A/N Ack, I lost track of my outline I had ready for a few days and I really did not want to have to re-work my plot again. I found it, and I don't quite remember exactly what I intended for little bits. But that's okay. And, uh, some harsher language coming up.

Jade's POV

Four weeks and two days after the initial coupling.

It was not entirely unexpected when Beck approached me after lunch. Cat had eaten a bad burrito (they exist, I tell you) and had been sent to the nurse. I was lingering outside, and it was taking an awfully long time in there. I do not usually spook easily, but I could have sworn Beck had come out of nowhere.

"Oh, uh, hi," I said uncertainly, looking for vanishing powder or something to logically explain the suddenness of arrival.

"Hi, Jade. I need to talk to you. It's very important," he said.

"Well, if you've come all this way to talk to me, it's got to be at least somewhat worthy of my time. And I don't have all day. Tell me what the hell you want to know and leave me alone. Okay?"

He shrugged. "Yeah. Okay. Did you say something to Tori about us?"

I was getting impatient. "What about us? There is no us."

Beck shifted a little in his place. "You know... the sex situation...?"

I gritted my teeth. "Would you have liked me to lie to her? Like you did?"

"It would have been nice, yeah. Just to play along."

"I may admittedly be a manipulative bitch, but only for my own purposes," I said, restraining myself from doing something drastic. "I had nothing to gain by lying to Tori. Now you... you...!" I pointed at him uncertainly.

"What about me?" he replied, voice rising.

"It's just, you! I told you three months into our relationship that I wasn't ready. You asked maybe once or twice afterwards, and you seemed all right with that. Ugh!"

He folded his arms. "Oh, come on. Like you haven't done it with her-" he gestured towards the door. "yet?"

"No, I haven't, as a matter of fact. She's actually cool with it. And unlike Mister I-Compensate-For-My-Deception-With-A-Transparent-Locker, she's fucking honest. Grow a pair and take a lesson from her book!" I snarled at him. "You don't fucking lie to your girlfriend about something like that."

Fuming, I stomped away from the door. Cat would be all right on her own, but I did not want to spend one more minute around that asshole. I could make it up to her later.


I saw Robbie push Cat against the rehearsal setpiece. At first I was not paying close attention and figured it was part of the scene. Then I snapped into reality and remembered that Bassanio was a good, honest guy who would never do that to Portia. Nobody seemed to notice. I wondered what the hell everyone was doing that could be more urgent than assault. And then I saw the donuts. And there was coffee. Why hadn't anybody told me. I wanted coffee- but no, i was getting distracted!

I leapt off my stool and charged in. "Hey, hands off!" I said, slapping his hand pressing on Cat's shoulder away.

"We were just-"

"You were just nothing!" I yelled, shoving him to the side.

The background noise altered, and realized that people were starting to notice. Robbie looked pitiful, struggling to regain his balance. He was weak; I do not have amazing muscle tone.

A wavery, almost-mystical voice floated in. "All right, monsters, what'd I miss?" Sikowitz stumbled towards us.

Cat, still backed against the setpiece, said reluctantly, "Robbie was getting scary..."

"Uh, more than that. He had her against this wall and had this look in his eye.

Sikowitz looked down at Robbie with a puzzled expression. "In my day, the theater was a cleaner place. I remember at my first audition, I came in late wearing two different shoes 'cause I just went shopping and couldn't decide which one I liked better. And then I was chewing my gum and-"

"Mr. Sikowitz, I thought that was Barbra Streisand's first big audition," said the grounded jewboy himself.

"And that has nothing to do with... anything," added somebody random in the gathering crowd. I glared in their direction, but have no way of knowing of the glare's effectiveness.

"Oh, well.... Right. But we should not do these things to other people. Now, Robbie, why did you do such a thing?"

Robbie mumbled something.

Almost everyone shouted, "WHAT?"

"I wanted her to love me..."

I tapped my foot impatiently. "Tough luck, buddy. She's my girlfriend. Now piss off and leave her alone. For the last time, she doesn't effing want you. She doesn't seem to hate your sorry guts for whatever reason. So if you want to at least remain friends with minimal hard feelings, back off. Dammit!"

He did.

Sikowitz tilted his head to the side. "Oh, you're dating? That's nice." Then he walked away. I have no idea what sort of involvement that guy had with the student-directed, -acted, -produced, and -teched play. But that's Sikowitz.


I took my mom's earlier suggestion and invited Cat over for dinner. Of course it was wonderful. She was a little more timid than usual. I blame Robbie.

I can't stand half of the people I am supposed to be friends with now. I have always butted heads with Trina, even though we're in different grades. Beck's a lying cheating slimeball. Robbie has never been close with me, but he's gotten on my bad side seventy times too many.

With Cat, I discussed all of this. She felt bad for Robbie. I don't know how she could. I thought she might be more lenient with Beck, but she said she could not stand a liar. I recalled some of the times I have lied or done something dishonest. There are a lot of little things for which I have bent the truth. I want to be a better person and the best girlfiend that Cat could wish for. Lying is not something positive to keep anyway.

All that gilsters is not gold.

Everyone always screws up that quote. I know I do things wrong all of the time, and try to put up a facade. Maybe I just want to have a reputation sometimes because it makes me feel like I am important. But substance is more significant than appearance. For Cat, I want to be honest and a better person. I do not need to be the one everyone knows by sight if only I am loved for my true self. This must sound terribly cheesy.