So, I got inspired by the video of Jade and Cat on The Slap, mostly because, to me at least, Jade looks like she's actually upset rather than simply annoyed. So this came out. First time writing Cat, hope I did her justice :) Please let me know what you think!
Also, I have my own theory about Jade's home-life and relationship with her parents, but I'm actually planning a Jade-centric fic at the moment where I'll go into that in depth so in this one I just touched on the things that are going through Jade's mind at the time...
Jade's phone buzzed and she scrambled off her bed to reach it, hoping it was Beck. It was his mother's birthday so he was spending the day with his family. She, on the other hand, had just had lunch with her father and step-mother. It had gone horribly, as usual and she just needed to talk to someone who understood. Which was Beck because he was the only person she told everything to. And he'd met both her father and Lauren. Ugh.
She'd left him a message as soon as she got home. After ignoring her mother's questions and storming upstairs to her room, of course. Her mom just didn't get it. She kept saying things like "meaningful relationships grow over time" and crap like that.
She finally tapped her pearphone and sighed loudly as she saw a very excited message from Cat.
Jadejadejadejadejade!
What? She typed back quickly. She'd learnt a long time ago – middle school, about a week after meeting Cat- that if you pretend to indulge her she usually goes away faster. It didn't always work, but, but Jade was in no mood to actually listen today.
Her phone buzzed again a minute later.
Jadejadejadejadejadeguesswhat? :DDDDD
Jade hated smiley faces; if someone couldn't use words to express themselves they shouldn't be allowed to communicate.
WHAT? She asked, throwing herself back on her bed. Weren't Sundays supposed to be fun? All that had happened today was that her father reminded her what a disappointment he thought she was, Lauren kept talking about her twin chihuahuas and now she was being annoyed by someone who was too bouncy for her own good.
What's wrong? Why are you upset? : ( Cat replied
Jade groaned. Great. Cat was the worst person to complain to. She always tried to find the smidgeon of happy in every situation, which took all the fun out of it!
I'm not.
I know! I'll come over! :D
No no no no. Jade did not want her with her bounciness and giggles anywhere near her today. All she wanted was to wallow in her anger. And talk to Beck. Honestly, she didn't even want to talk. She just wanted him to drape his arm over her shoulder and not care when she screamed at inanimate objects. He was good at that.
No you won't! Cat, do NOT come here! She typed as fast as she could, but as soon as she sent it her phone buzzed again. Twice.
I'll be there in 20 mints.
*mins. Hehehe
Jade screamed at her phone. I'm not opening the door for you. She replied and threw her phone onto the other end of her bed.
Why the Hell wasn't Beck replying? He was just spending the day with his parents, it's not like they kidnapped him. She opened up her laptop, deciding that some music could calm her down. Angry music.
She didn't even hear the knock on her bedroom door through her headphones, but she did notice the shadow of her door as it opened.
"Mom! I told you I wanted to be alone!" She turned around in her armchair, annoyed. Her mother really had no sense of boundaries. Maybe she should be Cat's mother, they'd get along great.
Speaking of... in her doorway stood Cat smiling brightly as she thanked Jade's mom for letting her in.
"I told you not to come here!" Jade yelled, climbing off her bed. But nevertheless she pulled Cat inside her room and closed the door, ignoring her mom's offer for snacks.
"That was rude!"
"She's used to it." Jade did feel a pang of guilt, but then she remembered it was her mom who insisted she see her father today and the guilt was immediately replaced with more bitterness.
"Jadejadejadejade!" Cat squealed, hopping up onto the bed and opening her bag. "Look what I just got!" She pulled out a squishy green ball and squeezed it so that a bubble formed at the bottom. It was gross-looking and stupid. Cat threw it at Jade and moved over to her armchair where her laptop was sitting. Jade ignored her, squeezing the ball. It was kinda fun... And reminded her of jellyfish (and she was surprisingly fond of jellyfish).
"Hi!" Cat said brightly.
Jade dropped the ball, turning around. "Wait, are you recording?" She asked, moving behind her to see the screen. She was. Ugh. The last thing she wanted to do right now was make a video. Especially a video for The Slap, which is what she assumed Cat was doing. She hated everyone on The Slap. Except Beck. And Cat... Although at this moment she couldn't be sure.
"Uh-huh."
"No!" she said, "No, get out of my house!"
"No! This'll be fun!"
Jade sighed and moved closer to the webcam. "I did not invite her here." She said, and sat down on the chair next to Cat.
"Hi!" Cat said again, waving.
"My stupid mother opened the front door and let her into my room. Get out!"
"No, let's do it!" Cat insisted.
"I don't feel like singing a song with you right now!" She didn't even care if she looked upset, rather than angry. She just wanted to get out of this and be left alone.
"One of my followers asked me if we'd sing a song together and I said yes." Cat looked at her pointedly.
"Well, I didn't!"
"Please?"
"Out!" Jade repeated.
"Pleeeease!"
Jade groaned, she hated whiners. And Cat was definitely being a whiner."I don't like it when you baby talk."
"Sing the song with me!" Cat said, her voice as authoritative as she could make it. Jade had to give her points for persistence. Bad points, though. Big black X's.
"I don't wanna sing with you!"
"Sing with me!"
"Cat, I-"
"One Song!" Cat cut her off, her eyes a mixture of insistence and begging. Big wide baby eyes. Ugh.
"Okay, what song?" Jade conceded finally. Whatever would make her go away faster. She could get through one song, and then she'd put a hole in Cat's stupid ball and kick her out.
"The theme song of Drake and Josh."
"Oh. That's a good one." Jade and Cat had bonded over Drake and Josh in middle school, it being one of the many things Cat loved and one of the few Jade didn't hate. They used to always sing along to the theme song when they watched the show. It was the only time Jade allowed Cat to sing while they watched TV.
Cat nodded knowingly.
Jade thought for a moment. "I don't wanna sing it Acapella... Maybe I can get the guitar player from across the street."
"I thought he was in jail?" Cat asked, her brow furrowing in worry. She didn't like bad people, which is why it amused Jade that she insisted on them being best friends. But whatever. The guy hadn't done anything too bad, just something to do with a liquor store. She'd overheard her mom talking about it on the phone a couple of months ago.
"He got out," she replied before looking back at the camera, "Back in a sec." She tapped the pause button and stood up, pulling Cat with her.
"Let's go."
They made their way downstairs and past her mother in the study. "We'll be back in five minutes!" Jade yelled to her, and they were out of the house before she could respond.
Across the street she rang the doorbell continuously until he opened the door. Jade didn't know his name and she didn't really care.
"Well hey there, neighbor," he smirked at her, leaning against his doorframe. Cat shuffled a little behind her, and even Jade didn't blame her. The dude was fishy. And he used to always try to flirt with her; at least he had until Beck had come over one time while he was trying to make awkward conversation at her letterbox. Beck wasn't one to usually assert his boyfriend position (not that she'd mind), but he'd done his job that day, wrapping an arm around her waist and giving her a firm kiss before introducing himself as "Jade's boyfriend, Beck".
"Uh-huh," Jade nodded, "Look we need to sing this song for a video and we need music, so get your guitar."
He raised his eyebrow, thinking about it. "Sure, gimme a sec."
Within a few minutes they were back in Jade's room, sitting on the floor after moving her chair to the side.
"I'm recording now," Jade said, pressing a button on her laptop and moving back to the rug. She looked at Cat pointedly, "We're doing one take. One!"
Cat just squealed and squeezed her green ball. "Annnd go!" Their voices harmonized immediately as the neighbor strummed his guitar behind them.
I never thought that it'd be so simple but
I found a way, I found a way
I always thought that it'd be too crazy but
I found a way, I found a way
If you open up your mind
See what's inside
It's gonna take some time, to re-align
But if you look inside, I'm sure you'll find
Over your shoulder you know that, I told you
I'll always be pickin' you up when you're down
So just turn around
Ooooooooh
After the last note Cat squealed again and giggled as she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Jade.
"NO!" Jade yelled, pushing her off. Just because she had agreed to sing did not mean she was okay with being all hug-y. Cat didn't even seem to mind, she just fell on her back, still giggling and threw her green ball gently at Jade.
"What were you mad about?" Cat asked, after Jade had kicked the guitarist out of her room. She was still lying on the floor.
Jade sighed, she still wasn't in the mood to talk about it but she had to admit the song had made her feel a little better. A tiny bit less rage-y. "I had another fight with my dad," she muttered, looking at the floor.
For a moment there was silence, which was uncommon with Cat. When Jade turned her head back Cat was sitting up with her legs crossed, looking straight at her.
"You know that one day he's going to come to one of your shows or premieres and he's gonna see what you've done and he's gonna be so proud. You know that, right?" Her eyes were wide and her tone soft.
Jade kept her gaze for a while longer. How obvious was it that this was all she wanted from him. Well, this and for Lauren to grow some brain cells. But of course Cat knew. Cat's known her the longest, since even before her father remarried. She knew everything, even if Jade didn't want to tell her.
"Whatever," she sighed and grabbed the green squishy ball from the floor, letting it mould between her hands.
Jade's phone buzzed from its position on her bed and Jade stood up, throwing the ball gently (okay, not that gently) at Cat's face. She yelped a little as it hit her cheek but by the time Jade got to her phone she was giggling.
It was Beck. Finally.
Hey babe, sorry I left my phone at home. You okay? We're back now, if you want to come over? Love you x
Jade looked over at Cat who was now using the webcam to take rainbow colored photos of herself.
Ill come over later, Cat's here now x She typed back, before putting her phone in her pocket.
"Jade, look! My head's in a bubble!" Cat exclaimed, pointing at the screen as she moved her head left and right.
Jade sighed, but made her way over to her, sitting down beside the laptop and looking at the screen. "Do you wanna see yourself on fire?" she asked, grinning briefly, and she clicked the option before Cat could even agree.
"Oh My God, it's so hot!" Cat said excitedly, waving her hands about. And even Jade had to smile.
