Every single one of Jade's friends were beyond shocked that NYU rejected her. She was so incredibly talented, and yet, her dream school just turned her away. Things were a bit more awkward at the lunch table. That's where they normally talked about how excited they were to go to college and really start their lives, but now they all felt they had to avoid that conversation around Jade. Beck tried to be the most cautious. He didn't want to make her upset, but he knew the topic had to be brought up, because they were supposed to start their new lives in New York right after graduation, but now he didn't know what to do. His options were either go to New York and chase his dreams without Jade, or follow her wherever she decided to go, even if it meant giving up everything he had worked for.
On Wednesday afternoon, Jade went over to Beck's RV after school. He had been bothering her to come over since she announced that she would not be attending NYU next fall. She figured he wanted to talk about what they're going to do now that she was rejected from her dream school, but she honestly wasn't ready to have that conversation. She only agreed to go to his RV because she knew he would never stop begging her otherwise.
Even though their future was definitely going to be the topic of the evening, she was not going to give him any straight answers. Jade didn't want to give Beck any false hope like she had already done before. She decided to go home first to make sure she had her own car, just in case she needed to make a quick escape from the dreadful conversation. When she pulled up to his RV, she got out slowly and walked up even slower, not wanting to talk about any of this.
"Hey babe!" Beck greeted as he opened the door.
"Hey." Jade said pushing her way past him and letting herself inside, trying to get the whole thing over with.
"So I think you know why I asked you to come over." Beck started.
"I really don't want to talk about the whole New York thing." Jade said already tired of the conversation.
"I know you don't. I had to practically beg you just to show up, but I think might I have a solution." Beck explained.
Jade had been slouching on Beck's bed, but immediately perked up when she heard him say he might have solved their problem. She nodded her head, signaling him to further explain himself.
"USC, remember?" Beck said excitedly.
Jade's eyes widened. She was so distracted by the anticipation of her letter from NYU that she had completely forgotten that she and Beck were both accepted to USC a couple of weeks earlier. Suddenly, their future didn't seem so terrible, and the conversation became less dreadful.
"Oh my god, that's right!" Jade said as she perked up even more.
Beck and Jade exchanged excited looks and seductive smiles before Jade stood up and walked towards her boyfriend, who had just made himself so much more attractive by figuring out a good solution, and kissed him with more passion than ever. They were ready to tell their friends the news the next day.
Once Jade had left his RV, Beck began getting ready for bed. He was happy Jade liked his idea so much. Once he was in a tank top and sweats, he got underneath the covers of his small bed and began to think about what was to come for him and Jade. The more he thought about what a great future they had ahead of them, the more excited he got. He finally felt like everything was in place, and all they really had to do was graduate.
The next morning, Beck and Jade arrived to school separately, but they met up at Jade's locker just like every other morning. Beck brought Jade a large cup of coffee just the way she liked it. Once Jade was all done getting her things out of her locker, they walked over to Tori's locker where everyone else was gathered around.
"Good morning!" Tori said, noticing how happy Beck and Jade looked as they walked up.
"Hey!" Beck greeted with a huge smile.
"You two look pretty happy." Andre pointed out.
"That's because we are." Jade explained.
"What about?" Robbie questioned.
"We basically figured out what we're going to do now that Jade, you know…" Beck said, trying not to upset Jade.
"Really?! What are you guys going to do?" Tori asked.
Neither Beck nor Jade had time to tell explain to their friends, because the bell rang, meaning they only had a few minutes to walk to their first class of the day.
"We'll tell you at lunch, we better get to class" Beck stated as he wrapped his hand around Jade's waist and started walking to Sikowitz's classroom.
When they walked in, they didn't see Sikowitz,—which wasn't unusual, since he was normally late to class—but they saw a man in a suit with a pile of large envelopes stacked behind him. When the second bell rang, signaling the beginning of class, the man wasted no time, and introduced himself.
"Good morning class! My name is Mr. Bates and I am here to talk to the seniors." The man began.
"You're teacher, Mr. Sikowitz, has an outdoor activity for the rest of you who are not seniors. He has asked me to instruct you to meet him in the Asphalt Café for your lesson today." Mr. Bates explained.
Once all the underclassmen left the room, Tori spoke up.
"So…Mr. Bates…why are you here?" Tori asked him.
"Well I'm here to give you guys the order form for your cap and gowns that you will be wearing on graduation day in May." Mr. Bates answered.
"And it's going to take you the entire class period to give them to us?" Jade interrupted.
"No, but, I have some more graduation-related things to tell you all." Mr. Bates continued.
"Like?" Jade asked raising an eyebrow.
"Why don't I pass out the order forms first? Then we can go from there." Mr. Bates suggested cautiously, trying not to get another sassy remark from Jade.
Once Mr. Bates passed out all the envelopes that had been placed behind him, each of the seniors opened them up to inspect the items inside. There was a catalogue to order key chains and other keepsakes from, and an order form for their cap and gowns.
"Alright, so go ahead and take these things home tonight, write down your measurements,—to make sure you get the right size gown—and take a look at the catalogue to order any of our graduation keepsakes." Mr. Bates instructed.
He continued to pass out more papers that instructed what clothes were appropriate to wear underneath the gown on graduation day, and what days graduation rehearsal was scheduled for. Suddenly, everything was starting to become more real for both Jade and Beck. They had a plan for college, and now graduation day seemed like it was right around the corner.
Mr. Bates finished explaining all the details the seniors needed to know to be fully prepared for graduation in just a few short months. When the bell rang, they all put their envelopes full of the papers they had collected throughout the class period in their backpacks, and headed out the door.
Once it was time for lunch, Cat didn't hesitate to ask about Beck and Jade's new plan for college.
"So what's your plan?" Cat spoke up once she and the rest of her friends were seated.
"So, we were so distracted by my letter and waiting for Jade's that we completely forgot that we were both accepted to USC." Beck explained.
"Oh wow! Congrats!" Tori burst with excitement.
"Yeah, that's great! I hear they have a really good performing arts program just like this school." Andre congratulated.
Both Beck and Jade couldn't help but beam with pride from all the praise they were getting. Just knowing they had a solid plan made them both extremely pleased with themselves. Neither of them could wait to live on their own and really experience life, but they still couldn't help but feel sad that their days at Hollywood Arts were numbered.
Author's Note: So I know you all are probably wondering why Jade didn't get in, but you won't find that out for a while, so just relax for now. Anyway, I really hope you liked it! Thank you for reading and please continue to review, it really means the world to me that you guys seem to be enjoying it so far!(: