Okay, I realize that some of you (okay, ALL of you) are not very happy with me after the last chapter. But, that's what makes me feel and be a good writer. If I can truly get you raging over a story, rather than a simple "Eh, it was okay, I guess…" then it feels like I'm accomplishing something. So thank you guys for making me feel loved :).
Good news: I'm predicting at least four or five more chapters, plus questions will be answered in this one.
Bad news: Sam and Cat will not be getting back together in this chapter (Go ahead, say you hate me still), BUT I will not end this story until they do.
Oh, and before you read this chapter, this is where I go back to Jade's first conversation with Sam. If you need to refresh your memory, do so.
…
"What do you want, West?" Sam growled, turning back to her bike.
"What are you doing here?" Jade asked.
"That's none of your business." Sam said.
"Oh, it is." Jade said.
"How?" Sam questioned.
"You're winning over the wrong person." Jade said as she took another step closer towards Sam.
"What are you talking about?" Sam said as she pretended to inspect her motorcycle. She didn't want to look Jade in the eyes.
"Need I remind you of the others?" Jade said.
Sam's head snapped up and she froze in place. "What?"
"Missy was the first, wasn't she?" Jade continued. "The first to see what you were really like and run?"
"Shut up." Sam said, her teeth clenched. She faced Jade, a darkened light in her eyes.
"Then there was Nora." Jade smirked at Sam's angered trembling. "She was just as crazy, but still couldn't handle you."
Sam's hands flew up to ears like an air horn had been blasted by her head but Jade drew closer, daring to go on.
"And Carly." She tsked. "Does she still have that scar on her side?"
"She forgave me for that!" Sam roared, but there a weakened pleading somewhere in the sentence. She wanted Jade to stop. She didn't want to feel vulnerable.
"And how does she repay you? By turning her back on you and going to Freddie."
At an instant, Sam had Jade pinned up against her own car. There was an animalistic rage in her eyes. When she spoke, there was a dark tone in her voice. "You. Know. Nothing."
Jade simply chuckled. "I know plenty, Sammy." Her eyes flashed with a challenging light. "After all, I was the only one that could really take your shit. That is, until you called it."
Sam's fingers tightened on the raven haired girl's collar, then released it. She backed away, flexing her hands.
"If you don't want the same fate for Cat, I suggest you end it now." Jade said, all to pleased with her results. She got into her car and rolled down the window. "Later, Samantha."
"Whatever, Jadelyn." Sam sneered, but the black car was already heading up the street.
She leaned up against the cafeteria doors. She could hear Cat's wailing sobs coming from the other side and her heart ached. A cry bubbled up in her chest, but she swallowed it down. It killed her, murdered her. Oh, how she wanted to fall to her own knees and scream up at the sky damning everyone and everything! Like something out of Shakespeare. But, no. She'd do no such thing. She had to convince herself that this is what Cat needed; this is what was best for her.
And, yet…
She couldn't look… She had to look. Sam forced herself to turn around and look in through the cafeteria doors. There was Cat, broken down on her knees and face buried in her hands. Her friends were crowded around her, Tori and Robbie also on their knees next to her while Beck, Andre, and Jade stood. Curious onlookers tried to see past the group and locate the source of the cries, but one look from Jade and they moved on to something else. That is, all except Sam. Jade had seen Sam. She whispered something in Cat's ear before standing straight and coming to the doors. Sam backed away from them and Jade walked through.
"Very well done." she praised. "She honestly believes that you don't want her."
"She's crying." Sam said, her composure shattering under those words. Cracks built up in her confidence.
Jade shrugged indifferently. "She'll get over it."
"So what's your point?!" Sam yelled, hearing the echo of her outburst rattle down the hall. Surely, teachers and students would open their doors to see the two of them standing there. But who cared? "Are you really so fucking heartless that you can't see what that's doing to her?! Because I can see it clear as day!"
"My point is," Jade said, ignoring the rest. "is that you stopped it before it got out of hand."
"Don't you fucking understand anything?!" Sam said. She felt the tears building up in her system. She let them. Nothing mattered anymore. "She loves me! And I love her!"
"And it's because you love each other that this is what's best. Would you honestly prefer that she run later than end it now?"
"You don't know that. You don't know that she would've ran."
"Cat's sensitive and easily scared." Jade said. "She would've ran first chance she got."
Sam didn't answer. She, instead, grabbed her backpack from the floor and left.
…
She cradled her purple giraffe close to her chest as she laid curled up in the middle of her bed. Her tears had long stopped flowing, their dry trails evident on her pale face. Her throat was drying, pleading for the one this it could not receive. She couldn't cry anymore; she was all sobbed out. She dragged the pad of her thumb over the nose of Mr. Purple and sighed. How could she of been so fooled? How could she of done that to herself? To not take example from the many before her who had suffered the same fate… How? Why? She didn't understand. Sam said she still loved her, but how could Cat believe her after…that? After she broke her heart?
"Cat?" her Nonna said from behind the closed door.
"Yeah?" Cat answered hoarsely.
"Jade's here for you." Nonna said.
Cat closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again. "Let her in."
She didn't look at the door, but she heard the sound of combat boots thudding against carpet (yeah, Jade walked pretty hard). The bed sank, Jade placing herself at Cat's feet.
"Cat." was the first word out of her mouth.
"Hi." Cat said, still not looking at her.
"Are you okay?"
All she got was a shrug. Silence passed between the two for a few minutes, then Cat spoke up.
"Jade, I'm sorry." she said.
"What for?" Jade asked.
Cat sat up, but kept her eyes on the giraffe in her hands. "For not believing you earlier. I honestly wanted to think that…"
She didn't need to finish. "You didn't know what you were getting yourself into."
"Is this what is what like for you when you and Beck broke up?" Cat asked.
Jade was taken back by the suddenness of the topic change. She remembered the desperation to get him back the first time, how she teamed up with Tori against her better judgment for help. The second time wasn't as bad, but it was still just as painful.
"Sort of." she said more quietly than intended.
"But you guys are back together." Cat said, sounding more like she was trying to piece something together than ask a simple question. "You and Beck broke up twice, but still got back together."
"Yeah." Jade said.
Cat sat there in thought, staring at her bed cover, Mr. Purple now forgotten in her hands. Jade figured that was all she was going to get out of her for the day.
"You'll get through this, Cat." she said before leaving the saddened girl alone.
Cat looked up in time to see the door close behind her friend. She reached over and grabbed her phone, playing the only song she figured could relate to her pain.
I can honestly say
You've been on my mind
Since I woke up today (Mmm, today)
I look at your photograph all the time
These memories come back to life
And I don't mind
Cat laid down on her back, staring up at the ceiling. She hummed along with the song, letting her emotions cloud her eyes and pour over her cheeks.
I remember when we kissed
I still feel it on my lips
The time that you dance with me
With no music playing
I remember the simple things
I remember till I cry
But the memory I wanna forget
…Is goodbye…
…
Did that make you wanna cry? No? I'll get you next time! And I think it's safe to say we all hate Jade at this point, and that she's kinda rethinking what she did. Only time can tell, though! 'Til next time, dear reader!
