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The boys were sitting at their usual table in the Asphalt Cafe eating their lunch when Tori and Cat joined them.
"This is not fair!" Tori complained as she put her bag on the floor and sat down.
"What's not fair?" Beck asked.
"The fact that Jade is at Fashion Week with her mother and we are writing maths."
"She will also write it when she comes back." Andre pointed out, but Tori didn't care.
"She probably suffers more than we do."
Robbie knew her mother well because they were neighbors. She was always kind to him, but sometimes she was a problematic and annoying woman. She always wanted to lure Jade away from her father.
"Why?
Tori didn't know Jade's family personally, only from the news, but she knew that half of the rumors were definitely lies. That woman couldn't be that bad, could she?
Robbie suddenly looked around, not really wanting to say anything bad.
In the end, he didn't get an answer to her question because Beck's phone rang.
"Hi! What's up? Of course you can come here!" He put the phone on the table, but Andre saw the name at the last moment.
"Lindsey? Really?" Suddenly everyone was looking at him.
"Dude!"
"Who is she?" Tori asked confused, apparently she was the only one who didn't know the girl. Cat is suddenly in a bad mood.
"Beck's new girlfriend who looks just like Jade." Rex noted.
"She's not my girlfriend and she doesn't look like Jade at all." Beck looked at Robbie nervously.
"She looks just like her, only with red hair."
"And uglier." Cat remarked maliciously. Tori looked at her in surprise, that was Jade's style.
"Why is she coming?"
"I left my earphones with her."
"I knew you slept with her." Andre rejoiced as if he had won a game.
"Reds are good in bed." Rex interjected.
Beck wondered for a moment how many girls Robbie had been with.
"Here she comes, shut up." He waved them off.
She went over to him, gave her a kiss on the cheek and said hello to the others. She seemed to be in a hurry.
"I haven't met you yet, I'm Lindsey!" Tori looked, who suddenly froze. The others were right, he really looked a lot like Jade.
"Hi, I'm Tori."
"Don't you have class?" Beck asked quickly before anyone started talking to her.
"It's about to start." - She looked at the watch- "Sorry, I have to rush now, but we'll see each other again."
She gave Beck a kiss and hurried away.
"We'll see each other again."? - Andre repeated. - "Will ahe be a permanent member of the team?"
"We already have a red one." Robbie noted.
"And I can laugh."
"What does that mean?" She looked at Tori Cat confused.
"She can't laugh. If something is funny, she just says "That's so funny!".
"That's not true because I heard her laugh when she was drunk. Believe me, she better not laugh."
André started imitating Lindsey and everyone laughed along with him.
"Would you finish? She's a decent girl, she doesn't deserve to be teased." Beck gave he a disapproving look.
"Yes of course." Cat got up nervously and stormed off.
"Where are you going?" Tori asked, but she was so fast that he didn't hear her anymore.
"Cat, wait!" Beck yelled, but since she didn't stop, he hurried after her. He catches up with her at the lockers.
"Leave me alone!"
"What about you? You've been very distant lately. Did I hurt you?"
"The trouble is that you're a selfish asshole who goes after his own dick!"
"What?"
"You're disgusting, leave me alone!"
She was irritated but did not shout.
"Hey!" Lane said from behind us. Helen waited at the door for the story to continue. A hot topic in the teachers' room was the students' love lives.
"Everything is alright?" The man asked.
"Yes of course." Beck said, Cat nodded.
"Come with me to the office."
"It's not necessary, everything is fine."
No one wanted to talk to the man.
"We're just chatting for a bit." Both students carefully took hold of him and pushed him forward, indicating that they should go forward.
They sat next to each other in the office, there was an awkward silence.
"What is the problem?"
"Nothing!" Cat answered quickly.
"Beck?" The man looked at the boy.
He didn't like talking to him. He liked him but he was annoying. After the breakup, he took every opportunity to talk to him. He forced her to talk about her feelings. But what should he say if he doesn't know how he feels?
"She hasn't been acting normal lately! A friend of mine came to see me and she's completely freaked out."
Cat laughed sarcastically.
He looked at the girl then back at Beck.
"How long have she been acting like this?"
"I don't know, maybe in the last couple of weeks."
After the breakup, their relationship was good. They met less often, but he always loved her like his little sister.
"Why did you say selfish asshole?"
"I said because it is." Her voice was firm and hurt.
Lane took a deep breath and let it out. This conversation is going to be harder than you thought.
"What kind of friend did you visit? I didn't see anyone."
"Her name is Lindsey, we met at Tori's concert. Cat doesn't seem to like her."
"Do you sleep with all your 'friends' or just the ones who look like Jade?"
He reacted without thinking.
"She doesn't look like her!" He said stubbornly. Ever since he met Lindsey, Andre and Robbie have been joking about it, but he hasn't seen it.
Cat pulled out her phone and looked for a picture.
"She doesn't look like her, does she?"
"Was she at the asphalt cafe? I thought Jade. It was weird that she gave you a kiss."
"Lane!"
"She really looks like her." He shrugged.
"It's not your problem. Before I met you, you were angry with me for no reason."
"For no reason?" She didn't want to believe that she was saying that. Are you so oblivious to what you're doing?
"You've become like Jade. Don't be surprised if I spend more time with Tori and the boys."
"You are much worse than Jade ever was!" - She couldn't stay sitting, she had to stand up.
"I'm a good friend!" - Beck also stood up.
"If you were a good friend, you would have supported she!" She spoke louder and more nervously.
"I always supported her!" He was always there for her, always supported her. What is she talking about?
"No, you support Tori all the time!"
"Both of you sit down and calm down." Lane raised his voice. The two young people looked at him in surprise and then sat down, they never heard the man shout.
"Cat, please tell me what happened, I don't understand anything."
"Jealous of Tori!" Beck said quickly before speaking.
"Why would she be jealous?"
"Because Manson chose Tori, not them!"
"Tori has been learning to sing for a few months. She has a good voice and is talented, but nothing compared to us. We come from Broadway and we're not the only ones, yet she got a chance."
Lane knew what she was talking about. Several students were upset by how many roles Tori gets.
"Not only did Jade feel bad, but so did I. But we didn't say a word."
"Jade has taken her chance!"
He was protecting Tori again, Cat wanted to hit him.
"She didn't take anything away from her! Manson fired Tori and gave Jade a chance. She deserved it. Your reaction was 'No way.'"
He wanted to say something but no sound came out of his throat.
"You've been together for almost two years and she deserves this?
Leave her alone. Just go back to Tori and stick your tongue down her throat one more time."
"What the hell is going on?" Lane asked out loud. He felt like he was in a soap opera. They forgot it was there.
"How do you know?"
"Before the performance, we talked on Video chat and I didn't turn off the camera. She saw everything."
"What she said?"
"You wanted to kiss the girl who gave her self-esteem issues and then find another girl who looked like her? After that, she let Tori sing. How do you think she felt?
He wanted to say so many things, but he couldn't think of anything.
"What about you?"
You fight with her once, you immediately upset her, you want to kill her with your eyes.
Sometimes you tease and joke with her as if nothing had happened.
You're with other girls but you're wearing her necklace. No matter how hard you try to hide it, everyone sees it.
You're jealous when she's with other boys and you look out for her."
"Decide what you want because you'll ruin both of you."
She took a deep breath and blew it out. She had wanted to tell Beck this for months. Few knew this side of her.
Beck knew she was right, but he didn't know what to say. His mood has been fluctuating since the breakup. He read that breakups hurt more for women, but they get over it sooner. Unfortunately, it was true.
"I can go?" Cat asked, now more calmly.
"I want to talk to you later. You can go now."
Beck buried his head in his hands as he walked out the door.
"Are you okay?"
"Great." He said mockingly.
He raised his head and leaned back on the sofa.
"Can I go?" He asked that.
He knew that he wouldn't speak now, he probably wouldn't have been able to in his place either.
"Yes, but if you want to talk I'll be here."
"Thanks." He said then went back to the classroom as fast as he could. For the next few days, he would either talk to Cat or avoid her. He didn't decide.