Same timeline as "Senior Year At Hollywood Arts" and "Things Jade Loves."
Jade was munching french fries and half laying across her girlfriend's lap when she stumbled upon a revelation.
"I figured it out."
"Figured what out?" Tori asked, always happy to indulge Jade's sometimes terrifying ideas, especially if it meant she'd be distracted enough to not notice any solen fries.
"Don't touch my fries," Jade said preemptively.
"Fine. What did you figure out?"
"Why I dated Beck. And why I had a crush on that Moose guy."
"Are those two things related?"
"Sort of. Have you ever heard of comphet?"
"Comp what? That sounds like a math class." And they did not teach math at Hollywood Arts.
"Comphet. It stands for compulsory heterosexuality. Society assumes you're straight so you act straight. So if you're a little girl who likes girls but you think you're supposed to like boys, you might say you like the neighbor boy when kids ask you who your crush is. And you grow up like that, picking random boys who you're supposed to like until you grow up enough to where one of them seems to like you back. And then, even though it's as make-believe as it was when you were in kindergarten, suddenly you have a boyfriend."
Tori looked at Jade with different eyes.
"That's how you felt about Beck?"
Jade nodded, "It's not like you had actual feelings for Beck, either."
"Well…"
"Wait, seriously?"
"Babe, I'm bi. I knew I liked guys when I was younger and I guess the comphet in me never questioned it."
"So you actually liked Beck?"
"For a minute, yeah. He was a crush, and chasing him made you mad and well… You're pretty cute when you're mad."
Jade resisted blushing.
"But then when Beck actually tried to get with me I couldn't. I was hung up on you. I didn't know it yet, but you meant more to me than Beck ever would."
Jade failed to keep from blushing now.
"You're such a sap," Jade complained.
"And you're soft on me. Now, why did you like Moose?"
"Because you liked Moose. And I was jealous, 'cause I liked you."
Now they were both blushing, very happy that they'd broken the cycle of comphet and fallen together.