By Any Other Name

Chapter Four

Seeing Tori with Beck makes Jade's blood boil. She's not really sure why. Was she hurt because Beck was already making a move? Had their relationship really meant that little to him? Was she jealous? Of who though? She may not have been in love with Beck anymore but she'd shared the past two years of her life with him. He was her closest friend... sometimes she'd thought he was her only friend. She didn't like to share what was hers. So... was she jealous of Tori? But she couldn't have been, she had... feelings for Tori. Uncontrollable feelings. So, did that mean she was jealous of Beck?

The crunch of her coffee cup and the heat running over tender flesh told her Yes when Beck smiled that oh-so-charming smile and pulled Tori into a hug. Her nostrils flared as her hand continued to clench and more and more of the burning liquid seeped through the holes her nails etched in the cheap plastic.

How dare he... bastard breaks up with me no more than five hours ago and he's already making his move. Dammit, Vega probably doesn't even realize what he's doing. I've seen that smile before... that's his charming nice-guy smile, the same smile he used on me when we first met!

Her lip curled up in snarl, one perfectly white tooth exposed, sharp and dangerous. Looks like Beck wasn't the saint she'd always believed him to be; he was just a regular teenage guy, hormones and all. She was in no position to criticize though; it'd be downright hypocritical of her to hate him for wanting to move on and be with someone that never failed to make him smile. Why?

Because she wanted to do the same.

While she conceded that she rarely ever smiled in Tori's presence, that didn't change the fact that Tori always managed to work through the dregs of her heart and find the little slivers of gold her crap-shoot of a life had missed. Deceivingly vicious banter, shouting matches, even the occasional collaboration... though her lips never did more than twitch or curl, Jade began to cherish her time with Tori, and couldn't imagine a Hollywood Arts without her.

There had been one day when Tori had come down with a 24 hour bug and didn't show up for school; Jade had spent the entire day glaring at nothing, trying to find a way to entertain herself. And she'd never admit it out loud, but she'd silently stalked André all day, hoping someone might ask and he'd know when she'd be back.

It would have been out of character for her to go and ask him herself.

When her foot started to burn she looked down and cursed. Not only had she demolished her coffee cup, but the liquid life inside had dripped all down her arm and soaked through her converse. She was slightly surprised by how red the skin on her hand was; the coffee hadn't seemed that hot. Transferring the demolished cup to a nearby trash can she tried to shake off the excess liquid, but when she glanced up and saw Beck waving goodbye to Tori she all but sprinted away.

Praying the half-Latina would take her time leaving the building, she lunged at her car door, yanked it open, and plopped down into the driver's seat. Leaning forward (and thanking God for tinted windows), she kept her gaze fixed on the door while her hands busied themselves with blindly digging through her purse for her phone.

With no Vega forthcoming, Jade spared a few moments to send the girl a quick, Jade-esque invitation.

'I'm waiting in my car. If you're butt's not here in five minutes I'm leaving.'

Once the message she was sent her eyes darted back up and she found that she'd texted not a moment too soon, for Tori had just stepped through the double doors. Jade watched her rummage through her bag for her phone, her heart hammering in her chest. It stopped abruptly when she saw Vega's brows furrow in confusion and she began to glance from side to side, as though searching for something. After a moment she shrugged, turning her gaze back to the device in her hands, and Jade let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.