"No."

"Jade, please …"

Tori's eyes are quivering; she looks like she's on the brink of tears. Her hands are pressed into my shoulders, and her mouth is sealed tight.

"Why the hell should I sacrifice my Friday night to babysit …" I glance briefly behind Tori where a certain redhead has busied herself with a stray kitten on the sidewalk, cooing at it and making up names for it, trying to stuff it in her shirt to see if she could take it home. "…her?"

"Because," Tori exasperates it, stretches out the word, makes it seem like I'm being stubborn, which I'm not. "I told you, I have to work the night shift at Karaoke Dokie and after what happened last time, she's not allowed to set foot in that place."

I bite the inside of my cheek and let a sigh rumble out of my lungs. There are two possible answers that I could give Tori right now.

The first one, and my response for nearly everything would be "No."

But then, reluctantly, I take another look at the innocent, sugary sweetness that is Cat Valentine. With her bright red ringlets of hair, flowing down her back like a waterfall of blood and those eyes that are wider (and much, much deeper) than the Atlantic, who wouldn't give her a second glance?

She's forgotten the kitten now, has already released it from her grip and is now watching as it saunters down the sidewalk, ducking beneath a car. She waves at it, a smile plastered on her pretty little perfect face, and she calls to it, "Goodbye, Mr. Kitty."

Something in the pit of my stomach twists painfully, and that is when I realize that Cat is so innocent that it actually makes me sick.

No one is that sweet, that nice. It just not possible, it's not even natural. No, Cat has secrets. She has skeletons in her closet; she's got monsters hiding beneath her bed. And I, Jade West, intend to expose them. Not to the world, of course. I'm not going to log onto The Slap and throw her under the bus on some cheesy social networking site.

I want her deepest, darkest secrets for myself. I want to peel back that beautiful mask of hers and see Cat Valentine for who she really is.

As gross (and perverted) as it may sound, I've always been attracted to other people's shortcomings. They are my treasures, my guilty pleasures. Watching people squirm while they pour out their hearts to me has always brought me delight (I've done it to Robbie numerous times, I would know).

In a weird way, it makes me feel better about myself.

Right before I'm about to give in and agree, Tori quickly mumbles, "And it's not like you have any plans, anyway."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"What? What are you talking about, I didn't say anything." Tori's releases her hands from my shoulders and they fall at her sides like limp noodles. Her eyes are still pleading. "But, seriously, can you just watch her? Just for tonight?"

"Fine."

"Alright, I'll just ask Andre to … wait, what did you just say?"

"I said, fine."

"Oh … oh, my God, you're seriously going to watch her?"

"I do believe that is what I just said."

"No takesies-backsies."

"What are we, in the sixth grade? I'll watch her, Vega, but you owe me." I point a menacing finger in her face before I causally brush her aside and focus on Cat, who has been slowly making her way over to where Tori and I stood. "Let's go, Valentine. You're with me."

My words put a spring in her step, and the next thing I know Cat is bouncing over to me, clapping her hands giddily. "Kay, kay!"

I shift the weight of my book bag on my shoulders and then Cat slides her arm around mine until we're linked at the elbows. I give Tori a nod as my way of saying goodbye, but she doesn't let me off so easy.

Her lips press together strangely, and she makes a weird face at me before her fingers encircle my wrist, stopping me. I turn to her. "No funny business, Jade."

"Geez, what do you think I'm going to do to her? What, you don't trust me or something?"

Tori's brow rises.

I smile. "I promise I'll leave all the 'R' rated things in my scary black trunk full of demons and Voodoo, alright?"

Tori's face flattens, and her eyes blaze at me briefly before she turns to Cat. "Call me if Jade starts being weird, okay?"

"Yes ma'am." Cat nods enthusiastically and flashes Tori a peppy 'thumbs up' sign before leaning closer to me. I can smell her breath, she's been chewing watermelon flavored bubblegum again.

"Are you done with the interrogation now? Can we go, or do you want to play another round of 20 questions?" I snap.

Tori's eyes shift from Cat and me, and then she finally lets out an exhausted sigh of defeat and motions for us to proceed in leaving with her hands.

We don't stick around long enough for Tori to change her mind.

If there's one thing I have learned about Cat Valentine in my three years of knowing that she even exists, it's that she can talk.

And, I mean, that girl can talk.

Like, nonstop. All. The. Fucking. Time.

"And don't worry about the stain on the floor, that's just from when my brother was messing around with the kitchen knives and-"

"Cat."

"Hmm?" She looks up at me from across her bed, eyes shimmering, one finger twisting and untwisting a loose strand of hair.

"Stop. Please."

She lets out a weary sigh, and she lets go of her hair, hand dropping into her lap. "Okay." And then her eyes travel to a lonely Monopoly box on one of her top shelves. "Jade-"

"No."

"Please?" She pouts, and clasps her hands together in a begging motion, and as cute as it looks, I firmly stand my ground, and she finally gives in, settling back on her bed and crossing her arms over her chest, saying. "Fine, what do you want to do?"

I thought this would be different. I thought –well, more like hoped - that Cat would crack underneath the pressure of my spell and influence, but it's just so hard.

I asked her if she wanted to raid her parent's liquor cabinet, but no, Jade, we're not old enough to be drinking alcohol. Besides, it tastes nasty.

So, I asked her if she wanted to stay out and maybe go party-hopping but no, Jade, I'm no hoodlum and I don't do drugs. Besides, my curfew is at eight.

She even has a parental control lock on her fucking television. And she put in on there herself.

She's just so … good. Wholesome. Pure. It's maddening, really. How are you supposed to corrupt someone that just can't be corrupted?

"Why can't we play Monopoly?"

"Because we can't."

"But … why? It's fun."

"Fun for eight year olds, you mean. That game is fucking irritating."

"Fifty cents in the swear jar."

"This is pointless." I finally reach my boiling point. My plan has failed. We've been at this ever since we arrived at her house after school and it's close to midnight.

She's not breaking, and if she won't give in, there's nothing more I can do. I rise from my spot on the bed and begin my journey out of her bedroom and on my way home.

"No, no, Jade, wait." Cat's fingers latch onto my arm and circle around my wrist. I snap my head back, and she's staring at me, eyes wide as saucers. "Read me a bedtime story, please?"

I stare first at her touching me, then at her. "What?"

"Could you read me a bedtime story? Please?" She releases her grip on my arm and then shifts her eyes upwards to the bookshelf across the room. "One of those?"

I could leave. I could just completely ignore Cat and her request, and leave and go home and watch scary movies for the rest of the weekend and on Monday just ignore Tori too when she gives me an earful for leaving Cat alone. I could leave, but I don't.

I clomp over to her bookcase and grab the first book that comes into view. It's blue and pretty small and on the bottom shelf, so it must not require a lot of work.

"No," Cat whines again, and her finger is shaking as it points at a gigantic, magenta pink book on the top shelf. "That one."

Rolling my eyes, I carefully slide the book from its spot, and a thick layer of dust comes out with it, settling nicely in my cornea. It stings, and I drop the book to the floor on reaction, and it lands with a loud thud.

"Shit."

"That's fifty cents in the swear jar, Jade." Cat says from behind me.

After rubbing the dust away, I roll my eyes a second time and scoop up the book, carrying it back to Cat's bed and settling down across from her once more. I open the book, and there's a huge, colorful picture of a princess and a prince kissing. I cringe. "Ready?"

"Wait, wait," Cat stands up on her bed, peeled back her fluffy pink duvet and then cocoons herself in between the comforter and her cheeks, her hair splattered like red paint against her pillow. "I'm ready."

"Here we go," I exhale, and mentally prepare myself for the shit load of happiness and sparkles that was about to come my way. "'There once was a beautiful princess named Flora …' … this is stupid."

"Keep reading."

"Alright, 'there once was a beautiful princess named Flora, and she was so beautiful that every known prince in the land wanted her hand in marriage. She was not foolish, however, and would not just pick any old suitor. She wanted someone special to be her husband. So she searched throughout all the kingdoms in the world until she found her right prince. After a while she gave up hope and went back to her castle. When she got there, her old friend and faithful servant told her that he had a surprise for her. He took off his servant clothes, and underneath, he revealed that he was a handsome prince, and that he had been waiting for Flora to recognize him for many, many years. Flora knew he was special because he had been her very good friend for so long."

"And then what happened?"

"Then the servant kissed the princess, and they all lived happily ever after."

"Can you show me how he kissed her?"

My eyes snap up, and Cat is serious. Completely serious, her eyebrows are pulled down tight over her nose in concentration; you'd think she was trying to solve an algebraic equation. I feel a slight blush creeping up my neck and I swallow, hard.

"Sh-show you?" I cough out, and repeat, just in case I'm hearing things that haven't really been said.

"Yeah," Cat sits up, pushing a stray wisp of hair back behind her hair, and then rests her hands on the creamy skin of her knees. A smile tugs at the corner of her mouth. "Show me."

"Cat, I-" I begin to protest, I'm trying to tell her how crazy that sounds, and weird this is beginning to get, and how maybe I'm the one who needs Tori's protection, but she doesn't let me.

"Shh," She presses a finger against my lips, and leans closer, a little too close for comfort, but I don't care because her eyes are so big and so brown it makes me want to sing. "Just show me."

And there, there it was.

I saw it.

I saw her. I saw Cat Valentine, the real Cat Valentine, not all that sugary sweet shit. The Cat with actual feelings and desires, the one with hopes and dreams and an actual spirit. It was in her eyes, a little flash of something real, something tangible that I know in my heart isn't a lie, isn't artificial. This is what I wanted. Mission completed.

I don't hesitate with Cat's request.

I press my lips against hers, and then we are molding into each other. She's pulling me forward by my shoulders and I'm pushing her backwards.

She laces her fingers in my hair, and I momentarily pull away, but it's only so I can attach my lips to the expanse of her neck, and leave little trails of butterfly kisses there. She shivers, and it makes me feel good inside.

When I finally break away, she's smiling, and even though it hurts my cheeks, so am I.

I don't want to push it, it's only the first story, there are many more to come, Cat has a bookshelf full of them, and as I wave of exhaustion hits us both, I curl up beside her and whisper in her ear, "And then what happened?"

"And then Cat and Jade lived happily ever after. The end." Cat mumbles softly and then we both slowly slip into slumber and find our way into Wonderland.

Hello, it's Ali again. Yeah, I don't even know what this is. The storyline just came to me, and TADA, this is what happened. Trust me, better one-shots between these two are coming.

Reviews are nice.