Summary

It's not exactly a secret.

No really, it's like...the opposite of a secret. Someone may as well have, at one point in time, hired a sky writer, rented a billboard space on the freeway and took out an advert in every LA newspaper. That's how much of a not secret it is.

Jade West hates being touched.

A tale of Jade told in Seven Parts, exploring her touch avoidance and how each person found out about it.

Authors Note

Firstly, apologies for the delay - I wanted to get it up on Wednesday, but it was barely started. As I've mentioned before, I generally only have time to write in the mornings on weekends and when I get some downtime at work and I've been really busy with work this past week, so my writing as taken a hit - but I think it's calming down, so hopefully it won't be such a long wait until I next post!

So this one was HARD. Because I go back and forth with Trina - she's often one of the most selfish and self-centred characters on the show, so how would she even NOTICE something like that about Jade? But I also really do like her, because I think I have like, a thing for taking the most mocked/disliked characters in shows and trying to make them likable - for instance, Ryder. And now I guess I'm doing the same with Trina here?

I hope she's still in character; I want her to show that she's still her usual self-centred self, but she does care about other people a bit at least. This one is probably the only story thats actually EPISODE based. The first part is from 'Ice Cream for Ke$ha' (the highly requested 'NEVER touch me.' line and then the second is 'Prome Wrecker'. Mostly because I have so many issues with that episode. I've had a few people request a story from me about Prome Wrecker, in the same vain as my story 'Kiss With A Fist Is Better Than None', which is a rewrite of Stage Fight. So this is a taste test of what I may very well write out as a full story. I wanted to go away from the over-used (but still brilliant) sexual assault plot. So I hope this is a bit different but still fitting with the story and my writing style. Let me know if you'd be interested in it!

Let me know what you think! Comments are love! 3


Trina Vega never paid much mind to Jade West before Tori came to the school. OK, so that was a bit of a lie; everyone paid attention to Jade West at Hollywood Arts, if only because she was one half of the Hollywood Arts It Couple, and when they strolled around the school together, it was kind of hard not to stop and stare.

But she didn't give her much mind other than 'There goes Jade again, getting whatever she wants and not even caring' in a kind of abstract jealous way. But they didn't speak, they didn't interact and they certainly weren't even close to acquaintances, never mind friends. Of course, that changed when Tori came to the school at somehow managed to instantly get swept up into the group of the most talented Sophomores at Hollywood Arts, launching her to instant popularity.

So Trina never really knew about the whole 'don't touch' thing for a while, because like, why would she? She certainly wasn't getting close enough to the angry girl to even think about touching her for almost the first two years when she was at Hollywood Arts, and even after Tori came, Jade made it abundantly clear she wasn't a fan of Trina; and was quite vocal about it, which Trina could respect a little; Jade didn't fake niceness like some people did.

However, Trina liked to give second (and third and forth and fifth) chances to people, so when she was demanding Tori answer her phone due to an old bet the sisters had made, when Jade sided with her and goaded Tori into doing what Trina wanted, Trina attempted to somewhat make amends with the angry girl.

"Thank you Jade!" Trina exclaimed with a smug smile towards Tori (which would probably get her points with Jade too, if she thought on it), resting her hand on the other girls forearm. However, it was quickly wretched away from her with a scowl.

"Never touch me." Jade practically hissed, her eyes narrowed but Trina couldn't help but start back a little; because under the anger and annoyance that seemed to be a permanent thing for Jade, there was a hint of fear. She almost missed how Beck soothed her a few seconds later by brushing a hand down her arm and entwining their fingers when he reached her hand.

However, Trina had far more important things to think about – such as the newest set of Fabzini heels that were due out in two weeks and how she could best steal her dads credit card to buy them – so put the slightly odd reaction out of her mind. At least for a while.

The sentence popped back into her head a few weeks later, during Hollywood Arts first Prome. Her sister was the organiser, but she knew Tori was too goody goody to be suseptible to bribery to make sure she won Prome Queen, so instead she recruited that little dweeb who stalked Jade, Sinjin, to hack the voting system to make it so she won – obviously, she would win anyway but it never hurt to be safe.

She knew there was some form of drama going on between Tori and her little group of friends – when wasn't there drama going on with those guys, to be honest! - but she didn't care to pay much attention to it, although she figured that drama was the reason Tori's prome was being trashed, which she wasn't too appreciative of; after all, if Prome was cancelled, they'd never get to the crowning!

Then, somehow, she had no clue how since Sinjin had promised he could rigg the results, Jade won. At first, Trina was devastated – and ridiculously angry. She'd agreed to be Sinjin's date for gods sakes, when she could have went with someone far hotter, and she lost?!

When the Prome King wasn't Shawn Becker (if only because Beck Oliver wasn't at the Prome for whatever reason) and instead was the gross diaper guy who had crashed the party, Trina felt a little better about not winning. Especially when the guy lifted Jade up and ran from the party laughing manically as everyone else sang and danced and had fun...which, to Trina, didn't seem right. Sure, Jade could be an utter bitch (and was practically the reason the term 'gank' had been created at Hollywood Arts) but all her friends were just A-OK with some grown adult carting off their 17 year old friend as she struggled?

Trying not to draw attention to herself for possibly the first time in her life, Trina slipped out the doors while everyone else partied, her mood soured by not winning Prome Queen and also a small niggling in the back of her mind. Something about Jade being carried away in the arms of some random man...sure, it'd be weird for anyone, but why did Trina feel like it'd somehow be worse for Jade?

As she turned into the main halls, she froze. There, not too far away, was Jade, practically frozen in place as she sat on the small set of stairs that led away from the main hallway, arms wrapped around herself, and even from a distance Trina could see that she was breathing far too fast, with no chance of any air getting into her lungs. In front of her was the diaper guy along with his Boombox toting friend, both looking like they were freaking the hell out.

"We can't just leave her here!" Diaper guy was exclaiming.

"Yeah, because we really want to be found with you dressed like that with a girl hyperventilating and freaking out! You know what it'll look like Doug!"

"Hey! What did you guys do!?" Trina shouted, storming over to the pair –she was pretty sure she could take them both easily enough.

"Oh thank god! See, now we can leave if someone else is here!" The midget exclaimed, both eagerly turning towards Trina. "Hey! It's not what it looks like...she just started...freaking out. Struggling and hitting and screaming. We dropped her instantly but she just...I dunno. It's like a panic attack or something!"

"We didn't want to just leave her alone in case she passed out or something..."

'Never touch me!'

That was what Jade had said to her a few weeks ago. That had been what had been niggling at her mind from the second Doug had picked her up in his arms. It wasn't just about Trina being the one touching Jade, like she first may have thought, if she hadn't seen that hint of fear. Jade didn't like to be touched. At all. And by a stranger?! What was Tori and all her little friends thinking?! Surely they knew, right? Andre and Cat should have known for sure.

" I'll take care of her. You two can go." Trina demanded, turning from the pair and crouching down in front of Jade. Her automatic reaction would be to touch her shoulder but Trina figured that maybe that wasn't the best of ideas considering.

"Jade? Hey, Jade!" Trina decided to go with abrasive. Jade would probably respond better to that. And she was right as the flickering of her eyes stopped and focused on Trina. "Chill. The weirdos are gone. It's just me and you here, and I'm not gonna touch you, OK?" It didn't help much, as Jade simply tightened her arms around herself, her breath not slowing down, coming out in rapid short pants, her eyes flickering from side to side.

Trina frowned and bit her lip, pulling her phone out of her cleavage – a definate plus side to being busty; it was like a slight of hand trick, almost, the amount of things she could pull from her bra; hairclips, cash, her phone, the list went on – and pulled up a number she knew she wasn't supposed to have, and just hoped he'd answer.

Within a few rings, he answered with a confused 'Hello?', evidentally not having her number on his contact list.

"Beck? It's Trina-"

"Trina?! How did you get my number?!"

"Never mind that, listen Beck, it's about Jade-"

"I'm not reigning her in for Tori, Trina. Jade has every right to be pissed at your sister and that stupid Prome-"

"No! It's nothing like that! Will you just listen to me!" She burst out exasperated. "Listen, shit went down and there was some Diaper dude who came and he won prome king and Jade won Prome Queen, well, Tori lied and announced she won. So the diaper dude picked Jade off and carried her out of the dance-"

"WHAT?! Did none of the guys stop him?!"

"No. They continued dancing and cheering and singing." Trina admitted, and maybe she was a bit pissed at the group too because surely they knew that Jade must have had issues with touching. And even if she didn't, it didn't sit well with Trina that they were totally cool with a strange almost naked man carrying their underage friend away against her will. Trina may have been a bit self-centered, but even she had her limits; and a struggling girl being carried away was past it. "She's OK Beck. I mean, the Diaper dude and his little friend weren't creeps, thank God. But it seems like she had a panic attack and they didn't want to just leave her alone in case something happened. They've gone now, but...she's freaking me out Beck. Like, her breathing is all over the place and she's just shaking and not talking..."

"Shit. OK. OK." It sounded like Beck was freaking out, which was weird; she'd never heard Beck sound anything but chilled out or at worse, a bit irritated. "Listen - I'm at the airport now, just waiting for my flight to be called. It's a three hour flight. I should be in LA and outta the airport in 4 hours maybe. Are you OK to stay with her?"

"Me?! Beck, Jade hates me." Yeah, it wasn't like Jade made any attempt at hiding it. But Jade hated most people, so it didn't offend Trina as much as it might have.

"She doesn't...OK maybe a little. But she can't be left alone right now and I don't want any of those assholes who call themselves our friends to be with her, if they just let some guy carry her out into the night without caring." Trina had never heard Beck sound so...angry. She was pretty sure he didn't get angry, and that was one of the reasons he liked Jade so much; she was like an attack dog – and they were so in sync with each other, that if something annoyed Beck, Jade could pick up on it and rip it to shreds while still letting Beck be the cool guy (pffft. And people though Trina was unaware of those around her. Just because they were lesser than her didn't mean she didn't pay attention!). "Listen, can you just take her to mine? She should have a spare key to the RV with her, if she has her house keys. If not, just kick the lock hard and it'll open."

Trina sighed. She didn't really like Jade, but couldn't exactly leave her alone in this state, could she? "Fine. But she better not kill me when she realises." She snapped. "Text me when you land so I know how long you'll be."

"Will do...can you hold the phone next to her ear? I can maybe calm her down enough to follow you to the car..." Trina did as he asked, holding the phone next to a near catatonic Jade's ear. She couldn't hear what was being said, but Jade seemed to loose some of her stiffness, although she was still wrapping her arms tightly around herself, her breath still short and fast. When the soft murmuring had stopped, Trina pulled the phone away. "OK. Just take her to my RV and...thanks for this Trina. I know Jade's not your favourite person but...yeah. Thanks."

Trina shrugged although Beck couldn't see. "Yeah, yeah. You two owe me."

"And we'll pay you back, I promise. Listen, my flight is boarding so I have to go but I'll text the second we land."

It took a bit of effort to get Jade to her feet and to the car without Trina touching her – her automatic reaction was to put her arm around Jade's shoulder, like she would do with Tori, but she assumed it wouldn't be welcomed much. But, after almost an hour, they arrived at the RV and Trina rifled through Jade's clutch bag, pulling out a set of keys. After only one trial and error, she managed to find the right key for the RV door and tug it open, ushering Jade inside.

She'd been in the RV once before, back during that god forsaken heatwave last year and not much had changed – there was more of Jade's things laying about, but Trina got the impression that this was more the natural state of the RV, with Jade's shirts and make up and jewellry and books dotted around and that when she had last been in here, Beck and Jade had tidied everything away to make it less obvious that Jade practically lived there – or hid anything that gave away their more...'adult' activities, considering the black lace baby doll with dark purple ribbon details that was hanging over the door of the wardrobe – and, Trina saw with alarm, the dark blue bottle of lube on the little table between the bed and couch.

Deciding there would be time for snooping later, she turned towards Jade who stood stiff in the middle of the RV, staring off into space. Trina chewed her lower lip – Jade hadn't said a word since Trina had sent the Diaper guy and his little friend away and didn't look like she'd be saying anything soon.

"Jade? You want to get changed into something more comfortable?" She asked, grabbing a pair of sweatpants that were tossed on the bed, along with a tank top. Trina figured by the size they were both Beck's, but she didn't think Jade would care much.

Getting Jade into the loose clothes was an odd experience. It was almost like dressing a giant baby, as Jade really gave no help; Trina had to guide Jades feet into the sweat pants and then pull them up (under the dark haired girls dress) and triple tying the drawstrings in order to cinche them in enough around her ridiculously small waist (how come Jade got to have the perfect hourglass figure?) before pulling the vest top on over the dress as well, before unzipping the back and helping her step out of it – thank god it was a strapless dress, as that made it a lot easier.

Once Jade was dressed in kinda hilariously too big clothes, Trina urged her to sit on the bed, where she instantly curled up and proceeded to pass out, dead to the world – Trina might have worried, if it wasn't for the fact she knew panic attacks could cause even the most hyperactive and caffinated person in the world to loose almost all of their energy – for a while, after a mugging, her mother had panic attacks at random times, meaning Trina knew at least a little bit of how to deal with them.

As Jade slept, Trina made herself comfortable on the lumpy orange sofa and flicked the TV on, finding a channel running a CSI marathon and slowly getting absorbed into the crimes and overly dramatic stories – she could do so much better than most of these talentless hacks who played the guest stars.

It seemed like Trina had been sitting for no time at all when he phone rang and she glanced at the screen; Beck, of course. "I'm back at your RV. Jade's asleep on your bed – I figured she'd be exhausted after the panic attack so I just let her sleep it off." She answered without even saying hello, her eyes still trained on Nick investigating something found outside the house of the latest crime scene.

"Good...yeah. Listen Trina..." Beck let out a long exhale. "Thanks for this. I mean...I know you don't like Jade much and she's never been nice to you, but thanks...if she had been left alone or those guys you found her with were creeps I...anyway. Thanks for this whole thing Trina. I won't be long – my parents are getting my luggage and I'm on the way to the taxi stand now. I'll be there within the hour, are you OK to stay a little longer?"

Trina glanced at the clock above the TV – 11.15. Her curfew for tonight, because of the dance, was 1am. "Yeah, that should be fine. So long as I can be gone by 12.40."

"Yeah, no problem. I'll be there as soon as possible – hopefully there's no traffic."

And apparently, the notoriously bad LA traffic decided to take a night off, because not even 40 minutes later, just before midnight, Beck burst into the RV, his hair a bit messy and his breath uneven as he took in the scene – well, really, just took in Jade, curled up under a soft fleece blanket Trina had found, her hair sprawling across the pillow. When he finished looked, he seemed to practically melt in relief at her being unharmed. It was only then he caught site of Trina sitting on the couch, looking at him.

"Hey.." He uttered quietly, giving her an exhausted smile. "Thanks again Trina...seriously. You have no idea how much this means to me...and to Jade."

"It's whatever. I get it." She stood up, brushing down her skirt and flipping her hair.

"What even happened? Why the hell did Prome end with my girlfriend being carried off by a stranger?!" He asked, his voice quiet but almost shaking with anger.

So Trina told what she knew – there was drama between Jade and Tori, some weird ass stuff kept happening that Trina assumed correctly had been Jade, and then told of how Tori had lied and purposefully made Jade prome queen and the diaper guy prome king. When he heard that everyone laughed and cheered as Jade was carried off struggling, his fists clenched.

"All of them? Not just Tori but...Andre, Cat and Robbie too?"

Trina gave a small shrug and a sympathetic grimace; whether the grimace was for Jade, for Beck or for what would happen to those four when Beck finally got hold of them, even she didn't know.

"Well...I'm sure you need to get back home. And I know I keep asking a lot of you but could you...keep this underwraps? Not that you helped her out but...just the panic attack? At least from the general student population..."

"Won't hear a thing from me. Like I'd let people know I did something nice for anyone else." Trina rolled her eyes and picked up her bag. "I'm going to get going. I didn't give her anything other than that bottle of water next to her but she hasn't drank it. I just helped her get changed and she passed out asleep straight after." Trina added, just in case Beck gave her medicine for this type of thing.

Trina left just moments after, climbing into her car and just sitting for a few moments before letting out a long sigh. She had no clue what had happened to Jade. But she had to admit...she was happy she'd listened to her gut back at Prome, that she'd left to find Jade. Otherwise, God knows what would have happened? The diaper guy and his friend weren't creeps, thank God, but if they had left her and she passed out? Who knows what could have happened to an unconscious pretty girl in an atmosphere that was full of charged hormones and most likely spiked punch?

She ignored Tori's questioning glance when she got home and on Monday, when Tori was miserable over being reemed out by Beck for what had happened, Trina didn't offer a single word of sympathy.