22. Always Picking Fights.

As always, Jade wasn't quite sure what to do after such a fight with her father. She slammed the door to her room and paced angrily around the space for a few moments, but her fury started fading. She snatched the PearPhone from her bedside table and redialed the last person who called. Her fingers were shaking.

"Hello?" Beck answered after two rings.

"Was I Hitler in a past life or something?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"I mean, I know I'm not the nicest person on the planet, but what could I possibly have done to deserve such idiot parents?"

"What happened?"

"Ugh," Jade flopped backward onto her bed. "My dad invited a bunch of people over for dinner, and made me come too. One of the guys he invited brought his wife, and I caught him making out with her in the kitchen!"

"…you think you were Hitler in a past life because you walked in on a guy making out with his wife…?"

"No, I walked in on my dad making out with the guy's wife!"

"Oh." Jade heard the TV shut off in the background.

"Yeah. And then he asked me not to tell Celia! How could he do this again?!"

"I don't —wait, 'again?'"

"Yeah. This is exactly what happened before he divorced my mom. I figured out he was cheating, and he convinced me not to tell."

"Oh my God. Why didn't you tell me that?"

"'Cause," Jade shrugged, though he couldn't see. It was a weak excuse.

"'Cause why? I could've helped you!"

"You would've made me tell, and my mom would've hated me."

"She wouldn't have hated you," Beck's voice softened. "She would've known it wasn't your fault. She loves you."

"Yeah, she loves me so much she forced me to live with my dad," Jade rubbed her eyes, smudging her makeup. "Can we not talk about this?"

"Sure. Have…have you thought about what I said earlier?"

"I haven't changed my mind."

"That's okay," Beck assured hurriedly. "I'm not pressuring you. Really. I was just wondering — and don't jump to conclusions—but I was wondering if we should keep that between us."

Jade didn't say anything.

"You're jumping to conclusions," Beck said with a sigh.

"No, I'm just getting angry. So explain to me why I shouldn't be jumping to the conclusion that you wanted us to be a dirty little secret when we're not even together."

"That's not at all what I meant and you know it. You might even like what I meant."

"Then fucking explain it!"

"I think we should keep this between ourselves," Beck began calmly, "because of Tori."

"What? Becau—"

"Let me finish!" Beck interrupted. "If Tori got an inkling of the idea of us getting back together—"

"We aren't."

"I know that. But if Tori found out, she'd launch into some scheme to try and fix us or something. And, let's face it, we'd probably both end up injured. Plus she'll involve Cat, and I think we both agree that she should stay out of all of this."

"Yeah," Jade sighed. "That actually makes a lot of sense."

"Good." There was a pause. "So, what are you going to do about your dad?"

"I'll probably end up telling Celia," Jade admitted, "and causing another divorce."

"You've never caused a divorce."

"Right. But I told him the only thing that would keep me from telling is if he paid for me to stay at HA."

"Damn," Beck chuckled. "That's clever."

"Not clever enough. He won't go for it."

"You never know."

"I guess he could surprise me," Jade watched taillights drive away from the window as the party downstairs broke up, "but he never has before."

"Well, there's nothing you can do about it now," Beck reasoned. "So maybe you should just try and get some sleep."

"Yeah," Jade agreed, sighing. "I guess I'll…see you Monday."

"Yeah. You know you can call me…if you need anything. Or just to talk…or anything."

"I know," Jade sighed again. She seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. After tossing her PearPhone aside, she stripped off the black dress and scrubbed off the dark makeup making rings around her eyes. She sat in a ball on her bed, her arms wrapped around her pajama-clad legs, and observed the room. The torn poster was lying pitifully on the dresser. Jade tilted her head, narrowing her eyes at a specific expanse of wall just to the side of the door. Determined, she dove off the bed and toward her closet, tearing open the doors and hunting for the cardboard box marked Tools. She sent the plastic container of nails and her hammer skating toward the other end of the room, then slid on her knees to the bed. She fumbled around under the bed, eventually dragging out the Westwood sign. Not caring about the amount of noise she was making, Jade hammered the sign into the wall. Once it was hanging straight she stood back, satisfied. As she was climbing into bed, her foot touched something soft. She reached down and picked up the flannel shirt she'd thrown under her bed. It must have gotten caught when she pulled the street sign out. Reasoning with herself that it was cold, and it was perfectly acceptable to wear flannel when it was cold, she nestled into bed with the collar of the shirt against her face.

Even though it was her phone ringing that made her surface, Jade found herself not annoyed on Saturday morning. It must have been the shirt — she'd always slept better when she was warm. It had nothing to do with where the shirt came from or how it smelled. Jade squinted her eyes at the number on her phone. She didn't recognize it, but the area code was from nearby.

"Hello?" she answered, trying not to let the sleepiness into her voice. It was nearly noon.

"Jade?" a girly voice questioned on the line.

"Who is this?"

"It's Alyssa!"

"How'd you get my number?" Jade rubbed her eyes, sitting up.

"You gave it to me."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did!" Alyssa was a bad liar.

"No. I didn't."

"Okay fine," Alyssa relented, "I asked Beck for it."

"Great," Jade rolled her eyes. Her ex-boyfriend talking about her to the cause of one of their breakups. Excellent. Jade had always wanted to live in a soap opera.

"Anyway," Alyssa pushed on cautiously, "I called you twice this morning after I heard what happened last night, but you didn't answer."

"What happened last night…?" Jade was suddenly awake. Her heart rate suddenly skyrocketed, and she held her hand over her chest. Her mind darted to every horrible scenario she could think of. She saw Cat in tears, she saw Beck broken and bruised, she saw Tori flattened by a steamroller. That last one actually calmed her down a bit.

"Oh, I meant that my dad was over at your place last night. He mentioned it when he came home and I just wanted to see how that went."

"What makes you think I was there?" Jade snipped, feeling a little annoyed that a comment like that could scare her so easily.

"My dad mentioned 'Richard's daughter Jade' and I assumed he meant you."

"Oh. Yeah. That was me. But it was just a stupid dinner party, why would you care?"

"I was just hoping my dad didn't say anything too terrible. He can be pretty judgmental, and I know you're going through a lot right now."

"I'm not 'going through a lot right now!'" Jade protested. (God forbid she show feelings.) "And the dinner was a total bore. All he talked about was interns he spilled coffee on, so he didn't spill any of your secrets, if that's what you're thinking."

"No, I was just—"

"What? You were just what?" Jade wanted to know.

"I was worried about you. You may think it's some big secret, but it's pretty obvious to anyone with a heart that you're in pain."

"Then how on earth did you notice it?" Jade sneered. There was a moment of silence on the line that almost made her regret it.

"Did…did you just call me heartless?" Alyssa asked. Her voice wasn't hurt, or offended, or even angry. No, Jade could hear the worst possible emotion in the Alyssa Vaughn's voice — pity.

"Yes," Jade confirmed harshly. "I did. If you had any heart at all, you'd leave me alone. That's all I want. To be left alone! I'm not your charity case."

"I never saw you as—"

"Yes you did," Jade scoffed. "You saw me as a troubled kid who you could take under your wing. 'Cause how great would that look? You talked Richard West's daughter down off the ledge, and now the Vaughn Corporation has a new defense attorney for their lawsuits! Hooray!"

There was a pause. Then—

"Goodbye Jade."

And the line went dead.

You might think I'm one thing, but I am another.

You can't call my bluff,

Time to back up, motherfucker.

Phew. I did it. I updated today! I haven't finished chapter 23, but I have about two chapters without numbers written after that. Okay. Thanks.