It had been two weeks since graduation, but more importantly, it had been two weeks since Jade found Beck kissing Tori, and then broke up with him. Two weeks since finishing high school should have meant she and Beck were packing up the last of their things and heading for Cancun, but now, Beck was packing for a completely different reason.
"Did you remember to pack an extra coat?" Mrs. Oliver asked, completely out of breath from running back and forth between her home and the RV her son had moved into to avoid her and her husband's rules.
"Mom, it's the first day of June. I think I'll be fine without a sixth coat." Beck laughed. His mother had always been overprotective of him, but now that he was leaving on a trip all alone for the first time, she was extra panicked.
After Beck showed up with just Tori at the post-graduation dinner, his mom and dad questioned him, and he told them that Jade broke up with him. He didn't tell them why, because he really didn't think it was any of their business, and they didn't seem to care why, because they didn't ask for a reason. The only thing his father cared about was the money wasted on a trip for two to Cancun, but when his mother suggested that she and her husband take the trip instead, he was content again. Beck's mind had been made up about college, but after he and Jade broke up, his parents managed to convince him to go to Juilliard. Even though it felt wrong, he called the day after the breakup to let the school know that he would indeed be attending the college in the fall, because it was the last day to do so. His mom and dad planned to leave for Cancun the same day he was leaving for New York just to get a feel of the overall atmosphere and get his room assignment and attend orientation. He already had the name of his roommate, so now they just had to meet. So everyone was packing now and everything was happening so fast, that he tried to call Jade to let her know what his new plan was, but just as she had done for the past two weeks, she ignored him.
…
"Jade? Jade, I know you're in there! PLEASE open the door!" Cat begged from Jade's hallway.
"Go away!" Jade grunted, throwing her pillow over her head to block out Cat's squeaky voice.
Jade hadn't talked to anyone in two weeks. She hadn't even really left her bed at all. Just like Beck, Cat had tried to call and text her a thousand times, but received no reply. So, she finally decided to show up at her house and hope she was let inside.
Jade knew that Cat wasn't going to leave until she answered the door, so she dragged herself out of bed and unlocked the door to allow her best friend to enter.
"I knew you were in here! Why don't you answer me when I call or text you?" Cat whined.
"Ugh, who let you in here?!" Jade groaned.
"Your mom. She likes me." Cat replied happily.
"My stupid mother needs to stop doing that!" Jade yelled loud enough for her mom to hear her in her study across the hall.
"Ew Jade, you're al sloppy looking." Cat pointed out, once she actually caught a glimpse of Jade. She was wearing sweats, and a black shirt, and her hair wasn't done, completely unlike she had ever looked before.
"Shut up. Just tell me why you're here." Jade demanded.
"I just came to make sure you're okay. I know about you and Beck breaking up. We all do." Cat answered sympathetically.
"Whatever, I don't even care that much." Jade lied.
"Well I think you do care." Cat admitted, being completely serious for a change.
…
Tori opened her front door after hearing a few soft knocks. Her parents were taking Trina to the airport, because quite frankly, they couldn't stand another day of having her in LA. Tori stayed behind, because she felt terrible about what she had done to Jade and couldn't stand to leave her house. She invited Andre over, because he had always been there when she needed it the most, and he was calm and rational, which made talking to him easy. After greeting him, she poured some hot cocoa for the two of them.
"Cocoa? This must be serious." Andre exhaled, taking the mug from Tori and sitting on the couch behind him.
"Yeah, it kind of is." Tori replied nervously, before taking a sip of the warm beverage in her hand.
"Alright, well, what's up?" Andre asked with caution.
"I'm….sort of the reason Beck and Jade broke up…" Tori admitted.
"What?! What do you mean you're the reason?! I thought they just called it quits because high school was over." Andre nearly choked on his cocoa. Everyone heard their own version of the way Jade and Beck broke up, because neither Beck, Jade, nor Tori ever told any them. They all mostly assumed and told each other their made-up reasoning.
"Jade kind of…saw me and Beck kissing before we left for dinner." Tori explained shortly.
"Why were you kissing Beck?! How could you do something like that to Jade?!" Andre exclaimed.
"It's a long story that I really don't want to talk about right now because I feel really bad and I don't know what to do." Tori replied all in one breath.
…
"Beck, are you ready?" Mrs. Oliver called from the outside of Beck's door.
Back at the Oliver home, Beck's parents were rolling out the last of their suitcases to the taxi, and waiting for their son to do the same. Beck was inside his RV attempting to call Jade one more time before he had to leave for the airport. When she didn't answer—just as he expected—he slid his phone into his pocket, packed one last item, and then zipped up his suitcase, and proceeded to roll it out into the trunk with his parent's things.
"Did you remember to lock your front door, Beck? Did we lock our front door?" Mrs. Oliver panicked.
"Calm down. We're on vacation, you should be relaxing." Mr. Oliver laughed as he patted his wife's thigh inside the back seat of the cab.
"We're not on vacation yet, so I can freak out all I want. Beck, honey, did you pack enough socks?" Mrs. Oliver continued.
"Yes, mom." Beck laughed.
…
Once they arrived at the airport, Beck and his parents began the long process of checking in and actually getting to where they would board their planes.
"Make sure you turn your phone off now so you don't forget to once you're on the plane." Mrs. Oliver instructed.
Beck obeyed his mother to put her nerves at ease and continued to check in his luggage.
…
"I didn't know that's why you broke up with him. Tori did the same thing to me and Daniel. I can't believe she would do that to you too." Cat shook her head.
"Yeah, but he shouldn't have done it back. I made sure to tell him that I never want to see him again." Jade pointed out.
"Never ever?" Cat's eyes widened.
"Never ever." Jade confirmed.
"But you love Beck. I know you do. How can you just never ever want see him again?" Cat cried.
"Cat, I cannot just take him back after what he did to me. Do you realize how pathetic that would make me seem?" Jade argued.
"I didn't say you have to take him back. But do you really want the last thing you said to him to be so mean? Don't you want a little closure?" Cat suggested.
Jade had no idea Cat actually had the ability to say some pretty smart things. She was even being helpful now. Cat got her to thinking, and the more she thought about it, the more she realized that she didn't know how she would forgive herself if the last words she said to the only person she ever truly loved and cared about, were the ones she had said just a couple of weeks ago.
"Cat…I can't believe I'm saying this, but you actually are making sense." Jade laughed.
"I'm sorry…?" Cat apologized.
"No, Cat. You just made me realize that I have to see him one more time. I do need closure." Jade admitted.
"So go to Beck's house and get some!" Cat squealed.
"Okay, let's g—" Jade started to stand up.
"Oh wait, isn't he going to New York today?" Cat interrupted.
"Ugh. Well, there goes that. Whatever. I didn't really want to see him anyway." Jade murmured.
"We can still go! What time is it?" Cat yelled.
"3:40, why?" Jade looked confused.
"His flight doesn't leave until 4:30. We have time!" Cat jumped up from Jade's bed where she was sitting and began heading out the door.
"How do you know that?" Jade furrowed her eyebrows.
"Beck told Robbie and Robbie told me, now let's go!" Cat replied.
"Fine, but I'm driving. You go too slow for my liking and we'll never make it on time if you do it." Jade pointed out. Cat was a relatively new driver and she was very cautious when it came to operating a vehicle. However, Jade had been driving for a while and she was more aggressive which would come in handy during the typical Los Angeles traffic they would surely have to face.
"Don't you have to tell your mom where you're going or leave a note?" Cat reminded Jade.
"We don't have time for that. Besides, I won't be gone for long. What I have to say to him shouldn't take too much time." Jade replied as she threw on some new clothes and rushed to put her hair into a ponytail.
…
"C'mon. It's the least you can do." Andre tried to convince Tori.
"She's going to kill me before I even get to start talking." Tori whined.
"You have to apologize. I can't believe you didn't do that when she caught you. That's just cold and completely unlike you." Andre looked directly into her eyes to make sure she knew how serious he was being.
"Fine. But will you come with me? I don't want to be alone with her." Tori begged.
"Yeah, let's go." Andre stood up from the couch.
"I'll drive!" Tori announced excitedly. She had just gotten her license a week ago and she already loved all the freedom that came along with it, no matter how long it took her to pass the test.
…
"Flight number 4-3-2 to Cancun is now boarding." A voice announced over the loudspeaker.
"That's us! You ready, honey?" Mr. Oliver grabbed his wife's shoulder just like Beck used to do with Jade.
"Yes. Beck, we'll miss you. Don't forget to call." Mrs. Oliver instructed as she pulled her son in for a tight hug.
"See you soon, son. Have a great trip." Mr. Oliver said his goodbyes very quickly, since he wasn't a man of many emotions. It was clear where Beck had picked up that trait.
"I love you, sweetie!" Mrs. Oliver began to tear up as she and her husband boarded their plane and waved goodbye to their son.
Beck waved back, and once he couldn't see them anymore, he found a seat he could wait in until his flight was being boarded. He sat down with the cup of coffee he had bought earlier and his carry-on bag, and then began to read a magazine that was laid out on the small table beside him, and just waited.
…
"Jade? Maybe you should slow down." Cat whined.
"Cat, we will never make it in time if we're going the speed limit. Besides, it's a freeway; you're supposed to go fast on these things." Jade defended as she swerved to the commuter lane where they would get to the airport a lot quicker.
This particular freeway had no cement dividers to split up the separate directions of traffic, making it more dangerous to get from place to place, especially with all the crazy LA drivers. However, as fast as she was going, Jade considered herself a pretty safe driver.
…
"Why don't you get into the commuter lane so we can go around this traffic?" Andre suggested.
"Can we do that?" Tori asked. She was still a very new driver and was cautious for the majority of the time she was operating her car.
"Yeah, all you need is more than one person in the car, and I see two people in this car." Andre laughed.
Tori followed her friend's instructions, and merged into the far left lane of the freeway to proceed to Jade's house. But just as she made it into the lane, her phone slid off of her lap and between her food and the gas pedal she was pushing on to keep the speed limit up. She panicked and quickly looked underneath her foot, and saw that her phone was about to get stuck under the brake pedal. She took one hand off of the steering wheel and reached underneath herself to feel around for her phone, when Andre noticed her searching for something.
"What are you doing? Keep your eyes on the road! This is a freeway. Are you trying to kill us?" Andre panicked.
"No. I just…my phone is stuck under my gas pedal." Tori explained in broken sentences because she was struggling to find what she was looking for.
…
"So what are you going to sa—are you crying?" Cat noticed Jade's eyes were welling up with tears. The more she thought about actually seeing Beck again overwhelmed her. She started to have a feeling that she should turn back, but she was so conflicted, that she started to tear up.
"Shut up!" Jade demanded as she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.
"Aw, Jade. It's okay. You can cry if you want to. Sometimes I cry for no reason and I feel so much better afterwards." Cat tried to convince her best friend to let her emotions flow (literally).
"I am not crying. Just shut up and don't tell anyone about this!" Jade turned toward Cat to slap her shoulder, when Cat screamed.
"JADE WATCH OUT!" Cat's voice broke just as Jade swerved and two headlights headed towards them from the other side of the freeway.
And then, it happened; crash.
…
"So, what takes you to New York?" Beck turned towards the boy sitting in the seat beside him. They had been flying for a few hours, and he figured he should start getting acquainted with him because they had a long flight ahead of them.
"Oh I have to go to my college orientation and meet my roomie." The boy looked up from the Sky Store magazine he was flipping though.
"No way, me too! Hey wait. Do we know each other?" Beck furrowed his eyebrows.
"You look kind of familiar. What's your name?" The boy asked, staring at Beck's face.
"Beck. Beck Oliver." Beck stuck his hand out to shake his neighbor's.
"Beck Oliver? That's my roommate's name!" The boy announced excitedly.
"Are you serious? What's your name? Beck asked, completely intrigued.
"Cameron Wilcox." The boy introduced himself.
"Cameron, we're roommates! Oh my god, I know where I know from…" Beck began.
"You do?" Cameron looked confused.
"Yeah, the auditions in LA. You went before I did and you wished me good luck!" Beck recalled.
"Oh yeah! I knew you looked familiar! I can't believe we get to be roommates! How was your last semester of high school?" Cameron was really friendly, and seemed like an overall nice guy. Beck was pretty excited to be rooming with him.
They continued to talk the rest of the flight, and before they knew it, they landed in New York. Both of them went to baggage claim together and even split cab fare to Juilliard to get ready for orientation in the morning.
…
The next morning, Beck woke up to see that he had 32 missed calls and 18 text messages, each text being more panicked and frantic than the last. He listened to the six voicemails that had been left on his phone, hoping that one might be from Jade, except they weren't. He couldn't make out exactly what anyone was saying, because they had such chaos in the background of their calls, so he called everyone, but no one answered. Finally, he got a hold of Robbie.
"Hello, Beck!?" Robbie asked abruptly.
"Yeah, Robbie, what's going on?" Beck wondered anxiously.
"Beck, man, you got to get down here fast!" Robbie yelled.
"Where? Why? What's happening?" Beck had never been so confused in his life, and he didn't like the tone of Robbie's voice at all which made him freak out even more.
"Beck, there's been an accident." Robbie's voice started shaking.
"Wh—what do you mean 'an accident'?" Beck stuttered.
"Cat, Andre, Tori, and…and Jade. They hit each other head-on yesterday. Beck, Jade's really hurt." Robbie's voice was solemn, which terrified Beck.
"I'm on my way." Beck replied just before hanging up the phone and putting his shoes on and grabbing his wallet just as Cameron was waking up. It was 6:00 am in New York, which meant it was only 3:00 am in LA, so the accident had to be serious if everyone was trying to contact him so early in the morning.
"Where are you going?" Cameron rubbed his eyes.
"LA. See you around, man." Beck replied as he packed the picture of Jade he had taken with him at the last minute, back into his suitcase and walking out of the room.
"LA?! But we have orientation today!" Cameron argued.
"Look, there's an emergency back at home, and I have to get there now." Beck explained as the door shut behind him.
…
It was now 9:00 am in LA and everyone was still at the hospital. Tori was with her parents in the waiting room since she had been released earlier. She was left basically unharmed except for a few scratches, bruises, and a sprained wrist. Andre had a broken ankle and a few bruises as well, but he was also released into the custody of his grandmother. Cat was banged up pretty badly, but nothing that was a huge concern for doctors. They said she would be fine to go home in just a matter of days. Her Nonna sat by her bedside, along with Robbie who had been called as soon as the accident happened, while her parents flew back as quickly as possible. Jade was the worst off. The way Tori's car had hit her was so intense, that it fractured part of her skull and knocked her out completely. When the paramedics arrived on the scene, she was unresponsive and was immediately taken to the hospital. Unfortunately, her brain was so swollen from the crash, that doctors had no choice but to wait for the swelling to go down to perform any kind of surgery. Since her phone was crushed inside her pocket, it took a while to find any emergency contact for Jade, but the hospital finally notified her mother, who—surprisingly—seemed really concerned. She even called Jade's father to let him know what had happened.
"I don't know." Her mom began.
"Because of her injuries."
"Just get down here."
"I didn't know where she went!"
"Because she didn't leave a note!" Her mother broke into tears. Everyone in the waiting room stared at her with compassionate eyes.
Just as Jade's mom hung up the phone and started to walk outside for some fresh air, the doors burst open and Beck ran through them.
"Beck!" Tori exclaimed.
"Where's Jade?" Beck asked frantically.
"Through there." Andre pointed to the hallway in front of them.
Beck looked in every door as he ran down the hall and called for Jade in each one. He noticed a little red head he recognized sitting in one of the rooms and assumed Jade would be in there with her.
"Cat, are you alright?!" Beck panted heavily.
"I'm fine. Go see Jade!" Cat demanded.
Beck ran to the next room and saw the love of his life laying in a bed with a million monitors hooked up to her and bandages all over her bruised body.
"Jade." Beck exhaled.
"Jade. Please wake up. Tell me you're okay. Please." Beck started to cry.
"This can't be happening. This cannot be happening. Not to you. Jade. I'm so sorry about what happened. Please open your eyes. I love you." Beck begged through his sobs as he grabbed her cold hand and kissed it lightly.
"….Beck?" A soft voice called, causing Beck to lift his head.
"Jade?! Oh my god, JADE!" Beck called out excitedly.
"I love you too." Jade whispered just before closing her eyes again.
Beck released her hand and ran out into the hallway to call for a doctor. When he finally got attention from one of them, he explained what happened and walked back into the room with the doctor, when suddenly all the machines started going off at once and everything became hectic. Beck was pushed out of the room and asked to wait in the lobby. As he walked hastily back to his friends, more nurses and doctors sprinted past him and into Jade's room.
…
Fifteen minutes had passed and not a single doctor or nurse had come out to explain anything to anyone. Beck had gone outside to tell Jade's mom what happened, but she was just pushed away when she tried to enter the room. Finally, a doctor walked into the waiting room.
"I'm looking for the parents of Jade West." The doctor announced, causing Jade's mother to stand up and walk to him. The doctor led her back down the hall and into Jade's room, where she remained for an hour and a half.
…
When she finally approached the area her daughter's friends were sitting in, she looked up at them.
"I know she might have been mean to some of you, but everyone here loves Jade, right?" Jade's mother began. Everyone nodded in agreement and waited anxiously for her to continue.
"Jade's….she didn't make it." Her mother completely broke down to the point where she could no longer hold herself up. Her legs weakened and she collapsed to the floor in tears and sobbed heavily.
Every single person in the lobby felt their hearts sink and some even felt sick. Beck cried harder than anyone. It almost seemed as if he and Jade's mom were competing to see who could cry the loudest and hardest. How was he expected to go on? What did he have to live for anymore? All he ever did was love Jade and he didn't want to do anything else, and suddenly, she had been ripped away from him. It was a grim day in general, and no eyes were dry for the remainder of that day. As everyone was left to process it, no one remembered that Cat wasn't there when Jade's mom told them about her death. Who would tell her that her best friend in the entire world was no longer living? Cat cried whenever she thought of how cute puppies are, but now someone had to tell her that the one person she could trust with everything was gone.
Author's Note: PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! I've had this chapter in mind since before I started writing this story, so believe me, I absolutely cried while I typed this. I love you guys, but we all knew it was categorized under 'drama', so something had to happen. How did you guys like it? I hope it wasn't suckish. Also, how many of you remembered Cameron? I told you everything happened for a reason! Make my day and review?(: