Taking your breath, stealing your mind

And all that was real is left behind- "The Greatest Show" by Panic! At The Disco/The Greatest Showman

This can be read as a companion piece to my fic "Getting Back Up", but they can both be read independently.

Please enjoy!

Jade West was an enigma. She always had been.

From the moment they met, Beck Oliver was endlessly intrigued.

She radiated confidence, even on the first day of high school when all the freshman were various stages of nervous, she had walked through the halls like she already belonged there. He supposed she did, he did too, all the freshman did. They had auditioned and gotten in. But still, the upperclassmen who were already familiar with the place made the idea of belonging hard to imagine.

His very first morning, he dropped some things into his blank locker. The telltale sign of a freshman was their blank gray locker. He'd have to get around to decorating it soon. The longer it stayed blank, the more out of place he would feel.

He had turned from his locker and caught sight of her then, fiddling with the lock on her own blank locker, dark hair with a turquoise streak, dark blue jeans and a deep red and black checkered shirt over a black tank top, dark purple bookbag with a few patches at the floor by her feet. Her face was serious as she twiddled with the dial, glancing at the notecard she had been given by the office with her combination every so often. He couldn't seem to look away from this strange girl as something about her yelled mystery and he was determined to figure her out. She groaned in frustration as yet another attempt left her locker still shut.

He smiled. She was cute when she was frustrated.

She aimed a kick at the locker and she swung her bag onto her shoulder with a scowl, seemingly heading to class without dropping off whatever extra supplied she had.

Beck took this as his opportunity and he crossed the hallway, intercepting her before she got too far away from her locker.

"Move," she insisted, hardly looking up at him as she slowed to a stop. She was shorter than him. Not by much, though.

"I saw you messing with your locker. I was wondering if you needed any help."

"I don't need your help," she countered, finally looking at him. Her eyes were a blueish green and God, she was even prettier up close, and his heart nearly stopped.

"Are you sure? It'll only take a second." He managed to say, hoping his face wasn't as red as it felt.

She studied his face for a second. "I'm sure. Move."

And then she pushed passed him, leaving him in the middle of the hall that was becoming more crowded.

Fourth period rolled around and Beck picked a seat in the middle of the US History classroom. As exciting as it was to attend a performing arts school, he had to take regular classes as well. At least he found history somewhat interesting, especially US history because he had spent more than the first half of his life studying Canadian history.

He pulled a red notebook from his bag and flipped it to the first page, ready for whatever this teacher had to throw at the nervous bundle of ninth graders. He turned his attention to the window as more students filed into the room, but when he felt a presence at the desk beside his, he turned to see who it was, intent on making a new friend. He had already agreed to eat lunch with a boy named André who happened to be in both his second and third period classes. The bad thing about going to a magnet school was that all his middle school friends were at the typical public school and he knew no one.

It was the girl from that morning, looking equal parts bored and annoyed as she pulled out a binder and a pen.

He sent a tentative smile her way, but she only clicked her pen and labeled a new tab in her binder as "History".

The bell rang, and the teacher greeted them, and began attendance. Beck was called somewhere in the middle and he was waiting for the girl beside him to be called so he could finally learn her name.

"And finally, Jade West?" called the teacher after another few moments of roll call,

"Here," the mystery girl replied, flipping her pen around between her fingers.

Jade. A somewhat dark, but beautiful stone that had ties to harmony and balance. Beck found her name both fitting and ironic, seeming as she had kicked at her locker in anger and gave up at trying to open it. But she certainly was beautiful.

After what seemed like an eternity, the bell rang, signaling that it was time for lunch. Beck gathered his things and exited the room, heading to his locker to put his morning books away and double check that he had his lunch money. Jade was already gone by the time he left the room.

"Hey, you." Jade was standing against the wall in the hallway. "Help me open my locker."

"I thought you didn't need my help," he replied in what he hoped was a casual tone.

"Come with me," she said, instead of answering him, and she strutted away to her locker. He followed close behind. She yanked the notecard from her pocket and thrust it into his hands before crossing her arms. "I think it's broken."

"Let me check," Beck replied, reaching down to the dial. Swiftly, he put in the combination and pulled up on the latch. It swung open easily. Her face fell slightly. "Not broken," he smirked.

"Jesus Christ," she muttered, throwing things into the locker.

"You're Jade, right?" He asked, leaning back against the wall beside the lockers. He was always a calm person. He wasn't about to let this girl, albeit a very attractive one, get the best of him on his first day. She had already made him blush earlier.

"Yes,"

"I'm Beck,"

"I know. I have ears." She almost growled.

Beck blinked. That wasn't how he was expecting this to go. Normally people were at least sort of nice during a formal introduction. He supposed he should've guessed she wouldn't. She wasn't a normal girl. And that was not a bad thing. He wanted to get to know her more. "I was wondering if, uh, you don't have anyone to sit with at lunch-"

Jade slammed her locker shut. "Nope,"

He furrowed his brows. "Nope?"

"I'm not sitting with you." She clarified. "Now go. I'm starving and you're in my way." She shoved his arm as she passed even though she very easily could have gone completely around him.

He watched her walk away with wide eyes. His arm almost tingled slightly from where she had touched him and he couldn't keep his eyes off of her retreating form. He smiled just a little and made his own way to lunch.

He found André at a table by himself and joined him. He glanced around the blacktop at all the students. Most were eating, but some were dancing or singing. At the adjacent table sat a petite girl with dyed red hair who was talking amiably and beside her was Jade. She saw him looking at her and scowled a bit, but he didn't look away. After a moment, her scowl became a soft smile and she looked back to her food.

Mysterious didn't even begin to describe her.

For whatever reason, he felt like that day was going to be very important to him. And not just because it was his first day of high school.

Years later, with his fingers tangled in dark curls and her arms around his neck in a tiny dorm room in New York City, the memory of that day would come to mind. And he would smile.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I'll be adding more chapters based on songs from the playlist I made. I won't get to every song, but I'll probably do a lot!

If you want to check out my playlist on Spotify, search Bade in playlists. There's a red heart before the word and a purple one after!