Chapter Three.
Jade looked through the stage wings, searching for him but he was nowhere to be found. The host walked onto the stage and her heart began to leap. His mouth was moving but Jade couldn't hear any sound. Her palms began to sweat and she began to bite her lip. 'Calm down, Jade, you can do this.' she told herself.
"Please welcome to the stage, Jade West!" She carefully walked to the center of the stage and took hold of the microphone. Where was Beck? Frantically, her eyes searched the crowds. He definitely wasn't here. The song began to play but Jade couldn't remember the words. She was about to choke when she saw Cat in the audience with Robbie and Andre, mouthing the words before she was supposed to sing them. She nearly lost her dream, nearly crushed them in her own hands but they saved her and as the song played it's last notes and the applause faded, Jade smiled sadly and walked offstage, tears filling her eyes.
"I'm sorry I didn't make it." He sighed, his apology as transparent as glass.
"I'm sorry too."
"Why?"
"You do realize what happened tonight, right? If it wasn't for Cat, Andre and Robbie I would've choked. In front of everyone. I thought you loved me, the only reason I would've choked is because you weren't there. Whenever you're there, I calm down and my nerves subside, but you weren't there so the nerves got worse and I didn't believe I could do it. Where were you? What was so important that you had to miss something we'd been planning for months? You should've been there."
"I know, I'm sorry, please forgive me." His bulging, brown eyes stared into hers, piercing her soul. There was still something on her mind, who was he with?
"Who were you with and what were you doing?" Silence. "Oh my God." She finally realized where he'd been. "You were with...Tori." Her voice cracked. She pulled the remains of herself together, helpless. "Why, Beck?"
"I'm sorry." And that was the day he broke her. He was the only one who could ever hurt her in such a way, change her life completely, change her opinions, her mood and now the one who said he'd never ever hurt her had broken her. There was nothing else to say.
"Jade? You there? Earth to Planet Jade?" Andre clicked his fingers infront of Jade's eyes and she shook her head, shaking herself out of the memories. "What were you thinking about?"
"Nothing." She looked away, pulling her shirt down slightly. "Where is Sikowitz anyway?" She was beginning to get frustrated with the awkwardness of this conversation.
"Jade, what were you thinking about?!" He spoke a bit louder this time. "Tell me!"
"Ok, ok! Remember when I performed at the theater last year?"
"Yeah, and Beck didn't show?"
"Yeah. That." Andre looked at the floor and looked back up at her.
"Why were you thinking of that?" She didn't answer, too afraid of judgement. She had definitely changed in the past six months that was for sure. "You still like Beck." Andre nodded, taking in this information. "I can help you with that."
"No don't! I want him to be happy not heartbroken. Just leave it." Then, Andre's phone beeped.
Beck : Date set for the wedding, June 25th.
Andre : But it's June 17th and you have nothing ready!
Beck : It'll be sorted. Jade, Cat, Trina = bridesmaids. Sinjin, Robbie, Rex = ushers. And you, if you want to be, the best man. All planned out.
Andre : But Jade? She can't be a bridesmaid.
Beck : Why?
Andre : She still loves you. She'll ruin the wedding you know what she's like.
Jade could hear the phone beeping and vibrating repetitively and was getting extremely annoyed. She yanked the phone from his hands and read the texts before throwing it on the floor and running to wherever Beck could be. First stop, the RV.