Big Time Jaded
Summary: "Pretty Boy?" Carlos repeated in a slightly jealous tone, shooting daggers at James.
James' gaze hardened and he mentally groaned, he knew very well what was going to come from this: A lot of rivalry.
All he knew was that she would be his.
Rating: T
Pairing: Jades [Jade and James]
AN: It's only taken me a million years to conjure up something post-worthy. I haven't done Jade and James based on many things I won't go into detail about, but the most important part is that I have my Jade and James back in RP; which is amazing. I've missed it and that's given me the inspiration to write this.
I'm not overly fond of the ending, but it'll suffice well enough.
It's based on the episode 'Big Time Secret', but instead with Heather Fox, it's Jade West and the competition is more fierce. Who wants morals in a story?
[OoOoOoO]
"Hey! That's where my laptop went!" James called, running across the poolside to regain it from Carlos. It had gone missing from their shared room and he'd already interrogated Kendall and Logan when it came to discovering the culprit, only to be left empty handed both times. Their evident lack of physical evidence then led him to Carlos.
Approaching, it would seem Carlos was off in dreamland, staring at the screen with a wistful expression, his head in his hand, then following up with a deep sigh of contentment. James was definitely curious as to what he was doing, it wasn't often he found the hyperactive Carlos to be so mellow and inactive personally, but that's because they were such good buddies and they always had fun together.
"And /what/ are you doing with /my/ laptop?" James immediately quizzed, snatching it straight out of his lap and causing the Latino to protest and get defensive very quickly.
"James! Give it back!" He whined with wide pleading eyes, flailing his arms and pushing against him to attain it once more. It wasn't necessarily that he just needed it, it was just like he was trying to be secretive with what he was looking at.
James squinted at the screen's content, turning his back to Carlos to get a better look. On the screen, was an internet file brought up with a website titled " ", seemingly for kids that went to a school called "Hollywood Arts", a performing arts school for other teenagers that wanted to pursue music, acting, directing, anything in relation to that. But particularly was the girl on the screen: Jade West was her name. She has dark black hair, highlighted with vibrant extensions of various colors, seeing the gallery that was present. Her eyes were remarkably passionate, along with her tough appearance that made James really confused with why he was looking at this girl. Sure, she was GORGEOUS, but seemingly not the type of girl Carlos would be interested in. She looked more like a girl that Carlos would have had a bad run in with at some point and peed his pants or something.
James suddenly turned, holding the laptop high above his head so his friend could not get it, glancing down at him. "Why are you looking at this girl? She looks frightening." Especially the piercing on her eyebrow and the other various photos of her with a scissor coated locker, eyebrows cleanly shaven off her, in a younger form with a Ping pong uniform, and even one with some fluffy haired guy that really wasn't that attractive in James' opinion.
Carlos immediately tried to play innocent, cracking a casual smile. "What girl? Who? That? She just...popped right up," He blatantly lied, not even fooling James who was usually quite dim and didn't take hints very well.
He raised an eyebrow, looking skeptical. "Oh really?" He took another look at the screen, before his gaze reverted back to Carlos. "Funny how you just magically landed on this social media website, clicking on this random girls album of photos, who is totally hot by the way, and started scrolling through them out of no where?" He watched Carlos' eye twitch slightly when he mentioned her being hot and knew immediately that his façade was by no means real.
"Yeah, well, it was luck." Carlos murmured, rubbing at his arm and staring down at his feet.
James set the laptop aside and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Dude, you can tell me if you're crushing on her, I'm your best friend! I'll even be your wing man if you need me to be," He winked, cracking a grin. "So spill, I want to know who mystery bad girl is."
Carlos sighed, knowing he was caught. He sat down on the chair, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands in front of him. James sat across from him, looking eager and intently watching for his next move and his next words. "Remember that one time freshmen year back in Minnesota when I went to L.A for a week to see my cousin, Manny?" James nodded. "Yeah, he went to this performing arts school and he brought me there in the morning to introduce me to some of his friends, even if I was his lame freshmen cousin and he was the cool senior!" He waved his hands on emphasis, suddenly getting solemn.
"He pointed out this one girl, the girl you saw on the laptop. Her name's Jade and she's like really tough. I thought she was pretty and I asked him about her. He liked her too, turns out a lot of the guys did, but she had this boyfriend, Beck and she didn't give any of the other guys the time of day. But I ran into her later that day and it was like love at first sight," Carlos sighed, drifting into his own dream world all over again. "She had brown hair then, with blue highlights and I remember her saying, "Watch out." And I started apologizing quickly and then she kind of stopped and we started talking. I felt really special, you know? Manny said she never gave any guys other than her boyfriend and her two other guys friends the time of day and there she was, standing there and talking to me! I remember her calling me cute too," he said in a fawning way, grinning like a fool by this point. "I've been hopelessly in love with her ever since and now that Manny knows we're here, he told me the other day about how she's single and I am so determined to win her heart!" He finished in a neat heroic tone, looking more hopeful now.
James eyed him carefully, not doubting his story for a second. "So you want to try and win the girl over, right?" He asked merely to clarify.
Carlos nodded his head vigorously. "More than anything! There's no other girl I want but her!" He insisted in a love struck tone, eyes sliding back over to James' open laptop and her picture still present.
"And you're sure she still goes to this school?" He asked, pointing at the screen and the information that said she goes to Hollywood Arts.
"That's what Manny said," he replied firmly. "Manny wouldn't lie to me. He knows I'm in love with her!" Carlos sighed, slumping his shoulders. "But she'd never pay attention to me now."
James frowned. "Why not? Carlos, you're in a band. You work for Gustavo Rocque, of course she's going to take notice of that. Especially since she's in a performing arts school FOR our thing!" He nudged him with an elbow, smiling. "Now she has all the more reason to take a second glance your way!"
Carlos looked up hopefully. "You think so?"
"I know so! And I know, because I'm totally going to be your wing man. We're going to go to this school and we're going to track this girl down and show her how amazing of a guy you are, and we're going to put that Beck guy to shame!" James got up, putting his hands on his hips with an encouraging look on his face.
Carlos stood up right with him, mimicking his stature. "Okay!" But then he frowned. "But we don't know where she lives!" He stated dumbly.
James sighed and held the laptop in front of him, pointing to the link of the school she goes to, smirking ear to ear. "But we know her school."
[OoOoOoO]
So after spending a great deal of time looking for the school, based on a GPS that couldn't lead them even to the nearest McDonalds, Carlos and James both came to the designated school of Hollywood Arts. It was large and modern, and Carlos was already having regrets. "James, I don't know about this. What if she's gone? What if she has that fluffy haired boyfriend back? She won't want me, she probably doesn't even remember my name! I-" James cut Carlos off by grasping him firmly by the shoulders and shaking him insistently.
"You are Carlos Garcia, member of Big Time Rush and best friends of one of the hottest guys on the planet, you can do this." He prepped him, despite the ego boost for himself. There was never a non-ego-driven moment with James Diamond. "Now come on, I'll come with you and you'll be fine, I promise." He then proceeded to lead him along, practically having to drag him towards the entrance of the school and push him through the doors.
Once the doors were open, it revealed a very colorfully displayed level and a wide variety of people. The lockers were all uniquely decorated, none of them the same as the other and it also revealed massive cliques of people gathered around. James had to stop both him and Carlos from continuing to walk. "Dude, so you see her anywhere? This school looks HUGE! How are we ever going to be able to find her?"
Carlos looked crestfallen and he turned to James. "What about if we split up? We'd have better odds of finding her, right?" He asked hopefully and even though James didn't want to go lurking around the school when he didn't know who was around and what kind of crazy personalities that were lingering, he nonetheless gave in with a sigh.
"Okay, sure, we'll split up. You take the second floor; I have this general area. Text me if you find her and I'll text you if I do." James nodded, watching Carlos' eyes light up with excitement.
Without even the utterance of a good bye, Carlos took off bounding up the steps and startling many people going up and going down, looking at him oddly before continuing with their activities.
James rolled his eyes, before turning and surveying the couple different routes he could take in hall choices. He wasn't sure, so he just swerved right and continued to walk passing a Latina girl and an Africa guy, turning the corner sharply and near colliding with someone, his hands shooting out to grab the person for balance.
He immediately looked up with a sheepish smile, blurting out a quick apology. "Oh, sorry..." His eyed widened as he came face to face with Jade West.
First, it took her a moment to realize things, before fixating a harsh glare on him. "I'd suggest watching where you're going, Pretty Boy." She crossed her arms, raising a pierced eyebrow at him.
James had to admit, she looked even hotter in person. The whole bad girl thing was a total turn on and the leather jacket she was wearing certainly didn't subtract from the immediate attraction he felt towards her. His brow furrowed in response. "You were turning the corner just are carelessly as I was!" He exclaimed.
She narrowed her eyes in return; seemingly surprised that he would talk to her like that. She did have a sort of standoffish complex; it wouldn't be the most outlawed inference in the world. "You're new, I'm pretty sure I would have seen your face before."
He was caught off guard, insure of what to say. "Uh..."
"So now you can't talk? Funny, you had a mouth on you a couple minutes ago." And just like that she bristled all over again. It seemed she was one of those defensive listeners he'd heard about before.
"Hey! I can talk just fine, thanks for your concern!" Now what did Carlos see in this girl exactly? She seemed like a piece of a work, a shapely piece of work though. Her busty top was very distracting and he forced his eyes not to stray.
He felt her analyze him carefully, her eyes scanning his face and then his...body? She was totally checking him out, mental points! Wait, James, Carlos has dibs. He couldn't...could he?
Jade waved a dismissive hand, "Whatever, I have to get to lunch." Apparently, Carlos and him had arrived in the middle of transition. She turned on her heels and began to stride away haughtily, but James reached out and caught her wrist.
"Wait!" He insisted made a little too desperately, causing her to turn and stare at him strangely. "I...uh...don't know where the lunch area is." He fibbed quickly with a charming smile, watching her eye him carefully. He felt like she was developing some kind of long term strategy.
"And I should show you why?" She quipped, seeing as the halls filed out and soon there were very minimal people passing them.
James exhaled carefully; this girl was a lot of work. "Please?"
"Whatever." Now the tables were turned and she grasped his wrist leading him off quite forcefully. She was a fast walker, he struggled to keep up without stumbling.
"Mind slowing down?" James interjected, trying to pull his wrist back, but it seemed she had a total iron grip. Everything about her was incredibly abrasive!
"No." She answered immediately, leading him out to some doors and bringing him to a line, releasing him to cross her arms in a trademark fashion. No words were spoken oddly enough, considering she had been so verbally expressive just a few minutes ago.
James wasn't used to girls NOT fawning after his good looks other than the Jennifer's; so this little void of attention was growing slightly frustrating. "So, can I know my tour guide's name?" He asked coyly; stepping in front of her, leaning down slightly. He did already know her name, it he was smart enough to know that if he referred to her as that immediately, she would latch on suspiciously. He felt like an awful friend right now, but she was too not to pass up the opportunity to see if she reciprocated the feelings.
Jade exhaled and looked at him. "Do you always ask dumb questions, Pretty Boy?" He got a little bit of satisfaction out of that, she must have thought he was attractive in that case. He certainly found her attractive.
He made a sort of disgruntled noise. "Asking for your name isn't an absurd thing to ask; it's common courtesy." He informed knowingly, before softening and holding out his hand. "Mine's James Diamond."
She eyed the hand for a minute, then taking it and grasping in a strong hold, shaking only briefly. "Okay Pretty Boy, now that that's established, let me get my coffee." She just dismissed him like that, talking to a strange unknown race of a man, James staring at the both of them quizzically.
Only once she was done, she looked back at him. "What do you drink?"
"What?" He asked, kind of having zone out.
She rolled her eyes. "Beverage - yes - no - what?"
James nodded his head vigorously in understanding. "Oh! Smoothie, preferably pink." He added in cheekily, making her lip curl. Sighing, she turned back and filled in his request to the man, who then shouted to particularly no one in his small truck, disappearing from view.
He began pulling out his wallet, holding out a five, but she shoved it back into his hand. "A welcoming gift or whatever, Pretty Boy."
Immediately, his usual cockiness began to seep in. "I've noticed you keep calling me that, does that mean you find me attractive?" Based on the way she stiffened, he realized he'd caught her. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.
"Do you want pink smoothie in that hair of yours?"
James gasped and went to cover his hair glaring daggers. "Not the hair!" He whined, cowering back. This girl was violent, and definitely very lethal when it came to the state of his hair.
Considering that got him to shut up for the meantime, she turned away and retrieved the beverages, practically shoving it into his hands and immediately stalking off towards a table. He gathered himself up and rushed after her, weaving through people she just pushed and shoved past. Apparently, their opinion of her rudeness mattered very little. Then again, she didn't really have a caring bone in her body; it was kind of hot.
"Wait!" He shouted for a second time in the past ten minutes, jogging to catch up with her. She plopped down in a seat, setting her coffee down. Sitting at the table, was the Latino girl and African boy from earlier, a redhead, a curly haired guy with a puppet, and the same fluffy haired guy he'd seen in the photos. His head snapped back to the fluffy haired guy before back to her, watching their lack of exchange and exhaling in relief. They clearly weren't dating anymore, good news for him.
Ugh, once again - BAD FRIEND!
"So, Jade, who's your friend?" James jerked to see the Latina looking at him with flirtatious glint that he was totally not interested in. He much preferred the girl who he was currently trying to get answers out of.
Now James had an excuse to use her name. "We kind of ran into each other in the hall," he explained, sitting next to her. "She led me here,"
The Latina looked confused. "She did? That seems a little nice. When I was new, she dumped coffee on my head." She added with a specific tone and an unappreciative look in her direction.
James sent Jade a bewildered look. Coffee on her head? Is that why she'd threatened to pour smoothie on his? His hands flew to his hair defensively, watching her immediately scoff.
"What? She was rubbing on my boyfriend." Jade groaned, seeing their was still partial judgment in his eyes. "And another has fallen into the talons of Vega; good job." She sipped at her coffee ruefully, watching as the others exchanged looks carefully. Jade was obviously in a very bad mood today, based on her reaction to things. "Whatever, I'm getting a burrito." She stood and stalked off in an aloof way, causing James to once again have to get up and go and retrieve her.
She was so flighty and unpredictable; it was like she was a walking, talking mood swing! Why did he like her more for it? Shaking his head, he jogged after her yet again, shuffling in to her side.
"What's the rush?" He insisted, waking next to her as she once again got in line, looking a bit more peeved than she had been prior. "Did that girl piss you off? Because I don't honestly believe you-"
"I did. I did poor coffee on her head, because I wanted to. But I hate her and she hates me, that's how it works. Now why don't you go back over there and fall in love with her like every other male specimen in this school?" She rolled her eyes, turning. But he stood in front of her, towering slightly with his extra six inches in height.
He furrowed his eyebrows. "One - NO! And two - why would I be interested in her, when you're far more interesting and WAY better looking?" He watched the skepticism light up in her eyes and she opened her mouth to retort, before he heard the last thing he wanted to hear.
"JAMES!" And of course when he turned, he saw Carlos sprinting over, skidding to a stop next to them, grinning like a fool. But then his smile dropped and he looked at James. "Why didn't you tell me you found her? You were supposed to text!" He whispered in a not very quiet manner.
Jade watched the whole exchange in confusion. James glanced towards her and sighed. "Uh...this is my friend-"
"Carlos." She finished for him, causing both Carlos' and James' heads to turn in shock.
Carlos looked like he'd won the lottery, while James was left in distraught. "You know him?"
"You know me?" Carlos gaped.
Jade nodded, raising an eyebrow. "I met you freshmen year, Manny introduced us." James couldn't believe she remembered; THAT WAS FOUR YEARS AGO! "You were irritatingly eager, you were hard to forget. But a cute chunk of boy nonetheless." Jade shrugged, gesturing towards James. "I was just getting to know Pretty Boy over here."
"Pretty Boy?" Carlos repeated in a slightly jealous tone, shooting daggers at James.
James' gaze hardened and he mentally groaned, he knew very well what was going to come from this: A lot of rivalry.
All he knew was that she would be his.
[OoOoOoO]
AN: Yet another AU of what I usually write, but this one is going to be more updated based on not only the idea, but that the words come easier because I have a basis to work with.
Reviews are my life; don't kill me.
~Nat