|Tori|

I don't realize just how long I've been staring at Jade's locker until my eyes start to burn. I huff, turning away, glaring at the clock on the wall. Class starts in ten minutes. She's usually here before me, but the chittering crowd lacks a particular dark-haired girl. My shoe raps against the floor, shoving things in my locker to make it look as if I'm searching for something. My eyes, though, are still jerking toward the doors and Jade's locker.

"Tori!"

I flinch, whirling on my heel. Andre, braids pulled back above his head and that seemingly permanent smile on his face, saunters to my side. I relax, giving him a smile of my own while checking over my shoulder at the doors. Still no Jade. I haven't seen Beck yet, either, but I'm not concerned about him. I'm about to ask Andre if he's seen her when he blurts out, "You heard about Beck and Jade, right?"

I pause. Do I tell? Is that something I'm supposed to talk about? I chew my cheek for a minute, jerking a nod to Andre to make sure he knows I'm listening, even though my thoughts are far off. Somehow I don't think Jade would appreciate my revealing of her soft side. To be honest, the whole past two days feels like some dream I floated through. I woke up this morning confused, searching the other side of my bed blindly like I expected to find Jade there. Her absence had jolted me awake nearly an hour before my alarm. I sent her another text before I left for school, telling her that she could do this, but she never replied. I shift my hand toward my chin and chew on my thumb knuckle, eyes falling toward the doors again.

"It's crazy," Andre says, leaning at my side. "I never thought they'd break up. They've been together for such a long time."

"Yeah." I turn back to Andre, hands hovering mid-air for a moment before they drop. "Did - Did Beck talk to you at all, about anything?"

Andre shrugs, his phone in one hand being tackled by his thumb. "A little. I asked if he was doing okay and he said he was fine, just worried about Jade. He said he didn't think she'd take it this hard." His dark brows knit together before his eyes shift up to mine. "Actually, yeah, he said she was with you."

My mouth opens and closes with no sound. I trust Andre, he's my best friend, but I don't know if this is something I'm supposed to be free and open about. Jade just became my actual friend. I don't want to ruin it by giving away too much. "Er, yeah, she came over. She just, you know, needed someone to talk to."

Andre nods, not pressing any further - not that he has to chance, because a flash of red blinds both of us and in a wave of bubblegum perfume is Cat, her hands gripping my arm. I try to focus on the pent-up ball of energy, but she's practically leaping into the air on the tips of her toes.

"Where is she?" Cat's eyebrows are furrowed in worry. Her grip tightens on my arm. "Where's Jade? Is she okay? She never answered my texts!"

The hand not currently in a death grip raises and settles on Cat's shoulder. "Calm down, Cat. She's fine. She's just ... late, I guess."

Cat's teeth shove into her lip. "Poor Jade! I can't believe this hap - Jade!"

She bursts past me so fast I can't stop her, falling back against my locker. Throat tight, I spin toward the door. She's there, shouldering her backpack, dressed in her traditional dark colors, eyes widening on the great wall of Cat that's wailing down on her. I run without thinking about it, trying to reach Cat before her arms choke Jade to death, but I'm too late. Jade reels backward, keeping her balance by planting one foot behind her.

"Oh, Jade, I'm so sorry! Are you okay? I can't believe it! What happened -"

My hand curls around the dent of Cat's elbow. I yank her off, suddenly defensive, shoving my shoulder between her and Jade until I'm completely blocking the other girl. Facing Cat, I relax my hold, keeping my face as friendly as possible. Cat's easy to scare and that's not what I'm trying to do - but I promised to protect Jade, and I'm not falling back on that. "Cat," I say slowly, giving Cat a soft smile. "Let's not overwhelm her today, all right? Just give her some space."

Cat's jittering finally slows down. She takes a deep breath. "Sorry," she says, and, assured she isn't going to pop like a balloon, I let go of her.

Trying again, Cat looks over my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Cat." Jade's voice is light. I turn to catch her eyes, but her gaze is on Cat.

Cat nods, hands joining in front of her stomach. An itching feeling drags my eyes away to see a sea of students staring at us. Most aren't even trying to hide the fact that they're staring, though some try to duck behind their books and purses. My eyes narrow, anger churning inside of me. This desire - no, this need - to protect Jade swells in my chest. I reach back until my fingers gently find Jade's wrist, pulling her to my side. She angles close to me.

"You all right?" I hush under my breath.

She nods curtly.

The bell erupts. Cat lingers for a moment longer, touching Jade's arm until she's given a reassuring smile. She skips off, the crowd milling about with low whispers and obvious gossiping as Jade and I remain by the front doors. I turn, an apology already half out of my mouth when Jade raises her hand.

"It's fine. You did your best." She takes a deep breath and readjusts her backpack. She starts walking to her locker and I follow beside her. I can't help feeling guilty; I've already slipped up once! What kind of promise-holder am I? "It's Cat," she continues. "She's kind of hard to hold back. Besides, I don't mind so much when it comes from her. I know she means it."

I relax. "You're not mad?"

Jade's eyebrows twitch as she opens her locker, glancing at me. "Why would I be mad at you?"

I give her a smile, but something moving behind her catches my attention. My gaze shifts and before I can stop my alarm, they're widening. Jade spins to follow my gaze and I watch each limb stiffen like stone. Her mouth drops open, eyes wide. My hand drifts toward her arm but she doesn't seem to register the touch.

Beck looks up from his phone. He blinks between the two of us before wringing one hand through his dark hair. He swallows, glances both ways, and then takes a step forward. Jade flinches back like he's throwing some kind of assault on her. I want to yell at him to stay back, to go away and give her some room, but when I promised to protect Jade from other people, was Beck included in that?

"Hey." He says the word softly, shoving his phone into his pocket. He nods to me before turning his attention back to Jade. It's awkward, and a part of me feels like I should leave - but my gut (as well as other organs, like the one pounding against my ribcage) tells me to stay by Jade's side like I said I would. I plant my feet firmly to the ground.

Jade snaps herself out of it. She shoves the locker door shut with her elbow. "Hi."

"Jade, can we -"

"No." Jade shoots the word like a bullet. She steps closer to me. "C'mon," she says. "Let's go."

She starts marching. I jog after her, keeping my eyes away from Beck as we take the long way to class. Jade remains silent as we ascend the stairs and I don't know what to say or how to say it, so I keep quiet. Without a word, she shoves her way into one of the upstairs girls' bathrooms. I put my hand on the door but keep standing there, awkwardly shifting from foot to foot. "Am I supposed to -?"

"Yes."

I duck in. She's bracing herself on the sink, eyes closed, black hair tumbling to shield her face. I move close to her, pulling her hair back and tucking it securely behind one ear. "Breathe, Jade."

"I don't want to be here." She hisses through her teeth, back stiff. "I don't want to feel them all staring at me or hear them whispering and I definitely don't want to see him everywhere I go." Her eyes open but they linger on the sink. "Maybe I should go home."

"Hey." I grasp her shoulder, forcing her to turn. She doesn't look at me right away, gaze on her hands. I wait until those hardened orbs of green flick up to meet my own. "You can do this. Need I remind you of your strength? Your bravery? Your courage?"

"Are you my therapist now?"

"If I have to be."

Jade smiles weakly. She takes a deep breath and shakes her head. "I made us both late for class. Sorry."

"Oh, you know Sikowitz. He's terrified of you. Just give him one of those death glares."

Her smile broadens. I wrap one arm around her shoulders as we leave the bathroom and slip into class. As expected, Sikowtiz doesn't yell at us for being late and I'm positive it has to do with the knives Jade is shooting with her pupils. She sits next to me, on the far side of the room, opposite to where Beck and Robbie sit. Andre and Cat wave back at us from the front, frowning uneasily between Jade and I. I try not to look in any direction through the whole period, keeping my eyes firmly rooted on Sikowitz, but I can still see the other students. Cupped hands over quick-speaking mouths, discreet fingers hiding behind folders and books. I give periodic glances toward Jade who remains frozen, arms crossed, head slightly down. To her credit, she looks like she's about to pull out a machine gun and do away with all of us, which I'm sure is what is keeping the rest of the class quiet.

As soon as the first bell releases us, the room erupts into noise. I distract Jade as best as I can with conversation, to try and drown out the obvious gossiping going on around us. I glance to see Beck duck out of the room as fast as he can.

"My jaw hurts," Jade grumbles, hoisting her backpack over her shoulder. I reach up instinctively, my hands landing on each cheek and massaging my fingertips into the tight muscles.

"Stop trying to grind your teeth into dust. That will help wonders."

She tries to make a face, but I bunch her cheeks together and she ends up looking like a distorted fish. I laugh and, though she tries not to, Jade's lips press into a smile, muffled by the crook of her elbow.

I have my next class with her, but not the one after. As we part in the hallway, I can see a sense of dread plaguing her eyes. I squeeze her hand before I take off in the other direction, giving her the 'okay' hand sign. All through that hour I feel like I'm about to explode, my foot jittering against the floor. I've chewed my eraser to bits and picked furiously at all ten of my nails before I look at the clock, and it's only been fifteen minutes.

"Tori?"

I look up. I have Pre-Calc this hour and Robbie's the only friend of mine in the same course. His puppet, Rex, sits propped up in the desk next to him. "Yeah?"

His eyes flick everywhere but me behind his glasses. Finally, he says, "So, uh. Beck and Jade. That's some ... some crazy stuff."

Robbie, although he's known me for over a year now, has always been a nervous boy. He doesn't take drama or conflict very well and I can tell that it's messing with his psyche. He's a boy of routine, of the same old, and this bump in the road is obviously hard for him to handle. "Yeah," I reply, very conscious of the eyes weighing on my back. "It is."

Robbie nods, his pencil wiggling over his notebook between two of his fingers. "How are we all supposed to hang out now?"

I frown at him. "What do you mean?"

He spreads his hands. "You know. If two friends date and then break up, it's ... it's gonna be awkward now for the rest of us."

"Only for a little while." I look down at the numbers on my book. "I'm sure they can be friends."

Robbie doesn't look so convinced. "She broke his heart. This changes things -"

"Woah." What did he just say? Did he just say what I think he said? I twirl in my seat, one hand on the back of my chair, the other clenched on the edge of my desk. "What? What did you say?"

The curly-haired boy looks about ready to run out of the room. "Er, she broke his heart ...?"

"Who told you that?" As soon as I ask, I realize there's only one person who could. "Beck? Did Beck say that?"

"Yeah?" Robbie looks terribly confused. "She broke up with him on Friday night at Starbucks. Right there in the middle of all those people."

I blink. Rage is churning in my stomach, blazing down the veins in my arms and neck. I've always liked Beck - he's a smart, nice kind of guy, and the last thing I would have ever suspected of him was lying. Especially about something like this. I turn back to face the front of the class again, my hands pressed against my temples. He knew no one would ask Jade to clarify because they'd be too afraid of her lashing out at them. He doesn't want to seem like the bad guy. That would damper his chances of getting more dates. I shake my head, leaning back in my chair and glaring hard at the whiteboard. I don't even consider the chance that Jade could have lied to me. I know, in my gut, that there's no way she did. I've seen Jade now, I know her. And somehow I'm absolutely positive that from here on out, she'll never lie to me again.

The class is dismissed and the students are up and running down the halls. It's lunch time. I weave my way through the students, on a mission, gripping my shoulder straps as I march toward Beck's locker. He's already there, thumbing around on his phone. Before he has the chance to shut his locker door, I slam it for him, the sound lost in a sea of footsteps and hollering kids. It's still enough to make Beck jump, though, whirling around to face me with wide, dark eyes.

"Woah, hey." He glances between my hand, still flat on his locker, and my face. "What's up?"

"How dare you." My voice is thick and dark. I'm not one for vulgar language - that's Jade's forte, but I am pissed. My blood feels like it's about to boil out of my mouth. "How dare you lie about what happened on Friday."

His black brows twitch together. "Look, Tori, I don't mean to make this sound nasty but that is really none of your business."

"She's my friend. You can't just go around lying to people about what happened! You're making yourself look like the victim here."

"Who says I'm not?" Beck tries to move around me, but I step in his way. He makes a rough noise. "Tori, seriously, you don't know our relationship like you think you do."

"You broke up with her."

"I didn't have a choice!"

People are staring now. I didn't realize how many kids were lagging in the halls just to watch us spit at each other, since it's obvious this isn't friendly banter.

I ignore them, tightening my voice and lowering it a few pitches. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Beck rolls his eyes. "Look, I know from the outside - to you, and everyone else, hell, even her sometimes - thought everything was honkey dory and amazing and we were just perfect." His own voice lowers now, head ducked. "But you don't know her like I do. I don't even know her as well as I wanted and I've been with her for almost three years. She never -" Beck sighs, a hand clamping down on the back of his neck. "She refuses to let me in. Anyone. Even after all this time it's almost impossible for her and I to have a deep conversation. It shouldn't feel like that. I shouldn't feel like she's blocking me out."

My anger hasn't subsided - in fact, it's only growing in volume. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe that's all she can do right now? You know about her parents. You know she doesn't trust other people easily."

Confusion flickers past Beck's eyes, like he can't believe I already know so much about Jade, who is usually so private and secretive. "After three years, I think I've done my fair share of waiting."

"That's not how love works. You don't just put people on a timer, Beck."

"Yeah, and how would you know?"

That stops me cold. I open my mouth only to close it. He's right. I don't know, or shouldn't know, because I've never been in a relationship like his. I shake my head. "Whatever. Your reasons are your reasons, but stop going around telling people that it was her who broke up with you. It makes her look bad, and if you ever loved her, you would treat her better than that."

Beck rubs his neck again. He's frowning. Giving one nod, he rounds me and walks out the back doors, out into the courtyard. I release a tense breath.

"Tori?"

I blink, spinning, seeing Jade with her eyebrows connected over her nose. She glances between me and the doors. "You all right?"

"Hm? Yeah. Yeah, I, uh -" I press my lips together. I think about how I just chastised Beck for lying about her - how could I even consider lying to her? I meet her eyes, stepping close and checking the hallway before speaking. "Beck's ... he was telling people that you broke up with him. But I told him to stop," I say quickly, because she looks like she's about to fall over. I grab her elbows, straightening her, but I can see the edges of tears burning her eyes. "Jade -"

"That fucker." Fizzling through her sadness is anger. She tears away from me. I burst after her, failing to call her back. Out in the sun, the yellow light sets her black hair on fire. She slams into another student, ripping the small bottle of some kind of pink juice out of her hands.

"Jade!"

She doesn't turn. She marches through the tables, coming up behind Beck, who sits between Andre and Robbie. Cat, on the other side of the table, looks up, lips parting in horror, but it's too late.

Jade turns the bottle upside down. The pink liquid drenches Beck's hair, who tenses but doesn't turn around. I stop moving, mouth agape, watching as Jade bends over to meet Beck's eyes.

"You can break up with me and make me feel like shit all you want, but do not think you can get away with telling lies about me." She draws closer. "I thought we could be friends, Beck. I really did." She lingers for a moment longer. It's the sound of a teacher shouting from the doors that draws her away.

I can't move. I meet Jade's eyes as she passes me to find her grinning at me. She even winks.

I relax, mirroring the smile, turning to watch her march with pride back through the doors.

And I know that she's already on the right track.

A/N: Sassy Jade is BACK.

STEP AWAY.

Unless you're reviewing. In which case, I will not pour pink juice on you.