Cat woke up early on the first day of the last week of school. She was excited to return to a Hollywood Arts that would be devoid of the pain of seeing that two-faced liar hanging all over Beck. The redhead smiled softly as she thought back to last Friday, when she finally stood up for herself and put Jade in her rightful place. Cat had believed that Jade loved her, the actor had even said it to her face, but she was just a fraud who enjoyed twisting Cat's emotions to her will.

Cat padded over to her desk and fished a bronze key out of her bright purple ceramic pencil holder. Kneeling in front of the bottom drawer, she slipped it into the keyhole and turned it smoothly. The drawer opened effortlessly, early morning light revealing a cave of memories kept by a sentimental Cat. She let her gaze touch each object in turn: a folder of pointless notes passed between her and the goth; a disk of their performance at Karaoke Dokie; the script of the play Jade had written for her to star in; ticket stubs from various concerts and movies the two had shared; a small stuffed elephant Jade had given her the morning after they got together; and one of Jade's shirts, a worn, black, oversized T from a theater camp, which Cat had taken to sleep in when she felt lonely. Though Jade never said anything, Cat knew she was aware that Cat had it.

What she reached for, however, was resting on top of the folded shirt. It was a gift from Jade for their one year anniversary, a silver pair of scissors, the kind you find at a hair salon with the long blades and small, round finger holes. Slipping her fingers gracefully through the openings, Cat remembered the night Jade gave them to her, about three months ago.

They were lying in Jade's bed, the taller girl wrapped around the smaller, bare bodies pressed together comfortably. Cat had been drifting contentedly towards sleep when Jade tickled her ear with a murmur, "I have something for you." The goth pulled away and Cat growled softly in protest. Jade chuckled as she reached over to open the cabinet on her black nightstand. Cat watched curiously as she pulled a narrow box from the depths and rolled back to face the redhead. The excitable girl giggled and took the offered object. She slipped the lid off and gasped at the glinting scissors within. Jade explained embarrassedly, "Two things I love, you and scissors. Happy anniversary."

Cat clutched the offering tightly in one hand as she rolled on top of her dark counterpart, capturing her lips in a warm kiss. "I love them," she whispered against the inviting lips. Jade pecked her lightly and wrapped her arms around the singer, hugging her close. The actor rolled them onto their sides and a drowsy Cat heard her whisper, "Keep them a secret. He'll know where you got them." Cat hummed her assent into Jade's chest and succumbed to a content slumber, fingers still wrapped around the shears shining in a crack of moonlight.

Cat returned to the present with a sigh, frowning at the memory that used to warm her from the inside out. Jade consistently reminded her to keep any and all evidence of their clandestine relationship hidden. That was why she had a locked drawer full of Jade-related items. The goth's biggest fear was Beck finding out about the two girls.

The longtime Hollywood Arts power couple had been going out for a few months shy of a year when Cat had confessed her love to the director. They had been in the very room Cat was in now when it all came out.

Jade was pacing a hole into Cat's vivid purple carpet while the redhead watched her curiously from her perch on the bed. The dark clothed girl was muttering at a speed that even talkative Cat was impressed by. From what Cat could make out, Beck had just told Jade that he loved her for the first time. Cat watched for a moment longer before butting in suddenly, "Do you love him back?" Jade stopped in her tracks and raised her eyebrows in contemplation, oblivious to the fact that Cat was waiting for an answer with bated breath. "I've never been in love, so I don't know for sure, but I think I do," she eventually replied. "I told him I did anyway." Eyes falling to the floor sheepishly, Cat stated, "I'm in love."

Jade leaned against the wall behind her, crossing her arms and ankles, and groaned. "I knew it! Cat, you could do so much better than that puppet-carrying geek! Why do you-" Cat cut her off, exclaiming, "Robbie is not that geeky! And he's not who I'm in love with!" Jade's shadowed eyes probed into hers and she rose from the bed hesitantly, taking a few slow steps forward until she stood in front of the other girl. Jade's eyes widened in shock as she realized what Cat was implying. Setting her hands gently on the taller girl's shoulders, Cat rose on her bare toes and leaned forward carefully. Jade snapped back to attention and shoved her away roughly, striding toward the door hurriedly.

She turned abruptly and said icily, "I'm with Beck." Cat felt tears on her face as she stared at the now empty doorway and winced when the front door slammed. Moving to the window, Cat saw Jade standing stationary in the driveway, bouncing her fist against her leg in agitation. The singer opened her window and Jade turned toward the sound. Cat bit her lip and shouted, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" Jade shook her head sharply and abruptly marched back into the house. Cat stood tensely in her childish room as she listened to the heavy footsteps approaching quickly. Suddenly, Jade was there, too close to her face, stating, "You're a terrible liar, Valentine." Then her lips were on Cat's and her hands were tangled in her obnoxious red hair.

Cat responded with vigor, hooking her fingers into the goth's belt loops to pull her closer and nipping her bottom lip in a forceful plea for entrance. Jade grinned against her lips with amusement at the unexpected demand and complied eagerly. Their tongues snaked together but, try as she might, Cat quickly lost the battle for dominance, allowing Jade to search the caverns of her mouth. Moaning heatedly with the feeling of Jade's tongue against hers, Cat let her hands slip under the fabric of Jade's tank top, tracing the jumping muscles of her soft stomach.

Jade hissed and backed the smaller girl against a wall, dropping her hands from the bright hair in the process. She squeezed Cat's beast gently through her shirt and Cat dug her nails into the girl's back in response. Jade ripped her lips from Cat's and dipped lower to mark her neck, sucking and nipping passionately. The goth moaned into her pulse point when Cat's thigh accidentally slipped between her own. Jade pulled her hands from Cat's chest to grip the underside of one skirt clad leg, tugging upward desperately. Cat immediately realized what she wanted and hopped slightly to wrap her legs around the director's waist. She captured Jade's lips again and anchored the stubborn head where she wanted it, twisting one hand into the long, streaked, hair, with the other locking behind her neck. Cat danced her tongue into Jade's mouth and felt the stronger girl relent, allowing her to explore eagerly. Jade's hands, meanwhile, were able to simultaneously support the impish girl between her body and the wall, and caress the smooth, tanned, skin of her legs.

Just as Cat began to kiss her way down Jade's jaw, the goth broke her grip and tilted her head toward the door. Cat was about to question her when she heard it too- the garage door. Jade backed up and let Cat drop to the floor, groaning, "Fuck." Cat felt panic begin to well up inside her but Jade seared her lips one last time before disappearing out of the room in the direction of the back door.

Over a year later, Cat still wasn't sure why Jade had changed her mind that day, risking her precious Beckett in the process, but the goth had approached her in an empty classroom the next day with a bribe and a proposition. Fluffy elephant in hand, Cat had agreed to keep their relationship a secret. She had just been happy to finally have her heart's desire. Harder to agree to, however, was Jade's demand that she still be able to date Beck. Cat didn't want to share Jade, nor did she want to help Jade cheat, but she had convinced herself that the situation wouldn't be forever, and Jade would soon leave Beck completely.

Cat was never the brightest crayon in the box.

The girl studied the scissors in her hand with a smile, reminding herself that Jade no longer had any power over her. Jade had used deceit and lies to capture Cat's heart, so Cat ripped hers to shreds. Literally.

Cat jumped when her alarm clock went off behind her. She replaced the scissors and slammed the drawer shut, locking it swiftly, and dropped the key back into the pencil cup. The girl turned up the pop music station and moved around the room energetically, singing as she got ready for school. Dressed for the day, Cat left the empty house and hopped into her bright yellow Volkswagen. Singing happily, she expertly navigated the LA traffic until she reached an intersection that was clogged up from a crash. By the time the little yellow car pulled into the H.A. parking lot, she was late. Cat slipped in through the back door, and her mind was whirring with a debate between having a parrot or a puppy for a pet so she didn't initially notice the large sign on the wall announcing:

Memorial Service for

Jadelyn West

This afternoon at 2pm in the Black Box Theater

When she saw it, her smile slipped and she ended up scowling as she walked up to read the fine print on the bottom of the notice. It was asking for people to speak about the deceased girl and Cat saw a small group had already signed up, Tori and Andre among them. Cat bit her lip and looked around at the sound of footsteps at the end of the hall. She saw Robbie pass by the entrance to the hallway, and he was walking very quickly, looking around nervously. He didn't notice Cat, so, curiosity aroused, she followed him.

Luckily, she had decided to wear quiet sneakers instead of clacking heels, thus she was able to stay undetected. A burst of inspiration led to the singer humming the James Bond theme song under her breath as she stalked the boy exaggeratedly, fingers bent to form the shape of a gun. Oddly, Robbie led her to the main foyer so Cat, already bored, called out cheerfully, "Hi Robbie!" The boy spun so quickly that he almost fell over and Cat giggled as she skipped up to him. "Cat, hey, what are you doing out of class?" he asked slowly.

Cat smiled wider and explained about the intersection, "…so then I didn't get to school until just now but that's okay because I got to play Spy and follow you around! I think the homeless man outside the coffee shop is a spy. He always wears an overcoat." Robbie stared at her and shook his head. "So what are you doing?" she questioned inquiringly. The dummy-less ventriloquist looked around nervously before leading her by the hand to the now infamous janitor's closet, saying, "Don't tell anyone, but Beck and I are going to try and figure out who attacked Jade."

Cat looked at him with wide eyes and blurted out loudly, "Why? Isn't that the police's job?" Robbie shushed her and explained, "The police aren't getting anywhere, but Beck really needs closure. So he is determined to try and find something to either point the cops in the right direction or to find the…killer…himself. I can't let him do it alone, so here I am." Cat digested the information as Robbie turned to the notorious closet door and held his breath as he gently tried to twist the handle. It was locked.

Robbie exhaled in…relief? "I promised Beck I would try to open it, but I REALLY didn't want to go in there," he admitted. Cat, her trademark smile already returned to her face, commented, "I'm sure Jade's blood and body are all cleaned up by now." Robbie gaped at her in astonishment of her nonchalant tone. "Yeah…," he said eventually. "I have to go back to class. Don't tell anyone what Beck and I are up to." Cat nodded and asked, "Where is Beck, anyway?" Robbie dropped his head and replied quietly, "He's not coming back until maybe next year. He's in no shape to face the school right now." Cat beamed and said, "Kay kay! Bye Robbie!" The boy watched her with an odd expression as she bounced away down the hall.

Cat wasn't worried about Beck, plus Robbie, poking around to find out the truth. After all, she was an old pro at keeping things veiled from Beck Oliver.

A/N: Quite the character, that Cat. I'm going to start alternating between Beck's and Cat's POV. Just so you're prepared.