Heeeeeeeey, here's a little something for the best flippin' cowriter eveeeer :D
And it just sort of came to me. So why not.
You don't have to have read Just Go With It to understand what's going on since this takes place like a year before that, but you'd get the feel of the characters and some inside jokes if you did. But it's not that important I guess.
But I'd totally be on board with you reading it, because Carrie does an amazing job on her chapters... and I write the rest of them.
but I hope you get a yuck outta this Cici. I won't be offended if you don't. And that goes for the rest of you.
Okay, please read an maybe review.
But before I let you read, Beck and the gang are sixteen, so Aly is fourteen and Gwen is thirteen. So there's no confusion, okay?
kthnx.
"You broke up with Jade?"
"I didn't break up with her, Aly. She broke up with me."
I couldn't think of anything to say to that, so I just let out a groan and crossed my arms, glaring out the window of Beck's car as he drove the three of us home from school.
And by three, I mean Beck, my sister Gwen, and myself. Notice how Jade is nowhere in that description. Because she dumped him and will no longer use him as her chauffeur.
For those of you who don't know what's going on, my brother is Beckett Oliver and his girlfriend... former girlfriend, is Jadelyn West. They apparently got into a fight about Beck's yoga buddy Alyssa Vaughn at some point earlier today, and that resulted in Jade breaking things off between them. They were absolutely perfect together and now all of that is ruined and Beck will probably end up dating Glitter Girl Vega, who makes me want to vomit broken glass-
Oh God, I'm rambling. I'm starting to sound like my sister.
"Stop pouting."
I glared at Beck through the rearview mirror for that comment. "Allison Oliver does not pout."
"You did look rather pouty," my sister commented, looking up from the game of Agitated Blue Jays on her PearPhone for a second to smirk at me. I responded by grabbing her phone and smacking the smirk right off her face with it.
"Ooow!" Gwen, ever the whiner, snatched her phone back and glared at me.
We pulled up to a stoplight, so Beck was able to turn around to look at the two of us. "Aly, stop slapping our sister with technology. Gwen, stop... saying things that make her want to slap you with technology."
Yeah, he told us.
Once he started driving again, I looked at Gwen again. "Aren't you upset about this?"
"Well, it's not the first time you've physically harmed me but-"
"No, I meant about Jade and Beck!"
"Oh. Yeah, of course... But Beck doesn't seem that sad about it."
"Well, he is. He's torn up about it." Beck didn't speak up when I said that, so I loudly said, "Aren't you, Beckett?"
Beck kind of shrugged and made an unsure face. "Well..."
I raised an eyebrow at my brother. "Well what? That doesn't sound very torn up."
"Honestly... I'm not." Beck pulled up to another stoplight. "I'm actually kind of glad we broke up."
If looks could kill, I would have killed Beck Oliver long ago.
"What do you mean?" My tone was rather calm, but anyone who knows me could tell that I was far from calm. "Beck, you dated Jade for almost two years and you just broke up. You can't just be a-okay like, three hours later."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not that upset about it." Beck turned onto Schneider Street, so we were about eight or so minutes from home. "I've been getting kind of sick of Jade's attitude lately, and she acts as if she owns m-"
I interrupted by telling him, "I don't want to hear another word out of you unless it's 'I miss Jade West and I'm going to crawl to her house and beg her to take me back' or something along those lines."
Beck paused, then shrugged and muttered, "It's gonna be a quiet ride home."
It was.
/ /
Once we were finally home and out of the car, Beck turned to the two of us, backpack slung over his shoulder. "I'd tell you two to go inside and do your homework or something productive, but I know you'd just ignore me, so please just try not to set the house or each other on fire."
He knows us so well.
Once he was inside his recreational vehicle, Gwen and I slowly headed for the house. "Can you believe Beck? You know he's just pretending not to be heartbroken because… because he's Beck!"
"You've been acting like a spaz since he told us the news," Gwen mused, tucking a piece of short blonde hair behind her ear. "Is this what it's like talking to me?"
"… Actually, it is."
I really am starting to act like my sister.
But why am I acting like such a Gwen, when I'm usually the opposite, as in an Aly? I'll tell you why. When Beck first introduced Jade to me and Gwen almost two years ago, we instantly clicked as friends, mostly because we share a love for the second language that is sarcasm. Jade and Gwen didn't click as instantly, mostly because the first time we met Jade, she threw Gwen's strawberry ice cream cone at a squirrel or something… But they get along now.
Will we now, though? Jade's been one of my best friends for a while now, and she's probably not going to want to hang out with either of us anymore, since we'd probably remind her too much of Beck. It doesn't help that I look like a younger, female version of him, except for my dyed blonde locks.
And Gwen… Well, Gwen doesn't look anything like him. That might be because she's almost as pale as Jade and adopted and all, but that doesn't matter. She's still Beck's sister and Jade's most likely going to avoid anything involving Beck until they get back together.
Which they need to do. And soon.
As soon as we got through the front door and shut it, Gwen threw her backpack on the ground and screamed, "I can't believe he's not even upset about it! Jade was the best thing that ever happened to him and they were totes gonna get married and he's throwing that all away! He's such a… a boy!" She kicked her backpack and it slid on the hardwood floor of the foyer all the way to the kitchen.
I looked back at her, as if silently asking her why she was just now voicing her opinion on all this chiz.
Gwen quietly said, "We can't both get on his case about it. And you're better at getting on people's cases than I am."
I love how she knew what I meant by one glance. We're both convinced that we have sister telepathy.
And her statement was indeed true.
I hung my bag on the coat rack by the door instead of barbarically kicking it to release my pent up frustration, like my sister so gracefully did. "Maybe I should get on his case some more…"
"Be my guest." Gwen giggled and started walking up the steps. "I'll be in my room, working on a short story for Creative Writing."
"Glee fanfiction doesn't count as creative writing," I called out to her.
She spun around to glare at me, screeched, "Yes it does!" and then continued to stomp up the steps and to her room.
Beck's case, get ready.
Because shortly, I will be on you.
…
That sounded kind of gross.
/ /
Here I am, outside my brother's RV. Now all I need to do is get in there and convince him to try and work things out with Jade.
And though he doesn't seem like it, Beck can be almost as stubborn as Jade. It's one of the reasons that they were so good together.
It's also a reason why this might be a hard task to accomplish.
Because I never knock, I just threw the door open, waltzed right in, and stood in front of his television.
Beck was sitting on the couch across from it, so I was right in his view. And in his way. "There's a teenage girl in front of my TV."
"Yes, there is. And she's about to yell at you for not trying to work things out with Jade."
"And she's also about to get kicked out of her older brother's RV." Beck jokingly smirked and patted a spot next to him on the couch. I sat down on said spot. "Look, I know you like Jade. Just because she and I aren't dating anymore doesn't mean you two can't hang out."
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. It does."
"... Okay, it does. But I'm not going to get back together with Jade."
"You two are so good together, though." I couldn't help but look at what he was watching.
Full House. Really? No wonder Jade dumped you, bro.
Beck gave me a quizzical look, muting his cornball show. "No, we weren't. We spent half of our relationship arguing and fighting. "
"So have Mom and Dad, and they've been married for, like, twenty years."
"... You really want me and Jade to have a relationship like Mom and Dad have."
I thought it over, then shook my head. "No. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. But it works for you guys! Didn't you have a good time while dating Jade at all?"
"Well..." Beck gave me a small shrug. "Yeah, I did. Most of the time, at least. I just... I feel like she doesn't trust me. She freaks out every time a girl that isn't related to me even looks my way. It gets old after a while."
I let out a sigh and ran a hand through my hair. "Beck, come on. That just shows that she doesn't want to lose you to some gank."
Beck nodded, but didn't look convinced by what I was saying. "Yeah, but she takes it to an extreme. After two years, you'd think she would believe that I loved her and wouldn't leave her, but she didn't." He picked up a banana that had been laying on the table that held his fish tank and began peeling it. "You can't have a decent relationship if one person is always yelling at the other for socializing with people of the opposite sex."
"... Okay, I didn't listen to any of that. Are you going to get back together with Jade or not?"
Beck pulled me up with his banana-free hand and led me to the door. "Goodbye, Allison."
And he then proceeded to shut the door in my face.
Well, I can see talking to him isn't going to be much help.
/ /
"And then Bailey was like, 'That is so dumb'..."
"Tasha, please stop-"
"And then I was like, 'You're so dumb!'"
"Tasha, I'm trying to-"
"And then Keisha was all like, 'Oh no you didn't!' And then Bailey was all like-"
"DUDE, SHUT YOUR FACE HOLE."
My loud mouthed friend Tasha, for once in her life, shut her face hole. But it didn't last long. "Sorry, Aly."
I took a moment to compose myself before I started talking again. "Before you so rudely interrupted me, I was trying to tell you about the predicament with Beck and Jade and how to get them back together. Do you think I should-"
"Ooooh, Beck's single now? Do think he'd ever..." Tasha twirled a strand of straight blonde hair around her index finger and giggled. "Y'know, date a freshman?"
Aaaaand that's when I picked up my almost empty salad container and walked away from her lunch table.
It's times like these I wish Gwen went to Hollywood Arts. She still has the rest of this school year before she can leave Sherwood Middle... Curse her for being a year younger than me.
But sometimes, going to school with one sibling is enough... Like at these times, when Beck acts all frustrating.
Speaking of Beck... I haven't seen him in a while. I guess he went out to lunch with one of his friends or something.
I contemplated sitting next to Jade for the remainder of my lunch period, but I wasn't sure if I should give her a little space or not, since she didn't exactly look like she was in a good mood.
That, and I saw Tori and Andre sit by her.
Gross.
Not Andre. I meant Tori. But that's probably obvious.
And just when I thought things couldn't get grosser, I saw a canary yellow sports car pull into the parking lot, and it caused quite a bit of hubbub.
Why?
Because Alyssa Vaughn was driving it.
And as if that wasn't bad enough, Beck was in the passengers seat.
They were smiling. And laughing.
And Jade proceeded to squeeze the refried beans out of her burrito and storm away from her table. She was stomping toward the school building and before she did, she passed me. And she said something to me for the first time in twenty four hours.
"Your brother's so... Ugh."
And as Jade pushed a kid with a saxophone out of her way, I knew that ugh said more than 'ugh.'
Jade wants him back.
/ /
"He was in her car?"
"Yeah, they were smiling, having a grand old time, like they've known each other for years... Which they haven't."
Gwen shook her head, handing me a Crystal Waters water bottle from across the breakfast bar in our kitchen. We weren't eating breakfast, but this is where we usually sat when we were ranting about stuff that bugged us.
She hopped up on the bar stool across from me. "I bet they were talking about where they're gonna run off to after they get married so they can... kiss and whatnot."
She watches too much Drake and Josh.
Not that that's a bad thing.
That Drake Bell is one hot, sexy mother-
"What's that?" I pointed to the corner of a bright orange piece of paper that I saw poking out from behind her back.
My sister reached back, pulled it off, then looked at it in confusion. After a moment though, it looked like something clicked. "Oh, this weird girl came to Sherwood a few minutes before you and Beck picked me up and started sticking these all over the place. I guess she decided to get a few moving billboards..."
"What's it for?"
"I think she's from the circus or something..." She handed the paper to me and I almost gagged once I saw Trina Vega's hammy face on it.
"Well, you're close enough."
Before Gwen could even question that, I felt someone take the stool next to me. I almost thought it was Beck, but then I saw a pale hand with onyx nails take my water bottle from me.
"Jade?" Gwen raised an eyebrow. "How did you get in here?"
Jade handed me my water bottle back, even though she drank it all. "You guys need a better lock on the back door."
Yep, that's Jade for you.
"So, are you feeling better?" I asked, tossing the empty bottle at Gwen.
"I was feeling fine before."
"You didn't finish when you were trying to insult Beck." I raised an eyebrow at her. "That only happens when you're at your worst."
She glared at me, but she didn't argue.
Aly wins this round.
"We're really glad to see you," Gwen said with a big smile, throwing my garbage away because she is my personal slave. Or at least I see her as such. "We thought you wouldn't want to hang out with us anymore, since you and Beck... Y'know..."
"Yeah, about that." Jade picked at her nails and said, "I'm thinking about taking him back."
"Really?" Gwen bounced back onto her bar stool. "Yay!"
I crossed my arms, eyebrow arched. "Seriously?"
"I thought you wanted that," Gwen said.
"Well, yeah, but I didn't think she'd be so... nonchalant about it." I shrugged a little. "I just thought you two getting back together would be more... romantic. It didn't have to be super mushy, but I was expecting more than just 'You wanna get back together?' 'Sure, whatevs.' and then that's the end of it."
"Jade West isn't romantic. Jade West just gets the job done." Jade West got off the stool and started walking toward the foyer. "Speaking of which, Jade West has to finish the job before she changes her mind."
The name Jade West has just lost all meaning.
The conversation Gwen and I had over the next seventeen minutes wasn't very significant to the plot. At least not after the obligatory declarations of happiness over them getting back together. But after that, Gwen somehow started talking about this ceramic donkey she made in her art class and how she was going to name him Señor Love Handles or something goofy and Gwen-like.
Just as she started talking about what color she was going to glaze it, I heard the front door fly open and the sound of combat boots on the oak floor in the foyer. Before I could even ask what was up, Jade stomped into the kitchen.
Something was different. Her eyes. Instead of being full of darkness, they were full of... tears?
"Jade?" I didn't really know how to ask. I've never seen Jade look so... weak.
"Um, why-"
"He... He rejected me!" Jade took a shaky breath. "I n-never thought he wouldn't t-take me back!"
Wow, I've never seen her like this. I never thought I would see her like this. And over a guy? She doesn't freak out over things like this.
She's Jade West, after all.
But I suppose there's a first time for everything.
"I-I just thought we'd fight for a little bit, then make out and have it over with, but... but he wouldn't budge."
"Jade..." Gwen awkwardly reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, but pulled it back in fear that Jade would snap and bite it off. "He'll come around..."
"No, I don't think he will... Not this time." The tears finally started falling from her eyes, and I think I could hear her heart shatter into a million pieces. "Not... Not without help."
"But Gwen and I have tried-"
"No, I need help... from the outside."
... What is that supposed to mean?
Before I could ask, Gwen asked a question of her own. "Where are you going?"
Jade was heading for the backdoor again, but turned to look at us after wiping her eyes and smudging her copious amount of makeup. "I can't let anyone who's cool see me like this! Unless Aly leaves, I have to!"
Insert her running out and slamming the picked door here.
Ignoring the insult toward her, Gwen sighed and rested her chin in the palm of her hand. "Wow. I've never seen Jade so... out of character."
I shook my head. "I don't think it's going to be as easy as she thought it would be. Beck seems pretty convinced that they weren't meant for each other. Maybe if she just-"
I stopped once I heard the snapping and crashing of wood, and Gwen and I rushed to the back window.
Jade kicked down part of our fence instead of hopping over it, like how I'm assuming she did to get here.
Mom and Dad are gonna love to see this when they get home.
/ /
"Why is it my fault that the fence is broken?"
"Because you forgot my birthday last year, that's why, James!"
"You were born on Leap Day, Jane, it didn't count!"
I don't think Beck moved into the Silver Streak because of our parents' rules.
As my parents continued to bicker in the kitchen, Gwen and I were in the living room, trying to watch Celebrities Under Water over their shouting.
It had been a few hours since Jade went all Jackie Chan on our fence, and we hadn't heard a peep from Beck. He ignored my text and the text I sent from Gwen's phone, but I'm too lazy to go out there and see-
Curse you for interrupting my internal dialogue, doorbell.
My parents' fighting ceased and my mother's high heels click-clacked as she made her way from the kitchen to the front door. I twisted around on the couch to see that she opened the door and put on a cheery smile. "Why, hello there!"
"Hi, Mrs. Oliver. I'm a friend of Beck's." Our guests' voice sounds familiar...
"Oh, how nice! What's your name, dear?"
"Tori Vega."
Oh God.
I got up off the couch and walked into the foyer. And unfortunately, our guest wasn't lying.
Tori saw me, smiled, and waved. "Hi, Aly!"
I crossed my arms. "Why are you here?"
She didn't seem wavered by my rude tone, though I could see my mother send me a glare out of the corner of my eye. "Um, Jade asked me to talk to Beck. About the... thing."
THIS is her outside help?
I just lost a little bit of respect for Jade.
My mom nodded like she knew what Tori was talking about, even though I'm pretty sure none of us have mentioned anything to her or Dad. "Of course. He lives right out there."
Tori looked at the recreational vehicle that my mother pointed at, then looked back at her. "R-Really? I thought that was your camper..."
"Nope. That's where my brother lives," I muttered, wishing Tori would vacate from my home.
"Oh..." Tori nodded. "Uh, okay. Thank you."
She started walking toward the RV and Mother dear called out, "Push the button by the door, sweetie!"
After Tori shouted her thanks to her, my mom shut the door and walked back into the kitchen. Not even ten seconds after, she shouted, "Eat a rag, James!"
"You eat two rags!"
My parents are such great role models for their children.
"Who was it?" Gwen asked once I sat back down.
I paused before choking out, "Tori Vega."
She looked away from a drowning Vanessa Hudgens and raised an eyebrow at me. "That girl Jade always complained about?"
"That's the one." I scoffed, then said, "Jade apparently convinced her to talk to Beck for her."
"Maybe he'll listen to her," Gwen said with a shrug, now watching Lance Bass attempt to stay underwater longer than Sarah Jessica Parker. "Because she's not his sister or ex-girlfriend."
I guess it's worth a shot.
... But after spying through the window and seeing Tori walk out of the RV a few minutes later, looking completely dejected, made me think other wise.
Either she failed to get Beck and Jade back together or he rejected her invitation to make out.
I secretly hope it's the last one.
/ /
It's Friday night and I'm at home, playing go fish with my sister.
Wow, I'm cool.
Mom and Dad had continued to fight even when they got home, and their latest fight resulted in my dad storming out of the house just a few minutes prior. I didn't hear his car start, so I'm assuming he went to hide in Beck's RV.
Good times.
"Do you have any twelves?"
"The numbered cards only go up to ten, Gwen."
"I know. I just wanted to hear you rhyme." Gwen started giggling like the moron she is.
I sat my cards down on the coffee table, and then shoved my sister of the couch.
Gwen sat up on the floor, rubbed the spot on her head that she fell on and before reclaiming her spot on the couch, muttered, "I don't wanna play anymore..."
Just as she sat back down on the couch, the front door opened and shut and none other than Beck Oliver strolled into the living room and plopped down between Gwen and I.
"Hey." I tucked my legs up underneath me. "What goes on?"
"Dad gave me fifty bucks to let him stay in the RV tonight." He held up the money as proof. "What was it about this time?"
Gwen rubbed her arm and said, "It started off just being about the fence, but then it turned into something about how Nana has always resented Mom for making terrible fudge... and then Dad screamed something I'm not allowed to say and ran outside."
Beck nodded. "Ah. So I didn't miss much?"
Gwen and I both nodded.
It's sad that this is status quo for our parents.
But hey, at least dysfunction never gets boring.
"So... Did you see Jade today?" I'm not going to let this go. Ever.
And for the first time since the break up, Beck didn't give me a disgruntled look for bringing Jade and their former relationship up. "Not really... I saw her drag Tori into the janitors closet, though..."
Okay, that's odd. Even for Jade.
"But you guys know how she came over here yesterday, right?"
Gwen and I are the only ones who know what happened to the fence, since we didn't bother to mention Jade was the one who broke it, so we just nodded.
"She said she wanted me back, and I said no... It was the first time I've ever seen her look so... I dunno, hurt."
I scoffed. "Duh she was hurt, she cares about you, you kumquat."
Beck looked at me and said, "First of all, there's no need for that kind of language."
Nubs to you, Beckett.
"And second, when Tori came over a few hours later to talk to me about it, it just made me think... Maybe if Jade showed me she really cared about me, I'd be more willing to take her back." He propped his arms on the back of the couch. "Jade's a lot of talk, but despite how cheesy it seems, actions speak louder than words. If she could just try to do something for me, purely just to do something nice for me, maybe I'd give her a second chance."
Gwen quietly said, "She got you a can of lemonade for your birthday."
Beck looked at her with an unamused expression. "I was thinking of a more meaningful gesture."
"At least you like lemonade," Gwen muttered, crossing her arms. "You remember what she got me for MY birthday?" She paused, then loudly said, "Lotion. Lotion with real pecan extract in it."
"You like lotion," I said.
"And I'm ALLERGIC TO PECANS," Gwen shouted, making both Beck and I cringe. "I had a rash for two weeks before I found out about the extract!"
"How could I forget? I'm the one who had to smear anti-itch cream all over your patchy, nasty skin..." I shuddered at the memory, while Beck chuckled.
"I didn't come in here to talk about Gwen's various rashes," he said, snapping us back into focus. "I came in here to ask you guys for your opinion."
A dog barked outside, rather loudly, but we ignored it. It was probably Sparkles, the dog who belongs to the little neighbor girl that stole my name.
I know, Allison is a somewhat common name, and so are any diminutives of it, and that that Ally spells her name with two Ls, but I just want to know what gives her the right to take my name when I was here five or six years before she was.
But wait, Sparkles weighs like three pounds and that was at least a thirty pound bark.
Whatever. I don't have time to think about the neighborhood mutts.
"Do you two think I should try to see if Jade's willing to show rather than tell, or should I just-"
More barking. And it sounds a lot louder and scarier than it did before.
"What is that?" I asked, turning to look out the window, even though the blinds were shut.
"I don't know..." Beck got off the couch and looked at us. "You two stay in here. I'm going to see what's going on. Don't come out unless I say it's okay."
The door clicked shut and after a moment, two teenage girls screamed.
And then as soon as the screaming increased and the barking got plain vicious, Gwen squawked like a chicken and hid under the coffee table, and she dragged me with her.
And that's why I missed spying on Dad being sent to the hospital and Beck and Jade's reuniting kiss and had it hear about it from them later on in the night.
But that's not the point.
They were back together.
/ /
So after Beck and Jade... caught up, Beck drove the four of us to the hospital to visit Dad. We probably should have woken Mom up and told her that her husband got mauled by an insane Rottweiler.
Oh well.
He'll be okay, though. The dog wasn't rabid, so he's just got a few minor bites and scratches that needed to be properly bandaged.
He also said he was going to try and get along better with Mom.
If I had known that was all it took, I would have sicced a vicious animal on him years ago.
Dad was staying overnight just to make sure there were no difficulties, but Beck was waiting until our creator filled out some medical papers before he would take us home.
That, and he bought Gwen an ice cream cone from the cafeteria and didn't want her dribbling it all over the leather seats in his car.
The four of us were in one of the small waiting rooms of the hospital, which had two rows of uncomfortable plastic chairs. Gwen and I were in two on one side, and Jade was in one on the other. Beck would have been there too, but he went back to the cafeteria to get Jade and himself some crappy coffee.
And speak of the brother, he returned.
He handed one of the cups to Jade before sitting down, and quietly said something that was only meant for her ears. A faint smile graced her features. Not a smirk, not a sneer, but an actual smile.
"Look at those two," I whispered to Gwen, even though I knew they weren't paying attention to us in the least. "It's like they never broke up."
Gwen stopped licking her choco-vanilla swirl and mused, "He never did get to hear our advice."
I looked back over at them as their fingers laced together and mumbled, "He didn't need it. She did all she needed to do."
Like I said before, dysfunction never gets boring.
