20. The Thousand Miles Between Us.

It was after noon when they were back in Beck's car, full of pancakes (sadly without real maple syrup) and with two coffees to-go.

"So, how many texts from Cat do you have asking where you are?" Beck asked, chuckling as he checked his PearPhone. "I have twelve."

"I have twenty-three," Jade answered smugly. "And four from Tori and one from Andre."

"I have three from Andre, seven from Robbie, two from Rex — both extremely offensive— and…." Beck frowned slightly. "None from Tori."

"That's weird," Jade mirrored his frown, trying to ignore the part of her that felt inexplicably relieved.

"You know, she's been sending me a suspiciously small amount of texts lately," Beck admitted as he started the car.

"Maybe she finally realized how annoying you are," the dark-haired girl smirked.

"It seems like she would've figured that out a couple of years ago."

"She never was the sharpest knife in the drawer," Jade shrugged.

"I feel horrible saying this, but true. Also, I've realized that I'm pulling out of the parking lot with no idea where we're going."

"I don't really care," Jade said, swirling the coffee in her styrofoam cup. "I just have to be home by three."

"I mean, I can take you home now, if you want…."

"Nope!" Jade protested immediately. "My dad's still working from home, he'll literally turn me into a leather chair if he finds out I skipped school."

"How're you going to explain your car in the driveway…?"

"I'll say a friend took me. To save the environment."

"Your dad cares about the environment?" he laughed.

"No, but Celia does. Or," Jade amended, "she claims to."

"Ah."

"Ooh," Jade said suddenly, sitting up a little straighter. "I just had an idea. How opposed would you be to breaking into my house?"

"Well, you know me. I'm a master criminal. Why?"

"Just help me get in and out without my dad finding out and I'll explain."

"Okay," Beck shrugged.

When they arrived at the West house, Jade was relieved to see that Celia's Mercedes was not in the driveway. She directed Beck to park just up the street and sat in thoughtful silence for a moment.

"Well?" Beck said finally. Jade reached into the center console and produced Beck's phone. It didn't strike her until after she'd started dialing a number that he hadn't changed his passcode from 5233.

"I want you to call this number," Jade explained, holding out the phone, "and try to sell something."

"Anything in particular?"

"Something realistic."

"Cars? Boats? Vacations?"

"Watches, maybe?"

"I know nothing about watches."

"Hm," Jade darted her eyes around thoughtfully, seeking inspiration. "Know anything about jewelry?"

"Probably more than I do about watches," Beck admitted. Instinctively, Jade reached up to fiddle with her promise ring necklace, but it wasn't there anymore. Oh, right. Broken promises.

"Okay, call him. Talk about jewelry. Diamonds. Rare, pricey stuff."

"Got it. Any accent in particular?"

"Australian."

"Sure thing, mate!"

Jade rolled her eyes, opening the car door.

"Wait," Beck stopped her before she slammed the passenger side. "Why aren't I just asking for legal advice?"

"Because he'll bill you, you nimrod. Now, if I get caught, I'll text you and you get the hell out of here."

"…okay."

"I'll be back in five. Hopefully. Just keep him talking."

As Beck called the number Jade had dialed into his phone, Jade jogged along the street and slipped into her own backyard. She hugged the edge of the property, slinking to the back door. She peered in through the glass door, cupping her hands around her eyes. The coast was clear, so she pulled her key out and jammed it into the lock. The lock twisted open easily enough, but when it came to taking the key back, Jade was thoroughly stymied. She yanked on it, cursing incoherently under her breath, but it would not come out. A movement inside the house suddenly made her stop. Leaving her keychain swinging beneath the lock, Jade pressed her back against the wall. She could hear her father's voice inside the house, along with his crutch clicking against the floor every time he took a step.

"…much is that necklace you were mentioning…?" he was saying. His voice trailed off though as he moved out of earshot.

Jade peeked into the glass quickly to see if he was really gone. Apparently he was, so, with one final pull, she got the key free of the lock. She slid the door open as little as possible before slipping inside and closing it. She ducked behind a chair as she heard her father approaching, still discussing that certain necklace. He hobbled up the stairs with surprising speed, and Jade darted to the bottom step, staying crouched low to the floor. She heard a door close on the floor above, and took the stairs three at a time. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her bedroom door open, and panic vibrated all through her as she smelled the familiar fumes. Paint. She crept to her room and opened the door apprehensively. The fumes were only stronger in her bedroom, which had been turned back into a hospital cell. The walls were once again white — not even a tinge of the color she'd chosen showed through. But worst of all, the walls were bare. All of her posters, paintings, butterflies, and scissors had been unceremoniously dumped into a cluster of boxes at the foot of her bed. She tiptoed slowly to her treasures, tears pricking in her eyes as she saw a large rip in her limited edition poster from the Scissoring premiere.

Jade took a deep breath in an attempt to banish the tears from her eyes and the lump from her throat. She snatched the box Cat had marked with an asterisk from the back of her closet and snuck back downstairs. She made considerably more noise getting out of the house than she had getting in, but she couldn't bring herself to care as she shut the back door and headed back toward Beck's car. He was waiting for her anxiously, no longer on the phone.

"Well, your father now owes fourteen-hundred dollars to the Made East jewelry company, and I owe him an emerald necklace. Get what you needed?" he asked, leaning to his right to open the passenger door for her. She just nodded, slipping into the car with the cardboard box on her lap.

"Made East?" Jade asked, confused enough to speak, despite the tears that seemed to always be threatening her eyeliner.

"Yeah. Like Jade West, but East. And Made. What's in the box?"

"Stuff."

"Stuff," Beck repeated.

"I'm going to sell it."

"Oh," that seemed to make more sense, "okay. Where to?"

"Um," Jade rubbed her forehead, "there's a place downtown that I think'll buy it for a pretty good price."

"Alright," Beck paused. "Jade, did something just happen…?"

Jade shook her head obstinately, the tears coming back again.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded, holding her breath.

"You can talk to me, you know."

She didn't move.

"Okay. What's the address?"

She punched it into his phone and then let the car fall quiet as the GPS voice started ordering them around. Jade didn't break her silence until the two of them were walking to the pawn shop from the parking garage — Beck being the gentleman by holding the cardboard box for her.

"Why weren't there any Northridge girls outside your place this morning?" she asked.

"Don't know," Beck laughed. "They are predator animals — maybe they could smell you."

"Gee thanks."

"You know what I mean. But I actually have no clue. It's a nice change though."

"Of course it is. No one likes them."

"Their parents must like them."
"Doubt it."

"Ouch," Beck tried not to smile. "Really though, that'd be a sad life."

"What, being a Northridge girl?"

"Yeah. I mean, can you imagine being in a horde of girls chasing after one guy who doesn't even care?"

"Yes," Jade admitted bluntly.

"Who?"

"What do you mean who?"

"Well, it couldn't've been me. You didn't chase me. And I care. So that's the opposite of what I was saying about Northridge girls."

"Gimme that," Jade snatched the cardboard box from his hands, letting the sharp corners poke against her stomach in order to avoid answering. A sign announcing we buy jewelry caught her eye, and she nodded sharply in that direction. "There's the place."

"What?" Jade shrieked, slamming her palms down on the glass counter that separated her from the pawn broker. "That's bullshit."

"Two thousand dollars is as high as I'll go," the man insisted.

"This stuff is brand new, never-been-worn, and it's worth at least five thousand!"

"…Twenty-five hundred. Take it or leave it."

Jade looked at the assortment of blue boxes scattered on the counter. She glanced at Beck, who was hovering with his arms crossed at her left shoulder.

"Fine," she said finally. "I'll take it."

"Fine." The pawn broker wrote out the ticket and handed it to Jade with the cash. She shoved it all into her purse and stalked out the door with Beck following close behind.

"What a jerk," Jade mumbled.

"You didn't have to take it," Beck commented hesitantly.

"All the stuff online said this place gave good prices, and I need this money now. The deadline for tuition payments for the semester is coming up, and I'm still six thousand dollars short," Jade complained, slamming the passenger door shut and making Beck's car rattle. "Maybe this is a lost cause."

"What?"

"There's…." Jade sighed. "There's this one school that my dad likes, and…it doesn't look that bad. I mean, there's no theater department or anything, but it's not awful."

"And you think you'd be happy there?" Beck was still clutching his car keys in his hand as he sat in the driver's seat.

"Sure," Jade shrugged. "I'd live. Anything'd be a step up from here."

"Is it really that bad?"

"Can you take me home now?"

"Can I ask you something first?" When Jade nodded, he took a breath and bit the inside of his cheek. "Do you… Do you think we made the right choice? Breaking up, I mean…. Like, do you ever think we made a mistake?"

Jade wasn't quite sure she was ready to answer that.

"Do you?" she asked instead.

"Yeah," Beck admitted, looking down. "Sometimes."

"But not all the time."

"Jade," Beck sighed exasperatedly. She didn't say anything. "Do you… Do you think we should try again?"

Jade pressed her lips together as she let those words roll around her head. She wondered if it would make her happy to be with him again — she wondered if he was worth the risk. She wasn't sure anymore. So she counted to ten (remembering three) and sighed.

Did we make the right move?

I only want the world for you.

So many things we may have to let go.

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! Your reviews are what keeps me going with this story, so please keep them up. I'm so glad everyone seems to be enjoying this story. As always, any requests that you have are welcome, and I'll try to fit some of them in! Also, I just wanted to highly recommend the song that I used for this chapter. It's called "Thousand Mile Race" by A Silent Film, and it will give you Bade feels.