Work Text:
5 facts about Jade West
1. She hated birthdays, specifically her own.
2. She was extremely smart, but didn't like to brag about it
3. She was forced to take responsibility for her little sister Delilah, who she grew to view as a daughter
4. People touching her without her permission reminded her of her childhood. It wasn't a happy childhood.
5. She actually considered Beck's friends to be her own friends, and without them her life would be much harder, mentally. Her life was, after all, pretty messed up.
1. She hated birthdays, specifically her own.
You wouldn't know by just looking at her, how she walked, talked and carried herself. Nothing gave it away, she had adapted an image that helped her decive the people around her.
It didn't start out as a secret but it had become one after a misunderstanding. She could have said something then, but choose to not to. Why? She didn't know, but it was done. And she had choosen to not correct them, years later. And now she lived in the lie, that wasn't really a lie. She just hadn't shared the truth. But why should she? It didn't affect anyone, and it wasn't a big deal. Why would it matter if she, Jade West, was a year younger then her classmates?
People saw her as mean, as someone who thrived in uncomfortable situations. And it was true, sure. But the things she anticipated if she told her boyfriend, friends, that during all the years they had known each other, they had gotten every single birthday wrong. Because when she got to blow out sixteen candles on her birthday cake, she should have blown out fifteen. It wasn't something worth correcting, even if it made things trickier from time to time.
Like when she first met Beck and started dating him and learned that he was a year older then all the other kids in their grade. He didn't give an explanation then, but later, when she found out he was from Canada, she figured it was because canaidians started school a year later. If she had been the right age as her classmates, that wouldn't be an issue. When she was a year younger however, is became something to think about. Two years when you were thirteen and the boy you liked were fifteen was a big difference, and it would continue to grow. When he would turn eighteen, she would just turn sixteen. It didn't help that Beck was born in February and Jade in November. It was something Jade was aware of but ultimately something she decided to not think too much about, because she grew to love the boy.
One of few things she wholeheartedly could say she loved, and even if the age was an issue it was something she ignored. How could she not, when Beck Oliver had captured her heart?
So even if people often viewed her as mean, as someone who couldn't feel bad for others or for herself, she didn't say anything. She grew to hate her birthdays however, because even if she told herself it wasn't a lie, it felt like one. She hated her birthday, because it was a constant reminder that she was younger, that they didn't know and that she didn't know how they would react if the truth was revealed.
2. She was extremely smart, but didn't brag about it.
Her image in school wasn't that of a nerd, someone smart. She was viewed as someone dangerous, a mean-spirited human being that had chosen HollywoodArts because she couldn't handle regular school. She wasn't smart enough for them and the only thing she was good at was arts. That wasn't true, as Jade was extremely smart. She did keep that to herself though, so what if she got A's on almost everything? Without really studying. Her ability to learn, her thirst for knowledge, was the reason she was able to skip a grade back in middle school.
She had no problem with people treating her like she was dumb, sure, it used to irritate her but she had learned to control it. Had come to the conclusion that it was better this way, it was kind of fun actually. When other students explained things for her that she had known for years.
Of course the teacher knew, the teacher knew what a wonderful place Jade's brain was. In the beginning, when she had started HollywoodArts and they had seen how smart she was, they had tried to make her participate more. Had tried to make her show that she knew, wasn't dumb. Something that they know had stopped with, when they had understood that Jade wasn't going to brag about it. Wasn't going to rub in the fact that she could still be successful if her dreams of becoming a writer, singer, actor, didn't come true. Because that wasn't the case for a lot of other students, they weren't dumb but they weren't smart. They weren't overall talented but they weren't trash at it either. They were normal, something Jade wasn't. She was extraordinary, had learned from a young age that she needed to be that if she wanted to escape her family.
3. She was forced to take responsibility for her little sister Delilah, who she grew to view as a daughter.
Her best friend was special. Cat wasn't like others, and even though Jade knew for a fact that Cat was older then Jade herself she didn't act like it. Jade handled that well, used it to her advantage. Because if people had suspicions about her age but saw her with Cat, they imideatly came to the conclusion that Jade was older. It wasn't true, but she was more responsible. Had been forced to it, when her mother had become pregnant. The father was unknown, Jade didn't know if her mother knew and chose not to tell her, or if she actually didn't knew.
The thing she did know was that the pregnancy lead to her little sister being born. Delilah West.
Jade hated a lot of thing, one thing she didn't hate were her little sister. She was innocent, it wasn't her fault she had been born intro a bad family, and Jade had taken her under her wings. Didn't fully trust her mother to take care of the child, didn't want Delilah to go through the things Jade had gone through. That wasn't a childhood she would wish upon her enemies, and definitely not a childhood she would wish upon her little sister.
She used to think Beck was her first love, and she did love him. But Delilah was the first one to take a piece of her heart, and it was a joy to see her grow up. To be a part of forming her as a decent human being, and as many things in Jades life she held Delilah a secret. It was to protect her, to protect her sister that had became more like a daughter to her. She was pretty sure Delilah didn't see her as a sister, because in all honesty Jade acted more like a mother to the young girl then the woman who had given birth to her. She was still present, still there, but in the periphery.
Delilah was the reason Jade knew to handle Cat, because if you had a three year old, soon to turn four, it was a necessity to carry fun things to do wherever you went. That was the reason she had a colouring book and crayons in her bag, ready to give to Cat, or Delilah. Because when you had someone in your life that you cared about, your would revolved around them. You were always thinking about them, and even if it became stressful sometimes to find time for everything she needed to to, she loved it. She would change a thing, wanted Delilah in her life. Needed her to keep her sane, alive.
4. People touching her without her permission reminded her of her childhood. It wasn't a happy childhood.
Her childhood wasn't good, her parents were okay, just not with each other. The people around them weren't okay, and less said about that, the better.
She didn't like people touching her if she didn't trust the person, and made that very clear without explaining why she didn't want to give someone a hug. She didn't need to explain, because a no should be taken as a no, with or without a reason.
5. She actually considered Beck's friends to be her own friends, and without them her life would be much harder, mentally. Her life was, after all, pretty messed up.
She viewed Andre, Tori, Robbie, sometimes even Trina, but never, ever, Rex, as her friends. She knew she claimed, mainly Tori, not to be her friends, but they were. She could lie to them, but not to herself, and she knew that her life would have crashed a long time ago without them. Cat was Beck's friend as well, but Cat had been Jade's first. Had actually been Jade's first friends, and even though she could be annoying from time to time she loved her. Was actually grateful for her and the friendship they shared.
She needed her friends, she needed them to accept her flaws. Her ups and downs, her behaviour that everyone didn't like, but that had grown to be a part of her. She needed them, and in the future maybe she would share those thoughts. They accepted her now, more or less, when they didn't necessary understand her, and if she got to explain herself, explain some things about her life, she was almsot sure the would understand and still accept her. Because they were good friends, even if she hadn't made that known to them.