Secrets and Solutions

Jade was not pleased with where they were going. Well, she was rarely pleased in general, but this was a different kind of displeasure, the kind that could only be caused by sharing a car with Cat, Robbie, and Tori all at once. She scowled as she stared at her reflection in the window, trying her hardest to ignore the banter of the cheerful little munchkins she was forced to share a car with. The only thing that caught her attention was when Cat started begging Tori to drive them all to her apartment.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Jade called, leaning forward to better see Cat. "I am being held here against my will. You do whatever you want with these two, but I want to go home, where I should've been two hours ago."

"Why didn't you just ride with Andre?" Robbie asked. Jade gave Robbie a look more sinister than anything Satan could produce. Robbie shrank back in his seat, muttering, "Sorry, sorry, sorry," under his breath.

"Tori, take me home," Jade demanded, leaning back in her seat and returning her gaze to her reflection in the car window.

"But I wanted all of you to see this. Andre and Beck might be there later," Cat whispered, twirling her hair. "I wanted you to be there too to see what I did."

"You did something? Did you finally use the toilet the right way?" Jade asked coldly. Cat looked at her with an empty gaze while Tori and Robbie gave her offended looks. "What? I'm not interested in what she did? I am very tired and I want. to. go. home," she enunciated firmly, giving Tori a stern look.

"Well, Cat's place is on the way. I'm sure it'll only take a minute, and if you want, you can just wait here in the car," Tori offered with a smile.

"Yeah, no. Home. Jade. Now," she said firmly, snapping her fingers before settling back into her seat. A streetlamp illuminated the street sign. It was Cat's street, but rather than keep the car moving towards Jade's street, the car turned. "Tori, come on? Was I not firm enough? If you leave me in this car alone, I will steal it!" Jade cried, hoping that would be enough to make Tori turn around.

"It'll just take five minutes. I promise," Cat said.

"Come on, just come in with us," Robbie sighed, getting out of the car as soon as Tori parked in Cat's driveway. He closed the door before Jade could lunge at him and hold him for ransom. The others were soon out of the car too, leaving Jade alone.

"Fine, fine, whatever," she groaned, getting out and slamming the car door behind her.

Cat led them through her house and into the backyard, which was pitch black. Tori and Robbie seemed okay by the darkness, but Jade was annoyed. She leaned forward, putting her head between the two.

"Can we go home now?" she asked in a low whisper, making Robbie and Tori jump.

"NO!" Tori cried. "Cat, will you turn on the lights? Please?" Tori begged.

"Just a sec!" Cat cried. She was in another room before coming onto the patio with Andre and Beck behind her. "Sorry I had to lure you here with frozen yogurt, but I wanted everyone to see what I did. Okay, is everybody ready?" Cat asked cheerfully, her eyes looking over the annoyed shadows. Everyone said, "Yes", all at once, so Cat flipped the lights, revealing a wonderful garden.

"Wow, I'm impressed. When did you learn how to garden?" Tori asked, laughing because she was in such a state of disbelief.

"Oh, those aren't real flowers," Cat said, grabbing one of the arrangements from its place in the planter. "It's tissue paper. See, Jade?" Cat asked, extending the flowers to her.

"So you dragged all of us here to see your arts and crafts? Cute, but I am very, very tired. Please, will someone just drive me home."

"Don't you like them?" Cat asked tearfully.

"They're cute," Jade said curtly. "Someone? Ride? Now?"

"She doesn't like it!" Cat cried.

"No, no, no, it's not that," Beck said, stepping forward and looking his ex over. "She just wants to deplete the entire world of happiness one person at a time. Tell the girl you like her flowers or none of us are going to take you home."

"Well, that's just-," Jade said, stopping herself as she noticed the others nodding. "Is this some sort of coop? None of you even know me! I've been up since four this morning, and it's...eleven now," she said, checking her Pear Phone for confirmation. "I'm exhausted! I asked for a ride home because I'm tired. I asked to avoid this because I'm tired. Do none of you get tired?"

"No, we get tired," Cat murmured, and the others nodded.

"Well I'm exhausted! I don't care about flowers or cars or rides or Beck's innermost desires to get back at me for whatever I did to him. I don't care about anything but going to my bed and sleeping!" Jade screamed.

"Well you didn't have to be so mean to Cat," Tori said, pulling her keys out of her pockets. "Maybe you should tell people more about yourself, and then maybe things like this wouldn't happen," she shrugged, turning to Cat. "I love your garden, but I think I'm going to head home. Robbie, you're on my way. Would you like a ride?"

"Please," Robbie nodded, following her out. Jade moved to follow, but Tori held up her hand.

"You're selfish, Jade. It's clear that we don't like each other, and well, I'm tired of you hanging out with us like we're your friends then turning on us like we're your enemies. If you want a ride, I suggest you work out your problems, at least with Andre because I'm out."

Jade watched Tori leave before looking back to Andre, "Well? What about you?"

"I think I agree with Tori on this one," Andre said. "Cat's pretty upset right now, but you still can only think of yourself. So, since Jade is so important to Jade, maybe she should take herself home," he said, gesturing for Beck to follow him so they could leave. Beck looked his ex over carefully. He wanted to help her, but he knew Tori was right. He followed Andre out, leaving Cat and Jade alone.

"I can let you use my bike if you promise to bring it back. Oh wait," Cat said, giggling as she saw it resting against the fence, the basket full of her flowers. "I'm not as upset as they say. I mean, I know you don't like to talk about yourself. A lot of people around here don't. I'm one of those people, and well, if you don't want to tell us that you work long hours doing whatever you're doing, then so be it. I'm willing to let you stay here too if you don't want to walk."

"That's nice of you, but everyone's right, especially Tori. I need to either treat you all like friends or treat you all like enemies. I have a lot to think about before tomorrow, and I think I need to do that in my own home. Thanks for the offer. You're a better friend than I'll ever be, and...I like what you've done with the place. My only critique is that it might rain tomorrow, so you should probably cover all this up."

"Oh, it's supposed to rain?" Cat gasped. "I can't get all of these in by myself!" she cried, scrambling to gather a few things. "Jade, can you help me? I know you're tired, but I worked really hard, and-"

"Stop talking and start helping," Jade smiled.

The two worked tirelessly until one in the morning, when the last tissue paper flower was stacked in the living room. Now the house looked like a garden instead of Cat's backyard, but the two girls were exhausted. Both were passed out in Cat's room, Cat on her bed and Jade on a large chair.

They only woke up when fast footsteps pounded through the house.

"Yes, she realized-Jade?" Tori asked. Jade sat up, stretching and yawning. "Did you help her bring in everything before it started raining?"

"Yeah. What of it?" Jade asked, clearing her throat and looking the group over. "I get it now," she said with a light smile, standing and stretching her legs. "I'm willing to try harder to be your friends, but don't expect me to change too much. Every single one of you does things no one else here knows about, and then you all expect the others to deal with you when you've worn yourselves out. Andre, you claim it's your grandmother, but I know you've been trying to pitch short stories to editors around town."

"How did you-?"

"Let me finish. Tori, I know you have your hands full with Trina and trying to butter up people to accept her despite her being the worst performer in documented hisTori. You're only hurting your own reputation, but it's kind of sweet. It makes me feel like I have heartburn or something in my chest," Jade smirked. "And Beck, I know you're trying to find someone else like me, so you spend your free time being a lady's man and trying to find someone who can take you away from that playboy life. I'm sorry we didn't work out. I sort of like the single thing though, so don't even think of asking me back."

"I wasn't."

"Good," Jade nodded. "For everyone else's information, I try to pitch manuscripts too, novels," Jade said, nodding to Andre, "That's how I know about you because I've seen you there. Like me, they keep rejecting you, but I think we can both do it if we keep it up. We're all working on our own things, and we need to be more supportive. And that's why I need to keep you guys around. You're good material for a writer, and well, I'm always looking for more material."

"So you're going to be nicer?" Tori asked. Jade nodded.

"And you'll help me keep up with the weather so my flowers won't get ruined?" Cat asked. Jade smiled, "I have a better idea, if everyone is willing to donate a Saturday and every spare box they have."

"What are you wanting to do?" Robbie asked.

"You'll see," Jade winked. "Sometimes we like to surprise people, right Robbie?"

"You know?"

"Let me expand my secret further. I write mystery novels. So yes, I've known all along," Jade smiled, patting the bewildered Robbie on the back. "Don't get yourself down, Robbie. Your secret is safe with me."

The group followed Jade into the kitchen, where she helped Cat make breakfast as rain poured outside. They talked more than they had before, and Jade made a conscious effort to try not to be so mean. She did need them for writing material. Her first mystery series depended on it, and that was the last bit of the secret she refused to tell: She already had a deal in the works, as long as she could produce the novel they wanted. So she'd play nice, and she might even reward them if it made her famous.

But the jury was still out on that one.

Days later, the group piled a van Andre borrowed full of boxes filled with Cat's creations. Jade made sure no one crumbled the precious flowers, her eyes following each person as they did their duties. When the packing was finished, Jade sat in the back with the boxes while Andre drove the van to Jade's house. Then the process began again.

Jade wanted Cat to always have her tissue paper garden, so she donated her family's spare bedroom to the cause. There were no ulterior motives: Her mother hated flowers of any kind, so it wasn't a gift of sorts for her, and her father could care less. There was no reason for Jade to perform this kind act. She was simply doing it out of the goodness of her own heart.

Cat wanted to set up the flowers on her own, so the group left her to it. Jade and Andre met up in her room to look over their writing together. Tori and Beck played a board game with Robbie in the living room, all while Cat hummed and worked in the spare room.

When the tasks were completed, the garden was revealed again. It looked amazing, and everyone told Cat this, even Jade. They agreed to treat her to lunch, and the group left Jade's house, a solid unit once again.

~End

Theme 033: Garden of Flowers

To complete the themes yourself, I have the list posted on my profile. The list is for any type of fan fiction (one-shot, drabble, etc.) and any fandom. Challenge yourself in other ways to make it more fun, and enjoy!