I was watching "Who Did It to Trina?" the other day, and reminded of how much I liked Lane and Jade's interaction in it. From how she is acting, I have no doubt that Jade 1.) has spent a lot of time in Lane's office over the years and 2.) doesn't actually mind him. Also, from some info from teachers and a guidance counsellor on the difficulty of being a guidance counsellor (a sort of vague job description covering a lot of duties) as well as Lane's

There are some quotes in this story from the show (direct quotes from Cat's speech to Tori's quote are all from the episode). The narrative stuff is me though, and Lane and Jade's interaction at the very end is "post-scene". I had so much fun when that flowed out! I love when I get surprised by cute moments. :)

Anyway, I hope you find something you like here, and if not, got read someone else until you do. :) Reading is awesome! :)

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There were just some students that tended to stand out to Lane as he went about his work as a guidance counsellor at Hollywood Arts. Like most guidance counsellors, he was a little vague about his duties and training. He was trained to be a teacher, trained to be a dance coach, and then - because he had a big heart for the teens and was one of Hollywood Arts' most "normal" employees - he had been drafted as a fulltime guidance counsellor.

When he had started, he felt unprepared for some parts of his job. On his first day of "guiding" five years ago, he had been overwhelmed with a disclosure of abuse, a teen pregnancy-triggered showdown between two families, an anorexic girl having a panic attack in a locked bathroom without any way to let help in, and someone else who thought they were having an anxiety attack and ended up just having the stomach flu all in an eight-hour timespan. Of all of those, he felt most equipped to help treat the kid with the stomach flu.

When he had tried to bring up questions about what he was supposed to be telling the kids, he was either given the "Tell them to follow their dreams ... recommending universities that their parents show preference for" speech, or the "How the heck are we supposed to know?! You're the guidance counsellor! You should know already!" response. Lane had learned to just wing it with the knowledge he had, and so far that had gone okay. There were still days he begged teenagers to just try to figure out things on their own - as much for their own good as his - but he did care for them and that powered him through each day.

Now, five years in, he had dealt with a lot of different cases. Creative people tend to carry a hidden tax on their abilities. Mental illnesses - ranging from anxiety to bipolar - were always prevalent with those who carry their hearts on their sleeves as an art form, and even dealing with youth Lane could see that tomorrow's shining stars were not that much different than the people those psychology reports had been based upon. If anything, he felt like a pharmacy and psychiatrist would be the most beneficial additions to be considered by the school.

"But why would we need that? We have you!" the board had cooed supportively, and Lane had winced at the weight of so many students resting upon his shoulders.

There were mornings where that weight nearly drove him back to bed. But then he would recall how many of his students - because they were "his", even if he never really taught in a traditional classroom - had disclosed similar desires to him, and he would power through and get to the school so that they could rely upon having one adult on their side that day.

The last two years had one student who was often at the front of his radar. Jade West.

To the history teacher, she was "the angry one."

To the math teacher, she was "the one always yelling horrid things."

To the English teacher, she was "the one writing captivating creative writing, but who earns detention nearly the moment she walks through the door."

And to the science teacher, she was "the never again student."

To Lane, she was "the broken child who needs someone on her side." She was one of the students he always called to mind when reminding himself of the importance of his job.

Got to get to the school today. Jade has an appointment. Not of her own volition, of course, but after twenty of these mandatory meetings, she at least seems to be settling down a little. I don't think she hates my guts as much as she used to.

For the record, he was right. Although she had hated him sight-unseen the moment she had heard his title - "He sounds like someone who will go meddling in my perfectly fine life!" she had huffed angrily - the patience and incredibly gentle and subtle direction he gave had quietly changed her mind. Although she still did not like going to his office - after all, half the time it was somehow put on him to decide fitting punishments as the principals of Hollywood Arts tended to be dramatic in their own way and incapable of deciding upon reasonable atonement - he was at least someone she could handle being around for longer than five seconds.

He would count that as one of the biggest accomplishments of his life. Now, if only he could help salvage some mental health for her by her graduation.

Unfortunately, today's fiasco possibly involved her. At least she - for once - was not the only suspect. She tended to get blamed for a little too much. He had figured out that some teachers did not like her demeanor (which was naturally brusque, even when she was doing her best to be polite) or her style, putting her at the top of their lists to report for absolutely any suspicion of misbehaviour. He certainly hoped this was a case of being overly thorough. He had just been talking with an injured student - Trina Vega - who had fallen after what looked like a sabotage attempt on the gimble connected to her harness. What had been meant to be a floating effect during a play planned by her sister Tori had turned into a catastrophe that rivalled every other on-stage disaster Lane had ever witnessed. Now he had been tasked with interviewing five of the school's brightest students - Andre Harris, Tori Vega, Cat Valentine, Robbie Shapiro, and yes, Jade West - to figure out what had happened.

The bonus of so many sessions with Jade? He was used to her attitudes, and even found silent amusement in the challenges she presented. He had also learned to read her fairly well. Although she definitely caused her share of issues, she generally owned up to it, particularly when directly confronted. He did not think that any of the kids there were particularly capable of causing purposeful bodily harm to Trina, but it was part of his duty - apparently - to follow up on Trina's revelation that she had somehow managed to piss off all five of the teens at some point or another before the show. And although she might be the top of most other list of "suspects", she was actually fairly low on his once he got a look at her face. This was calm and cooperative Jade, not Jade knowing she was about to get in more trouble. That Jade was in his office enough for him to know the tells or behaviours she would be presenting right now to feign innocence or nonchalance.

Innocent or not, Jade - being Jade - immediately started some throwing some challenges out once he went in to his office to talk to the group. He was not surprised to see her curled up comfortably in the hanging chair. That was her favourite place to be in that room. Maybe the motion helped her regulate, or Apparently she was the cause for Trina's accident already being on the internet, racking up a horrifying number of views with derogatory comments, as he could see on her phone as she gloated over it. At the suggestion it could have been a purposeful accident, Cat responded with confused surprise, "But that was an accident." Jade immediately jumped in to the conversation.

"Yep, a terrible, hilarious accident ..." She looked at him, and he could see that she was trying to provoke a reaction there.

These kids who don't get enough positive attention, always looking for it in outrageous ways.

She glanced back at her phone and grinned as she looked back at him to add "That already has 1,700 views," she ended in barely contained laughter. Her eye contact and amusement were meant to bait him into some sort of argument, he was sure. He had watched her do it with her mom in the few times they had been forced to meet as a group. It was an effective technique to draw interaction from her mother, and Lane had never seen Jade's father in any meeting or supportive role. He would not let it become a situation where she was "one-upping" him, but also not let it elicit a bigger reaction than necessary. He responded calmly, as he always did although some of his exhaustion might have sneaked into his facial expressions as he repeated a line so often used with her.

"Posting videos of people's tragedies is just mean and wrong," he emphasized, his body language conveying that although he was not pleased with her current attitude of joy at other's pain, he was not upset with her as a person.

Jade was back focused on her phone with a nonchalant, "Yeah, no, thanks. I really appreciate your opinion on that," she said in an artfully sassy manner, looking up at him with a straight face. He knew she was looking for any sort of amusement on his end, anything that could be used to fuel a "But you laughed too!" defense. He did not give it to her. Instead, he rubbed his hands together (a small stress response) and took a deep breath.

We are having an appointment on Monday, and we are going to deal with this more in-depth then. I need to work on some more empathy exercises with her. So, that's a Monday problem.

Although there was a lot of shade with Jade, there was also a bit of sunshine. Lane was pleased to see that she had some of that active today, as she seemed genuinely surprised about the cause of Trina's accident. She interacted with the others with less vitriol than he had previously witnessed, and seemed determined to spin her version of events with her being kind to her classmates. Even though it was a portrayal he knew was supposed to paint herself positively, she often did not soften her image at all. He liked that her version had her being complimented by others and being gentle. Perhaps that could be how she would genuinely act toward others, even Tori. She was certainly patient and gentle in her taking over a lot of dealing with Cat. Even in the tense situation, he could appreciate how she was able to modulate her tone and calmly address Cat's confusion and wild answers by turns.

After half an hour of talking over the situation with the kids, Tori finally turned to him and gave him her conclusion which concurred with his - "Lane, you know I think you're awesome, but this whole thing's insane! I mean, okay, we all know that Trina can be really annoying" - chorus of agreements ad libbed by the group - "But honestly! Come on, do you think any person in this room would seriously try to hurt her?" He started to shake his head as Tori continued, "I know I wouldn't. And I don't think any of you guys would either." She paused, as if about to admit something hard for her to say. With her rivalry with Jade, Lane was not surprised when she adjoined with, "Not even ... Jade" as if admitting to some level of restraint on the part of her frenemy was a particularly hard pill to swallow.

Jade's honest was apparently fully engaged, as she shook her head slowly in consideration and then admitted clearly and without pretense, "I might." Lane's eyes leapt to her in surprise and fear - he did not want this to be true of her. She might have her faults, but this was a kid he cared about, one he wanted to redeem. He was incredibly grateful when she was able to continue, "But I didn't" with the same quiet demeanor. It was only a confession of possible temptation, not of irreparable misdeeds. He knew the difference, and he knew the difference with her.

She was innocent, and he breathed a breath of relief.

Lane finished with the kids, with no one taking the blame. Jade managed to sneak in another comment of "A terrible, hilarious accident ... that now has ... 26,000 views!"

Monday, Lane, Monday. Monday problems can wait until then to be addressed. Don't reward her by being reactive now.

Jade had taken longer to get up to leave, having waited for the others to vacate before doing a little spin the hanging chair and hopping up with a contented little smile on her face.

"That chair is fun," she murmured under her breath, giving it another spin with her finger tips. He was sure he had not been meant to hear that little admission, but was pleased to nonetheless. Then she turned to Lane, clearly pleased with her innocence being proven. "See, Lane? I'm not always bad," she said sweetly.

Ah. She's going to try to pull this as a "get out of jail free" card in the future.

"I never thought that," he replied. He made eye contact. "See you on Monday, Jade. You remember the appointment time?" he prompted, quietly enough that none of her friends who might be waiting for her outside the door would hear but firmly enough to assure her that he would remember and hold her accountable for showing up on time.

"It's 3:30," she said with an exaggerated roll of her eyes, but the old scowl that used to accompany such interactions was no where in sight. She might be barely "enduring" their weekly meetings, but she was no longer fighting them so vigorously.

Little victories.

"Have a good weekend, Lane."

Maybe more than one! Was that manners I just heard?!

"You too, Jade."

She got to the door and turned back with a tiny smirk.

"Don't worry! I'll fit in something worthy of confession over the weekend!" Then she turned and skipped away gleefully before he could issue any sort of warning or reprimand against mischievousness.

Okay, so they still had some work to do.

He was okay with that. He might not know everything his job entailed, but "guidance" is a big word. He could tailor it to be whatever a hurting or struggling student needed. And almost always the most behavioural students were the ones who needed the most attention. If it took Monday appointments for the rest of her time at Hollywood Arts for Jade to know that she was consistently valued by at least one adult who cared for the quality of her future, Lane had an open calendar and an opening ear.

That was his job. Maybe he had not chosen it initially, but he chose it every day now.

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Did you enjoy? Would you like to see Lane interacting with others in a guidance counsellor kind of way? If so, who?

Have a great start to your week!