Stories for the Cabbie Soul

A/N: Wow, fast update huh? Thanks for the sweet reviews! This is a pretty long chapter if I do say so myself.

Disclaimer: I give up.

Robbie's POV

Now where is Cat? I just saw her running this way and… oh, there's the girls' restroom. Never mind. I've got five minutes to spare before my next class starts. I'll just wait for her. Wait, that'll be creepy. Um, maybe I'll stand to the side here…

I'm briefly interrupted from my thoughts when I hear a sniffle. I tilt my head to the noise and realize it's coming from the bathroom. In the next second, Cat comes bursting out behind the door, tear tracks staining her face. Her eyes are red and puffy and she's sniffing uncontrollably. She gives a tiny hiccup before walking in the opposite direction of where I'm standing, her head hanging down.

"Cat," I call out to her. She stops but doesn't turn. "Cat! Are you okay?" That was a stupid question. She sure as heck was not okay! "Uh, what's wrong?"

She spins on her heel to face me with her huge, watery puppy eyes. "Robbie… um…," she gulps and sniffs. "Well, I was just… please don't be mad at what I'm about to say, but… um… I'm being silly, but I've, uh, noticed you've been spending a lot of time with Jade."

Uh-oh. This can't be good. Did she hear our conversation?

"And I heard you two talking in the janitor's closet."

Oh no! I just got Jade to trust me. Now Cat knows about all of this!

Assuming she heard all of what Jade and I talked about, I say, "Cat, please don't be mad. I mean, it was Jade's idea in the first place. But she didn't tell you about this because she didn't want you to think she was a bad friend."

Cat's eyes widened and, to my great surprise, they fill up with tears. "So… you two have been…" she doesn't finish her sentence, but I guess she's sad we've been keeping this a secret from her. I didn't want her to feel upset! I'm a terrible boyfriend! I should've just told her about this whole stupid thing!

"Look, Cat listen," I reach for her hand but she steps away from me. Fresh tears are pouring down her face freely now. Wow, I know she's sensitive, but I didn't think she was this sensitive! "Cat please! I didn't think it would make you so upset. I'm sorry!"

Cat stares at me with horror, her eyes as wide as saucers. "How could this not upset me? What were you thinking? I thought… I thought you… you said you loved me!"

Wait, where is she going with this? "I do love you," I say. "But, what does that have to do with anything?"

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" she screeches so loud that people turn to look at us. Two of them happen to be Tori and Andre, who automatically decide to come over and talk to us.

"What's up guys?" Andre asks as if nothing was wrong.

"What happened here?" Tori asks concerned, looking back and forth between me and Cat.

"Ask him!" Cat points an accusing finger at me, then bursts into hysterical sobbing. I try again to grab her hand, but she backs up even farther from me.

Now, Andre is giving me a questioning look, probably wondering what I may have done to make Cat so upset. Tori runs straight over to Cat and grabs her by the arms. She's trying to calm her down, but it doesn't work in the slightest. In fact, I think she made it worse.

"Cat! Listen to me!" Tori begs, raising her voice over Cat's sobbing. "What happened?"

Cat takes a few breaths to calm herself down, then she sniffles and says, "Robbie's cheating on me!"

I have heard many absurd things in my life, but none as absurd and crazy as this. Cheating on her? Where would she get that idea from? Is someone spreading rumors?

Andre and Tori are looking at me like I've grown two heads. But Tori turns her attention back to Cat.

"Cat, who told you this? It's probably not true."

"It isn't!" I pipe up. But I'm ignored.

"Nobody told me," she sniffs. "I saw him talking to her. She told him to dump me and she's always talking to him lately!"

"Who's this girl?" Andre asks calmly.

"Jade!" Cat screams. "Robbie's cheating on me with Jade!"

"What?" a voice from a distance away asks.

I turn to see that Beck was the one that spoke. He's advancing toward us. Oh boy, I am in deep trouble.

"What did she just say?" Beck asks as calmly as possible. Surely he knows she's wrong, right?

"Robbie's cheating on me with your girlfriend!" Cat shrieks. I can't believe she thinks that! Why would I go out with Jade anyway? I don't love her and she's dating Beck! I am most certainly not that kind of guy! I'm just realizing now that what I said to Cat earlier probably didn't make the situation any better.

I really wasn't expecting Beck to chuckle at Cat's outburst. But I guess today is full of surprises, huh? "Cat, I'm sure that's not true. I mean really, why would Jade go out with Robbie?"

"I don't know," she yells. "But she's always talking to him and dragging him away from me! She's starting to spend more time with him and they were just talking in the janitor's closet!" she turns away from the rest of us and puts her hands over her face, muffling the sounds of her sorrow.

Beck just chuckles again and turns to me. "Robbie is that true?" he asks, no doubt expecting me to say no. But when I say yes, he's not chuckling anymore. He's not even smiling anymore. "What do you mean 'yes'?"

"I mean," I start. "We have been talking more to each other and all of that," Beck is now staring at me coldly, so I go faster. "But I am absolutely not dating her! Why would I do that? She loves you and I know I don't love her!" Then, thinking I may have offended Beck, quickly add "Not that she's not lovable or anything. I don't love her, but I'm sure you do, right?" I laugh nervously. There's a big awkward silence.

"Okay," Beck says slowly. Now he's facing Cat again. "See? You don't have to be worried. Robbie's a good guy."

"Yeah," Andre agrees. "It's pretty clear to me that you're the only one for him."

"Definitely the only one!" Tori chimes. Just then, the bell rang for class to start. "Oh shoot!" and off runs Tori. The others follow suit. Now it's just me and Cat.

"Cat," I say. "You know I'd never do that to you, even if my life depended on it."

"You mean it?" she asks, looking back at me with her red eyes. In answer to her question, I reach for her hand (she lets me this time) with the promise ring still there (you don't know how happy it makes me to see her where it) and kiss it. She blushes and, again to my surprise, she cries. Then she hugs me and kisses my cheek.

"I'm sorry! I'm really, really sorry Robbie! I know you'd never do that, but I was just worried. You spent so much more time with Jade than with me!"

"Well, that's all going to change." I say, relieved she didn't ask what the real reason was for me spending a lot of time with Jade. "Um, hey, can I ask a question?"

"You just did, but I'll let you ask another!"

"What was in that bag you had with you yesterday?"

She looks puzzled. "What bag?"

"The bag you were carrying yesterday. You said I would find out what was in it."

At that, she seems to remember the bag and her positive, bubbly attitude returns. "Oh, I'll show it to you soon! I don't have it with me right now, but I promise you'll see it!" She gives me one last peck on the lips and turns to leave for class, bouncing happily with each step.

"Hey," I call to her. "I love you."

She turns to me one last time, the smile back on her face, the red gone from her eyes. Gosh, I loved seeing her like this. She's running back to me and she throws her arms around my neck. "I love you too." She whispers.

A/N: Aww, how sweet! But don't worry; I'm not done with the whole 'Jade-promise' thingy yet. Leave a review and I'll try to update soon, thank you!