AN: As far as this chapter, I own Tabby.
The next day at lunch, Cat isn't at our table, and neither is Beck, or Jade. I'm about to comment on the absences when Beck sits down alone and begins eating silently, attracting confused looks from André, Tori, Robbie and I. He's oblivious to the stares, so I gesture at the others to say something. They all shake their heads frantically and point at me. I point confusedly at myself, then roll my eyes.
"Hey Beck, where's Jade?" I tap my finger softly on the table. He looks up and shrugs.
"She said she wanted to eat alone today." His foot is tapping in the same rhythm as my finger- tap tap tap tap tap tap... "Whatever."
"Your love life not runnin' too smooth, eh Casanova?" Rex's comment earns him a disapproving shush from Robbie. Beck glares at him.
"No, we just need some time away from each other." His foot stops it's tapping, so I silence my finger as well. "No big deal. All relationships need some space."
"She's gonna dump you." Rex pauses for a moment before adding, "Again." Beck once again glares at the puppet, then dumps his pop on the dummy's head. Robbie jumps up, scrambling frantically for napkins.
"I just hope you realize this is no one's fault but your own!" He wipes at Rex's face, then looks at Beck. "I'm sorry, he didn't mean it..." Robbie then walks away across the cafeteria, Rex peering over his shoulder.
"Yeah I did!" Rex calls. Beck, exasperated, shakes his head and picks up his plate.
"Hey man, don't listen to him." André tries his best to reassure his friend, reaching for his arm to keep him from leaving. "You know Jade loves you." Beck pauses, considering...
"Yeah, maybe." He walks away across the lunchroom in the opposite direction as Robbie. I watch him go, shake my head, then look around at the two still left at the table. Tori, I realize, is doing some weird sort of spastic dance and trying not to let André see. I narrow my eyes inquisitively at her, and she jerks her thumb at the food carts. Oh, I see, this her spazzy way of saying she wants to talk to me alone...! I nod, understanding as she stands up and casually announces that she's going up for dessert.
"That sounds good." I stand up and walk around the table, giving André an apologetic smile. Poor guy. Each of his lunch buddies have abandoned him, one by one. "We'll be back."
"It's cool." He takes a final bite of taco salad, then stands up. "I gotta go make up a test anyway. See ya whenever." As soon as André is safely out of range, Tori grabs my arm and drags me to an uncrowded area of the lunchroom.
"Guess what I saw on the way to lunch?" She's oozing enthusiasm, all smiles and fidgeting excitedly.
"What?" Bigfoot? UFO? A beavecoon?
"I saw Cat, getting in Jade's car with her." Tori's announcement is met by silence. For a split second, I consider telling her who Cat wanted to ask to the dance, but then I swear I can feel a smaller pinky wrapping around mine... Better keep it to myself. But in the meantime, what to say to Tori?
"Really?" I raise my eyebrows. "Hmm... interesting."
"I know, isn't it?" Tori sighs happily, then a frown replaces her smile. "It's a shame about Beck, though. Poor guy."
"He'll find someone if Jade dumps him." I shrug. "Hopefully in time for Saturday. Speaking of which, do you have a date?"
"Mmno." Tori frowns deeper. "Not yet, no."
"Any idea who you want to ask?" It couldn't hurt to nudge her in André's direction, right? She shakes her head.
"I might just stay home." She shuffles her feet.
"What? No, you can't! You'll miss our song!" I grab her shoulders. "Come on, what about... how about André?" Her eyes widen, and she looks down, her frown turning thoughtful instead of just upset.
"I don't know, maybe... I mean..." She shakes her head and glares at me. "Do you have a date?"
"No..." I let go of her shoulders. "Well, Cat and I might be going together, y'know, as a dateless duo. You can go with us, make it a trio, it'll be fun!" Tori is silent, staring at me, a smile slowly replacing her frown. I do not like that look...
"ARE YOU CRAZY? !" My indignant shout echoes throughout the hallway as I burst into the school. Tori follows closely behind, trying to make herself heard.
"No, just listen for a second Tabby, please?" She sounds so pathetic I just have to give her a chance...
"Ok." I stop short and turn around. "You have 5 seconds to explain why you think I should ask Trina to the dance. Go." A deep breath and she's off.
"Ok, listen, I know for a fact that Trina isn't particular about gender. I also know for a fact that she thanked you for something really insignificant, which, considering that Trina never thanks anyone for anything ever, is a HUGE compliment. She doesn't have a date for Saturday, she really wants a date, you need a date too, you like her, it's perfect!" Even though her explanation is well beyond 5 seconds, I have to admit it sounds rather appealing... But what about the adorable dateless redhead that I promised to hang out with that night? I can practically see the big, sad, brown eyes and trembling lower lip if I tell her I can't go with her... Gah... No, the guilt would kill me.
"Ok, so it's not horrible." I hate to wipe the smile off Tori's face, but unfortunately, I must. "But I already told Cat I'd go with her."
"So you do have a date then?" As it turns out, the smile wasn't wiped off; just rearranged into a smirk, which only exasperates me further.
"Noooo, I don't. We're not going together together..." And just like that, I see what Tori's trying to do. Clever, Vega. Clever.
"Then what's the problem?" She stomps a foot unhappily. "You can go with Trina and hang out with Cat, can't you? Or we could set Cat up with someone else, or-" I start to protest, then, suddenly, my brain hatches a think-egg.
"Ok, Vega." I place my hands on my hips. "I'll ask your sister to the dance, if you'll help me set up Cat and Jade."
"Yo, Cat!" I can see Cat at the end of the hall, about to walk out the double doors. She turns around, confused, then brightens when she sees me.
"Oh, hey Tabby!" Her voice echoes in the empty hallway as she walks towards me. "What's up?" I wait until she's close enough that I can talk without yelling.
"Where were you at lunch?" I watch her face slowly fill with color as she struggles to "remember" where she spent 4th period today...
"Oh, I was..." She stammers and sputters for a few seconds, then finally looks up at me with wide eyes and shrugs. "Iunno..."
"You don't know?" It may be a little cruel, but her embarrassment is seriously amusing. She shakes her head.
"I dunno, I forget." Her dark eyes dart to the floor, then back up to me.
"You don't remember where you were during lunch today?" I cross my arms, unable to keep myself from smiling. She shakes her head again, reminding me of a purple-lipped five year old insisting that she hasn't been eating candy before dinner. I raise an eyebrow at her, and finally she breaks.
"Ok, ok, I'll tell you!" Once again, she looks up and down the hall, around the corners, upwards, then back to me. "I was... well, see, before lunch, I went to the bathroom, and Jade was there, and she was crying, so I asked her what was wrong, and at first she told me to go away, but I asked again, and she said that I should really stay out of other people's business, and I said that she was my friend and I wanted to know why she was sad, and that made her cry more, so I hugged her, and she told me that she was going to break up with Beck, but she wasn't sure if she should. Then I told her that a cupcake might help her think clearer, and for some reason she laughed at that, but I didn't mind because at least laughing is better than crying. Anyway, then she said that we could go out for lunch today because the Asphalt Café doesn't have very good cupcakes, and then we went to a coffee shop and got ice cream and cupcakes." Cat takes a deep breath at the end of this impressive narrative, then adds happily, "The end!" I blink, still somewhat hung up on trying to imagine Jade in a coffee shop buying cupcakes. Cat sighs and glances around again.
"Tabby, I have to ask you something..." She leans in and takes a deep breath. "I feel guilty." I frown confusedly at her.
"Why?"
"Well... Because... I kind of hope that Jade does break up with Beck, so I can ask her to the dance..." She frowns deeply. "Does that make me a bad person?" I don't know what to do but stare at this innocent little being before me, so childlike but obviously with very mature emotions. What do I say to those big, sad eyes?
"Of course it doesn't." I place a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It's... completely natural to feel that way..." She smiles, relieved.
"Oh thank God." Then she turns and skips away down the hall. "See you tomorrow, Tabby!"
