This was written for chasingafterstarlight's Bade AU Challenge. My prompt was: The two characters are somehow roommates at a boarding school.
This would've worked a lot better as a multi-chaptered story, but I know myself well enough to know that I never would've finished it that way. So I tried to squeeze this monster into a oneshot. I only had a few days to complete it and as a result, this is terribly rushed and not even remotely elaborate; I completely winged it. Probably what you would call "pointless fluff". Yeah, I guess that's what this is.
It's not that Jade doesn't like the thought of being away from her painfully obnoxious parents. It's not even that this boarding school is — no exaggeration needed — located in the middle of nowhere (Scotland, to be exact). No, what irks her most about this whole situation is the fact that they are making her go. It is their wish to get rid of their 16-year-old daughter and they don't even bother to pretend that she has got a say in this matter. Pack your bags, here's your plane ticket, we'll see you next summer. Just like that.
Pretty much the only thing Jade can do is make this as difficult for them as she can, so she makes sure to fill up at least three extra suitcases with her belongings. The frown on her father's face when he has to pay for her extra luggage makes it worth it (even though she really doesn't see why he of all people would be complaining about money). She wears as many pieces of jewelry as she deems still appropriate (she can't and won't look like a complete idiot, not even to show her father) and takes her sweet time taking it all off and putting it back on at check-in, driving the security personnel near suicide and almost causing a delay for her flight. Her father tips the security guards a hundred bucks each and she makes it to the airplane on time after all.
The flight is long and dragging, but after 11 hours of being stuck between a stinky teenager and a drooling old man she finally sets foot on Scottish (airport) ground. A driver is already waiting for her and announces in the weirdest accent she has ever heard that he will be taking her directly to her new school. What he forgets to mention is that it's another 2-hour drive.
Needless to say, by the time they arrive, Jade is everything you don't want Jade West to be. The words cranky, exhausted and angry don't even cut it. Anthony, her driver, drops her off at the gates and she finds herself in front of the enormous building with four huge suitcases and two bags that she now has to carry herself. "Kudos for thinking this plan through, Jade," she scolds herself, groaning as she drags as many pieces of luggage as she can carry across the pebbly path to the entrance. She is way too annoyed to appreciate the enormous Palladian building that stretches over fields of green. Had she bothered to look up, she even would have noticed the beautiful pond and gardens shimmering golden in the autumn light. Too bad Jade isn't one for romantic crap.
She makes her way to the entrance with only half of her bags, having lost a good amount on the way, and is greeted by what seems to be a butler. As if she needed to come across every single cliche that day, he introduces himself as James. At least James takes care of her luggage from then on and leads her to the reception (what kind of school has a reception, anyway?).
"Welcome to St. George's Senior Boarding School, how may I help you?" the old lady at the desk asks with a warm smile. Her name tag reads 'Allison'. Just Allison, without a last name. The skin on Allison's face is so wrinkly and saggy Jade starts to wonder if Anthony got confused and accidentally dropped her off at an home for the elderly, because there's no way a woman that old could still be doing her job properly.
"I'm Jade West," she declares impatiently. The lady continues to smile at her.
"Why, that's a lovely name."
"Uh huh. Just tell me where my room is."
Allison either doesn't notice Jade's rudeness or chooses to ignore it, because her friendly expression doesn't falter one bit. "Of course, of course. Let me check." She turns to a stack of paper and goes through it calmly, despite Jade's persistent foot-tapping. "Ah, there it is. Room 143. James will lead the way. Your classes start tomorrow."
The corridors of St. George's all look the same, Jade notices. They're long and boringly normal, despite the school's impressive exterior, and that they're were painted in a now faded yellow doesn't help her bad mood (she hates the color yellow). It feels too quiet for a school that's supposed to have around 500 students living here, the only audible sound being the rattling of the cart with her luggage James is pushing in front of them. When they finally come to a halt in front of the wooden door that reads "143" in golden numbers, James hands her the key. "I hope you enjoy your stay, Ms. West." And with that, she's on her own.
It's only now that Jade noticed just how tired her journey has left her and she's actually starting to look forward to the soft bed waiting for her. At least her father had agreed to getting her a single room, so she wouldn't have any annoying roommates to bear with. Without hesitating, she slams the key in the lock impatiently and the door swings open.
There's a few things wrong with what she sees, though.
1) This is not a single room.
2) She can see ducks from her window, swimming in the pond.
3) There's a boy sitting on the bed that seems more to her liking than the one that's still available.
4) There's a boy sitting on the bed.
"Excuse me?" she hisses after a few awkward moments of them staring at each other like they just encountered a magical talking unicorn. "This is my room."
"Well, so it's mine," he retorts, running a hand through his ridiculously fluffy hair. He's American, too, she realizes.
"Well, get out."
At this point, she's boiling with rage. An inconvenience like this is the last thing she needed, and, as incredible as it sounds, the stupid boy with the stupid hair and the stupid tanned olive skin laughs. He's laughing at her. Normally, anyone who dared stand in her way would have melted in fear by now. But no, mister I-find-this-situation-hilarious is laughing, ignoring the daggers she's looking at him even.
"What's so funny?"
"You."
Her eyes widen in surprise at his bold words. "Excuse me?!"
"It's just funny how you come here and claim territory like you own it, when you obviously have no idea what's even going on," he explains, smiling.
"And what is that, oh wise young man, who has seen and experienced so much more in life than my poor soul has?"
He chuckles. "Beck's the name, and you have a very twisted sense of humor..." He gestures at her as an invitation to tell him her name now, but Jade just continues to glare at him. He sighs. "Well, what I meant is that they just must have gotten your room wrong at the reception, since this is the boy's wing. We can go straighten this out right now."
Jade contemplates his words for a moment, but comes to the conclusion that, as much as she hates to admit it, he is probably speaking the truth, so she turns around and starts walking in the direction where she and James came from. "Hey, wait!" she hears Beck call after her. "I can come with you, if you want!" She chooses to ignore him and follows the corridor to the stairs. Or at least that's where she thought it was leading. Instead, she finds herself in another corridor, that looks just like the one she had just been in. After another turn, there's another corridor, and another. Jade gnashes her teeth and stomps past the countless wooden doors. She groans when, after another turn, she sees the cart with her luggage appearing in front of her. She has been walking in circles. "Fucking great," she hisses. And just like she had feared, Beck's head pops out of the door, grinning.
"Need help?"
. . .
To say that she's annoyed would be an understatement as she follows Beck to the reception. The way seemed shorter to her before, or maybe it's just because this boy is apparently under the illusion that they can become friends or something of that sort, since he is chatting away cheerfully. He doesn't seem to care that she ignores anything he says.
"It's my third semester here," he tells her. "People come and go, it's mostly kids who didn't get along with their parents and got sent away, but most of them change their mind after a semester or two and go back home."
So what are you still doing here? Jade wants to ask, but her pride is holding her back. She isn't here to make friends. Not with him, anyway.
"Me, on the other hand," he continues, unfazed by her silence. "I see it as a privilege to be able to attend a school in Europe. I think it helps me grow as a person. I'm here by choice."
At that, Jade rolls her eyes and decides once and for all that she doesn't like this guy. Her expression doesn't go unnoticed.
"Ah, so I take it you're not? That's fine. Who knows, maybe you'll like it here, once we've figured out this whole room mess."
After what feels like an eternity, the familiar reception desk with Allison still behind it finally appears in front of the two. Jade takes this as her cue to take the lead and takes a few quick steps forward and starts yelling at the elderly woman. "You gave me the wrong key!" she snaps. "Room 143 is in the boy's wing. And also it's already been occupied by the idiot behind me."
"Hey!" Beck protests, but both women ignore him.
"Oh no, dear, it wasn't a mistake," Allison explains calmly. "Your application came in a tad late, when all spots for this semester were already taken. I hear your father is a very influential man, though, and arranged it so you could still attend this school. We told him that the only available room left was with a boy, but he seemed very eager to send you here."
"What?!" Jade barks. Her hands are trembling with rage. "You can't be serious! My father knew?"
"That's what I've been told. We usually don't allow boys and girls to share a room, but principal Eikner received a very generous donation..."
The young girl groans audibly, throwing her hands over her head in exasperation. "Of course. Why am I even surprised."
Allison turns to Beck with a sympathetic smile on her face. "I'm sorry you got dragged into this, dear. But you know you–"
"It's alright, I know," he replies warmly.
"Dragged into this? Excuse me, but I'm the victim here," Jade interrupts, pointing her finger at the boy. "If my dear father donated such a large sum of money, shouldn't I get treated like it?" she demands sharply.
"Like I said," Allison responds, still not losing her calm. "We're a little short on rooms. There was no other option. It's for one semester at the most, though, so don't worry. I'm sure both of you are mature enough to work it out."
"This is a fucking joke," Jade mumbles. "The nerve of some people." She takes a few deep breaths before turning around and stomping off. Beck mutters a quick apology towards Allison and quickly follows Jade.
"Wait up!" he calls after her and catches up with her steps. She ignores his presence completely, quickening her steps. But so does he. "Look, I can understand you're angry," he tells her. "But for now neither of us can do anything about it, so we might as well try to make the best of it, okay?"
She snorts. "And what's that? Are you suggesting I let you get in my pants?"
"Wh-what?" he asks, flabbergasted. Jade smirks. She loves catching people off guard. But Beck regains his composure quickly. "That's nothing like what I suggested," he insists. His arms are crossed in front of his torso, and Jade catches herself giving him kudos for not being completely speechless or intimidated by her after her remark. "What I meant was that we could try to be friends, you know."
"So you're still a virgin, huh," she notes dryly.
"I- what?" Beck replies, startled once again, but shakes it off quickly. He takes a deep breath. "You have a very... unique train of thought."
"So I've been told," she retorts. "But yeah don't get your hopes up. If I spend too much time with you people might start thinking I'm a lesbian."
"What's that supposed to mean now?"
"You hair is ridiculous, just thought you should know."
"I'm offended."
"As you should be, Rapunzel."
Jade's luggage is still waiting for them in front of the door when they reach room 143 and the metal cart looks about ready to give in under the weight of her four suitcases. Beck eyes them questioningly. "Are you planning on moving here permanently or why did you bring enough stuff to supply half of the country?"
"Shut up and carry them inside," she commands grimly.
He huffs. "I'm not your servant. You haven't even told me your name!"
"Well, earn it, then," she says and steps inside, unfazed, and plops down onto the bed under the window, arms crossed sullenly. She's still annoyed that Beck got the better side. Now she has to look at dumb ducks all day long. God, she hates ducks.
Beck sighs, but complies. "Just for the record," he explains, as he starts heaving the first suitcase off the cart. "This is me making an effort to start things off on good terms, not me agreeing to be your gofer."
"Yeah yeah. Now get my stuff."
He continues to carry her bags and suitcases in, one after another, while Jade watches, the grim expression never leaving her face. Beck studies her facial features thoughtfully. It hasn't even been an hour, but he knows this girl has him where she wants. "What about your name?" he asks when he lays his hands on the last suitcase, the biggest one.
"What about it?"
"You said you'd tell me if I carried your stuff inside."
"If I remember correctly, I said 'earn it'," she smirks. "I didn't determine how."
. . .
"Dude, who's that hot chick you were with today?"
It's lunch time and Beck is, as usual, sharing a table with his friends: Andre, one of the most gifted musicians he has ever met, Robbie, a nerdy guy with a passion for technology, and Sinjin, an even nerdier guy with an even bigger passion for technology (and part-time stalker – don't ask him how he even ended up with them, because he honestly doesn't remember). Beck sighs. He knows what's coming. "My roommate."
At that, Andre almost spits out his soda, while Robbie actually falls out of his chair (talk about being dramatic). Sinjin is helping his friend up again, giving Beck a half-admiring, half-horrified look. "You're roommates with a girl? You don't just got the looks and talent, you also have to be the luckiest guy alive."
Beck just rests his head in his hands in response, making a face. "It's not like that. She hates me."
"As if any girl could ever hate you," Andre snorts and makes a second attempt at drinking his soda. "You've got half the school fawning over you."
"Well, not her. She hasn't even told me her name."
"Are you serious? She's probably playing hard to get, no worries," Andre assures him.
"Maybe she's into guys who wear glasses," Sinjin muses, reassuringly nodding at Robbie.
Beck runs a hand through his hair, sighing at his stubborn friends. "Guys, it's not even like that. Her dad signed her up late, there was no room left, she got stuck with me – end of story."
Andre smirks at him. "Oh no bro, I think this is just the beginning of the story. Hey look, there's Tori and Cat."
Sure enough, the two girls are approaching their table, smiling. "Hey guys," Tori, a tall brunette, greets them. "How's it going?"
"Hi!" says the redhead, Cat, stretching the 'i'. They sit down on the remaining chairs, making the circle of friends complete. Tori and Cat are the newest 'additions' to their little group, they joined St. George's just a few weeks ago, at the beginning of the semester, but quickly befriended the guys.
"'Sup, girls," Andre grins. "Did ya hear about Beck's new 'roommate'?" The way he stresses the word suggestively causes Beck to slap him on the back of his head.
"Is this really necessary?" he asks, unnerved.
"Heck yeah," the other boy laughs. Upon noticing the confused looks on Tori and Cat's faces, he explains, "Beck's living with a girl now."
Tori's face falls, but Cat is the one to respond. "Ooh, fun!"
"I'm sure it's fun alright," Andre smirks, earning another slap from Beck.
"It's not like that," he insists. "And it's only for one semester anyway. One semester at most. Just a temporary arrangement."
"Where is she, anyway?" Sinjin asks, letting his eyes wander over the cafeteria. "You should introduce us to her."
"Agreed!" Andre jumps in eagerly. "Look, if you don't want her, I'll gladly take over."
"How am I supposed to introduce her, if she refuses to even tell me her name? You've all got the wrong idea." Contrary to his words, he can't help but check the cafeteria for her presence. She isn't there.
"I'm so confused," Cat pouts. "Why did you move in with a girl you don't know?"
Beck groans. "I didn't move in with– You know what, forget it, I give up."
…
"You weren't at lunch."
He says it like a matter of fact rather than asking why, as he enters their room and finds Jade sitting on her bed Indian style, flipping through a book. "So?"
"Aren't you hungry?"
"I don't like cafeteria food," she tells him without ever looking up from the pages.
He does quite the contrary and never averts his gaze while he walks over to his bed and sits down. It's beyond him how he hasn't noticed before (or maybe he was just too busy being bossed around by her), but Andre was right – she is a beauty, he notices. "How can you know that when you haven't even tried it?"
"I'm vegan and gluten-free, I can't eat that stuff."
"Wow, you must be fun at parties," he jokes, earning a glare.
"More fun than you, I can assure you. And also, I don't think my whereabouts are any of your business."
"I figured. Since you won't even tell me your name and all."
Finally, she puts her book aside and sits up straight. "God, you're such a drama queen," she says. Her tone, however, he thinks, has already started to soften. "It's Jade. There. Happy now?"
He gives her his biggest smile. "Yes, actually." Jade nods in acknowledgment and attends to her book again. Beck, however, can't break his gaze off of her. Before he knows it, his thoughts have started to travel to regions that are very much like the things Andre, Robbie and Sinjin were suggesting earlier. It's not like he wants to think this way, he knows it's trouble, but there's something so utterly fascinating about this girl, the way she keeps him wondering and guessing and, most importantly, has managed to attach herself to his mind in the short time she's been there, like a flea to a cat. Just... less like a parasite. Like a good flea. Ugh, metaphors were never really his thing.
He doesn't know how long they just sit there in silence, her engrossed in her book, him engrossed in her. Jade is either oblivious to his blatant staring or doesn't care, because she never once looks up. That is, until she suddenly decides that she has had enough of her book and shuts it with such force that Beck almost jumps off his bed in fear. "I'm bored," she announces, carelessly throwing her book on her nightstand.
"What have I got to do with that?" he asks, repositioning himself so that he is lazily leaning against the headboard of his bed.
"Well, I don't see you doing anything, either."
"I'm... relaxing."
Her mouth twitches into a smirk, and he just knows that what's coming can't be good for him. "So, is it like a common thing here to stare at girls whenever you're 'relaxing', Beck?"
He can feel the blood rushing to his face as soon as she opens her mouth. "Hey! I wasn't– I mean, it's not my fault you're right in my field of view!" he protests, his face as red as a tomato and his heart pumping so fast at the way she says his name that he can feel it pounding up to his throat.
Jade shifts on her bed so that she's now laying on her stomach, without ever taking her eyes from him. A victorious smile is still playing on her lips as she rests her head in her one hand, while the other is drawing imaginary circles on her sheets. And she looks so damn effortlessly seductive doing it, that Beck feels like he's about to go through the roof. He's doing everything in his power to resist looking but- oh. Oh. Yes, that is definitely some daring cleavage. He is a teenage boy, god damn it, and this – this is a bit much.
He forces his eyes to travel back up to her face, and of course Jade is smirking at him like she just won the lottery. She knows exactly what she's doing – that's the scary part.
It takes his every ounce of self-control he has left, but he manages to pull himself together and even finds his voice again. "Did you even go pick up your uniform yet?" A whole sentence, he's relieved. Beck Oliver, you're making progress.
"My what?" She shoots up at a terrifying speed and for a split second Beck regrets saying anything, because it meant giving up his excellent view.
"You know, your school uniform? The clothes every student has to wear? Ever heard of that?"
"You have got to be kidding me," she raves. "They're making us wear uniforms?!"
"Uh, yeah, you're in the UK after all." Her passion for black clothes hadn't escaped his attention. Well, how can you not notice, when a girl with as much anger as her wears combat boots that look frighteningly painful to get kicked or stomped on with? She didn't strike him as the type to conform to what other people wanted. "You'll get used to it after a while," he offers in an attempt to calm her down.
"I don't want to get used to it," she hisses and swings her legs over the edge of her bed. "What happens if I refuse?"
"Forget it, that's not even an option. You seem to be forgetting that 80% of the students are spoiled teenagers who were sent here against their will. Don't think you're the first one to try starting a rebellion. You only have to wear it on school days, that's why you didn't see anyone wearing it today." He hops off his bed and gives her a nod. "Come on, I'll show you where to get it."
Jade contemplates her options for a second or two, but eventually she complies and gets up with a groan and follows Beck. "I am going to kill my dad."
. . .
The number of looks they are getting feels almost stifling. Beck can only imagine all the rumors cooking up right now, while he escorts Jade, who is grimly carrying a neatly folded pile of clothes, over the school grounds and back to their room. He wonders if the word about that, the fact that it's their room, has gotten out yet, but his guess is that the news are already spreading like a wildfire. When there are hundreds of teenagers trapped in the same place permanently, nothing stays a secret for long. Jade, however, seems to be unfazed by her surroundings. "That blue is not a good color on me."
Beck sighs. "Well, I can assure you complaining won't make them change it for you." They pass a group of whispering girls and he can just feel that one of them is going to take a picture of them walking around together that's going to end up on the school's social network slash number one gossip website, TheSlap.
"Ugh, I know," she snarls. "Stop trying to pacify me."
She's so engrossed in glaring down at the uniform in her hands, that she almost runs into the boy that has purposely stepped in her way. It's him that receives her glare, as soon as she notices him. "Hi there," he grins.
"Can I help you?" Jade hisses.
"Ryder," Beck jumps in, sounding annoyed. "What do you want?"
"I believe I was talking to this lovely lady, not you, Oliver," the boy counters, unimpressed, and turns back to Jade. He's downright dripping with his typical arrogance and it's making Beck sick. "Just thought I'd give you a proper welcome, new girl. I'm Ryder Daniels, but you can call me your date for tonight."
Before Beck can even properly roll his eyes at the lame pick-up line, Jade has already pushed Ryder out of her way mercilessly and stomped past him. "In your dreams," she tells him dryly and Beck can't help but grin at Ryder sardonically when he walks past him and catches up with Jade.
By the time they eventually get back to their room, everyone is getting ready for dinner already. Again, Jade refuses to eat cafeteria food, and again, Beck finds her sitting on her bed reading when he returns to their room after.
"Are you just planning on starving to death?" he asks, setting his backpack on his bed.
Jade looks up from her book. "Obviously not," she replies. "Tomorrow I will try to find a grocery store and–"
"Yeah, that's not gonna work," Beck interrupts her and fishes two apples and a banana out of his backpack. He throws them to Jade. "There's nothing here except a tiny little shop that sells school supplies and some candy bars. The next city is an hour from here by car, but you're not allowed to leave the school's grounds unless it's a specific day."
"You're kidding."
"I'm not."
"Is this some kind of prison?!" she cries, throwing her head back in annoyance.
"Technically, no," he jokes. "But yes, there's a lot of rules. And trust me, you don't want to break them."
Jade sighs. "You've been in this hell for too long, you're no fun."
"I'm all kinds of fun," he grins, but she remains unimpressed and picks up one of the apples.
"Right." She takes a bite of the fruit and finishes it quickly. Then, she opens the window and throws the core out with such force that Beck is fearing for the life of people that might be unfortunate enough to walk by. By the sound of it, the only thing she hits is the water of the pond. "I freaking hate ducks," she explains briefly.
"You were trying to kill a duck with an apple?" he inquires incredulously, though he is not quite sure why he is even still surprised after a day like this. But of course Jade has another card up her sleeve.
"I wasn't trying to kill it. Just hurt it a little, maybe," she explains as if it were nothing and, without a warning, starts taking off her shirt.
"Wh-what are you doing?!" Beck cries out in surprise at the sight of Jade suddenly sitting in front of him in nothing but her underwear, calmly folding up her shirt as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
"What does it look like? I'm tired, I'm gonna get ready for bed." Ignoring him, she walks over to one of her suitcases and effortlessly pulls out an oversized black t-shirt.
Beck just gapes at her in disbelief, fighting an inner battle between staring blatantly or politely averting his gaze; blushing like a twelve year old or going as pale as a ghost in shock. "You just– I mean– there's a bathroom down the hall, you know." As soon as it's out, he wants to slap himself. What kind of guy would sit there complaining about a hot girl getting undressed in his room?
Naturally, Jade just can't let that one slide. She stops unbuttoning her black jeans and positions herself dangerously close in front of him, arms akimbo. He feels like crying with both fear and joy when he finds her voluptuous breasts at his eye level. It really isn't his fault they gave him a nudist for a roommate and – oh god, is that lace? – he will not take the blame for anything, she is the one standing in front of him half-naked. What she says, then, however, catapults him out his fantasies abruptly. "Are you gay?"
Finally, he manages to steer his eyes into the direction of her face. "What? No, I just– What I meant was–"
Now, she's smirking again. The same smirk she has used on him countless times today. She bends down so that her face is now on the same level as his – and God help him keep his eyes where they belong –, so close he can feel her breath on his face, making him shiver. "Don't be scared, little Beck," she purrs, gently stroking over his face with one hand. "It's just boobs." Then, she grins mischievously, gracefully turns around, so that she's facing the wall, and – sends her bra flying into her open suitcase.
Needless to say, Beck almost passes out.
. . .
"You know, if I hadn't seen her in one of my classes before, I would straight out believe this whole Jade story was just something you made up to make us jealous," Andre tells Beck on Friday, six days after Jade's arrival.
It's lunch time and as usual, said girl is nowhere to be seen. Beck doesn't even know how she hasn't starved to death yet, living off the occasional apple he sneaks her from the cafeteria. He swears vegans are some sort of alien or something. "Oh, she is very much real, trust me," he says, stuffing a spoonful of mashed potatoes in his mouth.
The immediate grin on Andre's face gives him a good idea of what's coming for him now. "So it is 'like that', huh?"
Beck rolls his eyes. "It's not."
"You said you've seen her in her bra."
"You're really twisting the facts here."
"Have you or have you not seen Jade in a bra?"
"That is so not the poi–"
"You and Jade are dating now?" It's Cat, who had joined the boys at their table without them noticing, giving them an innocent smile. "That's so cute, I really like Jade. We're in the same history class. Or was it math? Definitely something boring."
"We're not dating, Cat," Beck sighs and rubs his forehead. "She's just my roommate, okay?"
"Your hot roommate," Andre corrects.
It is then that Tori joins them, too. She has barely even sat down and greeted them when Cat starts babbling away. "Guess what, Beck and Jade are dating!"
"We're not!"
The redhead pouts. "But you said you've seen her naked!" Tori looks momentarily horrified at her friend's words, while Andre starts laughing uncontrollably. Beck just groans in frustration.
"Can you guys stop? You're worse than the bloggers on TheSlap!"
"Oh yeah, I forgot you're Slap-famous now," Andre laughs. "I heard they tried to recruit Robbie to write for them and provide them with exclusive news."
"God, how did I even get into this whole mess."
. . .
Their first weekend as roommates runs smoothly for the most part, despite Jade rejecting every single invitation of Beck's to hang out with him and his friends, and Beck, thanks to the non-existing dress code on the weekends, being faced with more skin than his poor teenage soul can bear (not being able to touch). No wait. Scratch that last part. He's mature enough to handle this situation like a gentleman. Absolutely. (And he's staring again.)
That is, until Sunday afternoon, when both Beck and Jade are in their room, Jade eagerly typing something on her laptop and Beck scrolling through his phone. He's not a big fan of TheSlap, but like most social networks, there's something about it that just draws you back to the website whether you want it or not. And this time it's probably the latter.
"Uhm... Jade?"
"Shush, I'm writing."
"You might wanna see this, though."
She groans. "What is it?" Beck tosses her his phone with the page he has just been reading. It's the trending topics, with Ryder Daniel's face flashing at the very top, next to a status update that apparently sent the whole school into a gossip emergency state: Verrry fun night with the new girl JadeWest. Your fingernails are really sharp ;)
"What" Jade shrieks, slamming Beck's phone into the mattress with such force that he is afraid it might break – even on the soft ground – and clenches her fists so tight, her knuckles are jutting out like sharp icebergs. "Why would he post something like that?"
Beck frowns, suddenly feeling a peculiar emptiness in his stomach. "Wait, you– you didn't... actually... right?"
Instead of an answer, he gets his phone thrown against his head with painful accuracy. "Are you insane?" she barks. She's breathing dangerously fast, a seething volcano, ready to erupt any second, and for some odd reason, Ryder suddenly doesn't seem to be the one she's angry at anymore. "Is that what you think of me, Beck?"
He's taken aback by how calm her voice sounds all of a sudden – calm but more menacing than anything he has ever heard. "Of course not!" he asserts, rubbing his head where his phone had hit him. "I just– it was a stupid question, okay?"
"Damn right it was," she hisses, glaring at him. For a split second, so short that he would have missed it had he blinked, there's something else than anger in her eyes. Hurt? Disappointment? He can't quite put his finger on it, but it's enough to get something inside of him to snap, and without another word, he gets up and leaves.
. . .
Not even two hours later, a new headline pops up in the trending topics of TheSlap, easily beating Ryder's status. It's a video, posted by a girl called Melinda Murray, and according to the number of comments and shares, has the entire school talking about it. Just by reading the title, Jade gets a pretty good idea of what's coming, but curiosity gets the best of her and she presses play.
"Daniels!" An angry Beck Oliver storms up to an obviously surprised Ryder Daniels, whose surprise quickly turns into a victorious grin. They seem to be outside, somewhere on the school grounds, as the walls of the building can be seen behind them. "What on earth do you think you're doing?!" The words are hard to make out over the excited chatter of people standing nearby and the camera work is shaky at best.
"Jealous that I beat you to doing your hot roommate, Oliver?" Ryder teases, earning cheers from his friends next to him.
"You didn't do shit, Ryder," Beck spats. "All you got was a rebuff your ego probably didn't recover from."
Ryder scoffs, while a collective gasp runs through the steadily growing crowd. "You're only mad because you weren't the one making her moan your name last nigh–"
There's a nasty cracking sound and the person filming moves in shock, so that the events happening in front of them are nothing but a blur on the screen. There's oohs and aahs from the watchers. When the picture gets steady again, Ryder is holding his noise, blood running through his fingers and dripping to the ground. Beck is holding his hand, glaring at his opponent. Then, Ryder shoots up and charges at Beck, easily knocking him to the ground. It escalates into a full-on fight that goes on for a few minutes until one of the teachers, Erwin Sikowitz, pulls the two boys apart. The screen goes black.
Jade keeps staring at her laptop for a few more seconds, trying to process what she has just seen. "What an idiot," she then mutters, slamming the device shut. The little smile that's tugging at the corners of her mouth can't be helped, though. Her eyes wander to the other side of the room, that has been empty since Beck stormed out on her two hours prior.
As if on cue, the door opens and in comes Beck, limping. "Hey," he greets casually and lets himself fall face-first onto his bed. It's painfully obvious that a hulk like Ryder would always have the upper hand in a fight, no matter how honorable the intentions of his opponent were. Jade rolls of her bed and stalks over to him, giving him an angry push. He winces.
"Hey?! Hey?!" she huffs. "What were you thinking?"
"I'm sorry about what I said earlier," Beck mumbles into his pillow, avoiding the question.
"That's so not relevant right now."
"I am, though," he insists, rolling over so that he is now facing her. His swollen lip leaves a streak of blood on his pillow, and the rest of his face is dyed in all shades of bruises, ranging from yellow to blue. His shirt is torn, his elbows scratched like his knees.
"Oh my god," Jade breathes, sitting down on his bed next to him. She reaches out her hand carefully, but doesn't even dare touch his face, scared to hurt him. It's the first time he's seeing her sincerely worried instead of being annoyed or sarcastic or toying with him, and it makes him strangely proud that it's for him. "You didn't have to do that!"
"It's okay," He forces out a painful grin. "I felt like doing it anyway."
"You're an idiot," she says, but her voice has an unfamiliar gentle tone.
"Don't worry, Principal Eikner made Ryder delete that status," he tells her proudly.
"You had to see the principal?!"
Beck plays it down with a wave of his hand. "Pf, yeah, apparently they have a zero tolerance policy regarding violence. Who knew?"
"Jesus, Beck," Jade exclaims. "What did he say?"
"Got detention for next week. And if it happens again, I'll lose my scholarship."
"What? You have a scholarship and still pull stunts like that?" she asks in disbelief. "You're lucky you're hurt or I would be hitting you so hard right now."
He chuckles and wipes off some of the blood from his lip with the back of his hand. "Yeah, remember when I told you I wasn't here because my parents sent me, but by choice? That didn't mean they approve or support me. I'm here to get away from them, so I work hard." He sighs. "That also means that I don't get the 'rich parents, large donations' bonus, so I can't escape any punishments. But it's okay, I knew what I was doing."
"Are you saying Ryder didn't get any punishment, because his parents have money?" she queries, enraged.
"Yeah, but whatever. He got what he deserved," he says coolly.
"You're unbelievable," she sighs and lets herself fall back so that she's laying next to him. Her face is right across from his and he can make out a hint of a smile that makes his heart beat faster. "But you're not half bad, Beck Oliver."
. . .
Naturally, recent events have the whole school talking the next day, and if there were rumors about Beck and Jade hooking up before, they were nothing compared to the stories people are making up now, much to their dismay. Jade avoids the issue altogether by walking directly to her classes and straight back to her room once they are over; Beck, on the other hand, isn't that lucky. He has to endure Andre's innuendo-soaked teasing during every meal, and then after class the sneering of every single troublemaker of their school in detention.
He has no regrets, though, because Jade has actually started treating him like a friend. His time is limited now, thanks to detention, but whenever he returns to their room in the evening, they get to talk. It's that part of the day he likes most. He learns that she's from LA and that her father disagrees with her dreams of becoming an actress or screenwriter. And if he's being honest, there's worse rumors than that you're dating your hot roommate.
"You like her," Andre notes during recess on Wednesday. He doesn't even bother phrasing it as a question.
"No, I don't," Beck counters, sounding more like a little stubborn kid than he would like to admit. He hates that he's blushing. "I mean, I do like her – as a friend," he adds, but the damage is done and Andre is once again grinning at him like an idiot. He's slowly starting to doubt his own objections.
Friday is the last day of his punishment, but Principal Eikner makes sure that it's worth it, giving him extra work and making him clean the school's trophy collection, and so it's long after midnight when he finally gets back to room 143. Jade is already in her oversized black shirt she wears to sleep and laying in her bed on her stomach, typing on her laptop. As soon as he enters, however, she directs her attention towards him. "Hey," she says, not without a hint of a question in her voice.
"Eikner made me clean all one-hundred-and-thirty-two trophies of his," he promptly explains while throwing himself onto his bed. "All of them."
"Is that even legal?"
"It's not like the little boy who's dependent on his mercy to keep his scholarship is going to sue," he says sourly. Then, he sits up. "You know what I could go for right now?"
"Tacos?"
"That, too. But I meant something that's a little easier to acquire here," he smirks.
Now, he's got her interested. She raises an eyebrow. "Continue."
He hops off his bed and holds out a hand for her. "You wanna come to the pool with me?"
"There's no pool here," she notes dryly.
"Wrong," he smiles. "There's no official pool here."
It doesn't take a lot of convincing to get Jade to come with him and just a few minutes later the teenagers are tiptoeing through the deserted corridors of St. George's, carrying towels under their arms. Other than some emergency lighting, everything is dark and quiet. "Are you sure you should be sneaking around the school past our curfew literally an hour after you finished your detention for breaking the rules?" Jade murmurs.
"That's why I'm doing it," he replies. Beck leads her down the stairs to where the entrance of the gym is, but walks past it to open a small door that leads down another flight of stairs. Carefully, he shuts it behind them once they're both in, and gives her his biggest smile. "The school had this built years ago, but they never actually started using it for classes, because they realized they would need to invest in lifeguards for that. Now it's just something the teachers use for their personal entertainment from time to time."
She follows him through another small corridor, past what looks like changing and shower rooms, until they reach the actual pool. The only source of light is coming from a few circular lights built directly into the pool. "How on earth isn't this area locked?" she asks, placing herself at the edge of the water so that her toes are almost touching it.
"Barely anyone knows it's even here, because no one stays long enough to find out," Beck explains. He drops his towel on one of the chairs standing nearby and takes off his shirt. "Think you can swim faster than me?"
Jade lets her eyes linger on his naked torso quite without shame, and the wicked smirk she gives him then while lightly biting down on her bottom lip almost drives him up the walls. "Probably not," she replies and he's not sure if she's using the sultry tone in her voice on purpose or isn't even noticing it anymore. She pulls her dress over her head and flings it away, leaving her in nothing but a black bikini. "But I can keep you distracted long enough to win anyway." She raises a suggestive eyebrow at him, turns around and jumps into the water. It's beyond him how she can fulfill any task with such grace and beauty, and so he just ends up staring after her like some sort of a drooling puppy. By the time he comes back to his senses, she has long since resurfaced and grins victoriously.
"Told you," she says and splashes some water at him.
"That was totally unfair," he declares as he follows her into the pool.
"That's something only losers say."
He raises an eyebrow. "Oh really?"
"Really."
He slowly swims towards her, quite like a shark sneaking up on his pray, and actually takes her by surprise, when he tips on her shoulder once he's close enough. She looks at him confused, but he leans in to whisper in her ear. "Tag. You're it," he grins, before dashing off to the other side of the pool.
"Hey!" she exclaims, quickly going after him. Either she was lying before or Beck is a worse swimmer than she thought, because she is in fact a lot faster than him in water and catches him within seconds. "Now you're it!"
But before she can even turn around to swim away, he has already grabbed her around the waist and pulls her back towards him. She half-shrieks, half-giggles in surprise and it has to be the most beautiful sound he has ever heard. "I don't think so," he grins. She tries to wriggle out of his grasp, but he doesn't let go. When she turns around in his arms to look at him, her face suddenly gets serious, though.
She brings up a hand to his face, gently stroking over the fading bruises on his cheek. It takes a while for her to get the words out. "I'm sorry about that."
"Why? It's not your fault," he tells her truthfully.
"But it is. You didn't have to do that for me."
He takes her hand into his, giving it a soft tug away from his face so he can entwine his fingers with hers. "I wanted to." It's one of those moments, where everything is perfect and just how it's meant to be, and even though they can both feel what's coming now, it happens naturally. They both lean in at the same time, and when their foreheads touch, it's like they're electrified. He can feel her breath on his lips already, less than an inch apart. And then–
"Oi! What are you doing here?!"
. . .
"Guess what?" Andre asks Saturday evening, when the boys are all sitting in his and Robbie's room, watching a football game on Sinjin's laptop.
"What?" Robbie replies, looking not even half as eager to hear the answer as Andre is to say it.
"I took a little walk yesterday, 'cause you and Sinjin were busy with your nerd club and Beck was in detention–"
"Computer club," Sinjin corrects him, but the other boy ignores him.
"– and I stumbled across a nice place not far from the school. There's a fire pit there." He looks at his friends expectantly, wiggling his eyebrows. Instead of praise he is only met with bored faces. "Oh come on! Don't tell me that's not a cool place to hang out!"
"How would we know? We haven't even seen it," Beck yawns and stretches his arms.
"Well, that's why I was thinking we could go there tomorrow night with the girls," Andre explains.
The opposing team in the football match scores and Beck makes a face at the screen before turning back to Andre. "I don't know, man. We'd be in so much trouble if we got caught and I literally just got out of detention, and yesterday–" He stops for a second, remembering the events of the previous night. "Uh, I mean, I can't keep attracting negative attention, you know."
"Hold on a second," Andre says suspiciously. "What happened yesterday?"
Beck can feel a blush creeping up on his cheeks and prays that the others won't notice. "Uhh... nothing," he stammers. "I just, you know... I felt like going to the pool after my detention and almost got caught. Vice-principal Helen suddenly showed up, I don't think she saw my face, though."
The other boys exchange meaningful glances. "The pool?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"You went... alone?" Andre asks, raising an eyebrow.
Beck avoids his glance and nervously runs a hand through his hair. He inwardly curses himself for letting it slip. "I..."
His friend grins at him mischievously. "So you and Jade went swimming together, huh?"
"Yeah, well, we got maybe five minutes before Helen showed up and we had to run for our lives, so..." he finally admits, shrugging. He knows they won't back down anyway. "Stop grinning, it's not a big deal! We're just friends." The last part has never felt more like a lie.
. . .
Despite all protests from Beck's side, Andre convinces their group of friends to come to the ominous fireplace with him on Sunday evening. Like many times before, Beck invites Jade to tag along, but to his surprise, this time she actually agrees. It also comes as a surprise that things haven't gotten awkward between them since their almost-kiss, they are simply pretending like it never happened. Beck doesn't like leaving things unspoken, but to him it's better than not talking at all, so he just goes along with it.
The place Andre discovered is not even a ten-minute walk away from the school grounds, perfectly hidden behind a group of trees. It's a nice warm day in September and soon they're sitting around the crackling fire, enjoying a light evening breeze.
"You'll never guess how I got my hands on these fine babies," Sinjin says proudly as he hands out marshmallows.
"Do we even want to know?" Tori asks warily, placing hers on a stick she picked up on the way there.
Sinjin thinks about it for a moment. "Probably not."
"Too bad not even you could get us some booze," Andre pouts. His marshmallow starts smoking from being too close to the fire and he pulls it out quickly. "Damn."
Jade scoffs, pulling out a flask from her purse and chucking it to the boy. "Where I'm from, you never come unprepared," she smiles.
"Sweet!" he exclaims. "Beck, I think your roommate should hang out with us more often." He generously adds a dash of the liquor to everyone's beverages (despite Robbie's protests) and hands the empty flask back to Jade.
"Cheers!" Beck says, lifting his plastic cup.
It's a buoyant and joyful evening full of laughter and stupid games. They find out that Robbie is excellent at impersonating people and don't let him stop until he has at least mimicked every single teacher of their school. Andre brings out the guitar he brought and they sing a few songs together – it's not Idol material, but they're having fun. Cat tells them stories of a brother none of them has ever heard anything about before and they decide that maybe that was for the better. Not even Jade finds anything to complain about.
Twenty minutes before the official curfew at 10 P.M., Beck gets up. "Sorry guys, but I don't want to risk anything. I better get back." He turns to Jade. "You coming with or you wanna stay?"
"I'll come with you, I have some homework I still need to finish."
After saying their goodbyes to the others, they walk in comfortable silence for a while, until the laughter and chatter of the remaining teenagers is barely audible anymore. "It was nice to have you there," Beck says eventually.
"Surprisingly enough, your friends aren't too bad," she replies jokingly. "I might even hang out with you guys again sometime."
"That's too kind of you, m'lady."
"Shut up, you dork," she says rolling her eyes, but he can tell she's smiling. They continue their walk and are almost back on the school grounds, when Jade can't help it anymore. "So what's between you and that Tori chick?"
Beck is taken aback by the question. "What? Tori? What's with her?"
"She was all over you all night, how could you not notice that?"
"I really don't think she feels about me that way," he muses truthfully. Then, he grins. "Why? Are you jealous?"
"No," Jade scoffs. She's thankful that the dark is doing such a good job at hiding her blush. "It was just really annoying. I mean, her eyes were basically glued to you. She automatically agreed with everything you said. How desperate can a person get? If you honestly didn't see that, then there's something wrong with your eyes. It's an embarrassment for the entire female population to act so fu–"
She's still in the middle of her rant when Beck just grabs her and shuts her up with a kiss. It's short and sweet, but damn, he feels like he just won an Oscar, and the best part is that she almost immediately kisses him back. When they break apart, he smirks at her. "I probably didn't notice, because I was too busy having my eyes glued to you."
"You're a sap," she replies dryly. "And also, it was about freaking time you did that."
. . .
"Dude," Andre says as he slides into a chair next to Beck two weeks later. "Okay, first of all, you know Michael, whose room is next to yours?"
Beck nods, lazily turning the page on the novel he has to be reading for English class. "Yeah, what about him?"
"Not to be rude or anything, but he told me to remind you that the walls of this school are thin. And secondly, as your best friend, I'm supremely offended that you didn't tell me sooner."
Beck closes his book and turns to face his friend, a playful smile dancing over his lips. "First of all, I didn't know words like 'supremely' were even in your vocabulary," he says. "And secondly, I have noo idea what you're talking about." And with that – and a wide grin on his face – he gets up and leaves his friend behind to return to his roommate (slash girlfriend).