"You're sure you don't want me to walk you in?" Priya Oliver asks her son, placing a hand on his shoulder

"Ma..." Beck groans, shrugging her hand away "I'm in eighth grade! I can't have my mom walking me into school on the first day."

"And why not?"

"Do you see any other parents here?" Beck gestures to the sidewalk in front of the school "Everyone else is just dropping off and leaving."

"Well everyone else doesn't have a son starting his first day at a brand new school." Priya reminds him "And in a brand new country too, I might add."

"Ma, I'll be fine." Beck assures her "I have my class schedule and if I need help, I can ask."

"Alright then." Priya sighs, reaching out to smooth a wrinkle that has appeared on his shirt "Well, have a good day. I love you."

"Thanks, I love you too." He smiles a bit, stepping forward and hugging her quickly before breaking away again "I'll see you later."

"You know which bus to get on, right?" His mother calls after him as he begins walking away

"Twelve!" He calls back to her "Busses don't work any different here than they do in Canada, Ma!"

Beck quickly integrates with the crowd of students headed into the middle school. Priya watches him until he's out of sight, and then turns to walk back to the car.

Inside the building, Beck tries his best to remember where his locker is. He had received a personal tour of the building from the assistant principal the week before, but he hadn't been back since. He remembers that all of the eighth graders have lockers in the same general area, so he tries to follow the kids who look like they're the same age as him. Eventually he stumbles upon locker 637 and grabs his schedule out of his backpack to retrieve the combination.

"Seventeen..." He sighs, spinning the dial on the lock "One...twenty-four. Please open, please open."

He pulls up on the latch and to his relief, the locker pops open. He shoves his backpack inside and grabs everything that he's going to need for his first few classes, since he won't have time to come back during every single passing period.

His first class is math, and thankfully there are signs to help him find his way to the correct classroom. There's already plenty of students at their desks, shouting across the room to one another and discussing their weekend. Beck doesn't know anyone, and he's not sure where he should sit or if he's even in the right place. So he stands there awkwardly at the front of the room, one hand gripping his schedule and the other keeping his folders and notebook tucked under his arm.

The bell rings to signal the start of class, but that doesn't seem to have any effect on his classmates. They continue talking and laughing, oblivious to his presence.

"Alright, alright, settle down." A woman says, entering the classroom and closing the door behind her "The bell rang, that means your voices are off. Oh! Hello."

"Hi." Beck says shyly "Are you Mrs. Evans?"

"I am." She smiles kindly "I take it you must be Beckett?"

"That's me." Beck nods "But, uh...I go by Beck."

"Beck. Noted." She nods "Everyone! Listen up, please. This is Beck Oliver, he's going to be joining our class."

"Hi." Beck waves, trying his best not to appear as awkward as he feels

"Why don't you tell classmates a little bit about yourself, Beck?"

"Um, okay. Sure." Beck shrugs "Uh, I'm Beck. My family just moved here from Vancouver because of my dad's job. I'm thirteen. I'm really into music and video games, and when I grow up I want to be an actor."

"Thank you, Beck." Mrs. Evans smiles "Welcome to our class, just find an empty desk and make yourself comfortable. Everyone else, get your homework out so I can come around and check."

Beck nods and adjusts his books in his arms, walking over to an empty desk on the left side of the classroom. He sides in and places his things down as the boy next to him looks over.

"An actor, huh?" He raises an eyebrow at him

The boy has dark skin and eyes, and a ponytail of dreadlocks pulled back behind his head.

"Yeah." Beck says to him "Not like broadway or anything like that, I want to be in movies."

"Dope." The boy grins "Y'know, there's a performing arts high school right here in Los Angeles. The audition process is tough, but you should at least consider it."

"Are you into acting too?" Beck asks him

"Nah, not really." The boy laughs "I'm more into music."

"Oh cool, can you play any instruments?"

"Guitar, bass, piano, drums, trumpet, french horn..." The boy chuckles "Among other things."

"Wow."

"You could say I'm pretty serious about it."

"I'd say so." Beck laughs "Hey, what's your name?"

"Andre." The boy tells him "Andre Harris."

"Nice to meet you." Beck smiles "I'm Beck, but I guess you already knew that."

"Do you know anyone here, Beck?" Andre asks him "At this school, I mean."

"Just you, so far."

"Well, don't worry dude." Andre assures him "Stick with me and everything will be just fine."

The two boys have their next two classes together before they split up for electives, Andre goes to band and Beck goes to Spanish. They meet up again in PE and then attend one more class together before heading to lunch.

Andre shows Beck how to move through the lunch line, advising him on which of the cafeteria foods are safe to eat and which ones he should avoid. He shows him how to use his student ID card to pay for his meal and then Beck follows him out into the cafeteria.

"Andre! Over here!"

"This way." Andre nods in the direction of the voice

Beck follows him as they both carry their lunch trays through the crowd of people and across the room to a table that's mostly empty with the exception of two girls their age.

"Hi Andre!" The shorter girl grins "Who's your friend?"

"This is Beck Oliver." Andre introduces him "He's new here. And apparently he's a fellow connoisseur of the arts, so I've decided that he's cool enough to be friends with us."

"Hi Beck!" The girl says excitedly "I'm Cat! Like Caterina, not like the animal."

"Hey, nice to meet ya." Beck laughs

Cat is so happy and so bubbly that he can't help but smile as he talks to her.

"Nice to meet you too!"

"What's your name?" Beck asks the second girl as he sets his tray down next to her

She's been looking at her phone the entire time, and hasn't lifted her face enough for her to see what she looks like.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She sighs, placing her phone on the table and looking up at him

She has the prettiest blue eyes he's ever seen. The minute they land on him he feels like they're piercing through him and looking right into his soul. It takes him a few seconds to even notice the rest of her features and well, she's gorgeous.

"I uh, well..." He hesitates, suddenly nervous "I would like to know, that's why I asked."

"That's Jade." Andre sighs "And she's done making you uncomfortable now, right Jade?"

"Yeah sure, whatever." Jade smirks "Nice to meet you, Beck."

"Nice to meet you too, Jade."

Weeks pass and Beck slowly becomes more and more comfortable in his new school and with his new life in America. He finds that it's not really all that different from Canada, the kids there all like the same things that he does, they eat the same food and listen to the same music. He easily finds a home within his new friend group as well. Andre, Cat, and Jade are all very much interested in the arts in the same way he is, and they're all incredibly talented as well. All three of them sing but Cat and Jade appear to be triple threats, being able to sing, dance, and act among other things as well.

It doesn't take long for Beck to catch the attention of others though, especially girls. He's someone new that they haven't gone to school with all their lives, and he's attractive. Why wouldn't they be falling all over him? While Beck appreciates the compliments, he finds all the attention to be a bit annoying. Sure, it's nice to know that there's plenty of girls who would go out with him if he wanted them to, but he does't want them to. Not at all. There's really only one girl he wants any attention from at all, and she seems to be the only one who seems unwilling to give it.

Jade West is so different from any other girl Beck has ever had a crush on before. She's intimidating. Not just with her personality, but with her beauty and her talent as well. She makes him nervous, and for some reason he loves that.

"Jade?" Andre almost laughs when Beck confides his feelings in him "Really?"

"Really." Beck nods "Why are you laughing?"

"Dunno, dude." Andre shrugs "She just doesn't really seem like your type?"

"And what's my type?"

"Not Jade."

"C'mon, Andre."

"Alright, so if you like her...just ask her out." Andre shrugs "What's the big deal?"

"What if she says no?"

"Then she says no."

"Well yeah, but then it's weird." Beck sighs, running a had through his hair "I like you guys, I don't want to make the group dynamic weird."

He knows that if things get too weird, Andre and Cat will side with Jade and slowly start to phase him out of the group. That makes perfect sense, they've known her longer. He wouldn't be offended, but he would be lonely for sure.

"You'll never know unless you try, dude." Andre reminds him "Now c'mon, we'll be late to class."

The following Friday, Beck's friends accompany him home on the bus after school. He's hung out with them outside of school a few times now, but this is the first time they've ever gathered at his house. Priya has snacks waiting for them on the kitchen table, and Beck introduces his new friends as they eat.

"Ma, this is Andre, Cat, and Jade." Beck smiles proudly "Andre, Cat, and Jade, this is my mom."

"Hi!" Cat exclaims excitedly "Nice to meet you!"

"And you as well, Cat." Priya laughs

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Oliver." Jade adds

"Yeah." Andre nods "S'nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet all of you as well." Priya smiles "Beck has told me so much about all of you, I'm glad I can finally put some names to faces."

"We're going to watch movies in the basement." Beck tells her "Is that okay?"

"I suppose." Priya nods "Pick from the movies we have though, okay? Don't buy anything off of on-demand."

"Alright." Beck agrees "Thanks, Mom!"

The teenagers finish their snacks and then follow Beck as he leads them down into the basement, making sure the door is closed tightly behind them before moving any further. Once he's sure they're out of earshot of his mother, he turns to Andre.

"You brought it, right?"

"Duh." Andre chuckles, digging into his backpack and pulling out a DVD copy of The Amityville Horror "It's right here."

"Sweet." Beck grins, snatching the movie out of his friend's hand and setting up the DVD player

He has a plan. Jade loves horror movies, but this one is rated R and probably way scarier than anything she's ever seen before. He'll sit next to her on the couch and when she gets scared, he'll be the one to put an arm around her and comfort her. Not to mention that the fact that he was able to slip a movie they're much too young to see past his mother probably gives him some cool points too.

Once the movie is set up, Beck turns out all of the lights and positions himself on the couch next to Jade.

"Guys, I'm not so sure about this." Cat squeaks "Can we turn a light on?"

"Shut up, Cat." Jade groans "You'll be fine, being scared is part of the fun."

Beck spends more time watching Jade than he does watching the movie. She sits on the edge of the couch, appearing to almost never blink, as she watches the film with delight. She barely even flinches at the jump scares, and Beck doesn't see an appropriate opportunity to make his move. As the credits start to roll, he knows his plan has failed.

"You guys want to watch another one?" Beck asks them, handing the DVD case back to Andre "I don't think I have anything else that is even close to being that scary, but we could-"

"Sorry, Beck." Cat frowns "My mom is on her way to pick me up, she wants me home for dinner."

"Do you think she could drive me home too?" Andre asks "I don't feel like trying to explain to my grandma where I am."

"Sure, you're on the way." Cat nods "Jade? Do you want a ride too?"

"Nah, that's okay. I'm with my dad this weekend and he lives on the opposite side of town." Jade reminds her "My step-mom is going to pick me up when she gets off work."

"When will that be?" Beck asks her

"Trying to get rid of me, Oliver?" Jade smirks

"No!" Beck exclaims "No, of course not. Just trying to figure out if we have time to watch another movie or not."

"We probably have time." She smirks, pulling out her phone to check the time "At least for a short one."

Beck walks Andre and Cat to the door when Cat's mother arrives and waves goodbye as they leave. He passes back through the kitchen on his way to the basement, but Priya stops him before he can go any further.

"Have your friends left?" She asks him

"Andre and Cat did, yeah." He tells her "But Jade is still here. Her step-mom is going to pick her up around 5:30 after she gets off work."

"So it's just the two of you alone in the basement then?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Keep the door open then."

"Yes ma'am." Beck repeats before turning to venture back downstairs

He had allowed Jade to sort through their movie collection to find something she might like to watch while he was upstairs. When he returns, she's sitting on the floor in front of the TV surrounded by DVD cases.

"Find anything you like?" He asks, sitting down next to her

"Eh." She shrugs "Nothing that competes with the The Amityville Horror."

"What's your favorite movie?" He asks her

"The Scissoring." She tells him with zero hesitation, not even looking up from the DVD in her hands

"Really?" Beck almost laughs, but stops himself "Isn't that one of the like, scariest movies ever made?"

"Yeah. What's your point?"

"I just don't know how something that scary could be anybody's favorite anything." He admits

"Well then you must not know me very well." She smirks, tossing a DVD at him "Let's watch that one."

"50 First Dates?" Beck raises an eyebrow at her

"Yeah?" She shrugs "You have a problem with that?"

"No. It's just that you told me your favorite movie is one of the scariest of all time and...then you go and throw a rom-com at me."

"Everybody can use a good laugh sometimes." She smirks "Right?"

"Right." Beck agrees

He sets up the movie in the DVD player and then positions himself on the opposite side of the couch from Jade. He'll leave the lights on this time, since the door is open at the top of the stairs and he's sure his mother would notice if he turned them off. Every few minutes he repositions himself, moving closer to her but not in an obvious way.

"You good over there?" Jade asks him

"Hm? Oh yeah, I'm fine." Beck assures her "Just having a hard time getting comfortable."

Eventually he's close enough to her that his arm could reach around her shoulders if he wanted it to. He waits about ten minutes before yawning and stretching his arms, allowing his right to fall around her shoulders.

"What are you doing?"

"Huh?" Beck says nervously, pulling his arm back "What? Nothing!"

"Even I know that's the oldest trick in the book." Jade rolls her eyes "If you wanted to put an arm around me, you should have just done it."

"You're not mad?"

"I'm mad at you for being lame."

"But not about the arm?"

"Not really."

"So...can I put it back?"

"If you want." She shrugs

"Okay." Beck hesitates before stretching his arm back around her shoulders again

"See, was that really so hard?" She sighs

"I guess not."

They sit like that for a moment or two before Jade shifts herself on the couch and leans her head against his shoulder. Beck's heart is beating so fast it feels like it might pop out of his chest. He tightens his arm around her and lets it find its way to her waist.

"You comfortable?" He asks her

"Mhm." She nods, looking up at him "Are you?"

"Yeah." He grins "Sure am."