Hidden In Plain Sight

Chapter Four:

Tori's POV;

Both me and Cat checked on Jade before I grabbed the phone and we silently crept out of the house, locking the door behind us. Jiggling the handle to make sure it was locked, I nodded to Cat in confirmation. We both then ran down her driveway, quietly giggling, and reached her car. Getting in, Cat sat in the driver's seat whilst I sat in the passenger's (I didn't see the old lady). She started it up and slowly pulled away from the curb, driving off.

Whilst Cat was focused on driving and telling me about one of her brother's many 'misfortunes', I took the unknown person's phone and looked at the lock screen. The man on it was a weird looking one. He was slightly balding on top and had tan skin. He smiled at the camera, showing almost perfect teeth. The man wasn't exactly large, then again, he wasn't that small either.

In the background of the photo, you could see a woman who looked to be around his own age. She wasn't facing the camera, but you could see she had black hair cut into a bob. You couldn't see her forehead even though from the angle you should have been able to so I guessed she had bangs. Both people on the lock screen were stood in a dark room, maybe a room in their house. However, it was kind of strange that they would be stood in there in the dark.

I sighed, putting the phone away in my back pocket and looked out of the windscreen. I noticed we were pulling up to a private road and realised we were practically outside of Sinjin's now. I must have been analysing the picture longer than I noticed.

I waited for Cat to park the car before unbuckling my seatbelt, along with Cat. We both exited the car and as I made my up the pathway to Sinjin's house, Cat locked the car and trailed behind me. She hummed a merry tune to herself and I had to resist the strong urge to roll my eyes at her child-like nature.

We arrived at the door and I immediately rang the doorbell. Waiting on the doorstep, I pulled out the phone whilst we waited for the door to open. Cat continued humming until the door opened and there, stood in the doorway, was Sinjin in cookie monster pyjamas. I stifled a laugh at his normally messy hair being even more unkempt. Cat giggled beside me and I eventually smiled.

"W-what are you doing here?" Sinjin stuttered in shock. I guess he wasn't used to the 'main people' showing up at his house.

"We kind of need your help, Sinjin," I told him.

"I like where this is going," he said.

"I do not," I replied, grabbing his arm and letting myself into his house. Cat followed with another laugh, closing the door. I let go of Sinjin and he led both me and Cat upstairs to his room. It wasn't huge, but it was big enough for one teenage boy to live in. The walls were dark blue and had a few posters on them. Against the wall opposite the door was a double bed. It wasn't made so I knew me and Cat had woken Sinjin.

"So, what did you need my help with, 'Tor-ay'?" Sinjin asked, taking a seat on his bed and leaning back a little.

"Not that kind of help, Sinjin!" I scolded in disgust. He quickly sat up straight, embarrassed.

"We need you to hack a phone and download the data on a USB, please," Cat informed him.

"Oh. I can do that," he said. He stood up from his bed and walked over to me, "so where's the phone?" I took the blue pearphone out from my back pocket and handed it over. He looked at it briefly then walked over to his desk in the corner of his room. "This might take a while so make yourself at home," he spoke. Me and Cat warily sat down on his bed, looking at each other. Maybe we should have found someone else who can hack...


Cat's POV;

Me and Tori were at Sinjin's house for at least four hours before he had successfully hacked the phone and downloaded all of the data onto a spare USB. There wasn't a lot of data on there, but Sinjin promised there was some interesting stuff. We both gratefully thanked him and put together one hundred dollars in gratitude.

Leaving the house, we ran to my car and headed straight home. It was now around five am and I prayed Jadey was still asleep. She always woke up early. I told Tori that we should stop off at the store and buy some snacks so if Jadey was awake we had an excuse. I'm smarter than I look. Hehe.

We stopped off at the store and bought a bunch of snacks, then went to Jetbrew and got us all some drinks. A black coffee with two sugars for Jadey, a latte for Tori, and a hot cocoa for me. I love hot cocoa- it's so warm and chocolatey. Yummy.

When we got home, it was just coming up to six am. I breathed a sigh of relief when we entered the house and it was silent, that meant Jade wasn't awake. I think. Me and Tori walked through the house, to the kitchen. I stopped in the doorway, Tori bumping into me. There, asleep with her head on the table, was Jadey. Oops. I looked back at Tori and we both nodded. Silently, we crept to the other side of the kitchen where we put the snacks and drinks on the table.

I smiled at out success of not waking Jade- she can be real grumpy in the morning (especially if she's woken up). We now only had an hour to get ready for school. I guess we'll just have to be late. Me and Tori started making our way back through the kitchen when I tripped over. I let out a yell before I landed with a thud. Oh no. Jade shot up from her sleeping position and then immediately fell off her stall, joining me on the floor. She looked around wildly in shock until she realised she had merely been woken up and fallen off her stall.

Jadey growled in annoyance and got up from the cold, marble floor, brushing off imaginary dirt from her clothes. I briefly noted she had gotten changed. She looked back down to see me smiling guiltily up at her. "Morning, Jadey," I greeted with a wave.

"Where were you this morning? I woke up and you were gone," she stated, crossing her arms. Not a good sign.

"We went to Jetbrew and got some snacks from the store," Tori said, putting her hand in her back pocket to hide the phone.

"What did you get?" Jadey questioned. I got up off the floor and ran over to the drinks and food.

"A coffee for you- black, two sugars, a latte for Tori, a hot-"

"Give me my coffee," Jadey interrupted. I pouted and picked up her coffee to give it to her. She snatched it from my hand and started gulping it down.

"Uh, Jade, I think you should slow down. Isn't it dangerous to drink coffee like that?" Tori pointed out.

"Listen, Vega, I haven't had Jetbrew coffee- the good coffee- in almost three months, so don't try and tell me to slow down."

"Okay then..."

"Anyways, aren't you going to be late to school?"

"OMG, yes!" I squealed and ran passed both Tori and Jade to get to my room.


Jade's POV;

I think Vega was right. Not only was I feeling the effects of a hangover, I was feeling the effect of this coffee, too. I heavily exhaled when my heart practically missed a beat. Ah, I missed Jetbrew coffee so much.

Cat and Tori ran back down the stairs changed into different clothes with their bags on their shoulders. Cat looked nice, Vega looked okay-ish. "I'll be back later, Jadey, don't trash my house!" Cat yelled as she opened the front door.

"Wait!" I called out just as she and Tori were about to leave. "I'm coming with you, let me just go get my bag," I said.

"You're coming with us? To school?" Vega asked.

"Yes, I do go there, you know. Problem?" I growled just as I reached the staircase.

"No, not at all. I mean, this is good. It'll be great to have you back," she stuttered. I rolled my eyes and ran up the stairs to go get my bag.

I returned a few seconds later with my bag on my shoulder and barged passed Vega and Cat to get to the car. "I'm driving," I called back to them. I heard Kitty call out "KK," as I got into the driver's seat. Vega looked like she was having a moral dilemma and I was reminded of the time she needed a ride to school. "Hey, Kitty, do you have the shovel?" I asked Cat. I saw Tori blanch and I quietly laughed to myself. Cat was confused, looking for a shovel until I had to tell her it didn't matter.

The drive was a long one, especially listening to Cat going on and on about stuff I didn't care about. My fingers tightened on the wheel when I drove into the HA carpark. Just a few more seconds and I'd be out of this car. I parked in an empty space and as quick as I could, unbuckled my seatbelt and practically threw myself out of the car. Freedom.

I locked the car when Cat and Vega were out, and threw the keys to Cat. "I need a goddamn coffee," I told them as I started walking towards Festus' truck. "Meet me by my locker," I ordered, knowing they were still watching me.


Beck's POV;

I was waiting beside Tori's locker anxiously. After our conversation yesterday in the Asphalt I had barely gotten any sleep- I couldn't stop thinking about Jade. I thought about all of the great times we had, had, even the bad times. Whether good or bad, they were precious to me and I couldn't stop thinking about her. I just really want to see her, make sure she's okay, hold her in my arms and tell her everything is going to be ok, and that's I'll never leave her again.

I was dragged from my thoughts by Andre and Robbie (and Rex) coming up to me. "Hey, man, how you doin'?" Andre questioned, a serious expression on his face. I knew what he meant when he asked me that. He was concerned for my wellbeing and wondering how this entire situation was taking its toll on me. "I'm fine," I answered, "just waiting for Cat and Tori. Remember, they had a sleepover with Jade last night."

"Hah. I bet they did," Rex said.

"Rex!" Robbie yelled at his puppet. I rolled my eyes.

"Well, wait no longer, here they come," Andre said with a laugh. I quickly turned my head in the direction of the doors to see the two girls heading towards us. I breathed a sigh of relief, I don't think I could have waited any longer.

When both girls were with us, they greeted us happily as Tori went through her locker and swapped few books- putting back the ones she didn't need and taking the ones she did. Cat conversed with us happily as we waited for Tori to finish. I impatiently tapped my foot on the floor when Tori dropped a book and had to pick it up. It was taking everything in me not to scream at her, asking where Jade was and how she was doing.

"Finally," I said when Tori closed her locker.

"What's wrong with you, Mr Grumpy Face?" She questioned as she started walking in the direction of Jade's locker.

"I just want to know how Jade's doing."

"Well then, you'll be happy to know she's doing great," Tori stated. She and Cat stopped right next to Jade's locker. I was confused.

"Why are we stopping here?"

"We're waiting for Jade," Cat giggled. Me, Andre, and Robbie looked at each other.

"Wait, Jade's coming here?" Andre inquired.

"Yep!"

"But I thought she wasn't going to come back?" Robbie said.

"That's what we thought, too, but when we were about to leave for school, she just randomly told us she was coming, as well," Tori informed.

"That's right," we heard. My heart almost stopped in my chest when I heard that voice. The voice I had been wanting to hear for the past two and a half months. The voice belonging to the girl I love more than anyone else, even if she didn't believe it. Me, Andre, and Robbie turned on the spot to see her behind us. She took with a huge cup of coffee in her hands, her Gears of War bag slung over her shoulder, dark red highlights in her hair, and her usual style of clothing. It almost looked like she hadn't changed one bit. That is, to everyone else it looked that way. But me, I know Jade, and I know when she's hiding something- when she's hurting, even. And right now, she is both hiding something and hurting.

"Oh my god! You witch," I heard. I was dragged out of my thoughts by Rex yelling about his arm. It seemed Jade had already amputated Rex. For what, I don't know, I wasn't listening. I saw Andre pull her in for a hug, telling her how much he and everyone else had missed her. It's true. Right now, everyone in the hallway was staring at Jade, whispering about her sudden return and how they were actually glad she had come back.

It was then my turn to welcome Jade back, but it seemed the words were stuck in my throat. Building up, ready to come out any moment, but they wouldn't. She stared at me with a raised eyebrow when it looked like I was going to say something but I didn't. I coughed. "Sorry," I apologised for acting like a moron. "It's great to have you back, Jade. I missed you," I whispered the last part, letting her, and only her, know how much I really missed her.

I was completely gobsmacked when she rushed toward me and pulled me in for a hug. She put her arms around my waist and rested her head on my shoulder. I tilted my head as I wrapped my own arms around her, holding her close and hoping to never let go. I breathed in her scent, for the first time realising she no longer smelled like a mix of vanilla and coffee, but of nothing. She smelled of nothing. I hummed to myself in confusion until my thoughts were interrupted, yet again, but this time by, "good Ghandi!"

I pulled away from her, and she did the same, to look over in the direction the shout had come from. Sikowitz stood to my right, obviously heading to class, with his mouth open and a coconut in his hand. "Jade?!" He exclaimed. She chuckled and merely nodded. Sikowitz took a short step forward until Jade scoffed and closed the distance between them, pulling her only real father figure into a hug. Our teacher wrapped his own arms around her in relief.

Despite what people may think, Jade and Sikowitz had some kind of understanding. She didn't actually dislike him and he actually thought of her, and us, as one of his own. She had admitted to me at some point, around a year ago, how she felt about Sikowitz. She had said that he was more of a father to her than her own father. I couldn't help but agree. Sikowitz was more than just a friend to all of us. He was like some kind of crazy, embarrassing, bare foot father.

They both pulled away from each other and Sikowitz smiled, ecstatic, at her. He took a sip from his coconut before running off towards classroom. "That was weird," Rex pointed out. Yes, it was weird.


In first period, which we luckily had with Sikowitz, we all sat in our normal seats. Jade sat next to me, Cat in front of her, Tori next to her, and Andre and Robbie next to each other. The other seats were filled out with the "shruggers". I smiled when Jade leaned into my side. I put my arm around her and sighed, content. We weren't exactly back together, but it seemed we were on good terms. Jade must have forgiven me and gotten over her jealousy issues. Maybe. She must have had a lot of time to think if she was no longer worried about Tori.

"Okay, children!" Sikowitz yelled, "I would first like to welcome back Jadelyn West!" He did a dramatic turn before finally facing our way and pointed towards Jade.

"Don't ever call me that again," Jade told him in a low voice. She sounded more serious and angry than usual, but I let it go.

"Wait, your real name is Jadelyn?" Tori turned around in her seat to look at Jade.

"Yeah, what about it, Vega?"

"Nothing, I was only asking. I just didn't expect someone like you to be called Jadelyn."

"'Someone like me'?" She repeated, leaning forward in her seat.

"I-I didn't mean anything bad by that!" Tori defended and held her arms up in surrender.

"Alright! Now stop that, you two! Jade, you've been back five minutes and you're already bullying Tori again," Sikowitz interrupted.

"You started it!" Jade said.

"I started it?"

"Yeah, you called me Jadelyn and got its interest," she said, pointing at Tori when she said "its".

"That's not my fault."

"Stop it!" I ordered. Tori, Sikowitz, and Jade looked my way. "Sorry, it's just- like Sikowitz said- you've been back five minutes and you're already arguing with people, Jade. And, Tori, yes her name is Jadelyn. Nothing wrong with that. Sikowitz, just don't call her than in the future," I finished. Tori leaned back in her seat, Sikowitz stood back on stage, and Jade returned to my arm.

It's going to take a while to get used to having Jade back, I decided.