A/N: Thanks everyone for the follows, favorites, and super kind reviews! I guess y'all motivated me a lot because we got a MEGA chapter on our hands here. Literally so long that I had to split the whole document into two! So, for now, please enjoy part one!

Jade knew the second she overheard Tori talking to her ex-boyfriend (she'd been practicing the "ex" to make sure that she didn't slip up again) and Andre about her driving situation, she knew it'd be the perfect opportunity to prank her. She wanted to freak her out, to make her squirm, and (if everything went as planned) walk to school. When she revealed her plans to Cat, however, she didn't see the same humor in the situation as Jade had.

"Jade, that's so mean," she told her, in a far more serious tone than her signature perky one. She'd even made a point to emphasize "Jade," because this was far too serious for "Jadey".

"Oh my God, what is the big deal?" Jade groaned back. Cat had been on her case more and more about her treatment of Tori over the last few weeks. It was almost like she'd been trying to fix the relationship between them in a way. It's so irritating.

"You want to make her walk miles to school in the heat for like, what reason? The fact that she annoyed you on that fake 'date' you went on half a month ago? It's too far. I'm like, so serious," Cat loved Jade, but she couldn't stand the fact that she held grudges for like, ever. She'd talked to Tori a lot; not like, every day, but frequently enough to know that she wasn't that bad of a person. Sure, she was kind of passive-aggressive sometimes and she could snoop a lot into other people's lives, but, in Cat's eyes, it always seemed like she at least meant well. "You're always giving her a hard time and you're always so mean to her. It's annoying."

"Why are you always defending her?" Jade asked in an irritable tone. "She's not even that nice to you! She basically patronizes you in every other sentence! She's not even that nice in general, she's just selfish."

"She could literally say the exact same thing about you! She probably never would though! And that's what irks me the most! Whenever we end up talking about you it's mostly just her telling me about how much she wishes you liked her and would be her friend." Cat felt bad for Tori. She admitted to herself a while ago that she does find some of Jade's antics and witty insults funny at times, but the idea to leave her stranded wasn't even remotely amusing.

"Why do you talk to her about me, for one, and two, why are you trying to guilt-trip me into being nice to her? I don't feel guilty about it because I see directly through her facade! She just pretends to be nice to make people like her and bend over backward for her, and that's the difference between us. I don't manipulate people into liking me to get what I want. I just get it myself because I don't depend on everyone," Jade explained, trying to keep her cool but slowly beginning to lose it. The conversation was heating up quickly, which was a shame because Jade had only been at Cat's house for about half an hour. They had planned to spend the evening writing a song together, but now neither of them was really in the mood.

"Jade, she kissed Beck in class on stage almost two years ago. Why won't you just let it go already?" Cat sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Because she never stopped flirting with him! Why do you never take my side on this? You didn't even get that pissed about the whole Daniel situation!" Jade snipped.

"I mean, I broke her nose," Cat defended. She knew how to stick up for herself, but also how to forgive and forget quickly. She hated the icky feeling that came along with seeing someone she didn't like all the time in person, so she found it easier to just like people. The redhead could never grasp why Jade felt the opposite.

"And then you immediately forgave her," Jade retorted with an eye roll.

"Well, what else was I supposed to do? She's a good friend and I hate fighting!" They were silent for a while. 'Good friend.' Tori Vega, the one person that I can't stand more than anyone else, is Cat's 'good friend.' Perfect. The tension in the air was probably too dense to cut through. It'd be akin to trying to slice the cupcake float they made last year in half.

"I think... Yeah, I think I'm gonna go," Jade stated after a while, breaking the awkward silence before it grew even louder.

"Jadey, no, I didn't mean it like that. I mean, I did kind of, but like it's not like I like her more than you or that I don't see your side of things, I just-"

"Yeah. Don't want to talk about this," Jade cut the explanation short. "I'm pretty sure I have shit at home that I have to get done tonight anyway," she excused, grabbing her bag and standing up. A complete lie. Why do I do that?

"Oh..." Cat's gaze fell, slightly disappointed. "Oh, um, okay. Well... see you in school I guess."

"Yeah," Jade sighed on her way out of her best friend's bedroom. She never understood Cat's incessant need to get along with everyone. She made a point to say, "Hi!" to everyone she made eye contact with in the hallways. Jade usually just glared at anyone who looked in her direction. Tori was a problem for Jade. It felt like she'd swooped in, tried to steal Beck, and when that didn't work, she'd moved on to stealing Cat. It was a selfish thought, and Jade knew it. Cat's a person, Beck's a person, they can't be "stolen." She couldn't help herself though; Tori was fake and it felt like no one else realized it except for her. In her own way, she felt like her hatred of Tori came from a place of protection. She'd already stolen Beck, which meant that (in Jade's mind) Cat would be next.

Jade made her way into her car with sharp, aggressive movements, as if to show any onlookers that she was in a mood. After driving for a few minutes, her music was interrupted by a phone call. She glanced at her phone and rolled her eyes. Ugh, I'm literally not in the mood. She pressed her favorite button on the steering wheel (which just so happened to be the one that hung up phone calls) and continued to mindlessly bob her head to the beat of the song. Five minutes later, her phone rang again. Really? What the hell does he want?

"What?!" she barked, answering the phone.

"Aww, come onnn, why do you always answer like thattt?" Beck's slurred words filled Jade's car through her speakers, ruining her chances of chilling out on the drive home.

Very quietly in the background, Jade heard Andre's voice saying, "Man, c'mon, put the phone down. I told you not to call her," in a hushed tone.

Calmly and annoyedly, Jade started, "Beck, you're drunk-"

"And kinda high, a little bit, sort of," he interjected, giggling and cutting her off. She could picture the annoying, stupid grin on his face that always appeared when he was under the influence.

"Okay, cool," Jade said dryly. "What do you want?" She was beginning to grow more impatient by the second.

"Well, I dunno... I guess I juswanted totalk to you." Beck sounded like he was almost blackout drunk, slightly slurring his words.

"And you thought that I'd want to talk back?" Jade snarked. Is he just like, straight up getting wasted with Andre tonight? Weird. Jade was caught off guard by the fact that he was blasted on a Monday evening. He rarely drank when they were dating. He hid it well enough, but basically, he was a massive stoner. Jade found humor in the fact that he made such a big deal about having "no secrets" and "nothing to hide", so much so that his locker was completely transparent, yet he found it important to keep that part of him a secret. Well, "secret" was too big a word for it. When asked directly, Beck didn't outright deny his "extracurricular activities." He did, however, try his hardest to conveniently omit them in every other situation.

"Well, I hoped..." Beck started in a slightly less juvenile tone.

Andre could be heard in the background harshly whispering, "Don't, man. Come on, dude, hang up."

"I mean I was like, wondering... if you'd maybe wanna, like, come hang out? I mean, if you're not doing anything," What the fuck?

"You're calling me for the first time in over a month, blacked out at 5 PM on a Monday, to ask me if I want to 'hang out' with you and Andre, after barely speaking to each other since the worst breakup that either one of us has ever experienced? Am I understanding the situation?"

"I meannn, yeah. You pretty much nailed it honestly," the annoying boy replied matter-of-factly with his stupid grin. "C'mon Jaaade," he sang, "I know you miss meeee."

"Fuck off," Jade said coldly, hanging up the phone. He's seriously, genuinely insane, she thought to herself. Or seriously, genuinely sad? Whatever. Not my problem anymore.

She arrived at her mom's house to find no one home other than her little brother, Jonah. He was twelve and a "complete and total shit-head," according to Jade. He sometimes reminded her of Robbie. The siblings talked sparingly; not as much as he'd wished, but a bit more than she could handle. They just didn't mesh very well. She had let him "help out" with her re-audition for Hollywood Arts, but it was mainly an excuse to terrify him.

"Where's Mom?" Jade asked when she noticed him sitting alone on the couch. He stayed silent, completely zoned-in to his video game. She walked up behind him, crouched down, and shouted into his left ear, "WHERE'S MOM?"

"HOLY SHIT! I DON'T KNOW OH MY GOD-" Jonah screamed, throwing his controller in the air almost high enough to touch the ceiling. He grasped his chest tightly to make sure his heart was still beating.

"Dude, why are you so on edge?" Jade groaned with an eye roll.

Jonah, still panicking and gasping for air, replied, "You just... just you... screamed in my ear... I was playing Mario Kart... I... Oh, God..." Jade rolled her eyes once more and let out a long, dramatic sigh. Am I really spending my night alone with Jonah? He's such a spazz. I think I'd actually prefer Robbie, she thought to herself.

By the time Jade had arrived at Beck's RV, it was almost 9 PM. She could've gotten there sooner, she just took the scenic route; which gave her more time to think. By the time she had knocked on his door, it was about 9:15 PM. At first, she sat in her car for several minutes debating whether or not to turn around and go back home. After deciding to stay, she exited the car and stood outside of the RV debating whether she should knock, call, ring the doorbell, or text. She was never this indecisive. I really don't think I should be here right now. I don't think it's good for either of us. But... why did I even drive here? What's the point if I never make it to the front door? Ugh, whatever. Just do it. It's not that big of a deal. Just knock.

"Hahaha whoaaa! Hey!" Beck shouted sloppily, opening the door in a matter of seconds. His breath smelled like a frat house."I told you it'd work Andre!"

"Yep, you sure did," Andre sighed, disappointed with the questionable choices his best friend had been making recently. Robbie had diagnosed him as a "trainwreck" in a conversation the two of them had the other day.

"Hah! You owe me five bucks now buddyyyy!" Beck sang, gloating. Wait, what?

"You bet Andre that I would come over?" Jade fumed. It's not like she really wanted to hang out, she was just bored. If he'd never called in the first place, she would've been fine. But, she did admit (only to herself, never out loud) that it was kind of nice to know that she was "winning" the breakup; to know that he still needed her. He fucked up, he knew it, and he missed her. But she was fine; sometimes lonely, but she had Cat. She was fine. But when she found out that her presence was only the result of a stupid bet, it pissed her off to no end. Because it meant that he didn't really need her. He just needed to win. Everything she meant to him was boiled down to a measly five dollars.

"Whoa whoa whoa, chill out, babe," He started in a much more serious tone, "I would never call you to hang out just for a bet. We made the bet after you hung up!" She thought to herself, Is that really any better? And she couldn't tell. It meant that he did miss her, but that he was also confident she missed him back. So confident that he even put money on it. She hated how well he thought he knew her.

"Okay so for one," Jade began, "don't call me 'babe.' Two, don't pretend like you know what I'm going to do before I do it. You had a fifty-fifty chance either way. And three, fuck you. I'm leaving." She took a step towards the door when Beck gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Please, don't take it like that. I'm sorry, okay?" Beck apologized. Jade rolled her eyes and the boy continued, "Andre didn't believe me and I needed five dollars! C'monnnn, Jade. We all know you came over to hang out with me," He grinned. Though she'd never confess it, she secretly found his stupid, drunken grin to be somewhat charming in person. You know, in a stupid way. It'd been a while since she'd seen that grin.

"No, I came because I didn't want to spend the night with my brother, and you guys have free weed," she stated matter-of-factly and sat down, too emotionally exhausted to have yet another argument tonight; especially with someone who was barely sober enough to comprehend his own words.

A/N: Okay, there's part one! I will be posting part two ASAP (genuinely hopefully by the end of this week or sometime next week), so be sure to follow this story if you haven't yet! I also love getting your feedback so please don't be scared to review! Writing for y'all is a pleasure :)

PS: I told you it wouldn't take 5 years for me to update this time lol