Alice: New chapter. I was going to wait a little longer to update but there was such a strong support for this story that I had to update sooner.

Emily: I mean, wow. You guys are amazing! I wasn't suspecting that so many people would love the idea or read it, and I'm really happy you guys are.

Alice: So thank you so much! Here's the new chapter.

Emily: Enjoy!

Alice: And to answer some questions, Cat will get jealous in this story as will Beck.

Chapter 1

It took a while for Robbie to actually find the Goth girl, and he flinched the moment he did. Sitting alone in the corner table, Jade was furiously ripping apart an innocent napkin with her evil scissors. Gulping and chanting in his head that this was for Cat, he strode over towards her lunch table with attempted ease. He could literally feel the questioning stares burn into his back but didn't turn around to face Beck, Cat, Andre, and Tori. This was, after all, a sacred mission. Besides Cat might see the fear in his eyes if he did look back. "Jade!" his voice was slightly wavering. "Can I sit with you?"

Threateningly slow, Jade turned her head to him with fierce, cold eyes that almost made him soil himself. Her hand clutched her scissors tightly, to the point where her knuckles turned even whiter. As she glared at him, her upper lip curled in an animalistic snarl. Robbie gulped again. "I-I'll take that as a yes?"

Oh God, why did he decide to do this in public? And in front of Cat? At least if he talked to her in private no one would see him run away. Another slither of him wished he brought Rex into school today and let him do the talking through the puppet. That normally calmed his nerves in social situations. Glancing back, and wondering if it was too late to dash out of there, his eyes caught a glimpse of Cat's adorable, confused expression. New determination seeped through his veins, and before Jade could yell at him, Robbie threw himself into the seat next to her. "You're dead," she hissed.

Robbie outwardly ignored her statement and bit into his sandwich. On the inside, he was trembling with what could only be described as terror. "Um… there's this movie Saturday night called Wicked Ways a-about a technological apocalypse. I was thinking we could see it together? Me for the technological and you for the apocalypse?" Robbie's stammering did not help the situation. Neither did what he said, apparently. At the mention of Saturday night, Jade's eyes flared with newfound fury and her hand suddenly gripped his wrist, squeezing and making him cry out.

"You're disgusting," she snarled and tightened her grip just for extra measure. When Robbie let out his second whimper, she released his arm and walked away from the table, leaving her food behind. He gasped for breath as soon as she disappeared and clutched his wrist, knowing fully well that bruises would form the next day. What had he done wrong? He offered to see a movie, and she just exploded! Honestly, how did she expect to make friends if she acted like such an antisocial freak? The image of Cat accepting his confession seemed to fade further away because of this dumb, impossible scheme.

"No." He mumbled to himself. There was no way he was going to let this go so easily! People have broken through Jade's walls before, right? Well… not really. Now that he thought about it, only Cat and Beck have managed to earn her complete trust and love. Wait, that's it! Robbie grinned, springing up from his seat and rushing back to the group table. Much like before, he hurled himself into the seat, grinning like a madman at his newfound plan. "Hey guys!"

"Robbie!" Tori faked a smile, eyebrows raised as though silently asking why he was sitting with Jade beforehand.

"Beck!" Robbie exclaimed, pointing to the uncomfortable looking boy. "How did you get so close to Jade?"

An uncomfortable, dead silence overtook the table. In his head, Robbie cursed himself for being so out there with his curiosity and not trying to be subtle. Andre leaned towards Beck, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder as Tori simply backed away from the boy. Cat merely tilted her head to the side, staring at him with a strange calculating expression that Robbie didn't have the time to read. "Um… I just never gave up?" Beck's gaze was cold and questioning. Another thing Robbie just didn't have time to decipher. "I kept pressing and pressing and doing things that I slowly started to figure out she liked. Eventually she just gave in."

"Kind of like process of elimination!" Robbie beamed. "Use other means and exclude them as a solution if they don't work. Keep trying until you deem a solution as the proper response!"

Beck frowned, disappointment and slight anger creeping into his expressions. Robbie was too far gone to notice this though, so he didn't understand the warning behind the words when Beck said: "So you're using a scientific theory out on Jade?"

"Process of elimination isn't scientific," Robbie offhandedly claimed as he worked his way out of the chair. Smiling at the group, he waved goodbye and rushed off without another word. Much like at the beginning of lunch, he could feel their questioning stares without looking back.

Unfortunately, Robbie couldn't find Jade anywhere after she left lunch. It was almost as though she disappeared from the school, and he couldn't help but think that was becoming a common occurrence. Where would she go if she needed somewhere to hide? Somewhere no one would bother looking? For the life of him, he couldn't guess. How could he? After all, he barely knew her. "Dang it," Robbie grumbled. Looks like he would have to try again tomorrow.

Try what though? Beck claimed in order to become close to her, one would have to do things she likes and cease doing what she dislikes. So what did she like and dislike? How on earth would he remember her reactions to things? Oh well that was easy. Like all nerds, he kept an extra, blank notebook in his locker if he needed to. Rushing to his locker, he quickly entered the combination and grabbed the green notebook. On the first page, he labeled it: "How to Date Cat". As he happily plopped down on the staircase, he opened up to the first pages and started writing:

Jade does not like being asked out on Saturday nights. She will react angrily and stomp off if you do.

Robbie paused. That was one thing on the dislike section. What about the likes? He snickered, because that one was pretty easy.

She is in love with Beck. Probably wise not to bring that up for obvious reasons. She likes scissors to for some reason. Maybe as about that? She might like to talk about it.

What else was there? Putting down "dark, creepy" things might be too vague. Horror movies maybe? Again, too vague. What if there were some she hated but some she absolutely loved? He groaned, banging his head against the lockers behind him. Okay, how on earth was he going to do this? Just sit down and ask her about these things? Sighing, he started writing down a new section besides the "likes" and "dislikes". Now it was time to fill out the "unknowns" that he was willing to try on her.

Maybe get her some black or dead flowers. She might like fake blood. Get her to sing possibly?

"Robbie?" Tori appeared above him, causing him to screech and close his notebook freakishly fast. The girl above him gave a tiny laugh in amusement.

"What's up?" Thank goodness his voice came out without any of the usual stuttering.

Tori's face became serious again as she sat down and sighed. "I think you should stay away from Jade for our sake."

"Why?" Robbie's eyebrows furrowed.

"Because!" Tori threw up her arms like that would explain everything. Realizing it didn't, she sighed and went into deeper reasoning. "I've wanted to be Jade's friend from the beginning, even after she splashed coffee all over my head. She just has one of those personalities that always hurts you but makes you wanting to come back every time. Frankly it's dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Robbie exclaimed.

"Yes!" Tori nodded. "I don't want to be mean about it because I really do like Jade. There have been so many times where I've longed for her to let me in and to be my friend. And every time I thought there was some progress, that we've finally reached that level of trust, she would say or do something that hurt me and degraded the moment we just had. It hurts a lot, and I just want to save you from it."

He sighed, leaning his head back as Tori, though reluctantly, sat on the ground with him. "I just…" He couldn't say this was all for Cat. Most likely Tori would tell Cat and Jade which would result in the plan not working. Scattering his brain for a response, he breathed in relief when he was able to form a slight truth. "I just feel bad. She's all alone, you know? Before she had Beck at least, but now it seems like she has no one. She was our friend even if she didn't want to admit it, and I want to show her we care."

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Tori mumbled, but the flush on her cheeks revealed that she had the same process of thinking but ultimately failed. A newfound respect for Tori filled his heart as he recognized that Tori wasn't bashing on Jade but rather protecting him from the hurricane that she could leash on him. From this new perspective, Robbie now realized Tori wanted to be Jade's friend.

"Thank you." Robbie truthfully told her. But, no matter how cruel Jade became, he needed to pull through this. It was, after all, for the girl he was in love with.

Deciding to arrive a little late to school, Robbie was not disappointed when he saw Jade roaming the empty hallways during Sikowitz's class. He approached her with more confidence than he had yesterday and tapped on her shoulder. She turned to him, eyes blazing just like yesterday. Flinching only slightly, he handed her the warm cup of coffee in his hand. "I got you coffee!" Robbie blurted out. "It's black, and I didn't know how many sugars you wanted so I just brought a couple to let you pick."

As if proving a point, he reached into his pocket and thrusted eight small things of sugar into her hands. She raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow and backed away from him, as though suspicious of his motives. "What the fuck, Robbie?"

He blushed at the language. "Um… I figured you would want some-"

"NO!" She screeched, hurling the coffee and sugars to the tiled floor and glowering at him.

Robbie jumped back, careful not to stain his shoes with the coffee. Luckily none of the classrooms in use were nearby, so no teachers came out wondering what that loud scream was. "W-what? I thought you liked coffee!"

"You," she growled, grabbing the collar of his shirt and slamming him against the locker walls. "What are you planning?"

"Huh?!" Robbie exclaimed.

"Your ultimate motive." She stated angrily. "Did someone pay you to get close to me? To buy me coffee? Or is it some sick satisfaction for you to try and befriend the freak of the school?"

Her hands were shaking ever so slightly, and he couldn't help but stare directly into her green-blue eyes with absolute wonder. The fury and annoyance were all present but so was the heartbreak and fear behind his actions. Was she so distrusting that she deemed everyone had an ulterior motive for being nice to her? Behind the angry, powerful façade she was a scared, insecure girl that didn't want to get hurt?

Guilt overpowered him in that moment as he continued to stare into her. He had an ulterior motive: get close to Cat. Did that make everything she was screaming at him true? Yes, it did. He was the scum of the earth for simply wanting to befriend her in order to date her best friend. For abusing her emotions and friendship just to date the girl he loved. Cat wouldn't approve of this. She'd hate him for it. Heck, he hated him for it right now. "I… I…"

"Yeah," Jade released his collar, causing him to crumble to the floor. "That's what I thought. Never talk to me again."

She strutted off with what appeared to be confidence but Robbie knew better now. Wrapping his hands around his legs, he pondered over this for a moment. He grabbed his backpack and harshly opened it, digging out the green notebook and opening to the pages. Gripping the top of the page, he told himself to rip it out. Instead his hand wouldn't move and tears came to his eyes. Sighing to himself, he released the corner of the page and wiped his tears away. He dug around again for a pencil and stared at the first page of the notebook. With the tip of the eraser, he made the words "How to Date Cat" disappear. In their exact place, he rewrote:

Befriending Jade West.

Alice: Next time on The Best Friend: Robbie realizes why Jade was so angry when he mentioned going on out Saturday night.

Emily: I hope you guys liked it.

Alice: It will take a little longer for Cat to be jealous compared to Beck, but it is only because Beck used to date Jade, who is more closed off. But remember that Cat will be jealous.

Emily: Thanks for reading! I hope you guys liked the chapter.