I'm posting early to explain something. There was some confusion in the last chapter, since I got two reviews saying how happy people were that Jade got the part. She didn't. Understudies get at least one full rehearsal run-through to make sure they know the part. It's a theater thing, and I guess I forget that people don't know that, and it wasn't well explained in the show. So. Because Tori was leaving for the weekend and couldn't make it to rehearsal on Friday, Sikowitz said that Jade - the understudy- could play the role for that rehearsal. This has nothing to do with the actual performance. Sorry for that confusion.

14. Cold.

Cat wasn't in school on Tuesday either, and Jade started to panic very quietly. She left school at lunch and didn't attend rehearsal — what did it matter, anyway? Why watch Tori screw up what Jade had memorized? Instead, Jade spent the afternoon harassing a barista at Jet Brew and thinking about how she would personalize the murder of each person she hated (even jotting down a few notes). It did little to cheer her up, since a little voice in the back of her mind was scolding her for skipping school and for antagonizing the teacher she used to adore.

Jade didn't look Sikowitz in the eye for the entire Improv class on Wednesday, and he ignored her just as fully. It was like the girl in the back row with the pale skin and black hair staring at the floor didn't exist. Jade had never not existed before, and it scared her how easy it was to disappear. Even sitting alone, an understudy in the dark theater during rehearsals didn't make her feel as invisible as being in this brightly-lit classroom.

At the end of the period, when the lunch bell rang, Sikowitz plopped down on the little stage at the far end of the room, hunched over. His legs were splayed out in a straddle, and he gripped an orange marker in his hand, the cap in his teeth. No other teacher, even in a school this unconventional, graded essays in Crayola.

"Sikowitz?" Jade asked as the rest of the students filed out. He looked up from the paper he was marking up.

"Jade, what can I do for you?" Again he wasn't smiling. Jade hardly recognized the man with the solemn eyes.

"I just… I need to…talk to you about something." Something about this serious Sikowitz put Jade on edge.

"Yes? Well, go ahead. Talk."

"I…I can't make it to rehearsal on Friday. Is there another day we could run the show with me as the lead?" She bit her lip apprehensively.

"No, there isn't," Sikowitz responded, not quite unkindly.

"Why can't we do it another day?" Jade's voice rose half an octave as she began to panic.

"It isn't fair to Tori if she loses a rehearsal because your schedule doesn't work."

"She won't care! Let me do it today, or tomorrow! I know my lines, I just need the chance to run the show."

"So does Tori."

Somehow that put on-edge Jade over the edge.

"God, Sikowitz! What is your problem? I've done nothing but cooperate with you, and you keep screwing me over!"

Sikowitz hugged his golf-pant-clad legs to his chest, looking up at his dark-haired student almost curiously.

"You never hated me before! And then you told everyone in court that I was a gank, and now you're not even trying to hide how biased you are toward Vega."

"Jade. You need to grow up and—"

"Seriously?" Jade shrieked. "Can't you see how screwed up my life is right now? Can't you cut me a little slack?!"

"Jade," Sikowitz tried again, standing. He put a hand on each of her shoulders — they felt heavy. "Let go of your childish need to be the best. You're almost eighteen, I am not going to coddle you or hold your hand anymore. In the real world, you're going to lose plenty of roles that you want and no one is going to pat you on the head and give you a cookie for trying your best."

"What's your point?" Jade crossed her arms.

"My point is that if you aren't at rehearsal this Friday, I'll have to recast you. It's the only day Tori can't make it, so it's the only day the understudy can rehearse."

"So you're going to make someone learn the entire script by Friday to teach me a lesson? No one else even auditioned!"

"Then I'll find someone who didn't audition and offer them extra credit," Sikowitz said with a shrug. "You should learn by now that, in theater, everyone is replaceable."

Making sure to keep her face from showing how betrayed she felt, Jade stalked out of the classroom, her arms tightening around her ribcage as if that could help protect her. She saw Beck leaning against the wall just outside the door, but didn't stop even to yell at him. She knew if she took her teeth off her lips the tears would fall freely from her stinging eyes.

"What just happened in there?" Beck was asking, walking beside her. Jade bit her lips harder, just shaking her head. "I've never heard Sikowitz talk like that to anyone."

Jade just sniffed, halting before she had to turn the corner out into the crowded hall.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked gently. He reached his hand up as if to touch her face, but pulled it back.

She shook her head, breaking eye contact.

"Do you want me to leave you alone?"

Jade nodded, blinking slowly.

"Okay." And he disappeared around the corner. She sucked in a breath desperately and let it out shakily, blinking her eyes over and over again to rid herself of the tears that still wanted to escape. Seconds later, though, Beck reappeared from around the corner.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I can't leave you like this. What happened?"

"Sikowitz hates me," Jade muttered. The way her voice was weak and watery made her cringe. "I don't know why."

"But… You've always been his favorite."

"Yeah," Jade scoffed. "Until I got usurped by Vega."

"It wasn't her fault," Beck said automatically. Jade's dead eyes welled up again as the familiar argument began. "I mean, it wasn't your fault either. It wasn't anyone's fault. Except maybe Sikowitz's, I can't really see the other side of that argument. Why did he say you were replaceable?"

"Because I can't go to rehearsal on Friday, and that was the day I was going to be the lead. And it's not like I want to skip rehearsal!" Jade's voice was rising. "I have this stupid dinner with my dad that I just found out about yesterday."

"And I'm guessing you can't skip that either."

"You guessed right."

"Hey, you know…um…well…we'll figure this out," Beck said tentatively, shrugging his shoulders as if cleaning up Jade's mess of a life was the easiest thing in the world. She couldn't help but think that if it were so easy, a lot of other mistakes could have been avoided — a lot of doors would have opened.

Jade jumped, gasping as Cat bounced around the corner.

"Hi guys!" she chirped. "I'm so happy to see you! It's so weird being late to school, I feel like I just started my day, but everyone else is ready to go home!"

"Hi Cat…" Jade greeted uneasily. Beck, who could sense an awkward conversation from ten miles out, casually fled the scene.

"Jadey, is everything okay?"

"Well, yeah, I just…. How are you? You weren't in school yesterday."

"Oh! I was feeling kind of sad."

"How come?" Jade asked tentatively.

"'Cause my brother kidnapped my phone, and he hid it in a bowl of cake batter my mom had left out in the kitchen because the phone rang."

Jade blinked.

"But we found it before the cake went in the oven! But now my phone doesn't really work…. It only makes this weird noise. Like an alien."

"A-and that's why you were sad?"

Cat nodded. Jade involuntarily let out a sigh of relief.

"I thought you were sad because I kinda yelled at you on Sunday," Jade admitted quietly, chuckling awkwardly.

"Oh…" Cat looked down. "And I couldn't tell you that I wasn't sad about that because of my phone…."

Tears were suddenly shining in Cat's doe eyes as her pouting bottom lip quivered. Jade opened her mouth to comfort the tiny redhead, but—

"What is wrong with you?" Beck had materialized beside Jade and dragged her away.

"What?" Jade narrowed her eyes at Beck in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Where the hell do you get off treating Cat like that?"

"I didn't—"

Beck looked around furtively, then grabbed Jade's wrist and yanked her into the nearby janitor's closet.

"You have to stop doing this! You just made Cat cry, and you made her cry when we were all at Tori's on Sunday," Beck shouted when they were safely behind closed doors.

"I didn't make her cry! I mean, she cries when someone sneezes! And I didn't mean to yell at her on Sunday — but it's not like I was going to spend an evening with a whole bunch people who don't want me there!" Jade defended.

"What are you talking about? Of course we wanted you there."

There was silence between them for a moment, each scrutinizing the other in confusion.

"Stop it!" Jade shouted suddenly, her blue eyes blazing.

"Stop what?!"

"Stop it with your…mind games!"

"What mind games? I don't play mind games!"

"You've always played mind games! You like to mess with me! You think it's fun, but it's not. You like riling me up, and you like calming me down, because you think you can control me. You think you own me!"

"I don't think that!"

"Then why can't you leave me alone?!"

"Because we're friends!"

"I don't want to be your friend!" Jade choked out, glassy-eyed. Her throat was suddenly constricting as she held back sobs.

"Well…you need friends!" Beck said stumblingly. "Everyone needs friends, even if you think you don't."

"I don't need you. I asked you to leave me alone. I don't even want to be around you."

"Well, I'm not going to drop off the face of the earth."

"I know that," Jade's voice was much quieter. She sighed, running a hand across her eyes. "And I know that we can't realistically avoid each other. But you are not my friend. You're…an acquaintance, I guess. So I'm going to treat you civilly, until I'm gone."

"What do you mean 'until you're gone?'" Beck looked suddenly uneasy. Jade paused. She hadn't planned on telling anyone. Cat would get all blubbery and everything would be awkward with the Scooby Gang all over again.

"I mean I'm leaving at the end of the quarter." The cat's out of the bag, now.

"What?" Beck's eyes widened.

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Because I want to."

"Your dad's forcing you to, isn't he." It wasn't a question.

"No," Jade lied, "it was my decision."

"No it wasn't. You wouldn't do that. You wouldn't just give up on your dreams."

"Things change," Jade said vacantly. "Dreams change."

With that, Jade fled the janitor's closet, leaving Beck standing alone, speechless.

Talk and talk and talk and talk

Baby let's just knock it off

So yeah, Cat being mad at Jade was a total red herring. And I know I put an author's note at the beginning, but I'm putting one here too because I have a couple of questions. One: was it ever confirmed that Jade's full name is Jadelyn, or is that just a widely-accepted headcanon? Same for Beck. Two: is there a master list of all of the parody brand names (PearPhone, Jet Brew, etc) that are used on the show? That would be so helpful. Anyway, I hope you're enjoying. Sorry for all of my notes in this chapter.