After a quick weekend, Monday morning arrived. Beck decided to start the week off on the right foot, so he called Jade on Sunday night to tell her that he would pick her up for school in the morning. It had been a while since they last carpooled, so he figured it was time to get back into the habit of it. He always enjoyed spending time with Jade, but something about being the first to see her in the morning before anyone else at school, was one of his favorite things. One thing even better than picking her up for school, was waking up next to her. She had slept over many times before, but he couldn't wait until next year, when she wouldn't have to leave notes for her parents explaining where she was or make up excuses for why she's late. Next year, they would be free.
"Good morning!" Beck greeted warmly, adding a peck on her cheek once she slid in the car.
"Yeah. Whatever. Where's my coffee?" Jade mumbled. She wasn't much of a morning person, but once she had her coffee, she could tolerate it.
"Oh, it's right here." Beck replied, reaching into the cup holder where he had her coffee waiting for her.
Jade grabbed the large cardboard cup out of Beck's hand just before he began to pull out of her driveway. Although she would never show her true appreciation for it, she was glad Beck had called her and offered to take her to school. She always hated driving during the day, so him picking her up made her happy. She couldn't stand to drive herself one more morning.
Once they arrived to school and pulled into an available parking spot, the couple grabbed their things and headed towards the main hall with their fingers perfectly interlocked. Jade's locker was closer to the door they walked in through, so she stopped there while Beck walked to his locker just across the hall. By the time Beck was done at his locker and made it back to Jade's, Robbie and Cat had joined her. Robbie's locker was right next to Jade's, so Beck assumed he probably got there and started talking to her—which Jade hated—and then Cat must have walked up, spotting her other friends. Usually, the group of friends met at both Jade's and Robbie's end of the hallway, or Tori's. It just really depended on who got to school first and where the others had gathered around.
"Hey guys." Beck greeted as he walked up to his girlfriend's locker, placing his arm around her shoulder.
"Hi!" Cat squeaked.
"Hey everyone!" Andre greeted as he approached from behind.
As the friends continued to chat about their weekend, there was something a little off about the morning. They couldn't quite put their finger on it, but there was definitely something different. When the bell rang, they continued to their classroom as a group and hoped that the day would become less weird as it went on.
"Good morning teenagers!" Sikowitz screamed as he entered the room.
The class mumbled their greetings to the odd teacher before he continued.
"Before class begins, Mr. Bates would like me to remind all the seniors that you should keep an eye on your calendars, because your first graduation rehearsal is in just a few weeks." Sikowitz announced.
The seniors cheered loudly and exchanged excited looks amongst each other. None of them could believe how quickly school seemed to be going by now that there were only five weeks left. Although the thought of leaving made them sad, the excitement they felt towards beginning their new lives, overpowered all of the sadness.
Just before the bell rang, Sikowitz spoke up once again.
"Is something missing?" Sikowitz pondered out loud.
The group of friends looked at each other, realizing that they weren't the only ones that had felt that something was just plain weird about the day. They shrugged off the odd feeling, and just grabbed their belongings before heading out of the room.
Their classes before lunch were mostly boring, and not related to performing arts whatsoever, so they were all pretty much a blur to the seniors. They had each other in a few of their classes, but they mostly reconnected during lunch and after school when they had time to talk.
"Hey." Jade greeted emotionless as she and Beck walked up to the table they always sat at with their friends.
Cat was already eating he lunch and scrolling through TheSlap on her phone when the couple walked up. As the rest of their usual group wandered in one by one, no one could get over the weird feeling they had been having all day. They continued to chew their lunches awkwardly, until Cat began to speak.
"Hey! Where's Tori?" Cat squealed in confusion.
"Oh my god, that's what's missing today." Andre sighed.
"I felt like something was missing today, but I just assumed I left a notebook at home and I would figure it out eventually." Beck announced.
"That's probably why I'm not as irritated today." Jade added.
"So where is she?" Robbie asked.
"I'll text her." Andre volunteered.
Everyone at the table instantly felt a huge relief that the mystery of the weird funk that had haunted them throughout the first part of the day, was solved. They started eating comfortably just as Andre's phone rang.
"Oh that's right!" Andre shouted when he read what was on his phone's screen.
"What?" The rest of the group all yelled simultaneously.
"She's taking a tour of AMDA's campus. She told me about it a couple of weeks ago, but I guess I forgot it was today." Andre explained.
Beck was a little bummed out that whatever Tori had to talk to him about would have to wait for when she returned tomorrow, or an even later time, but he shrugged it off when another thought ran through his mind.
"Wait, so Andre, you've never told us where you're going to college. And neither have you, Robbie." Beck pointed out.
"I thought I already told you guys where I'm going." Andre replied with great confusion.
"I know I told Cat, and I guess I just assumed she would tell the rest of you." Robbie explained shortly.
"Well she didn't. So both of you, just tell us!" Jade demanded, anticipating the news from her friends.
"Well I got into Berklee. It's a music school in Boston." Andre announced.
Everyone congratulated him and then proceeded to stare at Robbie, so he could make his announcement, too.
"I'm going to be in the theater program at San Diego State." Robbie smiled proudly.
Jade, Beck, and Cat were really excited for Andre and Robbie. So, they continued eating their food completely contently until it was time to return to their final classes and finish up their day.
After school, Beck and Jade were at their individual lockers, and Cat approached Jade. She began to talk about something so unimportant to Jade, that when Jade thought back on the conversation, she couldn't remember what it was about at all.
"I'll be in the car, babe." Beck announced just before pecking Jade on the lips and proceeding to the parking lot.
Jade stuffed the last necessary items into her schoolbag when Cat finally finished talking. The two best friends said their goodbyes for the day and Cat skipped off while Jade shoved the door open to get back to Beck. When she started to approach the car, she noticed Beck was standing outside of it with his phone to his ear. So, instead of screaming at him to start the car like she normally would have, she walked up quietly. No matter how coldhearted most people thought Jade was, she still had manners, so she didn't want to ruin his phone converstion. She didn't mean to, but as quietly as she walked up, she couldn't help but overhear Beck's conversation. He was faced toward his car, meaning his back was to her, so as long as she stayed silent, he would never notice she was behind him.
"This doesn't sound like a good idea." Beck began.
"No."
"Because I've already made up my mind."
"I love Jade. I could never do that to her. You know that."
"No I won't think about it."
"Listen, I'll tell you what. Why don't I come over later and we can talk about this then. Will you be alone?"
"Okay, then how about later in the week, when you're by yourself?"
"That works for me. I'll just make sure Jade doesn't want to come over that day."
"Alright, just make sure Jade doesn't find out about this. Got it? Fine. Bye." Beck spoke with small pauses, and it bothered Jade that she would never know what the other person on the phone was saying back to him.
"Let's go." Jade instructed as she approached the car, making her presence known to her boyfriend.
"Oh, hey. Yeah, let's get going." Beck almost jumped out of his skin from how startled he was. He hoped Jade didn't hear much of his conversation. He quickly ran to his side of the vehicle, and started it when Jade got in as well.
No matter how hard Jade tried to bite her tongue and not admit that she overheard Beck's conversation, her curiosity and jealousy got the best of her.
"Who were you talking to in the parking lot?" Jade finally questioned.
"Huh?" Beck replied in a nervous tone.
"I saw you talking in your phone. Who were you talking to?" Jade repeated herself, becoming increasingly annoyed and jealous.
"Oh that? It was my mom. She wants to talk about some stuff later on in the week." Beck stuttered even more nervously.
"What kind of 'stuff'' Beck?" Jade asked, accusingly.
"Some school stuff. It's nothing to freak out over, really. So just relax." Beck reassured, becoming more relaxed himself, and even flashing a small grin at Jade.
Jade folded her arms across her chest for the rest of the car ride. She didn't know if she should trust Beck or if she should stay as suspicious as she already was. She loved him, and she trusted him with her life, but sometimes, his ability to fake a smile or two, worried her.
Author's Note: I know some of you are starting to feel like this whole thing is coming to an end, but no worries, there are still a few more chapters left! We have to see our favorite group of friends graduate and start their new lives, right? I'm taking a poll, so let me know if you think Beck is a filthy liar, or if he should be trusted. Please review and have a splendid week(: