Avoiding the Inevitable
Chapter 2
Beck/Jade, AU
Despite my inhibitions, I spent the rest of my break time with Beck Oliver. Eyebrows were raised when we walked into the dining hall together, though. Not that I really cared what they thought. It was just odd having everyone assuming that I was dating him.
The rest of the day passed fairly quickly, and even the night seemed shorter, probably because there were no girls up walking around and sobbing because they were scared of the dark. They all slept through the night, thankfully, so I wasn't completely grumpy when I woke up in the morning.
Cat won Cabin Capers the next day, much to everyone's surprise. She just grinned and did a little dance. She only got a 98 though (I'd gotten a 97, which was, in fact, an improvement).
After lunch that day was the talent show. The talent show was the one thing that the staff had all precariously planned out, and oddly enough, I was in an act with Beck, Cat, Robbie, Sinjin, and Trina. Not like I'd picked my group, honestly, it was more like they'd picked me. Unit unity and all, you know? But anyway.
All of my girls were constantly asking me if I was in the talent show, so of course I had to tell them yes. Then they wanted to know if I was in an act with Beck. I had no idea what had started this obsession over my nonexistent relationship with Beck, but then again I wasn't sure that I wanted to know. I told them yes, but they needed to calm down because there was nothing going on between Beck and I. Nothing at all.
Of course, for our act, I had to dress up in an ugly, poofy dress that made me look like some freak from the 1900s. Trina and Cat had to wear similar dresses, of course, and Robbie, Sinjin, and Beck were all in ridiculous-looking male versions of our dresses. We all started cracking up upon seeing each other – obviously, Sinjin looked the worst, but Trina was a close second.
"You look like a parlor maid, Jade," Robbie got out through snorts. Probably then he realized that maid rhymed with Jade and that just made the whole thing funnier, because he started laughing even harder. I rolled my eyes. The people at this camp were all just so annoyingly weird.
"Least I don't look like a woman," I retorted, flipping my hair. "I mean, it's really quite creepy that we both look like princesses." Cat and Robbie gasped, obviously scandalized, but Beck and Trina both laughed. Sinjin gave me a creepy smile. Typical.
Anyway, after what felt like ages of this stupid, pointless bickering backstage, we were ushered onto the stage for our lovely act. Of course, the whole auditorium burst into laughter at the sight of us; it wasn't every day that they got to see their counselors dressed up like fluffy poodles. I glared and muttered "I was forced to do this," though I doubt any of them heard me over the simultaneous laughter and applause.
The stupid old-timey music came on then, and so we began our 'complex' dance. It was purposefully awkward; Trina tripped over Sinjin's feet and then slapped him on the head. Cat did a long spin and ran into me, pushing me into Beck's chest. Beck just laughed and held me there for a second as we listened to the laughter of the children.
As the laughter began to die down, Beck whispered, "I think you look beautiful, Princess Jade." And then, before I could so much as react, he spun me again, making me nearly fall on top of Robbie.
My head was spinning again, which made me all the more irritated. Nonetheless, I finished the dance, making sure to trip Beck (and then all of my girls applauded, much to my dismay).
As I took a bow, I glanced over at Beck. Beck was smiling from ear to ear, and his smile didn't fade as my glance turned into a glare. There were no words for my disdain for him.
Yet somehow I wanted to hear him say I was pretty again.
/
"You're unbelievable," I stormed under my breath as we walked back to our cabins, our kids trailing dutifully behind us. "Seriously, dude, I already know I looked bad. No need to rub it in."
Stupidface Beck Oliver just glanced over at me, clearly amused. "I wasn't kidding. But anyway, if you're so worked up about it, come over to my cabin later tonight and I'll make it up to you."
"That sounds so wrong," I replied, chuckling humorlessly. "And anyway, isn't that against the rules?"
"Yes," he answered at once, "but since when are you the type to care about what is or isn't against the rules?" He raised an eyebrow at me, obviously questioning whether I was as bad as I liked to seem. "Besides, knowing you, you wouldn't get caught."
"I know I wouldn't," I told him, placing one hand on my hip to show him how tough I really was.
"So you'll be there?" Beck asked, a confident smile decorating his admittedly pretty face. How could I refuse?
"Guess so," I informed him. "But you'd better not let me down." He smirked, implying that he didn't plan to, and I resisted the urge to smack him in the face. Seriously, his unshakeable confidence had to be the thing that I hated the most about him.
Of course, Anna jumped on me as soon as Beck moved away, a smirk playing at her lips as well. "What were you and Beck talking about?"
"Hopefully a way to escape this stupid camp," Mara said in an angry tone, her face twisted into a scowl.
"Or a secret kissing spot," Mallory jumped in with a giggle, making all the other girls say 'ewww' in a grossed out sort of tone. That was one thing they didn't have to worry about; I wouldn't be kissing Beck Oliver any time soon.
"Nothing," I said sharply, interrupting the chorus of 'ews' and giggles. "Nothing at all."
/
Later that night, before my scheduled meetup with Mr. Oliver, my unit leader confronted me. Even for someone as intimidating as me, what with my eyebrow piercings and dark makeup, that girl scared me. She looked sort of like a girly-girl, what with her curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes, but there was something in her stance and her no-nonsense tone of voice that was intimidating.
"So, Jade," she said with a slight frown, staring at me. "I've noticed that you've been spending quite a bit of time with Beck Oliver, and you know, there have been rumors circulating around about the two of you, so I just..."
I cut her off. "If this conversation is going where I think it's going, then I'm out."
"Jade West," Sam said sternly. "I can't stop you from dating Poodle Boy, because we haven't actually got any rules forbidding that, but anything beyond innocent kissing is strictly forbidden. Same with neglecting your cabin to go be sappy with Poodle Hair."
I groaned. "I'm not dating Beck! We're just friends, if that."
"If you say so," Sam replied, a wicked grin playing at her lips. "But hey, that's what they all say."
/
By the time I got to Beck's cabin later that night, I was absolutely fuming. He just grinned at me with that stupid crooked smile, not even looking concerned in the least, and that infuriated me all the more. "Something wrong?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Everyone thinks we're dating," I grumbled, plopping down on his bed. "And it's sort of annoying, to say the least, considering we're not."
"I'm aware," Beck said with a teasing smile. "But hey, it's a compliment. People think you can get someone as good looking as me."
My eyebrow shot up. "Do you have to do that all the time?"
"Do what?" he asked innocently, the smile not fading from his face.
"Every time I think that I could actually like you, you start acting all conceited and stupid again, and then I start to hate you," I replied sharply, glaring at him. Even this didn't seem to faze him, much to my annoyance.
He just raised an eyebrow. "So you think I'm conceited and stupid?"
"Pretty much," I agreed. Who cared if it was mean? After all, I didn't like him, and therefore I shouldn't be concerned about 'hurting his feelings' or something incredibly irrelevant like that.
He sat there for a second, looking like he was pondering something. Then he said confidently, "I don't believe you."
The nerve of him! My jaw dropped in shock. How could he not believe me? Then I glared at him. "Didn't I come here for you to make it up to me? Not for me to just get angrier at you?"
He laughed, then stood up, reached into his drawer and threw a bunch of bars of chocolate at me. "Will that be enough, m'lady?"
I glanced down at the chocolate bars – 3 Musketeers, Kit-Kat, Hershey – and then back up at him, a small smile forming on my face (which, for me, was incredibly rare). "You're unbelievable," I said at last. "Where did you get all this chiz?"
"I have a stash, duh," he replied, sitting back down beside me – uncomfortably close, might I add. "Sometimes the food here is sick, and not the good kind of sick."
"I know," I agreed, swinging my combat boots back and forth (I hadn't taken my shoes off; what did I care if he got dirt on his floor?). "That's why I sometimes call this place Camp Vomit. I, for one, think that it would be a much more appropriate name."
That made him burst out laughing, and when at last he calmed down, he grinned over at me. "Nah, you're the one who's unbelievable."
I stared at him. "Good unbelievable or bad unbelievable?"
"Good." Beck laughed again. "Definitely good."
And, well, that's when it happened.
One of us leaned in – I'd like to think it was Beck, but I'm not sure. Either way, I was suddenly kissing the guy I'd claimed to hate, and it wasn't a simple peck either. His hands were tangled in my raven hair and my hands, in retaliation, were tugging on his hair, pulling him closer. Then all of a sudden the implications of what we were doing slammed into me, and I jerked back.
"What the heck?" I asked, my breathing coming faster than normal. I didn't wait for a response, though; I grabbed my bag and dashed out of the cabin, biting down on my lip.
Quickly, I walked back to my cabin and tiptoed into my room, then threw on some pajamas and climbed into my bed. I couldn't fall asleep, though, however hard I tried. Images of Beck and yes, Beck and I, ran through my mind. I hated him, right? I hated everybody at this stupid camp. Then why had I enjoyed kissing him?
/
At breakfast the next day, I made sure to sit as far away from Beck Oliver as possible. In fact, I plopped down beside Cat, trying to ignore the fact that Trina made sure to sit as close to Beck as possible. When I was sure that Beck (and, well, everyone else who would care) was out of earshot, I leaned over to Cat and whispered, "Beck and I kissed last night." If there was one person at this stupid camp who would listen to my problems and care (or, at least, try to), it was Cat.
Just like I'd thought, she let out a squeal, but then clapped her hands over her mouth. The girls all turned to stare at us, but I dismissed them with a scowl. "Really?" Cat chirped.
"Yes, really," I replied impatiently. "Not like I'd make something freaky like that up."
"Do you like him?" Cat inquired, looking slightly starry-eyed, which scared me more than anything else. I didn't like Beck Oliver. I couldn't.
"No," I retorted. "It just happened, okay? He said I was unbelievable, like good unbelievable, and then somebody leaned in and we were kissing. It's not really a big deal, least I don't think so."
"Oh, is that why you're avoiding him then?" Cat asked me with a smirk.
My face immediately went red. I spluttered out, "I am not avoiding him!", all the while trying to avoid his gaze. Then I lowered my voice. "Look, I just... didn't want to sit next to him. That's understandable! I don't like him."
"Oh, then go talk to him," Cat replied innocently, grinning from ear to ear.
I lowered my head into my arms, moaning out a low "nooo". This whole situation was beyond messed up. "Why can't I just go home now?" I whimpered. "I don't want to face Beck Oliver ever again. Heck, I don't want to face anyone ever again."
Cat just patted my back. "It'll be okay."
/
From then on, my day mainly consisted of avoiding Beck. We won Cabin Cleanup (I knew we would), but I didn't even gloat. That was, until he walked up to me, that stupid smirk on his face. "So, looks like you won. Aren't you gonna rub it in?"
For the first time, I considered that maybe he actually didn't want things to be awkward. In an attempt to keep it up, I shrugged. "I told you I would win, Beck."
"Did you get a hundred?" Beck inquired curiously.
My face immediately went blank. Of course, they had given us a 99, which meant I was sorta thinking that maybe Beck was right, that maybe they didn't give anyone a 100. Not that I would ever admit that. I just shrugged in a blasé sort of way. "Nah, just a 99. But we'll get a 100 next time, mark my words."
"I'm counting on it," he said with a laugh. Then, just like the idiot he was, he leaned close to my ear, close enough that I could feel his breath, and whispered, "But I have to admit, Jade West, I didn't think you'd win Cabin Cleanup. You just don't seem like the type. I guess you proved me wrong, though."
And just like that, my mind was blown again. I watched him watch off, my mouth agape, and wondered when I'd become so completely screwed.
/
That night, Cat's cabin came over to my cabin for a little 'party' of sorts. Of course, just like the young girls that they obviously were, they wanted to talk about boys. Cat just raised an eyebrow at me and grinned.
"Have you got a boyfriend, Cat?" they asked my redheaded 'friend' (of sorts, just don't tell anybody).
Cat smiled innocently, then shook her head. "Not really."
That managed to catch the girls' attention. "Not really?" Lexie exclaimed. Sidney hit her on the arm, signaling that she needed to calm down, but Lexie grinned anyway.
"Well..." Cat looked down, blushing. "This one guy asked me out! And I dunno, I'm thinking about saying yes, but I'm not sure." Of course, as soon as she said this, I knew immediately who she was talking about. He couldn't have been any more obvious. She nudged me and put a finger to her lips, swearing me to secrecy. I just nodded in response.
"Who is it?" one of Cat's girls squealed.
"Tell us," Layla agreed with a bright smile. She really was quite adorable – and she seemed familiar somehow. Something about her eyes and her smile, really.
"She can't tell you," I interrupted abruptly. "It's in our contract."
Of course, this put the spotlight on me. Reina is the first to tear in, kind of like a hungry lion. "So Jade, do you have a boyfriend?" Her eyes are bright, her face smiling, and it's sad to think that I really have no answer to her question. I am still conflicted on whether I even like Beck or not, much less want him to be my boyfriend.
I go with the simple and short answer. "No."
"I thought Beck was your boyfriend," Mara interrupts wryly, glancing up from the book that is splayed across her lap to stare at Jade. "At least, that's what Sophia always says, and she swears she knows for sure."
"I didn't say that!" Sophia pouts. "I just said that I thought he was her boyfriend, cause they act like it lots of times and I dunno, it just seems like it."
"We do not," I protested weakly, but it was too late because pretty much everyone was nodding in agreement. Cat sent me a sympathetic stare, probably understanding that I was conflicted about everything. I mean, it wasn't like Beck had ever really expressed a desire to go out with him. Sighing, I decided to change the subject. "Layla, come over here and I'll braid your hair." Cat had taught me at the beginning of camp to braid hair, and this turned out to be a great thing, because as soon as I offered, all the other girls wanted their hair braided too.
Cat and I spent the rest of the night doing hair, both in braids and ridiculous, messed up styles. All the while, I kept thinking about Beck – about that insane kiss that should really never have happened, about whether or not I even wanted to be his girlfriend, about all the implications that would come along with that. I didn't want a summer fling; I didn't want to be yet another notch on his tally list of girlfriends.
Before I went back to my cabin, Cat grabbed my shoulder and held me back. She gave me a small smile. "I know you'll figure all this out, Jadey. You're really smart."
I returned the smile as best I could, trying to ignore the fact that she had called me 'Jadey'. "Thanks, Cat. You're not so dumb yourself."
She gave me a grin and bounced out, as peppy as ever. I watched her and thought to myself that I had vowed before coming to make no friends or romantic interests, yet somehow it seemed that I had gained one of each. It was funny how things turned out.
/
The next morning, I got up early for no real reason. I suppose you could say that I was in a good mood, though with me, I was never really in a good mood. Since I still had an hour till my girls were meant to be up and they didn't seem to be showing signs of waking up any time soon, I decided to break the rules and go for a quick walk.
Apparently, I wasn't the only one.
As I walked down one of the many trails that weaved through the camp, my eyes fell upon two people. Unfortunately, one of my many flaws is that I am extremely nosy, so I had to know what was going on. So basically I crept through the woods and hid behind a nearby tree, then waited for the two people to walk up.
Once they did, I realized that the two people were Beck and Tori, and that they were walking close together, close enough that I was fairly certain that their hands were brushing – that is, if they weren't holding hands. The surge of anger (and jealousy, I was fairly sure) that ran through me startled me. I hadn't realized that I cared for stupid counselor Beck Oliver so much.
I could only hear snippets of their conversation, but it sounded like he was saying the word 'love', and he was saying it to Tori. Rage was the only tangible emotion I had. Just yesterday he was kissing me and flirting with me, and now he was talking to Tori about love.
Quickly I dashed back to my cabin, trying as hard as I could not to wake the girls up, yet when I slipped into the room, all ten of them were sitting up in their beds, staring at me.
"Well," Katie said with a wicked grin. "Where have you been?"
"Nowhere," I mumbled, fully aware of the fact that I owed them no explanation. "Get dressed. We are meant to be at breakfast in thirty minutes." Then I ducked into my room, put my head in my hands, and tried to sift through my thoughts.
(Long story short: it didn't work.)
/
This time, I legitimately avoided Beck. He smiled at me at breakfast; I averted my eyes. All of my girls drilled me incessantly with questions, but I ignored those questions. I devoted all of my energy to taking care of the girls in my cabin and avoiding Beck. All of them (except for Mara, who just kept staring at me out of lidded eyes) gave me a hug after breakfast. Had I been anyone else, I would've said that it was kinda adorable how much these girls cared for me. As it was, I hated that word.
Cat confronted me before lunch. She gave me a big smile and asked, "Something wrong?"
"Sort of," I confessed, feeling like I had to tell someone or I'd explode. And, let's face it, when Jade West explodes, nothing good can come of it. "I saw Beck walking really close to Tori and talking about love."
"Did he say he was in love with her?" Cat asked, looking shocked. "That's not very nice! I thought that he liked you!" This seemed to have activated Cat's angry side, something I had never really seen before. It made me half-smile.
"Well, no, he didn't say that," I admitted. "But all things considering, it seems pretty likely, don't you think?"
Cat considered this for a second. "I don't want him to like Tori," she confessed at last, her voice low. "Tori's my friend. But I want him to like you."
"Thanks, Cat," I said with a small smile. "Thanks for listening."
"I think you should talk to him!" Cat said at last. "You never know until you try."
"I guess," I told her in response. Then she gave me a quick hug (yes, I actually let her hug me) and left me alone to my thoughts, which was really a good thing because I had a lot of them.
/
Beck confronted me in my cabin during my break, just as I was ushering the last of the girls (Carrie) out of the cabin. I simply raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you want?"
"Why are you mad at me?" he demanded, stepping into my cabin (completely uninvited, might I add) and shutting the door behind him. "I mean, I thought we were friends."
"Yeah, too bad you didn't make that much clear," I hissed back, slipping back into my room and stomping my combat boots against the ground. It was good that I'd left them on, because I liked the noise they made against the floor – an angry noise, as angry as I was feeling.
"What do you mean?" Beck asked, sounding all innocent as he followed me to my room.
I glared up at him. There was really nothing else I could do. "Don't act like you don't know. You shouldn't act like you're interested in me if you're into someone else. In some places, that kind of guy is considered a jerk."
Once I was done talking, he just stared at me, looking astounded. "Wait, you thought I was leading you on? Jade, I – I didn't mean to."
"So now you're saying that you don't like me?" I inquired. "That you're not attracted to me? You know what, Beck, just forget it. Just forget it. I shouldn't have thought you were different from everyone else, from Matt."
"Whoa." Beck's voice was stern now, harsh, and it was somehow more attractive to me than ever before. "You think that I don't – that I'm not attracted to you? Jade, I like you. A lot. I don't like anyone else. In fact, I have no idea what you're talking about."
"I saw you with Tori this morning," I hissed, my voice venomous. "You were talking about love."
"You wanna know what I was talking about?" Beck asked. His voice was dark, like he was angry at me when really he had no right to be angry at me. I'd done nothing wrong. "I was talking about how I thought I could be in love with you. There? You happy now?"
This sent a shock through me. The word love was something I'd hardly ever heard before, at least not in reference to me, and there he was, throwing it around like it was nothing. "You what? Beck, I don't believe –" I began, but once again I was cut off, this time by Beck leaning over and kissing me.
Neither of us pulled away for what felt like the longest time. It was a long, sweet kiss, but I suddenly felt compelled to pull away. I stared at him, my eyes wide. "What was that?"
He sighed. "I meant it, Jade. I like you. And well... how about we, um, get to know each other?"
"That sounds like some sort of a cheesy pick up line," I scoffed. "But all right."
A small smile tugged at the edges of his lips. At last, he said, "So why are you here? I mean, I don't mean that in the bad sort of way, of course; I'm thrilled that you're here. But you don't exactly seem like the type to be all gung-ho about coming to camp."
I had to laugh at that. "I'm not, trust me. My parents forced me to come here. They thought that I was going all catatonic on them or something and decided I had to be social this summer. And they told me they'd stop paying tuition for my college if I didn't go, and I actually like my college."
"You're a college student now," Beck said with a slight frown. "Isn't it time they stopped controlling your life?"
"Guess not." I sighed. "Like I said, they thought I was going catatonic, the idiots."
He looked curious now. "Why would you be going catatonic?"
I'd been hinting at this for a reason, but somehow as he asked the question, I felt myself freeze up. You have to get it out there sometime, I reminded myself darkly, then I told him, "I had a bad break-up. You know how things are. Guy named Matt, cheated on me with a girl like Tori. I pretty much went insane and cut off all tabs with everyone. And they decided that the remedy for a broken heart was to force me to go to camp."
"Oh." He just stared at me for a second, his eyes wide. "For the record, I can't imagine why anyone would want to cheat on you. I mean... you're better than that. Better than him."
Once again, I could feel the heat rising to my face, but I ignored it. Instead, I just asked, "What about you? Why are you here? I mean, you're more of the peppy type, but still..."
Shrugging, Beck replied, "I don't know. I heard about this camp from a friend and decided that I might give it a try. Well, to be honest, I guess I'm running away a bit too. My friends... well, they wanted to pressure me into drugs and stuff, and I guess I'm not into that stuff. I thought that maybe people here would be different."
I gave a small smile in response. "Drugs kill your brain cells. Not that you've got that many."
"Are you trying to say something?" Beck asked, elbowing me in the ribs lightly. "But yeah, don't worry. I was escaping too."
Sighing, I fell back on the bed. "When I came here, I resolved to teach my parents a lesson by not associating with anyone. And by that, I mean not getting into any friendships or romantic relationships." I glanced up at him. "I guess I failed in both respects."
"I'm glad you did," Beck retorted with a chuckle. And then we were kissing again, him pulling me close and me wrapping my arms around him, actually being gentle for once. And you know what, it wasn't that bad.
Still, paranoia flooded me, because it was the same sort of thing that Matt had done. Matt had pulled me close, wrapped his arms around me, told me that he loved me, and quite obviously it was all a lie. Just as fake as his blonde hair.
Once Beck pulled away, he smiled at me. I forced myself to smile back.
/
Of course, Cat was the first person I told. Her face lit up at once, curving into a big smile. "That's so exciting, Jade! I knew things would work out!"
"Yeah, but I don't think I trust him," I said with a sigh, staring at the ground. "After Matt... well, he reminds me a lot of my ex-boyfriend, and my ex-boyfriend ended up cheating on me. How do I know that Beck won't just do the same thing?"
Cat's brow creased, and all I could think was how cute and innocent she was – like a child, instead of a 19-year-old girl. Then she grinned again. "Well, he said he loves you, right? Or that he thought he was in love with you? If he really loves you, he wouldn't do something like that!"
"Matt said that he loved me too," I muttered. Not an easy thing for me to admit, but true nonetheless. "That was obviously a lie."
Cat thought about this for a second. "Well, get him to prove that he loves you!"
My head snapped up. "Cat, it's not that easy. You can't just ask someone to prove that they love you."
That same expression of childlike innocence appeared on Cat's face. "Why not?"
This stumped me. For some reason, I couldn't really think of a reason why not, except that it was just not done. Thankfully, before I had to say anything, Helen marched over to our table, Sam at her heels. With a slightly sadistic smile, she informed me, "I've got my eye on you."
I was tempted to retort 'just one?', but I had a feeling that doing so would get me fired. Instead, I just smiled innocently at her. "Why?"
"Because of you and your little boyfriend," Helen said, her face snarling slightly. "You'd best keep your romance far away from the campers."
I had to chuckle under my breath. "Will do, ma'am. I can assure you that your supervision won't be needed."
"It better not be," Helen said, and Sam seconded that with an enthusiastic nod. Then both of them walked away, which made me laugh all the more. A low chuckle resounded behind Cat and I, and I spun around to see Beck Oliver.
"How long have you been standing there?" I demanded immediately, my heart nearly stopping inside of my chest. Had he heard?
He just chuckled again, wrapping his arms around my waist (in a totally innocent sort of way, wouldn't want to upset the boss). "I just got here. Chill. But apparently they're thinking that we're going to be some PDA-obsessed couple?"
"I hate PDA," I replied, my voice flat.
"You don't hate me." Beck's voice was teasing now, so my immediate response was to elbow him in the gut. This just made him laugh even more.
Cat joined in with his laughter, then squealed, "You guys are adorable."
Now, I typically hated when people described me as adorable, but I was thinking that maybe I could make an exception just for now.
/
A/N: How's that for a fast update? Thank you guys so much for all the reviews, means the world to me, jalksdgjs. You're all way too nice. Review for a fast update? XD (And also the last chapter, sigh.)