This is probably going to be around 15 or 20 chapters overall, I have most of the outline written already. Hopefully there will be at least two chapters per week if I can keep this inspiration up.

Beck's POV:

She actually showed up. I couldn't believe it, was momentarily stunned as she sat down on the chair I'd pulled out for her, exchanging greetings with Cat and André, effortlessly slipping into their conversation. I just couldn't believe it.

Hair falling in soft waves over her shoulders, a white and a blue streak contrasting perfectly with the soft brown. Ocean eyes focusing intently on Cat's gesturing and Andrés awkward laughter. Soft slender fingers stealing a chicken wing from the plate in front of me. She was here. And so different from the past weeks too, a contrast from the usual Jade who barely ever spoke up except for yelling at people who dared to look at her for a second too long. This Jade was nodding along to Cat's rambling, occasionally asking the odd question. I was having a hard time keeping up, so preoccupied with thoughts of the brunette sitting beside me, I didn't even notice Cat excitedly running off to find a song for the girls to perform or André excusing himself to go buy some more food.

"Is there something on my face?" Her piercing stare was focused on me, right eyebrow slightly raised.

"Oh erm no, of course not" Blushing slightly at my lack of social skills I stumbled on the words. Damn it Beck, keep it together. "Just surprised to see you here is all, didn't think it was your kind of place"

"Oh so you think I'm not capable of having fun?" She sounded mostly accusative, just a hint of something else under the surface. I didn't know how to respond, tried finding the right words but she cut me right off. "And what exactly is 'my kind of place' anyway? Some dark dungeon? The bridge under the highway where the heroin addicts go to shoot up?". What?

I managed to collect my thoughts, gather some of that Beck Oliver charm and shot her a small grin. "Of course not. Let's try this again. Hi. I'm happy you made it, have you been here before?"

"No". Her voice was curt but her eyes slightly brighter. Slender fingers stealing another fry off my plate.

"We actually hang out here a lot. There are these two girls that sing horribly but still always win the karaoke competition because one of them is the daughter of the owner, which is always a bummer, but the food is really good and most of the other singers are usually okay" I tried to keep my voice light, conversational. "I don't really sing myself though. Do you?"

"I'm not really a singer no, it's not my thing" She avoided my gaze, looking down at her finger nails, sounding dismissive.

"Not a singer, noted. So acting is your main thing then? Do you want to be an actress?" I tried meeting her eyes again but she kept them firmly focused on her hands, absentmindedly scraping off black nail polish with her thumb.

"No" She looked up at me, fire in her eyes. "I'm not stupid enough to think that a career in the arts is worth pursuing, it's a sure way to ruin life". I didn't know how to respond to that, awkwardly rubbing the back of my neck. That was kind of a weird thing to say for someone going to the most prestigious high school for the performing arts. Any other person from our school would have immediately started going on about their talents, about how they wanted to be famous in this or that way. Not this girl though, the icy, beautiful brunette beside me who could out-act any person in our class. And she didn't believe her acting was worth anything. I was both amazed and intrigued, did she not know how good she was?

She seemed to sense my lack of a comeback and softened her gaze a little bit. "Tell me about you? I mean not that I care obviously, but what's your 'thing'?"

Thankful for the opportunity to change the subject I started talking about my passion of acting, how I had realized as a kid acting was this way of escaping reality and just being someone else. I told her about my first role as Peter Pan in a middle school play and how the feeling onstage was different from anything else I'd ever experienced, how it was like everything else disappeared and it was just me and the audience. I knew then that that's what I wanted to do.

I didn't tell her about my underlying fears of abandonment, of fearing my personality wasn't fun enough or interesting enough, how pretending on stage or in front of a camera also helped me perfect this 'Beck Oliver' persona for real life. A chill, laid-back guy without a care in the world, always ready to help with a casual shrug or smile. No, I didn't tell her that. That was a small, crumpled up ball of truth I'd exiled to the very back of my mind, sworn not to revisit ever. But her intent listening made me almost want to. Her head was slightly tilted, her blue eyes softly meeting mine, our legs occasionally grazing each other because of the smallness of the table.

I was interrupted mid sentence by Cat's return to the table. "Jadey, it's our turn! We're gonna sing that song you know that we sang together that one time at my house before my brother came in looking for his pet tarantula that escaped and then was found in my backpack next to that super cute.."

"Okay, fine!" Jade interrupted her mid sentence, seemingly not wanting to listen to yet another of Cat's rants.

"Yay!" Cat squealed and excitedly pulled her away by the hand towards the stage.

The DJ introduced them as the next singers, saying something about 'a little bit of R'n'B action tonight' and after that the song started playing. And I couldn't take my eyes off her. Cat was great of course, her vocal range something out of a different world, easily enough to make her a big shot singer in the future. I already knew that, was already immensely impressed by her talent. But Jade was something else. Wow. The utter confidence radiating off her as she sauntered along the stage, shimmying her shoulders, hitting every note perfectly. The red-head and the brunette were perfectly in sync, blending their voices together effortlessly and not missing a single step of what seemed to be a choreography they'd practiced before. And she'd said she wasn't a singer.

When the song finished with Cat and Jade perfectly holding the last note, faces leaning in towards each other I was the first one on my feet, clapping like a madman. André wasn't late to join me, letting out a surprised "Damn, that was good" and soon the whole audience was on their feet, clapping and cheering for the girls. Cat looked pleased, soaking in the attention and applause as the two girls made their way back to the table. Jade on the other hand had returned to her usual unamused facial expression, making it seem like the passionate, admittedly super hot, performance never had happened.

"That was SO much fun you guys!" Cat sat down next to André, bouncing excitedly in her chair. "Doesn't Jadey and I make the best team?"

"Yeah whatever" Jade shut her down with a look, making it very clear she didn't want a discussion on the topic.

"Great job Cat, you were amazing!" I made sure to congratulate Cat, her face lighting up at the compliment. André agreed, giving her a high five. "And you were just fantastic up there, Ms 'I'm not a singer'" I added with a more hushed tone to the brunette next to me, wanting her desperately to realize her talent while simultanously trying to respect the way she didn't want people making a fuss over her.

"Whatever" She said, feigning indifference, but her eyes were soft and the curt tone lacked it's normal angry undertone. I vowed to myself then and there to always make sure to show her how amazing she was, to never let her get away with doubting her talents.

"So Peter Pan huh? I bet you looked amazing in the green. Did you enjoy being friends with tinker bell?" Her voice was dripping with sarcasm but her eyes twinkling in a teasing way.

I shrugged, a bit embarassed, but at the same time happy about how she'd actually listened to my rambling about acting before. People didn't always listen, a lot of the time they were just waiting for their own turn to speak. Not Jade. It made me appreciate her company even more.

We stayed at Karaoke Dokie until closing time, just talking about anything and everything. Barely even noticing Cat and André saying their goodbyes, leaving to share a cab home, delight obvious on Cat's small face as she looked at the two of us engrossed in our conversation.

"Excuse me guys, we're closing up. Time to get going" One of the staff members looked at us expectantly and I just then realized that the place was empty and we were the last ones there.

"Oh sorry" I flashed him a sheepish grin, getting up quickly while Jade just glared at him until he mumbled something about being back soon and hurried off.

"Come on, let's get going" I said, slightly amused. She just smiled wickedly and stalked off towards the door, leaving me trying to catch up.

The night at Karaoke Dokie felt like a turning point, all of a sudden I had an in with Jade, had been allowed to peel off one of her many layers. While driving home that night I felt an odd sense of peace and accomplishment, happy with myself for trying to reach out, get to know her. Most people probably wouldn't have even tried, getting derailed by her deathly glares and her obvious disinterest in people but I'd had this feeling all along that she was more than that, that it was gonna be worth going through the trouble in order to be her friend. And I'd been right.

The whole weekend went by in a whirlwind of homework and family dinners and group skype calls with my friends and come Monday I was excited to be back in school again, hoping to get to spend more time with my new friend. If you could call us that. Problem was that she acted completely the same as before, not meeting my gaze in the hallways and storming off right after class, all flowing hair and heavy boots and black clothing. I didn't get it. We'd bonded right? I felt like I'd opened up to her in a way I rarely ever did with people, felt like we'd had a connection.

I cornered her in the coffee line at lunch, needing to understand what was going on.

"Hey"

"Oh hey" She looked up, feigned indifference.

"How was your weekend?"

"Yeah, I'm not doing this" She quickly spun around, leaving her place in line and me standing there, confused. Once again I watched her stalk off. What was up with that? It was like last friday had never existed, like our hours of, to me at least, meaningful conversation was something I'd made up in my head.

"Hey! You getting anything or what?" My thoughts got interrupted by the barista waving his hand in my face irritatedly.

"Oh yeah. One large coffee, black with two sugars" I flashed him a grin while paying and heard him mumble about 'acting kids with their heads in the clouds' as I walked off with the beverage, scanning my surroundings for the fierce brunette with the soulful eyes and secret love for Disney movies. I'd promised not to tell anyone.

When I finally found her she was sitting on the steps outside Hollywood Arts, pair of scissors in hand, cutting up what seemed to be a wig for the upcoming play.

"Hey" I sat down next to her, holding out the cup of coffee. "Black with two sugars, just the way you like it"

"Oh. You again." She accepted the coffee, cautiously taking a sip. "You remembered" A small smile grazed her lips at the taste of the beverage, but just as soon disappearing again. She took another sip before resuming her murderous activity on the blonde wig.

"I'm not sure what's happened but I just... I really enjoyed your company the other night" I offered, carefully watching her expression. "I just thought that you and me were becoming friends and I wanted to say that I would really like that" I continued, trying to come off sincere but not too needy, try to keep up at least some of my carefully constructed 'laidback Beck' act.

"Listen Beck" Her voice was a bit uncertain, void of her usual angry tone. "I don't think it's a good idea. It's just that everything is complicated and I'd hate to put that on you, ruining your perfect life or whatever. I'm just not a good friend for you, not like your other crazy, artsy friends like piano guy or little miss Perfect Vega with their music and their giggles and their big hopes and dreams. I'm not like that" She kept her gaze firmly pointed at her silver pair of scissors, slowly moving the blades as she talked.

"I don't care" I said simply. "I don't care about any of that. I'm not going anywhere. We're good together, I think you know that too and I'll do my best to be there for you. Would you just please let me?" I said with the most convincing voice I could muster. I'm not sure how I ended up in this place, willing to do anything to aquire a friendship with a girl I'd only known for a few weeks and only ever really had talked to for that one night. But I spoke the truth, I'd become attached to her and I would do anything to get to keep being around her.

She looked up at me, ocean blue eyes meeting mine, trying to wipe out an initial look of surprise and replace it with a scowl but it lacked menace. "Yeah whatever. Okay then. Friends."

My heart did a little somersault and I couldn't stop a big grin forming on my face. "Friends" I bumped her shoulder with mine and then stood up, offering her my hand to help her up. She put her coffee mug in my hand and then proceeded to lift herself up, picking a few chunks of blonde wig hair off her black jeans in the process before walking up the steps towards the school.

"If you think for one second though that this means that I will also become friends with Robbie or André or even worse, Vega, you're dead wrong" She called out over her shoulder.

I just smiled, shaking my head at her bluntness and followed her in through the big double doors.

Friends