The first time Jade spends the night at Cat's house she hates it immediately. She already hated most people and the bright color of the Valentine house wasn't helping things.
She hates Cat's mom just as immediately. She was the type of woman who was always smiling politely, who complimented you, and who was completely fake.
They go up to Cat's room quickly and Jade is not disappointed when she is suddenly surrounded by bright pink comforters, fuzzy pillows, and numerous stuffed animals. Cat jumps excitedly onto her bed and starts to talk to Jade about anything and everything that pops into her head. Minutes later, Cat jumps up from her bed and ruses to the front door. Her dad is home. She greets him enthusiastically and he all but ignores her as he calls up to her brother and mother. Her mother gives Cat a couple of bills and tells her that they are going out to get and that she can order a pizza. She doesn't ask Cat if she would like to join them. Cat seems used to it. Jade hates them even more after that.
(After they leave, Cat tries to act as excited as she was before, but Jade can see her mask slip)
The first time Jade hears Cat sing is later that night. The two girls are sitting in Cat's room listening to the radio to kill the silence of the otherwise empty house. Cat's CD collection was pretty much what you would expect; bubble-gum pop and Top 40s .She also had a nice collection of R&B, which gave her several points in Jade's book. Selecting a Christina Aguilera CD, Jade hits play. Eventually "Beautiful" begins to play. It starts softly, Cat's voice, like she's unaware that she is doing it. It gains power though, and to say that Jade was surprised that such a powerful, soulful voice could come from a girl so small and sweet would have been a gross understatement. In retrospect, though, Jade figured she should have expected it; Cat was always full of surprises.
At the song's end, Cat seemed genuinely surprised at Jade's small applause. It was at that moment that Jade decided that that Cat was applying to Hollywood Arts with her later in the year.