"Let's play cards."
Silence. Beck takes a seat, his mask already in place. Keep it cool. You're alright, no big deal. He wasn't the best actor in all of Hollywood Arts for nothing.
Tori wanted to say something, but she bit her tongue at a loss for words. The rest of the group dropped their heads to stare at the table, eyes downcast and mouths glued shut. Except for one.
"What the hell was that Beck!" Cat screeched. The petite girl shot up from her seat, her cheeks the same vibrant color as her hair. The cards she was holding scattered from her hands as she roughly shoved her chair back. She stumbled a bit, but it did nothing to curb her anger. It only added fuel to the fire.
"Are you insane? You just left her there! What the hell IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Cat repeated.
Her voice rose an octave with every accusatory exclamation. Beck couldn't help but cringe at the familiarity. Since when did Cat start sounding like her best friend?
"Everyone says Jade doesn't deserve you, but that's a complete lie," Cat seethed, her hands flailing wildly as she stomped around the table to face Beck. "After a stunt like that, you sure as hell don't deserve her," she laughed coldly, looking him square in the eyes. Her gaze lost its usual kindness and innocence. Cat was seething, and she was not looking at a friend. Not anymore.
Wow, Cat sure is working in a lot of 'hells' tonight. Who knew she had it in her? Tori thought.
Cat now stood in front of Beck, leaning over his chair and shooting him a very Jade-esque glare. Her lips curved into a humorless smile, an expression that looked beyond bizarre on the usually sweet girl. Her little hands clenched at her sides practically shaking with anger.
Beck glanced up and weakly attempted to defend himself, shocked by the little redhead's outburst. "You don't know what she is really like Cat! The fighting was too much! I love her, but she's possessive, and cruel, and rude, and…"
"I don't know her? Are you kidding yourself Beck?" the girl scoffed, straightening up once more. "I was best friends with her ages before you came along, and you and I both know it. It was Jadey&Kittycat long before it was Beck&Jade."
Tori's eyebrows shot up just a bit further. Why had she never picked up on the strong connection between the innocent airhead and the dark beauty? What else do I not know about Jade? she wondered.
At this remark, Beck's head fell, the stoic expression on his face cracking. Just a little bit. Look at that, Beck thought, glancing at the cards still clenched in his hand. Even my cards are a disappointment tonight.
He shoved them away, and then he's running a hand through his hair because he can't stop thinking about the day he met Jadey&Kittycat on the first day of third grade.
The image of the two little brunette girls appears in his mind like it was yesterday. He had just moved from Canada, and his parents let him walk to the park near his house. Beck strolled along, kicking up dirt with his black high-tops. He was so fixated on the ground, he didn't notice the two girls until he was ten feet away.
The shorter of the two wore her hair in pigtails and pink ribbons. She had on a bright pink dress and just about the biggest smile he had ever seen. She was bouncing on her toes and looking up at the girl next to her. The way the she stared at her, you would have thought the taller girl owned the heavens and the earth.
Jade always was cat's role model.
The other girl (his girl) stood beside her friend, wearing a blue jean skirt and purple shirt. Her long hair fell around her shoulders in wild tangles, and she sported a seemingly permanent scowl. Whatever the smiley girl was saying (because that's what Beck would call her for now), she was not amused.
But this did nothing to deter the smiley one. "Come on Jadey!" she tugged at her hand. "Can't we play unicorns for just a little itty-bitty tiny bit? Please?"
"Kitty why in the world would you want to play a game centered around dirty, mutant horses?" Jade scoffed. Cat's face pinched into a confused expression. Her head tilted ever so slightly to the side, but she did not release her grip on the pale girl's hand.
"Do you know what their horns are for?" Jade asked. Cat looked up at her with big eyes. "Impaling people," Jade barked. He was hooked.
Beck shook his head and ran a hand through his hair once more, because now was not the time to be thinking about his girlfri… no, exgirlfriend. She wore a butterfly clip in her hair that day.
Beck rose to his feet slowly shaking his head. "I know Cat. God I know. I'm sorry." Beck honestly wanted to fall into a hole and die. Or have a spontaneous heart attack. Or both.
"Don't apologize to me!" Cat yelled. "You didn't stomp on my heart. You didn't break all your promises to me. You didn't screw me over in front of all my friends!"
The group drew in a collective gasp when Cat shoved both her hands at the tan boy's chest, roughly pushing him away. The 90-something-pound girl couldn't have moved Beck an inch, even if she ran at him full force. But dammit it hurt him. It stung.
"I'll never leave you. I'll always love you. We'll be together forever. Jade you are everything to me," Cat mocked in a scarily accurate Beck impression.
"And you all!" Cat continued, her hair whipping out behind her as she spun to address the rest of the ragtag group. "Why are you just sitting there? You call yourselves her friends?"
Tears were now beginning to pool in the redhead's eyes and her high pitched voice took on a tinge of desperation. She stomped her foot angrily and shouted, "She needed you guys, but you do nothing. You sit here and play poker!"
Simultaneously Tori, Robbie, and Andre dropped their heads, unable to meet Cat's glare. They had never seen her glare like that, and they never imagined that look would be directed at them.
We deserve it, Tori thought bitterly. And Jade is supposed to be the cold hearted one. Beck wasn't the only one who betrayed her tonight.
Cat let out another humorless laugh before spinning on her heels and shouting a flippant "later" over her shoulder. Tori heard her mutter one last "What the hell?" as she stormed across the living room and threw open the door.
After crossing the threshold, Cat looked back one more time. "See how easy that was Beck? See how long it took me to open that door?" Cat said sweetly, before slamming it shut again.
The sound of the door slamming shut reverberated around the room, and then it was silent again. Andre looked on sadly at his best friend. The tan boy was hunched over slightly, and he refused to meet anyone's eyes. He stared at the table, his face once again an emotionless mask. Sure Beck was his boy, but that didn't mean he didn't care about Jade too. The girl was far from perfect. Honestly Andre was a bit terrified of her. But she definitely didn't deserve that.
You could have gone after her man. Can't you see she was hurting? Can't you see she loves you?
And Andre might have told Beck this, if he didn't catch the telltale signs that Beck was not as okay as he appeared to be. His hair was already dishevelled but he was still yanking one hand through it. His other hand trembled slightly and kept twitching as if to reach up for the ring around his neck. The one that matched Jade's. Beck Oliver just looked, well wrong. Beck Oliver should always have Jade at his side.
Yeah Andre could see how much Beck loved her, so he just put a hand on his shoulder.
Robbie honestly had no idea what to do. He felt so lost and ashamed. Cat must think I'm such a coward. God she must hate me.
Robbie was scared of Jade. Correction, he was rendered mentally incapable in her presence because of his tremendous fear. But that didn't mean the girl wasn't human. When you walk around with only a puppet to talk to, you start to become a bit more perceptive. Maybe that's just because you have nothing better to do than stare at the normal people all day.
And Robbie noticed a lot more about the dark girl than most. He saw the fear that flashed her eyes when Beck flirted with another girl, just before it gave way to anger. He saw the way her shoulders would tense when anyone other than Beck would touch her. He saw the way her hands started to shake after her twelfth cup of coffee, but prior to her fourth she was particularly unpleasant. Like more than usual. He couldn't help but see the tears and insecurity that clouded her expression as she turned around once more before closing the door and starting the count down. Is this the Jadey Cat saw?
And Cat loved Jade more than anyone else in the world. And Robbie loved Cat. So why couldn't he stand up for the girl that was practically her sister? All he had to do was walk out after Jade. Maybe say, "Hey Jade. Do you need any company tonight?" But she left. Cat left. And he was still glued to his chair feeling absolutely miserable.
Tori sat there. She watched. Her eyes began to water, and the tears dripped silently down her cheeks. She didn't know who she was crying for.
AN: I'm super sorry for any funky formatting! I'm still trying to figure out the formatting on this website, and I am hopelessly confused! If anything bugs you just message me or leave a comment. I love feedback, good or bad! I'm thinking about turning this into an actual story, but first I have to figure out if it's worth salvaging. Thanks guys! What do you think? XOXO
