Chapter #14 - enjoy!
The old geography class-turned-Robarazzi headquarters was on the second floor, and Andre had to stop himself from vaulting up the steps to get there, so focused was his mind on the destination rather than the journey. So focused, in fact, that he almost didn't notice the girl coming in the opposite direction, meaning only her hands flying out to grab him stopped the pair colliding face-first.
"Jesus, Andre, watch where you're going!" Came from the mouth of the one-and-only Jade West who, of course, was the girl an already enraged Andre had bumped into.
"Yeah, sorry, whatever." Andre replied, ducking away from the girl and her icy stare.
"Damn, who pissed in your cereal?" Came the response, with a rare hint of amusement that caused Andre to look up and see that the 'wicked witch' was not accompanied by her infamous glare. In fact, she seemed relatively entertained.
Andre shrugged moodily. "Robbie."
At that, Jade's face contorted into a scowl. "Ugh, don't remind me. I had to throw him up against a wall yesterday to stop him posting lies about Toby."
Andre couldn't help but smirk at the euphemism, causing Jade to groan. "Not like that! Eugh, gross, if you're going to picture me cheating on Beck, have it with Brad Pitt, not some nerd whose hands have spent more time touching puppets than women."
Andre chuckled in response and Jade's face softened. "So what's got you worked up then? Has he moved on from ketchup to ranch?" She mused lightheartedly.
Andre's face fell. "Yeah, not really."
At his change in demeanour, Jade raised an eyebrow. "Well what did he say?"
"It doesn't matter. Just the usual bullshit."
"Andre."
The man in question sighed. "Look, Jade, whatever he said is personal to me. I don't really feel like repeating it to one more person who thinks it's nothing."
Jade looked uncharacteristically taken aback for a moment, before composing herself. "Hit me."
"What?"
"Tell me what he said. You can't decide my reaction to what he said if you won't actually tell me what it was."
Andre bit his lip in contemplation before giving in. "Fine, he said I was a 'chip off the old block'."
"...meaning?"
"Some guy said I was an addict so he said I was a 'chip off the old block'." Andre replied, already annoyed at her response. She had insisted that he tell her, only to react with exactly the same invalidation as the rest of his friends. If they would all stop pretending to understand and just admit that they didn't, he would be greatly appreciative.
"That bastard."
Andre was taken aback. How on earth had the most sympathetic response he'd received been from the ice queen herself, Jade West?
"You think?"
"Of course. How on earth is that funny? He knows about your dad and your grandma and he thinks that he has a right to say something like that? God, maybe if he spent more time speaking to humans and less time with that fucking puppet then maybe he would know that." Jade spat, with a seemingly almost equal amount of venom towards the situation as Andre himself.
"Yeah, that's what I'm saying." Andre agreed.
"I guess it takes one to know one." Jade grimaced. "Not that I can... well, y'know."
"I know." Andre nodded genuinely. "Have you heard from your dad at all?"
Jade shook her head and laughed. "Nope. I thought he might've called to say he was glad I didn't die in childbirth or something, but... it's whatever I guess."
"I'm sorry."
Jade shrugged. "Not your problem. What about you?"
"Christmas card. Better than nothing I suppose." He replied, almost catching himself as he realised the parallel he was drawing. But their situations were different and Jade knew that. A Christmas card didn't solve his problems any more than a phone call would hers.
The two locked eyes with a silent sense of understanding. Unfortunately for Robbie Shapiro, however, they didn't lose their peripheral vision, meaning his curly afro did not go unnoticed by the two people who were out for his blood.
"Shapiro!" Jade screamed, as she spotted the boy over in the distance.
With a high pitched scream akin to a preschooler, Robbie dropped his bags in fright and hurried off down the corridor, with Andre and Jade hot on his tail. Unfortunately for him, however, Andre had played football all through middle school, whilst Jade had ten years of soccer under her belt because she, in her own words, had 'enjoyed kicking people'. Therefore, Robbie's attempt to outrun them was so futile that it was outright embarrassing.
They caught him as he sprinted into Sikowitz's classroom, meaning they had enough time to fan out and cover both doors. Staring at the furious pair, Robbie cowered behind a chair as he realised that he'd met a dead end.
"You're sick, Shapiro. You have no right to talk about people's families like that!" Jade screamed, marching up towards the boy in question and grabbing his collar in an episode of deja vu from the previous evening.
"Yeah, you're supposed to be our friend, Robbie. Friends don't go personal like that!" Andre snarled, towering over the much skinnier boy.
"I'm sorry you guys, but it's just business. I have to talk about what people find interesting. It's not personal, I promise; it's just the way the industry works." Robbie squealed.
"It's not personal, yeah?" Andre murmured, clenching his teeth and raising his fist. "Well I'm about to make it personal."
"Hey, hey, stop!" Came a cry from behind the trio, stopping Andre's fist and Robbie's face from becoming one. It appeared that Robbie's knight in shining armour had appeared in the form of Hollywood Arts' very own heartthrob. Inevitable, really.
"Stop, guys! That won't solve anything." Beck Oliver pleaded, his eyes hopping between his best friend and his girlfriend, both of whom appeared slightly crazed with anger.
Jade's eyes flitted towards her boyfriend but, evidently deciding that she didn't mind having a witness to her crimes, she tightened her hold on Robbie's collar and shoved him back against the wall.
"Jesus, Jade, calm down!" Beck cried, lurching towards them, Cat and Tori suddenly appearing in the doorway behind him.
"Yeah, get this psycho bitch off of me!" Robbie yelled towards Beck.
Unfortunately for Robbie, however, that really wasn't the right choice of words for garnering support, as was made evident by Beck's face changing not only in emotion but also in colour.
"What the fuck did you just call her?" Beck snapped, flashing crimson as he pulled Jade away from Robbie only to replace her figure with the taller, looming presence of his own.
Robbie seemed to gulp. "W-what? She was grabbing me-"
"I didn't ask what she was doing, I asked what you called her!" Beck spat. Behind him, Tori was debating whether her alarm clock was going to go off at any second, given that the morning she'd witnessed so far could only be explained by the fact that she was dreaming.
"I-I-"
"You can't remember now? You can't remember calling her a psycho bitch?"
"She was being one!"
Tori could've sworn that Beck almost lunged for him. But surely not - Beck wouldn't hurt a fly, let alone one of his oldest friends.
"Look, I don't know what kind of impression I've given you but, in case you've forgotten, Jade is my girlfriend and I care about her a hell of a lot more than I care about you, so if you think you can call her that and get away with it then maybe you're not quite as smart as you think you are." Beck snarled in a way that Tori felt really didn't suit his face. "Oh, and while I'm at it, Toby is my son, not Ryder Daniels' or any of those scumbags' who you like to convince yourself that my girlfriend, who I have no desire to break up with by the way, has cheated on me with, and if I see you so much as hold a camera in his presence I will call the cops on you for harassment. Got it?"
Robbie gulped almost audibly and nodded.
"Good. I'm glad we understand each other." Beck said, finally moving backwards. If everybody in the room hadn't been staring at their usually calm friend extraordinarily losing his cool then they might've spotted the small smile creep up onto the face of the girl beside him.
Despite settling things with Beck, Robbie remained in a state of fear due to the two original intimidators who remained before him. Jade, however, soon relented, feeling as though her boyfriend had covered most bases for her. Leaving Robbie with a menacing stare, she too stepped back and let Andre take over.
"I just have one question for you Robbie. What did you mean by 'chip off the old block'?" He snarled.
Every occupant of the room could hear Robbie gulp. "N-nothing, it's just an expression. A figure of speech if you like."
Andre wasn't amused. "Expressions have meanings though. So, Robbie, what did you mean by that?"
"Nothing Andre, I swear, it was just an expression." Robbie protested.
"I think he's telling the truth, Andre." Cat called from the back of the room. Andre turned to look at her, seeing that both she and Tori shared matching sympathetic looks.
They thought he was overreacting, being too sensitive. It made him sick.
He sighed and turned back around, guessing that maybe they were partially right, and Robbie would have to win this one.
"Yeah, it's definitely not because your dad is a junkie and your grandma's a crackhead." Rex suddenly barked.
Andre's eyes shot up, pooling with fury as Robbie began to count his last living seconds.
"What the fuck did you just say?"
"It wasn't me- it was Rex, I-"
Robbie hit the floor before he could even think of the rest of his sentence. A childish gasp came from the back of the room and Jade's automatic instincts caused her to look over at the culprit, Cat, obviously, in concern.
"You don't know what you're talking about, Robbie! You should focus on your own fucked up life where you have to use a puppet to stand up to anyone and keep your nose out of mine!" Andre yelled and, with a lurch, he seemed to prepare to kick the boy on the floor.
"No!" Tori yelled, desperately throwing herself at her new friend and pulling him back. With Beck's help, they managed to put up a barrier in between the two former friends.
"Andre, stop! You have to calm down or you'll get expelled!" Tori cried.
"I can't believe you're on his side." He groaned in response.
"I'm not, believe me, I'm not. Robbie, this has to stop right now." Tori ordered, spinning round to face her other friend. "Look what your stupid blog is doing to us."
"And Andre," she continued. "this isn't you. Yes, Robbie is wrong for what he's said and done, but violence won't solve anything. Please, just work with me. Let's sort this out."
With a sigh, Andre nodded, and Tori almost deflated with relief. She turned around to help Robbie up off the floor before fixing him with a sincere stare.
"Robbie Shapiro you'd better make this the best apology of your life." Andre snapped.
He nodded ferociously in response, still trembling in fear. "A-Andre, I'm really sorry. I just got so caught up in being, y'know, popular, for once that I forgot what truly matters. I thought I was being funny but it was selfish and mean."
"You brought my family into it. I don't want to tell you that there's something wrong with you but that isn't and will never be okay, you hear me?" Andre spat.
"I know, I know." Robbie whimpered hurriedly. "I was really stupid and I'm so sorry. What Rex said, he didn't mean it, honestly, and I'm sorry that I talked about your family on the show. That's nobody's business but yours."
Andre nodded in response. "I'm glad you can recognise that. What Rex said was fucked up and I want you to know that if I ever hear either of you say anything like again about my family he won't have a head any longer. Understand?"
"Yes, yes, I won't, I promise." Robbie shook his head furiously. "And the rest of you, I'm sorry for the features I did. I know some of them were true but-" He began, before suddenly realising that the angry stares were returning. "-but-but mostly not. And I shouldn't have filmed you and put those stories online. I'm really sorry guys."
The group were silent, some nodding, apart from Tori who decided that "Apology accepted." was the appropriate response to that. Jade couldn't help but roll her eyes - of course she would decide that for the whole group.
"Thank you guys." Robbie replied genuinely. "Um, the only thing now is I don't have anything to write my blog on."
"Why don't we think of ideas over lunch? There's still ten minutes left." Suggested Andre, in a commendable act of olive branch-extending.
"Sure, I like the sound of that." Robbie smiled.
"Back to the lunch table we go!" Tori exclaimed, leading the way out, with the two boys hot on her tails.
Behind them, Cat followed, whilst Hollywood Arts' most temperamental couple remained unmoved.
"Are you coming Jade?" Cat asked as she hovered in the doorway, seeing the pair stood still behind her.
"In a minute. I just need to talk to Beck." Jade replied, barely taking her eyes off her boyfriend.
"Are you sure? You can try out my new vegetable chopping machine."
"I'm sure, Cat. I can take a look at it later."
"But-" Cat began, before trailing off as she realised it was futile. Jade had other priorities and, as usual, they didn't involve her. With a funny feeling in her stomach, she bit her tongue, spun on her heel and departed the room.
"Well, that was unexpected." Jade said, once the room had regained its silence.
"Yeah, I've never seen Andre get like that before." Beck shrugged.
Jade raised an eyebrow. "I'm talking about your little... performance."
"Oh..." Beck laughed nervously and reached a hand to his nape. "...that."
"Well, don't leave me in suspense, what brought that on?" Jade asked, raising an eyebrow.
Beck shrugged awkwardly. "I don't know. He called you a bitch. I'm not cool with that."
"It's not like it's unusual." Jade replied truthfully.
Beck grimaced. "And that's why I blew up, I think. Look, what I said about giving Robbie the wrong impression, I was kinda talking to everyone, not just him. I'm not a confrontational person but that doesn't mean I'm okay with people disrespecting you to my face, and I'm really sorry I've let that happen."
Jade pursed her lips. Well that was equally unexpected. Not only could she not remember the last time that Beck had actually stood up for her, she definitely couldn't remember the last time he'd apologised for not doing so.
"Jade, you had my child. That's - I can't even imagine how hard that was, and how much you had to put yourself through for that-"
The problem was, Jade thought, that that was his first idea of her. First and foremost, she was his son's mother. They were 16 years old and that was how he pictured his girlfriend. How romantic.
"-and maybe it took me a bit too long but I'm on the same page with your reactions now, okay? That's my boy, and I should've been as angry as you about this whole thing from the start."
"But you weren't, Beck, because that's not you. And I'm not asking you to be something you're not."
"I shouldn't have said you were overreacting."
"I shouldn't have overreacted." Jade smirked. "Kidding, obviously. I maybe shouldn't have tried to punch Shapiro but, come on, I was completely right."
"As usual." Beck smiled. There was a moment's pause then, as though each of them was trying to work out whether the argument was over. In Jade's mind, it probably was, but it shouldn't be; Beck's attempt at an apology was cute but he hadn't really covered all the bases that had aggravated her.
But then Beck did something unusual for him, and elongated the apology, closing the distance between the pair and placing his hands on her sides. For a moment Jade debated sure whether this was a good moment to make a joke about his personality switch. She figured probably not.
"What people say about you - I don't think it's true, any of it."
"Then why do you laugh?"
Beck inhaled deeply and his eyes parted from hers. "I - I think I forget that you get hurt too." He began, and Jade almost pulled back in irritation. "No, wait-" Beck continued, tightening his grasp on her and pulling her back. "I just mean, I think you're the strongest person I know, so it doesn't always occur to me straight away how things make you feel."
Jade raised an eyebrow at this. If her own boyfriend didn't even understand her then what was the point in their relationship?
"I know that sounds stupid, I'm sorry, I don't mean it like that. I just mean - I just take things like that as a joke because I don't care if people think we're going to break up or that we're bad parents or that I'm not Toby's real dad because that's all bullshit." He laughed. "I mean, really, Ryder Daniels? Even he knows you wouldn't punch down that far." He smirked, and she couldn't help herself but smile too. "I just laugh at those things because I know so well that they're not true, so it becomes funny to me that people would even for a moment believe that... but I guess it's a lot funnier when I'm not the butt of the jokes." He said seriously, and the silence returned.
"I don't care what they think." Jade sighed. "But I care what you think, and what our friends think, and when you laugh at things like that then I start to believe that you think them too."
"Jade-"
"No, let me finish." Jade said sternly. "I want to believe that you love me, but when you say things that make other people doubt that, then how can I not start to doubt it too?"
Beck thought that, in the silence, he might've just heard his heart break.
"Oh, Jade." He whispered, pulling her into his chest. "I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you." He repeated, placing soft kisses on her hair. "I'm so fucking sorry." He breathed, pulling away from her so he could look her in the eyes. They were glistening, but Jade West didn't cry.
"I've been an asshole, a total, complete ass. Ryder Daniels would look like Jesus himself next to me right now." He said, causing the corners of her mouth to turn up slightly. "I love you so much Jade West. You're incredible and beautiful and intelligent and there's no one in the world quite like you, and every time I see you my heart does a somersault because I know that now I have at least one reason to smile. I'm an idiot, okay, we both know this by now, but I'm an idiot who loves you to death and if we don't both know that already then here's our opportunity to learn."
This time it was Jade to close the distance between the pair, leaning up to place a gentle kiss on her boyfriend's lips, implying 'apology accepted' in whatever vernacular tonsil tennis falls under.
As they separated, Beck smiled in an exuberant manner that made her want to laugh, push his face away and kiss him all at once. But she too smiled, and for more reasons than one. In that speech he hadn't mentioned Toby once.
Progress.