When He Met Her. A Bade Fanfiction.

Summary: When he first met her, she was the opposite of what she is now. What caused her big appearance change?

Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious nor do I own the characters. This is a work of fanfiction, nothing more.

Note: Jade's going to see a little out of character for the first few chapters, because I'm showing how her personality and appearance have drastically changed from Middle School to High School. It's a little drawn out this chapter, but I promise, it gets better! Also, I have issues with tenses, but I'm trying to resolve them. As you'll find out, it's not working so well… ;)

•••

He met her in seventh grade. They were in the same English class - it was called Language Arts/Reading back then - and the seating chart put them right next to each other. His hair was shorter than it is now, but not by much. Her hair was much, much lighter than it is now, but that isn't saying much; any color is lighter than black.

It's the first day of seventh grade, right after lunch. He's in his desk, patiently waiting for the teacher to arrive. She's talking to a red-haired girl on the other side of the room. She catches his attention immediately. She's in two of his other classes already, but he has yet to catch her name.

He doesn't notice, but she glides over to the seat to his direct left, where her teacher-made name tag is sitting. She checks to see if any of her friends were placed in the seating chart near her, but to no avail. The only friend she has in this class is the velvet-cupcake-haired girl sitting three rows over. She checks out the people sitting next to her, not really taking anything in, but does a double-take when she sees him to her right.

"Hey, do I know you?" She asks, not trying to be rude, just trying to place where she's seen him before.

The question's so general; he doesn't know how to answer it. "I, uh… I'm Beck," he says, "we're in social studies and study hall together." He scratches the back of his head, nervous. She's pretty, with her one, purple, removable hair extension.

It clicks. She remembers seeing him now. "Jade," she says, letting her name slip right off her tongue. She sends him a friendly smile and memorizes his face for just a second before pulling a fresh notebook out of her bag.

The book bag she has is the same color purple as her hair extension, and it also matches the tunic she's wearing over black leggings. If Beck were to stereotype her right then and there, he'd say she's pretty girly. She's wearing nice, pretty make-up (almost a little too much, but they were in seventh grade, and the girls were experimenting) and her hair is curled to a point where he's not sure if it's natural or iron-made.

The bell rings as soon as their teacher walks through the door and Beck is momentarily focused on what she's writing on the board. Introductions: 2 Random Truths, 1 Lie.

"This is my favorite game!" The red-haired girl calls from across the room. It wasn't aimed at anyone in particular, so no one responds. Her voice is airy, he notices, almost singsongy.

"Oh, good, someone's heard of it," the teacher says excitedly from the front of the room. "I'm going to pair you up with a partner, and we're going to play Two Truths and a Lie, just so everyone can have a chance to get to know each other."

Beck had played a get-to-know-you game in his math class, but in no others.

The teacher - whose name was revealed to be Miss Page - walked around scissoring her fingers, signaling to her new students who was paired up with whom. When she came over between Beck and Jade, the two were paired together.

"Here's how the game works, for those of you who don't know: with your partner, you are going to first introduce yourselves - just your name will do - and then you're going to tell that person two truths about yourself and one lie." Sounds simple enough. "Your partner, after you've told them the three things, is going to guess which one is a lie." Sounds like fun, actually.

An obnoxious kid from the back of the room decided to ask what the significance of this game was.

"Just to have a little fun," Miss Page replied. She paused for a second to raise an eyebrow before continuing, "and my hidden motive is to make you all more comfortable with public speaking." He thinks it's sneaky, but smart.

Jade turns to him. "Well, we already know each other." She points to him, "Beck," then to herself, "Jade. Introductions done!"

He makes a checkmark in the air.

"Would you like to go first?" He asks, not wanting to seem rude by just starting.

"How chivalrous!" She says, half sarcastically. "Sure. All right." She pauses for a couple seconds to put her ideas in order. Two truths, she thinks, one lie… What do I want this boy to know about me? She figures the game is an introduction in itself, as well as a boost to their communication skills. Because this is technically the first impression she'll leave on him, she wants to make it good. "Got it."

He nods, ready for her to begin.

"Okay," she starts, "one, this purple streak in my hair," she strokes it with two fingers, "is fake; two, I dream of being on Broadway; three, I love to paint."

He studies her, looking for any sings of lying. Not that he would've recognized them if he saw them. He wasn't Cal Lightman, after all. But he did catch the way her eyes lit up when she said Broadway, and he already figured the extension was fake. That left painting. There were no paint-stained clothes or shoes, and her backpack - which was still open from when she'd grabbed her notebook - didn't have any rogue brushes sticking out.

She waits for an answer, tilting her head when it takes too long. He doesn't notice, but he's staring at her lips, then her hair as it falls on her chin, then her eyes. And he sees that she's waiting. He readjusts his position in his seat. "Sorry," he blushes, "momentarily lost connection with earth." Dork move, Beck. You seem really cool, now. "I don't think you love to paint."

"Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!" Jade exclaims, not that it makes a difference because the volume level in the classroom was through the roof. She gives him some soft applause. He fakes a bow in his seat. "What gave it away?" She asks. "Was it because I put the two truths first, because I almos-"

"No paintbrushes," he cuts her off and points to her bag, "to start. And the fact that you only have one streak of purple says that you didn't dye it that color."

"What about the Broadway thing?"

"You have a bad poker face." She looks confused, so he elaborates. "When you said 'Broadway,' you had this look on your face… I can't describe it. It was almost… a vulnerability thing." It was kind of beautiful, he considers adding, but doesn't.

She nods slowly. The trust was, the Broadway thing was sort of her little secret. She was afraid that if anyone knew how much she fantasized being on those stages, they would make fun of her. It was her soft spot.

"My Turn?" She nods again. Crap. He hadn't thought of two truths or a lie. "Um… I went to elementary school in the state of California." Lie. "I like to act." Truth. "And this isn't my natural hair color." Lie. Shit! Was that two lies and a truth? "Wai-"

Before he can explain that he screwed up the game, she says, "The natural hair color thing. Or maybe it's the California one. That was a little bit too specific to be true." She taps her chin for emphasis on how hard it is for her to decide which is the lie.

"Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner?" He half-says, half-asks. Her eyebrows furrow. "I sort of effed up the game. I accidentally put in two lies and one truth. So… you were right. They were both wrong."

It takes her a second to process this, mostly because he explained his slip-up so quickly she could only catch a few words. "So you didn't go to school around here last year?" He shakes his head. "Cool." That's all she says. She doesn't ask about the acting.

There's an awkward silence before Miss Page breaks it by clapping her hands.

"Okay! Okay, everyone!" The conversations slowly, but surely, quiet, and Miss Page has the floor again. "I hope you all learned something about another person in the classroom," Beck looks over at Jade for just one second, "and if you didn't… well, then you're not going to like the second half of this exercise."

Miss Page explains that one by one, each student is going to introduce their partner, then tell a fact that they learned from the game. When it gets to Beck, he looks over to Jade. They make eye contact. She's got a puppy dog look on, almost as if she's pleading he won't spill the Broadway thing. He's not sure why, but he obeys. "Jade," he nods in her direction, "doesn't like to paint," he says simply, and looks over to her for approval.

Her face has softened.

When it gets to Jade, she teases, "Beck doesn't understand rules," under her breath, so only he can hear. He blushes, and nows his head just a little. She lightly elbows him, as if to say she's only playing with him.

"What was that, Jade?" Miss Page asks. She hadn't caught it. She wasn't supposed to have.

"This is Beck's first time in a California school!" Jade reveals proudly. The red-haired girl "oohs" from across the room. The exercise continues until the whole class has gone.

The bell rings, and everyone seems to simultaneously get up. Some people turn to their partners to politely say goodbye, others head straight for the door. Beck and Jade turn to each other at the same time.

"So…" He says. "What class do you have next?"

"Intro to Acting, you?"

"Intro to Acting."

•••

What'd you think? I know it was a slow intro and nothing's really happened yet, but I promise that chapter two is better. Please review! Criticism is absolutely welcome.