Enjoy the ending. :)

...

That had all happened a few weeks ago - a few very looooooooong weeks according to Jade. It was not easy having to share not only the showcase but now her school, classes, and even loosely-defined "friend group". This was probably contributing to her current bad mood as she stalked through the hallways after lunch.

"Jade! Jade! Jade!"

The yelled-at girl decided to deign the one calling with a glare. When she realized it was Cat, her facial expression softened a little. She would plot revenge on anyone who ever suggested it aloud (except Beck, who got special privileges sometimes in pointing out truths about her), but Jade was rather fond of the artificial redhead. So fond that she actually decided to stop when she realized that Cat was handcuffed to a handrail.

What did she do this time?! she thought in a mixture of frustration and amusement.

"Cat, playing with handcuffs is probably not a good idea for you," she scolded as went over to the girl who was now bouncing a little in excitement over being noticed.

"I didn't!" Cat protested a little as Jade gave her a stern look, trying her best to scare Cat off of ever playing with them again. An airhead getting stuck without a way to escape was not going to create very safe situations, and Jade did not want that to ever be the case.

"Then how did you get stuck here?" Jade asked slowly, trying to get Cat to focus as already she seemed to be distracted by a group of laughing students coming in the entrance.

"I ..." Cat hesitated, trying to refocus and remember. When Jade was about to impatiently demand an answer once again, Cat finally piped up, "Tori caught me here and then she gave me candy that wasn't candy and then I couldn't get out because she didn't give me the key!"

Jade bristled a little at the mention of Tori being connected somehow to Cat's current trapped situation, but for Cat's sake she tried to understand what happened a little better as she dug through her purse for her pocket knife which had some useful features that might allow her to hijack the lock on the handcuffs as they talked.

"What did she feed you again?"

"Something spicy! And then she didn't give me water! Well, she did, but not at first!" This was clearly upsetting upon being remembered, and Jade agreed that it sounded mean, although she had done something similar to Andre the previous semester.

"What did she want?" Jade asked, flipping out a thin blade and dropping her bag to the ground to pour all her attention into the task at hand. "Don't move an inch or I'll chop off your hand," she warned. In reality, that blade would be hardly able to cut a strand of hair, but she did not want to risk Cat getting bouncy and getting poked. Then she would start crying and Jade did not do well at comforting criers, even Cat.

"I'll hold still, but what if I sneeze?" Cat asked, peering down very concerned.

"Sneezing is now illegal," Jade snapped, busy with the contraption.

"Would it make me go to jail?"

"Yes."

"Kay kay," Cat said, looking worried. Jade held back her amusement at how literally Cat was taking her. She would tell her later that sneezing was legal, but for the moment it might keep Cat from jerking around and that would be helpful.

"What did Tori want?" Jade asked again.

"She wanted to know more about the bird scene, but I did what you told me and I didn't say anything because that would also make me go to jail like sneezing," Cat replied. "Are you almost done getting me out?"

"Almost," Jade muttered. She gave Cat an approving look. "And good for you for not telling. I can't get how that is such a tough assignment for everyone though."

"You were just super good at it," Cat complimented adoringly.

"Well, there's not much to it!" Jade protested. "It's seriously just reciting a monologue, and at the end I told Sikowitz that I had done the best that was possible with such dumb writing, and that if he wanted to see what I could really do then he should let me perform one of my own pieces the next day."

"You're very confident," Cat commented.

"Of course. And now you're free. Next time don't let anyone get a handcuff on you or I will leave you attached to it for a week," Jade threatened baselessly. She would never be able to refuse to help Cat.

"I won't," Cat promised.

"Good. And I'll tell Tori off the next time I see her."

"You don't need to do that..." Cat looked up from rubbing wrist and stopped protesting. Jade was already gone.

...

"Hey, Ja..."

"Never place a handcuff on Cat again if you want your face to remain looking that," Jade said flatly. Tori looked a little surprised, then panicked.

"I forgot! I'm so sorry. I'll go..."

"She's free now, thanks to me," Jade stopped her. "But don't ever do it again. Ever." Despite her annoyance, her voice carried genuine concern. Tori seemed to catch on the seriousness and nodded.

"I won't."

"Good."

"There's better ways to get Cat to sit still."

"Okay. Hey, Jade, can you tell me anything about the bird ..."

"No." Jade paused then and turned back with an overly sweet smile. "But I can say that I got it perfectly on my first try. Because I only need one shot to be successful."

She turned and stalked away, still having a bit of self-control to not add in what she wanted to say: You stole my shot at the showcase, and I haven't forgotten about that. You'd better be ready, because I have plenty of shots that I can easily take at you.

...

Thanks for reading! I appreciate it, especially as this is a newer fandom for me to be writing in. :)