Beck started to lean in, against every force of his will power. There was just something about this girl... she had everything he had ever wanted. A gorgeous face, true talent in whatever she tried, an amazing singing voice, and from what he could see, a personality different from all of the fakers that resided in Hollywood.

His mind was screaming that it was wrong, he had to think about Jessica, but his heart was forcing him to get closer.

That's when a door slammed downstairs.

Jade and Beck snapped out of their trance with a start. She looked towards the door, then back at Beck with her cheeks a vibrant red. He couldn't look her in the eye because he was just that embarrassed.

How could he have even tried to kiss her?

Beck scolded himself. He could have just ruined everything. Their friendship, their partnership in the play, and she could have probably kicked him very hard in the groin, if given the chance. Sadly, he would have gone through with the kiss if the door hadn't slammed. He might have even gone through with it if the door did slam, only if he was one hundred percent sure she had some sort of feeling for him, but he didn't know.

What he did know, there was something about Jade that had him drawn to her. He couldn't stop thinking about her ever since they ran into each other the first day of school, now he got an excuse to hang out with her even more. It had only been a week, and he was already addicted to her. That never happened to the mighty Beck Oliver. Never.

"Jade?" someone called from downstairs. Jade rolled her eyes, walking towards the door to her room. Her heart was beating three times the normal speed. She could feel the adrenaline coursing through her veins from almost kissing a guy she "didn't" have a thing for, and the slam that startled them out of their moment.

"Thanks for the heart attack, mom," she yelled down into the rest of the house. She turned back to Beck and raised a finger, telling him to hold on one second, then raised it to her lips, motioning for him to be quiet. After he gave her a nod back, Jade walked into the hallway.

She went down into the kitchen, following the sound of her mother's hands slamming cabinets and drawers, obviously putting things away. Jade leaned against the door frame, "You bellowed?"

"Yes. I've got to help your father at the restaurant tonight, so you're on your own. I'm just glad to see that you're up before the sun decides to go down again," her mother chucked a Pepsi at her. Luckily, Jade's reaction time was up to par, it landed in her hand and some condensation flew up to her face. She wiped it off of her face and smiled.

"Thanks Mom. I'll end up ordering a pizza and trying to remember all of my lines," she said with a sigh. That wasn't a lie at all. She just didn't add the fact she had a boy in her room. Out of both of her parents, her mother would be the one that didn't really mind that she was home alone with a boy. She was close to her mom, and he mom still trusted her... despite her past in Calabasas.

Believe it or not, Jade was a good kid, with some bad decisions. Her mother had been to the local police station one too many times. Out past curfew, drug possession, breaking and entering, and a few other times, most of which her father didn't know about. She would always go to her mother if she needed anything. Maybe it was just because her mother was more understanding than her father, and definitely less intimidating.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay? Can I trust you?" this was her mother's way of asking her if she was going to be partaking in any illegal activities in their house. Jade was caught smoking pot in the house, one time, and was scolded for a month about it by her father.

"Yes, Mother." she said with a roll of her eyes, "do you want to know the truth?"

"Always. Jaden Leigh, you always get me so worried when you start off a conversation like that," her mom said, putting one of her hands on the counter to brace herself.

"Even if I wanted to smoke pot in the house, I would have no one to get it form," she said, hopefully giving her mother some relief. The thing was, this was a lie. She had recently found a pretty decent source that was only a short distance away from her. The guy could even do house calls if you caught him at the right time.

"Well, if you find someone with some, keep it out of the house. You'll give your father a heart attack."

"You almost gave me a heart attack..." she mumbled.

Her mother didn't hear her because her phone was going off. She searched through her overstuffed, oversized purse and eventually found it after it stopped ringing.

"Fuck..." she cursed under her breath, "another person just flaked on him. Your dad's going to have to do some firing tonight. I'll see you later, kiddo."

"Bye, Mommy," Jade said. She went to the Take-Out cabinet and pulled out a couple different pizza places, grabbed another Pepsi, and headed back up the stairs. She found Beck sitting on her bed, petting Molly's tummy. She smiled and leaned against the door, "having fun?"

The dog jumped up and off the bed, exiting the room.

"I was until you made her leave. Stop being intimidating," he joked. She walked over to her bed and sat down next to Beck, criss cross style, pushing her shoulder into him.

"Anyway, what should we do first, lines or songs?"

Beck started laughing, "did you think we were actually going to be rehearsing?"

"I thought that was the point...?" Jade said, honestly confused. What else would he be doing at her house?

"Really? Hm... I thought you were smarter than that," Beck teased.

"Then what would your intentions be?" she flirted back, giving him a playful smirk.

"To get to know the wonderful, and infamous, Jade West," he said.

She squinted at him, "infamous...?"

"You're the first person to ever beat Jessica in getting a role. Everyone's already talking about you. Believe it or not, you kind of just destroyed her reputation," Beck said with a shrug like it wasn't a big thing. If he was thinking the same way Jade was, he knew that Jessica was over dramatic when it came to this. She wasn't going to land every part she tried out for. Jade was just there to put the girl in her place.

"I'm sorry that I'm talented," she said with her ego showing it's full colors.

"And modest," he said with a laugh.

She laughed along with him, pushing the take out menus into his hands, "pick one. I'm starving."

"On one condition," Jade raised an eyebrow at him, "since I want to get to know you better, we can play the question game. Which is basically asking questions back and forth until we get bored. Anything goes, and you have to answer truthfully and you can't ask the same question back because then it's unoriginal and boring."

She thought about everything she wanted to forget about her old life; her friends, her troubles, her memories that hurt too much to think about, but for some reason, she decided to still play the game, "I think we could do that..."

"So what's the worst thing you've ever been caught doing?" Beck asked her as he grabbed another slice of pizza out of the lukewarm box that sat in the middle of her bed.

"I've taken part in grand theft auto, with my old best friends," Jade said, smiling to herself. Regardless of the repercussions, that was an amazing night, "we got high on some really weird weed, called Mr. Nice Guy. It was our first time smoking it, and it doesn't exactly give you the high you're supposed to be used to. We ended up crashing the car and getting busted in the process, causing me to spend the night in the local police station."

"Shit, West. You've got better stories that I'll ever have," Beck commented. He was loving this. Every question he could possibly have for the girl was coming out, and she didn't make him feel like a creep for asking them. He was getting so close to her, and he was letting her into parts of his life no one else had ever been, unless they had been there for the event.

"I don't know, that one about your mom and the ant farm was pretty good," Jade said, "That means it's my turn. Have you ever done any drugs?"

"I have not," he stated giving her a suspicious glare, "why?"

"Because we're playing a game about questions, in case you forgot," she said. That wasn't her intention at all. She wanted to know if Beck was even half as experienced as she was. They could be even better friends if she could get him into smoking, maybe even doing harder things with her.

"You're cheating, you know?" he said, looking at her square in the eye, "I have a gift for telling when people are lying, and you're full of shit. You want me to do drugs, don't you?"

"Maybe," she admitted, "I think it's a learning experience. If you don't do it now, when will you ever get to learn what the effects are? How would you have the knowledge for college?"

"I guess that's a good point...?" he figured. "but right now, it might not be the best thing for me. Jessica hates drugs..."

"How long have you even been with her?" Jade asked, reaching over Beck's body to get her drink off the nightstand. He was laying down, propped up on his elbow so he was facing her. The movie, Coraline, was playing in the background, making sure there was no awkward silence. It was already past eight o'clock, and they were still going.

"I believe it's my question, actually." Way to avoid the question, "in your old town, did you have a boyfriend?"

She didn't know what to say to that... In her mind, Justin wasn't her boyfriend, but if she tried to explain what they were, it would only sound like she just didn't like the title. It was too complicated to go into, and it really wasn't worth it, "Nope. Now answer my question."

"I've been with Jessica for a little over four months," he said. Jade was about to talk again, but his phone went off in his pocket. He pulled it out with a sigh, it seemed as though he already knew the ring tone, and he did, "Yes, Jessica?... No, I'm studying my lines... Yeah, but I can't just-... of course I do! What the fuck?... Fine, fine. I'll be there."

He hung up with an angry grunt, "I'm sorry, Jade. I've got to-"

"Your bitch beckons?" she said with an annoyed smirk. Her eyes rolled by themselves, making Beck have a little pang in his chest. The last thing the man wanted to do was go fix whatever life crisis Jessica was facing today.

"Something like that..." he started collecting his belongings. His keys, his jacket, his shoes and socks, and his unused script that was pushed off the bed and onto the floor at some point that night.

Jade was polite enough to walk him down to the front door, even though she couldn't help but be pissed that her time with him was being cut short. They were getting so comfortable with each other. Her mind was freaking out a little, worried that this would all be pushed to the back of his head by Monday morning when they saw each other. People changed too easily in Hollywood, and she wanted this to be the same always.

She yelled at herself. She shouldn't be getting this close to him already. She hardly even knew him. Of course she was already trusting in Andre, and now she assumed she would be able to trust Beck after a little more time getting to know him. The back of her heart was begging for him to text her after he left.

The door was right there, and he had to leave, "I'm really sorry about this, Jade."

"So I've heard. It's whatever. I had fun while it lasted," she said simply. Her guard was back up for now. His girlfriend was obviously more important than she was right now, and it didn't sit well with Jade.

"Hopefully this won't be the last time we do this," he hinted. "I really like hanging out with you."

"I guess the feeling's mutual," Jade said, failing to repress a smile.

He sent one back with just as much heart, "I'll see you Monday at rehearsal, if not before. I'm kind of hoping it'll be before, but just in case-..."

"You're rambling, Beck." She said.

"Yeah, I do that." He said with a sigh. Beck went up to her with his arms held out, awaiting a hug. She clasped her arms around his neck, and his fit smoothly around her waist, his hands not being too lose or too tight on the grip. The hug lingered there for a good thirty seconds, longer than a "friendly hug" they were both used to getting.

Jade pulled back slowly, remembering Jessica at another inopportune time, "You have to go."

"Right..." he said, turning on his heel, giving her one last look. Then he was gone. She locked the door before heading back up the stairs...

She closed her bedroom door behind her, leaning against it for a second, letting Molly pick her favorite part of the bed to lay on.

As soon as Jade got herself situated into her bed, her phone started vibrating on her nightstand. Two new text messages.

Beck: I can't wait for Monday.

Justin: Jade... I love you... Please, just tell me where you are... I need you...

For the first time all night... she felt guilty for spending time with Beck. Justin loved her, and needed her, and she knew it. Now she was giving up everything she had with him for a guy with a girlfriend. But... would Justin have understood? She was never going to see him again, or Lily. They couldn't keep holding onto futures that weren't going to end up the way they planned.

The college dorm room Lily had planned, with Justin and Jade being her only roommates. The future life Justin wanted to spend with Jade, making a family and living the way they always wanted to.

But it wasn't going to happen, and Jade couldn't keep forcing herself to live a fantasy. She took a frame off of her wall, holding a picture of the three, and shoved it under her mattress, hoping to sleep off her past with them. It was just that, the past. Not the future.

Sometimes, it amazed her how heartless she could really be.

AN: I really didn't know much to put in this chapter. I hope it wasn't too boring. The next chapter will be Monday at rehearsal, and I can't wait for it! There's going to be so much more drama from now on. I can't type fast enough, hahaha. I'll update as fast as I can, but I've got some last minute things to do and work to deal with. It should be up by or around the weekend.

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