Beck's POV.
"He-ey!" Tori called cheerfully as she made her way over to our table with her lunch.
"Hey, sweet thang, there's some room next to me," Rex shouted, but Robbie hushed him quickly and apologized on behalf of his puppet's behaviour. Robbie actually gets annoyed if you say that Rex is a 'puppet', but what else could I call him? I mean, he's not a human, so that's the only alternative term I can think of without offending anybody.
Tori rolled her eyes at Rex and sat between Andre and Cat.
"Does anybody want my orange soda?" Cat asked, glancing around the table expectantly. "I don't like orange soda."
"So why'd you buy it?" Jade snapped, without looking up. She stabbed at her salad with her fork instead, and I wondered whose head she was picturing crushing. Probably Tori's.
"Because I like orange soda," Cat answered.
"But you jus-" Jade began, but I nudged her subtly to shut her up, before we all experienced another "what's that supposed to mean?" outburst from the petite redhead.
Jade scowled, furious with me for silencing her. She likes to think that nobody can tell her what to do.
She didn't say another word through the whole of lunch, just sat and sighed and rolled her eyes at the things that other people had to say. She yawned in the middle as if they were boring her.
A lot of people wonder what I see in Jade. I see… everything. She's beautiful for a start, perhaps she tries a little too hard with the blue extensions and the eyebrow piercings, but that's just her expressing herself, being different, standing out. Still, beauty is only skin-deep, and it surely wasn't Jade's personality that I fell for. It was more the way she stood up for herself; nobody could treat her like she was nothing. It was surprising how she let me get close to her so fast when we started dating a couple of years ago, actually, because I just assumed she'd be a bit of a challenge. Jade wasn't a challenge to get, she was a challenge to keep.
As soon as the bell rang, she yanked me off, away from everybody else. I think her isolating me from people is a way of maintaining her jealousy. I don't let Jade walk all over me; in fact, I mostly distance myself on my own terms, but in order to help others. If I don't constantly get caught in the company of Cat or Tori, then one, Jade is happy and two, neither Cat nor Tori get to be on the receiving end of one of Jade's harsh moods.
I dragged Jade back in the direction of the rest of the gang.
"Let's do something tonight. It's Friday, I don't wanna be stuck in my RV," I said.
"Tori can't," Cat giggled, poking her in the belly.
"How come?"
"Why do you care, Beck?" Jade demanded. I brushed her question off in order to avoid an interrogation. Boy, would I pay for ignoring her later.
"She's got a date."
I wanted to find out all I could about him, but I couldn't if I wanted to remain on Jade's good side. Plus I'm not really that bothered, I just wanted to makes sure that he's right for her. Tori's the sweetest person I know, and she deserves the best, somebody that'll look after her. Jade looked as though she wanted the exact opposite. She'd probably do cartwheels if he hurt her in any way, so I assumed she'd be gutted as Tori began to describe him as 'perfect' and 'incredible'. Instead, I witnessed something that even I barely see.
"Erm, Jade," Cat said innocently, carefully but reluctantly moving her hands up towards Jade's cheeks, "What's wrong with your face?"
"What do you mean what's wrong with it?" Jade snapped, slapping Cat's hands away. "I'm just happy for Tori, that's all."
Jade was smiling. And not one of those awful sly smirks that normally creeps onto her face whenever something goes wrong for somebody. It was a proper smile; she was grinning from ear to ear, and it wasn't just Cat that was confused.
Tori's eyes were narrowed. She politely thanked her because, well, it is Tori after all, but her tone of voice wasn't quite right. It wasn't its normal bubbly, happy tone. Instead, it was more hesitant and there was definitely a sense of unease to her.
I just stared at Jade. She's difficult to read, but I was doing my best to analyse her. Nothing, absolutely nothing. What was her game? And, for the first time since the start of our relationship, why couldn't I figure it out?