Call me a hater, if you want to
But I only hate on him 'cause I want you
Say I'm trippin' if you feel like
But you without me ain't right (ain't right)
You can say I'm crazy, if you want to
That's true- I'm crazy 'bout you
You could say I'm breakin' down inside (inside)
'Cause I can't see you with another guy
Makes Me Ill - NSync
"Our Atlanta hotel's numbers aren't doing so well. Our Manhattan location is doing great, as are Seattle, San Francisco, Miami and Dallas. Nashville could be doing better, but it's still not as bad as Atlanta."
Jade dropped her phone so she could listen to her father rattle off information about his hotels. She actually liked listening to him and hanging out at the hotel headquarters. Richard West in business mode was pretty great.
"Because the Atlanta location sucks." Jade replied.
Richard looked taken aback by his daughter's candor. "It sucks? How so?"
"The hotel is nice and all, but it could definitely use a facelift. It looks old. You need to let mom and I renovate that place so it looks more modern. And Atlanta has a ton of celebrities. You should get a celebrity to be the face of your hotel. People closer to my age will be more inclined to go there if someone like Ludacris or Usher goes to our hotel. So, you should talk to PR about that. And make it the go to spot for athletes. If a team has to come to play the Falcons, the West Hotel is the hotel they need to stay at. And with athletes, comes fans and groupies. Your best bet would be setting up a contract with a team or something so that they only go to our hotels whether they're in San Francisco, Miami, Atlanta, Seattle, New Orleans, etc. That'd be beneficial to almost all of our hotels."
"I think you're more innovative than I am." Richard said. "And I fancy myself pretty innovative."
"I'm younger. I know what people like."
"Was is it with you calling me old? You and your mother can be very mean."
"I don't know. The age gap between you and mom is weird."
"I'm fifty, she's forty-five. It's not that weird."
"When you guys met, she was seventeen. She was a junior in high school, and you were in your first year of grad school. It's a bit weird. You're a cradle robber."
"So, I'm a few years older? What's the harm? Karen and I have been together for almost twenty-nine years. We work."
"So can I bring my thirty year old American History teacher home?" Jade asked, already knowing the answer her father would give.
"Absolutely not." Richard deadpanned. "You would be grounded for life, young lady. Do as I say, not as I do."
Jade rolled her eyes dramatically. "That's not fair."
"I'm your father, not a mediator. I don't have to be fair."
"Just remember that when you're eighty and I'm in charge of all of your medical decisions." Jade teased.
"Tyler will be my medical proxy." Richard shot back. "But nice try."
"When are you and mom leaving for the Hamptons?" Jade asked, leaning forward in her seat. Her parents were going away for the weekend to attend a wedding.
"Tomorrow afternoon. You'll still be in school when we leave. Don't burn the penthouse down, don't break any of your mother's expensive china, and try not to fire anyone." Richard ordered.
Jade was known to fire any employee who dared to question her. More times than not, Richard had to pay off the angry employees to get them not to sue. He may have had the best lawyers in the greater Los Angeles and a few judges in his back pocket, but lawsuits were like pesky bugs.
"I'll be the perfect child."
"Tyler might drop in and check on you."
Jade tried not to roll her eyes at that. Tyler was more of a wild child than she was, and that was saying something. He was the only person she knew that could take the SATs hungover and still get a 2340.
She stood up and grabbed her backpack off of the floor. "I have to go, I have tons of homework."
"And I have a meeting."
"Mom will kill you if you aren't back by dinner."
"I'll be home before dinner."
Jade leaned over her father's desk and kissed his cheek. "See you at home."
"You've seriously never been bowling before?" Nathan asked, still shocked that Jade never went bowling. Is she the only one who hasn't?
"Nope, I've never gone bowling." Jade replied.
They were currently at Lucky Strike in Los Angeles.
"Why?"
"I told you I don't do rented bowling shoes. That's disgusting."
Nathan grabbed his shoes off of the counter. They walked over to their lane at the very end of the bowling alley.
"You do know that they give you socks to put on? Your feet don't actually touch the inside of the shoe."
"I'm not taking any chances." Jade held up her own personal pair of white bowling shoes. "I had to buy my own."
"Suit yourself." Jade sat in the nearest chair and pulled off her high heels. "How do girls walk in those things? They look like torture. Really expensive torture."
Jade looked at her patent leather YSL pumps. "My mother was a supermodel. Walking in heels is practically in my blood."
"Aren't you afraid of breaking an ankle or something?" Nathan asked.
"Not at all." Jade said. She grabbed the pair of socks given to her at the front desk and slipped them on, followed by her shoes. "Are you ready to play?"
"Yeah. Are you ready to lose?"
Jade asked. "I don't lose."
Nathan enter their names so they could play. "I'll have you know that I'm very good at bowling, Jade West. You aren't going to win playing against me."
"Watch me."
"You're very cocky." Nathan pointed out.
"Well a girl like me had the right to be cocky, right?"
"I guess."
Jade picked up the first bowling ball she saw—a solid red one. She inserted her three middle fingers into the ball, strode up to the lane, and released the ball. It rolled to the side of the lane, and wound up in the gutter.
That got a laugh out of Nathan. A loud, boisterous, almost obnoxious laugh that got the attention of a lot of people in the bowling alley.
"You're awful."
On the other side of the room, the rest of the gang sat watching as Nathan and Jade bowled.
"Why are we here?" André asked. He was pretty annoyed that Beck dragged him to a freaking bowling alley to spy on Jade. "Stalking Jade wasn't on my to-do list."
"I just want to see what she is doing." Beck replied.
André groaned. "If we're going to be here, can we at least play a game?"
"No we can't draw attention to ourselves."
Tori frowned and checked the time on her cell phone. She and André were supposed to go out in a few hours.
"Beck, you suck." André snapped.
"This is really boring." Robbie added. "You have a serious problem. You're a borderline stalker."
"No, I'm not. I'm not stalking her."
"Yes you are." Everyone else replied.
"It's more like stalking adjacent." Robbie compromised.
"Guys, it's not Beck's fault that he's a weirdo." Cat pointed out. "We just have to love him despite it."
"I'm not weird! Guys check up on their exes all the time. I'm not the first guy to do this."
"All the other guys who do it have restraining orders against them." André deadpanned. "Or they're in jail."
"Why don't you just go over to Jade and say something." Robbie suggested, twisting on the small chair to get into a more comfortable position. "I mean looking at Jade is making you sick."
Beck scoffed, but knew Robbie was right. Watching Jade with Nathan was like watching a car wreck. You know you should turn away, but you can't help but look. Maybe he liked torturing himself. "Jade would kill me if she knew I was here."
"She would kill all of us." Robbie pointed out. "None of us are exempt."
"Cat maybe." André said.
They all mumbled in agreement with that statement.
André glanced over to Jade and Nathan. Sure they were laughing and joking, but it didn't seem that serious to him. They just looked like two friends hanging out.
"They look pretty platonic to me." He said. "They aren't into each other like that."
"How would you know?" Beck asked, genuinely curious.
"Because my mom's a psychiatrist. I am pretty good at reading people and picking up on body language. They aren't touching each other, they aren't sitting too close, they aren't sharing longing glances, they're just playing the game and having fun. It's no different from me and Jade hanging out, or Jade and Ryder."
"Except it's not you and Jade, or Jade and Ryder. It's Jade and whoever the fuck that guy is."
"His name is Nathan." Cat clarified.
Robbie squeezed Cat's shoulder affectionately. "I think Beck already knew that. He's just being snippy because he's insanely jealous."
"Oh."
Robbie chuckled. "Caterina Valentine, you are too adorable for words."
Tori grabbed her purse and stood up. "I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be right back."
Tori walked away from the group and rounded the corner to find the women's restroom.
Once inside, Tori put her purse on the counter and rummaged through it to find her makeup bag.
How long was this going to take? André made dinner reservations for eight o'clock sharp and it was now six-thirty.
Tori looked down at her outfit. She was going to have to go home and change. There was no way she would be caught dead wearing her school clothes at a five-star restaurant.
So wrapped up in her thoughts, Tori didn't even notice Jade enter the bathroom.
"New girl?"
Tori's head snapped up and she looked at Jade. "Jade! Hi."
"What are you doing here?" Jade asked, locking eyes with Tori.
"I...I um, I'm here with André." Tori said, shifting her weight from her left foot to her right.
"André?"
"Yeah. We're on a date!"
Jade scoffed. "You're dating André? André Harris? Really?"
"Is that so hard to believe?" Tori asked. She didn't know if that was meant to be an insult or not.
"Kind of, yes." Jade said, a smirk forming on her lips.
"Well we are. And we are going out to dinner after this, not that it's any of your business."
Jade didn't say anything in reply.
She pulled out a tube of lipstick and uncapped it. It looked like a dark purple, almost plum color to Tori. She made a mental note to ask Jade where she got it from at a later time.
When she was finished reapplying her lipstick, she turned to Tori. "New girl, I've known André since preschool. He's one of my best friends and I am fiercely protective of him. So-"
"Is this the whole, 'break his heart, I'll break your face,' speech?" Tori interjected.
Jade chuckled. "Tori, I'm way too rich and way too intelligent to ever resort to physical violence. That's for animals and plebeians who cannot use their brains to solve their problems. What I would do to you is much more worse than a broken nose and bloody lip. No, I'd destroy you. You'd be nothing, which wouldn't be that hard to do. You saw what happened to Erica and I was going easy on her."
That was going 'easy' on someone? That wasn't a comforting thought.
"Got it."
"Great." Jade looked Tori up and down. "But now that I think about it, I don't think I'd be opposed to hitting you. Enjoy the rest of your date!"
Jade turned around and left the bathroom.
She didn't notice André, Beck, Robbie, and Cat sitting in the far corner, and they were incredible thankful because they saw her. She walked back to lane shared with Nathan.
"Ready to continue?" Nathan asked, holding up a bowling ball.
"André and Tori are here."
"Really?"
"Yeah, apparently they're on a date." Jade continued. She watched as Nathan bowled a perfect strike.
"Fun. We should all bowl together."
"No thanks, that sounds awful."
"As awful as your bowling skills?" Nathan teased.
"Oh, you are so mean! I've never done this before."
"Aren't you getting tired of watching me bowl all strikes while you barely knock down four or five pins?"
"Yes, I am tired of it." Jade admitted.
"Should I put up the side bars and treat you like a toddler?"
Jade's eyes narrowed at Nathan. "You're funny."
"I try."
"Can we stop? I'm actually starving."
Nathan smirked. "Are you forfeiting the game, Jade West. I know I'm kicking your ass, but that's no excuse to quit."
"I am hungry. I haven't eaten in hours."
"Fine."
"So where are you taking me?"
"I have to buy the food too?" Nathan playfully groaned. "Gosh, you are lucky I'm such a gentleman and my mother raised me to have manners."
"I can pay if it's such a problem for you." Jade teased back.
"No, no it's no problem. I happen to know a great place right down the street. Best nachos in Los Angeles."
"Really? I happen to love nachos."
"Great. Then let's go."
Jade turned around to grab her jacket off of the chair. When she did, she could've swore she saw Beck looking at her.
She blinked furiously and checked again to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. But when she looked again, she saw nothing."
"What the hell?" Jade muttered under her breath.
"Jade, are you ready?"
Jade turned around and saw Nathan standing there, waiting for her.
She nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready."
She tiredly rubbed her eyes. Was Beck stalking her? Or was she just going crazy?
"Remind me why I'm friends with those people." André goaded, sitting down across from Tori.
"Because you've known them since forever." Tori tried.
"They're crazy."
"You love them."
"I know." André rolled his eyes. "I do love them. But you've seen those guys, they're able to drive you up a wall."
Tori chuckled. "Yeah, I'm starting to notice."
A young woman walked over to their table. "Good evening guys. Welcome to Angelique's, the best restaurant to come out of New Orleans. My name is Alyssa and I'll be your server...Tori?"
Tori looked up and saw that girl, Alyssa standing in front of her, a notepad in hand.
"Hello." Tori greeted. "How are you?"
"Great."
André studied the menu, "Before I forget to tell you, we're all going to sleep over at Jade's tomorrow. It's been our thing since we were children. And she wanted me to extend the invite to you."
"Yeah, I'll come."
Alyssa abruptly dropped her notepad and pen. "I'm so sorry."
"It's fine." André said nonchalantly. He extended his hand for Alyssa to grab. She rebuffed him and lifted herself up.
"Tori, can I talk to you for a second?" Alyssa asked. She grabbed Tori's hand and turned to André. "Can I borrow her for just a sec?"
"I don't think-
"Sure." André said.
"Great." Alyssa pulled Tori up from her seat and they walked through the busy restaurant until the found a private place to talk near the kitchen.
"What are you doing?" Tori asked, yanking her hand out of Alyssa's tight grasp.
"What are you doing?" Alyssa hissed.
"I was supposed to be having dinner."
"You just don't get it, do you?" Alyssa shook her head. "How dense can you be?"
"What are you talking about? Your cryptic threats are getting annoying."
"I made it blatantly clear that those people are not the kind of people you should be friends with. And you just ignored that warning." Alyssa explained.
"They're my friends." Tori said.
"You're incredibly stupid to think these people are your friends. You'll be flat on your ass soon enough."
"Why are you waiting on me to fail?"
"I've seen them do this too many times. Some poor, naive person does something, and they are like piranhas. You must be a glutton for trouble if you want to get close to them."
"And you would know?"
"Yes! I went on a few dates with Beck and..."
"What?" Tori prodded.
Alyssa shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it. You seem like a nice girl. You aren't cut out for their lifestyle. They don't have morals, or ethics, or scruples. They do whatever, no matter the damage, and they don't stop. You need to be void a soul to be friends with Jade. She's cut throat. You can't tell me that she didn't get Erica kicked out of school."
Tori's eyes widened as she thought back to the poor girl.
"Tori, you're new, but there is one thing that you need to know. Do not piss me off. And if you do, you better pray I can't find anything out about you."
Alyssa took one look at Tori's face and knew she was right.
"I knew it! She orchestrated that suspension. How did she do it?"
Tori was starting to feel uncomfortable with the conversation. "I don't want to talk about this. I don't want to talk about Jade with you."
"Aw, you don't want me to talk about your new bff?"
Tori huffed in irritation. "I didn't come over here to be insulted by you."
"Fine. You know, I thought you were smarter than this. I thought you'd be able to ride above all of the money, the glitz, and the glamour, but you're as simple as the rest of this town. But don't say I didn't warn you."
"Are we done here?"
Alyssa looked Tori up and down with a steely gaze. It made Tori uncomfortable with it definitely didn't have the same effect as when Jade set her icy blue eyes on someone.
"We're done. I'll send a new waitress over to your table. You have a nice night."
"You too."
Tori rolled her eyes and turned around so she could walk back to her table. What was that?
Alyssa obviously had a hard on for Jade and Tori refused to be used as a pawn for whatever her vendetta was. Alyssa was just going to have to find someone else.
"What was that all about?"
Tori shook her head. "Nothing important. It was just some personal girl stuff."
"Ah, never mind. I don't want to know."
"You are correct on that." Tori agreed.
"But now that it's over, let's just enjoy the rest of the evening."
Tori smiled. "That sounds great."
"How drunk are you trying to get tonight?" Ryder asked sneaking up behind Jade, who was pouring herself a drink.
Jade turned around and smiled. "On a scale of one-to-ten? Twelve."
"That sounds like my idea of fun."
Jade's eyes fell on the petite blonde that was holding Ryder's hand. "Who are you?"
"Gemma." The girl replied in a 'duh' tone.
Jade shrugged. "Are you supposed to mean something to me? Because the way you said your name implies relevancy."
"We've met like three times, and I'm in your calculus class." Gemma replied.
Jade shrugged. "Ryder never keeps his...conquests around long enough so I haven't bothered to learn names since freshman year. But hello, Gemma. Make yourself at home."
"Thanks."
Ryder gave Gemma a pat on the shoulder. "Why don't you go put your bag down?"
"Okay." Gemma walked away.
"So what are you making?" Ryder asked.
"Martinis."
"Gin or vodka?"
"What do you think? Vodka obviously. I tried pineapple Ciroc this time."
Ryder grabbed a martini glass and took a sip. "You know, if becoming the CEO to West Hotels doesn't work out, you'd make an excellent mixologist."
"Thanks."
The elevator dinged and out came André and Tori. They made their way to the kitchen where Ryder and Jade were.
"André! New girl!"
André chuckled. "West, you're drinking already? Nice."
Jade picked a glass up and extended it to André. "It's not a Jade West party if you're not a little tipsy."
"Thank you."
Jade grabbed the sleeve of André's shirt and pulled him closer. "So you and Tori?"
"It was just one date but yeah, me and Tori. You and that kid Nathan?"
"No. He just took me out because I was feeling a little down. He's just my friend."
"Really? You don't make new friends."
"I like Nathan. He's really nice and funny. I need nice and funny in my life right now."
So they weren't dating. André had to tell that to Beck before he went full-frontal stalker and made an ass of himself.
"So you're single?"
"Unfortunately, yes. I don't have any prospects lining up around the hotel to court me at the moment."
"Did you invite him?"
"I did extend the invite, but he has a family thing."
"Okay."
"Can I ask you a question, Dré?"
"Of course."
Jade turned and rested her elbow on the countertop. "Now I couldn't swore that I saw Beck last night. Was he at the bowling alley or were my eyes deceiving me?"
André froze instantly. His throat locked up and he felt his pulse quicken. He wasn't the best liar alive and Jade was glaring at him with her extremely intense blue eyes.
"No." André said, slowly so he didn't seem suspicious.
Jade narrowed her eyes. "You're lying to me."
"What?"
"You have a horrible poker face."
"Please don't be mad." André begged. "Don't kill me."
"What are you two whispering about?" Ryder asked, reminding André and Jade that they weren't alone.
"None of your business." Jade said. "If it were, we wouldn't be whispering."
Ryder held his hands up. "Don't bite my head off."
Jade turned back to André. "We'll finish this later."
The four of them walked out of the kitchen and made it to the living room where Gemma, Robbie, Cat, and Beck were.
"So I ordered Chinese food, and hopefully it's here within the next ten minutes." Jade said, taking a spot on the couch. "But we can always order room service later."
"You guys still have chocolate cake, right?" Cat asked.
"Of course."
Cat squealed excitedly. "Yay!"
"But you can't go overboard." Jade warned. Cat tended to take things to the extreme and she had an addictive personality which caused her to get fixated on whatever she saw fit. "I've set a two slice max for you."
Cat frowned. "Poo."
"So, what are we going to do?"
"Ooh, there's an SVU marathon about to start!" André exclaimed. Everyone knew he was obsessed with the show. "We're going to watch, that's what we're going to do."
"SVU drinking game?" Beck suggested.
Ryder smiled. "Even better idea, Oliver. Grab the drinks."
A few minutes later, everyone was sitting around, a shot glass in hand.
The familiar "dun dun" of the theme song started out. "Okay, shot time. Bottoms up."
Tori had only ever drank once before in her life. She was at her friend's house and they drank wine coolers in her basement. But these kids drank the hard stuff like it was water. The chances of any one of them needing a liver transplant was fairly high, in her opinion.
"So, what's the purpose of this?" Tori asked. "How do we know when to take a shot?"
"Okay, an old lady and her grandson found the body. That's double. Take two shots." Jade explained, as she filled Tori's tiny glass.
Tori held the glass to her lips, pinched her nose, and finished her shot. Tears stung in the corners of her eyes and the alcohol burned her throat.
"Olivia is using her baby voice to talk to the kid. That's another one."
"Munch just made a super lame pun." André pointed out.
"Are we gonna get drunk in the first five minutes?" Tori questioned, scratching her head. She was already feeling the alcohol take over.
"Don't be such a baby, new girl." Jade teased.
"I'm not used to taking shots every other minute."
Jade laughed. "André, why didn't you tell us she was such a lightweight?"
Gemma raised her hand to get everyone's attention. "New rule! Every time Elliot's ass looks good in his slacks, we take a shot."
"Same goes for Olivia's boobs in those ridiculously tight sweaters." Ryder added. "It's only fair."
Gemma shrugged. "Deal."
They had to cut the game off thirty-five minutes into the episode because if they went any further, their livers would probably go into shock or someone would get alcohol poisoning.
"The ex-boyfriend totally did it." Robbie said. "He had motive, means, and his alibi is shaky at best."
"That's too obvious." Gemma argued. "It's gonna be her boss. They were sleeping together. She was having his kid. A kid he didn't want, might I add."
Jade shook her head. "You guys are both wrong. It's probably going to be the boss' mother. No way is she going to let the illegitimate child become the heir to her company. She obviously offed the victim herself, or paid someone to do it. But I'm gonna say she did it because she has balls of steel. I'd do something like that?"
"You'd kill your grandchild?"
"Of course not. I'd give the lady one million dollars and tell her to get the hell out of town. I'd run her out of town before she even got the chance to get pregnant."
"I've seen this episode like five times." André said. "Do you guys want to know who did it?"
"No!" Jade looked to Gemma and Robbie. "Twenty bucks?"
"Sure." Gemma said. "I'll be forty bucks richer."
"No, you're gonna be out twenty dollars when you have to pay me."
The phone rang, interrupting the group's lighthearted banter. Jade hopped off the couch and ran to the phone, which was in the kitchen.
"Hello." Jade greeted after picking up.
"Miss West?"
"Yes."
"Hi, there's a man at the front desk with boxes of Chinese food. Is this for you?"
"Great! I'll be down there in just a few minutes."
"Very well, Miss West."
Jade hung up the phone. She walked out of the kitchen and upstairs to her bedroom so she could grab a pair of shoes, some cash, and her elevator key. Once she got them, she bounded back down the stairs.
"I'll be back!" She announced, just to let her friends know she was leaving the apartment.
"Kay!" Someone called back, but she wasn't sure who.
When they ordered takeout, they never let people come up to the penthouse, seeing as the elevator led straight into the house and not a hallway. Someone always had to go down and bring the food up, for security reasons. It got pretty annoying at times, especially when it was nighttime and Jade was in pajamas.
The elevator ride was fairly quick and before Jade knew it, she was in the lobby. She saw a man standing at the front desk, holding a huge box in his hands.
"Are you Jade?" The man asked once Jade was in front of him.
"Yes. How much do I owe?"
"Forty, even." The man replied.
Jade slapped a fifty dollar bill in his hand and took the box. "Keep the change."
"Thank you. Have a nice night, ma'am.
"You too."
When Jade made it back to the apartment, everyone was lounging around. Gemma ended up winning the bet they made on the Law and Order episode. Robbie and André were playing a card game, Cat and Tori were watching some random reality show, Ryder and Gemma were in their own little corner of the living room. From where Jade was standing, it looked like Gemma was falling asleep. And Beck was checking something out on his cell phone.
Jade cleared her throat to announce her presence. "The food has arrived!"
No one really made moves to get up and get anything, so Jade just put the box down on the kitchen counter and walked into the living room.
It looked like the party was settling down.
.
"You know what we should do? We should play a game." André suggested.
They had been lounging around for the past three hours, pretty much doing nothing and André was officially bored of doing nothing.
"What type of game?" Tori asked.
"Texas Hold 'Em?" Beck threw out.
Ryder scoffed. "Yeah, the only way I'm playing poker is if we're stripping. And I kinda don't wanna see three other guys and my sister sans clothing. Veto on poker."
"I have board games." Jade added.
Robbie shook his head. "There's too many people for Monopoly. Besides, we could end up playing that game for days. No thanks."
Cat's head shot up, as if an idea just came to her. "Let's play something fun! Like capture the flag."
They all pondered the game for a few moments. It sounded like a good idea.
"Capture the Flag sounds good."
"Wait right here." Jade said. She stood up and stepped over Tori so she could make it to the staircase. She went up the stairs two steps at a time to reach her room. Jade turned to her wardrobe and opened the top drawer. She rummaged through it and found two scarves—a red one and a blue one. Jade ran back down the stairs.
"So we're gonna have a red team and a blue team. Who wants to be captain?"
Cat's hand shot into the air. "Me! I want to do it! It was my idea."
Jade laughed at the energetic redhead. She tossed her the red scarf. "Okay, Cat's a team captain. Who else?"
"I'll be one." Beck said.
"Great." Jade tossed him the flag. "So how are we going to do this?"
"Boys versus girls? There's an even number of us."
Jade thought that was fair. "Okay. Guys can have the downstairs, and the girls can take the upstairs. No one goes into the terrace because I don't want anyone to fall off the balcony or drown in the pool."
Beck nodded. "That sounds smart. So Cat and I will guard the flags. They can't be on our person and have to be in plain sight. If you're tagged, you are out until a team mate can find and tag you. Are these rules fair?"
Everyone looked at each other and nodded.
The girls followed Jade upstairs, while the guys stayed in the living room.
"I know the perfect place to hide this." Beck said.
"Where?"
"Richard's office."
Ryder scoffed. "I wouldn't do that. That office is his sanctuary."
"He's not here to say no."
"If not knock over a picture or-"
"Ryder, I'm not three." Beck quipped. "I know how to stay in a room, and not break anything. But for your sanity, would you like to escort me into the office? Do you want to hold my hand?"
Beck Oliver wasn't Ryder's favorite person, but he tolerated him for Jade's sake because it seemed like he was gonna be around until the end of time. But now that they were over, Ryder didn't have to bite his tongue.
"You know what Oliver? Why don't you take that scarf and shove it-"
"Enough!" André snapped. "Keep it up and we're gonna lose."
Ryder ran a hand over his face. "I'm gonna go upstairs."
"Great." Beck muttered under his breath.
"Beck, go hide the flag!" André ordered. "I don't want to hear any more out of you either."
"Fine."
Beck walked past the living room and into Richard's office. It wasn't as big as the one at the West Hotel headquarters, but it was still pretty cool. There were pictures of Jade, Tyler, and Karen on the desk, a giant bookshelf pushed up against the back wall, a cherry wood desk smack dab in the center, and a fireplace.
Beck walked over to the book case and tucked the blue piece of silk in between two books. Then he sat down in the big leather chair in front of him and waited.
Meanwhile, Tori tried to quietly trek down the stairs to find out where the guys were keeping their flag. It was a difficult task considering she was still drunk and the stairs under her feet were moving.
This was the last time she going to drink, at least until she was of legal drinking age. She definitely overdid it,
Once she made it downstairs, she spotted André in the kitchen, rummaging through the pantry. She managed to creep past him since he wasn't paying her any attention.
Tori turned her head and spotted a light on in a room down the hall. She walked towards it and saw Beck.
"Hey." Tori greeted.
"Hi."
"I found the flag."
"You have to get it and take it back upstairs." Beck explained.
Tori walked over to the desk and sat down across from Beck. He raised a curious eyebrow at her.
"You aren't going to try to bum rush me?"
"No." Tori ran her hand through her hair. "I need to think of a plan."
"No matter what you come up with, you aren't leaving this room with that flag."
"It's a scarf." Tori pointed out.
"Are you always so politically correct when you're drunk?"
"I don't know, I've never been drunk before."
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah. Unlike you miscreants, I want to still have this liver by the time I hit thirty."
That got a laugh out of Beck. He thought earnest Tori was pretty amusing.
"We don't drink as much as you think we do."
"The fact that you drink at all is illegal."
"Are you gonna play morality police with me, while you're drunk?" Beck teased. "It's a little hypocritical, don't you think?"
"That may be true."
Tori's eyes wandered throughout the office until they landed on a picture next to the bookshelf. It looked like some picture that a child drew. Tori stood up and started walking towards it.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"What's that picture on the wall?" Tori asked.
Beck shook his head. "Nice try, Tori. I'm not gonna take my eyes off of you."
"Promise?"
"Ha ha."
"No, seriously, does Richard West have child drawings hanging up on his wall? I would expect him to have a bear's head hanging over his fireplace. That man is intimidation personified. He could have been your father-in-law. That's a scary thought."
Beck agreed with that. Richard made him incredibly nervous.
He held his arm out so he could keep Tori at an arm's length. She slapped his hand away and shoved him.
"Are we shoving now Vega?"
"Yes, I don't like to be handled like a kid-" Tori was interrupted by Beck gently shoving her back. This time she slapped his shoulder. Beck slapped her shoulder back.
"You seriously want to get into a slap fight with me? Are we two ten year old girls?"
Beck's hand flew to Tori's side and she giggled. "Stop, I'm extremely ticklish."
"Really?"
"Yes! And I have a really weird giggle, so-"
Beck tickled Tori again and a yelp escaped her lips.
"Just say you give up."
"Stop! I'm going to start hyperventilating if I-" Tori couldn't even talk at that point because she started laughing so hard.
She doubled over in laughter and tried to get away from Beck's grasp, but failed. She get shot back up, but ended up hitting Beck's chin with her head and they fell back, Tori landing on top of Beck with a soft thud.
"Ow."
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry."
Beck groaned. "I bit the inside of my cheek."
"Did you bite anything off?" Tori asked.
"No."
"I'm sorry. I can be the biggest klutz on earth sometimes."
"It's cool. Don't worry about it."
Tori touched Beck's face. "Only I would do this to someone."
Beck grabbed Tori's hand and removed it from his face. "Has anyone told you that you're really neurotic?"
Tori nodded. Beck was looking up at her with that amused smirk and smoldering glare he seemed to always wear.
Before she could use the logical part of her brain and stop herself, she pulled Beck in for a kiss.
Just as Jade walked into the room.
A look of complete shock and awe settled onto her face. What the hell?
Instead of making a huge scene, she just turned around and walked away.
She closed her eyes, counted to ten in her mind, and focused on her walking, because if she didn't, she might end up physically assaulting one of them.
She was startled out of her thoughts by a slight poke on the shoulder. She looked up and saw Robbie smugly smiling at her.
"Tag."
"Robert Shapiro, you have five seconds to get out of my face before I rip your throat out of your body." Jade warned, her voice dipping dangerously low.
Robbie whimpered at the threat and quickly sped away from Jade.
Once Robbie was out of her sight, she turned the corner and headed upstairs, straight to her bedroom.
Ryder was sprawled out on her bed, flipping through the channels on her television. He looked up when he heard the door open.
"Hey. Gemma is passed out in one of the guest rooms, and Oliver was getting on my fucking nerves, so I'm hiding out in here. Is that cool?"
Jade didn't say anything. She just angrily grabbed the remote from Ryder's hand and threw it across the room. It hit her closet door loudly, and Baxter jumped up from his spot at the foot of Jade's bed. After looking around for a few seconds, he put his head back down and closed his eyes.
Ryder stood up. "Okay, okay! I'll leave."
"Beck and Tori are downstairs kissing." Jade said.
Ryder froze in his spot. That was probably the last thing he ever expected to hear.
"What? Oliver and Care Bear?"
"There in my dad's fucking office!" Jade hissed. "They're in my penthouse. They're in my hotel! And they have the fucking audacity to do this to me?"
"Jade-"
"Tori is supposed to be dating André, so I don't know why her tongue is shoved down Beck's throat. She either lied to my face or she's getting André's hopes up about a relationship, and I don't know what option pisses me off more."
"And Beck." Jade continued. "He broke up with me. Me! And he did that because he said he wanted to experience being young and single. So he does not have the right to be involved with her."
Ryder could see Jade visibly shaking with anger. He reached out and grabbed her arm.
"Let's sit down."
Jade sucked in a deep breath and then burst into tears.
"I can't do this." Jade cried. "I don't think I can do this. I spent three years giving him just about every part of me I had to offer. And then he just dumps me out of the blue. I still have to be around him because we've had the same friends since we were five years old. And when I try to be a normal person again, and make new friends, he starts following me."
"But this? Him and her." Jade couldn't even bring herself to say their names. "The blatant disrespect is mind blowing."
Another sob bubbled up in Jade's chest. "No matter what I do, I can't escape him. He's everywhere. He's a school, he's here, he's in my thoughts. I don't know if he realizes it or not, but he's torturing me."
Jade's fingers wrapped around the necklace resting on her neck. It was the one Beck gave her a few days ago. She yanked it off in one fluid motion.
"I just thought that he would eventually come to his senses and we'd get back together. As naive as this sounds, I thought we were it for each other."
Ryder frowned. It was a rare event when Jade cried. And to think that it was because of Beck fucking Oliver pissed him off. He didn't get to make her cry like this.
Not really knowing what to say, he just extended his arms and wrapped them around Jade.
"You want me to hit him?" Ryder asked, not even joking to lighten the mood. "I'll kick his ass."
"Ryder..."
"I'm serious. I've wanted to kick his ass since you guys were freshman. I'll gladly do it."
"I want all of this to not be happening."
"What do you want to do?"
Jade didn't have the energy to do anything. She sat down and let out a deep breath she didn't realize she was holding in.
"I'm really tired."
"I'll kick them out if you want me to." Ryder said.
"No."
"Okay. I can order room service and we can devour some cheesecake." Ryder suggested.
Jade looked up at Ryder. "Chocolate chip cookie dough?"
"Whatever kind you want."
.
Thirty minutes later, they were sitting on Jade's bed, in the dark, two slices of cheesecake in front of them, and a crappy reality show on the television.
"Are you going to confront them?" Ryder asked.
"I don't know. Maybe."
"What? Taking the passive route is so unlike you."
"Trust me when I say that I'll confront them eventually."
Jade stuck her fork right in the center of her cheesecake and pushed it off of her lap. Talking about Beck and Tori made her lose her appetite.
"Why don't you break away from these people. At least while you're at school."
Jade turner her entire body to the right so she was facing Ryder. "What do you mean?"
"Hang out with me." Ryder said. "I assure you that I am much more easy going than this wild bunch you choose to associate with. I feel like I never see you at school."
"Because you're a senior." Jade pointed out.
"I know, but still."
"Okay."
Ryder nodded, content with the answer he was given. He put his plate on the table next to the bed. He turned the light off and pulled Jade's duvet up over his shoulders. "Goodnight."
"Night."
Jade laid down, but she didn't go to sleep. Her brain wouldn't turn off. Instead, the image of Tori and Beck kept replaying over and over in her head. Being "nice" to Tori was out of the question now. She was now an marked woman and Jade was was going to make sure that Tori knew it.
Though, it'd be way too easy to get into a shouting match with Tori and maybe slap her. What was the fun in that?
She was going to throw Tori into the deep end of the pool and watch her sink.
Okay, now the fun is going to start. It'll start to pick up, I promise! Thank you again for all the reviews!