"HEY TORI? GUESS WHAT? I HATE YOU!"

I pull Jade by the wrist into the supply closet.

"Why do you hate me?" I ask in a low voice. I'm on the verge of tears.

"You're…you?" Jade almost guesses.

"Not a good enough answer. Why do you hate me?"

"I can't answer that, now can I?"

I just want her to at least like me. That would make this whole crush-thing a lot more manageable.

"Jade." I whisper.

"What, Vega?"

"Why. Do. You. Hate. Me."

"Because…you're perfect I guess…no one hates you…so I figured someone had to."

My breath hitched at the 'perfect' part.

"Jade…" I trail off.

"Look, can we just forget about it?" Jade squirms under my gaze.

"No. I just want you to like me. Is that too much to ask, Jade? You don't have to put up with me, you don't have to hang around me, but I would appreciate it if you didn't hate me."

Jade's eyes lose some of their cocky spark. Her smirk falls.

"I don't hate you…" she whispers. "And I do like you."

I see her eyes turn somewhat panicked. The look didn't suit her.

"And?" I prompt. I'm so sick of this game.

"I just have…feelings…and…and I don't…I don't know how to…" she shakes her head, looking at me helplessly.

"Deal with them?" I fill in, and she meets my eyes for a fleeting second.

"Yeah."

I tilt her chin upward, so she's forced to meet my eyes.

"Well if we're being honest here," I tell her, "I also have feelings I don't know how to deal with."

She tilts her head, her eyes slightly narrowed.

I let out a small giggle. "Did you know that I'm gay, Jade?"

She narrows her eyes even further, so they're like little slits.

I smile and brush some hair out of my eyes.

I notice Jade is holding my gaze. Excellent.

"I've been…questioning." Jade finally admits, looking straight into my eyes. A bright pink blush spreads across her cheeks.

The wheels in my head are spinning at light speed.

I break the stare first and look at my shoes.

"So what made you start questioning?" I ask softly.

"Many things…" she trails off. "But I haven't totally figured it out yet, you know?"

I can't tell if she's acting or not. If she is, I swear to god I will kill her myself.

"You know, I first figured it out when I actually explored my options…you know, kissed a girl. It felt…good. It helped me I guess." Now it's my turn to blush.

Jade looks at me in shock. I cock my head slightly. "Let me know if you need help."

With that, I leave the closet and walk off campus. School's been over for five minutes already.

I meet Trina at her car and we drive to my place. I spend the afternoon watching reruns of Zoey 101. I really like the Lola character, okay? Plus, the girl that played Quinn is like, super-hot now.

Trina disappears around 5 with some garbled speech, something about Justin Timberlake and recording.

A while later, Cat and Robbie and Andre come over, for no reason at all. They kinda just showed up.

Now we're basically messing around on the piano, Andre playing, Robbie helping with guitar, and Cat and I singing.

Well, I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up

And when you're needing your space
To do some navigating
I'll be here patiently waiting
To see what you find

'Cause even the stars they burn
Some even fall to the earth
We've got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it
No, I won't give up

We switch songs spontaneously, shifting into Dirty Dancer. How Andre made the connection between I Won't Give Up and a song about a striptease, I have no clue, but it worked.

Suddenly, there's a loud banging on the door. I open it, Cat still singing, Andre rapping Lil' Wayne's part, and come face-to-face with Jade West, who currently has tears streaming down her face. I usher her in, and the other three are oblivious thus far.

"I…want to…you?" she asks, utterly and completely confused. I wrap her in a hug. "Help?" she whispers.

I grin. The others are still completely oblivious to my actions.

"Hey guys, I'll be right back, okay?"

They sort-of nod and I lead Jade up to my room. We sit kinda awkwardly on the bed.

I lean in first, brushing my lips softly against the skin directly above hers. She nods and slams her eyes shut, like she's about to be murdered.

"Jade, sweetie, open your eyes." I say gently.

She does and I use the pads of my fingers to close them gently. She actually smiles that time.

I tilt my head and push her on to the soft expanse of mattress. I know we aren't gonna actually do anything besides kiss, but it's a more comfortable angle.

I lean down, very, very slowly, trying to make her as comfortable as possible. I knew that Beck had been gentle, but let's face it, he likes to dominate. I just want to help someone out.

Someone that I have the biggest crush ever on.

I kiss her ear first, and she sort of giggles. I smile and kiss closer to her lips, then on her cheekbones, then finally, on her lips.

Ohmygod.

They taste amazing.

Almost immediately, she starts moving her lips in rhythm to mine. I take that as a good sign.

I swipe at her lip with my tongue, and her lips part. It seems like she's almost on autopilot.

We break for air a few moments later. Jade's eyes are clouded.

"Well?" I ask.

"It felt like fucking flying." Jade whispered.

I let a slow smile spread across my face. "Flying, huh?"

She nods slowly, and then looks at me.

"Victoria." She states.

Damn. She found my weak spot; my full name. Goosebumps, shivers, immediate heat pooling in my center, etc.

I swallow and nod.

Instead of responding, she practically attacked me with her mouth, kissing me everywhere, anywhere. I smile and flip us so I'm on top now. I lean down and nip at her pulse point, which elicits a delicious noise from the back of her throat. I kiss the spot and trail the kisses up to her lips.

Eventually, we run out of air, and sit extremely close to one another.

"You like?" I ask, grinning.

She nods. "Yes, oh my god, yes."

I smile and brush some hair out of her eyes.

"So you know how to deal with those feelings?" I smirk at her. I watch the knowledge sweep her mind and a light appears behind her green eyes. "Definitely."

I smile and she gets up suddenly, color draining from her face.

"Oh my god. I just kissed you. We just kissed. Holy shit."

I see the light fading from her eyes and she looks at me with almost a withering hate before storming out.

I'm close to tears actually.

I know it's just a gay panic, but I mean, it still hurt.

I make my way downstairs and turn on Zoey 101 again. Soon the others join me.

About an hour later, the doorbell rings again.

I groan and pause the TV before getting the door.

I open the door and am literally attacked by Jade, as in, she sort of smacks into my forehead while kissing me.

Ow.

I roll my eyes at the cliché of it all. Ha.

I immediately melt into the kiss though. My eyes flutter shut of their own accord and my arms snake around her neck, still never breaking the kiss. I'm running out of air, actually.

Our eyes snap open at the exact same time and we break apart.

I raise my eyebrows at her, arms still laced around her head.

"That was fun." I whisper, breathless.

So naturally, Jade kisses me again.

It's a lot shorter this time, and we break apart.

I turn to the three on the couch. Well, I guess this is one way to come out.

They're all frozen. Cat makes a tiny squeak from the back of her throat, and Robbie's eyes are glazed over.

I clear my throat. "Hey guys."

They shake their heads. Andre's working his mouth, but nothing's coming out.

"You're gay?" He finally says, addressing both of us.

I smirk. "Yup. I'm not sure about Jade…" I trail off.

She frowns. "I think I'm bi."

I smile and wiggle my eyebrows at them before sitting down and pressing play.

Jade sits next to me. I put an arm around her and she grins.

Cat shrugs and immediately becomes transfixed with the screen. I check the clock. Shit.

"Um, guys, I have to go to work…" I trail off.

Andre checks his watch. "It's eleven at night!"

I blush a little for effect. "Graveyard shift. I'm working from 11 to 3 today at Taco Bell."

Their eyes pop open.

I offer a small smile and they shrug. Thank god it's a Friday.

They start to pack up and I wave goodbye. It's just me and Jade.

"I wasn't kidding." I tell her, pecking her lips. "I have work."

She seems sort of crestfallen, but smiles anyway. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Meet me here at one?"

"Sure. Don't forget about Beck's birthday!"

I grin. "Excellent."

Jade leaves.

Ugh.

It's not my fault my uncle's a club mogul okay?

No, I'm not a prostitute. That's gross. And dangerous. And illegal. And my dad's a cop.

To be honest, I do it because I like to dance. I spend at least an hour every afternoon learning the choreography and then on Fridays and Saturdays, I get to go to Spice and shake my ass.

It pays really, really well. What's more, they don't serve liquor, so by some weird law, my uncle has it open to 18 year olds too. Whenever someone outside my friends asks, I tell them I do birthday parties. Not exactly a lie.

I sigh and shuffle up to my room and pull out the box from under my bed. First, eyeliner. Subtle. Second, eye shadow. Bright, but subtle. Lip gloss. Shiny.

My uncle doesn't like it to be super flashy, just, subtle, real. He doesn't want to exploit anyone, surprisingly. He only hires 18+ year olds that are in it for the dancing, not for the money, and he does a drug test before each night.

I pull on my cutoff tank top and extremely short shorts before backing my car out of the driveway.

I wipe the sweat from my brow and step off stage. Ugh.

I have to smile though. That was a really good show.

I made $500 just in tips, not counting the $100 per night.

I grin and change quickly before driving home and sleeping.

I wake up to a knock on my door. I glance at the clock. One exactly.

I groan and open the door. Jade's smiling and kisses me.

"You smell good…" I mumble. She laughs.

"Ima go shower…" I mumble and sleepwalk upstairs.

As soon as the water hits my back, I'm awake. I quickly get the makeup off and step out, toweling off. I change into sweats and make my way back downstairs, where Jade's watching iCarly on my laptop. I smile and kiss her before grabbing my keys.

"It's Beck's birthday, we need to get him something." I tell her and she smiles.

"Ahead of you. He's the last one of us to turn 18, correct?"

I nod suspiciously.

"So, I decided I'm taking him to that club, Spice I think it's called."

…

You've got to be fucking kidding me.