said.

“Did you find anything yet?” she asked me.

“No, I don't think I'm going to dress up” I told her.

“Why not?” she asked. “It's a Halloween party, have some fun with it!”

I rolled my eyes and said, “I'll look around some more, you get back in your clothes.”

Lucy nodded and I kept looking. I didn't want to dress up but if it made Lucy happy, I'd do it. I went over and found a Wonder Woman costume that I liked. I took a picture and opened up my texts and went to Nick’s name.

“So if I get this will you be my Superman?” I pressed send and waited for a response. Lucy started to walk over when I heard my phone go off.

I opened the message from Nick and it said, “Absolutely. I'll get the costume tomorrow before I head over.”

“This the one you want?” Lucy asked as she grabbed it out of my hands.

“I have money, I can pay for this,” I insisted.

“Save your money,” she told me. “Come on, let's go.”

I sighed and walked up to the register with her and she paid for them. We left the store and headed home. We ate dinner with our uncles and then went to our rooms. Sleep came quick for me that night and I woke up the next morning and started to get ready for the day. I grabbed some leggings and a hoodie to wear and headed for the shower. I took a quick shower and hopped out. I got dressed and went back into my room. I grabbed my phone and headed downstairs to eat. Gerard was sitting at the table. I grabbed a Poptart and sat down with him. My phone buzzed and I saw it was Nick asking when he could come over.

“Do you mind if I have a friend come over until we go to the party at Mason’s?” I asked.

“No, I don't mind. Who is it?” he asked.

“His names Nick,” I said and then rushed, “He's just a friend.”

Gerard raised an eyebrow but didn't ask any questions. I replied to Nick saying he could come over. He replied he was on his way so I decided to wait outside for him. About twenty minutes later his car was pulling in the driveway. He got out and came over to me with a bag.

“Got the costume just for you,” he said and smiled.

I smiled and lead him into the house. I walked him up to my room where we hung out until it was time to get ready. I got in my costume first and then Nick went into my bathroom to get ready. I was straightening my hair when he came out.

“So how do I look?” he asked, flexing his arms.

I laughed and then said, “Look a superhero to me.”

He came over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. He was looking at me through my mirror.

“Well, I told you I'd be your Superman, didn't I?” he said.

“This is true. And I'm your Wonder Woman,” I replied.

He smiled and dropped his arms. He went over to check his phone and I couldn't help but stare at him. He must've noticed because he let out a laugh.

“Take a picture, it'll last longer” he said.

I could feel my face getting red. Luckily Lucy saved the day by coming in and saying she was ready to go. We all walked down the stairs and said goodbye to Gerard and Mikey. We decided to take two cars seeing Lucy's car didn't have enough room and just meet up there. I gave Nick instructions to Mason’s house. We got there and met up with Lucy. Mason greeted us and then we went in. Lucy went to get a drink and Nick and I waited for her.

A couple hours had passed and I was working on drink number three. I was pacing myself so I wouldn't be shitfaced. Nick had left to go get me some punch to drink when I ran into the person I didn't want to. His eyes connected with mine and I knew it was too late to try to walk away but I tried to anyway. I felt an arm grab mine and swing me around.

“Don't you fucking touch me,” I snapped.

“What's your issue?” he demanded. “You haven't returned any of my calls or texts. I thought we had something here.”

I scoffed and said, “I was nothing but a booty call to you. Something for you to just fuck with when your relationship was in a shit place.”

“I told you I broke up with her,” he insisted.

“Really? Then why did I find a text from her that day you asked me to grab your phone?” I responded.

The look on John’s face was priceless. He knew he was caught in a lie. He was going to say something when Nick walked over. He gave Nick a nasty look and then looked at me.

“Who’s this? Your new boyfriend?” he sneered.

“Actually, no it's not,” I shot back. “He's a friend. You know those things people usually have. Guess you wouldn't know seeing as you don't even have them anymore.”

At this point people were starting to stare at us. I felt Nick grab my hand and start to pull me away. That's when I saw Taylor coming over. She looked like she was drunk off her ass.

“Baby, why are you wasting your time talking to this low-life?” she whined to John.

“I'm a low-life?” I scoffed. “You might want to check yourself before you call me that.”

“Excuse me?” she replied.

John gave me a look like he was begging me not to say anything. But that didn't stop me.

“If I'm such a low-life, then why was your boyfriend fucking me while he was with you?” I retorted.

Taylor looked at me like I was joking.

“That's not true,” she argued. “He wouldn't even dare to that with you. You're just doing this for attention.”

“You might want to ask your boyfriend then,” I told her. “Because I don't lie. He's the one who’s been playing us both. And I, for one, am done with it. You're so fucking pathetic, John. Have a nice life without me.”

“Lace, please don't do this,” John begged.

“She's telling the truth!?” Taylor yelled.

“Come on, Lacey, let’s get out of here,” Lucy called to me over all the noise.

I didn't even know Lucy had heard that whole thing go down. We all walked out of the party and to the cars. Lucy told us that her friend was playing a concert and offered for us to follow her there. We agreed and got in Nick’s car. Lucy texted me the address and I put it in my GPS on my phone. I had no idea who I was going to see but after this I was ready to get the hell out of here.