All night, Jade had tossed and turned, trying to think of what she'd say to Beck the next day. And now, as she stood beside his locker, she still had no idea how she'd tell him. But, she wanted to pursue a relationship with Andre, she wanted to see where it could go. She never wanted anything more. When Beck finally walked over, Jade was deep in thought, her head swimming with the events of the day before. He saw her and smiled, and leaned down for a kiss, but having been snapped back to the moment, Jade moved away. Beck could see the conflict and confusion in her eye. Something was wrong.
"Jade?" He placed a hand under her chin, and lifted her eyes to his gaze. Tears had started to form in both their eyes now. She shook to fight his hold of her gaze.
"It's Andre," was all she could muster up. Beck looked confused.
"Is Andre okay? Did something happen? Where is he?"
"No, Beck. No. Andre's great. That's sort of the problem. Yesterday, that… kiss we shared for the play. It stirred something up, and it doesn't look like it's about to settle anytime soon. I think we all owe it to ourselves to chase different dreams, gather new experiences to carry with us, so when the time comes, we'll know exactly what it is we want." When she spoke those words, she even surprised herself by how calm she sounded. She was right, Andre had been right. This was our time to figure out who we were, what we wanted, how to get there. And right now, she wanted Andre Harris. Andre with his braided hair, his radiant smile, his incredible talent, his silky chocolate skin, his warm eyes, those bulging muscles. She was so lost in thought, that she didn't notice the tears escaping Beck's eyes, now creating a stream down his cheek. She'd hurt him, she hadn't wanted to, but that often happens when following one's heart, others get hurt. "Beck," as she snapped back to reality once again, "I am so sorry." She brushed a tear off his face and he looked at the ground.
After a moment, Beck straightened up and wiped away a few straggling tears. "Jade, it's okay, really. All I want is for everyone to be happy. You'll be happy, Andre will be happy, and eventually, I'll be happy too. And maybe one day, after this, you'll realize we are meant to be together, and we can live our happily ever after. Like we're supposed to." Beck stepped back, held Jade's upper arm in his hand for a second, turned around and walked away. Jade thought she should cry, but honestly, she was relieved. This had gone better than she expected. She now turned herself, and walked towards class, towards where Andre was.