Author's note: Wow! I was not expecting so many reviews! Thank you so much. I really thought I'd confuse a few of ya with that last chapter but obviously I freaked myself out for no reason. Not only did you get it, but you seemed to like it as well. THANK YOU!

Disclaimer: So, I don't own Victorious and I used some dialogue and scenes from "Cat's New Boyfriend" and "Jade Dumps Beck"

{~~~~TORI~~~~}

I thought being Jade would be hard. It's not. Okay, getting the piercings was no fun, but I've been assured that the holes will close up once I take the rings out.

Other than that, I've actually been having a bit of fun. Being Jade is a very liberating experience. I can say brutally honest things without worrying about hurting people's feelings. People like my sister, Trina. She woke me up this morning while she was doing "voice warm ups." Oh. My. God. Trust me, it's the most awful sound imaginable; and I got to tell her so this morning because the real Jade wouldn't hesitate to. Then I went back to sleep.

That's another good thing about being Jade. I got to sleep in late. In fact, I'm just now getting to school. And it's nearly lunch time!

The hallways are empty; meaning I'm late for my next class, but I take my time. One: I'm Jade. Two: Next class is Sikowitz. He'll probably come in later than me anyway. He was late yesterday; and according to Jade's notes he's late more often than he is not.

Once I'm at the door, I take a deep breath, realizing that being Jade has only been so easy because my only audience has been my family so far; and they don't know Jade. It's not like they could've given me any honest feedback as to whether or not I'd actually been acting like the real Jade. They could only tell that I wasn't me. I mean, blue contacts, pierced eyebrow, pierced nose, drawn on tattoo, black boots, black jeans, black top, black nails, and blue streaks in my hair….That's not me at all. So to them, I did an excellent job being Jade. So excellent that my mom had to remind my freaked out father that I don't go to Sherwood High anymore. I go to a performing arts school, a school that teaches young adults how to be a star; and that underneath my "costume" I was still his little girl.

I was touched by the speech. I really was. It was one of those family moments when I'm like "Aww, thanks Mom," and then my dad agrees and gives me a hug; but this morning when my dad wanted to hug me, I rolled my eyes and held my hand out.

He stopped just before his arms encircled me and frowned at me. "What?" He asked. My poor Papi was so confused.

So I un-confused him. "Gimme money for the cab." I commanded.

He blinked at me, his arms still poised as if he was about to hug me.

I stared at him until he got the hint and dropped the arms. Then he sighed and said, "Why don't you just let Trina take you?"

"NO!" I screamed so loud he jumped back away from me. I was worried about hurting his feelings when I did that, but then he laughed and said, "Dang, girl."

I glared at him, leaving my empty hand out for him to fill. And he did it! He gave me two twenties. Way more than I needed. Then he said, "Have a nice day at school, Jade."

"Whatever," I replied as nastily as I could, but I was extremely happy that he understood...

But, what if my classmates don't understand? What if I do so bad at being Jade everyone starts to think I got in by mistake? What if I did get in by mistake? What if-

Stop, Tori. Just stop it. I chide myself. I can do this. Yesterday during group improv Sikowitz told me that if I'm going to play a dog, I need to be a dog. He didn't say that if I'm going to play a dog, I should act like a dog.

I take a deep breath and apply that same concept to this exercise. If I'm going to play Jade, I need to be Jade.

Jade belongs at Hollywood Arts, and Jade doesn't care about what others think of her,

I open the door, more confident than I was two seconds ago. I can do this.

The first thing my eyes are drawn to is the window. Why? Because that's how my teacher is getting into the classroom instead of using a door like a normal human being.

"Jade!" He calls excitedly when he sees me.

"What?" I cross my arms over my chest and start to think of any possible rebuttals the real Jade would give Sikowitz if he makes a comment about her being late.

But I come up with nothing!

I wouldn't say I "freak out" per se…I would just say that a little of my confidence has left me and I'm starting to feel like maybe I won't be able to pull this off.

I glance André's way for no particular reason and note that he's got Rex in his lap. It's so weird. Actually, everyone looks weird. Robbie's got twisties in his hair. Beck's wearing a pink dress. Cat's…Cat is…Beck. Jade's boyfriend. My boyfriend! And I gotta kiss her! I forgot I have to kiss Cat! Oh my god, how could I forget that I have to kiss Cat today!

"Have you ever thought of coming in through the window?" Sikowitz says, cutting into my internal freak out session.

I focus my attention back on him. "Have you ever thought about how much I would love to push you out of a window?" The answer comes to me, just out of freakin' nowhere. It's just like yesterday during improv when I really got into my dog character and bit Jade.

"Excellent!" Sikowitz claps excitedly and I roll my eyes before taking the seat next to Cat.

When I sit down, I make sure to slouch and keep my legs wide open. I'm sitting like a dude and barely making it a conscious effort. It's like I'm Jade. And I smirk a little to myself. What the heck was I so worried about? I got this. I'm practically a natural at this improv acting stuff. These actions just come to me.

I turn my head a little, wanting to get a peek of the real Jade. Curiosity's taken over and I have the strongest urge to see how she's pulling me off.

She's looking back at me and my first instinct is to smile at her because she's smiling at me; and I've just realized how incredibly nice she looks when she's wearing an expression other than a scowl.

But I can't smile at her. I'm Jade, and the real Jade hates me…er Tori….or whatever. So, I glare at her. I make sure to fix her with a glare so fierce my eyes are practically screaming, 'what the f-word are you looking at?'

She turns away quickly and I smirk again before giving Sikowitz my full attention.

"Now class, today…." Sikowitz pauses there to take a very long sip of coconut juice; and since I know the real Jade is extremely impatient, I give a loud sigh before pulling a pair of scissors out of my messenger bag and snipping at my blue extensions. "I want you guys to mingle while I observe." Sikowitz finally finishes his statement.

I look up from my hair and give him a blank look, not a "confused" blank look, a "bored" blank look. One quick scan of the classroom and I'm more than positive the only person the real Jade would want to mingle with is her boyfriend.

That girl really needs to get some friends.

"And action!" he shouts.

Show time.

I get up before Cat can even move a muscle and plop into her lap.

"Uh Jade, Sikowitz said to"-

"To mingle." I cut her off. "And I'm mingling." I whisper the last part before pressing my lips to hers. Might as well get this part out of the way.

For the record, this isn't my first time kissing a girl. There was that one time at summer camp five years ago; but I was twelve, and it was a truth or dare kind of thing. It didn't even last a full second.

But this kiss….way longer than a second. And way better than the other one.

Cat pulls back first.

She doesn't blush, or act girly at all. She rubs the back of her neck, just like any guy would do if he's a little… uncomfortable.

How'd she do that?! I get that we're supposed to be acting like someone else, but to be able to control whether or not you blush?

And it's Cat! It may only be my second day here but Cat is easy to clock. She's the ditzy blonde with red velvet hair. I expected her to break character at least once a minute; but obviously she's an excellent actress. It just boggles my mind. Really! How is it that she can be so clueless, yet pull off acting like someone else without faltering?

Cat clears her throat and it's so loud. That's when I notice the silence. Everyone in the classroom is supposed to be mingling. Why's it so silent?

I look around. Everyone's staring at us. Everyone except Sikowitz. He's frowning at his coconut. I think he's the only one who missed my kiss with Cat.

"Babe, I think Sikowitz wants us to mingle with our classmates." Cat interrupts me just as I was beginning to hyperventilate.

"No." I answer stubbornly, turning back to her. Mingle with them? No thank you. The boys are all drooling and the girls are slack jawed, including Jade. She's doing me wrong. I would not stare at a kissing couple with my jaw hanging off its hinges. Even if the kissing couple consisted of two girls.

I glare at her, one eyebrow raised, until she turns away. I'd rather kiss Cat again than to mingle with my classmates, and I'm pretty sure the real Jade would feel the same. So, I do just that. I grab Cat's face and mash my lips to hers.

"Jade, kiss your boyfriend on your own time."

Dang it Sikowitz! It was just getting good. No, wait. That came out wrong. I just meant that I was hoping I could kiss Cat until class was over…no, that doesn't sound right either. Just forget it.

I pull away from Cat, glare at Sikowitz, and give Cat's lips one last peck as a form of rebellion. Hopefully that's something the real Jade would do.

"Babe." Cat makes a big show of looking own at her lap, which means she wants me to get off.

"Fine!" I scowl at her and sit back in my own seat, but not before scooting my chair closer to hers so that I can drape my legs across her lap. I saw the real Jade to this to Beck more than once yesterday. "Cat, André, Robbie, and the puppet. Get over here and mingle," I yell, purposely leaving out my own name. I don't think the real Jade would call me over. She hates me.

Immediately, Beck, André, and Robbie scoot their seats over.

"Talk!" I bark.

They do so right away. And they talk about absolutely nothing. Jeez, are people really this afraid of the real Jade?

"See? I'm mingling." I tell Cat before picking up my scissors again.

"So um Jade,"

I turn and there Jade is, standing next to me. I frown. I did not call her over.

"I just w-wanna apologize for spilling um coffee on you yesterday. Do y-you think we can…we can start over, be friends? Maybe?"

I keep my expression passive, but inside I'm fuming. She's begging me to be her friend, bottom lip protruded, hands clasped together in a prayer like fashion, and I can't help but to get irritated.

Is this what she thinks of me? She thinks I'm that afraid of her? Okay, so I don't like confrontation as a general rule, but I'm not a weak, stuttering, little…whatever Jade seems to think I am!

I reach back and drag the nearest chair over. Close to me. "Sit" I command.

She smiles at me. I smile back; but as soon as her butt touches the chair I strike. Quick as lightning, I lunge forward and cut a lock of her hair.

She jumps up out of her seat and grabs her hair, but it's too late. I got what I wanted and now I'm carefully snipping at the lock, letting the nearly microscopic scissored ends fall to the ground like confetti.

"What do you think you're doing!" Jade yells at me.

I smile sweetly at her.

Temper, Temper.

Either I made her break character, or I made her admit that I've got a little fire inside of me; that I'm not just a weak stuttering…whatever.

"I'm mingling." I answer. I raise an eyebrow at her, daring her to question the way I "mingle."

Sluuuurrrrrpp.

I visibly flinch before turning my head the other way to give whoever just slurped in my ear a punch to the face. But I can't. It's Sikowitz. And he's at the end of his coconut. He takes another long and very loud slurp next to my ear before speaking.

"Hi." He says simply.

"What?" I glare back.

He holds his hand out, and I pretend like I don't know what he wants.

"Gimme, Gimme," he says while pointing at my scissors.

I stare at him until he starts to do the "gimme" gesture with his hand. Then I sigh heavily before placing the scissors in his hand, sharp part facing his eyeball.

"You'll get these back after you mingle."

"But I am mingling."

"Like a normal person!" he yells before walking away.

I scowl at his back before looking back at my empty hands. Well, almost empty. I've still got a lock of Jade's hair.

I turn to face her and hold it out to her. "You want it back?"

"No thank you. You keep it." She shrinks away from me, still holding onto her hair.

I shrug and put the lock in my pocket. I have no idea why I think the real Jade would do something like that, but I think she would.

"You should probably say you're sorry," Cat says. I glance over at her and she's watching Jade, sympathy just oozing out of all of her pores.

"But I'm not sorry."

"Say it anyway."

I mumble out something that could be sorry…in alien-speak. And I make sure I'm not looking at Jade when I say it, because I don't mean it. I'm not sorry.

Cat shrugs at Jade, knowing that's the best the real Beck would be able to get out of the real Jade.

Jade gives Cat a small appreciative smile back.

And I feel the need to break up the love fest. The gank is practically flirting with my boyfriend right in front of me!

"Let's play a game," I suggest as if I'd rather walk barefoot across bloody glass, because I'm sure the real Jade would rather walk barefoot across some bloody glass.

"Yay!" Beck squeals. "I love games. One time, my brother taught me how to play a game called "run from the cops."

Everyone just stares at him.

"They caught us," he finishes while rubbing his wrists lightly. And everyone picks up on the fact that he's supposed to be subconsciously remembering how the handcuffs felt, which in turn suggests that they had been running from real cops.

Again, no one says anything. What is there to say? I'm not even sure of what the real Jade would say, but luckily for me I don't have to respond. The whole class is interrupted when the door opens and a girl walks in. She's got the most beautiful red hair I've ever seen; but I keep that to myself. I can compliment her tomorrow, when I'm Tori again.

"I'm so sorry Mr. Sikowitz," she exclaims, totally pronouncing his name wrong. "I got lost."

Sikowitz frowns at the girl. "And you are?"

"Oh, I'm Melissa. I'm new here." She holds up a piece of paper. More than likely it's her schedule.

"What an interesting last name. Well, Melissa Imnuhere, take a seat. Anywhere you please!" Sikowitz concludes, completely ignoring the schedule.

"No, No. I'm new here." She explains.

"Of course you are! Take a seat, please." He says before walking away to watch another group of students mingle.

Melissa just stands there, watching him. My heart goes out to her. Poor thing looks so lost and confused.

"Hey, Melissa. Come sit over here with us," Jade calls the new girl over.

When Melissa sees Jade, she smiles in relief. "Hi Tori!" she gushes.

"Guys, Melissa and I share first period." Jade explains as she pulls up a seat next to me for Melissa. That means she shares first period with me.

I'd like to smile and welcome her, but I don't think the real Jade would. So I cross my arms over my chest and scowl at Jade. "What if I don't want her sitting next to me, Vega?"

Jade rolls her eyes and switches seats with Melissa.

And this is the hardest part about being Jade. Speaking my mind may have been liberating before, but that was when I doing it to people who know that I'm Tori, not Jade.

Melissa doesn't know that. Melissa doesn't know that this isn't me. I can see the hurt and confusion flash through her eyes when I say that I don't want her to sit by me, and it makes me feel like kaka. And the part that's harder than all of that? Pretending like I don't care. Because I do care.

I don't want to hurt people. I don't want to be Jade anymore.

I check the clock. Five more minutes until lunch. I only have to be Jade for five more minutes.

I can do this.

"No, switch back. I'd rather sit by the redhead." I tell Jade once she's sitting next to me.

"Too bad."

I raise my eyebrows at her as if I can't believe she defied me.

She raises her eyebrows back, challenging me.

"So, what game we supposed to be playin' yo?" Robbie cuts in to our little nonverbal showdown. Man he sucks at being André; and apparently I'm not the only one to notice because Rex says, "That is not the way André would say that, fool."

I let out a small smirk. André's pretty bad at throwing his voice. Granted, I'm sure he's a thousand times better than me.

"Um…"

Everyone looks to Melissa.

"I'm sorry, I just…what's going….I mean, what am I supposed to be doing?" She's staring at Beck, probably wondering why he's wearing a dress and a wig.

I'd love to explain to her what's going on. I really would, but that would mean breaking character. So I say, "Don't talk. Just watch. That's what you're supposed to being doing. You look better with your mouth shut anyway."

"Jade…." Cat calls out in a warning tone.

"What?"

"No more talking."

"But I"-

"No more."

"Fine!" I swing my legs off of Cat's lap and plant them firmly in front of me before crossing my arms over my chest and glaring at whatever's in front of me, which happens to be André .

"And cut!" Sikowitz yells. "Excellent job everyone! Except for you." He points at a boy on the right side of the classroom. "You failed miserably. And you…and you…oh, and definitely you…" he continues as he goes around the class, pointing at a few more kids. But he doesn't come anywhere near me.

"I passed! Oh my God I passed! I passed! I passed! I passed!" I yell excitedly while jumping up and down a few times. Then I pull Cat to me in a huge hug. And I mean un abrazo immenso, before giving her lips a very loud smack of a kiss.

The classroom gets quiet, again, and I know why. I kissed Cat. I'm not Jade anymore and she's not Beck anymore, but I kissed her anyway! It's not my fault. I was just so excited about not failing and I don't know… I guess I'm just so used to Cat being my "boyfriend" that it just sort of happened.

Thank God Cat isn't freaking out. She just squeals "Me too!" and starts jumping up and down the way I'd just been doing.

"I know!" I celebrate with her. Choosing to keep a little Jade-ism to myself, the part of Jade that doesn't care about what other people think of her. If I act like I don't care maybe everyone in my classroom won't care either.

And it works! Everyone goes back to doing whatever they were doing. I can hear separate conversations, chairs moving, book bags being gone through; the works.

I turn away from Cat quickly, searching out the new girl. I haven't forgotten about her and I want her to know that I'm Tori; that I was just pretending to be mean.

I spot her immediately. She's talking to Jade, who's ignoring her completely as she goes through her bag.

I walk up to her and tap her on the shoulder. She glares at me, which I deserve; but before I can explain myself to her Sikowitz shouts, "Melissa Imnuhere! Come see me please."

Then the bell rings.

"I'm gonna go change." Beck announces before kissing Jade's cheek. "Meet ya at the Café."

André, Robbie and Cat all say "me too" before heading out.

I'd head out too, but I really wanna talk to Melissa when Sikowitz is done, so I stay behind. Lucky for me, I don't need to change. I just gotta take these godforsaken piercing out and I'm done.

"Ow." I flinch as I pull them out. Not a pleasant experience.

"Hey, Vega." Jade practically snarls as she comes to stand in front of me. I frown back at her. I had no idea she was still here.

"Yes, Jade?"

"Gimme those."

She's pointing at the rings I just pulled outta my face. I narrow my eyes at her suspiciously, but hand them over anyway. She puts them in a baggie she just procured out of thin air, then starts for the door, not even bothering to offer an explanation. What the heck is she gonna do with those?

I jog a little to catch up to her, completely forgetting that I wanted to talk to Melissa, and grab Jade's arm. She whirls around, eyes blazing. "Never touch me!" she yells.

I let go immediately, but I'm not scared. How can I be? I've been Jade all day, and there are some things I even like about her. I like that she's not afraid to say what she thinks, no matter the consequence. I like that she gets to sleep in. I like the evil smirk. It's a lot fun to do. I even like the blue streaks. "I just wanted to say I had fun being you today, Jade." I tell her, though it's not originally what I wanted to say.

"I'm sure you did."

"So…"

She gives me a blank stare.

I roll my eyes. "So, how'd you like being me?" I ask.

She tilts her head to the side and stares at me some more; and just when I come to the conclusion that she's not going to answer, she says, "I learned something."

"Really? Like what?" I grin.

"I hate Tori."

{~~~~O~~~~}

For the last two days I've been trying to get Jade to like me. Well, maybe like is too strong of a word considering she's been mocking and insulting me every chance she gets. At this point, I think I'll settle for her not hating me.

I glance up at Jade's locker as I'm going through mine. I don't know why. I know there's a good chance she won't be there. She hardly ever makes it to first period.

And surprise, she's not there.

Not that I would notice her even if she was there today because I see Danny. My ex-boyfriend from Sherwood.

What's he doing here?!

He spots me immediately, giving me no time to duck off and pretend like I didn't see him.

"Tori?" he calls loudly and all but jogs over to me. He's grinning widely, like he's just so dang happy to see me.

I wish I felt the same way.

"You look amazing!" he exclaims before reaching out to me. I kinda flinch away, thinking he's gonna try and caress my face orsomething, but he doesn't. He touches my earing and nods his head in approval. "This is cool." He smiles.

My earing is more than cool. It's made up of a couple of blue and purple really long feathers; so long that they hang down past my shoulders and mix with my hair. The feathers remind me of the extensions that I had to wear when I was Jade. I really loved those things, but it's not like I could keep wearing them after Tuesday. That's Jade's thing. So I went to the mall and got a bunch of these earrings. I have nearly two dozen different colored pairs so that I can match them with my outfits.

I tuck my hair behind my ear, discreetly pulling my feathers away from Danny in the process. He doesn't even notice.

"So what are you doing here?" I ask with a smile on my face. Though he doesn't really deserve for me to be nice to him, I've decided to do it anyway. That's just me.

"My girlfriend, she goes here now and I was supposed to meet her here because she left her"-

"You know what Danny, I gotta go. I was supposed to meet someone like five minutes ago." I interrupt, suddenly not feeling the whole "nice" thing anymore.

"That's too bad," he gives a small pout. "Maybe we can hang out or something, maybe go on a double date…wait are you even dating yet?"

Oh, he's such a jerk!

"Of course I'm dating someone," I scoff before I can think about any consequences that may come from lying. I just don't want him to think that I'm miserable and lonely without him. Because I'm not. I just don't have a boyfriend, that's all. I can be happy without a boyfriend.

I can.

"Cool, you'll get to meet my girlfriend, and I'll get to see who you're dating. Friday sound good?" he asks.

"This Friday? As in tomorrow?"

"Yeah." He tilts his head a little and gives me this grin. It's evil; like he knows I'm not dating and is trying to call my bluff.

I don't want to give him the satisfaction. "Are you sure it won't be awkward for you?" I shoot back immediately.

His smile widens. "Oh, I'm sure."

"Okay, sounds great. See you tomorrow." I say before turning and rushing away.

Jammit! What have I done! I don't have a date. Ugh! How'd I get into this mess? No, how do I get out of this mess.

Think Tori, think!

But I don't think of anything over the next few hours because the answer to my problem is quite simple. I can do one of three things: A) I can cancel the double date for tomorrow; B) I can beg someone to pretend to be my date; Or C) I can just simply die before tomorrow.

I sigh heavily as I make my way to fourth period. My favorite class because of Sikowitz.

Options A and C are out of the question; which means I need to find someone to pretend to be my date.

The first person I think of is André. He is my best friend here, but then I change my mind almost immediately. As much as I love André, he's just not that good of an actor. He's here because he's a musical genius. I don't think there's an instrument on this earth he wouldn't be able to play. But if I wanna convince Danny that I've moved on, my partner is going to have to be convincing as my boyfriend.

The next person I think of is Beck. He's one of the best actors here, but he's also got Jade. Jade would kill me for just thinking about it.

And that's it. Those are the only two guys I consider. Yeah, I don't spare one thought for Robbie. He's a bit…well, he wears girl jeans, you know?

Wait, a girl. I should bring a girl to the date! Oh, Danny would freak out. He's got this theory that girls only date other girls because they've never had a real man before. He would totally spazz out if he found out I'm dating a girl now.

The more I think about it, the better it's starting to sound; and the better it sounds, the more determined I am to make it happen.

I think…I really think I'm gonna do it. I can do it. I kissed Cat, didn't I?

Yes. I've made the decision. I'm gonna bring a girl to the double date. Now all I've got to do is figure out which girl; which should be easy as I only associate with two girls here; Cat and Jade.

I could bring Cat. It would be so easy. All I'd have to do is tell her that we're playing a game and she'd do it. I know it. But as adorable as Cat is, I know she won't do. Danny will know I'm not serious about her. She's no threat at all.

So that leaves…Jade.

Okay, back to thinking about the guys. Maybe I can get Beck to do it without Jade finding out.

"Tori, Tori." I jump a little and look up, guilty expression on my face. There he is, Beck, and he's with Jade. "Can you come here?" he says and a feeling of dread washes over me. They're arguing. I can tell and I don't want to be in the middle.

"What?" I say warily, hopefully he'll catch onto the fact that I don't want to "come here."

He doesn't. He motions me over and I drag my feet, making a conscious effort not to look at Jade. I just know she's glaring at me. She does that a lot.

"If you were my girlfriend," Beck starts, and I wince, already knowing that's not the best way to start off a sentence when standing next to Jade.

"Oh, great way to start the question." She scoffs.

See? I was Jade all day Tuesday. I knew that was coming.

"Would you be all freaked out that I'm just friends with Alyssa Vaughn?" Beck ignores her and continues to ask me.

And now I really wish I'd stayed out of this. Truth is, I wouldn't like it. Danny had a "friend." I found pictures of her on his phone. I asked him how he knew her because I knew that she didn't go to our school. He told me she was an old friend that he hardly ever got to see because she lived too far away.

Then I found out she didn't live far away at all and that she and Danny were more than just "friends."

"Who cares what she thinks!" Jade exclaims, and before I can stop myself, I tell them that I wouldn't love it if he were friends with Alyssa Vaughn.

"I care what she thinks." Jade says after hearing my answer. She takes a step toward me and wraps an arm around my shoulder. I've been trying to get her to like me for two days, but this doesn't feel right. I feel miserable. Especially when Beck asks me if I think a girlfriend should just trust her boyfriend. Because he's right. Beck is not Danny. Jade should trust him.

I look to the ground as I answer. "Yeah, she should be able to."

"Alright, you know what?" Jade says, and her tone makes me look up.

"Tell me what." Beck counters.

This is bad. I can feel it. "No, no, don't tell him what," I beg and grab Jade's arm, but she ignores me. She doesn't even yell at me for touching her. She always yells at me for touching her.

"We're done." She points from herself to Beck.

"Jade!" I exclaim.

"So, you're breaking up with me?" Beck asks; he's not even taking her seriously. I can't even take her seriously because this is a ridiculous reason to break up with someone.

Jade opens her mouth, and by the way she fixes her lips I can tell she's going to say yes.

I don't give her the chance. I cover mouth with one hand and grab her arm with the other. "No, no, no, no, no she's not." I tell Beck.

She turns her head to face me, her eyes wide. I'm pretty sure she can't believe I had the nerve to silence her, and I know that the look in her eyes means she's gonna kill me, but I don't let go.

"No, no; you two aren't breaking up." I hiss at her, shaking my head back and forth.

She tugs at my wrist, trying to get me to free her, but I refuse. I'm really surprised she hasn't bitten me yet. If the roles were reversed I most definitely would've taken a chunk out of her palm by now.

She yanks on my wrist, much harder this time and her mouth is free. "Ye" is all she gets out before I use my other hand to cover her mouth.

"Vega!" She snarls against my palm. Her voice is muffled but I know my name when I hear it, no matter how it's pronounced.

"You're not breaking up!" I shake my head some more.

She can't break up with Beck. Not right now. Not today. If she does, it will be all my fault. I let my personal experience influence the way I answered Beck's question. Maybe if I had put Jade's mind at ease, let her know she was silly to ever think Beck would cheat on her, they'd be just fine.

I'm so lost in my thoughts that the next thing I know, I'm on my back and I've hit the concrete, hard.

Jade pushed me down. Subconsciously, I must've realized I was falling because I gripped Jade's face even tighter and she came crashing down on top of me.

Why is she always on top of me? Por que? Por que? Por que?

I push her off of me, flipping us over so that I'm on top for the first time. It feels good…um not like that, but like I'm the winner this time or whatever.

Not that I get any time to celebrate. She flips us back over and glares at me. I gulp, wondering how she's gonna hurt me for what I've done. Will she slap me; punch me; gauge my eyes out, what?"

She flicks my nose.

"Ow, Jade!" I exclaim. Okay, getting flicked on the nose doesn't sound like much, but it still kinda hurt.

She gets off of me and brushes imaginary dirt off of herself. I mimic her actions.

"Yes, Beck. I'm breaking up with you." She says smoothly, as if she was never interrupted. Then she's walking off in the opposite direction of Sikowitz class. I think she's going home and I feel even worse than before. Jade never skips Sikowitz's class.

"I'm sorry, Beck" I tell Jade's boyfriend. Her ex-boyfriend now I guess.

He smiles back at me. "Don't worry about it." He says before going to class.

I make to follow after him, but my phone buzzes. I pull it out of my pocket and groan when I see that it's a text from Danny reminding me about our date tomorrow. He's really excited. There are half a dozen exclamation points in his short little message. It makes me mad. No, he makes me mad. He's made it so that I couldn't even give my friends good advice on their relationship, and now I want to punish him for that. I want to watch him squirm so freakin' bad; and I just know that the best way to do that is to invite a girl on the double date.

And I know the perfect girl.

Jade. She's an excellent actress. She's beautiful, intimidating, and she'll make Danny feel smaller than his chewed up pinky nail.

Of course she'll say no when I ask, but I'm gonna do whatever it takes to get her to say yes. I don't care if she wants me to do all of her homework for the rest of the year! Then, after the date Friday night, I'm gonna do whatever it takes to get her back together with Beck. No matter what it is.

I owe them that.