Chapter 3, I believe? Nice to meet you. I do think that you should be given to the readers for their enjoyment/entertainment, whatever they prefer to call it. What's that? You would like this too? Alright then, we shall do this.
Disclaimer: I do not own VicTORious in any way, shape, or form. Nor do I own the song "Without You" by D. Guetta featuring Usher.
Next Day- Jade's POV- Hollywood Arts
"Mr. West, I would like to welcome you to the Hollywood Arts Performance School. Seeing as you are an exchange student from another performing arts school, it is required that you exhibit your talent to the school board. Due to your relation with our own student Jade West, expectations for you will be set high. You have until next Friday to come up with whatever you plan to showcase for us, good luck. Now, Mr. Oliver will guide you to your first class, which I believe is Art History. Goodbye, Mr. West." My "new" principal, Helen smiled sweetly at me before waddling off to god knows where. I looked at Beck, who was casually holding onto one of his backpack straps.
"That wasn't too bad, now was it?" he quirked one of his thin black eyebrows. He ran a hand through his hair, tousling it gently, then shoving it into one of his jean pockets. He had a grin on his face, but his eyes looked troubled.
"How did you manage to fabricate my fake past that quickly?" I shifted my own backpack to rest on my right side, looking at my schedule. I had the exact same one as the old me had; Art History with Mrs. Barret, Writing with Ms. Tentes, Directing with Mr. Alistor, then Improv class with Sikowitz. Damn, I've got Cat and Robbie first block, Tori and Andre in Writing, Beck and Tori in Directing, and everybody in Improv. Let's see how my "first day of school" goes.
"Let's just say, I know some guys who owed me a favor. Now, remember, you're from New Jersey, living with your dad, Simon West. Only reason why you're here, you got in trouble over there and needed a change in scenery. Your cousin, Jade, decided to be nice for once, and help you out of the sticky situation. Your talent, well, you'll have to figure that out on your own." He shrugged then brought a hand up to stroke his chin. "Can you still sing? I know you can act, that wouldn't change, however, your voice changing, that can be problematic."
"Well, what should I sing?" I scratched the back of my neck. Apparently, that's something guys do when they're nervous. I was still getting the hang of being a dude, even with Beck, being the ever patient teacher, helping me learn the styling of dude-dom. I had to get over the nasty fact of having to pee standing up, and not shaving my armpits and legs. I did, however, cut myself shaving this morning, the contours of my jaw made it hard to easily glide the razor over my stubble-covered skin. I've cut myself before, but this time it looked like a bloody murder scene! My fingers skimmed over my now smooth chin. Now that I thought about it, even if a guy looks rough and tough, his skin can be so sleek.
"What about "Without You" by David Guetta and Usher?" His dark brown eyes were boring into mine. I knew that this whole thing was hard on him, harder on me, but there was little chance of me ever changing back. I had yet to figure out what turned me into this, or possibly whom.
"I'll think about it. Come on, we've got to get to first block." I started out towards Art History with Mrs. Barret when Beck grabbed me by the shoulder. It wasn't like he used to when I stormed off in a fit of rage. His grip was feeble, temperate, like he was afraid of something.
"Jade, we'll get through this okay, right?" He looked lost, like he didn't know what to do next. The ever calm, suave, and confident Beck had lost his footing, all over a tragic break up. It hurt, knowing that our stable, yet rusty, relationship of three years was over. I never thought that I would be without him. I shrugged off his hand, and tried to ignore the pained expression he gave me.
"I honestly don't know. Oh, and Beck, it's Jaden." I turned away from him, and walked to my class alone, leaving behind the broken-hearted teenager.
Cat's POV-Art History
"Mr. Shapiro, can you tell me the meaning of this Dali painting?" Mrs. Barret looked at the curly-mop-topped ventriloquist sitting on my right. His mean puppet, Rex, was sitting on the desk in front of him, his head turned to gawk at me. I had my hands on the top of the desk, my thumbs fidgeting with each other. I hadn't seen Jade for a couple of days; Beck said she still wasn't feeling too good. A sick Jadey was an unpleasant Jadey. I did miss her though, and I had a sense of dread pressing down on my heart. I pushed it away, trying to pay attention to class.
"Well, the melting objects represent the fluidity of time and mass, in The Persistence of Memory." Robbie stated in a matter-of-fact voice, pushing his glasses back up. Mrs. Barret sighed, shaking her head slowly.
"No, Mr. Shapiro, it represents-" Her lecture was interrupted by the door opening. Everybody turned to gape at the intruder, only to find a tall, obsidian-haired, cerulean-eyed Caucasian male who still had a hand on the door knob.
"Uh, hi, is this Art History with a Mrs….Barret?" His deep voice broke the impending awkward silence. Our teacher strode over to shake the young man's hand, a wide smile across her face.
"I am Mrs. Barret, nice pronunciation. You must be the new student Helen was apprising us of yesterday." She wrapped an arm around his waist, bringing him fully into the classroom. "Class, I would like you to meet the new exchange student. This is…"
"Jaden West." He finished for her, giving a shy smile. I noticed that he had a white-knuckled grip on his backpack. He also had his other hand in his back pocket, giving him an open body language to read.
"Wait, another West? Didn't we have enough problems with Jade?" Robbie clapped a too-slow hand over Rex's mouth. I glared at him, really wanting to punch that stupid puppet. Wow, that was a Jade-like moment, maybe I'm a little jaded. Hehehe, I made a pun.
"Mr. Powers, if you insist on degrading the other students, I will improvise with punishment." Mrs. Barret's eyes darted over in the direction of her duct tape. Rex made a muffled groan before settling back limply into Robbie's grip. "I'm afraid Miss West was sent to New Jersey to help her cousin here, out of a mess. That was awfully thoughtful and generous of her, now wasn't it class? Please give Mr. West a warm Hollywood Arts welcome!"
"Hi, Jaden!" I yelled excitedly, waving my hand frantically. I got his attention, thankfully, as his blue eyes fixated on me. My fellow classmates clapped half-heartedly, with Rex grumbling unhappily to Robbie about another "hot guy" encroaching on his territory. Jaden made his way over to sit in Jade's empty seat. He slumped the backpack off, and slipped into the plastic seat. I wiggled my fingers at him flirtatiously, garnering his attention again.
"Hi, what's your name?" He held out a big hand, reaching over a large bicep. I eagerly took his hand, shaking it vigorously.
"Caterina Valentine, I'm your cousin's best friend." I gave him my characteristic smile. He grinned back, taking his hand and rooting through his backpack for something. He pulled out a black pen, kind of like the ones Jade owned. Come to think of it, he did have a lot of similarities with her. He had the same ice blue eyes, yet they weren't casting a frigid glare in my direction. They were warm, and soothing, nothing like Jade's were, well, when she was glaring at someone else. His hair was the same color as Jade's, but it was short, and spiky. His jaw was too rough and square, so I guess that's what set them apart. That, and him being a guy.
"Ah, I believe I've heard of you. The crazy red head with the improbably stories about her brother. Jade had spoken volumes about you. I hope you don't mind my sitting here. She just wants me to watch out for you." He leaned his chin in a propped up palm.
"She talks about me?" For some reason, that made my heart jump in my chest. I brushed some escapee red locks back behind my ear, looking up at him through my eyelashes. There was something about him that made him different from the rest of guys.
"Yeah, you and that guy she's dating. Leck or something?" He asked nonchalantly. He blinked, waiting for me to reply.
"Beck, yeah, her boyfriend. Now that she's not here though, he might be mobbed by girls or something." Poor Beck, so that's why he had been so sad lately. He no longer got to see Jade.
"Hey, I'm here. I've been told to keep the girls back. Jade seems to be very protective of that guy. I wonder why?" He had a curious tone, but his eyes told another story.
"Well, he's really handsome, and his hair is his best feature." I didn't want to sound like one of the fan girls. I didn't want to scare off this one, and Jade wasn't here to push him away either. She was always keeping any guys from coming near me. She was really possessive and I wish she would let me talk to one of them. She couldn't stop me from chasing after guys now, although, I wouldn't have given her up for one of them anyways. We lived by the "sisters before misters" code, well, I did. She would forget about me when Beck was around.
"Oh really? Sounds like a guy she'd abduct." He chuckled, looking to the teacher, who had resumed her lecture on the Dali painting.
"How come she never told me she had a cousin? You seem like a pretty cool guy." I skimmed my fingers down his forearm. I could feel the muscles tense underneath, and he slowly pulled away from my touch. I frowned, and caught myself. I quickly redeemed my coy grin, hoping that he didn't miss it.
"Eh, we used to be really close, but that was before her family moved here. She kind of lost track of time, didn't pay too much attention to me. I guess I didn't mean anything to her anymore. Not like we rolled around in the dirt, and played with our Power Ranger figures. Believe it or not, she liked the Pink one the best." He raised an eyebrow, glancing back at me. He relaxed into the chair, sinking and putting his legs on the back of the chair in front of him.
"Really? She never told me that! That's so cute!" I giggled, giving him a light shove. He smiled at me again.
"I'm pretty sure that we've missed half of this lecture. Good thing I know all about Dali…" He grumbled, not seeming too upset over it. I laughed lightly, turning to pay full attention to the teacher. I did, however, keep glancing back over to the mysterious individual next to me. I felt like he already knew me, yet I knew nothing about him. Weird, right?
Alright, so, this was chapter 3. First block for Jade doesn't seem all that bad, don't you think? Next chapter's going to be second block, with Tori and Andre. I wonder how these two will react to the news of Jade leaving, and Jaden entering. Also, what did you guys think of suspicious and smart Cat? Yeah, I know, way OOC for her. This is an AU version. Bear with me, while I figure out the rest of this. Don't forget to review, and I'll see if I can update Angels and Demons soon too. Later!