"Dress shopping, dress shopping, we're going dress shopping," Cat sang to Tori and Jade as the final bell of the day rang, signaling them to go home. They made their way to Jade's car.
"Should I get a long dress, or a short one?" Tori wondered aloud.
"Hmm," Cat pondered. "A short one, I think!"
"Are you getting a short one?"
"Yep!"
"Then I'm getting a long one," Jade said flatly, even though no one had asked her.
"I bet a long one will look pretty on you," Cat remarked.
"Thanks, Cat," Jade replied, making a small effort to be civil toward the peculiar redhead. How was it that Cat had a smile – a real, genuine smile – plastered on her face all damn day? Jade had been observing her all day, from afar, mostly, and didn't see Cat frown once. Her unconventional happiness put Jade in an even worse mood than before. It was annoying. Nobody could be that happy. Not even Tori.
But yet, Cat was. And as hard as Jade tried, she couldn't detect a hint of fakeness about her. She was just genuinely happy. Like a freakin' life enthusiast.
"Welcome!"
"Let's just get this over with," Jade muttered, not quite loud enough for the other girls to hear.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 2 HOURS LATER
Jade dropped the girls off at Tori's house, where they were having a – Jade cringed at the word – sleepover and decided to go and see Beck.
She pulled up into his driveway beside his RV and walked right in, not bothering to knock.
"Oh, hey babe," he said as soon as he saw her standing in the narrow doorway.
"Hey," she said back. "What're you doing?"
"Just some homework. How was shopping?"
"It wasn't…horrible."
Beck grinned knowingly, and Jade was caught between the urge to slap the smirk off his face, or kiss him. "So, you're saying you had fun?"
"No," she said quickly, defensively. "It just wasn't as bad as I anticipated."
She walked over to Beck and he pulled her onto his lap and kissed her, sending tingles to run through her body. Being with Beck always caused that reaction in her, and she felt like a giddy little girl. Not that she'd ever admit that.
"You were right about something," she confessed quietly, taking in his familiar scent of cologne mixed with shampoo.
"What?"
"I guess I kind of…you know…"
"What?" he repeated.
"I like Cat," she snapped. "As annoying as she is, she's completely harmless. Not even I could find it in me to hate her. She's like an innocent little puppy dog."
Beck smirked. "So you're saying that I was right?"
"You weren't completely wrong."
Beck shot her a playful look. "Jade."
"What?"
"Admit I was right, or I'll tickle you to death."
"Beck, you better not! No! Stop!" she shrieked. "I'll bite you!"
Beck paid her no attention as he moved her and himself from the bed to the floor and rolled her on her back, tickling her everywhere.
"Beck!" she cried through her laughing fit. "Stop!"
Beck tortured her for a good few minutes before letting up. She breathed heavily as she sobered up and ran a hand through her hair. "I hate you."
"I hate you too."
She stuck her bottom lip out, pouting. "Don't say that."
"You say it to me all of the time, it's only fair."
"Tell me you love me."
"What's the magic word?"
She rolled her eyes at him. She hated saying it, so she whispered it in a soft voice. "Please."
He flashed her a smile. "I love you."
She leaned over and kissed him, and he wrapped his arms around her. They stayed like that for a long time.
"Beck," she murmured in a soft voice that he very rarely heard from her.
"Hmm?"
"Will you, um, tell me something if I promise not to get mad?"
"Sure," he said. "Anything you want to know."
"Tell me about you and Cat's relationship."
"No," Beck shook his head immediately. "Anything but that."
Jade sighed. "I promise I'll control myself.
Now Beck sighed. He supposed it wasn't fair to keep it from her. Besides, if he did, she'd only get upset and suspicious and jump to the worst case scenario. "What do you want to know?
She thought for a moment. "How did you guys start going out?"
Beck hesitated for a moment before telling her the story straight from his memory. It was, after all, a memory he recalled more often than he'd like to admit.
It was the first day of his freshman year, and Beck had gotten lost in the big hallways of Hollywood Arts. He was ten minutes late by the team he'd finally found his first class.
"Ah, you must be Beckett Oliver," the man he now knew as Sikowitz said as he walked in.
"I prefer Beck," he replied.
"Okay, Mr. Beck, you can take a seat next to, uh, that synthetic red head over there." Sikowitz nodded his head toward the back of the room where the only available seat was left.
"My name's Cat Valentine, like the animal and the holiday," the girl volunteered. "Hi Beck."
"Hello," Beck said back to her, surprised at how feminine and sweet her voice sounded. He smiled. She seemed friendly.
Beck walked back to the seat beside her and sat down, getting a better look at her. God,, she was pretty.
"Okay, class, take the rest of the time to get acquainted with one another. You'll be doing a lot of acting exercises and projects together over the course of the year, so it's a good idea to make some friends now."
Cat turned to Beck and smiled brightly. He couldn't help but be taken aback by her striking beauty. He'd seen pretty girls before, hell, gorgeous girls had practically thrown themselves at him as he'd walked down the hallways that morning. But her beauty was different, effortless looking. And it wasn't all about how she looked, but how she was. The easy way she held herself and flicked her hair over her shoulder. The way she held herself with sort of a quiet confidence that showed she was self assured – but not full of herself.
"Can I feel your hair?" she asked out of nowhere.
Beck laughed despite himself. "You want to feel my hair? Why?"
Cat just shrugged. "It looks soft."
Beck leaned over and let her feel his hair.
"It is soft!" she gushed.
Laughing, he reached over and brushed a red strand behind her ear. "Yours is soft, too."
She giggled. "Thanks."
"No problem," Beck answered automatically as he tried to gather up enough courage to ask her what he wanted more than anything at that moment. "Hey, would you like to sit by me and my best friend Andre at lunch today?"
Cat's eyes met his dead on, and he felt mesmerized under her gaze. Her eyes were big and brown, warm and sparkling. "I'd love to."
"So, you met her in class, invited her to eat lunch with you, and the rest is history?" Jade asked, confused. Beck had only told her the bare minimum. That he'd met her, had to sit by her, and invited her to lunch. He left out the parts about what he was thinking. None of that would have went over well with Jade.
"Well, yes and no. We liked each other – it was obvious – but we didn't do anything about it for a long time. Not like you and I," he grinned. "But the first day I moved out of my parents' house and into my RV, I invited her over to see it. We were best friends at that time, but it's the same night we became official."
So, that wasn't exactly all that happened, but Beck wasn't going to give Jade the details.
Cat had come over and saw his RV, and was unconditionally supportive about his decision, something that he needed more than anything. Someone supportive.
"Beck, this is great!" she'd said. "Really, it's so cool."
He smiled. "Thank you."
"No problem. I mean it. It's like your own private little world."
"Yeah, it is," he agreed.
Then, their eyes met, and the atmosphere around them suddenly changed. He couldn't hold himself back any longer. He'd been crushing on her for weeks, and he just couldn't shake the urge to kiss her.
So he did.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her without a second thought.
And sparks flew instantly.
She kissed him back, her lips soft as rose petals, and it was at that moment that he knew they had something special.
He wasn't a believer in love at first sight, really. But something happened between them, something clicked. Like a key turning in a lock.
She was the one to pull away first, her big eyes piercing into his. "Does this mean…"
He pecked her on the lips to hush her before she could ask him. "Cat, will you be my girlfriend?"
Of course, she'd said yes, and they hung out for awhile longer before he asked her when her curfew was.
"Whenever I want," she shrugged. "My brother doesn't care where I go, and my parents are never home."
"Oh," he remarked.
"I could probably spend the night if you wanted me to."
So she did. They laid in his small bed and talked and kissed almost all night. They learned almost everything about each other, and he finally knew what it felt like to open up to someone.
She learned that his parents put a lot of pressure on him to be perfect, and if it weren't for them, he'd have never enrolled in Hollywood Arts. There was so much tension in his house, that he couldn't take it and finally told them he was moving out.
And he learned that her brother had many problems, and that her parents were never really around. She talked about how much it hurt her and scared her when her brother had some of his "episodes" and that's why she didn't like being alone with him.
Time flew, and they were still awake, giggling and cuddling when they heard birds beginning to chirp and saw the first sign of daylight creeping through his blinds onto the shaggy carpet floor.
She'd hurried home to change and get ready for school, and he lay in bed, reflecting on the night they'd shared. She was unlike anyone he'd ever known, so innocent and kind and full of love and joy. And she caused him to feel things, feelings that he never thought he'd feel.
It was in that moment that he knew – as crazy as it sounded – that he'd fallen in love with her.
"I need to go," Jade said suddenly, bringing Beck back to reality.
"Why?"
"Because." She began gathering her jacket and bag.
"You promised you wouldn't get mad," Beck reminded her.
She turned to face him. "I'm not mad!" she yelled, a tear slipping down her cheek. "I'm hurt."
With that, she turned and left.
Beck suddenly felt very guilty. It wasn't like Jade to cry. It was weakness in her eyes, and she feared being weak. He didn't know what he'd done to hurt her so badly.
A/N: Question! Why do you think Jade ran out crying? Comment and review please! xx
