I'm going to use songs throughout this story, so I'll add song credits at the end of each chapter if I used one. Hope you all enjoy!


Chapter Two || It's My Name


Senior year...

Her blood was boiling, her jaw was tense, and she felt like she could punch through a wall. And yet at the same time, her heart felt like it would rip in two. Jade and Beck had another fight, this time about the way they get along with each other. This fight was different from the other times. Beck looked so mad at her, something she rarely ever saw in him. He even called her "unbearable", and that "he couldn't stand being around her sometimes". She said some unsavory things as well, but Beck's words stung Jade more than she would ever let on. To think the one person she loved most would think she was unbearable? It was her worst nightmare and it tugged at all the insecurities she had buried deep down inside her.

And the last place Jade wanted to go was home. School had ended a while ago, but she was hiding out in the school bathroom. If anyone saw her like this, she would be mortified. The only people who had seen that side of her were Cat, Tori, and Beck of course. But none of those people were around, and she definitely didn't want Beck to see that his words had hurt her. She planned to wait until everyone left the halls before she made her way to the music room.

Soon enough, that's exactly what she did. She kept her gaze to the floor, scurrying to the safe haven. Once she made it, she quietly shut the door behind her and sighed. In this room, around all the instruments and recording software, she felt most at home. More so than her actual home. She decided it was okay to finally let a few tears fall. She deserved that much. After only a couple of seconds, she wiped her eyes dry. "Don't be such a pansy," she muttered to herself, dusting herself off and walking slowly through the room, only the sound of her clicking heels filling the quiet. There had to be something in here she could distract herself with...

On the keyboard in the middle of the room, she spotted a pink folder. Getting closer, she turned her head and read the words written in neat, bubbly handwriting on the front. Tori's Songs. Tori must've left this here during her music class. Jade scoffed, picking up the folder. "This should be good," she joked, opening it to find a bunch of folded sheets of paper and notes. There had to be something in here entertaining enough to get her mind off of Beck.

She eyed a note that was titled With Me. "Though we're not the same, we can feel each other's pain. At least I know he's here to stay," Jade read aloud. "Uughh." She rolled her eyes and groaned at the cheesiness of the lyrics.

Putting that one back in the folder, she pulled out another note. It was on lined paper, and the handwriting looked different. She could tell it was written with haste. This one was titled 365 Days. Jade paused and raised an eyebrow. Andre's song? The one he performed about all that time ago? Why would Tori have it in her folder? Jade skimmed through the handwritten lyrics, thinking back to that day. It was one of her and Beck's happier days in the years they had been together. After that night, things had gone downhill. She wasn't sure what happened, but all she knew was that she missed Beck already. Maybe if she would just-

Jade stopped in her tracks, taken aback by something she had read. Was that... her name? In his song? She didn't remember hearing her name during his performance. She glanced back up to the top of the song and looked again at the lyrics.

Monday, well Jade, I fell for you

Tuesday, I wrote you this song

Wednesday, I wait outside your door

Even though I know it's wrong

Jade's heart started beating fast. Was this song... about her? There was no way. It must've been a mistake. She kept reading, trying to see if her mind was playing tricks on her.

I will try everything

To make you come closer to me

And Jade, do you believe

It's not just a phase?

Her heart was thumping now. What. The. Hell?! This had to be some kind of joke. There was no way Andre wrote this! Or... maybe he could have? Thinking back, Jade did notice Andre was acting more strange than usual at the time. He kept giving her this wide-eyed look, stuttering in every sentence he spoke. Not to mention that "via the internet" comment he made. Who says that? And during the performance, his eyes were nearly glued to her. She assumed he was only trying to connect with his audience, but now...

No, there was no way. Tori must've written this knowing Jade would get a hold of it one day. Jade was always getting into Tori's things and finding out embarrassing secrets that she could use against her. Yeah, that had to be it. Tori wrote it, and-

The doorknob to the music room started to turn, making a creaking sound. Jade quickly stuffed the song into the pocket of her jeans and threw the pink folder back on the keyboard. Turning around, she saw Tori burst through the door. Her hair was messy and she had on a pink blouse with flowy sleeves. Jade was already annoyed with her presence. Tori always managed to look good, even when she was a mess. Jade on the other hand couldn't attract any male attention no matter how hard she tried all her young life. They all ran away scared or avoided her all together. She didn't care to attract anyone anymore, but she still found herself bothered by Tori's effortless charm.

"Oh, Jade? What are you doing here?" Tori asked, out of breath.

Jade crossed her arms. "What, is the music room only for tall brunettes now?" she said sarcastically.

"No, I just- never mind. I forgot my folder in here earlier," Tori sighed, gliding over to the keyboard. Slipping the pink folder into her shoulder bag, she was almost instantly out the door again. She took a second to look back at Jade. "Hey, is everything okay?"

She probably noticed the slight redness in Jade's nose and her glossy eyes. It irked Jade how kind and caring Tori was. Why did she have to be like that? Jade didn't want to vent to her and feel sad. Bottling her emotions up until they exploded and her bedroom window was punched out once again was much more her style. "I don't know, Tori. Has that pimple on your chin gone away yet?"

Tori held her chin, offended. She huffed and glared at Jade as she walked out, leaving Jade in the room alone again. As soon as she heard Tori's footsteps grow quieter until they were non-existent, she pulled out the song lyrics from her pocket to read them again. She wasn't sure how to feel about it. Every time her name came up, she could feel her heart flutter. It was weird, it was jarring, and it was a little uncomfortable.

Though she wasn't sure if it was a joke or not, she couldn't shake one thought from her mind: no one had ever written a song for her before.


The Next Day...

Andre was at Tori's house once again, along with Beck, Cat, and Robbie. Their teacher, Sikowitz, had assigned them a project due in just a couple of days. It was to create a short scene that portrays a very passionate, romantic moment- but without kissing. Tori was writing the script, Andre was composing the music, and Robbie was doing the stage lighting.

"I want to do the costumes!" Cat said, jumping up from her seat. "Ooh, and the makeup!"

"Just don't Grizzly-glue the makeup to their faces this time, Cat," Tori sighed, reminded of her encounter with Grizzly glue the last time Cat practiced prosthetic makeup on her. Tori turned to look at Beck. "I guess this means we'll leave the acting to you and Jade. Where is she, by the way?"

Beck nervously scratched the back of his head, not sure if he should tell the group about their fight. He didn't mind being open with his friends, but Jade might not like him sharing their business with others. "I don't know, maybe she's-"

Right on cue, Jade walked through the front door of the Vega house. "Alright, what's the plan for this stupid play?" she asked, making an entrance with her all-black outfit, black heels clattering against the floor with each step.

"You and Beck are gonna kiss," Cat said excitedly, giggling as she looked at Jade. "Tori's writing a very steamy script."

Tori rolled her eyes. "No, Cat. Our play can't have any kissing. That's the rules."

Cat's expression turned sour and she crossed her arms, looking disappointed.

Tori explained everyone's role and informed Jade she would be working with Beck. Jade was still mad at Beck for what he said, but she couldn't focus her anger the way she usually did. All she could think about was the song sheet she found yesterday. The lyrics... he didn't write them, did he? She felt a weird feeling in her stomach when she saw Andre sitting by the piano in Tori's place, smiling at her like he usually does. Jade never had a problem with Andre. Out of all the other friends she had, they got along pretty well. Even so, she never expected the possibility that he might have feelings for her. She almost didn't know how to act around him now.

"Jade, you're fine acting with Beck, right?" Tori asked, looking to the goth girl for approval.

"Why do you get to write the scene?"

"Well, do you want to write a passionate, romantic scene with sappy dialogue and a happy ending?"

"Fine, I'll act. I guess," Jade muttered. She was much better at writing horror or thrillers. She'd leave the sappy romance stuff to Tori.

Andre, oblivious to what Jade found out yesterday, decided to call her over. "Jade, come here real quick. I wanna run this by you," he said, gesturing to the piano.

Though Andre was over his feelings towards Jade now, he couldn't deny that she was helpful when it came to music and writing lyrics. He valued her help when it came to that. Jade, on the other hand, was internally in crisis mode. How was she going to act normal in front of him? How does any girl act normally when she finds out one of her guy friends might've had feelings for her?

While the others began to talk amongst themselves, Jade walked over to Andre and hovered over the piano. "Hey," she said, trying her best to be her usual self, which was confident and direct. "What do you have so far?"

Andre looked down at his piano. "Alright, well the play only needs to be a couple of minutes. We need to fill some time up with a song. Tori said the play is gonna be about a couple in the 60s about to lose their home on Christmas Eve, so we need the song to be bittersweet, right? It could go kinda like this..." he trailed off, positioning his fingers on top of the keys. Of course Tori would want to write a play about a Christmas romance. She probably watched Hallmark movies and baked cookies with her family every December. That thought alone made Jade internally cringe.

She pulled herself out of her thoughts and focused on Andre again. He played a series of notes, which Jade found to be a mix of joy yet melancholy, just like Andre described. "The husband is gonna sing first, then the wife, and then both together for the last part of the song. Here's what I got," he said, clearing his throat before singing part of the lyrics he had written.

Stay with me, my love, my dear

Underneath this tree

We only have tonight, I fear

Just this Christmas Eve

How could I ever leave

Where else would I go?

Without you, I couldn't be

Who else could I call home?

Stay with me

Oh, stay with me

This last night

Our Christmas Eve

Andre ended the last note with a soft falsetto, along with the final keys of the piano producing high notes. Jade found herself impressed by the sweet song he had written. It was a little too sappy for her liking. Personally, she would have enjoyed a horror scene much better than a passionate one, but given their assignment, it was perfect.

"It's good," Jade nodded, giving him props. "I have to sing that?"

Andre laughed at her, saying, "Unless you want Tori to fill in for you."

Jade frowned at the idea of Tori Vega singing some sappy song to her boyfriend. No way. "Give me the lyrics," Jade said, snatching the papers away from Andre. When Jade looked at them, her eyes widened.

Andre's handwriting. The lined paper. It looked exactly like the song lyrics she found the day before. Now her suspicions had been validated: Andre originally wrote 365 days for Jade! And Jade wasn't the type to hold her thoughts back. Fortunately, she was smart enough not to confront him in front of Beck. Beck was known as being one of the most laid-back guys at Hollywood Arts, but if he knew Andre was into his girlfriend, he would for sure not be happy about that. "Andre," Jade said in a stern, low voice. She didn't want anyone to hear her.

"What? Something wrong with the lyrics?"

Jade shook her head. "I need to talk to you upstairs. Now."

She looked around before heading towards the stairs of Tori's house. No one noticed her walking away. Robbie and Cat were discussing what stage makeup would work best with different lighting colors, while Tori went over the script with Beck at the kitchen table.

Andre sat at the piano, confused as Jade walked upstairs. What could she possibly want to talk to him about? Shrugging to himself, he followed behind her.