Ballyhoo: sensational or clamorous advertising or publicity; noisy shouting or uproar.
And sorry if the ending is rushed. I was tired and have been working on this forever. Basically, I'm lazy as fuck.
BECK AND JADEEEEE! Also... make sure to check Beck's phone password. (;
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It was one day before his first day of school, at Hollywood Arts Middle, and Beck wasn't quite sure on his "new" identity. He had thought of three possibilities; the "bad" boy, (can he even pull that off?) indie kid, (deep thinker... no) or the popular guy. He's got the look, and he's even been working on his game! He's even got some great pickup lines. (You should sell hot dogs, because you know how to make my weiner stand.).
Beck stands up to look in his mirror. He's staring for a while, seeing things he could work on. His posture. And he could really really do something with his hair. It's got so much potential. At least, he sighs, that's what Ja... his crush, always says. He smiles slightly, remembering her, before also realizing that their "summer romance" just ended. He shrugs. It was amazing while it lasted.
He looks around for his phone, gazing his eyes on all of his new clothes. Beck recalls his phone had vibrated earlier, but he didn't check the text. He unlocks his phone, (5233,) and sees it's from Anthony.
Anthony: hey your going to that school tomorrow right?
Beck: yeah y?
Anthony: heard some thing interesting . guess who goes to ha?
Beck: what.. who?
Anthony: lover girl idk that emo chick you were so in love with
Beck: your joking right? oh my god i think i need to borrow your binoculars...
Anthony: oh god remember to wear your goodluck charm then dumbass
Beck: yeah yeah see you later
Anthony: bye lover boy
Oh, now Beck wasn't sure he wanted school to come...
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BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
Beck bolted up. School! He sat in his bed for a few minutes, after he had hit the off button. Last nights dream had finally decided his new persona, and he had his good luck charm around his neck, of course, for luck.
He threw on his new signature look, a pair of faded jeans, and a flannel button up, (unbuttoned, of course.) The finishing touch was dark boots, and a casual hand through his hair.
Oh man. He couldn't wait till school starts. He looked at his clock again, and noticed he still had ten minutes till his dad needed to wake up to take him to school.
He wandered around, studying his schedule and the map of HAM.
He finally heard his father's alarm go off, and he waited patiently. When his father came clambering out of his bedroom, he gestured wildly to hurry up. "Come on, dad! I have to get to school."
Grunt.
They made their way to the car and Beck itched with excitement on the twenty minute drive. When the middle school pulled into view, Beck nearly jumped with joy.
"Eh, Beck, come here."
He dragged his head away from the colorful sight in front of him, "Yeah?"
"I want you to know three words. Before plays, before songs, before girls, school comes first. And... Beck, I'm very proud of you."
Beck gave his dad a small grin. "Thanks. Love you, dad."
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He's looking for his schedule when his phone buzzes.
Anthony: see jade yet ?
Beck: no fuck i forgot about that!
Beck: i'm a terrible boy... friend?
Anthony: kinda yeah bye
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He enters his first hour, a man named Sikowitz. He gives some flirty looks at some brunette with wide eyes, and she bites her lips and waves to him. Another boy gives him a glare.
Slowly, kids filter into the room. Preppy blondes, shy redheads, (and one shoking fake redhead) innocent looking chestnut colored haired girls sit, cliques already started.
The bright redhead squeals and checks her phone.
The teacher jumps in through the window, scaring several people. "Sorry, sorry. Everyone — you're all sad frogs walking on fire! GO!"
Beck tilts his head back and starts croaking. Everyone around him seems to be the point of laughing. The odd looking teacher tells them to sit down.
"Alright, kiddos, I'm gonna bring you up here by calling your name and you'll tell us four things. Why you're here, your goal by being here, your secret talent, and what Hogwarts house you're in."
Beck looks around. There seems to be about nine to thirteen kids in their classes so it should take about the whole hour. He settles into his chair.
Sikowitz checks his list of students. "André Harris?"
André saunters to the tiny stage.
"Ey, I'm André, and I'm here for songwriting and singing. My goal is to become a famous singer. Duh. My secret talent is that I can lick my elbow. I would be in Ravenclaw." He says it all quickly, and Beck notices he doesn't seem all too comfortable in front of an audience. The dude looks cool, though, so Beck doesn't dismiss him as a potential friend.
A few girls smile at the boy, who's now sitting down. "Okay, um, Beck Oliver."
Beck flips his hand through his hair. The girls who were paying attention to André now check him out. "Hey. I'm Beck Oliver, and I'm here because I act. Duh. My goal is to enhance any skill I have and make a few films. I have a secret talent of dancing. I would be in, uh, Gryffindor? I don't know..."
He's about to sit down when the door slams open. Who would be late on their first day? He wonders, then his mouth drops open. It's Jade. She doesn't look at him, but Sikowitz chuckles. "Ah, Jade, did you finish doing my favor?"
She gives an exasperated sigh. "Yes!"
The man in the back gestures for her to sit next to him, and Beck is still standing, waiting for her to notice him. But she doesn't look up, so he takes his seat slightly disappointed. "Next; Cat Valentine!"
The girl he'd seen earlier on her phone bounces up to the small stage. Jade finally look up and gives a small smile to her. Cat waves. "HI! My name is Cat!" She pauses to stare out the window. Beck wants to know if it's a nickname. "Oh, and I'm here for singing, acting, and costume and makeup design. My talent is making people smile. I don't know if it's secret enough, but yeah! Also, I think I would be in Hufflepuff. My favorite color is yellow! So that's why!"
The word vomit dies off and she sits back down. A couple boys go up, Darren Kopp, and Gary Lewis. He doesn't care about them; they look slightly bland. Finally, he hears someone worth listening to. "Jade West, don't be too morbid, some kids can't handle it."
"Oh, how funny. Anyway. My name is Jade. If you don't know that, leave. I'm here for writing and acting. Goals is to be free. My secret talent is making scissors. I would most definitely be in Slytherin. Duh. Bye."
She walks down the steps and meets eyes with Beck. She doesn't miss a beat, but he does notice her eyes widen just a bit, but she sits down anyway, a smirk on her pale face. His attention is pulled away by "Lindsey Caravetta."
She gives the usual rap. Then he's startled by a boy with a large puppet in his arms.
"Uh. Um - yeah, hi, I'm Robbie and this is Rex."
The puppet interrupts. "I can introduce myself." The boy named Robbie looks at him crazy, like he wasn't the one to say it.
"I'm here for acting, comedy, and guitar. I, uh, am here to make myself known. My talent is hamboning. I think Ravenclaw."
Another two boys, Ryder and Sinjin go up and then Sikowitz claps his hands together. "Ten minutes. You can either talk or do an acting exercise with each other. I need another coconut."
Beck looks around for Jade, but she's still in the back, and since the girl named Cat had began talking to her, he sat back in his chair, his feet sliding forward. Someone taps his shoulder and he jumps. It's the two boys he'd taken notice of; André and Robbie are behind him, and he turns his chair to face the two. "Hey," he says.
Robbie looks around. "I think I've seen you before. Weren't you at the summer camp?"
André snorts. "It was required to get in this school, so of course he was. What group were you in?"
"Ah, Ballyhoo. You?"
Robbie sets the puppet on his lap. "Same."
"I was in the same one. How come we never saw you around? Like barely, we saw you at lunch and stuff."
Beck shifts. How was he supposed to explain he was always trying to get Jade West's attention... all summer? "I was busy with some extra work to get my grades up for my tutor." They give him strange looks, but shrug it off.
"Anyways, you seem pretty cool, so, me and Robbie decided to talk to you."
And thus, for the next ten minutes, Robbie, André and Beck all became what Beck likes to think of as friends.
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After his homeroom, he went to Math and History. Then it was time for lunch. Lunch was a dreaded part of the first week and a half of school. A lunch table is a carefully selected part of school. It can affect a lot about how your year will go on. A table in the front will sway your popularity. It won't always. Say, if your Sinjin, even the best lunch table couldn't do jack for you.
But it helps, if, you know, you're Beck Oliver.
So when the bell rings, he shoots up out of his seat, not caring who's watching and runs straight to the Asphalt Café. Since nearly everyone is dropping off their stuff to their lockers or getting food, Beck spots the prime table. He glances around and stuffs his hands into his pockets, walking casually to the lunch table. He makes it without anyone else sitting there, so he considers it a success. People look at him, but walk past toward their friends.
Beck wonders if Robbie and André would join him. And they do, but this time they're accompanied by two girls. Beck's mouth opens as he sees one of them was Jade. His crush...
The other girl is Cat Valentine, who he thinks was in another group at his summer camp. He'd heard a bit about her, though. And he can tell from her introduction in their first hour that she's bit of a babbler.
Beck breaks the silence. "Have you guys decided what you're doing for your lockers yet?"
Cat smiles. "I have! I'm gonna do pink with cats on the inside! And for the outside, I'm writing my favorite things in one big heart!"
Jade rolls her eyes. "I'm painting mine black and gluing scissors on it." Robbie looks slightly terrified.
Beck smiles. "I know mine."
The group looks at him. Jade motions for him to continue, an impatient look in her blue eyes. "Well?" She says.
He blushes, unnoticed because of his tan, but replies. "I'm gonna make mine transparent. I've have no secrets, so why should my locker?"
Andre whistles, "Deep."
"So what about you, Robbie," says Cat. Robbie blushes and this time, he doesn't have a tan to hide it.
"I'm, you know, not quite sure, uh. For my locker." Yeah, thinks Beck, he's really gonna have to gain some confidence.
They eat lunch together, Cat sometimes interrupting with some comment, Jade leaving to buy coffee. It was comfortable. Beck even thinks it's happy. He likes the feeling of just sitting there, eating.
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The rest of his day goes by smoothly. He talks to people, gets along with his teachers. When the end of the day bell rings, he packs up his stuff into his backpack and waits for his dad.
He's sitting on front of the school when a dark girl sidles next to him. "Oh, um, hi, Jade."
"Shut it, Oliver." She sits, streching her legs out, (why do they seem to go on for miles and miles?)
They sit there. She pulls out a battered black notebook and a pen.
"What are you writing?"
She glances over. "Words."
Beck smiles at her. "You know what I mean."
She nudges his shoulder. "It's a play. The teacher said something about a project soon, and I decided to get a head start."
"Ah."
The two much look out of place, Beck decides. The new "popular boy" and the "goth girl." It's quiet and the parking lot clears out. All he hears is the scratch of her pen and small sighs.
He looks at her notebook again. It's covered in dark black scribbles. "Are you stuck on something?"
She blows some hair out of her eyes. "Yeah, but you couldn't help," she says.
"You never know till you try," says Beck, quoting the words he often hears from his mother's mouth.
"Well, basically, this man is brutally murdered and his wife is framed for it — and that's it."
Beck considers it. "Maybe it was really her mother?"
Jade smiles and he finds himself staring while she writes furiously. He's staring so intently he doesn't notice his father's car pull up. His dad knocks sharply on the window and Beck's startled. "Hey, um, Jade. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Yeah, sure. Bye."
He gets in the car, cursing his father for showing up, wanting to spend more time with Jade. There's always tomorrow, and the day after, he reminds himself.
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He stares out the window for a while, staring at the stares. He wishes one day maybe he'll be a star. He thinks of Jade, how fame probably is running in her veins. Beck wonders if they'll ever became Beck and Jade, Jade and Beck.
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Months pass and everyone is settled. They create a fake ping-ping team, Beck only agreeing from Jade's hurt look when he says no. He's been hopelessly crushing on her for months now.
She stars in a musical, and sings Skinny Love by Bon Iver.
The irony isn't lost on him.
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Beck figures if anytime to kiss Jade is good, then now is good, too. It's the last day of school, and they're in lunch period, sitting in the abandoned halls of the school.
He kisses her. She kisses back.
Beck has a question brimming on his mind and he asks her. "Does this mean we're Beck and Jade now?"
She laughs and shakes her head. "No." Beck's tanned face falls. It means we're Jade and Beck."