(AN I'm so so so so so so so sorry this took forever! Between the hurricane and school and lacrosse practice, everything has been pretty hectic!)
"Lil' Red… What're you thinkin' 'bout?" André said, snapping me out of my daydream.
It had been a few weeks after that rumor had been spread, and it's only died down just a bit. People stll stopped and stared every time they saw me and André holding hands in the hallway or something. I couldn't understand what the big deal was… why couldn't people understand that nothing happened? Nothing happened. I mean… look at us! Why would we want to ruin our reputations by doing something stupid like that. Well, to b honest, I think I'm getting it worse than André is. All the guys are giving him "props" no matter how much André denies it. Mean while, I'm seating here with everyone pointing and whispering.
"Uh… nothing. Just thinking."
"About?"
I waited before I responded to him. If it told him what I was thinking about, then he would want to talk about it. Right now, this particular moment, I didn't really want to talk about anything. Not even unicorns.
"Stuff."
A little laugh escaped André's lips and another minute of silence. We sat in my living room, waiting for Jade to get home from her audition, today was the day the saw who got what parts. Me, Jade, André, and Beck were planning to go out to dinner after the audition. Hollywood Arts was doing a production of Pom-Pom Zombies. From what I could tell, it was about a girl somehow getting turned into a zombie. Jade was trying out for the lead, Cindy Sue. But the only problem was—
"I hate Vega!"
Jade had burst through the door, practically in flames. She threw her Gears of War bag towards the empty arm chair and missed, the bag hitting the ground with a thud. Jade let out a soft growl and marched up the stairs to where I guess she was going to her room. That was confirmed when a slamming noise vibrated through the air. I immediately forgot about my problem and started worrying about Jade.
"I'm thinking she didn't get the part…" André stated, looking towards the stairs.
I shook his arm off of my shoulder and stood up from the couch. I trudged up the steps ad walked to the bedroom that used to be my brothers. Now, it's occupied by an angry Jade West. I lightly knocked on the door, waiting for a response. I didn't get one after a few seconds, so I knocked again. Again. And again.
"Jade, come on. Please?
A clicking noise came from the other side of the door. The slab of wood in front of me swung inwards to reveal a Jade with an angry expression, arms crossed over her chest. I was getting a feeling from her body language that she wanted me to leave, but I wasn't about to do that now.
"Jade?"
A grunt emanated from Jade's throat. Her glare burned into my eyes so badly, I wanted to run away. This was just Jade when she's angry. Which is most of the time.
"Guess who got the lead in the play. Again." Jade said in the calmest tone she could conjure.
"I'm sorry Jade, I know how much you wanted that part. Did you get a part at all?"
She shook her head and turned around, walking back inside the door to her room. "I'm going to get ready. Be down in a few minutes."
***At the restaurant***
"Well that was good." Beck said and patted his stomach. "Don't you think Jadey."
"Don't call me that." Jade spat at her boy friend, obviously still upset.
Silence consumed the four of us as we sat at our table, waiting for our waitress to bring us the check. André and Beck were going to split the bill, both of them getting their wallets ready. As the boys left to pay, I reached over the table and put my hands over Jade's. She hesitated to look me in the eyes.
"Jade… There's going to be other plays that you will most definitely get the lead in. Trust me. Don't tell her I said this, but you are so much better than Tori is."
A small smile spread across Jade's face as I said the last part. I knew that that would pick her up just a little bit. I mean, it was the least I could do after all that I put her through. She didn't need to invite me into her apartment, but she did anyway.
"Thanks Cat." She whispered back to me.
Beck and André returned to the table after tracking down our waitress a few minutes afterwards. André reached his hand down towards me and Beck did the same with Jade.
"Are you two ready to go?"
We both nodded our heads and walked out of the restaurant with arms slung around our shoulders. All was well, until I heard a somewhat familiar voice ring from somewhere behind me. I recognized it; it was the girl in the hallway who called me a slut. Now she was trying to stir up some more trouble.
"Mom, look, that's the girl I was telling you about."
"That's Cat Valentine? Is she dating that black boy? That's… That's just plain wrong."
(AN Ugh… what did you think of this chapter?)