26. My Wildest Dreams.

Jade returned to the celebrating cast with an extra spring in her step.

"Well?" Beck asked with a grin.

"That man is a psychotic idiot."

"Yep."

"But I guess that's the best possible outcome of this."

"Yep."

They both started giggling like schoolchildren. They were interrupted by Cat approaching them.

"Jadey!" Cat shrieked with joy. "Jadey you did so good!"

"Thank you Cat," Jade responded as the redhead attacked her with a hug.

After congratulating and hugging Beck as well, Cat held out the red PearPhone to Jade, who rolled her eyes.

"Your phone made a noise earlier," Cat informed her seriously. "It was a swoosh."

"It was a what?" Beck asked, eyes narrowed in confusion.

"A swoosh," Jade translated as if it was obvious. There was a mirthful glint in her eyes. Still smiling, she clicked on the device to see the notification of a new email as Cat skipped away to congratulate the rest of the cast. Jade didn't think much of it as she swiped to open the message. Then she saw the sender: Hollywood Arts Department of Financial Services. With a raised eyebrow, she tapped it open.

Dear Jade West,

We have received your tuition payment for the year in full. All balances have been paid.

She didn't need to read anymore. Jade simply stared at her phone, eyes wide, as Beck realized she wasn't listening to a word he was saying about Cat-ese.

"What's wrong?" he asked, all trace of a smile disappearing. She simply handed him her phone, blinking as the shock settled in. She watched as Beck scanned the email, his eyes growing as wide as hers before he broke into the biggest grin she'd seen in months. Jade couldn't help but mirror his happiness.

"My blackmail worked," she chuckled in disbelief.

"Maybe he's not as insane as we thought," Beck suggested, handing back her phone. "Maybe he had an epiphany and realized just how freaking talented you are."

"No, he's definitely insane," Jade slipped the phone into a pocket of her bag, "just not insane enough to want to go through a second divorce."

"Well, whatever the reason, I'm just glad you're staying. I knew I wasn't gonna be able to pull together enough money to help you out."

"What?" Jade said, but she didn't get an answer — Cat had apparently heard what Beck said, and she suddenly appeared with a squeal only dolphins could hear.

"You're staying?!" Cat screamed. Jade nodded, laughing as Cat attacked her with a hug.

"What's goin' on?" Andre asked, followed closely by Robbie.

"Jadey's staying!" Cat shrieked again. Apparently unable to contain herself, she dragged the three guys into a surprise group hug. Jade's heart swelled and sank when she felt a familiar arm around her back. She felt the protection that used to comfort her everyday. Just those few short moments with an arm around her back filled Jade with warmth. She felt cold, in more ways than one, when it slid away. It used to be that that warmth was hers, that she could reach for it at any time. But it wasn't hers anymore. For months, she thought that was okay. It didn't matter. She could keep herself warm. She could find another heat source.

As she drove herself home, she realized she didn't need to — and she didn't want to. There was no need for her to start a fire outside when there was one steadily burning in the hearth. She was smiling a little when she unlocked the front door.

Richard and Celia were still awake. Jade walked into the living room to find them mid-conversation. Richard's forehead was tense, Celia's makeup was smudged like bruises around her eyes. Yapper was asleep at her owner's feet, apparently unaware of her owner's distress.

"Good evening, Jade," Richard said in a low voice. No one seemed to realize how late past curfew she was.

"Um, hi," Jade's eyes flicked between the two adults. "What's going on?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," her father told her.

"O-okay. Whatever. I um…." Jade faltered.

"Yes?"

"I wanted to thank you."

There was a moment of silence. Jade didn't clarify.

"You're welcome."

Another moment.

"Anything else?" Richard asked.

"No."

"Alright then. Goodnight, Jade."

"'Night."

As Jade left the room, she heard the discussion continue in a pair of subdued voices. She didn't bother to listen. Instead she stood on the tile floor of her shower, cleaning off the makeup and rinsing out the hairspray Cat had so generously applied. Jade slipped a certain red flannel shirt over her tank top and pajama pants before climbing into bed. She knew what she wanted. She knew this time she wasn't going to let it go. But how to say it? Knowing she couldn't look him in the eye and tell him what she needed, she opened her notebook to a fresh sheet. She placed it on her knees, pressing the pen to her lips in thought.

Hesitating only slightly, she pressed the pen to the paper and let her thoughts flow with the ink. She kept nothing in. Jade let the paper know how she really felt — how desperate, how betrayed, how lonesome. How hopeful. She delved into every memory she had of the past years, each one bringing a smile to her mouth or a tear to her eye. She didn't stop. The clock struck one and she didn't stop. Two o'clock and she didn't stop. She simply turned the page and filled the lines with decreasingly intelligent words and scribbles and drawings. She let herself be sincere for the first time in a long time, and when she finally fell asleep at 3:45, she had never felt more free.

Jade slept until one on Saturday, and no one seemed to care. She woke up with the pen still gripped in her right hand. As she rubbed the cramping from her wrist and fingers she turned to the first page of the crinkled notebook she retrieved from the end of the bed. Stretching to grab her PearBook from the floor, she opened a word processor. Breakfast the last thing from her mind, Jade spent the next few hours deciphering what she had written. Some of it was absolute gibberish. Some of it was so cliche she cringed. But there were words, phrases, paragraphs even, that she thought she would be willing to share.

When Jade had gone through every ink-soaked page in the notebook, she set her laptop aside. Ignoring the empty feeling of hunger in her stomach, she dove toward her closet and dragged out the portable keyboard she'd brought from her mom's house. Though she missed her piano, she plugged in a pair of headphones and started messing around on the sixty keys. Finally she found a chord she liked, though she wished the left hand could be an octave lower. She figured she could work that out when she got to a piano at school. Humming to herself, she played that one chord over and over again until she found the beginning of her melody. Glancing at the words waiting for her on the screen of her computer, she quietly sang the first line.

I've told a million lies but now I'll tell a single truth

There's you in everything I do.

Sorry this one is kinda short. I just wanted to get an update out there for you guys. This song is "I Bet My Life" by Imagine Dragons. Ch 20 was "Thousand Mile Race" by A Silent Film. 19 was "The Getaway" by Hilary Duff. 18 was "The Silence" by Bastille. 17 was "Save Me" by Muse, even though I don't really like it. 16 was "What Goes Around" by Justin Timberlake because I love it. 15 was "Empty Handed" by Michelle Branch. 14 was "Heartless" by the Fray, not Kanye West. Okay. There's some more songs for you guys. Again, sorry this chapter is so short, but things seem to be really looking up for Jade. We'll see how long that lasts ;)