The next week, on a Wednesday, I sat at the Asphalt Café without Cat. Normally Wednesday was our lunch day tighter, but this week she was somewhere in Washington, where her brother was in at the hospital to get checked over for the fiftieth time or something. He really wasn't normal. That's why I was sitting alone today. I didn't feel the need to sit with Laure, Jake and Ryder. This was Cat's day and even if she wasn't here I wouldn't dream of replacing her.

"Hey, can I…"

"No!" Glaring up in Ryders sparkling brown eyes I shook my head. "Don't even try, Daniels."

"You don't scare me Jade West." He sat down and waved at Laure and Jack.

That must have been a sign, because they started walking and sat themselves at the table.

"Really?" My mood darkened when I looked at them. "Can't I sit alone for just one day?"

"Nope." Jake popped the P and smiled his winning smile at me.

"You know that doesn't work." Under the table I gave him a small kick. "Now tell me why I can't sit alone?"

"Jade."

I knew that sugar sweet voice and God did I hate it. "Melody." I didn't even pretend to be nice to her and stood up. "Isn't it time to go back to middle school? Your break is almost over."

Normally any comment on her height would have resulted in a tomato red head, but not today. And that worried me.

She just kept smiling. "You must feel heartbroken."

The gank didn't even react to it. "Please enlighten me why I should feel heartbroken?"

"Oh! You don't know yet?" She gasped in fake horror. "I'm so sorry Jade. You shouldn't hear it from me."

She liked this way too much for my taste. That bitch knew something I didn't know. That was never good.

"Well, Melody." Ryder threw a straw at her and I kept back a smile. "Then you shouldn't tell her, don't you think?"

"No, no I have to. She deserves the right to know, before she sees it herself."

"Goddamn it Melody! Cut the crap and just say it."

The worried expression left her face in a heartbeat and she just smiled. "It surprises me you don't know it yet. It's all over the magazines."

That ended it. Growling I grabbed her shirt and lifter her up a little. "Tell me, before I make you a couple inches shorter."

That scared her although not as much as I would have liked. The smile was wiped of her face but not the smug expression. "Beck's dating that celebrity, Alyssa Vaughn."

That hurt more than it should. A lot more than it should. I felt like a dagger was stabbed in my, already broken, heart. Not that anyone should know that. I couldn't afford it to crumble in front of everyone at Hollywood Arts.

"That's it?" Without a warning I dropped Melody and she barely kept her balance. I smiled sarcastically at her. "If that's everything you have kid then you can go now."

"What?!" There's the tomato face I aimed for a few minutes ago. "You can't convince me that you don't care! Everyone knows that you're the most jealous bitch in the universe!"

She yelled every word at the top of her lungs. Which had everyone looking at us as a result. Especially one set of eyes I could feel burning in my back.

"Well." I pushed her away and stepped on the table glaring at everyone. "I do not, I repeat NOT, care if Beck's dating Alyssa Vaughn! God, he has my blessing!" A lot of the faces looked convinced, but not everyone seemed to buy it. This screamed for drastic measures. I grabbed the first boy laid my eyes on by his collar and bowed a bit down to press my lips on his. My hands grabbed the golden locks to pull him closer to me. His lips weren't the softest I've ever kissed but he was skilled and he knew move time against mine. The kiss was one of the best I'd ever had in the technical ways of kissing, but on the feelings part…It felt like I was kissing my brother.

I pulled back a little and looked in Jake's grey eyes. A small smile graced my lips. If I'm correct he felt the same way. Not that anyone else would see that, except for Ryder and Laura. My plan succeeded and I jumped of the table ignoring all the surprised faces and the few jealous glances.

I dropped next to Jake and prodded him a bit. "And? How was it?"

He snickered a bit. "Jade, honey, you're a great kisser, but please don't do that ever again."

"Fine. Fine." Laughing I winked at Laura. "Next time Laura's the victim and after that Ryder."

"Jade West." Laura flipped her hair back and puckered her lips a bit. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to kiss me. You might get addicted."

The bell ringed and I just smiled at her before I got up to walk to my next class. Before I could even get there someone grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the Janitors closet.

"What the…"

Someone put his hand on my mouth before I could finish that sentence. Glaring at Beck I licked his palm. That didn't work as planned and he didn't move his hand.

"I'll remove it in a minute. You just have to listen to me for one minute." Beck sighed and took a big breath. "I'm not dating Alyssa Vaughn. We just share a yoga class."

Apparently that was all he had to say because he removed his hand. I stayed silent for a moment, contemplating what I was going to say. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because." He shrugged. "I don't want you to be jealous or worried. You're still everything to me and I want you. Only you."

He leaned a little bit towards me and I stepped back. "I'm not jealous."

"Baby." He didn't laugh but the knowing smile on his face was worse. "I know you. That act, kissing Jake, was just to let people think you're not jealous, but that doesn't work on me. I know you better than anyone."

Dammit Beck! He didn't have the right to know me anymore. Not after the way he treated me. I'd love to say it to him. I wanted to scream and hurt him just the way he had hurt me.

"Jade." He grabbed one of my hands and squeezed it. "I know that I hurt you, so so much, and if I could turn back time I would. But I can't. The next best option is to don't hurt you anymore then I already have. I still love you and only you. Don't worry about anyone else."

He spoke right out of his heart, I knew that. How I wanted to just hug him and kiss him telling him that everything was okay and that I forgave him. I'd love to do that, but I couldn't. I still deserved better. But, and this was a big but, he also deserved to know that his confession lifted a weight of my heart. He still loved me, just as much as I loved him. I stood on my tiptoes and pressed a soft kiss on his lips. This kiss had everything that Jake's lacked. The heat that I felt made me shiver.

"Thank you." I whispered before I stepped back. Maybe we still had a chance together.