"Cat!" It was the morning of the newbies' second day at Hollywood Arts, 5 minutes before the first period would start. Cat had - once again – grabbed Jade's arm and was excitedly dragging her to their first classes room. "Cat, let go! People are staring." Jade glanced around nervously as she tried to shove off Cat.
The redhead ignored her friend's complaints and just checked the small note in her hand again, comparing the numbers she had written down on it with those next to the room they were standing in front of now. "This is the right room", she said brightly. "Let's go inside! Improv sounds like a lot of fun, I'm so excited!"
Jade sighed. "Wow, you being excited? No way.", she replied sarcastically while Cat pushed her inside.
Not many students were there yet, only about five and two of those were André and Beck. André smiled when he spotted them and waved.
"Hey Cat and Jade. 'Sup?"
Cat smiled widely. "Hi André!" She tightened her grip around Jade's arm and pulled her towards the two boys to sit down next to them.
"Hey", Beck greeted and gave the girls a nod.
"Hey Beck", Cat replied happily. "Isn't this exciting, guys? Our first improv lesson!"
"I'm bursting with joy", Jade muttered and rolled her eyes.
Beck sighed. "Have you ever tried acquiring a more positive attitude, Jade?"
"Have you ever tried shutting the hell up about things that clearly are none of your business?", she retorted.
Beck knitted his brows. "No offense meant."
"Duh!"
"No really, it would make things a lot easier for you, I think."
"No really, it would make things a lot easier for you, I think", Jade imitated in a high-pitched voice.
Beck sighed again. "Fine. Have fun being your bitter self", he said turning away and stared at the blackboard, seeming to feel slightly offended.
"Don't be so mean to him, Jade", Cat whispered to her friend.
"Don't tell me what to do."
The bell rang and suddenly the room was crowded with excited students. Tori and Robbie joined the other four in the front row right a second before a strange looking man entered the room. His hair was sticking in all directions from the sides of his half-bald head and his clothes looked like he hadn't changed his wardrobe for at least 20 years.
"Good morning to all you amateurs", he said. "Welcome to improv class. My name is Sikowitz and I certainly love coconuts."
The class started to whisper and Jade raised an eyebrow, indecisive about what to think of this man. He either had to be a genius or a complete retard, she wasn't sure yet.
"So", Sikowitz said and clapped his hands to get back the class' attention. "To kick off, we'll be doing a little acting exercise. You pair up in teams of three and then another team decides what you will be playing, while in return you will be picking their roles. Got it? Alright." He glanced through his students. "You, you and you" - he pointed at Robbie, André and Cat - "are the first team and choose for team number two which is..." - now he pointed at Jade, Beck and Tori - "you, you and you."
He went on like that and teamed up everyone else while Jade gritted her teeth and shot a glance at her team partners. Tori looked all happy about the fact she got paired up with Beck, while Beck himself raised an eyebrow and gave Jade a challenging look. She frowned at him. Two days and she hated that guy already. Couldn't he just leave her alone?
Tori beckoned them over. "Let's decide on a task for the others!", she said.
"Fine", Jade sighed.
The three of them sat down in a small circle so they could face each other and started to confer.
"How about Cat's a farm girl and Robbie is her dad and André has come to their farm to tell them they will lose everything because of their debts?", Beck suggested.
"Lame", Jade stated and played with one of heir colored streaks.
Beck looked slightly hurt but before he could say anything, Tori began to speak. "OK, then what about André is a wizard and-"
"No."
"OK then, what's your suggestion?", Beck said rolling his eyes. It was a good thing that he wasn't the kind of person that lost his temper easily and stayed cool at most times.
"Cat is Robbie's mother, who is really embarrassed by her child because he can't speak properly and leaves out random letters. André is a therapist who is supposed to help them but Robbie is also hyperactive and drives him crazy with his behavior, so everything only gets worse." After she had finished her explanation, she gave Beck and Tori an expectant look.
"Well, that's... pretty good.", Beck admitted. Jade smiled and gave him a superior 'told you' look.
Tori nodded. "Yeah, let's take that one."
After Cat's team had decided on something as well, they met up and Jade told them about their roles. All of them nodded and then André cleared his throat to speak.
"So", he said. "Beck, you are a rich man who is engaged to Tori. The marriage was arranged by both of your parents. The day before your wedding, though, you realize that you're actually in love with an average girl from town, who will be played by Jade and works for Beck's family as a waitress, and now you have to make clear to your fiancée that you can't marry her and at the same time tell Jade about your feelings." He grinned at them. "Good, right?"
Jade moaned. "Where did you get this idea from? A clichéd chick flick or what?"
Cat giggled and the boys shrugged.
"Alright, get to acting now, class!", Sikowitz told them and sipped at a coconut.
Jade sighed and followed her team members into an empty corner of the class room. They started their acting exercise right away. Beck took both of Tori's hand in his own and looked her straight in the eye.
"Darling, I-", he started and glanced around feigned nervous. "I can't marry you."
Tori gasped. "Wh-what? But our parents-"
"I know", he cut her off. "But I really can't because... because..." He glanced at Jade who was standing next to them, pretending to clean some tables and went on. "because I love her."
Both girls looked at him in 'shock'. "Her?", Tori said angrily, while at the same time Jade put a hand on her chest in played bewilderment.
"M-me?", she asked.
Beck strode up to her and took her hand. "Yes, you." He made direct eye contact and Jade gulped at the intensity of his stare. But on the outside she stayed perfectly in character.
"But... why?"
"If I only knew... All I do know, though, is that I love you with all my heart." He lead her hand to his chest, right were his heart was, to underline his words. Through his shirt Jade could clearly feel his muscles and any other girl would have melted away on the spot. But not Jade. She just returned his gaze steadily, though it sent tiny shivers down her spine, which she simply ignored.
"How can you do this to me?", Tori shrieked and pushed Jade away from Beck. "You're ruining my life!"
Somehow Jade couldn't get rid of the thought that Tori was in actual fact pissed about Beck being so close to her. Of course she had noticed Tori's interest in Beck before and it wasn't surprising really. It was exactly as she had told Cat the day before; the pretty girl ending up with the hot boy. Not that she cared, though.
"I-I'm sorry!", Beck said and clutched his head. "I can't help what I'm feeling, you need to understand..."
Tori took a deep breath to obviously scream at her 'soon-to-be husband' one more time, but Sikowitz cut her off.
"Alright, let's call it a day. Well done, everyone."
Everyone grabbed their stuff and started leaving. Beck shot Jade one last glance as she strode up to the door with Cat, who was talking to her excitedly (once again). He smiled a little as he watched Jade rolling her eyes at Cat's chatter but still listening to what her friend had to say. Those girls' friendship was one of the weirdest he had ever seen but still it worked somehow.
And he didn't know what it was exactly, but there was something fascinating about Jade, something which kept his attention stuck to her whenever she was near. He just couldn't help it.
Thanks for the reviews, everyone :)
s o f t.l u l l a b y: Thanks for the hint! English isn't my first language and somehow I must have slept in class or something when my teacher explained punctuation, I barely know a thing about it... LOL
btw, I forgot to say in the beginning, they all are like 15/16 in this story. Didn't want to make them too young, idk. Also, I don't like to rush things with Beck & Jade falling in love and starting to date and stuff, so it will probably take some more chapters for them to do so. But I will try to give you as many Bade moments as possible, don't worry :) Just wanted to let you know.
Pleeeeassseeee review? :)