Beck knew something was wrong when Jade burst in on him in the music room. Every student at Hollywood Arts needed to play an instrument, so he'd chosen one of the smaller ones. Beck played the recorder (A small flute like instrument). Today he was playing it for some petite blond with a nice figure. Jade couldn't believe how so many girls fell for that. 'Everyone here play's an instrument, so why is everyone so fudging impressed when Beck does it?' Glancing at the girl. 'She looks totally smitten, and he's not that good.' Jade grumbled in her thoughts.
The girl, who Jade didn't care to know the name of, ran as soon as she entered the room. The look of absolute terror almost breaking through Jade's frustration, but the goth had other things to do. Cutting off any rout of escape from the music room, the actress quickly asked the Canadian the question burning in her mind. "Did you talk to Cat?"
"Probably. I usually do. Today alone, I've said hello, and even asked her how she was doing. I'm guessing this isn't about normal conversation stuff, is it? So whats got you wazzed off this time?" Beck could be brave talking with Jade. He knew how much she hated violence without reason. As long as he never pushed her past that edge, never gave her a reason, he could be fairly flippant and get away with it.
"Someone told her about Mandy." Jade huffed.
"So? It's not like she has a clue who that is." Beck said, Inside, he was getting nervous. Jade had a lot of secrets, and someone was letting Cat, the person he knew who was the easiest to manipulate, know about one of Jade's bigger ones. Still, intimidating as Jade was, he almost laughed at the absurdity of her situation.
"Her roommate, Sam, is a fan of MMA. I think she suspects." Jade sighed.
"Sam from ICarly, right?" Beck asked. Sam had a nice body, so Beck considered paying the redhead a visit. He usually did well with scheming, possibly unstable women anyways. Sam might make a nice change from the damsels he'd been charming as of late.
"Worse, my brother trained a friend of theirs. It won't be hard to put two and two together." Jade looked worried. Beck thought for a second. Cat might not make the connection, but Sam would.
"And what? Jade West might be feared at Hollywood Arts? I'm not sure there are many here who'd make fun of you for tapping out." Beck said, then softer "Not if they wanted to live."
"That's not the point." She said, then turned to face the wall. "I only fought because we needed the money. I never wanted people to know just how poor we are." Jade fumed.
"Not anymore. You've got a great house, and thanks to the down payment you made, the 'rent' is less than where you lived before. I'm guessing it worked." Beck knew calming Jade down was the best thing to do. People might be safe, hopefully, but she could still do a lot of damage to property.
""I think it was Trina." Jade said, looking at the clock. "I'll bet she was trying to confirm what Mike told her."
"And you care why?" Beck said again. "Look, if Trina told Cat, it wasn't to deliberately expose you. I'd want to know if my training partner was capable of nearly killing a three hundred pound man. You're dangerous. Trina has the right to know. But babe, it's not going to get all over the school. Cat will forget withing a couple of days, and no one else needs to know. You know Cat, she won't tell unless she's asked." He looked Jade in the eye. "And if she was going to tell, it'd already be all over the school."
Jaded didn't answer. She'd come here to vent, to be angry, and once again Beck didn't even let her have that. Now she felt calm, collected. Worse, she knew he was right. 'Besides, it's not like my secret will last long once I start teaching at the community center.' Jade let it go, and Beck thanked God she could.
Later, during lunch, Trina approached Jade. Seeing she was with her friends, Trina decided to play it cool. "Jade, I just wanted to talk to you about a one woman play I'm thinking of doing."
Everyone was staring. "What? Jade's one of the best directors at school, and I couldn't considerate if I got Beck to help me. So Jade, can I have a word?" Trina was insulted. It was so obvious that she should only consult the best.
"Don't?" Jade said back. She doubted anyone would understand the subtlety of her cut, but still it tickled her. She then, with a sigh, got up and followed Trina to a slightly more isolated location away from the table. "Whats up, and I'm hoping it's not another one woman play."
"Naa. That still needs to be edited. This is about tonight. I just wanted to tell you that my body hurts, and no, it's not the good pain. My god, how is there a good pain? Point it, you pushed me too hard last night." Trina said.
"You can take it." Jade replied. She really didn't see that as a problem. Jade knew how to fight, but like a lot of guys, she believed that you work through a little inconvenience.
"Working too hard doesn't give the benefits people used to think they did. I read that in my fitness magazines." Trina said. "More important, the boys tonight may look like there in great shape, but they don't have the conditioning we do. You could hurt them, or drive them away. We're dealing with the male ego here. No guy wants to look weak. Watch Stan, learn from him and tone it down, okay? We want, no need survivors to keep the program going."
Jade rolled her eyes, but nodded that she understood. As she returned to the table, she continued Trina's cover. "Horrible idea for a play, but I told her the biggest problem was her choice in lead actress."
"That's mean. True, but mean." Tori said. She was inwardly struggling with what Trina told her, but that didn't change who she was.
Cat just giggled. Robbie was looking at Cat longingly, while Andre and beck were talking about girls. No one seemed to care about the drama that was unfolding just below the surface between Trina and Jade.
Jade was safe for now, but her secrets were slowly coming out. It was a matter of pride that no one knew how poor her family was. While they were never on assistance, she wasn't able to afford what she wanted the way her classmates could. The fighting had helped far more than she'd ever admit. Just the change in address, buying out a distressed property, had lowered how much her family paid for rent, and she could afford so much more of what she needed to blend at school. Now she had to figure out how to erase Mandy from everybody's memory.
Jade's other problem was Adam. Being one of the best trainers in the business let him charge serious rates for evaluations and consultations with him. That money had helped him pay for college. Jade wanted to pay for her own education, to be like him. To do that, she needed money. Mandy had become an anchor, so she needed something else. Adam would pay for her, but she didn't want that from him. She wanted him to be proud of her, something she'd lost when she started fighting professionally.
Jade had work experience. As soon as she was old enough for a work permit, she'd taken shifts at a local diner as a waitress. Before that, she'd worked a paper rout. Jade always had one thing or another to bring in cash. While she saved what she could, she had her expenses. She liked nice cloths, and even using discount shops or factory direct pricing, she had to have the money for her fashion sense.
That brought the other part of her agreement with Wyatt. While she worked at the community center, to help offset any lost income, the Police Athletics League payed all instructors a stipend. When she heard that, she thought back to one of the more obscure quotes of David St. Hubbins, or maybe it was more of a paraphrasing, in the thought 'Stipend, it's like pay, only less.' However, it was money coming in, making Jade a professional Sensei. Once she'd established she herself as a trainer, she would be able to work for the family business part time and earn some cash to help her pay for college, or maybe get some new cloths. No matter what option she chose, it might help her grow closer to her family. Working as a waitress was only testing her patience before she tried to hurt on of the customers. They liked to touch her rump, and she was trying so hard no to hurt them.
'Adam, I'll make you proud, even if it kills me.' She thought, completely missing the reason he was wazzed at her.