Love, Lacey

Lacey lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling, half-listening to the Green Day CD in her stereo. It’d been two weeks since Ivy’s disappearance, and her options were running low. Her first thoughts, that Amy had stolen it, were pretty much implausible. She might have been able to stay cool under pressure, but her flunkies’ inane gossip would be sure to blow her cover by now. Lacey wondered why Amy didn’t just dump Beth and them. She was, after all, the most popular girl in school. Surely, she could find some confident lackeys.

Lacey shuddered. She wasn’t sure what was scarier; the fact that she was thinking about Amy or the fact that she was thinking like her.

“Lace!” she snapped out of her semi- coma at the sound of her mother calling her name. Lacey made her way to the living room and immediately rolled her eyes.

“Mom, how many times do I have to say, if you’re gonna smoke, at least do it outside,” Lacey chastised.

“Lace, it’s colder than the Devil’s asshole out there. Why go outside and freeze my tits off when I could sit on my nice, warm couch?” Diana plunked herself onto the beige love seat and blew out a line of rings that had taken Lacey’s entire life to perfect.

“Well, let’s see. The house is gonna smell like smoke, which means we’ll have to open all the windows to get it out, so we can’t turn on the heat or else the bill will go to the roof, which means it’ll be even colder in here. So choose one. 10 minutes of chilliness or a whole winter of bitter cold in your own home?” Lacey reasoned. Diana stuck her tongue out at her daughter and stubbornly snubbed out her freshly lit Malboro.

“When did you get so smart, little girl?” she smiled.

“One of us has to be. Hey, what’d you call me down here for?” Lacey asked. Diana’s eyes widened and she flew from the chair towards the door, flinging it open, revealing Ray Tabulstone, smiling and shivering in the mid October morning. “Mom! I can’t believe you left him out there!”

“Well, I got so caught up in your little smoking lecture, I forgot, ok?”

“I-its ok, ladies. I-its n-not that c-c-cold out there,” Ray tried his best to smile as he walked into the Mosley home. Lacey snuck a peek at the thermostat. It read 40 degrees, unusually chilly for an October morning. And considering the fact that Ray was all of 60 pounds and sweaterless, she was sure he would get hypothermia.

"Oh, Ray, honey, I'm sorry I left you out there. You need something? Hot Cocoa?" Diana asked, wrapping Ray in a blanket and throwing him on the couch.

"Yeah, cocoa sounds nice," Ray agreed and Diana rushed to the kitchen. "So, Lace, I was wondering if you wanted to-" he shivered slightly. "Go hang out somewhere. I don't have to work today, and, uh, I got nothing to do."

"Wow, I was a last resort, I feel so special," Lacey giggled sarcastically. "Just let me put something on. My mom should have you defrosted by then." Lacey smiled and bounded to her room.

“Got your cocoa, honey,” Diana called, setting a large green mug in the table in front of him. “It’s got milk in it. I hope you don’t mind,” she added, sipping at her own mug.

“Thanks Di,” Ray took a sip of the warm, creamy liquid, and almost moaned. “Mmmm this is great! You know, you may have almost killed me out there is the freezing cold, but I do think you've redeemed yourself with this cocoa!” Ray joked.

Diana laughed. “Redemption’s my business sweetie,”

Ray quirked his eyebrows. “Oh really now? Well that’s a good thing. Cuz I was thinking of pressing charges,” Ray said seductively.

Diana gave a mock gasp of horror. “Are you trying to flirt with me? Raymond Tabulstone, what would my daughter think?”

“She doesn’t have to know,” Ray winked and the two burst out laughing at the utter ridiculousness of the situation.

"Now, Ray, tell me. How've things between you and Lacey been?", Diana inquired.

Ray hesitated. Yes, Diana knew about his...thing...for Lacey. But was she really playing matchmaker? "Uhm...I'm not really sure. We talk a lot, but I just can't tell how she's feeling.", he finally uttered.

"Really? How does she act? Tell me everything." said the mother, who obviously seemed determined to find away to fix things up.

"Well," Ray said with an overdramatic sigh, "Nothing really unusual. When she comes to the shelter she says "hey" or "yo" "whassup" in her usual attitude,”
Ray smiled at the thought of Lacey’s devil-may-care demeanor, “and gives me a hug. Never anything out of the ordinary. Not more than like 2 seconds. Sometimes more if she’s had a hard day, but then I take her back to the dogs and she just talks... like friends. And I can't sense any flirting, hinting, or anything! We talk about music and some personal stuff. But never about ourselves y'know?"

"I know the feeling. But take it from me; Lacey never opens up to anyone. She likes to keep everything inside, and as I'm sure you know it ends up destroying her."

"Yeah. I don't know a lot. But I know she's been through a lot of shi....stuff."

"More than you know honey. But I'm gonna let you in on a secret." Diana replied.

"Yeah...?” Ray leaned in curiously.

"She talks about you all the time. It's always "Ray" this or "Ray" that. Or "Ray said the funniest thing". Take this from a girl. That's a sure sign she likes you! “Diana spoke.

His eyes were practically twitching in shock. "Are you serious?? I never had a clue!" the younger boy exclaimed.

"Yes, yes. It's true. It's real cute actually."

"Aww, what else does she say??" he questioned excitedly.

"She talks about that dog, Ally or whatever?"

"Oh, Adie? Yeah...she's like in love with that dog. It’s like she only comes to see the dog. I feel so used!" Ray let out a feigned cry of despair and hurt.

Playing along, Diana reached over and gave him a quick, comforting hug. "There, there honey. You know she really cares for you. Personally, I don't know how she can stand so many animals in one place. God, I can't stand animals!"

"Really, why? I love them...obviously..."

"Well, that's you. Lacey's been talking about getting a dog for months, and I refuse. I mean, shedding, walking, and feeding. I couldn't do it."

"But they're so much more than that! They love, give support. And you know...you wouldn't have to do the walking. I'm sure Lacey would more than willingly volunteer. And a brush and regular washings will take care of shedding....and I'm sure it would mean a lot to Lacey...."

"And shots? And sickness? Doctor visits? I have to do all that for Lacey, anyways. I couldn't handle it for something else. Now, I'm sure my daughter's capable of taking care of an animal, but she can do that when she gets her own place."

"Not all dogs need doctors’ visits either. Well,” Ray gave a sigh of defeat. “I guess it’s still your decision. Just keep it mind okay?"

"Eh.” Before the conversation could go any further, Lacey emerged from her room, wearing a fashionable gray sweater and black jeans.

“Honey, don't you look nice?" Diana exclaimed, casting a quick glance from her daughter to the man sitting next to her on the couch, causing him to turn a brilliant shade of red and examine his shoes for invisible spots.

Lacey looked intently at both her mother and her good friend, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Are you ready to go Ray?" she asked after a few moments of awkward silence.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I'm ready. Where are we going?" he stuttered.

She paused and thought. She hadn't realized she was deciding on their ventures for that afternoon.
"I thought you would know." she gave a small giggle and scratched at the back of her neck.

Ray’s eyes widened at his own stupidity. What kind of idiot shows up at a girl’s house without a game plan?

"Oh shit...” he winced. “Sorry Diana."

She waved it off. "You're over 18."

"Oh. Well ANYWAY I guess I hadn't thought about it actually. See, I had an idea...but I don't really remember. I got quite distracted when the bitter cold finally got to me after standing outside your door for 10 minutes..." retorted Ray. He let out a small laugh at his own sarcasm.

"Wanna just hang out at Starbucks?" Lacey asked, deciding to ignore the jab rather than comment.

"That sounds good. They have a new drink I've wanted to try actually. And the library is like 5 minutes away so we could go there after some much needed caffeine."

"We're going to Starbucks to try new flavors, and then hanging out at the library. We're gay, nerds or both." the young girl reasoned.

Diana let out a small laugh and smirked slightly. Ray pondered this for a moment, before coming to his own conclusions.

"Well my answer is neither the former nor the latter. So what the hell comes in between? Its gotta be something better than just "middle" right?"

"Bisexual losers. Work for you?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of 'sexually confused and/or frustrated dorks'. But I guess it doesn't really matter anymore."

"Whatever floats your boat. Or sinks it."

At that, Diana all but spilled her cocoa all over the carpet and almost doubled over laughing. Lacey couldn’t understand what she thought was so goddamn funny. Ray turned to her and gave her the expression that read ‘Oh my god, your mom's a dork!'. They smiled at each other, unnoticed by the mother who was collecting herself at the table.

"Well, uh, shall we go?"

"Yeah. Yeah come on. See you later Diana. Nice talking with ya."

"Have fun kids. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." the mother warned.

"Don't worry, Mom. I'll be pregnant by the time I get home."

"Yeah. I mean everyonevknows why they make the back of the library so secluded...it serves a purpose!" Ray chimed in.

Diana gave a faux look of horror at their remarks as they all laughed lightly.

"Seriously. You. Me. Coffee. Now."

Diana tossed a sweater at the back of Ray's greasy, black head while they were halfway out the door.

"I almost forgot. Can't have ya freezing again, can I?"

"Gee, thanks. If only I had this earlier."

"Well, I'll just take it back and your ass can freeze. I don't care."

"Ok,Mom we're going!" Lacey shouted louder than she intended. She dragged Ray and shoved him out of the door slamming it in the process.