Jade and her dad went back to his place. The house was kind of olive green color. It was two stories high and much smaller than the Thompson's house. Inside there was a living room when you entered. There was a staircase to the left and an archway to the right. The archway led to the dining room and kitchen. James led Jade up the stairs to a small room that was painted a pale purple. It was about half the size of both her rooms before, but she was still happy with it. Jade put her things away and went down stairs. Her dad was at the kitchen table doing some kind of paperwork, probably custody papers and what not. Jade asked if she could go outside and her father said yes because they had a fenced in yard. When Jade got outside she decided to try to climb the large oak tree in the middle of the yard. The tree has many branches that were easy to climb plus it had a tire swing. Jade assumed that the people next door probably had a child her age. Jade was nervous so she quickly climbed the tree, trying to avoid having to introduce herself. From the top of the tree Jade could see the whole yard. Jade was absorbed in the view when she heard a small voice.

"Hey, whatcha doing up there?" the voice said.

Jade regretfully climbed down and introduced herself.

"My name's Jade West and I now live next door," she said.

"Oh," said the little girl who was standing before her. She was about four inches shorter than Jade and has frizzy brown hair and dark brown eyes. "My name is Caterina Hannah Valentine. I live at blah blah, blah, blah, blah, I like, blah blah and blah, I know blah blah blah." This is all Jade could hear. She just talked so fast and so much.

"You talk a lot and I'm gonna call you Cat for short," Jade proclaimed

"I like that name but why?" questioned Cat.

"Well," explained Jade, "it's five letter shorter (Jade had become very good at math) and it sounds better."

"Okay, I love my nickname and I love cats, don't you?" Cat asked.

"I like cats too. I had a cat but I had to leave it behind because my daddy's allergic," Jade sad sadly.

"What do you mean leave it behind and why did you just move her now? Mr. West has been living here ever since I can remember," Cat exclaimed.

Jade explained what had happened in the past two years, how she and her mommy were in an accident, how she went to live with the Thompsons, and how she now was living here. "That's where I got the name Cat," Jade explained. "I had a kitten when I lived with the Thompsons, but I couldn't take it with me."

"Oh," said Cat. "Well do you wanna be my friend?"

"You probably don't want to be friends with me," Jade said. "At my old school people called me weird and said I was strange just because I like to sing.'

"I like to sing too. My favorite song is I'll Be by Edwin McCain," she said.

"I love that song, I used to sing it every day with my "sister" Jenna," Jade said.

"I'll be your cryin' shoulder. I'll be your love suicide. And I'll be better when I'm older. I'll be the greatest fan of your life," the two girls belted out at the top of their lungs. Cat happened to be a good singer too. Her voice was just as pretty as Jade's but a little higher. Cat invited Jade to come over for dinner. Her dad said yes so they went into Cat's house. It looked the same as Jade's but flipped. Cat introduced Jade to her mommy, daddy, and her brother. Cat's brother was two years older than them but looked almost exactly like Cat.

"Hi, do you by any chance have a pint of chicken blood?" Cat's brother asked.

"Yeah, we're not sure what's up with him, but sometimes he's just cuckoo," Cat explained.

After dinner Cat and Jade played a game then Jade went home. The next morning Jade woke up early. He father was getting ready for work. He said Mrs. Valentine would be checking up on her but that he thought she would be fine to stay home alone. (Don't get me wrong, Jade was fine staying alone, but who leaves a six year old all by themselves.) Jade learned that week that her father was not really interested in her. Even though she hated him inside, Jade still wanted to try to connect with her father. That Monday Jade and Cat started first grade. They were so excited when they learned they were in the same class. Jade was especially happy because she didn't know anyone else. As soon as they got to school, Cat introduced Jade to her friend Beck. He had slightly long black hair and very tan skin compared to her. His made Cat look pale and Jade look like a ghost. He wore a leather jacket and grey jeans.

"Hi, I'm Beckett Oliver but you can call me Beck. It's a lot easier and sounds better," he said.

"We're all gonna be best friends forever and ever," Cat exclaimed with extreme happiness.

The day went on like all Jade's school days had only now she had people to make her laugh and smile. She still sang at lunch only now she had a singing partner.

"You're really good, Jade," said Beck.

"Thanks," said Jade, blushing a little. "I get my good singing voice from my mommy. We used to sing all the time before…" Jade felt like she was about to cry.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Beck said reassuringly.

"No that's okay," Jade said, still kind of sad. "Me and my mom got in a car accident when I was almost five and she died."

"I'm sorry," Beck said. "I don't think I could ever live without my mom."

"It helps when you have nice people to help you through it," said Jade.

"Last week my brother painted my hamster blue," Cat proclaimed, trying to change the topic so Jade wouldn't cry.

"Why would he do that," questioned Jade and Beck.

"He said he looked blue," Cat said confused. "I still don't know why he did it but that's what he said."

The instant they met Jade and Beck had crushes on each other.

"If I told you I liked Beck, would you be mad?" Jade asked.

"No, Beck and me are more like brother and sister," confessed Cat, looking kind of sad. She instantly perked up afterwards.

When Jade got home from school, she changed into a purple shirt and grey shorts. (Jade hadn't worn a puffy dress since the day her mommy died. She still wore pink sometimes but never really wore dresses anymore.) She went outside to find Cat and Beck siting under the tree.

"How'd you get her?" Jade asked.

"Oh, me," Beck asked. "I live down the street and come over Cat's house a lot."

Almost every day was like this. Jade, Cat, and Beck would go to school. Cat and Jade would sing at lunch. They would all go home then meet up under the oak tree. Every day was the same enjoyable routine. In the middle of the year a boy named Andre moved into their class. He had dark black hair and was wearing a red shirt with a guitar on it.

"Hi I'm Cat, this is Beck and Jade," Cat said in her usually peppy voice.

"I'm Andre and I like to play music, I even brought my keyboard with me today," he said.

"Me and Cat like to sing at lunch," Jade said. "Maybe you can play a song and we can sing."

"That'd be great," Andre said.

In the beginning of second grade the gang met Robbie Shapiro. He had dark curly hair and wore thick glasses. He carried a puppet around that he called Rex. Robbie said he was a ventriloquist and showed the group his act he did for the talent show last year.

"That's amazing," Cat proclaimed. The other all nodded their heads in total agreement.

"You really think so?" Robbie asked. "Some people think it's weird."

"Well, were the weird people in this school," Jade explained. "We sing at lunch and play music."

Robbie joined the group and was accepted by people for the first time in his life. When Jade was eight her father introduced her to Maria, his new girlfriend. A year later she became her new stepmother. With her Maria brought her dog, Princess. Jade was excited to have a pet again, but this dog was horrible. It would go into her room and take all of Jade's stuff. One night while trying to get the dog out of her room, Jade remembered her kitten, Cupcake. That night while trying to fall asleep, Jade thought about how her life used to be, before she moved here. She loved Cat like a sister, but she missed her "real sister" Jenna. Life was good here, but was even better and much simpler then. That was the night Jade decided to wear black. She had always thought the color was depressing, but now it fit her perfectly. Sad and depressed is how she felt inside now. She was depressed inside. She was happy with the Thompsons and, before, she was happy with her mom, but now she had to live with her father. The one who left. The one who abandoned her. The one she decided she never wanted to see on the day of the accident.

Jade threw out all her clothes and used money she had saved to buy a whole new wardrobe in black and the occasional purple and red. When Jade was twelve she got her first tattoo. It was right after she said Jade couldn't. Jade never like this lady so she didn't care what she thought of her. In fifth grade cat dyed her hair red. She just got the idea and her mom thought it would be nice for her to stand out a little, have just brown hair and brown eyes. Beck and Jade start dating in eighth grade. Beck asked Jade to the school dance and she said "yes". Cat, Beck, Jade, Robbie, and Andre all got accepted to Hollywood Arts for freshman year. They all had Acting Class together with Mr. Sikowitz. He was strange but they were too. In the middle of junior year Tori Vega came to Hollywood Arts. She was discovered at the school's big Showcase. Tori instantly had a thing for Beck. Because of this Jade instantly hated her. She was no longer the nice shy little girl she was eleven years ago. She was now the ice cold hearted queen bee of the school. Tori became the final real member of the group. (You could also include Tori's sister Trina and sometimes Sinjin another strange boy.) They completed each other. When they were sad, they could lean on one another for support. They were there for each other, even Tori and Jade helped each other sometimes. They had learned long ago to be excepting of each other. They were the six weird kids, the ones no one wanted to hang with.