Big Time Jaded
Summary: "Pretty Boy?" Carlos repeated in a slightly jealous tone, shooting daggers at James.
James' gaze hardened and he mentally groaned, he knew very well what was going to come from this: A lot of rivalry. All he knew was that she would be his.
Rated: T
Pairing: Jades [Jade West and James Diamond]
AN: SO finally an update. Then again, I gave AllOfMeHatesYou the choice of which story of mine I should update and he chose this one, so thank him for the update, ;) If anyone has any preference on which one I should update next, leave it in a review of PM me. Christmas Break's nearly concluding for me, so I won't even partially have the amount of time to update that I do now. Wish me luck in readjusting into hell, :I I guarantee you it won't end well.
Enjoy this new chapter!
And quick sidenote: checkout AllOfMeHatesYou's glorious 'Jade's Big Time Revenge' that he JUST updated with an AMAZING seventh chapter. I read it and it's absolutely marvelous, and NOT something you want to miss! Especially if you love Jades as much as I do. Don't make the mistake of NOT doing it. You'll regret it BIG TIME, ;) See what I did there? Laugh.
Just read.
[OoOoOoO]
Jade was naturally a rebellious girl, and of course she was a bit interested in what James could offer - so she was definitely skipping school the next day to spend some time with the tall pretty boy. Why not? It's not like she'd be missing anything important - she rarely did. She got good grades, undoubtedly [she was a star actress], so she'd be able to recover from anything she missed quite easily.
As she recalled from their conversation at her locker, it was a 'friendly' get-together, considering she'd been seconds from turning him down shrewdly like she did with every other guy who typically asked her out. She either turned them down immediately, or scared them enough to completely just get them to drop the question and run off. It was satisfying - even if she'd been feeling the slightest bit hesitant about turning James down.
In fact, she liked /both/ Carlos and James. It's not like she was envisioning a future with either of them at this particular moment, but she could see herself giving either of them a shot. They both had different high points and they were both attractive enough [her preference in that department was James; Carlos was a bit too short]. They were both unlike Beck, too, which is something she preferred. She could live without another Beck scenario, even if she was a bit skeptical.
Mentally, she made a reminder to ask James later today how exactly they found her. It was a bit boggling - the both of them coming out of no where to chase her; especially so early after her breakup with Beck. Sure, it'd been a few weeks and she wasn't extremely sore over it anymore. She was more bitter towards him than anything. The most pleasant she'd been was when she'd found him at the animal hospital with Tori - after being informed of their little 'opposite date', which she was sure [despite her understanding at the time] had meant more to the both of them than anything.
Regardless, she didn't care - and she meant that. Why should she? Her and Beck were OVER; there was no reason to brood and mourn over a relationship ending like that. Beck had made his choice and now she was making hers. If he got jealous, so what? It served him right for letting a catch like her go - she knew she was quite the girl to have and he should have known, too. He could have Vega for the rest of his life now. They could live happily ever after together and ride off into the sunset. She wasn't interested in what he planned on doing in the future.
She left her bed to evacuate to her closet to survey what she had to work with. She needed something hot, but not something that spelt 'easy' - because she didn't need that impression getting into their heads. Jade intended on riding this pretty hard for a while - why not? They were both very /evidently/ interested in her, she wouldn't have to pick one until it ultimately came down to it. She had time to experiment with the both of them and take them both out for a test ride. It'd be fun and a definite confidence-boost in the very least.
What if she didn't pick either of them? So what? It showed that she was still incredibly appealing and would give Beck the message: she was DONE with him. Now that she thought about it, taking some overly-friendly selfies with James to plaster all over her TheSlap profile wouldn't be such a bad idea - she was sure James wouldn't attest to the idea, he'd probably welcome it. Based on his face, he was plenty photogenic.
The brunette yanked a dark skirt from the hanger, fingering the material and mentally debating over whether or not she should wear some sheer tights beneath it - in the long run, she decided no. She had legs and every reason to show them off.
It didn't take her long to settle on her outfit - choosing a black, sleeveless tank top with a synched waist. It emphasized the gravity of her chest, as well as the slim curve of her waistline. She paired it naturally with a leather jacket and some /heeled/ boots [because he was a tall guy and she needed the height advantage to project some dominance]. She curled her hair a little looser, so it hung in longer waves than the usual tight curls she had going on.
Finishing over everything with some heavy eyeliner and a coat of lipstick, and she was definitely good for the day. She snagged her bag from the ground and through a leg over her windowsill, straddling it. No way would Jade leave the house through the front door - then her dad would see her and she'd be in some deep chizz with him for skipping school. The last thing she needed was for him to damper her day of /fun/.
Jade tossed her bag onto the large tree near her window, before soon following it. Sort of gracefully, she leapt down and casually glided down the tree, making a run for her car on the street. As soon as she was securely inside, key in the ignition and backing out of her parallel parking space - she knew she was solid.
[OoOoOoO]
James, on the other hand, was doing plenty in preparation for her arrival. He'd at least gotten a text from her this morning that she would be coming sometime before noon. He had time to shower and put on some clothes [which he made sure emphasized his lean, muscular body], as well as tidy up a bit when Carlos was looking the other way.
Ever since the day before, him and Carlos hadn't been speaking for obvious reasons. As far as James was concerned, Carlos was just sore that he'd already gotten the one up on him. Thankfully for him, his Latino former-best friend was unaware of when Jade was coming and was probably suspecting that their little date was at night.
Joke was on him! It wasn't! James could be pretty clever when he wanted to be - and that ensued that he was pretty good at tricking people! Well, on occasion - sometimes it was just a royal mess up. Hopefully it wouldn't be the case, because he intended on winning Jade's heart - no matter how hard she may make it! She WOULD be his!
After leaving the bathroom to style his hair and heading back into their conjoined bedroom to fetch his man spray, he nearly collided with Carlos. He looked up, an apology on his lips. "Oh, sorry du - " He stopped right there, narrowing his eyes as he stared down his shorter friend. "Never mind! Totally not sorry." He corrected himself with a sarcastic smile, before it dropped just so his lips could press firmly together in disapproval.
"You should be sorry!" He huffed, crossing his arms in an angry stance. "You're breaking EVERY best friend code there is with what you're doing tonight!"
James inwardly smirked - his suspicions were confirmed! Carlos /did/ think that he had a date with Jade /tonight/.
"Where are you even taking her?!" Carlos demanded to know.
The taller boy tapped a finger to his chin, a thoughtful expression overcoming his face. "Wow, I don't know, actually." He made eye contact with Carlos. "Maybe somewhere nice.. and expensive.. maybe I'll get her a nice gift or two, do you think she'd like that, Carlos?" He was just antagonizing him. That familiar twitch in Carlos' eye whenever he spoke about Jade non-platonically was surfacing.
"You will NOT!" He retorted, pointing a finger in him. "STAY AWAY FROM MY GIRL!"
"SHE'S NOT YOURS IF I GET THERE FIRST!" James shouted right back, getting in his face with his burly, broad frame.
"UGH!" They groaned in unison and turned in opposite directions, storming away from each other. Carlos was walking out and James walking in - it worked out like a charm in James' mind. He could resolve his issues with Carlos /after/ he secured his place with Jade and after the planned activities today, he doubted he could possibly lose her!
[OoOoOoO]
"Please, please, PLEASE help me!" Came the pleas from James to Katie, his fingers clasped together desperately. "I need you to keep watch and make sure Carlos doesn't come ANYWHERE near the Lobby!" If Carlos came prancing into the Lobby in his huff, he'd no doubt come over and try and ruin everything! Even worse - he'd make James look bad in front of Jade!
Katie eyed him skeptically, folding her arms. "And /why/ do you need me keep watch? I want details." James should have figured she couldn't have said yes like a normal adopted little sister [that's what he considered her as, after all].
James immediately began to fumble with words - he was a dreadful liar. "Uh.. It's top secret! Totally sensitive information that I - DEFINITELY cannot disclose at this very moment.." He flashed a shielding smile to try and get her to halt the questions. "But, there's twenty dollars in it for you if you don't say a word to any of the guys and twenty dollars if you do what I say. Deal?" He asked tentatively, crossing his fingers.
She eyed him up a bit more, eyes brightening a bit over the mention of some cash, but - in the end she agreed. "Fine. But I'll need some money to cover lunch."
"Cover lunch?!" He repeated in confusion. "You're watching the Lobby!"
"Exactly." She confirmed. "And I'm probably going to be skipping lunch because I obviously can't leave the place unattended. I'll order a pizza or something - just give me ten more and we'll call it even."
James swore that when Katie grew up, she'd be some kind of middleman for big deals or something, because she was really picking at his pockets and could easily do it to others. "Ugh, fifty; fine, deal." It was worth it enough - it was probably a good thing that he wasn't intending on taking Jade anywhere super-nice after all, or they'd need to eat bread and soup while there. He really needed to look into seeing Gustavo for a bit of a cash advance on his allowance every week - the normal sum just wasn't cutting it anymore.
Katie smiled smugly. "Great! So, how long do I have to watch?" And the plan commenced.
The pretty boy took a seat on one of the Lobby couches, carefully waiting out for his date to arrive. Supposedly platonic or not, James definitely intended on having this go down in the books as their first date. He also - because he was optimistic and confident in what he could bring to the table - was one hundred percent sure that he could manage to lure a kiss out of her. He was James Diamond - why /wouldn't/ she want to kiss him?
He tapped his foot to his own imaginary beat and kept looking to the front doors in anticipation, eyes lighting up when her gorgeous, dark form finally turned the corner and entered. But the happy expression he was currently adorning fell almost immediately as he saw whom she'd brought with her. Squinting, it looked like her redhead friend from the lunch table yesterday.
'No, no, no! This is ruining all of my plans.' James thought to himself in panic, standing up and walking around the chair to meet the two of them. He gave her a quick pat down with his eyes; resisting the urge to whistle at how good she looked. Clearly, she put in effort into what she'd worn today - and she was wearing leather again. Mm-hm, she never got any less hot.
"Hey Jade! And - Jade's friend." He greeted a bit apprehensively, looking to her. Cat waved her hand manically, though a bit reservedly too. "What's your name?"
"Cat! Like the animal!" She answered immediately, a bit - overzealously. "Except I don't wazz in a litter box.."
Jade rolled her eyes and turned her gaze to James, who she was sure was looking for an explanation of her guest, despite the bewildered look on his face from what Cat had just said. "I was texting Cat and she missed the bus, so I told her I was coming over here and she leapt at the chance. She really likes you guys - Big Time Lush or whatever."
"It's Big Time RUSH!" Cat corrected aggressively. "I've told you this before!"
"Don't correct me!" She snapped at the redhead, who hung her head and cowered away from her a little. "Is it cool that she's here? I mean, you said this was /friendly/, so I figured why not. You don't /mind/ do you?" Her words had an underlying tone that projected a very clear message: 'You better be cool with it - or your hair is GONE.'
He knew the friendly part of what he said was going to come back and nip him in the butt; curse his way of getting himself out of things. He also thinking about how hot she was when she was assertive.. But eventually answered, "Yeah, sure! Totally cool! I'll just have to move some things around - but I guess we can do it a three-way too.." He backpedaled, eyeing her oddly. "Wait, aren't you supposed to be at school?"
She shrugged. "I skipped." That was a HUGE win for him; the fact she'd gone out of her way to miss school [not that she liked it, he as sure] to spend the day with him already lengthened his one-up on the spot! Carlos was /so/ going down.
"I feel naughty." Cat giggled.
"Normally I'd disapprove - but this was for /definitely/ good reasoning." He winked at Jade specifically, earning another giggle from Cat. "Anyway, let's go to - WAIT!" He completely cut-off what he was going to say when he got an idea; a brilliant, evil, perfect idea. "You know, could you and Cat just wait here for ten-ish minutes while I go check something? I'm sure Cat's gonna like it!"
Before either of them could reply, James ran over, speeding through the Lobby and scouting around for the girl he'd just sent off to do his bidding. "KATIE!" He shouted, running around, turning the corner sharply into the little nook of vending machines, when his wrist was ripped down. He was now level with Katie crouched, and observing people through the bushes.
He gave a little yelp as he fell to his knees next to her, turning his head sharply to glare at her. "Couldn't you have done that in a way that WOULDN'T DISLOCATE MY SHOULDER?" He criticized, rubbing the respected shortly woundedly.
Katie rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm so sorry for covering your butt!" She leant forward and gestured out to the remaining Lobby. "What do you want?"
James clapped his hands together. "So, new game plan. I need you to /find/ Carlos." Even if it was the reverse of what he'd paid her to do. "Well, and Kendall and Logan, too."
This was getting more confusing by the minute for Katie. "Why?!"
"BECAUSE!" He grabbed her by the shoulders. "Please stop asking questions! Just go find them!" Pulling her up and pushing her out in a hurry.
[OoOoOoO]
James now sat where Katie had been sitting, watching an annoyed Jade and an oblivious Cat from afar. He could tell that she was starting to get impatient from waiting, especially by the way she kept looking around expectantly for him. He finally sprung up after ten minutes, through with waiting for Katie and instead deciding to lead Jade and Cat into an area /away/ from the Lobby. That way, when Katie came down after locating the three guys and bringing them into the Lobby like he'd planned, they'd be no where near and Carlos wouldn't have any time to recognize Jade and ruin his plans.
His second plan was simple: distract Cat and get her to leave Jade and him alone BY finding the other three guys and just 'happening' to have her run into the three. This way, he could have Jade all to himself for the majority of the time she spent here and Cat could keep Carlos occupied. He'd still request Katie keep a close eye on where the group was going so he could make sure to keep Jade and himself /away/ from that, but other than that, he didn't see any possible flaws in his plan at all. He thought it was pretty bulletproof.
He was so proud of how clever he truly was.
"Hey girls!" He greeted, plastering on a smile. "You know, we have a /really/ nice pool out here that you should totally check-out." Once again, not allowing the semblance for them to make a decision over the matter, instead wrapping an arm around either of their shoulders and leading them out a bit hurriedly.
Timing was on his side, because nearly the exact moment he did that, Katie walked out from the elevators with Kendall, Logan, /and/ Carlos following behind her.
"Why did you want us out here again?" Kendall asked his sister, raising an eyebrow at her. She turned around slowly, biting her lip to try and think of something.
"I just - uh - I thought the Lobby was clear enough for you guys to play some Lobby hockey! It's such a rarity these days, that I thought I'd tell you!" She hurried out, lying through her teeth. "Bitters is always out here and he's on lunch break." She held her breath as she turned her head and gestured to the front desk, which was by chance very empty. She released a breath in relief.
The three of them exchanged skeptical glances, before Logan spoke up with logic. "Yeah, well, we can only play Lobby hockey with /James/ and he's no where to be seen." He then gestured to the entire Lobby; it was so dead, a tumble weed could have blown through and that would have been the most activity it was seeing currently.
"No one wants him here anyway." Carlos grumbled from the sidelines, still visibly angry at their friend. Kendall, Logan, and Katie still had zero idea of what was going on between the two of them - both were too stubborn to allow anyone else any inside information. It was mind-numbing and frustrating - it put tension on everyone to have two out of the four fighting, especially as severely as they were.
Katie laughed. "That's okay. I'll go find him." She insisted, turning and then running out to the pool area, looking around for James rather speedily. She could only stall them for so long before they got suspicious - she was lucky they weren't always the smartest guys, otherwise what she'd said and how she was acting would never have passed right over their heads like it had.
She finally located him, sitting on a lounge chair and striking up a conversation with some girls? Was that his reason? All for a girl? Or - girls? She definitely intended on interrogating him about this later, because this was interesting. Gossip in the Palmwoods never got /any/ less interesting.
Calmly, she strolled over to James and stopped, smiling sweetly to the two girls. "Hi, I kind of need James /now/." And pulling him off the chair rather forcefully, tugging him all the way back near the Lobby, stopping right outside it.
"So I got the guys! Can I have my money now?" She asked impatiently, spreading her arms out in emphasis. "They're all standing there - clueless!"
"No!" James answered with a quick grin. "Now, see the redhead over there next to the hot brunette?" Turning her around and pointing to the correct person. "I need /you/ to follow the guys and her around, and make sure they stay as far away from me and the hot brunette as possible, okay? They HAVE to stay away from me and the hot brunette." He said very slowly and /very/ specifically.
"Yeah, yeah." She retorted dismissively, smirking mischievously. "So, who's the 'hot brunette'?"
"KATIE! Not the point! Please just keep an eye on them!" James said to completely roll over the question.
She sighed. "Fine. But you're explaining to me who she is and why I'm even doing this later!"
"Yeah, yeah." He mimicked her. "Now, stay here so I can get the redhead and I can put everything into place!" He turned to go run off and grab her, when Katie grabbed his arm and turned him back around.
"Uh-uh, give me my money first or no deal." She propositioned, crossing her arms and giving him a look to let him know that she was completely serious.
He groaned and dug through his pocket, grabbing his wallet. "Women." He muttered in grief, spreading the billfold to access two twenties and a ten, holding them out hesitantly, silently kissing his fifty dollars away. He better turn out to be the victor in this, otherwise he was wasting all of this money for no reason.
She happily accepted the money, nodding in his direction. "Pleasure doing business with you. Now, go get the redhead! I don't have all day!"
"I paid you for all day!" He argued.
"Then HURRY UP!" Giving his shoulders a shove so his engine would start and he would GET - MOVING. James shoved his wallet hastily back in his pocket and walked back to where the girls were sitting and chatting.
He approached the two of them, standing tall and looking down at them. Jade had the most exasperated expression on her face - she'd be happy soon enough, he was sure. Then they could be /alone/.
"So, Cat, I have the guys in the Lobby - the other three - and you can totally hang-out with them, ask some questions, anything! I know you like us, so I figured I'd set it up!" Cat violently squealed in excitement, maybe because her mind was flashing back to the cute, short Latino that had been sitting at the table yesterday. Carlos had been her favorite FOREVER out of all the Big Time Rush members - she would have killed to spend the day with him and now she didn't even have to.
"But," He added in warning. "They might act a little clueless immediately - so just introduce yourself and let them know you're a fan, and you'll be good for the day!" He broke it down for her. "Now scamper along!" And ever did she.
She raced away from Jade without a goodbye, nearly slamming into Katie, shouting, "MOVE!" And then disappearing into the Lobby like the roadrunner.
Jade watched, before shifting her gaze to James curiously. "Well, that was nice. What'd you do that for?"
James took the unoccupied seat next to her, now that Cat was quite occupied herself. He flashed an easy grin, his plan completely into place very nicely. "No reason. Just helping out a friend." And now he had her completely at his mercy.
Nothing could stop him getting this girl!
[OoOoOoO]
AN: And there's the end of the chapter. I'm surprised with the length, I was initially only shooting for 3, but it's a little over four solid, so WOO! Hope the wait was worth it. Once again, thank AllOfMeHatesYou, he's literally the only reason I update. He hassles me every now and then like a sweet human. Love you, xx
Reviews are my life; don't kill me!
- Nat