Not at all what you will expect. If you read, don't leave without reviewing.

Misinterpret

Or, the downfall of Jade West.

Beck groaned in bed. His cell phone was ringing right by his ear, and he couldn't make it stop. Whoever it was, they were going to keep calling until he answered. He pressed the answer call button half-heartedly and waited for the caller to begin talking.

"Beck? Beck? Are you there?"

Of course it was Jade. She loved to call in the middle of the night. But not as panicked as she sounded. Beck glanced at his phone quickly to check the time. 2:47.

"Beck? God, Beck, please answer. Beck?"

"Jade? I'm here," Beck yawned, but was alert. He couldn't ignore that tone in her voice that made him think of her father. But he wouldn't… "Why are you calling at 2:47 in the morning?"

"Look, I know we're not together anymore, but no one else will answer their phones and I can't stay here. Can I come to your house? I just need somewhere to stay. Please?"

Beck nodded into the phone. "That's fine. What's going on?" Jade sniffed on her line of the phone and Beck could hear a car starting up in the background. A door slammed.

"I'll tell you when I get there." Some man said something imperceptible to Jade.

"You still at your place?"

"Uh, no. I'm at the gas station on Third," she replied.

"Why are you so far away from your house? You live on 56th. That's nowhere near Third."

"I told you, I just needed to get away. I have to go. I'll see you in 20." Jade hung up the phone before Beck could get another question in. He sat up in bed and ran a hand through his hair. Just what was up with Jade…?

Jade knocked in the RV door. Beck glanced at her from his spot on the couch and put his computer down next to him.

"What the hell, Jade? I just got the door fixed from when we were dating, now you break it in?"

"Beck, shut up. I'm not in the mood." Jade sat down on his bed and put her head in her hands. She was still wearing her dark blue cotton pajama bottoms and a gray long sleeve shirt. A gray shirt that looked suspiciously like something Beck had bought in Canada a couple months ago… But there weren't the deep red stains in the arms when he had bought it.

"Are you okay?"

Jade shook her head and pushed her black hair behind her ears. "Some stuff just happened and I need to stay somewhere for a while."

Beck walked over in front of her and sat on the ground. "Your dad?"

Jade nodded. Beck grabbed her hands and pulled them towards him. "Where did these stains come from?"

Jade's eyes widened and she yanked her arms back. "Nowhere. Does it really matter?"

Beck held her gaze for a couple moments, challenging her to back down. She finally glanced away and he grabbed her arms again. "How did these happen?"

Jade refused to meet his eyes and went through her bag. She finally pulled out a knife covered in deep red blood.

Beck grabbed it from her. He stood up and carefully looked over the sharp item. He could feel his heart racing in his chest, worried for Jade's well-being even though they weren't dating. But he couldn't help those emotions from coming back up.

"Were you cutting yourself?" She swallowed and nodded. "Why?"

"My dad…. He was being an ass and I couldn't handle it. I just hated everything he was saying and I knew it was all true. So I just-" she gestured towards her arm in a cutting motion.

Beck sighed. "You can't do this. What if you had done something wrong? You've never cut before. Why would you do this now?"

Jade glared at him. "Maybe it's because I didn't think I had anyone I could go to, seeing as my so-called boyfriend dumped me."

"Can you stop being such a child for a couple minutes? You're bleeding through your shirt. That can't be safe. You need to go to a hospital. This is dangerous."

"No. I'm not going to the hospital." Jade stood up and looked ready to flee.

"You have to. Do you know how bad you look right now?"

Jade glared at him again. "Gee, thanks. Every girl loves being told that she looks horrible."

Beck ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Can you please just go to the hospital? For me?"

"No. I'll be fine. Don't worry. Go back to sleep." Jade grabbed a pillow and the comforter off of his bed and moved to the couch. She adjusted on the tough couch while Beck settled into his bed.

"And if I wake up in a hospital, you will be sharing the room with me. But I'll get out first." Beck rolled his eyes. She may seem threatening but she was as scary as a teddy bear.

Jade and Beck walked into Hollywood Arts with three feet of space in between them. Each had a large cup of coffee in their hands and both looked as if they didn't get much rest. Jade glared at everything and everyone, making a permanent path in front of her. She wore one of Beck's plaid shirts and one of the pairs of jeans she had left in his RV. Jade walked to her locker, but she didn't expect that Beck would follow her there.

He leaned against the locker next to hers and leaned in close enough so that no one could hear their conversation. "What happened last night? Why did you cut yourself?"

Jade sighed and refused to turn her head towards him. "Does it really matter?" She fixed her mascara in the small mirror before fluffing her hair. Beck grabbed her hand and stared at her.

"What happened between you and your dad last night?"

Jade glanced away from him and looked as if she was about to say something.

"Howdy doodles! How are you two lovelies doing this morning?"

Jade turned on Robbie. She glared at him enough to make him cower and pulled his pants down. She stomped away, with Beck trailing behind her.

"Was that really necessary?"

Jade continued on walking, ignoring her ex.

"Jade," he grabbed her around the waist and began to drag her into the janitor's closet. She began to scream.

"KIDNAPPER! HE'S KIDNAPPING ME AGAIN! DOESN'T ANYONE SEE THIS? KIDNAPPER!" Beck tossed her into the closet.

He locked the door and crossed his arms. "What is going on with you? You're cutting yourself and now you pants Robbie?"

"I'm just not in a Robbie mood."

"He didn't even have Rex! Normally Robbie doesn't annoy you that much unless Rex is with him."

A pensive stare came over Jade's face for a second. "Why didn't he have Rex?"

Beck shrugged. "How am I supposed to know?"

Jade shrugged. "I need to get to class."

Beck grabbed her by the wrist. "The first bell hasn't even rung yet," he pointed out.

"Does it matter?"

Then came the announcement. "Jadelyn West, please come to Lane's office. Jadelyn West, please come to Lane's office."

The next time Beck got to see Jade was in a quiet room. There was no one else there, just him and her. Jade's complexion was washed out by the orange jumpsuit she was wearing.

"Why would you lie to me?" Beck mumbled.

Jade stared blankly at him. "I didn't-"

Beck hit the table. "Yes, you did! You told me you had cut yourself with that knife! You didn't say that you killed your father with that knife and didn't touch yourself at all!"

Jade rubbed her eyes. "I didn't want you to think I was a murderer without knowing my side of the story."

Beck shrugged. "Well I'm listening now. You're in juvie, waiting for a murder trial. Did you kill your dad?"

"Yes. But he had attacked me. He just kept coming after me. He heard that I had gotten into a fight with his precious wife and he hit me. I-I ran away, but I didn't run away fast enough. He pulled me down the stairs and starting beating me more. I'm honestly surprised that I managed to make it past him after that to the kitchen. That's where… That's where I got the knife. And I just stabbed him. I couldn't stop either. He just wouldn't die." Jade was flat out sobbing by now, for forcing Beck to keep a straight face. He couldn't go over to her and comfort her. He couldn't do anything to help her.

"Is that true?"

Jade stared up at him from her lap. "Are you kidding me? Do you think I was making this up? You know my dad would do something like that! You can't expect me to lie about that!"

Beck grimaced before saying, "You lied about the cutting. Why not this?"

Jade managed to snarl at him through all her tears. "Just get the fuck out. I'm not lying. I hate this. I hated him. I wouldn't lie about it. Just get out if you aren't going to believe me."

So Beck got up and left.

Ten years later, Jade was getting out of prison. She had been convicted for second-degree patricide. Her hair had lost all of the color, her eyes could say how much she had seen. She was in the clothes she had worn when she had been arrested almost eleven years ago. Beck's plaid shirt now smelled like prison. Sweat, blood, tears, and feces. Jade couldn't stand the smell either. Her clothes swallowed her whole.

Jade walked four miles before she finally caught a ride in the city. She directed the cabbie to 56th Street. Her old family home. She got out, paying the driver with what little money she had on her person.

Jade walked up to the cast iron fence and sighed. She ran her hand over the chains locking it up. Jade closed her eyes, remembering the times she had here that she actually enjoyed. She wished she could have been with Beck these past few years. With her mom. Even with her dad when he wasn't trying to kill her dreams. Leaves blew by her hair in the most cliché fashion, almost drowning out her close to silent apology.

"I'm sorry. I wish I could take all of it back. I just hope everyone's safe."

Jade turned around from the fence and walked down the road, never once looking back to see the mysterious, tan Canadian man walk up to the house's gates after her. He stared up at the house with regretful brown eyes and whispered, "Good luck, Jade."

~Klrob96