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Jade had shown some extraordinary patience, really. Or she had ... for her. That disclaimer always had to be added when discussing Jade's patience levels, as they tended to be one word - low.
So Jade would have insisted that she was patient, even if others (such as Beck) brought up the exceptions. There was that time that she saw Tori get the lead in the "Steamboat Suzy" play and she threw a chair and crumpled the cast list and sort of had a huge temper tantrum that Beck later scolded her for, even though he understood the bitterness of her disappointment.
"How does Vega get that role?! I deserved it far more than she did!" Jade had ranted with overtones of rage.
That oversight had been a bitter pill to swallow - especially when all her best conniving got her nothing but passed over even as understudy when Sikowitz was unimpressed with her attitude from practices and then grounded when Beck came back and heard about what she had been up to for "pranks" while he was away. He had been shocked that no one had suspended or expelled her for the stunts she pulled with Tori and had not wanted her to internalize the idea that there were no consequences for risking a sort-of friend's health.
Jade had "learned her lesson" and did not resort to trying to trigger Tori to have allergy attacks anymore. Beck even talked her down to a point where she accepted that it was okay for Tori to have gotten the role although she was not as talented of an actress.
"Sikowitz was probably just throwing her in the deep end, trying to really test her abilities. It probably was not meant to be an oversight of you. He already knows you're great," Beck had convinced her.
But that was before it happened again.
And again.
And again.
And that final "again" was the one that caused the cork to blow. Jade's face went pale as she looked at the list posted on the classroom door at the end of a very long Friday. She had come at a time of relatively empty halls. Although she had doubted that Sikowitz would make such a mistake so many times in a row, she was almost starting to expect it. She had come at a time when the least number of students would be around to titter in amusement while watching her fight back her embarrassment and shame and disappointment over being overlooked.
And, yes, it had happened again.
Once again, understudy.
There was no way that this was about Tori anymore. She had had her chances to practice, her chances to prove that she had some talent. But if this was all about talent, there was no comparison between Jade and Tori's skills. Jade was dedicated. While Tori had only decided within the last year that she wanted to be an entertainer, and then set her eyes on being a pop star singer, Jade was and had been dedicated to acting for more than a decade. Jade had been taking acting lessons for years, and despite being in Hollywood Arts with specific acting classes each week, she still took an extra class on Saturdays and picked up masterclasses whenever possible. On top of that, she had logged hundreds of hours of voice, dance, music, and improv classes since she was six, and likely thousands more when it came to practice. She studied writing, not just because she wanted to write professionally someday, but also because it gave her a better understanding on how to perform. There was never a week where she did not have a couple lessons to prepare for, and Jade always strove to prepare beyond the minimum requirements.
Tori was good for an amateur, but she was still only an amateur who was enjoying starring in plays when she did not have music events lined up. Compared to that, Jade was skilled, practiced, experienced, and dedicated beyond even some professionals.
Sikowitz was an acting teacher. He knew the differences. This was not some mistake made while drunk on a coconut.
And this was IT! All vestiges of patience were gone, and Beck was not there to hold her back. That idiotic acting "teacher" was going to hear all about it from here, and he was going to hear from her now.
"Where's Sikowitz?" Jade barked hoarsely, her throat tight. Others could only hear the anger. If Beck were there, he would have heard the hurt, but he had a writing lab he had to attend, and so all the unlucky students stuck in the hall with her tried to avoid contact and from getting bruised legs from their knees knocking together.
"I think he went home already," a passing student offered meekly before skittering away to avoid being anywhere near her.
"So he thinks he can hide?" Jade sneered. Thanks to that insane acting exercise a while ago, she knew exactly where Sikowitz's home was, and she was going to pay him a visit.
He'd better be there, or when he returns he might find that someone has done some "landscaping" for him. After all, pruning hedges are just large scissors.
...
Jade stalked up the front path to Sikowitz's house, visions of rogue toilet paper rolls, spluttering bottles of spray paint, and a couple boxes of spoiled eggs dancing in her head (accompanied by a rather strong paint gun). She was so focused on her plans for what to do to his house if he was not there that Jade was startled when she realized that Sikowitz very much was there. He was standing barefoot on his porch with a large straw broom, leaning against the faded wooden handle as he drank from a coconut.
She hated that old hippie even more for startling her as she drew to an abrupt stop at the bottom steps of his porch.
If Jade was surprised by Sikowitz being at his house, he did not seem surprised to see her, although he did seem to be looking rather past her at first.
"Hello, Jade," he said, almost dreamily, looking at one of the trees on his yard. "Caterpillars are out today. Funny little creatures they are, caterpillars."
Jade had just caught her breath and was about to leap into berating him, when he looked over at her and hospitably offered, "Want a coconut?"
He likes a stupid nut way better than me! I bet if he could cast a coconut, I would have never been in any of his shows!
Jade wordlessly snatched the hairy nut from her teacher and, as he just as silently watched her, she smashed it on the railing of his porch, cracking one of the laiths as coconut milk and fibers splattered over both of them. Flecks of old paint and splinters from dry wood littered the deck. There was a dull clink as to rusty old nails made a delayed fall to the ground.
Jade's anger lifted for a moment, cleared by the destruction she had just caused. Even she felt touched with a little bit of horror that she had just damaged private property belonging to the only teacher whom she had always thought could at least be relied on to not want to expel her.
So, the cast list proved that he doesn't like me. And now there's absolutely nothing to keep him from kicking me out. Good going, Jade. Just great. You'll spend the rest of high school hating yourself for letting yourself slip just now. You idiot !
She expected Sikowitz to yell. To threaten. To throw her off his property or call the police. To announce he would be talking to the principal on Monday, first thing in the morning.
Instead, he stayed perfectly still, looking at the mess curiously but without any negative emotion. He waited a few agonizingly long beats before he commented, as calmly as if he were commenting on the weather, "I prefer drinking them myself, but occasionally cracking them helps." He looked at her, or more, into her. It had been a while since anyone other than Beck had truly looked into her eyes, trying to read them. "What was so bad about your day, Jade?"
"I want your attention!" she gasped, feeling shocked by her own actions but still overwhelmed by her anger at him.
"I see. What for? Most students try to avoid finding me for extra homework."
Jade raised her eyebrow and glared at him. "I'm not joking!"
Sikowitz shrugged. "Isn't all of life a joke?"
"I'm not here to argue philosophy!"
"Then what are you here for?"
"I want to know why you are always choosing Tori over me!" Jade demanded with a stamp to aid as punctuation.
Sikowitz actually looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"Once again, you gave her the lead. And I'm the understudy. Again. What is so wrong with me as an actor that I can't ever get the leads anymore? I get that you might hate me as a person, but can't you at least give me the chance to build up my resume?" Jade asked brokenly, fighting back tears.
"There's nothing wrong with you as an actor. You're good - not that you really need anyone to tell you that. Frankly, I'm disappointed in you for not taking up any of the opportunities I've been sending your way," Sikowitz said without even a trace of his trademark humour.
Jade spluttered, her cheeks turning uncharacteristically red as she glared at Sikowitz. "You are ... disappointed in me?! For not taking you up on 'opportunities'! For what? Humiliation?!"
Sikowitz finally seemed to be stirred up, a sharp burst of anger colouring his own words. "I have never referred you for a single role that I did not believe that you could do and do well. And I don't ever intend to humiliate my students, Miss West. I try to get them to stretch and grow and behave decently, but I don't purposefully try to humiliate students. And if you really want to do well in Hollywood, then you need to at least go in for the auditions rather than telling your agent that you aren't interested or that you think you're too good to start with small roles like anyone else."
"I do my best, and I do go to all the audi... Wait, my agent?" Jade stopped suddenly. "What do you mean, agent? I don't have an agent."
"Your parents said you did. When a student registers at Hollywood Arts, the parents select whether they would like for us to directly tell their child about any opportunities we hear that would be applicable to them, or whether we should contact them or an agent. Your parents insisted that I only ever contact your agent. Something about not distracting you from your studies until someone checked if it was a feasible role for you."
Jade's mind was whirring with active confusion. "I ... I don't have an agent, Sikowitz. I'm certain of it."
His face fell into comparable bewilderment. "But ... I've been calling him for months with audition opportunities for you. And he said he knew you and didn't seem to be confused with another client..."
A sickening drop was deepening in Jade's stomach. "You ... you said 'parents'. Do you mean my mother or my ... father?"
Sikowitz frowned a little, remembering. "I think your mother had to step out for a phone call at that point of the paperwork, and your father was in a hurry, so he gave me the information. He seemed against the school, but I thought that he was very supportive when he said that he had arranged an agent for you."
Jade felt ready to gag. There was no way that her father - who was against liberal arts and especially against her as an artist - would have paid for an agent for her for even a moment. She pulled out her phone and swiped through some contacts.
"Does the number for this 'agent' happen to be anything like this one?" she asked, trying to hold back the rising disgust and panic swirling in her chest.
Sikowitz squinted at it. "I think so. That looks familiar. I called it just the other day to tell your agent about an audition opportunity for a small movie. A former student is the producer and he usually pushes for a few students to have a chance to play some smaller parts. I thought you would have a good chance."
"Can you call his number on your phone now and ask if the person is Jade West's agent?" Jade asked, trying to keep any tremor out of her voice.
Sikowitz gave her a look that showed he knew something was wrong but was unsure on exactly what was the matter. Still, he agreed, "I can."
He dialed. The phone rang.
And Jade heard her father answer.
She clapped a hand over her mouth to keep herself from gasping, yelling, or crying. All three seemed equally likely to happen.
"Is this Jade West's agent?" Sikowitz asked. "This is her teacher, Erwin Sikowitz, and I wanted to check if the recommendation for an audition I gave last time had been passed on to her."
"I did, but she has no interest. She's considering other career options at this time. You might want to consider that as well." It was her father's most condescending, haughty tone. As angry as she had been at Sikowitz fifteen minutes ago, Jade knew that he was a good teacher and he did not deserve to be talked to like that. She felt a flush of shame start climbing up the base of her neck, embarrassed that she was related to that.
She did not hear how Sikowitz politely ended the call. She stood to the side in shock, until she felt something rough being placed into her hands.
Sikowitz had trusted her with another coconut.
She took a shaky breath and then a small sip. It was not as bad as she had thought that it might be.
"Was that your father?"
She nodded.
"I wish I'd known." He did not ask "why". He just knew that it was not a good situation. And wacky, crazy Sikowitz stood there with her, somehow not at all wacky or crazy, somehow making the horrid moment a little more bearable.
My father betrayed me in a way I never even knew until now! He has so little respect for me that ruining my reputation by portraying me as unreliable, uncooperative, and snooty is his hobby!
"I think I understand your reactions lately a bit better now," Sikowitz finally ventured to break the silence. Jade gave him a vacant look. Being understood did not matter so much now, but Sikowitz still explained. "I didn't understand you weren't getting offers. Your frustration makes a lot more sense."
Jade managed a small nod. The frustration at always feeling cast aside had triggered some strong reactions.
"You're too good to be just performing at Hollywood Arts, Jade. That's why I kept putting you as an understudy or minor part. I knew you'd be able to pull it off in an emergency, but it would leave you free for bigger and better opportunities as they came."
"Really?" she asked, somehow feeling even worse.
"Of course. You're good. I want you to succeed."
Coals of fire on my head. I pegged the wrong person as the bad guy.
"Thank you," she said quietly, subdued. She looked guiltily at the destruction she had done to his porch. "I'm ... sorry for all..."
"The caterpillars and I don't mind."
Jade gave quiet thanks for forgiving improv teachers and nonjudgmental caterpillars.
"Do you think your father would give consent for you to be represented by an agent?" Sikowitz asked hopefully after a moment.
"No," Jade said flatly. She was certain of it.
Sikowitz thought it over for a moment. "Does your father care about your grades?"
"Yes. Well, not so much my arts classes, but he does like bragging that I'm smart. When my GPA brags about it, he brings it up to his acquaintances more than he even talks to me."
"And you would like to act or perform outside of Hollywood Arts, correct?"
Jade nodded wildly. "Of course!"
Sikowitz grinning, scheming radiating from his body language. "Well, you're a student, so I can require you to have certain experiences to pass my class. You're going to be getting a lot more homework, Jade."
She looked at him in confusion. "Are you meaning detention for breaking your porch? I can have it fixed..."
"No, no, no. I mean that I'll be giving you homework where you are required to try out for roles or auditions off-campus, with a requirement that you try for at least one role each semester until you graduate."
"But that's not a normal requirement at ..." Jade said, then stopped in surprise at her own obtuseness. "I get it now." She dipped her head a little, now even more embarrassed by her earlier meltdown. "You can really do that?"
"Indeed. Or I'll make it happen."
She bit her lip reluctantly, then whispered, "I'm sorry I blamed you."
Sikowitz shrugged. "So, I'll see you in class on Monday?"
Jade nodded. "I'll be there."
"On time?" he hinted.
She smiled a little and nodded. "Yes."
Although Sikowitz did not see her until Monday, he did notice that at some point on Saturday someone sneaked onto his property and fixed the porch. From the two prints of combat boots in his garden, he was able to deduce that Jade and Beck had come by to fix her damage, but he never brought it up again. Little things like that never bothered Sikowitz for long.
And as wild as her schedule got, from then until she graduated, Jade put a much bigger effort into Sikowitz's class than any of her other classmates. She handed in assignments before deadlines. She went along with a few wild performance ideas. She even put in an effort to get to her seat punctually at least a couple times a week (something that the kiss-"deprived' Beck did not always support).
She knew Sikowitz believed in her, and that made all the difference.
It was sad that she could rely more on an improv teacher than her own father. The death knells for that relationship were just starting to crescendo.
But for the rest of her life, she would remember the teacher who gave her the best possible chance for success and started her career. And if someday in the future, dedications and speeches and interviews mentioned him as an inspiration and support instead of Mr. West, the rest of the world probably benefited right along with her.
Sikowitz wasn't too bad after all, and he thought the same way of Jade.