I Want Crazy
Summary: That took Jade by surprise. "Um - attractive, obviously. He has to be hot. No glasses! He doesn't have to be really smart, I'm fine with dumb. He has to put up a fight, a BIG fight. I don't care if we fight like cats and dogs, anything but normality. He has to be a good kisser and he has to be confident and sure of himself. He has to have a nice smile and he has to only care about me - he has to ALWAYS be about me. And he had to defend me and be there and stuff like that." She stopped. "I want CRAZY."
Rating: T
Pairing: Beginning Jade x Shane and James x Heather, Jades [Jade West and James Diamond] endgame.
AN: SO, I read one of the SADDEST stories ever - courtesy of my lovely friend, AllOfMeHatesYou - THANKS AGAIN. :I So I'm feeling major Jades feels - even more than usual and I ALWAYS have Jades feels. So, long Easter weekend, why bother NOT writing a story? That would make very little sense.
So this is going to be lengthy - and awesome. I've been putting a lot of thought into for the LONGEST time, so hopefully it turns out as well as I've been expecting it to, now that I finally put it down in text!
OH, and Shane is from iCarly.
[OoOoOoO]
The repercussions of the first monumentally large break-up of Jade and James was startling. Sure, they'd fought like cats and dogs and barely agreed on anything, but it was obvious to their surrounding friends that they'd cared deeply for each other. It had been one of those things where no matter how much they were at each other's throats, it was always consistent love.
In a way, it had reminded Tori of how Jade and Beck had been before the break-up, but what the Latina had witnessed went far beyond the brunette and Canadian's prior relationship. They both had held this passion in their eyes, it was kind of hard to describe. But she knew there was something, especially being she was good friends with the both of them [no matter how many times Jade would deny it time and time again].
But nothing had tore Tori more than the call she'd received late at night a few weeks ago. She'd been trying to sleep after listening to Trina's rehearsed performance of some song and had been pushing the pillow over her head in a dramatic insistence of trying to get the horrid sound from echoing in her ear drums, but to no obvious avail. Finally, the older Latina had quieted and Tori had been able to settle down, when her Pearphone had buzzed with Jade's specific ringtone.
"Come on!" Tori sat up on her elbows, arching over to grasp the phone and click answer, pressing it to her ear. "What do you want, Jade? It's nearly one!" Her sister had been going at the singing for a while.
There wasn't an immediate response and Tori swore she heard muffled sniffling or something of the sort. "Jade?" She repeated in a softer tone, frowning. Why was she upset? Had something happened at home? She'd heard stories from Beck about her family situation and how rocky it was.
"I - ." The girl started, before cutting off and clearing her throat. "I wanted to talk to someone rationally, and Cat's never usually rational and she would definitely not be at this hour, so I called you." Based on Tori's analysis of her voice, it was rather raspy and she sounded very upset.
She sat up straighter and leaned against her bed frame, crossing an arm. "Okay, so what's up?" That was the main question she wanted to know, rather than hear a two-bit explanation. Typical tough Jade West: couldn't be emotionally blunt when it came to her being hurt.
"James and I - we broke up." She finally murmured, her voice trailing off. Tori's eyes widened, bewildered at the news. They'd broken up? It couldn't be! Jade and James had always been sturdy enough to pass over the hate they received from the press [James was in Big Time Rush and not everyone took a liking to his crazy, violent girlfriend; especially when she often beat up on the press and yelled many many profanities that weren't appropriate for his fanbase] and some of their friends.
"Really? I can't believe it! You two -" The Latina realized soon that that sounded very insensitive so she backed up. "were really great together; I'm sorry, Jade."
"It's - whatever. I just want you to know before you witness anything on TV or something. TMZ can be pretty quick with their tabloids and chizz," She voiced with another loud sniff. She was probably rather uncomfortable right now, especially when her and Vega were supposed to be enemies.
Tori nodded. "Yeah, sure, I get it. If you don't mind me asking - what made you two breakup?" She was curious, albeit skeptical to the reasoning behind the couple breaking up. It took a lot more than just a little something to end them, what had it been?
Jade exhaled. "I'll summarize."
Flashback
"You got us kicked out of yet ANOTHER restaurant." James spoke in exasperation, as they were hauled out of Nozu. Jade had chosen the place, given they didn't have very many options anymore and yet she'd still gotten them kicked out - despite the many times she had gone there with her friends.
Jade scowled and straightened her jacket. "Whatever, Ms. Lee's a nut job anyway." Apparently, her going to town with some rancid California rolls and launching them at awful karaoke singers was against the law or something. It wasn't her fault she was gifted with vocal chords and they weren't. She'd been merely trying to give some constructive criticism - in the art of food throwing.
James stopped and acknowledged her with crossed arms. "Why can't you just be nice in public? I get that you might not want to be the nicest to Kendall or Gustavo or Griffin, but you don't even know these people!" The on-going feud between Jade and Kendall had severely taken a turn for the worse, so much so - that James had been running out of ways to diffuse the seemingly mutual arguing.
It had been no longer one of them starting it; it had grown into this constant nitpicking whenever she hung out around the crib [which was VERY often].
Jade regarded him with narrowed eyes. "It was innocent!"
"The one girl ran out of the room crying because you got wasabi in her contacts!" He threw his arms up.
She huffed. "So?"
"So nothing! It's the fact that you're unnecessarily cruel to people that makes everything completely frustrating!"
"As if you should be a judge of character! You make everyone awkward when it comes to your conceited aura and this absolute wave of self righteousness!"
James stomped his foot rather childishly, his jaw tensing. "Why do you use big words that you KNOW I do not understand?!"
Jade smirked. "It's not my fault you're intellectually lacking!"
"It's not my fault you lack a soul!" He snapped right back, immediately resulting in her glaring harsh daggers at him just for the statement.
"You're just like everyone else!" She scowled.
James rolled his eyes and paced, waving his hands dramatically. "Oh here we go, sob story about how Jade West doesn't fit in. Don't you get tired of saying the same thing, Jade?!"
"Don't you get tired of blaming your girlfriend for everything that goes wrong in the world?!"
"No! But I certainly get tired of dealing with her on a daily basis!"
"Oh, so you want to break up with me?!" Their proximities were minimizing based on the anger that was radiating from both of them, their usual passion replaced with utter anger and resentment. It seemed like months worth of intense fighting had all dwindled down to appearing at this moment, making the fight all the more meaningful.
"Don't put the idea in my head and expect me to not take you up on it!" He shouted and she backed up, staring at him.
"You want to break up?" She asked in a more serious tone, her anger dissipating to just - question.
He cleared his throat and sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with a palm, allowing it to slide down his neck before falling back to his side. "Do you honestly think we can keep doing this, Jade?"
She pursed her lips. "Not when you hate how I am as a person."
"Seems like the feeling's mutual." He added.
Jade stared at him, furrowing her eyebrows. She wasn't going to bother voicing 'it's not true', because she wasn't even sure if she could say that truthfully, even with her being the flawless actress she was; they had been getting on each other's nerves the past few days, it had been obvious. She was at the end of her rope of tolerance and he was there too. "Yeah, well, I'll find someone who's smarter and accepts me as a person!" She vowed simply.
"And I'll find a nicer girl that doesn't mind that I'm not the brightest!" He vowed as well, fixating a stern gaze on her.
She paused and stared at him. "Then it's over?"
He exhaled. "It's over, Jade."
End of Flashback
Jade's heart hurt after re-going over what had happened just a few hours prior. Everything had been so bitter, but calm at the end. She still felt like she was being swallowed up and there was a rather hollow feeling in her chest, but she wouldn't share those emotions with Vega - she wouldn't share those with anyone.
Tori, however, was rather taken back. She was still in surprise that they were really over. It wasn't something that she had expected nor something that she had hoped to expect. "I am sorry, Jade."
A wry laugh escaped her lips and once again she had put on her strong façade. "It's whatever, I'll find someone else - I always do."
"Look, Jade, if you want, I can -" Tori started in attempt to offer something, but Jade foresaw what she was starting and was quick to divert the subject.
"Veg - Tori, I have to go. It's getting late and my father will have a chizz fit if he catches me up on the phone, I'll talk to you tomorrow." Before Jade ended the call abruptly and clutched the phone to her chest, squeezing her eyes shut tightly.
She'd be fine, she always was.
[OoOoOoO]
The latest gossip for the past two weeks had definitely been Jade and James' break off. Why wouldn't it be? He had used to show up most days during her lunch period to bring her coffee and chat, a majority of the Hollywood Arts populous would be able to hear them in the Janitor's closet as well - it was a rather popular spot for the two of them. And of course they'd be rather curious as to why James had suddenly disappeared, the dead ringer being that Jade and James were no longer together.
But after a week and Jade's bitter mood towards even the mention of his name, gossips had quieted and things had reverted back to when Jade and Beck had broken up, which required a lot of tiptoeing around Jade West.
However, something was different when Jade approached the lunch table that day, sitting down with nearly a spring in her step - if you could call it that given how the girl was.
Tori exchanged glances with the others, before looking at Jade. "Hi Jade."
"Tori." She answered, using her full name, rather than the 'Vega' title. She never did that, so there was bound to be something up, everyone sitting at the table knew that.
"So what's up?" She asked in order to strike up conversation without things becoming weird. She didn't want Jade to catch on or believe she was digging for something, though she probably already thought that. Her route was at least worth a shot.
Her dark eyes scanned the faces of her friends, particularly Cat, who'd been rather worried about her state for the past two weeks. "Well considering you're all dying to know, I got a boyfriend." She answered simply. "A new one." She added sharply. "Not James."
The Latina had to force a smile. "Really? Who is he?"
"His name's Shane." She answered with a shrug. "Attractive, smart, I'm giving him a shot." She summarized shortly. Jade found the intelligence trait alluring. Ever since James, her vow had been buried in her mind and hadn't left when she'd thought about going back into dating.
Shane was very smart, a little geeky [despite his lovely appearance], but she could handle it over stupid any day.
"Do you have a picture of the lucky fellow?" Robbie intervened with another forced smile. Once again, tiptoeing around Jade was still a must, because she was like a blood hound when it came to disapproval. She would eat you if she thought you didn't like what she was doing. Jade was a very opinionated girl, this boy better have patience.
"Mm-hm." She hummed and pulled out her Pearphone, scrolling through a few TheSlap pages, before zeroing in on the particular one and turning her phone around to show everyone who gathered around.
At first, Tori had to look at phone and stared at Jade. "Uh - I'm pretty sure this isn't Shane. You brought up a picture of James, with glasses."
Jade raised her pierced eyebrow and turned her phone back around, shaking her head and then holding it out against more persistently. "No, this is Shane."
"But that's James!" Cat insisted, frowning.
She groaned. "That's not James, that's Shane. They look nothing alike." She shut off her phone and set it down on the table, narrowing her eyes. "I can't honestly believe you think they have a resemblance. Shane is much better looking than James."
That was a little concerning and Tori thought it was definitely essential that she spoke about it with everyone else. So, instead of taking the discreet way, she simply grabbed on to André and Cat's wrists, pulling them away from the table. She wouldn't bother grabbing Beck, who had reacted negatively to James and Jade's getting together and had most likely been secretly hoping that they would breakup so he would have a shot of getting her back. Robbie was a no, because it'd be a dead giveaway considering he nearly peed whenever Jade addressed him. His backbone was lacking.
Tori could easily fib an explanation, but right now - it was important to talk to them and see if they were thinking the same thing.
She finally released them to look at them, raising her eyebrows. "Do you see what's happening?"
André nodded, folding his arms. "She's trying to replace him." He had never been a particular condoner of their relationship, given he had initially expected that this was just a way to get back at Beck to make him jealous, like the countless times Beck had done it to her, but this was serious. His doubts about his beginning opinion had grown. He knew they cared about each other - now. This further proved the point.
Cat frowned. "She is. He looks so much like James! They could be twins!" The redhead had always been by Jade's side when it came to Jade's relationship with James. She'd been by her side, watching it grow. James and Jade were both responsible for her relationship with Carlos, they'd pushed for her to try and she had, and now she was very happy. She wanted them to be happy too!
Tori sighed. "It's not normal."
"Since when has anything been normal about Jade?" André stated, having an obvious point there.
The redhead swatted at him with an irritated expression. "She misses him!" She would always defend Jade. André rubbed at his arm ruefully.
"They were basically inseparable a majority of the time, no matter how much they argued - it's kind of normal, maybe?" She sighed and shook her head. This was dangerous, for Shane at least. Tori guaranteed that Jade would soon start to treat Shane like he is James and expect a lot from him. She honestly felt very bad for their situation and Jade. She knew she had a hard time opening up to people and she really had to James, and look how that had turned out. The Latina doubted Jade would give Shane an easy time.
"We have to do something." Cat insisted.
"Something before Jade commits murder on this new guy?" André added with a wry expression.
Tori made a face. "That too."
[OoOoOoO]
Moving on from Jade's difficulty with coping, James seemed - fine? Not immediately, but after a day of him being grumpy, the guys didn't seem to notice a monumental difference. It seemed that he was acting very unaffected, but his true opinion showed through when Carlos began to speak about Cat.
"I picked up Cat from Jade's house so we could hang out and -." Immediately, James had shut the boy down.
"Could we not mention that name in this apartment?" He demanded moodily, pressing his lips together.
Carlos hadn't exactly understood what James was meaning by that and frowned. "I can't mention Cat?"
He sighed and threw his arms up. "JADE, CARLOS! JADE! DON'T MENTION JADE, DO YOU GET IT?!" It was the first real display of emotion from James. Before, he had thrown himself at girls to attempt to get his mind off of Jade; he'd acted just like his normal playboy-like self, as if he'd never dated Jade in the first place.
He sunk back against the couch, crossing his arms and shrugging his shoulders. "I don't want to talk about her."
His three best friends simply stared at him, along with Carlos looking a little crestfallen from the outburst. Carlos was the equivalent of Cat to Jade and certainly on an emotional outlook.
There was a reason why Carlos and Cat were together - they were really the only people that understood how the other worked; it was sweet in a way.
Kendall leant forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Look, James - we never really spoke about you and Jade ending things." The blonde visibly watched his friend stiffen and emotionally close off about it.
"I didn't really want to talk about it at all; it's not necessary." James deadpanned, trying to sound carefree and as if it wasn't affecting him, but it was. It certainly had been that night.
Flashback
He couldn't head back to the crib right now, he couldn't. He didn't want to face the guys after breaking up with Jade. Why would he? He was upset and absolutely broken. He definitely had a right to be - she was the first girl he'd admitted to ever loving [and even that had been like walking on egg shells] and they were over.
There was no way James would say that he hadn't been expecting it - he had. Him and Jade were always going at it and never agreeing on anything [even if it was trivial and a way to get their opinions out], people were probably placing bets on when they were going to end things.
He swore that Bitters, Katie, and Buddha Bob had had some kind of pool going on.
Jade and James had always noticed when someone was disapproving of them, it was incredibly obvious.
The problem was, everyone had been unaware of how happy they made each other. In public, all they ever saw was the fighting and arguing and the insults - but no one saw the way Jade got with him. That had made him feel special.
The smiles she saved, the looks she gave, it had been absolutely fantastic.
But over the past weeks, he'd noticed she was shutting down. Her walls were slowly folding back up to how they were when he'd first met her and he hadn't liked it one bit. It was like she'd been trying to push him away because he'd gotten too close for her comfort or something.
It wasn't easy to watch them break, but he couldn't bear continuing a relationship with someone who blatantly didn't even want him around anymore; though it certainly didn't mean it hurt any less.
He got in his car and just sat there, sitting in his silver sports car and trying not to think about it - trying, but not achieving anything. It still hurt. His heart still hammered with the adrenaline of an argument and he still felt like just running after her and getting her back.
The brunette banged his head against the steering wheel, eliciting a beep and just sitting there like that.
He was really going to miss her. But at that moment, he made a promise that he wouldn't show even a sliver of it possibly affecting him. He would act like his normal safe, like Jade had NEVER even happened!
He wouldn't let Jade West bring him down.
End of Flashback
Despite a few of their on-going discussions about James' mere aggression towards the touchy subject, and no signs of immediate regret or remorse, things had slipped into a normality for the next few weeks after the breakup. It was just like Jade had never happened [as James had insisted would happen]. James was happy-go-lucky and flirty and it was odd.
His friends rolled with it, not wanting to discourage his seemingly average behavior, but couldn't help but question WHY he was going about it in this way. It was a strange way to approach coping.
But nothing had been stranger than what they saw that day.
The three remaining boys of the band were heading out poolside to relax a little, when they'd all stopped in their tracks at what they saw.
James - kissing - Jade?
They exchanged knowing looks and all three of them pranced over to the couple making-out, Kendall rolling his eyes knowingly. "Well that didn't take long." All of their worrying and raving had been made useless; they were back together!
That startled James and Jade, looking at the two. Jade looked at Carlos with wide eyes. "Oh, hi Carlos!" But something was different - her tone was sweeter.
Carlos waved cheerfully at her. "Hi Jade!" But watched her face twist up in confusion.
James raised his eyebrows at his friends. "What didn't take long?"
Logan gestured to Jade and James. "Uh, this. You two; back together. You can't expect us to be surprised; the breakup only last three weeks." He nodded.
He laughed and looked at Jade, who was only staring at him questionably. "No, no, guys - this is Heather. You know, Heather Fox?"
"I can't believe you guys forgot me." She laughed in a sugar-sweet tone, that made the three's eyes nearly pop out of their heads.
"HEATHER?!" They spoke in shocked unison, jaws dropping. Everyone had grown so used to the image of Jade, that they'd completely confused the two. There were only minor noticeable differences between the two. Jade sometimes donned a piercing above her right eyebrow, wore dark clothing, and often had colored streaks in her hair.
Heather? She looked like the perfect example of a sweet girl, just as beautiful as Jade - but in a very natural, down-to-earth way. Jade was more of a threatening brand of sexy and gorgeous.
This brought back up Carlos' point in how they looked alike, at one point believing that Jade was Heather. But that had gotten cleared up after some facts had been run off.
James draped a casual arm across her shoulders. "Yeah, Heather. I can't believe you guys thought this was Jade."
"Jade?" Heather inquired.
"Ex-girlfriend, mean little thing." James summarized quickly.
Of course Carlos wasn't really upset that he was with Heather of all people, not that he cared anymore now that he had Cat. The bro code was kind of obsolete, once he was taken. "Uh - James? Could we talk?" But what was disturbing was that he was getting together with a girl who looked EXACTLY like Jade. He'd gotten beaten with a bat from believing it was her, so why was he with her?
Within the guys' knowledge, James had always insisted how he liked bad girls [given Jade and Lucy], rather than easy girls. Heather was a VERY easy girl - especially given she had shown a rather humungous crush on him back when Carlos had been trying to win her over.
James exhaled, looking annoyed with the intervention. "A little busy guys!"
Kendall had a feeling that Logan, Carlos, and him were ALL thinking the same thing. "Dude, this is important. You can come back and play tonsil hockey with Heather later, right?" He fixated a look on Heather, who only nodded.
"I'll be here! I don't have another shoot for a couple hours." She supplied, dropping her arms on her lap and smiling. James leant forward a pressed a fleeting kiss to Heather's cheek, before getting up and following after his friends, who quite quickly dragged him into the lobby.
Kendall was the first to speak, per usual. "What are you doing?"
The brunette maintained his usual look of confusion. "What do you mean 'what am I doing'? I'm not doing anything right now!" A few face palms echoed, along with a sigh from Kendall.
Carlos shook his head. "No! What are you doing with Heather?"
James looked at Carlos with a 'are you serious?' expression. "You're with Cat! I didn't think it would matter!" Carlos waved him off dramatically, frowning.
"I don't care about that! I want to know why you're dating someone who looks EXACTLY like Jade!" Logan and Kendall both looked towards him for an answer, putting him on the spot.
He groaned, eyeing his friends with malice. "We had ONE conversation about how they kind of look alike and now you're holding it over her head! Heather and Jade are A LOT different, especially on the inside. Heather's friendly and sweet and Jade's not!" He ended in a rather snappish tone, his bipolar side coming to the surface.
"That doesn't mean they don't look alike! They could practically be sisters!" Logan pointed out insistently. "Give Heather a little more makeup and some hair streaks, and you have clones! Clones!" He repeated to try and get his point across, seeing as how James was clearly not comprehending what was going on, per his typical unintelligent self!
"They look nothing alike!" James repeated venomously. "They are COMPLETELY different people and COMPLETELY different looking! End of story!" He threw his arms up. "YOU GUYS JUST CAN'T BE HAPPY FOR ME!" While he stalked off hotly, storming down the hall and jamming his finger into the elevator button.
The three watched him and James' head suddenly swung, glaring daggers. "WHAT?" Taking another look at the elevator and huffing. "I'M TAKING THE STAIRS!" Turning abruptly and pushing through the door to the stairway.
"Well he didn't take that well at all." Logan concluded, his face as unhappy as the rest.
"Not - at - all."
[OoOoOoO]
Now, this was the problem. Considering that Cat and Carlos were still together, that meant that Jade and James were still connected in some way. James and Carlos were the closet out of the four boys, so that meant they spent the most time together. And Cat and Jade were best friends, so that meant they spent PLENTY of time together. Jade didn't have a massive amount of friends and she had used to spend most of her time with James, so Cat was her one and only choice now - other than Shane.
Shane and Jade were in the early stages of their relationship, so that meant that Jade was still trying to get used to him, so their contact was minimal sometimes - other than the few dates that they'd had.
Jade really liked Shane, he was sophisticated and sweet and SMART; exactly what she wanted. And he was a handsome guy too, very much so. Nicely muscled, sweet smile, gorgeous hazel eyes - she could grow to like this guy very easily.
So, Cat had arranged a little get together at Karaoke Dokie [considering she couldn't really do it at Nozu, now that Jade had a ban - as did James], encouraging Carlos to invite his friends, as Cat invited Jade. She wasn't going to invite Tori to save the atmosphere from being weird, despite feeling a little bad for doing that.
Cat also insisted that she should bring Shane, so that he could get used to Jade's friends and Cat could learn all about him.
And when Carlos invited James, he also encouraged him to bring Heather - so they could get comfortable with having her around on a normal basis.
But what Carlos and Cat had neglected to tell each of the pairs, was about how the other's ex would be there with their new addition.
James arrived casually, with Heather on his arm. She cleaned up nice and only wore a minimal amount of make-up, along with a white dress and some sandals. She always went with simplistic and James supposed he liked it. He donned one of his notorious pairs of high tops, along with some dark wash jeans and a t-shirt, a black leather jacket worn over it. They looked good together, at least in James' opinion.
All he looked at was Carlos and Cat initially, and then his eyes landed on Jade and a mystery guy. His eyes immediately narrowed and instinctively, he wrapped an arm around Heather and led her over to the table.
"Carlos, Cat." He greeted with a charming smile, soon dropping as soon as he eyed Jade - who was looking at him with the same seething expression as he was her. "Jade." He stated darkly.
Jade stood and crossed her arms. "James." She was wearing a green shirt, long sleeves slightly ruffled with indentation at the end. She also wore a high waisted black skirt with a thick band, highlighting her small waist and endowed chest. Paired with some combat boots and some black tights, she was looking quite fine - even if James' conscious wouldn't allow him the semblance to think that for long.
Shane stood with her, kind of protectively. He had on a pair of glasses, but it suited him, given he was very attractive [and looking A LOT like James]. He had a black three-quarter sleeve button down shirt with some burgundy pants - that immediately set off some alarms with James.
This guy had ZERO style.
"Who's this?" They spoke simultaneously, eyeing the other's companion up, gaze filled with scrutiny.
"Heather Fox." James answered confidently.
"Shane." Jade gestured and sent the boy a look; who in turn wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"I presume you're James?" He greeted, holding out a hand to shake. "I'm not going to beat around the bush, I've obviously heard plenty about you." Shane flashed a quick smile.
James forced himself to return it and accepted the extended hand, shaking firmly and flaring his eyes. "Can't say the same about you, I don't talk to Jade anymore." His tone underlining plenty that was not something that wanted to be discussed.
"And I'm Heather!" She broke in with a wide smile, waving at Jade. "I haven't heard about you from James, so this new." Clearly, she wasn't remembering being called 'Jade' at the pool a few days ago.
Jade, did not make an attempt to return the smile. "Jade." There was very much she wanted to say to this girl, especially considering she was the girl she'd been accused of being. This bothered her. But it also made her smug that James was dating her, given that he had insisted how much they looked a like. It gave her an ego boost that he wanted to replace her with someone, who at least in his opinion, looked like her.
Cat and Carlos exchanged nervous glances; the two had been dumbly unaware that they'd both invited Jade and James, along with their new girlfriend and boyfriend. This was not the best idea.
"So how about everyone just sits down," Carlos insisted, gesturing with his hands at seats.
"And I go and get drinks!" Cat finished for him, rushing off to avoid any confrontation. Carlos turned his head to look over at his girlfriend desperately, not wanting to be left alone with the four of them, but that was wishful thinking.
The four sat down, Jade sitting forward with her hands clasped, on edge as she stared Heather down. James was also busy giving Shane quite the stare-down.
Heather patted her dress down and looked up, only to meet Jade's intense eyes. "What?"
"So how do you and James know each other?" Jade asked abruptly, arching an eyebrow. "You two seem like very good friends." Heather looked at James with a sweet expression, something that made Jade involuntarily gag inside.
"James and I are dating." Heather answered simply. "We'll be dating for a week tomorrow." She answered quite eagerly, whipping her head around to smile brightly at Jade. "What about you and James? I'm getting the vibe you've met before?" Once again, forgetting that James had labeled Jade as his 'mean little ex'.
Jade looked at her like she was the most naïve thing she'd ever witnessed. "We're exes."
Her face dropped. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make things weird!" She apologized immediately, looking at James with a sweet, sorry expression.
James rubbed her arm assuringly. "It's fine."
Jade's eyes twitched, but she leant back into Shane's grasp. "So what do you do, Heather?" Specifically how she spoke her name insisted that she was not fond of this girl.
"Oh! I'm a model, I do some for makeup products and such." She answered simply. "What about you? You certainly look like you could be a model!"
The brunette forced a smile. "Let's not get too friendly there, Heather." She admonished, eyes flashing. "I go to a performing arts school."
"Really?" She leant forward, an anxious grin. "That's awesome! What do you do? Do you sing? Act? Dance?"
"All three." Jade was a triple threat in more ways than one and was certainly going to allow Heather to know that. "I'm quite talented."
"I'll say!" Heather laughed. "That's really cool. You guys should see if Griffin would hear her sometime," She looked at Carlos and James insistently. "I'm sure she's great."
James nodded; of course it was blatant that he would NEVER do that, given who she was. "Oh yeah, sure. I bet Griffin would love to hear her." His eyes fixed on Shane. "But what do you do? You've been pretty quiet." His tone was prickly, defensive.
"I prefer observing, it's more satisfying." Shane answered without missing a beat and leant forward, eyeing James carefully. "I'm currently doing some studying is all,"
"You in college?" James continued to press.
"Mm-hm."
Well that was hard to deal with. A college student that was probably super smart and could beat him in smarts any day? Yeah, this wasn't any good - even if James no longer cared about Jade.
"Back!" Cat announced, her arms full of cups as she set them down in front of everyone, Heather thanking her modestly like the good girl she was. That infuriated Jade. James must have just been eating it up, having such a sweet girl to call his own. It took a lot of power not to launch one of her utensils into the girl's windpipe just so she'd stop giggling and cease having a reason to smile.
"Finally," Jade muttered under her breath and took the drink, downing a majority of it and hoping it had a decent amount of caffeine in it. Otherwise, she would not be able to tolerate the next hour or so.
Carlos wrapped his arms around Cat, sweetly resting his chin on her shoulder as she giggled. Jade observed Heather looking at James in a similar fashion and that absolutely tore it. She pulled out her Pearphone and abruptly stood up, catching the attention of everyone.
"I have to go, my father suddenly needs me." She looked at Cat carefully. "And you know how he can get."
Shane stood up with her. "Do you want me to come with you or - ?"
"No, stay. Soak up some sweetness." She stated flatly and maneuvered her way through people and left quickly. Cat and Carlos exchanged glances, before the redhead darted off after her friend, pushing through people in an uncanny way.
It was quick to catch up Jade, she'd barely made it to her car when Cat immediately latched onto her, frowning. The way Jade had looked at her, hinted that she was leaving because she felt uncomfortable; they had a specific sign. Whenever you made eye contact while speaking, you were trying to get out of the social situation. That's what Jade and Cat had created.
"Jade, what's wrong?" Cat asked, pouting her lips and tugging on the girls arm.
Jade scowled and glared at her. "You didn't tell me James was going to be here with his new sugar-sweet replacement of me!"
"Replacement of you?" She repeated in question.
"You don't remember the story? That's Heather Fox, that's that girl that he said I looked like! Remember? He introduced me to the guys and your boytoy thought I was her in disguise?!" She summarized in attempt to jog the redhead's memory. It took a few seconds until she started to nod, her lips forming a wide 'o'.
"I remember that story! You beat him with a bat!" Cat giggled.
"NOT THE POINT, CAT! The point is, he's trying to replace me and he brought her there to rub it in my face!" She snapped. "Well the joke's on him because I don't care and I'm not going to sit here and give him any possible satisfaction. Next time you have a get together, make sure you know who you've invited!" She grumbled and pulled open her car door and getting in and starting the ignition, flooring it to get out of the parking lot and leaving Cat whimpering.
She hadn't even planned it.
Sulking, Cat trailed back into Karaoke Dokie and plopped down in Carlos' lap, frowning deeply.
James, Heather, and Shane looked at her, but based on the look Carlos was giving them, they weren't going to bother asking.
James sighed; this was not a fun situation.
[OoOoOoO]
It had been about a week since Jade's last running into James at Cat's little get together and that had left her thinking for quite a bit. It had been weird, to see James interacting with a girl that was other than her and a little bothersome. Sure, she had some lingering feelings for him still - eight months of working at a relationship didn't vanish as soon as it broke, it actually felt a lot harsher. But, she was determined to get to know Shane and give him a fair chance, rather than comparing him to what James did. Of course she still would a little, she was only human, but she'd at least attempt to give him a real shot at trying to win her heart, even if it was still partially stolen.
Arranging something was easy enough and Shane was quick to comply. He wasn't slow like James, a quick thinker and clever with his tongue, Jade wasn't sure how she felt about at quite yet.
Jade then proceeded to organize a date at Nozu [which was probably a mistake considering she'd been banned and James and her had gone there so many times], enlisting in the help of Robbie to wig her up so she wouldn't be recognized by Ms. Lee. It was easy to fool the old woman, she was blind [her age hadn't left her any brightness] and very stupid.
She drove to the restaurant and got inside, acting normal to not evoke any suspicion from any of the staff. She went to sit along her normal bar seat, dropping her bag to the ground and immediately ordering a coke with no ice. She only liked to chew ice; otherwise it watered down the beverage too much.
Shane was punctual and arrived exactly two minutes after her, glancing around and walking in her direction, pressing a quick kiss to her lips before claiming a seat, shrugging off his brown leather jacket, setting it down on the floor. "Hey Jade."
"Shane." Jade felt a little on edge, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. She was also a little worried, she'd felt nothing when he'd kissed her, but she supposed it was just her shutting off towards guys.
He met her eyes. "So any particular reason for this little get together? I know you're not really prone to organize any monumental dates, so I'm getting this is just pretty casual and laid back?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.
Jade shrugged slightly annoyed by the mouthful he'd spit out with his sentence. "Just wanted to get to know you is all. Is there a problem?" She quizzed, flaring her eyes. That seemingly had no effect on him.
"No problem, just consider me a little curious. You seemed a little distant at that get together with your friend, I wasn't sure if it was to do with your ex being there or if it was me. I'm guessing the former, but I still wasn't a hundred percent certain. Mind clarifying?" His politeness was a little - unnerving, but she gave him an answer anyway.
"Obviously it was James being there, he always has me on edge."
"Did that always happen throughout the relationship? He seemed a little conceited and very sure of himself." He remarked. "Cocky, maybe?"
Her eyes abruptly slid to him. "He's not conceited, just - very confident with what he has." She defended.
Shane nodded, looking a little startled from her outburst. "Understood. How long did you guys date?"
"Eight and a half months." She answered, taking a sip of her newly arrived coke and trying to lure her mind to other subjects. The topic of James wasn't exactly something she wanted to discuss with Shane, but she supposed she didn't have very much of a choice with his prying.
"Pretty lengthy period of time; seems like feelings don't exactly dissipate so easily when it comes to that long of a relationship." He hinted slightly and immediately Jade glared at him.
"If you inferring I still have feelings for him, you're dead wrong!"
He raised his eyebrows, looking at her carefully, almost analyzing her face. "It's not exactly an absurd inference to make. You both seemed rather infatuated with each other at the table, based on what I witnessed."
"I don't need you to perform a psychoanalysis on my head, Shane!" She barked defensively, narrowing her eyes. "I didn't invite you here to speak about James! I invited you to get to know you!" Her fingers clenched in fists, jaw tense.
Shane could see he was upsetting her, so he dropped it. "It's fine - what do you want to know?" He asked once the man behind the counter placed a water in front of him, him allow himself a few drinks.
That struck her strangely. He didn't even bother pursuing the situation, he just - dropped it? Nobody did that with her and it was weird. And he didn't raise his voice like she did either; he kept - calm?
"Where are you from? You just came to L.A., right?" She started, rolling the straw in her drink around with her finger in a lame attempt to distract her fidgeting fingers.
"I'm from Seattle, I'm here for a Tech program - I plan on being a technical producer, running all of the cameras. I prefer being behind the action, it's a lot more interesting than always be involved in it." He told her, shrugging. "Besides, I get into this kind of stuff. I could never act or sing or dance, it's not my thing, honestly."
Jade raised her eyebrows. "Well, when I become a successful director, I'll definitely page you." She teased, but didn't receive very much of a reaction. That was odd. No teasing response, no bickering back and forth - it wasn't like how James would respond.
"You do that," He took a large drink of his water. "So directing, huh? Thought you were an actress slash singer slash dancer?"
"I like to keep my options open, I guess. There's not really a point to being picky."
"Well, so long as you know what you want in the end, I suppose not."
Her eyes narrowed. "I know what I want." She was getting the feeling that he was still performing a psychoanalysis on her and she wasn't liking it. "How about we order?" She picked up the menu; her eyes forcefully circling it just to give her something do rather than engage in conversation with Shane.
Shane nudged her. "So, you plan on telling me why you're wearing a blonde wig?" Surprisingly, he hadn't initially brought it up and had just rolled with it, unlike James - who would most likely automatically question. Well, anyone would automatically question frankly; Shane was a different guy. Intelligent, psychologically dominant - she wasn't sure if she liked it.
"I got kicked out of the restaurant and I like the California rolls, so here we are." Jade answered shortly. "You better like sushi." Shane only smiled.
Jade didn't like him.
[OoOoOoO]
"Well someone's rather gussied up." Kendall commented and whistled just to tease, as James walked in with a dress shirt, fixing his collar.
"Oh hush, I'm taking Heather out tonight and I want to look my best." He said confidently. "Though I always look my best." The place he was taking Heather had a strict dress code, so there was a method to his madness. He always looked professional and stylish, but tonight even more so, because these labels were not cheap.
"And you're taking her to a fancy place, because?" Kendall continued to quiz, fanning through a magazine. He was unimpressed by the extents James was having to go to, just because Heather was a 'model' who was also happened to be a vegan and couldn't eat gluten and could only eat at a certain time and only so much.
James turned, throwing his arms out. "She's a classy girl! I'm not going to take her to a McDonalds or something; she'd order a salad and then I'd look like the idiot eating a cheeseburger. No thanks!" He made a face. "Though this might harm my cash intake a little. BUT it's worth it, Heather and I'll have fun."
He glanced at his reflection once more, winking smugly, before heading out the door. He was meeting Heather in the lobby of the Palmwoods. When he took the elevator down and turned, he noticed her already standing there, waiting.
For a second, he thought it was Jade [at least from the behind view], but when she turned around - he saw it was Heather, hair pulled back into yet another ponytail, wearing a bright sundress with splashes of yellow and red and pink; various colors that Jade used to declare nauseating.
It was weird, to see someone who looked so strangely like his ex-girlfriend, wearing such contrasting colors and donning a contrasting facial expression. Heather was pretty and all, nearly as pretty as Jade - but she was no Jade.
He approached her with a friendly smile. "You look great, babe!" He complimented.
Heather smiled and blushed, something that startled James. "Thanks! You look great too! I love the shirt!" Just a kind response, something he wasn't used to. Jade would have made some remark or comment his clothes in a dry-humored way.
"Uh - thanks. Ready to go?" He interjected to change the subject, watching her come over and take his arm as he led her out of the lobby. That was all the admission he needed before he led her out to the car park and over to his silver sports car, opening the door for her.
"Thanks." She once again said, almost as if it was a repeated mantra that her head kept telling her to say. It was kind of irritating, but James let it slide.
He buckled his seat belt and set to pulling out; starting an easy conversation once he pulled onto the main road. "So, do you always wear your hair up?" He asked, glancing her way.
Heather shrugged. "Most of the time! My manager approves of it, keeps my skin clear and healthy for different sponsors." She smiled. "I prefer it down all together, but this is okay I guess."
James nodded, rather uninterested actually. He was used to Jade's defensive answers whenever he asked her a question, always interpreting it negatively as if he was her enemy. He thought it was funny, Heather's numbingly normal answers weren't.
Relative silence seeped in and he once against looked over at Heather. "You can turn on a radio station if you want," He offered, knowing how Jade or him had gotten whenever they were in each other's cars, always taking it like it was their own car and fiddling with the radio stations and propping their feet up on the dashboard [that was mainly Jade actually]. It was weird to have Heather just sit there, so stationary.
Heather met his gaze cautiously. "Are you sure? I don't want to mess up any of the radio stations you have set." She was so thoughtful; he wished she'd just do something without asking him first.
"Go for it," He gestured to the buttons. "I can always reset them later, it's no problem." There was no way he was going to truly like Heather unless she started to show at least SOME remnants of a backbone. Jade had a big mouth, but Heather seemingly had no mouth.
"No, I'm okay - really. It's not much longer, right?"
"- Right." Yeah, this was going to be fun.
It was only ten more minutes of silence before they arrived at the restaurant, James handing over his keys to some valet as they headed inside, Heather once again being plenty polite and friendly and sweet and - not interesting.
"Diamond for two." He announced when he got to the hostess, whom led them with some menus in hand to a nice table. James didn't even bother pulling out her chair and hearing another 'thank you', so he just sat down and let her seat herself.
He'd been here a few times before, so he had the general idea of what he wanted, so he just scanned over their fruity beverages. It wasn't long until a waitress came over to take their order.
"James, Jade." She nodded at the two of them and James' face immediately twisted.
"Uh, Karen - this isn't Jade, this is Heather." He corrected her.
Heather looked at James in confusion, but he shooed her.
Karen took a second glance at Heather. "I thought something looked different about her anyway. Sorry!" She looked sheepish. "Anyway, anything I can grab for you right away? Waters?"
James nodded. "That'd be good, thanks."
As soon as Karen was gone, Heather said what she wanted to. "I'm guessing you've taken Jade here before?" She inquired carefully.
"Yeah, once. She was complaining I didn't take her out to nice places enough and then I took her here. She got into a fight with the chef over her meal and he banned her from coming back." He laughed. "It was kind of funny."
Heather raised her eyebrows, but didn't bother commenting and instead moved to the next subject. "Do I look a lot like Jade or something? People keep thinking I'm her."
James shook his head. "You two look nothing alike, people just infer from - a far distance!"
She seemed satisfied and smiled. "Okay!"
He couldn't believe she bought that; Jade would NEVER have believed that!
This was going to be a long evening.
[OoOoOoO]
"Ugh, I can't take it! I can't take it!" Jade shouted at Cat as soon as she walked into school that Friday morning, leaving her bewildered. The brunette was at the end of her rope with her boyfriend, Shane.
She couldn't stand him! He acted smarter than her, he didn't participate in any teasing, and he was the worst kisser she'd ever seen in her entire life. And that's exactly what she shouted at Cat, slamming her head into her locker door repeatedly.
"I cannot keep going out with him, it's not even relatively interesting anymore! I thought it would be fun to try a smart guy, someone who's level of intelligence would somewhere match mine, but he started going off in some informational rant about some new rotors he got and I was just done. So - done." She groaned and thrust her back against her locker, sliding down it in a huff.
Cat tilted her head. "So you don't like Shane?"
"Not at all! He's stupid and nice and he's like the therapist I never wanted. Have I mention he royally sucks at kissing? Screw good looks; his personality is a dud." She buried her head in her hands and groaning. She wanted to choke something, preferably Shane!
The redhead went and sat down next to her, crossing her legs Indian style. "Did you break up with him?"
"YES! God yes. I dumped him." She ran her fingers through his hair. "Adios wazzbag! Ugh!" She flared her eyes in frustration. "I'm glad, I couldn't stand him anymore. He didn't understand how I worked! He acted surprised with how I acted and I can't even possibly explain how WRONG I was to date him!"
Cat giggled, a reaction that surprised Jade and made her eye her carefully. "Why are you giggling?"
"What are you looking for in a guy?" She asked suddenly.
That took Jade by surprise. "Um - attractive, obviously. He has to be hot. No glasses! He doesn't have to be really smart, I'm fine with dumb. He has to put up a fight, a BIG fight. I don't care if we fight like cats and dogs, anything but normality. He has to be a good kisser and he has to be confident and sure of himself. He has to have a nice smile and he has to only care about me - he has to ALWAYS be about me. And he had to defend me and be there and stuff like that." She stopped. "I want CRAZY."
To Cat, it seemed that Jade had just described James perfectly. And that made a plan develop in her mind as the gears began to turn mischievously.
She stood up suddenly and looked down at Jade. "I have to - go wax my Nona! See you Jade!" An excuse that didn't even make sense, but flew with Jade anyway [she knew Cat's family was the weirdest bunch ever; especially her brother - whom on multiple occasions stole her bras and filled them with yogurt].
"Bye." The brunette called after her, but went unlistened to. "Ugh."
[OoOoOoO]
"I'M DONE!" James stormed into the crib, gaining the attention of all three of his best friends, all sitting on the couch and having been watching TV, just chilling together. James had left early to spend the day at the pool with Heather, but he had returned earlier than expected. "SO - DONE!" He shouted dramatically, making rash movements with his arms.
Logan sat forward, holding up his hands defensively. "Okay, what's going on and why are you freaking out?"
"HEATHER!" He answered, pacing back and forth. "I can't stand being with her anymore!"
Kendall raised an eyebrow. "Why exactly?"
"SHE'S SO - NICE!" He exhaled, shaking his hands. "All she ever does is say 'thank you' and be respectful! She has no sense of fun or risk or anything! She doesn't even protest! I pushed her in the pool and she started laughing - LAUGHING! SHE'S NOT EVEN HUMAN! WHO WOULD REACT NORMALLY TO BEING PUSHED INTO THE WATER?! SHE'S LIKE SOME KIND OF CYBORG. A PRETTY CYBORG, BUT A CYBORG NONETHELESS!"
The three of them exchanged glances. "Well what do you want her to be, James?"
"MEAN! I WANT TO SEE JUST A LITTLE BIT OF MEANNESS FROM HER! A LITTLE! She's so nice! Too nice! You could be the rudest jerk in the world and she's too polite to comment on it! It's ridiculous! I want someone to be able to tease, someone who rarely smiles because the only time they smile means it's completely genuine! I want someone who's risky and different and unique and beautiful! Don't get me wrong, she's a pretty girl - but she is NOT my kind of girl!"
"I just want CRAZY!" He ranted and raved, kicking the wall. "I just know I can't take another minute of that! I'd rather shave my head!"
Their eyes widened. "Okay, maybe not that far - but you know what I mean!" He insisted, stopping and staring at them all. "Right?"
Carlos opened his mouth to say something, when his phone buzzed and he stared at it. The message was from Cat.
[Hi baby! Just listen, ok? (: Tell all of the guys about the Full Man Jam tonight! You need to get James to come! Him and Jade are still in love and we HAVE to make this happen! Find some way to mention it! Love you!]
The Latino looked at James. "Uh - well you should get your mind off of her! You should come to the Full Moon Jam with me tonight!" He offered.
James stared at him carefully. "Isn't that that thing at Hollywood Arts?"
"Yeah! Cat's performing and I think it'd be cool if you could all come and support her." He put on a begging face. "Could you guys? Please?" He pouted.
The guys exchanged looks and James let out a defeated sigh. "Sure, fine, whatever. I dumped Heather anyway - I'm a free agent. Maybe Cat has some hot friends I could look into?"
Carlos grinned. "I'm sure."
[OoOoOoO]
"Jade! Jade!" Cat called, racing backstage with her friend. Currently, they were about ready to start the performances and her brunette friend was dolling up for her performance immediately after Cat's, which happened to be one of the first ones.
The girl looked up from her chair, raising her eyebrows. "What?"
"Carlos and the guys are here!" She told her, knowing this would receive a reaction.
Jade's eyes widened. "What? YOU INVITED THEM?!" She practically roared, bolting from her seat to access the curtain, peeking around it and soon locating the four guys and seeing James amongst them, exhaling slowly. Sometimes Cat could be the most frustratingly idiotic person she'd ever come to know.
Cat nodded slowly. "Of course! I wanted Carlos to see my performance!"
She paced, putting her hands on her hips. "In that case, I'm going to change my song."
"What song were you doing?" Cat asked curiously.
"It doesn't matter now, James here - I'll have to go with my plan B."
"Don't forget three!" She added helpfully, earning a glare from Jade.
"I'm not counting, Cat!" She hissed and went to her clothing rack, pushing through different outfits grudgingly. "I'll have to choose something else, something - empoweringly sexy."
The redhead giggled and was at her side instantly. "I think I have an idea!"
[OoOoOoO]
Applause and whistles left the mouths and hands of the Big Time Rush members after Cat got done performing, "Put Your Hearts Up", an original song she'd written herself. It was very Cat-like and very fitting for her voice, it had been great and Carlos' eyes only showed admiration.
As soon as she was walking their way after the performance, Carlos pulled her into his arms and swung her around, peppering her face with kisses as she giggled. "That was amazing, Cat! I mean, I knew you could sing well, but you could be professional!"
"Thanks!" She wrapped her arms around his neck and cuddled into him. The remaining three allowed them to have their moment, before Cat was set down and she looked at them. As soon as they had her attention, they layered in compliments.
"That was awesome!"
"Flawless job, Cat!"
"You really have some strong pipes, Red."
Once again, she thanked them for their praise and smiled brightly. "Well you're going to like the next performance too!" Cat insisted with a mischievous look.
They looked at her mystified. "Who else is performing?"
And as if on cue, Jade walked onto the stage, nearly taking James' breath away as she did. She was wearing a rather tight black tank top, emphasizing how endowed she was, along with some dark pants and a silver belt hooked through the loops, and her trademark Doc Martens. But what struck him by surprise, was the leather jacket she was wearing - it was the one he'd given her for her birthday. That made him smile.
"Give it up for Jade West!" André introduced, stepping out of the way so she could come forward and take the mic. James had to say he was rather transfixed.
"Sometimes I hate every, single stupid word you say. Sometimes I wanna slap you in your whole face." Her dark, mesmerizing eyes watched him with every move. "There's no one quite like you, you push all my buttons down. I know life would suck without."
She ditched the stand and took the mic, walking closer to the end of the stage. "At the same time, I wanna hug you - I wanna wrap my hands around your neck. You're an asshole, but I love you and you make me so mad I ask myself." She shook her head, eyes boring into James' eyes. The three of his friends were eyeing him, watching him watch her.
It was quite obvious who she was singing for and that undoubtedly James.
"Why I'm still here, or where could I go? You're the only love I've ever known; but I hate you - I really hate you, so much I think it must be -"
Cat and Tori exposed themselves from on stage and danced alongside Jade, becoming backup dancers and singers for her as she belted the chorus. That settled down quite quickly, before Jade reverted to the back of the stage and leant against a set of drums.
"Just once, try to wrap your little brain around my feelings; just once, please try not to be so mean." That was clearly a jab at his intelligence and oddly enough, it didn't bother him one bit. "Repeat, after me now, R-O-M-A-N-C-E-E-E; come on, I'll say it slowly,"
"Romance." Cat and Tori murmured into the mics simultaneously.
"You can do it babe." She burst up once again, repeating a portion of the longated chorus. But the entire time, she didn't break eye contact with James and James had no desire to break eye contact with her. Why would he? She was absolutely perfect on that stage.
Even when she quieted to allow Cat the chance to sing the portion she'd asked her to, James still only look at Jade - who only looked at him.
"Why do you rub me up the wrong way? Why do you say the things that you say? Sometimes I wonder how we ever came to be; but without you I'm incomplete."
And when the final lines sunk in, Cat and Tori once again disappeared with just her to finish off the song, staring solely at James. "No one else could break my heart like you." She set the mic back on the stand as soon as the applause echoed throughout the area, unable to maintain eye contact anymore with James and immediately heading for the exit to the stage, but James knew her well enough to know that that was exactly what she was going to do.
All applause, whistles, and voices ceased as soon as James met her on the side of the stage, stopping her in her tracks. She looked at him, her breath still slightly uneven from the rapid singing.
He cracked a loose smile, watching her. "Going to bolt after a performance like that?"
"I was planning on it." She retorted carefully.
"I didn't know you were going to perform."
"I didn't know you were going to be here."
"Touché." He responded and only looked at her, only her. "Who'd you sing that for?" He asked dumbly.
Her eyes narrowed. "Do you really want me to answer that?"
"On behalf of my ego, yes." He answered, earning a few snickers from the audience. "I miss you, Jade."
Jade scowled. "So what? Missing me isn't always enough, you -"
"You didn't let me finish." He cut her off, getting her to be silent. "I miss you - so much. It's like one of those things, where you can't be with anyone else without thinking of that one person. I tried to, I tried to forget about you and be with Heather, she is a girl that makes everything so much easier on me. She's nice and respectful and normal." Based on her gaze, she wasn't liking where he was going with this, at least with the compliments towards Heather. "But she's not you. She's not crazy and jealous and bitter and border-line ganky; and not for one second who I'm in love with."
Her eyes were unmoving, watching him display this love declaration in front of the entire student body.
"I'm in love with you, Jade. I haven't stopped; all I thought of was you! Every single second, I thought of you and what you would do and how she wasn't good enough." He shook his head. "She may look like you, but she can't replace you - no one could replace you."
James laughed wryly, his hazel eyes filled with seriousness. "Four weeks away from you felt like four years; I want you back and you want me too, at least I think so? Please stop making me talk because you're the one who's good with words in this relationship." He practically pleaded with good humor, raising his eyebrows, a hopeful smile surfacing. James stuffed his hands in his pockets, shrugging his shoulders. "So?"
Jade had been biting the inside of her cheek the entire time he'd been talking. "I think you're stupid and ridiculous for doing this in front of the entire school. Do you honestly think that declaring it in front of an audience would get me to take you back?"
His face fell. "What? But the song - the -"
She cut him off instantly. "The nothing. I don't need a song to prove I still care about you; that was just an addition." She inhaled deeply and crossed her arms. "I miss you too." The absolutely crestfallen expression on his face did a complete one-eighty and he closed the distance between them, pressing his lips over and over hers again and again, running his fingers through her silky dark locks, taking solace in the fact of just being able to touch her again.
Jade's response was immediate and she wrapped her arms around him tightly, matching his lips and sifting her fingers through the hairs on the nape of his neck.
This was kissing.
For once, the repercussions of them getting back together caused an outbreak of applause, and even more whistles than when she'd been performing. But Jade didn't give a crap about that, instead pulling back to just look at him, watching the goofy, beautiful smile that spread across his face, ear to ear.
"I don't need you to be smart, James. I don't need you to change." She insisted.
"I don't want you to change," He laughed, his face overwhelmed with relief. "I don't think I've ever been so happy to hear a sarcastic tone in my life!" He held her tight to him, burying his nose in the side of her face. "I don't need you to be nice," He whispered into her ear. "I just want you to be you; I just want crazy."
And just like he wanted, that rare, gorgeous Jade West smile spread across her face.
He had his Crazy.
AN: THIS was a pain to write. Mostly because I could never finish it and then I procrastinated and then I didn't want to finish it and then I had to do my math homework and it was this whole ordeal that has left me absolutely exhausted.
And don't even get me started on DWTS tonight - I'M NOT READY! This was the longest story I've ever written and definitely the only story I've put absolutely a hundred percent work into!
I'm done with writing for the rest of the year; I'M DONE.
Jades - fucking ship does everything to me.
REVIEWS ARE MY LIFE, DON'T YOU DARE KILL ME AFTER THIS.
~Nat