Hidden In Plain Sight

Summary: After a breakup with Beck, Jade runs away. Nearly three months later, she returns. She's changed a lot and refuses to talk about what happened whilst she was gone- not even to Cat or Beck. Bade.

Chapter One:

Jade's POV;

"So that's it?" I questioned. I was holding back tears as I stared at Beck. He looked down, ashamed to look in my eyes. I breathed through my nose, heavily and moved to pick up my Gears of War bag up off the floor. I had come straight to his RV after school so we could work on our math homework, but I just had to bring up the fact that he had been staring at Tori for too long. I knew I was just being paranoid, but I would never admit that to Beck.

Beck nodded, finally moving his eyes from the floor to meet my own. I swear I could see tears in his eyes, but realised I must have been mistaken because Beck never cries. I nodded my head back, accepting the fact that this was it. Me and Beck were over. There was no getting back. We had come to a silent understanding, and I had honestly lost all energy- I couldn't be bothered to argue anymore. I was done and it seemed he was, too.

I turned and opened the door to the RV I had spent most of my high school years in. I hesitated for a split second, hoping, just hoping that he would stop me, say something and tell me he was making a mistake. But he stayed silent and allowed me to leave.

The second I stepped out of the RV and had closed the door behind me, I started running. I could feel the tears brimming in my eyes and I didn't want to break down and cry in front of my boy- ex boyfriend's home. I felt my feet propelling me forwards, taking me home, and before I knew it, I was at my own home. I hadn't been here since this morning and it was now 11pm. I hadn't told my father where I was going after school so he was probably wondering where I had gone, but not enough to be worried or call the police.

Quietly, I unlocked and opened the door, letting myself in. I closed the door with a soft click and waited silently, listening to see if my father was awake. When I realised he wasn't, I quickly made my way through the house to the stairway and went up them. I strode to the door at the end of the long hallway and opened it, stepping into my dark room. And I don't mean dark because of the light, I mean dark because of the colours. I smiled happily at how much it matched my personality.

I slung my bag on the bed and threw myself down next to it. For a while I stared at the ceiling emotionlessly, not allowing myself to think or feel anything. I knew if I did, I would think of mine and Beck's breakup and I- at that moment, I let out a heart wrenching sob. I hastily covered my mouth, trying to stifle my crying for fear of waking up my father- I knew he wouldn't be happy in the slightest.

My body shook with each covered cry. I tightly closed my eyes to stop the tears. Wiping my sleeve over my eyes to dry the wetness, I sat up on the bed and reached for my bag. I opened it up and searched through it for my red pearphone. I found it at the bottom and I unlocked it with shaky fingers as I still tried to stop crying. Stopping what I was doing for a moment, I took a deep breath in then exhaled.

I repeated the action a few more times before I had calmed down enough to go back to what I had opened up on my screen. On my phone, Cat's contact was up. The picture I had saved for her smiled back at me. Not a hint of sadness present- there never was with Cat. She was always the life among out group, always came to school every day with a smile on her face and new story to tell. Whether it be about her brother, a dream she had, or just something random she thought of on the spot, she always had something positive to say.

I thought for moment. Did I really want to do this? Did I really want to dampen Cat's mood with my darkness and depression? Well, it had to be done, I decided. Someone had to know my plans otherwise I wouldn't be able to go through with it.

With the press of a button, I was calling Cat. I quickly checked the time on my phone screen before putting the cell to my ear. 11:26pm. There was a high chance Cat wouldn't be awake, but I had to call anyway. She always kept her phone on loud anyway, and the second her subconscious heard the Sesame Street theme tune, she'd be up.

It took four repetitive rings before the red-head answered her phone. There was a groggy "Jadey?" From her end of the phone and I almost felt bad for waking the child-like teen. Almost. "Hey, Kitty-Kat," I replied, bringing back the nickname I gave her in Kindergarten. Just this once, for her.

"What's wrong, Jadey? Why are you calling me so late?" She curiously asked. I sighed.

"I just needed to tell you something. But you have to promise not to tell anyone."

Tori's POV;

I walked into school, lagging behind Trina (who was making me carry her stupid books), and almost tripped. I groaned. Why did Trina have to be so annoying? I wondered to myself. When we neared the steps, I helped my older sister put her books in her bag and immediately left her, heading towards my own locker.

Below my locker, I saw Cat. She was sitting by her own bright pink locker with a sad expression on her face. I also took notice of the dark colours she was wearing. I frowned. Why was Cat so upset? Nothing upset her this bad. Except Mona Patterson's death. That had been dreadful.

I sat next to the red-head and looked at her. She ignored me until I coughed to alert her to my presence. She looked at me for a second before turning back to stare at her one outstretched leg. "Cat," I whined, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she lied. I rolled my eyes, she was the worst liar ever.

"You can't lie to me, Cat," I told her. She looked up at me and I smiled encouragingly at her.

"Well, last night... Something may have happened, but I promised not to tell anyone," she admitted. I sighed.

"Did Robbie try to play 'pirates' with you again?"

"No! It's nothing like that," she hastily reassured me. I nodded, waiting for her to continue. "It's just, I got a phone call. From someone," I saw her eyes sneakily drift to Jade's locker and I silently wondered if the goth had done something to upset Cat. It wouldn't be the first time, I realised with a grimace. "And they entrusted me with some information," the use of big words from Cat made me sit up straighter- this must have been serious. I gave her my full attention, ignoring the warning bell. "And- and," she stuttered, "and the information made me sad, but I can't tell anyone and that made me even sadder," she squeaked, covering her mouth with a hand. I pulled her in, letting her head rest on my shoulder as I shushed her, quieting her crying.

It didn't take long before she stopped crying and we could talk again. "Cat, you can tell me what happened. Who called you and what aren't you allowed to tell anyone?" I pressured. She fiddled with her sleeves before she could no longer take it anymore and burst out, "it was Jade! She ran away last night and made me swear not to tell anyone or she'd kill Mr. Purple!" She exposed and with a gasp covered her mouth again. I gasped too and covered my mouth. Jade had run away?! We had to tell someone!

I quickly stood up and dragged Cat up with me. She grabbed her bag on her way up and squealed in glee. It was shocking how her mood could change in a split second. Sometimes I worried about her. "Where are we going, Tori?" She asked when I quickly put a book I had brought to school in my locker. "We're going to tell someone. Jade could get hurt, or lost, or even die!" I had exaggerated the last part, but it got Cat's attention so I wasn't too worried about my lie. "But we can't, Tori, I promised!" She said as I grabbed her arm again, intending to drag her to Lane's office.

"Can't what? And promised who what?" I heard from behind me.

Beck's POV;

I was heading towards Cat and Tori because Sikowitz wasn't too impressed when those two and Jade didn't show up for class. I knew Jade wouldn't she was probably sulking at home. I don't blame her, though. I wasn't going to come into school today, either, but I had an exam last period so I had to.

When I reached two of the girls I was looking for, I heard Cat exclaim in a panicked voice, "but we can't, Tori, I promised!" Curious as to what had Kitty-Kat so worked up, I made my presence known by asking, "can't what? And promised who what?" Both girls looked at me, shocked. I had a feeling this had something to do with Jade. If Cat's behaviour and sad mood was anything to go by, she had either been told by the goth that we had broken up or Jade had done something and made Cat promise not to say anything. Jade used to do that a lot back at the start of high school when she had problems at home.

That last thought worried me and I focussed my attention on the fidgeting girls in front of me. "Well?" I asked in a more demanding tone.

"I'm sorry, Cat," Tori apologised then turned to me, "Jade ran away last night and made Cat promise not to tell," she said in one breath. I felt like my world had stopped turning, like the breath had been knocked out of me, like I was going to die right then and there. I was so shocked I could do nothing more than stare at my friends. They stared back with pity and sadness. I took a step back in shock when I had gathered almost all of my bearings. "What did you say?" I questioned. Tori repeated herself and then I knew, I knew that I hadn't misheard. Jade had run away last night.

I turned to Cat, who had tears in her eyes for her best friend, "did she tell you where she was going?" I pressured, striding forward. Cat shrunk back and I stopped myself, waiting for her answer. "I-I don't know, Beck. It was so late and she woke me up and- and I just don't remember anything other than the fact that she's run away," she said with sadness and guilt.

I nodded, backing off for a moment. "We need to tell someone," Tori said, breaking the silence. "Sikowitz, Lane, her parents, the cops. It doesn't matter, we just need to find her," both Cat and I bobbed our heads, agreeing with her. It was a good thing she had come to her senses. If she wanted to see her best friend again, she needed to tell someone exactly what Jade had told her.