Final Project

XXXVII.

"This is a song many of you may remember," Jade announced when she took the microphone from Cat. She stared down into the crowd, her harsh, unsmiling face causing a shiver to run down many people's spines. But then, she put on her infamous smirk, the one that let everyone know she was in control and there was nothing anyone could do about it, "I tweaked it a bit, because life needs tweaking sometimes."

Then the music started right away. Beck and Tori automatically caught on to the tune…it was the song Jade wrote and performed a few years back. She had dedicated it to Beck while they were in the middle of an ongoing fight. The song worked like a charm back then; as soon as it was over, Beck was by her side, telling her he missed her.

"You think you know me but you don't…know me. You think you own me but you can't…control me!"

And Tori still remembered that day perfectly…

Tori had just walked into the school building when she knew something was off. The hallways were way too quiet and one single voice was way too loud.

Beck and Jade were having an argument; Jade's voice was echoing off the walls while Beck maintained his quiet mode, though it wasn't hard to tell that that mode was about to be replaced very shortly.

"Beck, why can't you just do this one thing for me!?" Jade yelled with anger and hurt. She had Beck backed up against a couple lockers, and she looked determined to get her way one way or the other.

"Don't talk like I never do anything for you," Beck countered with an even tone, "I just don't think this is a good idea…"

"It's not about what you think, it's about what you'll do!"

"Well, that certainly doesn't sound very fair."

Jade groaned in frustration and turned her head away from him in disgust. That's when she noticed that everyone in the hall had their backs to them, but their heads turned toward them at just the right angle to see everything that was happening, but not making it look too obvious.

Which it was, anyway.

"Who wants to tango?!" Jade screamed as she pulled a pair of scissors from her handbag. Instantly, the hall was empty except for the unhappy couple and Tori.

Tori was sure she should make her presence scarce as well, but for some reason, she never knew how to leave well enough alone when it came to her friends fighting.

"We'll discuss this later," Jade said with venom. That's when she noticed Tori taking cautious steps towards them. She didn't call her out for it, she just simply turned on her heel and walked toward Sikowitz's class, "Andre's already in class," she yelled over her shoulder before she disappeared inside.

Ever since Tori and Andre let their friends know that they were dating, Jade's attitude towards her had positively increased dramatically. She now wasn't always yelling at her, mocking her, or insulting her (though those still had occurrences).

She watched as Beck pressed his back against the lockers and ran his hand down his face with defeat. She felt a bit nervous, because in all reality, this was the first time it was just the two of them since the whole Platinum Music Awards "mishap." Though she felt almost positive that everything was fine between them (after all, he went straight back to Jade and Tori was dating Andre now), she still felt a pang in her chest when talking with him one on one.

Still…she didn't want to simply walk away from him when he looked so down. She was still his friend after all, so doing so would seem way too cold.

"Everything okay…?" she asked timidly, taking a few more steps toward him but making sure not to break at least a ten foot distance.

Sighing loudly, Beck shifted his bag, "No. Yeah…yeah, everything's fine, thanks."

Tori raised an eyebrow at his response. It seemed so unlike him to say something like that…and not only that, but he was obviously lying (and she wasn't just basing that off of what she just saw).

"Okay, well if there's anything I can do to help…" Tori trailed the last bit off. She basically said it out of common courtesy, but before she could walk away and separate herself from him once again, he stopped her.

"Wait, I need your opinion on something…"

Tori tried her hardest to hide her discomfort and lack of willfulness, "Okay…"

"Say we were dating…" he began, which made Tori look around in fear. He hypothetically asked her a question like this before, around the time she first started going to Hollywood Arts. Jade didn't like that at all, and she was sure she wouldn't like it now.

Beck may have felt a similar uncertainty upon starting a statement with that, but he had already assumed that the reason Tori didn't kiss him that night was because she liked Andre, so to him, he was just trying to move on without seeming weird.

"And you kinda needed to do a certain thing, so you agreed, but only if I would do it too, and the catch is, you plan on not doing this thing at all and leaving me to do it all," Beck explained the situation in code.

Tori tried to wrap her mind around Jade's secret scheme, "Umm…well, if I was planning that, why would I even tell you I was not doing it?"

"Because there's really no way of hiding it. I would go to your door to pick you up, so even if you told me then, I would just end up not doing it as well."

She put some of his new words together, "Okay, so since you're picking me up, I'm assuming we need to go somewhere. Meet someone, probably, since why else would it matter if I left you?"

Beck grinned at her, which made her cheeks turn a light pink, "You're a smart one. So yeah…why would I bother going when you're not even going, and it's your thing?"

All the "you" and "I" talk was starting to get to her, so she had to bring the conversation back around, "If you don't feel comfortable doing whatever it is, then just tell Jade that."

"I did."

"Then…" Tori wanted nothing more than to let it go now. It was weird standing so far away from him while having a conversation like this and she just wanted to get into class and sit next to Andre and try to ignore what was going on with Beck and Jade because she just didn't want to think about "Beck and Jade" yet!

"Then…?" Beck urged, believing she had some wise advice.

She sighed and brought her bag further up on her shoulder, "I don't know; I don't want to get in the middle of it." And with that, she turned and walked into the classroom, her heart still heavy as she dropped her numb body in the seat beside Andre.

"Hey, Baby Girl, what's—," he stopped when he got a good look at her crestfallen face, "You okay?"

Tori slowly raised her eyes to his and he knew instantly that it had something to do with Beck. He had only been dating Tori a few weeks, so it wasn't anything serious and he had sympathy for her pained and confused feelings. When the classroom door opened, Andre looked back to see Beck walk in and sit a few seats away from Jade. Looking back at Tori, he saw that she lowered her eyes again. So he slumped back in his seat, like she was, and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders.

Tori never found out what happened with the situation, because Beck never brought it up again. All she knew, was that a few days later, Jade was singing "You Don't Know Me" to him and they were kissing again.

"You look at me and there's nothing that you see. You stopped listening…stopped listening!"

Around them, the other seniors were jumping and swinging their hair around as they danced to the song, but it just made Beck and Tori feel even more out of place than they felt since they returned.

"You hurt me good…I'll hurt you worse! Harder! Harder! Talk is cheap. I'll scream at you! Louder! L-l-l-louder!"

Not sure what to do with her eyes, Tori began looking around for Cat. She was hoping she would come over to her when she got down from the stage, but she didn't even see a flash of red anywhere. Tori stood on her tiptoes as she tried to scan the crowd.

"You looking for Andre?" Beck asked her over the loud music.

Tori shook her head and opened her mouth to say Cat's name, but that's when she spotted Robbie who was, incidentally, talking to Andre. She patted Beck on the shoulder and then pointed to what she saw. Her and Beck then met eyes.

"You gonna go ask him about that song?" Beck yelled in her ear, but Tori just bit her lip. She knew she should, just so she would know what was really going to go on in a few songs, but the thought of trying to talk to him again was nerve-wracking.

"And the longer that you stay, my heart is breaking…And you need to go away, to go away…"

This little bit that was very different than how he remembered it caught Beck's attention as he turned his eyes back to the stage. Jade seemed to be staring right at him already.

"You hurt me good…I'll hurt you worse! Harder! Harder! Talk is cheap. I'll scream at you! Louder! L-l-l-louder!"

Beck tried his best to apologize with his eyes despite the great physical and emotional distance between the two of them, but Jade either ignored it or didn't catch it.

"Oh, it looks like he's going up on stage now," Tori said as she gripped Beck's arm. He looked away from the stage and toward Tori, watching as her eyes followed Andre into the crowd. He was kind of worried for her, because he knew Andre was most likely going to sing a song that portrayed his emotions….for as long as Beck knew him (which was a very long time…about seven or eight years), that's what he's always done. He was sure Tori was aware of this somehow, but she didn't quite come to grips with it.

So much for an enjoyable graduation party.

"Hey, let's go talk to Robbie," he suggested, hoping that would at least distract her a little bit more.

"Okay, maybe he knows where Cat is," Tori agreed, slipping her hand easily into his so they didn't lost each other in the crowd.

When the couple reached him, he was again looking forlornly at the ground. Guess they weren't the only ones not having a great time.

"Hey, Robbie," Tori greeted, putting on a big smile when Robbie looked up, "Where'd Cat go?"

Robbie just shook his head, "She said she didn't want to be here anymore."

Tori's eyes widened and Beck felt her grip on his hand tighten, "What…?"

The moment was temporarily broken as the crowd broke into a chant of calling Andre's name. Tori looked over her shoulder, her hair tickling her bare back as she watched Andre put his guitar strap over his head and put the microphone in the stand.

"Hey, everyone," he spoke, causing the crowd to applause and scream for him more.

Tori looked around at everyone, realizing that these people were Andre's very first big fans. He was already a legend at Hollywood Arts and he didn't even leave yet. She smiled softly to herself. Andre's going to become a huge success…I can't wait to see his name everywhere…

"This is a song I wrote the last time I was at KaraOKAAAAY," And, of course, the audience went crazy again when Andre's got Lil' Jon's trademark word just right, "Here goes."

Right away, beautiful yet austere music filled all their ears, and Tori couldn't help the goose bumps that tightened her skin…the reaction she got when she first heard any of his songs. But this one felt different, because if her guess was correct, the last time he was at KaraOKAAAAY was when Jade threatened to call the police. Which meant this was the song he was writing the last time she tried to talk to him.

"Break down, I can see you're upset; so high, but I didn't help it, I wish I could just forget…you. Up now, heartbeat's racing. One touch, now I'm faking. This time, there's no escaping…you."

Then Andre sang into the microphone with so much raw emotion that it made Tori relive all those night in Japan when she lied to him, and the night he caught her cheating, and their failed conversations afterward…

"Where's my angel?! Go on and take my life! Where's my angel!? I need someone here tonight!"

She felt tears sting her eyes, because she realized how badly she let her best friend down. She knew that he basically put her on a pedestal; to him, she could do no wrong. She had the perfect voice, the perfect personality, the perfect material to be his girlfriend…in his words, she was his angel. Fallen angel.

"So cold, but you have my body. One kiss, and this is gonna haunt me. My God, you look so lovely…girl," He met her eyes for a brief moment, but it seemed to be too much for him, for he was looking straight ahead the next second, "Heart's gone, tonight is your chance."

He looked at her again, "You trade love for a little romance. Too late! This will be the last dance…girl."

Upon these lines, Tori looked away. Is that really what Andre thought? That she traded in something real with him for something fake and shallow with Beck? How dare he think that! When did it ever seem like this was some sort of fling?! If it was, wouldn't she have left Beck as soon as they left Japan?

"Don't let it get to you," she heard Beck say gently into her ear. She looked at him and realized that he must have noticed her reactions etched on her face.

"Your little hookup did ruin a lot, you know?" Robbie spoke up randomly.

Beck and Tori both turned to him with shock.

"You say you want it, you love me then thought it…"

"Rob, listen, I know that—," Beck tried to begin, raising his hand to put on Robbie's shoulder.

Robbie shrugged him off before he could even do that, "I don't think you do know! I don't know if either of you noticed, but this whole night is a flop! This whole week was a flop! Everything was just so…floppy!"

"You're breaking my heart and you're taking me down!"

His use of the word floppy may have been slightly humorous under any other pretenses, but Beck and Tori could definitely sense that he was pretty pissed.

"You wanna know where Cat is? Truth is, I don't even know, but she couldn't take all this hostility anymore. You know how she faints when people fight! Well, this time was even worse! You know how many times she fainted on me this week?" Robbie yelled, and though it seemed like a hypothetical question, he looked annoyed when they didn't answer, "Four-and-a-half!"

Tori had the slight urge to ask how someone can faint only half a time, but didn't want to lose focus on the main point at hand, "So she just…left? It's graduation, all of us will be leaving soon anyway! Beck and I—."

Robbie shook his head, "You don't get Cat's mind, do you?" He put his forefinger to the side of his head, "She doesn't see things like the rest of us do. She tried so hard to stick it out this week and try not to take sides, but it was destroying her! I convinced her to come tonight in the stupid hopes that maybe the six of could have fun together…like the rest of high school was. It just made her more anxious."

The crowd broke into whistles and applause as Andre's song ended.

"Tori…aren't you due for a duet with Andre now?" Beck asked gently, knowing she was getting a lot thrown at her at once. First it was Andre's song, now the news that they may never see Cat again.

"Right…" Tori answered distantly before turning and walking briskly to the stairs that would lead her to the stage.

Beck watched her go, but his heart sank when he saw Andre leave the stage the same time Tori was heading for it. He's not gonna do it…Beck thought to himself downheartedly. He figured Tori would run into him along the way and decide what to do then (he hoped she would think fast), but before he knew it, he saw Tori up on stage, who looked utterly shocked to find that Andre was not there.

"Andre's leaving, too," Robbie publicized to Beck. When Beck turned back to him in shock, Robbie explained further: "He just told me he got some record deal with IVM Music…or something close to that. It's in Miami."

Beck's eyes widened, "In Florida?"

Robbie cocked his head to the side, "There's another Miami?"

Beck was sure there was, but didn't feel like saying so, "So he's just…leaving? Now? Right now?"

Robbie shrugged, "I guess. He said he planned on driving there."

"Here's to us, uh-oh…"

Beck heard Tori begin singing, though there was no music playing. He recognized the song…it was the song her and Andre sang during the Cow Wow. But the version she was singing now was very slow and unplugged…it seemed to give the words a whole new meaning.

"Here's to…never winning first place. Here's to…crying on your birthday. Here's to…" Tori paused and Beck watched as she wiped a tear from her cheek, "every single heartbreak…"

Beck just happened to look at the right spot at the right time. He saw Andre gathering up a few of his instruments and heading to the parking lot. Beck broke out into a sprint in an attempt to catch him before he sped away.

"Here's to the mistakes…somehow they always drop you in the right place…"

Oh, the pain their mistakes caused! When it came down to it, everything was getting ready to crumble as soon as the Platinum Music Awards ended. All of it was bound to come full circle and here it was. All of their friends were splitting and go separate ways and there was no time for second chances.

"Andre!" Beck yelled as he watched Andre open his trunk.

Andre turned around when he heard his name, but it showed that he instantly regretted acknowledging Beck. Still, he gave a short, dry, "Hey."

"You're, uh…seriously going to Miami?" Beck asked, shoving one hand in his pocket while the other ran back through his hair.

Sighing irritably, Andre threw some drum sticks into his trunk, "Man, Robbie can't keep a secret worth shit."

"I don't think he realized it was supposed to be a secret…" Beck said in Robbie's defense.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Andre snapped, shifting a lot of things in his trunk before slamming it closed, "Everything else around here is a secret."

"Look…man, I know you're pissed and you have a right to be"—Beck noticed Andre roll his eyes—"but Tori…she'd really like to—."

"Tori and I already had a couple failed discussions. It's over," Andre opened up his passenger side back door and picked up his keyboard from the ground.

"Okay, well then have a discussion with me," Beck said with edge in his voice. He was tired of tiptoeing around Andre, "What was up with that line in your song? Something about…"trading love for a little romance?" You really think that's all me and Tori have?"

"I dunno" Andre mumbled as he put the keyboard in the car, "You know what they say: Relationships with the hottest beginnings have the coldest endings."

"Our relationship has been beginning for…years now. There was nothing—."

"Shut the hell up!" Andre yelled as he slammed his car door shut. He finally turned and looked Beck straight in the eye, "You have no idea what you're talking about! You don't know what it was like for us these last few years! Whatever she told you, there's more than she's letting on," he paused, calmed himself a bit, "There has to be…"

Beck's form slumped. He realized that he couldn't be angry at Andre for anything, especially when it was just some song lyrics in the midst of the whole big picture. Andre was entitled to his opinion on how he saw things, and from his point of view, what Beck and Tori had was nothing more than a cheap lie.

"Aren't you at least gonna get your diploma?" Beck asked, because he didn't know what else to say about their relationships with Tori.

"They'll just mail it," Andre waved it off, making it apparent that that was the least for his worries, "I just want to get a head start on the drive."

Beck nodded as he watched Andre go around to the driver's side and open the front door.

"Have a safe trip," he turned to walk away.

"Beck," Andre called out, sounding somewhat uncertain. When Beck turned back around, Andre put his elbow on his hood as he cradled his forehead in his open palm. He looked conflicted and seemed to hate himself for what he was about to ask, "Why'd you do that to me? I mean…you were my best friend and you know I love her…"

First thing Beck noticed was how he kept it in the present tense. There was no loved. And it made his answer all the harder to find…because truth was, he really didn't have one. What kind of guy was he, really, to do that to his best friend?

"I guess 'cause…I love her, too," was all he could think of.

Andre looked away, taking his elbow off the roof. Beck could still see his profile so he could tell Andre wanted to say something else. He wouldn't have been surprised if it was something along the lines of "I love her more." But of course, when you grow up, that kind of line just sounds silly and childish, despite the many truths that lie behind it.

But he didn't say anything. Instead, he got in his car, started it up, and drove away without even looking back. Beck pressed the bottom of his palms to his forehead and looked up at the night sky. He heard Helen's voice in the microphone telling the seniors to line up to receive their diplomas.

Almost done…

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

All right! Well, Jade's song is Liz Gillies' "You Don't Know Me", Andre's song is "Where's My Angel" by Metro Station, and Tori's song is "Here's 2 Us". All beautiful songs, none are owned by me. Sad face!

So this was the second part of their graduation. I'm sorry some of you thought, from the last line in the previous chapter, that I was planning on killing someone off. I didn't realize it sounded like that until it was mentioned in reviews...I guess sometimes you don't think about stuff like that when YOU know what you mean. In my head, I was thinking about how Cat separated herself from everyone at Hollywood Arts and met with with Sam (thus creating a new show all together). And since my story is ending soon, I figured I would incorporate that in here as well.

Also, I don't know if you guys (meaning, my reviewers) never got the chance to sit down and read the last chapter or didn't like it or are just getting bored with this stoy, but I didn't get a lot of feedback from the last chapter, which made me believe that the time for the end os definitely drawing near. I'm gonna try to wrap everything up before this story loses it's popularity all together. Maybe I'll even try to post the very last part on September 16, because that would mark exactly 2 years for this story. Yay!

Thank you all for reading and reviewing! It means a lot!

-Enula