Hello all! Thank you to all who reviewed, it's garnered another chapter. This one as well was mostly set up; explaining Jade's family. I'm thinking chapter 3 I'll divulge more about "the monster". If any of you picked up on that, kudos. If not, you had to have known this story had some kind of conflict, or we'd have no plot? Anyway, reviews are what make me write, so if you'd like more, please tell me! And constructive criticism, always appreciated. I'll stop my rambling now.

God I hated homework. Like, really hated. It was one of the many, many, many things which I hated, but I seemed to run into it much more frequently than the others. Homework and Vega are the two things which I hate most in my life. Well, and him. But I hadn't seen him in a very long time.

"Jade! I'm leaving for work, super's on the table!"

Ugh, why not just text me instead of paining me with your screech? I spent most of my life trying to figure my mother out. And believe me, there were times when I was sure that I was adopted. But then I would think of my father and know with certainty that the only reason he would ever have a child was because of faulty contraception.

At least she doesn't rank on my list of things I hate. I mean, she annoys me to no end, and I avoid at all costs having any interaction whatsoever with her, but I didn't hate her. Mostly because she fed me, and bought me stuff, and loved me so incredibly much that she ignored all of my undesirable qualities.

I spent a large portion of my childhood trying to understand how my parents had gotten together. My father lived for his work, and would gladly have never come home of given the option. Sure, my mother loved her work, but she also seemed to love being a mother. That I will never understand, being happy about stretch marks, and labour, screaming babies and I lifelong commitment to someone who you may end up hating.

So how exactly they began dating, and subsequently decided to get married, is beyond me. How my mother can look at wedding photos and proclaim that they were so in love, when nowadays they haven't spoken in months. And when they do, it's out of necessity. Like "I'll talk to Jade's principal about the broken vending machine since you did it last time" or "No Malcolm, I've tried talking about the piercings, there's just no reasoning with her".

But he's found someone new now, someone he can actually stand being around for more than a few hours. Although I suppose before I came along, that person would have been my mother. Because in the case of my parents, there's no denying that I'm what split them up. No matter how my mother tries to deny it, you can't argue with the eight years of pre-Jade wedded bliss, followed by a mere three as a big happy family.

"Jade! Jaaaade! Mom said that you were feeding us!"

Another floating just below my things I hate list—my siblings. I have two of them; well, half siblings. I'm sure after seeing how I turned out my father would have had aborted anything more. But no, these were the product of my mother's second marriage; her attempt at recreating the all-American family. Which of course failed miserably, leaving her once again alone. But that isn't something we talk about. The less people know the better.

"Well I'm not hungry yet!"

"But we are. This is when we normally eat!"

"Leave me alone or you starve!"

In truth I was kind of hungry also, but I like to make them suffer. They were 10 and 9 and yet could barely take care of themselves. By that age I could have probably lived on my own. But I never liked depending on other people. They always had a way of letting you down. Except Beck. But he was busy doing some project for school, so I was forced to spend tonight in my own bed, alone.

I decided to get up and go feed the idiots, mostly so that I could feed myself. I opened the door and walked downstairs, finding them both sitting in the kitchen staring at the food mom had put out.

"Finally!"

"It's pasta. You just put the noodles in your bowl, and then put sauce on it. It's not like you have to make the food."

"But mom said that we had to eat with you."

"Luke, mom says a lot of things that I choose to ignore, you should try it."

"Yeah, but you're also the reason for her migraines."

I decided to let her slide with just a glare, instead sitting down to enjoy my meal. They both sat across from me, knowing better than to try and engage me in conversation. I finally finished and left Luke and Emma to clean up. I didn't have any homework left, and Beck was busy, so that left me with pretty much nothing to do.

I settled down on my bed, ready for a long night of hilarious horror films and the kind of monsters which I would welcome in the dark.

Finally finished my comedic acting project last night. I know right, only Hollywood Arts would have a class set aside solely for comedic acting. But acting is something that I've always taken so seriously, I figured a needed somewhere to loosen up a bit. I hadn't spent any time with Jade for the past two days, so I was picking her up from school today. It was Friday, so that meant that she could stay the night in my RV.

I drove Jade to and from school a lot, so I'm pretty sure that half the student population thinks we live together. Or at least are crazy nymphomaniacs. But no, we were limited to the weekends, and a few choice week nights when her parents were too busy to keep track of where she was sleeping. I pulled into her driveway and watched as she sprinted out the door, clad in black and a frown etched on her face.

"So how was your night?"

"Lonely."

"I'm sorry babe."

We drove in silence for a few minutes; me trying to navigate Los Angeles morning traffic and Jade absentmindedly sipping on her coffee.

"So what are we doing tonight?"

"I don't know. Since you're the one who's been deprived, I thought you should pick."

"Good."

"So what do you want to do?"

"I still have a movie left from my marathon last night; I figured we could watch it."

"Alright. Anything else?"

"No, why?"

"Well, it's just with me being so busy, we haven't had sex in over a week."

"Don't worry, I just didn't think we had to plan that out."

"So yes?"

"I'm not pre-planning sex Beck!"

So yes then.

R&R please.

-J