A?N: So this is it :)
"Cat," Jade says, calling out. "Wait."
"Yeah?" Cat says, and her voice is surprisingly deep. Jade doesn't respond for a moment, trying to wrap her head around this new girl. "Uh, Jade? Hello?" Jade looks up. Cat is inspecting one of her fake plastic nails. Also new.
"Oh," she says. "Yeah. I wanted to ask if you wanna go to the movies on Saturday." Cat makes a face and the girl standing behind her smiles, her eyes narrowing.
"I didn't know you were friends with her." Cat bites her lip and laughs.
"I'm not." She looks Jade straight in the eye. "Sorry, loser. Find one of your own kind to hang out with. No, I don't wanna go to the movies tomorrow, BTW." Breathless, Jade blinks in the suddenly harsh light of the corridor in the school. She finally lets out a shaky breath, and, scraping her hair back on her head, runs for the door, pushing past Cat. She digs in her pocket for her phone, her fingers scrabbling for the little flip screen as she pulls it out. She texts her mother.
Going into town. Be back whenever. Don't wait up. Love you.
- Jade
She rushes out of the school building and leans against a lamp post. Okay, she hadn't been the best friend a girl could want lately. She was being a bit anti-social. But that was only because her home life was being turned upside down. Cat's offhand comment had hurt her a lot.
Catching the next bus, Jade sighs as she thinks things through. She didn't know what she was going to do about school, so she focused her attention on the bright lights. It was almost six o clock now, she'd spent two hours in Latin club, and half an hour sitting outside of school, just letting the cool autumn breeze calm her down.
It hadn't worked very well, though her pale skin was prickled with goosebumps and her hands were shaking as she paid for the bus fare. "You alright, kid?" The driver asks, his wrinkled brow creasing. "You need a drink?" Jade shakes her head.
"Um, no. No, thanks." She sits and breathes out. Maybe she did need a drink. She feels light-headed, but then she sees the bright, blinding lights, and focuses on them. Chickies, that run down fast food shop, Jade notices. Empire cinemas and the shoe shop. She checks her purse. She has forty dollars and her credit card. It wasn't much fun coming down here alone, Jade thinks, but then it's not much fun not going.
"I might as well spend my money..." Jade mutters, "Maybe next time I won't be alone."
Jade ends up in an arcade, battling with the toy grabber machine. She doesn't really want the toy, she just likes winning. Blue is her little sister's favorite color. If she can get the blue teddy, then Ruby would be cheered up. She couldn't seem to get it to the square, though. She frowns and the boy standing across from her, staring, thinks it's the worst thing he's ever seen.
He doesn't know why, but the thought of making her frown, upset, almost broke his heart, and he sighed. Tentatively, he stepped up behind her, slowly. She was watching him. He wanted her to know he was there, because sneaking up on her would not be well received, he thinks.
"Hello," he says softly. Her head snaps up, but she's not angry. She just faces him with a blank expression on his face. She nods, and to him, it's better than nothing. "I'm Beck," says the tanned boy, his hair flicking over one eye. She nods once again. "Do you want me to..?" He gestures to the machine and she raises an eyebrow, stepping to one side. Beck slowly maneuvers the crane to hover above the blue teddy, and then drops it. He makes sure to pick it up completely before taking it to the drop off square. It lands with a soft thud on the collection square. He bends down and hands it to her, making it dance slightly before completely handing it over.
She blushes slightly before regaining composure. Way to go, Beck thinks, sighing. He'd seen this girl around school. She wasn't the type to blush or get hot and bothered. You made the school's toughest, non-girliest girl flustered. Only you, Beck.
He smiles bashfully, and feels himself going red. They stay in a silence for awhile, before she speaks again. "Why are you here so late?"
He shrugs. "I've got nowhere else to go." He frowns. "Why are you here?" She shrugs too, but she's never been tactful.
"I have no friends."
"Oh." He struggles for a moment.
"Don't worry about it," she says. "I'm not." She's lying. She knows that. He knows that. Hell, everyone in that damn arcade knows that. He nods, looking at her dead eyes. Her limp hair. Her thumb in her mouth. He nods again, and takes her hand though he knows it's a bad idea. She doesn't know why, because she never does, but she lets him lead her. He sits her down on a bench. They don't talk. They just watch.
The traffic is so busy here. The lights are too bright. The sounds are too loud and the stores are too big. But it gives them both a distraction.
"It's pretty." Jade comments, pointing to a purple neon sign. There are people hurrying down the street, annoyed at the rush. But there are also people just sitting together like they are. She feels like she belongs.
"It helps, I know." She felt like nothing could go wrong here. That she was safe, sitting with Beck. Nothing ever slowed down here. It stayed up all night. She felt at home. Jade would come here again with this boy. This would be their place.
You'll be dancing with 'em too, before the night is over...
Happy again