Behind The Scenes

The Gorilla Club

As soon as Beck hears Jade's car door slam, he shoots a text off to Cat.

tag, youre it

kk :))))))

He passes out not long after.

***

Cat skips down the stairs as she goes in search of her mother. She spies her brother doing something he shouldn't but she needs her mother's attention right now so she pretends she didn't see and keeps going.

She's in the kitchen making dinner. "Can Jadey sleep over?" Her head barely turns in Cat's direction.

"It's a school night."

Cat twirls her hair as she bounces on her toes. "It's Friday."

Her mom stops stirring and finally looks up to Cat. "Right. Yes. Just stay away from-"

"I know!" Cat runs off to grab her keys and squeezes her shoes on before catching the bus to Jade's.

Cat texted Jade a dozen times that she was coming over while she was on the bus but even so Cat still has to knock on the door for several minutes before she answers. She looks surprised to see her.

Cat pushes past her, "We're having a sleepover!"

Jade resists the urge to roll her eyes. Beck's doing no doubt. "No."

"It's going to be so much fun." Cat counts the stairs as she runs up them. There's always 33 but she likes to make sure. Three is her favorite number.

Jade considers following Cat upstairs but decides that it's pointless and plops onto the couch to wait. Cat's voice floats down, "I finally got the extended edition of The Scissoring. I haven't watched it yet." That's for her benefit. Cat has watched the movie with her enough times that she's decided she likes it but the director's cut is something they promised to watch together. Jade's been putting it off for months.

"Can we stop and get snacks on the way? My brother planted all our candy last night." Jade notes the black duffle in Cat's hand and her phone in the other. She knows she'll find everything she would pack for herself in there and that it'll be enough for the weekend.

"I said no."

Cat heads for the door as if she hadn't said anything at all. "I think Lizzie will die in this one." A pause as she opens the door and walks out. "Oh! Can I have cupcakes? I love cupcakes!"

Jade watches as Cat skips all the way to her car and then patiently waits for Jade to unlock the doors. Jade takes another minute and watches Cat sway back and forth as she waits in the hopes that maybe Cat will change her mind. She's not lucky enough so she grabs her keys off the table and locks the door behind her.

When Beck wakes up at 3am he sees the notification from Cat on the slap. It's a picture of her and Jade sitting in bed together. Jade's glaring at the camera but Cat looks happy as can be so he knows it's okay. Jade's okay. He rolls over and goes back to sleep.

She's ignoring him. He can't tell if she's mad at him for sending her away on Friday or if she's pushing him away to protect herself. Either way, he's in the dog house. She barely speaks to him at school and when they go to Tori's for poker night she sits as far away from him as she can.

It's not just him though. She's short-tempered today but it lacks her usual bite. There's no energy behind any of it. Not even when she snaps at Trina. Part of him hates that he knows this. Hates that it's not because he knows her well but rather that he's gotten so used to monitoring her moods that it's automatic. Unfathomable that he wouldn't be watching her, gauging how she is mentally at any given time.

When the time comes the next night for them to take Tori to the Gorilla Club she ignores all of their text messages and calls until they're forced to go without her or not go at all. He almost backs out to go check on her but since Cat's going with them Andre will have his hands full and then Tori would have no one there with her.

It's the disaster he thought it would be and he kind of regrets going but at the same time, it was nice to just be out with his friends. He can't remember the last time he had a night out where all his thoughts weren't focused on Jade. So when Tori wants to run lines the next day he volunteers. And when she wants to go back to The Gorilla Club the next night, he goes with her. And when she asks him to help her run lines afterward he doesn't see a reason not to go. Just to be safe he texts Cat and asks her to join them. He and Jade might be in a weird place but they were still together and he was still loyal to her.

Jade doesn't see the gesture the same way. Even though she knows where he's been the past few nights she's still angry when she storms into Tori's. She aims her anger at Tori but even then it lacks her usual bite. She taunts Tori into the Gorilla challenge anyway and despite his best attempts, Tori won't back down so instead, he watches Cat call Andre and Robbie and rolls his eyes when Trina tags along. He can't help but notice that Jade doesn't look particularly happy about her triumph. She seems more annoyed that she now has to go with them. Almost like she didn't think it through, didn't realize that she was agreeing to more socialization.

He can't help the hope that blossoms in his chest when she stands next to him at the barrier. It's as close as she's been all week. It recedes into the back of his mind once the buzzer goes off. While Tori doesn't die it doesn't go particularly well. When they start deciding who's going to follow Tori to the hospital Andre just assumes he's going and he doesn't bother to refute it.

Jade gives him side-eye but she doesn't say anything and he figures that if she really cared she would say something. Anything. Maybe yell at him for breathing too loud but she doesn't so he goes to the hospital with Andre and Trina and Jade drives Cat and Robbie home. He calls her once he gets home but she sends it to voicemail. He sends a quick text.

i love you. try to get some sleep

Then he sends another text to Cat. He sees her typing before he can even close his phone. She takes too long but he knows it's really only a few seconds.

I have her

He exhales a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. For all of Cat's weird quirks, she's a constant. Never has she not shown up when he or Jade has called. That's when he realized she knows. Maybe Jade has never said the words to her but Cat's experience with her brother has opened her eyes. She knows and she's never said a word to anyone. Not even to Jade or himself. It's the unspoken secret they keep for the girl they love.