March,

"Beck, have you seen Jade any this morning?" Robbie asked as we met him outside of the black box theater. Jade had skipped her last 2 classes, now usually, I wouldn't care seeing as she skipped half the time. The only reason I was mildly concerned was because the play she wrote, 'Well Wishes' had been denied to be put on here at the school. 

They said it was too dark or something, I don't know. Robbie and I had gone looking for her in between the last 2 classes we had, and we still hadn't found her. 

He looked up from searching his backpack and shook his head 'no'. 

"Ughh" I groaned as I pulled my phone out, texting Jade for what seemed like the 40th time. 

"What's up?" He nodded his head.

"Okay so you know, Jade's play? Well Wishes?" I asked.

"Mhm."

"Well, Sikowitz and Marty denied Jade's request to put it on here at the school." Robbie said.

"And Jade is pisssed." Rex added.

"She blew off her last two classes and we can't find her." 

"Alright, calm down, I'll help look, okay?" Beck said, as he grabbed my right hand, kissing it.

"Okay, thank you."

"Now where would Jade go?" Robbie asked as we started walking again.

"The janitor's closet." Rex roughly said.

"Hey Beck, Y/n." Tori greeted as Beck, and I urgently searched for Jade.

".. Hi." I said, not really paying attention. I swear, Beck and I had searched this whole school and still hadn't found Jade.

"Sup."

"After school, we're— oh my God. After school, we're going to this insane Chinese restaurant I found right up the street. Wanna come?" Tori asked, almost dropping what she was holding.

"Uh, maybe, if we could find Jade." Beck looked around, as he and I walked away from them.

They turned to us, following. "Where is she?" Andre asked.

"We don't know, she blew off her last two classes." I shrugged, turning back towards them.

 "She's still mad?" Tori asked. 

"Oh yeah." Beck nodded.

"Why is Jade mad?" Cat asked.

"Because you know that play, she wrote, Well Wishes?" Beck asked, they nodded in response. "Well, she wanted to put it on here at the school and they won't let her."

"Why not?"

"The teachers think it's too weird and disturbing." I answered.

"What's wrong with weird and disturbing?" Sinjin asked, now standing behind me.

I turned my head, now looking at him. "Um, your pants are unzipped..."

"I know?" He said, then scurried off as I moved closer to Beck.

"We found Jade." Robbie announced as he and Rex came from around the corner, breathing hard.

"Where?" I asked, now looking at them.

"Janitor's... closet." Rex said, out of breath.

My friends and I walked to the janitor's closet, finding Jade sitting criss cross applesauce on the floor as she cut a trashcan. "Hey.." I softly said, opening the janitor's closet door.

"Whatcha doing?" Beck asked we slowly walked in.

"Cutting up a big trash can." She said, not looking up.

"You cut up the janitor's entire trash can?" Robbie asked.

"He's got another one."

"Jade, listen, I read your play and I think it's really good." Tori reassured, now in the small room.

"I'm not your friend." Jade said as she cut another piece of the trash can.

"Well!" Tori dramaticallyhpuffed as she looked up to the ceiling.

Jade looked up, now looking to Robbie, Beck and me. "Anyway, if the school won't let me do my play, then who cares if it's good?"

"Why don't you just produce your play yourself?" Cat asked as she wedged herself between Tori and Robbie.

"You know how much money that would cost?"

".. No..." Cat shook her head.

"Did she cut up that whole trash can with just a pair of scissors?" Andre asked, looking around as he was the last one to walk in the closet.

"Mhm." I nodded. I mean the girl had been in here for 2 class periods, that by the way, each lasted 40-45 minutes.

"How much do you think it would really cost to produce your play?" Tori asked.

Jade sighed as she cut more of the trashcan. "I don't know, two, three grand."

"Ok. Well then it shouldn't be that hard to find someone to put up the money." Tori shrugged as Jade froze, looking at the ground. Jade stood up, still holding the scissors in her hand and looked to Tori.

"You'd really find me someone to put up the money to produce my play?"

"I meant that—"

"Hey!" Jade yelled, whipping around the group as we all flinched back. "Did she not say, 'it shouldn't be that hard to find someone to put up the money?'" She asked, putting on her impression of Tori's voice.

"She did—"

"Yea."

"Mhm."

"That's what I heard."

We responded, as Jade turned back to Tori. "So, you'll do that right?"

".. Sure." She hesitantly answered.

"Good." Jade said, closing her scissors, walking out of the janitor's closet.

We stood there, in silence for at least 2 seconds before Cat gasped, jumping up. "Sweet and sour sauce!" She exclaimed, running out the closet.

"I said that!" Andre yelled as watched her leave, following her.

Robbie, Beck and I turned to leave since our task at hand had been solved. Tori slid in front of the door, stopping us from leaving. "Hey, do you guys want to give me $3,000 bucks to produce Jade's play?"

They grimaced, shaking their heads as they slipped past Tori. Tori looked after them, groaning "Ugh." She turned back to me, smiling in hope.

"I'll help you find a place, only because Jade deserves this, but I can't fund anything!" I said, putting my index finger towards her.

"Yay!" She jumped up, tackling me in a hug.

After school, Tori, Andre, Robbie and I had all gone to the Chinese restaurant Tori could not stop talking about. She had found it just up the street from Hollywood Arts the other day and dragged me there Sunday. I think the restaurant's name was Wok Star? Anyways, Beck couldn't come though because he was helping his dad out at his hardware store and Jade just didn't want to come.

We had just finished our food and was opening up our fortune cookies!

"Mkay, it says..." I said as I opened my fortune cookie. "'You will encounter a serious gank this week.'" I looked up, looking around the table.

"Jade." We all said, making me laugh.

"Ok, my fortune says, 'He that is not right is often never wrong.' What?!" Tori read from her fortune. She looked up at us with confusion.

"All right, mine says 'Help! I'm being held hostage in a Chinese cookie factory.' Okay, that's pretty good." Andre reads his fortune, nodding his head.

"Okay, your turn Robbie." I said amused, now looking at him.

"You wanna read it?" He asked Rex, holding it close to him.

"Yes." Rex clears his throat, "It says. 'Robbie will never be loved by a woman.'"

"What? That's not true."

"The cookie has spoken." Rex said as he shook his head and looked at Robbie.

"All right, back to Jade's play—" Andre and Robbie groaned, interrupting Tori. "She expects me to pay for the whole thing."

"You should've kept your mouth shut, Tori." I gave her a sarcastic smile, as I moved my used napkin and now broken fortune cookie onto my plate.

"Well, none of us have that kind of money." Andre said.

"What about your bat mitzvah money?" Tori asked Robbie.

Robbie sighed, putting his hand on his forehead. "First, it was a bar mitzvah, I am a boy!"

"Theoretically." Rex mouthed off, making Robbie look down at him.

"And I've already spent the last of my money on leather pants and male makeup." He continued.

Andre eyes bulged as he looked to Tori, who looked confused.

"Wait—" I said, looking at Robbie bewildered for a different reason than my sister and Andre. "Leather pants..?" I questioned, I never want to see Robbie in leather pants, ever. Just picturing it, makes me shiver.

"Everything okay?" The lady who owned the Chinese restaurant asked as she walked up to our table.

"Yeah!" "Mhm." Tori and Andre said as I nodded my head.

"Eh, whatever." Rex murmured.

"Ooh! H.A jacket. You kids go to Hollywood Arts?" She asked, seeing Andre's embroidered jacket.

"Yes ma'am." Andre answered "Yeah, we do." I smiled.

"You know, my daughter auditioned to go to school there, but they said she was talentless and irritating..."

"Oh.. I'm sorry." I apologized.

"That's too bad." "Sorry." Tori nodded her head.

"Wah, wah! Just give us the check." Rex looked up at her.

"Sure. And nobody want anything else?" She asked.

"Yes, $3,000 to put on a bitter girl's play." Tori muttered, looking down to the table as she faked a smile.

Tori didn't actually think the lady would ask about it or even really hear her, but she did, and she was actually interested too. "What play?" She asked.

"Oh, no— I'm joking, how much do we owe?" Tori said, waving her off as she grabbed the check.

The lady rushed to Tori, "But I like theatre very much. Tell me about the play." She urged.

"Oh. Well, one of our classmates wrote it."

"It's about a little girl who falls into a well and then drowns in her own tears." Robbie explained as Rex started chuckling. "That's hilarious."

"You're sick Rex."

"Mhm." I nodded my head, agreeing with Andre.

"What happened, man? We used to be tight." Rex said.

We looked up at the lady as she started talking, shaking our heads at Rex. "Okay! I will put up the money for your bitter friend's play."

"Why?" I asked. 

"Because I love acting and theatre! And maybe one day you kids get famous you will end up on my wall of celebrities. Come see! Come! This way and bring the puppet." She urged, walking to the front desk.

"It's not a puppet..." Robbie muttered as we got up from the table.

"Ah you see the celebrities?" She gestured to her wall.

"Cool." Tori commented.

"All those celebrities have eaten here?" Andre asked, looking up at all the signed portraits and pictures.

"Oh, yes!"

"Oh! Angelina Jolie!" I said, pointing at the picture of her with Angelina.

"Uh, huh. She ordered the won-ton soup, and then she tried to adopt my daughter." She said.

"Oh." I nodded my head, holding back a laugh.

"Come on! Come on! Come on!" Tori urged as Jade, Beck and I walked into the little theater Mrs. Lee hooked Jade with.

"Wow, this is a nice little theater." Beck said.

"Right?"

"And this restaurant lady who you barely know is really going to pay for this place?" Jade asked.

"She's paying for everything." I nodded, talking with my hands as I sat down on one of the chairs.

"The whole play, the full $3,000." Tori added.

"She really hooked you up." Beck said, pointing his index finger at Jade.

"Huh? Love me? Love me now? Yeah, you do. Come on, give Tori a squeeze." Tori said as she held out her arms for a hug, grinning.

Jade stared at her as Tori grinned, waddling towards her. "Here, I'll playfully punch your as if we were friends." Jade made a fist.

"I'll take it." She turned sideways.

Jade playfully punched her, stiffly. "Ok." She said as Tori giggled a little. Jade then walked around the stage, looking around. "Well, I've got a lot of work to do here. I gotta ask Sinjin if he'll help me with set dressing. Maybe Robbie could do the lighting if I ask—" she said, checking things off in her head as she walked around.

"Hello!" Mrs. Lee greeted as she came in the room. "Hey!" Tori greeted "Hi." I greeted as well as she walked to Tori, sending me a wave as I stood up.

"Look, it's Tori Vega with the beautiful cheekbones!"

"Hey, you. Jade, this is Mrs. Lee from Work Star." Tori introduced.

"It's really cool to meet you." Jade said, smiling.

"Is this our playwright?" Mrs. Lee asked, looking from Tori to me.

"Yep." I nodded, smiling as well.

"That's her!"

"I'm Jade." Jade went to shake her hand.

"Oh, and this is my boyfriend, Beck." I gestured to Beck who was sitting in the chair that was besides mine.

"I am the boyfriend." He waved.

Mrs. Lee waved back, sending him a smile as Jade started talking. "And listen, I can't even, like, tell you how amazing it is that you're paying for all of this—"

"Ah, don't even mention that! I'm just happy you get to do your play."

"Well, thanks. I can't wait for you to read it."

"I already did."

"Oh, I gave her a copy last night." Tori said.

"I read it in the bathtub!" Mrs. Lee added.

"O-oh did you like it?" Jade asked her. I swear I have never seen Jade smile this much. The last time she smiled almost as much as today is when we we're watching The Scissoring and it was my 1st time seeing it.

"Loved it!"

"Really? Oh my God."

"Awesome!" Tori exclaimed.

Mrs. Lee moved to stand in front of a chair as she took off her purse, putting it on the chair. Beck stood up, now standing behind me as we watched Mrs. Lee. "Yeah, I only have a few notes."

I looked up at Beck, we both knew if those notes didn't correlate with Jade's vision, we were gonna have some problems.

"What do you mean, notes?"

"You know, ideas to make the play better? Spice it up a little bit." She did a little dance.

I laughed, nervously seeing as no one was saying anything or doing anything. "Oh Gosh.." I said looking down at my feet.

"Uh, you want to change my play?" Jade asked.

"Wow, I got to go to, uh—" Beck chimed as he turned around heading for the door.

"Beck!" I whispered. He looked at me over his shoulder, mouthing 'Love you' as he opened the door, leaving.

"He's so handsome, like a pretty pony." Mrs. Lee grinned.

"Mmmhm." I nodded my head, getting out my phone to angrily text him.

"What changes do you want to make to my play?" Jade asked.

"Jade." Tori turned to her.

"Well, like, what if, when the girl falls down the well, she sings a song on the way down?" Mrs. Lee asked, looking down at her paper of notes. This was not a Disney princesses movie.

"It's not a musical." Jade said.

"But it could be!" Tori suggested, looking at Jade. Jade turned and glared at Tori, making her retract her suggestion. "But it's not." Tori shook her head.

"Who sings when they're plunging to the bottom of a well?"

"Batman."

"Um.. I don't think Batman sings." I softly said, anxiously smiling.

"Look, I'm just trying to help." Mrs. Lee put a hand on my shoulder, as she talked to Jade. "Don't get your underpants in a twist."

"I'll twist your underpants if you—" Jade threatened as she walked close to Mrs. Lee. I was standing in the middle of them, off to the side so I was able to move Jade back before she could finish her sentence thankfully.

"Okay!" I forced a smile, looking from Jade to Mrs. Lee. "Tori." I called, she was the one who opened her big mouth to Jade, and opened her big mouth to Mrs. Lee, this was her mess.

"Look, I think we can all work this out and keep our underpants untwisted!" She said, looking between Jade and Mrs. Lee.

"Right Jade?" I added, making her glare at me.

"I don't need anyone's ideas." Jade said, shaking her head slightly.

"Well, you need my money, so you have to listen to my suggestions."

"No, I don't."

"Jade." I said, looking down at my feet.

"You do too."

"I do not."

"Jade!" Tori called.

"Do too." Mrs. Lee remarked, not helping one bit.

"Lady— I'll smack her!" Jade exclaimed.

"Jade!" I scolded.

"I don't see you smacking my money!" Mrs. Lee raised her voice.

I really wish I left when Beck did.

"You listen, I don't—" Jade said as she inched closer to Mrs. Lee, I grabbed her arm, pulling her away from Mrs. Lee and to somewhere where she couldn't hear us talk.

"Are you insane?" Tori asked as walked on the stage.

"No, she is."

"She's paying for your whole play, Jade." I said.

"I don't need her input."

"Too bad!" I exclaimed as I rocked on my feet.

"That's how show business works!" Tori added.

"It seems wrong."

"Oh, it is! Do you want that lady's money or don't you?" Tori asked her, pointing to Mrs. Lee who was sat in one of the chairs, looking down at her notes.

Jade rolled her eyes as she looked up to the ceiling. "Yeah."

"Okay, then play nice." I said, grabbing her hand as Tori and I led her back to Mrs. Lee.

"So, um, she sings a song as she falls down the well. That could work." Jade said as if it hurt to say, forcing her smile.

Mrs. Lee smirked at her, slightly swaying on her feet. "No, no if you don't like that idea then you don't have to do it."

"I don't?"

"Noo."

"Mom?" A little girl, who looked to be Mrs. Lee's daughter asked as she walked in the room. Mrs. Lee looked at her, her face lighting up.

"Oh, there you are!" She smiled, she ran to the little girl and bent down, wrapping her arms around her. She then steered her daughter towards us, pushing her. "Girls, this is my daughter Daisy. Say hi to them."

"Hi." She said quietly.

"MORE POWER!" Mrs. Lee exclaimed.

"HI!"

"Hi." We greeted back.

"Daisy's going to play a big part in your play." She said as she caressed Daisy's hair, smiling at us.

"Oh.." I muttered, looking at Jade as she forced out a laugh, staring at Daisy. 

"Wow... What a great idea!"

"Say thank you." Mrs. Lee told her daughter.

"Thank you." Daisy said.

"MORE POWER!"

"Thank you!" She yelled as her mom manhandled her in her arms.

"Is this what you meant nana!? I've done good my whole life, but now I'm trapped down in this well and I'll probably never get out!" Cat exclaimed as she rehearsed a scene in Jade's play. She laid down on the ground, faking her cries as Daisy who was currently flying in the air started singing and waving her arms around.

"Don't cry. Don't you cry little girl down in that well. The well where you fell, the secrets you tell. You don't have to cry; just believe you can fly, and you will fly up out of that well!" She sung as her mom mouthed the lyrics.

Mrs. Lee stood up as she clapped and cheered. "Yes! That was so good. She kill it! Woo!"

Jade sighed from beside me, squirming in her chair.

Cat stood up, looking at Jade. "I'm sorry, I'm confused. My character can fly now?" She asked.

"No." Jade firmly said, causing Mrs. Lee to turn, glaring.

"So then why is my angel telling me to fly up out of this well?" Cat looked up at Daisy, who was still dangling in the air.

"Because the angel's mother is a crazy—"

"A nice lady who's paying for this play!" I cut Jade off, forcing a smile.

"That's right..." Mrs. Lee said, looking at Jade. She turned to her daughter and pointed at her, "Sing it again, Daisy!"

"Don't cry. Don't you cry little girl down in that well."

"Hey Jade, hey Y/n." Sinjin greeted as he popped up from behind me. The bell had rung not too long ago, meaning it was time for lunch. Jade and I went to my locker first, putting up stuff I didn't need until tomorrow and then we went to Jade's.

Jade and I turned, giving him our attention. "Hi." I greeted.

"I was working on the set dressing for the interior for the well and I found two different kinds of moss." He held up the moss in his hands. One was green and smaller than the other and the other looked almost identical to his hair.

"They look like your hair." Jade said as she turned back to her locker.

"Thanks, this one's called Kentucky red moss, and this one comes f—"

I was actually kind of interested, I won't even lie but Jade evidently wasn't. She rolled her shoulders back, turning to face Sinjin. "GO!" She yelled, making him scurry off.

"Wha— I kinda wanted to hear what he had to say!" I exclaimed as I leaned back on the lockers, looking at her.

"Well, too bad. He can shove it."

"You know, he's only trying to make your play better." Tori said as she walked over.

"So?" Jade asked.

"So now he's got pee running down his leg." She said, grimacing as she looked.

"Aww, that's gross." I said as I looked too.

"I'm not responsible for Sinjin's bladder control or lack of it." Jade shrugged, putting a book in her bag.

"Why are you being such a baby? Ok, so you're not getting to do your play exactly how you want but at least you're getting to do it." Tori scolded.

"Mhm, and how do I explain that—" She cut herself off, shaking her head.

"What?" Tori asked, as Jade continued putting things away "tell me! Y/n." She looked at me and I looked to Jade, this wasn't my business to tell. Jade closed her locker, looking at Tori as she thought. She then glanced at me, nodding her head.

"Janitor's closet?" I asked.

"Yeah." She nodded "Hold out your wrists." She told Tori.

Tori held out her hands in front of her and Jade and I both grabbed her hands, dragging her across the hall and into the janitor's closet.

Jade closed the closet's door and stood in front of it as she began to explain. "I invited my dad to come see my play on opening night."

"Okay?"

"He hates me."

I looked around the small room as they talked, noticing someone had glued the trashcan Jade cut up back together. That screams something lane would do.

"Uh, but why would anyone hate you?"

"He doesn't understand creative people. He thinks that wanting to be an actor or writer or director is stupid, so I invited him to my play because I thought it was going to be really good and hopefully make him finally have some respect for me but then you let your restaurant lady turn it into a joke which is going to make my dad think he was absolutely right about my dreams being stupid and pointless! Thank you for ruining my life!" She said, playing with some tools the school had left out.

"Pfft... dads." Tori awkwardly muttered, causing me to roll my eyes at her response.

"Thanks Tori. That really helps put things in perspective." Jade walked closer to Tori and put the water bottle in her hand, leaving the closet. Tori then looked to me, placing the water bottle in my hand before she whipped around, leaving.

"Tori!" I yelled after her as she started walking faster. I sighed as I turned to the trashcan, throwing the bottle away. 

As soon as the bottle went in, the trashcan fell apart. "Well." I said, looking at all the pieces on the floor.

Oops.

"And then?" Beck asked.

It was game night and all my friends we're over, well expect for Jade, we were currently playing Crazy 8's. Tori and I had moved the dining table closer to the back patio door earlier, so we we're playing on an actual card table my parents just had laying around in the garage!

Beck sat closest to the living room, and then there was me, sitting on his lap. Next was Cat and Tori, then Andre and then Rex and Robbie. Trina was also downstairs, in the kitchen making some kind of concoction.

"And then she thanked Tori for ruining her life." I giggled.

"At least she thanked you." Andre turned to Tori.

"Gimme one." Beck said, putting a card in the middle.

"Two." Tori said as Andre gave Beck a card.

"What's Trina doing?" Robbie asked, as he looked over to Trina who was putting what looked like avocado on her face.

"I'm putting avocado on my face to give it a natural glow." She said with a contradicting look on her face.

"I use male makeup." Robbie added, smiling as he turned back around to the table. They all looked at him.

"You know, maybe you shouldn't tell so many people about that." Beck remarked, making Robbie look at him and shrug.

"I don't see why not." I shrugged as I looked at Beck.

"Wait. Jade's dad's only coming to the play on the first night, right?" Cat asked, bringing our attention to her.

"Yeah." Tori answered as Andre, and I nodded in response.

"So then why don't we just do it the way Jade wrote it for that one night?"

"Because Mrs. Lee is going to be there and wants it done her way." Tori said.

"But what if she's not there?" Cat hinted, as she smirked. We sat in thought, thinking how that could work.

Andre looked up, sparing everyone a glance.  "I think Cat just said something pretty smart."

"I'm sorry." She apologized, thinking she did something wrong. Aww.

"No, Kitty Cat, it's good!" I smiled in reassurance. "So how would we keep Mrs. Lee from going to the play on opening night? Her daughters in it and she would not miss seeing her daughter 'fly'".

It was quiet for a few seconds, everyone in their head thinking of a plan. Cat looked up from staring at the table "Bingo!" She exclaimed.

"You've got a plan?" Beck asked.

"No, I don't like this game. I wanna play Bingo." She said, placing her cards on the table.

"Wait, wait. Mrs. Lee is totally obsessed with celebrities..." Andre said.

"Yeahh?" I asked.

"If a celebrity walked into her restaurant right before the play started—" He stopped.

"Or a fake celebrity." Tori finished, looking back at Trina, who was still applying avocado to her face. She slowly stopped, seeing us look at her.

"Hi, enjoy the play." I smiled, giving a woman a program about Well Wishes.

"Thanks." She thanked, as she led the girl, she was holding hands with to their seats.

I put the programs down on the stage as I turned to look at Jade was. She had been stuck in that spot, waiting for her father to arrive since we got here.

"Hey." I said as I joined Jade from behind the curtains, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"What— What!?" She grumbled, sending a glare before she turned back to the audience, looking for someone.

"Oh, oh..." I muttered in realization; Jade was freaking out. "Jade, calm down. He's gonna be here."

"Sorry, I'm just freaking out a little."

"I know." I nodded, looking out to the audience as well.

"You guys?" Tori said as she and Cat came from behind the curtain, Cat holding her bra.

"I was getting into costume, and I dropped my bra in the toilet." Cat whimpered.

"You're not wearing one right now?" I asked. It looked like she was.

"No." She shook her head.

"Nothing to worry about." Jade reassured, using her 'Tori voice.'

"I don't talk like that!"

"So, what do I do about my bra— Okay..." Cat asked as Tori took it and ringed the water. It really didn't do anything though; it was still damp.

"Now go get ready." Tori told her, handing her bra back.

"Thank you?"

"You know, she's so sweet but sometimes I wonder— Ow, ow, ow!" I said before Jade cut me off by continually hitting me.

"There he is, there he is, there he is!" Jade urgently said, as she continued her assualt on me.

"Who?" Tori asked.

"My father!" She whispered, watching him walk down the stairs.

"Wow, he looks kinda—"

"Like he hates my guts?"

"Jade." I deadpanned.

"I was going to say cold and judgmental." Tori pointed out.

"That works too." I mumbled, making Tori hit me in my side "What? He literally lost his mind when Jade and I got fake tattoos at the beach. We were 13!"

"Really?" She asked, then shook her head and looked at Jade. "Look, you don't have to freak out. Your play is going to happen exactly how you want it to."

"Yeah, and the guys are going to make sure Mrs. Lee never gets here. It's gonna work out, no matter what your dad is gonna say, okay?" I reassured.

"Okay." She nodded her head, looking at her binder again. She looked up after a few seconds, looking at Tori "What about daughter Daisy?"

"No worries! She's up there in her flying harness waiting for her cue that's never going to come." Tori said as she looked up at Daisy. Jade and I followed her eyesight, seeing Daisy just hanging there.

"I'm ready!" She smiled and we waved.

"This is so cruel." I mumbled, my smile never faltering.

"How could this have happened? My grandmother always said that if I was a good person that only good things would happen to me." Cat said, doing a scene in Jade's play.

"Do you think your dad likes it?" Tori asked Jade as we stood off to the side.

"It's hard to tell, I've never seen him like anything before."

"Is this what you meant nana!? I've done good my whole life, but now I'm trapped down in this well and I'll probably never get out!" She laid down on the ground, faking her cries.

"Hi." We heard faintly from above. We looked up to Daisy as she waved, all 3 of us forced a smile, sending a thumbs up back.

"Come on, Ariel, breathe! Breathe!" The paramedic said, as they hovered over Cat or 'Ariel'.

"Mrs. Lee just left the restaurant." I whispered, reading the text Beck just sent me.

"She's too late." Jade smirked as she stared ahead.

"It's too late." The paramedic said solemnly as he sat back on his legs, grabbing his equipment. I looked at Jade's dad, trying to see a reaction, emotion, something.

"How is she?" The boy who was playing Ariel's dad ran on the stage, running to Cat's 'lifeless' body.

"She's gone." The same paramedic answered as they stood off to the side, holding their equipment.

"What?" He asked, as he crouched down to Cat, kissing her forehead.

Cat raised up almost right away, looking up at him. "Dad?" She asked as the lights started to dim and the audience clapped. Jade, Tori and I walked out from the curtains, going to stand in front of the stage as people started to leave.

"That was awesome." A boy said, shaking hands with Jade as he passed by us.

"Thanks."

"Great work." A man who looked to be in his 20s grinned, going to shake hands with Jade.

"Whatever." Jade waved him off, watching her dad walk down the stairs.

"Thanks for coming." I thanked him before catching up with Jade.

They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before Jade broke it, greeting her father "Dad."

"Jade." He nodded his head, staring back at her for a second before looking over to me. "Y/n."

"Hi Mr. West." I greeted, awkwardly. I was literally over this man's house once a week, I don't know why I was acting so shy. He did quite scare me though; the man was emotionless and empty inside. 

He looked back over at Jade, as they continued their staring contest. I looked down to the ground, noticing it looked very interesting. Was this stone?

"Just say whether you liked it or not!" Tori exclaimed, looking between Jade's dad and Jade.

"Friend of yours?" He asked.

"Eh. So, my play?" Jade said.

I looked up from the floor, awaiting his answer. He looked down at the program then back up to Jade ."I thought it was excellent."

I squealed, causing them to both look at me. "Sorry." I apologized, biting back a smile.

"Thanks." Jade said content. "Anything else?"

"Would you please take that jewelry out of your face?" He asked in a reprimanding tone.

"No." She firmly said.

He stared at her for a second, before bidding a farewell. "Bye."

"Bye." Jade looked at the ground as he walked away. Tori and I moved to stand in front of Jade as I sighed in contentment.

"So, get what you wanted?" Tori asked her.

"Mhm." Jade nodded. "I've never seen him look that happy before."

"Sad!" I coughed, recomposing myself as I looked up at Jade with an innocent smile.

"Come on.. give Tori a squeeze." Tori urged, holding out her arms as she cheesed. 

Jade smiled, giving Tori a hug as I squealed again. "Aw!!"

"Oh! I miss it?" Mrs. Lee exclaimed as she ran in the theater, looking around the now empty room "Ah, dang, I miss it!" She kicked a nearby chair.

"It's okay!" Tori reassured.

"You can see it tomorrow night." Jade said.

"And watch your daughter fly and sing again."

"Just like she did tonight.." I added, faking a smile.

"Aw, was my little girl wonderful?" Mrs. Lee asked.

"Ugh, oh yeah."

"She stole the show."

"She did really good!"

"Aww!" She grinned.

"I'm ready! Mom? Mom?" Daisy said, still in the harness as she dangled in the air.

Mrs. Lee looked around, wondering where her daughter's voice was coming from. Jade, Tori and I looked around also, sending Mrs. Lee a smile when she looked our way.

~