Character Analysis
Lacey is a popular cheerleader at Nikki and Jack's school, and one of Jack's exes. She doesn't seem to want to stay an ex, though. Before the Feed, Nikki overhears a conversation between her and some of her friends about the break-up: "It was just a break, Claire, and he knew it […] I gave him everything. He told me he loved me. And the second that little slut gives him one opening, he takes off" (5.94). Wow, judgey much? Clearly Lacey is certain of her own superiority.
In the lead-up to Nikki's disappearance, Lacey is clearing making a play for Jack. Before going away to football/cheerleading camp, Lacey is "telling everyone who would listen 'What happens at camp stays at camp,' which made it sound like camp consisted of a craps table, tequila-lime shots, and tangled sheets" (11.58). Nikki, of course, begins to feel nervous about "the way Lacey Green had been staring at me, and how Jack was on a bus with her. And how she was equating camp to a weekend in Vegas" (11.77). Which seems like a reasonable response to Lacey's claims.
And unfortunately, when Nikki drives to camp in a panic, she sees a familiar person in Jack's room: "A figure appeared, with her back to the hallway, her long dark hair reaching almost to the waistband of her silk shorts. I knew that hair. It belonged to Lacey Greene" (21.87). Uh-oh… Lacey smiles and says, "Well, isn't this awkward?" (21.92), which is basically the understatement of the century.
Lacey seems to be the kind of person who gets what she wants. Later, way after the Feed, Jack finally has the chance to come clean and tell Nikki that nothing happened between them. We're pretty sure that's not what Lacey wanted, but oh well. As they say, you can't always get what you want. Even if you wait in someone's room half-naked.