Disclaimer: I am fairly certain that I do not own the show THAT WAS NOMINATED FOR THREE EMMYS! WOO-HOO! But, I am still upset that Bade is not back together. :( But, hey, now we'll cherish their future moments even more, right? 3

Author's Note: As usual, thanks for the reviews and favorites! Please keep reviewing, love you all!

Jade had to admit. She'd been having a fairly decent week. She hadn't realized how...how secure, how free she would feel after directing her thoughts towards forgetting about Beck rather than thinking about how much she missed him. She had started to feel comfortable without the Canadian's arms wrapping around her shoulders, started to feel comfortable in her own skin for the first time in weeks. Without Beck, she didn't have to worry about being an afterthought. She didn't have to worry about feeling second-best as compared to whichever skank had been throwing herself at Beck's feet that day. While unattached, Jade had realized that she really didn't need to make herself think that those girls were better than her. Especially when a majority of them, without a doubt, would end up being prostitutes or street walkers because they would never know how to do anything but throw themselves at guys who had nothing going for them but their looks. But, hey, maybe they'd get lucky and find someone with money too. That way they'd have something to fill out their bras with.

Jade didn't need to worry about people like that. When Jade got a guy's attention, she did it by being her own damned self, not by batting her eyelashes till her eyeballs popped out of her head. Jade knew that when she was little, all of the nice parents would tell their kids to be themselves if they wanted to make friends. She knew that most of the kids probably dismissed their parents' Hallmark-esque sentiments as wishful thinking. But, Jade knew that the statement was true... for the most part. On one hand, she would always have to put on the sweetest face she possibly could in order to get on the good side of casting directors. On the other...while all the beach blond bimbos had to press themselves as close as possible, twirl their hair around manicured fingers and pop their gum to get Beck's attention...

...it was Beck who'd had to perform a monologue, the subject of which was infatuation, buy her coffee for two weeks straight, and eventually resort to getting down on one knee with a black rose in hand in front of the entire Asphalt Café in order to get Jade to bat an eyelash.

...by that point, the only thing about the break-up that concerned Jade was that she hadn't realized how stupid she was being sooner.

Yes, Jade had been having a decent week. With the exception of...the boys. Jade wasn't sure what had happened, but boys had started taking interest in her...not to say that they weren't interested enough to begin with. And who wouldn't have been? Jade West was the world's most beautiful enigma, regardless of whether or not she was fully aware of the fact. Within 3 periods on Wednesday morning, she had been asked out by 5 guys...and she had a feeling that the number would have been higher, if only she hadn't thrown coffee down the last boy's pants. Poor Sinjin, he could never catch a break. (But who could blame her for being angry after having found him in her closet the previous weekend?)

Jade wasn't sure what had happened. Outside of Hollywood Arts, guys didn't hesitate to approach her (which, in retrospect, wasn't always a good thing considering her last trip to Nozu with Tori). But within Hollywood Arts, all of the boys knew that Jade West was untouchable. While with Beck, she never looked at another guy. But even with Beck out of the picture while on a trip to Canada or some other nonsense...well, the boys knew that Jade could and would do unspeakable things to them with her scissors if they did try to pull something over.

So, yes, it was a surprise to Jade when guys magically started asking her out again. Then the thought occurred to her that maybe they'd all been dared or betted to do it. What other reason could they possibly have for putting themselves at risk of death by scissoring?

So, Jade decided that the situation called for a bit of interrogation. Since questioning Beck was definitely out of the question, and Robbie was never in the know on...well, anything, Jade decided to ask Andre what was going on. And she knew that he'd give her a straight answer. The boy just couldn't lie to her. The close friendship that she'd had with Andre before coming to Hollywood Arts only became stronger after becoming his best friend's girlfriend. It had taken Jade some time to warm up to him at first...but what could she say? Andre was the guy who everybody could trust. Even a body like Jade West.

She eventually found the Music Man in the school recording studio, where they'd stayed for hours trying to finish Andre's song months ago. Andre smiled and gave her a nod when she stepped into the room.

"What goes on?"

Jade, ignoring his question, tossed her bag to the side and sat down next to Andre.

"Have you been hearing about any bets going around that involve me?"

"...what?"

"Beck used to tell me that the reason why girls' friends can always tell when a boy is about to ask them out is because if a guy is going to ask a girl out, he doesn't keep it quiet. And a lot of guys have been asking me out. And I don't know why. But I figure there's money involved. Have you heard anything or not?"

"...no, I haven't been hearing anything."

"...Really?"

"Not a thing."

Jade's face was blank for a second. She then stepped up and began to pace around the room.

"I don't understand!"

"Um, Jade? I-"

"If no one's doing it because of a dare, then why? Why?"

"Jade, I really need to-"

"I have been single for almost a month now! Did anyone at this school ask me out in the past month? No! Are those morons asking me out now? YES! What is going on?"

"I need to finish this song, so-"

"Seriously, they had all this time to ask me out...wait...maybe it's not a dare..."

"Jade."

Jade turned and grabbed Andre by the collar.

"Do you know what it must be, then?"

"Umm...no?"

"A PRANK!" Jade released Andre and he fell back into his chair.

"They're trying to pull a prank on me!" And Jade kept babbling as she paced.

"Ohhh, those morons think they're going to pull one over on me? HA! Do they not realize that I am the Queen of Pranking?"

"Jade."

"No, no, not the Queen. The Joker. I am the Joker of Pranking."

"Jade."

"No, the badass. I AM THE FREAKIN' BADASS OF PRANKING, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

"Yes, you psycho, I understand."

"WELL GOOD!" Jade proceeded to pull out a pair of scissors from God-knows-where and chuck it at the wall.

Andre, tired of trying to cut into Jade's crazed ranting, decided the poor child needed to see the light. But first, she needed to stop pacin' the room like Sherlock gone wild. As Jade continued to babble, Andre grabbed some duck tape and wrapped it around her arm, then pressed her arm so that it stuck to the couch. Jade looked at him, furious, then raised her black talon-bearing hand so that she could rip apart the tape.

"WAIT!"

Jade paused, her fingernails just grazing the tape.

"If you rip that tape and try to go on a rant again, I'm going to sing... the song."

"You wouldn't."

"Really? Ahem. IF YOU'RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT, CLAP YOUR HANDS!"

Jade immediately covered one of her ears with her free hand.

"Stop it, stop it! I'm listening!"

"Good. Now what have you been going on about?"

"...a lot of guys have started asking me out. I don't know why. You're a guy, as far as I know. Explain it to me."

Andre couldn't help but sigh. Was the girl really that blind? He sat down next to her and pulled her taped up arm off the couch. Ignoring her protests, he started to rip off the tape.

"Girl, you really can't figure out why guys are swarming you? Why they waited till now?" Jade shook her head. Andre starred at Jade for a few minutes, realized that she was honestly confused, and then lowered his tone. He turned Jade's head so she could look at him and know he wasn't playing around.

"Did you ever think that the reason why they're asking you out now is because you're finally acting like a free woman? Like yourself? Boys are treating you like you're single because...well...girl, you're finally acting like you're single! ...you don't seem like you're still trying to get over Beck anymore, so they all are deciding that it's time for them to make a move." Andre saw some of the confusion leave Jade's eyes. But after seeing that some of the uncertainty was still there, he put a hand over hers and gave it a squeeze.

"And you know what? I'm happy for you. You showed everyone you're strong enough to move on. I'm proud of you, you psycho-child." Andre saw Jade's face light up with a small smile.

"No chiz?" Andre returned the smile.

"No chiz." When Jade cautiously wrapped her arms around Andre's neck, he was more than happy to return the hug. It wasn't everyday that Jade West decided to be affectionate. After Jade let go, she looked at Andre for a few seconds before giving him a feather-light kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you."

With a grateful look towards the musical prodigy, Jade left the studio. She didn't seem to notice how Andre's face had turned beet red after she kissed him.

But Beck did. He had noticed everything from the window of the studio.

And as far as Beck was concerned, Andre's cheeks weren't the only things that were turning deep crimson.

Beck couldn't help but shake as his world bled.

Author's Note: I know that this chapter is less...umm...twisted? Is that the proper word?, than the other chapters. I guess this is like a breather...is it strange that when writing dialogue for Andre, I can hear Leon Thomas's smooth as silk voice in my head? ...that boy is the epitome of swag. The freakin' epitome. Anywho, THANKS FOR READING! HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY, VICTORIANS AND BADEMANCERS!