Disclaimer: nope. Sorry.
Because I haven't written any light-hearted things in a while.
(.x.)
The Four Times Jade Smiled (and the One Time She Didn't)
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"I am so bored," Tori wailed, propping her head in the palm of her hand. She blew a few stray strands of hair out of her face absentmindedly while Robbie was fiddling with his PearPhone next to her. Andre grunted in agreement while Cat sighed loudly. They were all sitting on the staircase that lead to the main hallway to all their lockers.
All of them minus Beck and Jade of course.
"Let's play a game," Cat's brightened tremendously and she clapped her hands. When she was greeted with silence, she knitted her eyebrows together, "pleeease," she said in her baby voice.
"Cat-," Andre started.
"Pleeease," she whined again.
"I think-" But he was cut off again.
"Pleeease," Cat had widened her eyes and clamped her hands together.
"Fine!" Tori shouted irritably, "What do you want to play?"
"I don't know," Cat said terribly happy that everyone gave in.
"Well there's this app on my PearPad that-"
"No thanks," Tori said hurriedly, cutting Robbie off, making him hang his head as his cheeks stung red.
"There's Jade, maybe she'll know what game to play," Cat jumped off the steps and had taken about two steps before Andre and Tori each grabbed a hand and dragged her back down.
"You don't want to play any of the games Jade knows," Andre said with wide eyes. Tori nodded furiously in agreement and unconsciously reached up to rub the right side of her head, a small frown on her face.
"Look, she's smiling." Robbie had picked Rex off of the spot next to Cat and now wielded the puppet's hand in the direction that Jade was coming from.
"Since when does Jade smile?" Tori blurted out, her arms folded across her chest.
"Jade smiles all the time," Cat informed them, "and then usually something bad happens."
"I saw her smile once," Andre mused, "a real smile. It was when we were in school working on the song for my project." The small smile that had crept unto Andre's face dissipated when Tori nudged him in the side. Andre jumped at the contact and cleared his throat, suddenly fidgety and his eyes jumping from Robbie to Cat. Robbie frowned while Cat giggled ignorantly.
"I know!" Cat said suddenly, "let's see how many times Jade smiles!" Tori's ears perked up and she tilted her head, contemplating the idea.
"Well, what else do we have to do?" Robbie shrugged, he was always agreeing with Cat.
"I guess," Andre said uncertainly and then they all turned to Tori, waiting for her verdict.
She sighed heavily, "fine."
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After Robbie had deposited Rex into his locker, they decided that they would split up. There were only three rules: 1) you had to take a picture of Jade smiling; 2) you couldn't, under any circumstances get caught by Jade because it was uncertain whether or not you'd make it out alive; and 3) refer to 1 and 2. Seeing as they were already losing sight of Jade, they agreed that they would re-group in three hours. After they all nodded in mutual agreement they broke their huddle in the hallway, each zooming past Beck as he approached them.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Beck had said in that happy-go-lucky voice of his.
"Sorry," Robbie apologized running off first.
"Gotta go man," Andre waved.
"See you later." Tori shrugged and shot Beck a wild grin.
"Hi Beck," Cat giggled next to him until-
"Cat!" Tori called back irritably, her hands on her hips, "Cat, come on!"
"Whoops, sorry Beck." Cat wiggled her fingers before she too took off in a run behind Tori.
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Tori was peering at Jade from behind the Grub Truck. Jade had just yelled at Festus for taking too long with her coffee.
"Come on Jade, just one little smile." Tori whispered, her phone at ready. She watched as an angry Jade slammed the money into Festus' hand before stomping off. "Damn." Tori said, frowning deeply. She looked left and right cautiously before she crept out from behind the truck and tailed behind Jade. "I can't get her smiling from behind." She chewed her lower lip before Tori formulated a plan.
It was risky, but it was worth a shot.
She darted out from behind Jade and Jade's heavy, empty steps in those black combat boots and ran along the wall of the Asphalt Café, her back pressed up against the wall as she moved. Her eyes were narrowed in concentration. She needed to be stealthy.
When she was a good distance in front of Jade, she pulled out her PearPhone and then held it up and waited. Her hands shook with the adrenaline pumping through her, "that's right, Jade. Drink the coffee," Tori murmured, ignoring the weird looks the seniors sent her way.
Then it happened.
Jade came to a stop, her eyebrows furrowed and her lips pursed together in a careful frown, she brought the cup of coffee up to her lips. When she removed the cup, her eyes were closed and her lips quivered up into a small secret smile. Tori's mouth formed a small 'o' before she scrambled to take the picture. When Jade opened her eyes, Tori was looking at the screen, grinning wickedly. She let out a victorious whoop and jumped, punching the air with her fist as if she was in some teen drama series.
All the noise attracted Jade's attention, and she was no longer smiling serenely, but was stomping over to where Tori had frozen, brown doe eyes wide open in surprise. She was caught. "Oh no," Tori groaned before she took off into a full speed run. "Coming Trina," the Latina bellowed.
She vaguely remembered hearing Trina's voice rising, "I didn't call you, loser."
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Andre had his game face on.
He was lurking around the hallways opposite Jade's locker. When he saw her storming in from the Asphalt Café (a few minutes after Tori ran across the hallway and disappeared into an empty classroom), he pretended to be deeply engrossed with the Shakespeare play in his hands. He stayed as still as he could while reaching into his back pocket for his phone. After Jade had peered around the hallway, craning her neck, muttering wicked things under her breath, she had rolled her eyes and then brought the cup of coffee to her lips.
Andre felt a small smile creeping again; this was it.
But then Jade tore the paper cup away from her lips and shook it furiously, her eyes narrowed into slits before she threw it into the nearby trashcan, huffing slightly.
Okay, so maybe this wasn't it.
Andre stifled a growl as Cat came in bouncing around the corner, her hands on Jade's shoulders. Jade jerked away, a scowl etched on her features as Cat giggled and swayed in the spot where she was. Jade arched an eyebrow, something she usually did when something caught her interest. That look meant trouble.
With wide eyes, Andre realized nobody told Cat to breathe a word about their game to Jade, and so he exited his camera app and sent a quick text to Cat, after he remembered that Cat could not keep her mouth shut to save her life. A chime stopped the redhead mid-sentence. Cat dug into her shorts for her phone while Jade rolled her eyes.
"A text from Andre!" Cat exclaimed happily and Andre almost slammed his head into the nearest locker. He only hoped she didn't read it out loud. Maybe he should have said that in the text or something, but how was he supposed to know Cat was going to do break one of the three rules they made? Sighing, Andre opened his camera app again and positioned his phone so that it was peaking over his book.
If Jade didn't smile soon, his hand would end up cramping.
Cat had now deposited her phone in her hands, suddenly silent.
"What did Andre say?" Jade demanded, eyeing Cat's sudden change in demeanor.
"He asked me if I saw Tori." Cat spoke hurriedly while Jade continued to frown skeptically at her faux redhead friend. "Jade, can you get red highlights next?" Cat asked suddenly, reached forward to touch the purple streaks in Jade's dark curls. Andre was surprised Jade didn't slap Cat's hand away.
"Why?" Jade crossed her arms.
"So we can match! You can get red velvet red like me." Cat hopped up and down while Andre groaned from his covert spot across the hallway. Cat was sabotaging all his efforts.
"Blood red maybe. Red velvet, no." Andre heard Jade saying and he himself arched an eyebrow, especially when Cat enveloped Jade in a tight hug, blinded by the possibility that her and Jade could have matching hair one day. Andre shook his head, waiting for Jade to shove Cat to the ground, but he froze.
There it was.
Jade had a small smile on her face over Cat's shoulder. She wasn't exactly hugging Cat back but she didn't push her off yet either. Andre's finger shook as it hovered over the button. When he finally brought it down and snapped the picture, Jade was pushing Cat off of her.
"Best friends match, Jade." Cat informed Jade with a shy smile.
"Yeah, yeah," Jade waved her hand and then she stalked away, "I have to go."
Then all of a sudden, Jade's face was growing larger and larger on Andre's phone until he realized she was coming his way. Andre cursed under his breath and scrambled to shove his phone into his pocket, keeping a hold of the book in front of him. Jade paused in front of him, eyebrow shooting her forehead, brilliant blue eyes gleaming mischievously as she said, "never pegged you as the Romeo and Juliet type, Harris. You enjoying it?"
"Um, well…yeah, Shakespeare is kind of hard to understand, um…his words and uh-" Andre stuttered and stumbled over his words, tapping his foot as he did so.
"Maybe it was something to do with the fact that your book is upside down, idiot." Then Jade smirked wickedly and stalked away.
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Unlike everyone else, Robbie was not having an easy time playing The Jade Game. Tori and Andre had already texted him with a bunch of exclamation marks and smiley faces. They were both in the lead, as for Cat well, Cat didn't say much other than a bunch of hearts. Robbie however was lucking out. He should have known this was a losing game, he and Jade never really got along unless you count the time when he sang about Broken Glass at Tori's house. Then she had given him a grin and even said she liked his song.
Robbie had been following her for about thirty minutes, watching her from the corner of his eye as she exited the class they shared (Theatre History) with Tori who was also keeping a sharp eye on the pale girl. But now, Tori had gone to the bathroom and it was the perfect time for Robbie to swoop in and get a picture of Jade smiling and be on par with Andre and Tori.
Jade was by her locker as she was digging through her bag and unloading her stuff into her locker. Nobody else was in sight. It was perfect. The only problem was, Jade was chewing down on her lower lip, an unreadable expression on her face. Robbie was just about to put his phone away when Beck came sauntering up to Jade. Usually, it wouldn't mean anything but since Jade's expression disappeared completely, Robbie thought it best to keep his phone in position.
Beck was saying something like, "Is Jack's Mannequin still your favourite band?"
And Jade had looked at Beck all skeptically (at least that's what it seemed like to Robbie), "naurally."
"Well I won some free tickets to their concert next Saturday and…" Robbie observed how Beck had paused to run a hand through his hair. Maybe he was nervous? "Well I was wondering if you'd like to come." Jade arched an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side. She wasn't smiling yet, but Robbie knew it was coming. He could feel it. He just had to be prepared, so his hand never wavered. "I can't enjoy Jack's Mannequin with anyone else. It's like a crime."
Since when did Beck ramble?
Since was he nervous?
Was this how he asked Jade out the first time?
Was this what he was like with Jade all the time?
(You know, back when they were a couple.)
Robbie chortled as Beck avoided Jade's gaze and examined the tip of his brown combat boots (which Robbie noted, seemed to match Jade's). So much for Beck being smooth and cool. Robbie was not impressed, especially not when Beck ran his hand through his hair again.
"But we broke up," Robbie heard Jade saying and Robbie's mouth fell open and he even squealed a bit (just don't tell anyone) because Jade was right, they did break up! And yet here was Beck asking her out again.
"I know but…" Beck trailed off and spoke lowly, so lowly that Robbie couldn't make out what he was saying. He was leaning into Jade, and judging from her expression, Jade could hear every word Beck was saying as he whispered into her ear.
Then Robbie saw it happening in slow motion.
Jade's face relaxed, she bit her lower lip (in such a cute way that Robbie was surprised because Jade was never cute, she was hot and cute and hot were two separate things) and then she closed her eyes and her long dark lashes rested on her cheek before she reopened them. It started with her eyes. That was how he knew she was smiling.
They crinkled around the edges and they shone with such brilliance that Robbie froze and almost forgot about The Jade Game completely but then he finally came to his senses as the edges of Jade's mouth turned up and Robbie took not one nor two but four pictures. He had never seen a smile so brilliant, so genuine, so beautiful, so he had to take more than one picture to show everyone.
To show them that when Jade smiled, it was a sort of magical thing.
But then her eyes narrowed and he realized she had pushed Beck away and was coming his way, hands clenched so Robbie took off into a run, tripping over his feet momentarily. He collided with Tori who had finally came out of the bathroom and jumped up, stuttered an apology and ignored Jade's outraged roars.
Nobody ever told him that after one of Jade's smiles came an unmatched fury.
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Cat had nine minutes left to get Jade to smile. Mrs. Higgins' class had just ended and Cat was grateful because it was the one class she had with Jade and Jade alone. Mrs. Higgins was a severe old woman, she hardly smiled and when she did it was a vicious thing. Cat was terrified of her and Jade, well Jade hated her and Cat was almost certain Mrs. Higgins' returned those feelings. She taught them Creative Writing; Cat remembered when Jade used to love Creative Writing when they were younger. This was the class she was the most excited for but when she met Mrs. Higgins' and her cold smiles, her surprise tests and constant two day assignments, Jade's excitement disintegrated. So after the game had started, Cat had formulated a plan. She snickered into her hand, thinking of it.
Mrs. Higgins' had called Jade to stay after class, and due to some unspoken rule in the Girl Code, Cat knew that she was to stay too.
"I found this on my desk," Mrs. Higgins held out a thick pink binder that Jade eyed curiously. It was covered in unicorn stickers and hearts. Jade turned back to glance at Cat who gave her a nervous smile and a quick shrug of her shoulders. "I recognized your handwriting despite the binder." Jade remained unconvinced. "I read your work, the untitled piece about the waitress?"
Jade's eyes widened and she snatched the binder from Mrs. Higgins and Cat shrank back, trying to make herself as small as she possibly could under Jade's harsh glare. "Thanks," Jade said gruffly and turned to leave.
"I must say, I am very impressed Jade." Mrs. Higgins said, and Cat could see Jade freeze. "I am not easily impressed but I cannot deny that you are an extremely talented young lady. I urge you to never stop writing. I have never seen such quality in all my years of teaching at Hollywood Arts nor in all of my years in the writing industry."
If it were anyone else, Jade would have insulted them, brushed the compliment off with a snide remark but Mrs. Higgins was known in Hollywood for her writing. Mrs. Higgins was one of the best writers Hollywood ever had, it was why Jade was initially so excited for the Creative Writing class. No matter how much she disliked Mrs. Higgins, she held her in high regard, she admired her.
"Really?" Jade asked, her voice soft. It reminded Cat of when they were both thirteen and Jade found out she had been accepted into Hollywood Arts. It was hope. Mrs. Higgins gave a curt nod of the head before she left class leaving the two friends alone.
"Jade I'm sorry," Cat squeaked, "I just, well, I just wanted-"
"Cat it's fine, let's just get to Sikowitz."
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When Jade walked into Sikowitz's class with Cat in tow, Tori, Robbie and Andre all pulled out their phones meanwhile Cat mumbled, "phooey! I forgot to take a picture!" Jade was too busy thinking about what Mrs. Higgins said about her writing to pay any of her stupid friends any attention. Beck however, had taken a seat behind Tori, Andre and Robbie who were huddled together, all looking at things on their phones. Curious, Beck stood up and peered over their shoulders.
"Why do you all have pictures of Jade on your phone?" Beck asked slowly, just as Cat had taken out her own PearPhone.
"What?" Jade snarled, her small smile gone, causing Cat to exclaim just as loudly in disappointment. Tori's phone dinged, followed by Andre's and Robbie's and then finally Cat's, attracting the attention of everyone in the classroom.
"No, Jade can you please just smile! I just need one picture!" Cat whined, stomping her little feet.
"Too bad Cat, time's up and I have three pictures of Jade, so I win!" Tori had stood up and was dancing in front of everyone.
"Three? How did you get three!" Robbie jumped off of his seat, arms crossed and pouting slightly. He was always such a sore loser. "Show me them!"
"Three ain't possible." Andre shook his head.
"I forgot to take my pictures." Cat jutted out her lower lip and blushed while Tori rolled her eyes. Of course Cat would forget to take pictures despite the fact that she was the one who came up with this game in the first place. But Tori didn't mind that much because she was still the winner. This game turned out to be better than she thought, so Tori grinned proudly and then motioned for Cat to join the three of them where they huddled again.
Beck and Jade were left gawking.
"Oh, that is a really nice picture, Robbie." Tori was heard saying.
"Wow," Andre said, his breath hitched. Beck frowned deeply at this and opened his mouth to protest but was cut off by Cat.
"So pretty!"
"I know right," Came Robbie's smug reply.
"What the hell are you idiots doing?" Jade hissed behind them, making then shove their phones guiltily behind them.
"N-nothing," Andre stammered. "Just looking at some pictures, relax girl."
"No wonder you were all acting so weird today." Jade crossed her hands and took a menacing step forward.
"Hello class!" Sikowitz bellowed as he entered the class, on seeing his favourite students on the verge of another outbreak of some sort he added, "sit down and shut your mouths." Sikowitz dropped his bag haphazardly on the floor and jumped onto the stage in front of the class, waiting for silence.
"But-"
"Not now, Jade." Sikowitz held up a hand.
"But Sikowitz they-"
"Beck, please."
"I like this game," Tori said when the class lulled to silence. Jade kicked the back of her chair.
"Me too," Cat giggled.
"I am going to kill all of you when this class is over." Jade hissed behind them.
"Jade, silence!" Her teacher held up a hand.
"Ugh. Whatever."
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(.x.)
I thought it was a cute idea to toy with. It's just a quick little thing here. This is for Mad (chasingafterstarlight) because she could use a laugh and Sara (readingrainbow) because she said she liked some of my funny stuff and I haven't written anything like this in a while. Whoops.