Chapter Ten

(Tori's POV)

It's been a couple of hours since Beck left. I'm glad that things seem to have worked out between the two of them, but now Jade looks a little upset. "Everything okay?" I ask her.

"Do you think Beck is all right?" she asks, "I was trying to let him down easy."

"Don't worry," I tell her, "Beck's a tough guy. He'll bounce back."

"You think?" she asks, "I don't want to hurt him or anything."

"He'll be fine," I tell her. Just after I finish that sentence, the door opens and my dad walks in from outside. "Oh, hey dad," I say, "Welcome home." Being a cop, my dad's out of the house a lot, so this is a nice surprise.

"Hey Tori," he says, "Who's this?"

"Oh, this is Jade West," I tell him, "She's crashing here for a while." His eyes darken a little.

"Tori, can I talk to you privately?" he asks me. I nod silently. I have a pretty good idea of what he wants to say, but I follow him into the kitchen anyway. "Do you know who that girl is, Tori?" he asks me.

"I know she's a friend of mine from school," I tell him, "Why, is there something else I should know?"

"Jade West has a history of running away from home," he tells me, "She even spent a month in jail for trying to steal a car. I don't think she should stay here. She's not a good influence." I try to stay calm, not wanting to raise my voice. I know my dad's concerns aren't that unreasonable and I understand them, but I have to convince him.

"Look," I tell him calmly, "You're the one who always tells me that if someone needed help and I had the power to do something about it, I should. Well Jade needs help. She needs someone to be there for her and right now that's me." He seems to be listening to my point of view, which is why I like him. He actually considers what I have to say, rather than just dismissing it like some parents would, like Jade's parents probably do. "Jade's a good person," I continue, "Even if she made a mistake sometime in the past, she deserves a second chance."

"I don't know about this Tori," he says, although his voice isn't as firm as before.

"Look, just give her a shot," I tell him, "She went through something really rough recently and she can't go face her parents." He considers for a moment and then sighs.

"All right," he says, "It seems like you really believe in what you're doing and I can respect that. She's welcome to stay as long as she likes, but there are two conditions."

"Name them," I tell him, figuring I can handle whatever they are.

"First, I have to tell her parents that she's here. They have a right to know where she is." I nod at this one. It seems fair enough. "Second, you're responsible for making sure that she stays in line." I nod again. That won't be a problem. Jade's not the type do anything crazy. Or at least, not anymore apparently. He smiles at me and walks upstairs. I turn around to head back to the living room and see Jade standing there.

"You heard all of that?" I ask her.

"Most of it," she says, "I'm causing you a lot of trouble aren't I?"

"No," I say, shaking my head, "Having you here is no trouble at all. I want you to stay." She sighs a bit, sounding relieved. "Is it true?" I ask her.

"Is what true?" she asks.

"Did you really try and steal a car once?" I ask.

"Yeah," she says, "In middle school. Part of a time I'd rather forget."

"Sure," I say, understanding, "Consider it forgotten." I smile at her and she smiles back. "So, is having your parents know you're here going to be a problem?" She shakes her head and laughs.

"They're the two most self absorbed people in the world, remember?" she says with a grin, "I don't think you have to worry about them pounding down the door to take me home. They're probably too busy heaping praise on little miss perfect."

"You know, she is your sister Jade," Tori said, "I'm sure she irritates you, but you should probably try and deal with her. I mean, look at me and Trina. Sometimes she really bugs me, but I still care about her, you know."

"I know I should," Jade says, staring at the ground, "But it's like we're on different wavelengths. Everything always goes back to how much better she seems to be than I am."

"She's not better than you," I assure her, "She's just different. She's good at academics and you're good at creative stuff. Anyone who thinks one is better than the other is just plain wrong." Jade appears lost in thought.

"I never really looked at it that way," she says after a moment, "I guess it would be nice to make peace with my sister. I mean, she is family and in a lot of ways I've been really unfair to her." She suddenly lets out a loud laugh.

"What's so funny?" I ask her.

"Whenever I'm around you, it's like I see things a lot more clearly," she tells me, "Like all the stuff that normally disturbs me is just sort of gone."

"Glad I can be of help," I say, yawning.

"I can see that you're getting tired," she says, "Let's get some rest. Tomorrow's a weekend, so rest up and maybe we can try out that guitar of yours in a song or two."

"Cool," I tell her, "Sweet dreams Jade."

"You too," she says with a grin.

(Cat's POV)

I had the most awesome time with Beck tonight, considering that all we were doing was chatting while eating day old pizza. I never said "What's that supposed to mean?" once. I didn't even feel anxious. I guess being around a laid back guy like Beck has that effect on people. Just listening to him talk seemed to calm me down. I can sort of see what Jade saw in him. He's not just attractive, he's a pretty nice guy too. Although, I guess Jade probably wouldn't see him that way now. Not after such a messy break up. I feel kind of bad for her. For both of them really. They had a really good relationship, but now it's gone. Well, I guess I should just be glad that the two of them are doing okay without each other.

Beck and I decided that we would try our hands at dating each other. I'm not really sure that I'm the right fit for him, but it's worth a shot right? Anyway, I'm home now, lounging in my room with a huge smile on my face.