A/N: After a hectic week, here's another one. Not completely happy with it, but it's just something I did on the spur of the moment.
School was out, the hallway was empty. Only a few stragglers were left to gather their things and head home for the day. Beck was one of them. He tossed a few items into his backpack, while humming to himself. It seemed like a normal day, but the still monotony was soon broken in a big way.
"How could you do this to me?" Jade thundered. She slammed Beck's locker shut to assure she had his full attention. She then threw a thick stack of 8x10" color photographs to the ground, where the many copies fell to rest in a scattered heap.
Beck looked down. He could see now that it was a photo he had taken, and it was probably by far his favorite of all his photos, actually. The glossy prints at his feet showed none other than the girl who had so unceremoniously thrown them there. He looked from the photo, back to his girlfriend's face, which was twisted with rage.
"These were all over the bulletin board by the Black Box Theater!" she spat. "Everyone has seen them! I managed to wrench one away from Robbie but I think there might have been another copy tucked under his puppet! Oh, and I got at least seventeen texts from some senior horn-dogs!" She sneered. "They weren't very eloquent, but I got their drift." She was gaining momentum and couldn't stop now. Jade took a deep breath and continued.
"I just want to know what was going on in your warped brain as you printed 100 copies and put me on display for everyone to see. I mean, does this make you happy Beck? Is this what you wanted?" Even her body language screamed defense mode. Her arms were folded across her chest, hip thrust to one side, lips drawn in a tight line, and eyes narrowed as she waited for his reply.
Glancing back down at the photo that had apparently caused such a scandal, Beck couldn't help being slightly proud of the shot. It was sensual, but not obscene. In the image, Jade was standing with her back to a blank wall. There was a light on one side of her pale face, casting deep shadows on the other. Her dark hair fell in messy curls, and her blue eyes gleamed through the darkness. The portrait was cropped from the shoulders up, but from her bare shoulders, the assumption could be made that she wasn't wearing anything when the photo was taken. It was tasteful, but he could see why she didn't want it shared with everyone at school.
Even though her harsh remarks were intended to get back at him, Beck reminded himself of how she could fly off the handle. He was confused by the whole thing as well, but the ability to be reasonable through chaos was one of his strongest qualities. Calmly, Beck inclined his head towards Jade and spoke to her in a low voice.
"Jade, I didn't post those on the board."
Looking slightly resigned, she bit her lip.
"You took it though," she hissed. "You said no one would see it!"
"It was for my final photography assignment." Beck countered. "I told you that I would have to present it to my teacher, but that was it." He sighed. He was being honest, and could only hope that she'd see it.
"I swear to you, I didn't show anyone else."
All her anger was beginning to unravel as she came down off the adrenaline. She could see the unlikelihood now, that he would ever do something like this.
They were both left grasping for an explanation. Feeling slightly abashed, but still frustrated, Jade bent to scoop the helter-skelter photos back into a stack. Beck knelt to help her.
Holding one of the copies, Beck said tiredly, "I really love this picture. It's so simple, but it's just so…you." He thought he almost caught her smiling.
"But you're right." He continued. "It is personal…it was ours. Whoever put this out there this had no right."
"Okay, so say I believe you," Jade told him, "but how did someone else get the picture? Did you print it here at school?"
Beck nodded. "Yeah, I did. The teacher in the print lab showed me how to set everything up, and told me if I needed any more help, the student attendant could help."
The two exchanged a meaningful glance.
"Who?" Jade asked immediately.
"I don't know." Beck replied; he handed her the last of the pictures as they both got to their feet. "I never had to ask for help because everything worked out fine. I printed one copy and put it in my portfolio."
"Maybe they got it off the print queue," Jade mused, "but they would have to be pretty good with computers."
There was a small chirping noise emanating from her phone, so she handed the stack of photos to Beck. After a moment of reviewing the alert, Jade muttered, "I'm going to pummel him." and began to walk away at a fast pace. Beck jumped in front of her, blocking the way.
"Wait; hold up, what are you doing?"
"Our brilliant hacker just uploaded the picture to The Slap, and tagged me in it." Jade said in a tone of cheerful sarcasm, holding the phone up for her boyfriend to see.
"Uploaded by…Sinjin Van Cleef?" Beck read aloud in disgust. For a moment he was silent before addressing Jade again.
"Okay," he consented. "You can pummel him...a little bit. But, I'll stop you before there's any real damage, and then he goes to the principal. Justice doesn't have to include broken bones."
"Deal. I know where he is." Jade gave a curt nod before taking off again, with Beck right behind her.