-XII-
A KISS BEFORE LYING

Jade giggled as Cade lent down and kissed her again, his lips weren't the softest she had ever kissed, however they still did the job.

His lips left her and she looked up into his eyes before he rolled off her and lay beside her on the beach towel, the pair looking up at the bright fluffy clouds above them. This was now their third date, Jade seeming to enjoy all of her time with the boy whom she had barley even noticed before. It wasn't like Cade wasn't attractive or anything, he was wonderful, but after she dated Dylan last year, she didn't think she would get another boyfriend for a while. It was strange how she could know someone for so long, be so close to them and not seem to notice their feelings.

Cade had taken her to the beach, the pair went swimming before and they were now lying out on the sand on a very large towel in their bathing suits, Jade being in a green bikini and Cade in a pair of grey board shorts.

They laid together for a while, looking up at the clouds and playing the 'what does that cloud look like' game before Jade sat up, taking a sip of her bottle of water and re-applying her sunblock.

She heard some people laughing nearby, spying two girls sitting by the water talking and laughing, the girl on the left looking slightly like Sasha, causing Jade to sigh. She was a little worried about Sasha lately, and when she asked Yasmin to find out what was wrong with her, Yasmin told her that Sasha was fine which further led her to feel like she may have done something wrong.

Jade looked down to Cade who had closed his eyes. She liked Cade, she really did but she would much rather be on the beach with one of her best friends- namely, Sasha, who had always seemed to understand her more than the others.

As if she was reading her mind, Jade's phone rang and she reached over to her bag to take it out, smiling broadly and placing it to her ear.

"Bunny Boo?" Jade smiled.

"Hey Jade, I was wondering if you'd be able to come into the office?" Sasha's voice on the other side asked, Sasha sounded a little distant and sullen.

"Of course I can," Jade answered quickly, crossing her legs and tucking a stray piece of dark hair behind her ear. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah… no… I don't know," her friend stammered, seeming uncertain. "Just… hurry."

"I'll be right there," Jade said quickly, Sasha hanging up first. Jade turned to Cade, "I gotta go."

Jade hastily started to pack up her stuff, throwing them into her bag and quickly putting a sweater over her bikini top and putting her flip-flops back on. Something was clearly wrong with Sasha and there was no way she was just going to ignore it and go back to Cade, he had to understand that her friends came first.

"What's wrong?" Cade asked, concerned.

"Something's up with Sasha," Jade said, placing her bag around her shoulder and moving to stand up.

"You're ditching me for her again?" Cade quizzed, sadly.

Jade looked over at him and pursed her lips. Last week she ran out on him during a movie because Sasha needed help with an assignment and yesterday she had to call and reschedule today's beach trip because Sasha wanted to go shopping. In fact, Sasha had been calling upon Jade a lot recently, and every time it was like Sasha wanted to say something to her, but couldn't and so they would say nothing at all.

"I'm sorry, she needs me," Jade stated, firmly. "You would do the same if it was Dylan or Cameron."

"I know, I just…" Cade began.

"What?"

"I can't help thinking that she doesn't want us to spend time together," Cade said, immediately regretting it when Jade raised her eyebrows at him. "I…I just mean, that, I… I don't want your friends to think I'm stealing you from them… but I shouldn't have to check with your friends first before I arrange something with you. I just want to be with you Jade."

Jade sighed and touched Cade's cheek softly.

"Look, The Bratz Pack are still getting used to being a group again," Jade informed him. "Once we're sure that we're back to normal, I can spend more time with you. Just be patient okay… but, you do know that my friends will be always be just as important to me as you, right?"

"I know that," Cade said, sightly slightly. "Anyway, you better go, Sasha's waiting."

Jade smiled and looked down to her cell phone, Cade leaning forward to kiss her, however Jade stood up just as he moved and he almost kissed her knees.

"Oh sorry," Jade said, Cade laughing awkwardly.

Jade lent down to kiss him goodbye, however, merely kissed him on the cheek, quickly standing back up and waving goodbye before heading off to the car park.

As she drove the Bratz car back towards the office, she suddenly wondered why she only kissed Cade on the cheek- after all, she wasn't mad at him, but for some reason she just didn't want to kiss him. It was like she kissed him because she figured she ought to, not because she wanted to.

She pulled up outside the offices and made her way inside, catching the lift up to their floor and making her way into the Bratz offices, finding Sasha pacing across the window and muttering to herself.

"Hey, Bunny Boo," Jade said as she walked in, Sasha immediately stopping and looking at her. "I came straight away, what's going on?"

Jade headed over to Sasha and took her hands in her own, seeing that Sasha was shaking slightly.

"Are you okay?" Jade asked, noticing Sasha averting her gaze.

"Um… did you wanna sit?" Sasha asked slowly and Jade looked at her quizzically. "Please."

"Okay," Jade answered confused and sitting down at the long desk, looking at her friend to sat on the seat next to her.

Sasha took a deep breath and tapped her fingers on the table.

"What is wrong!?" Jade asked firmly, noticing Sasha's tapping fingers. "You only do that tapping when you're nervous. You don't have to be nervous, it's just me."

"How did you know that?" Sasha asked, stopping the tapping.

"I know everything about you, silly," Jade pointed out, smiling.

"You really don't," Sasha said, slowly and meeting Jade's eyes for the first time since she arrived.

Sasha's eyes were sad, yet happy and Jade started to wonder what her friend could possibly be talking about. The last time Sasha looked at her like this was… Cloe's party. But when? When would they have been sitting across from each other like this…

Suddenly, a phone chimed and Jade immediately recognized her ring tone.

"Sorry," Jade said, tearing her eyes away and turning to her bag, pulling out her phone, "oh, it's Cade. Asking if you're okay."

Sasha moved backwards, suddenly seeming quite repulsed.

"Cade?" Sasha asked. "Why would he care?"

"We were sort of on a date when you called," Jade informed her and Sasha looked to the floor. "He was acting a little weird, he said you were trying to keep us apart, which is just ridiculous,"- Jade looked up at Sasha who seemed as if she was about to cry- "right?"

Sasha was about to reply when the doors of the office flew open and Cloe and Yasmin came running in, Cloe looking as if she wanted to pull her own hair out and Yasmin seeming very worried.

"I hate this!" Cloe exclaimed, sitting down on the couch and burying her head in her hands.

Yasmin turned and closed the door before moving to sit beside Cloe, placing a comforting arm around her friend.

"What's wrong Angel?" Jade asked, her and Sasha moving over and sitting down on the couch also, Sasha beside Yasmin and Jade beside Cloe.

Cloe didn't look up, she just kept her head buried in her hands and Jade looked to Yasmin for answers.

"Yasmin?"

"Dylan's mom is engaged to Cloe's dad," Yasmin informed her, slowly and Jade gasped.

"What?" Jade exclaimed, shocked.

"No way!" Sasha cried, as shocked as Jade was.

Yasmin nodded.

"Did you end up doing those tests I gave you?" Jade asked Cloe softly, rubbing her back a little and Cloe sat up.

Cloe wasn't crying, however it looked as if she had been.

"Yes, one positive one negative," Cloe answered, sounding as if she was entirely over the whole situation. "The only other option now is that I go so a doctor; which, means my mom will find out, then my dad and then Cameron- which will completely screw up any chance I ever had of being with him… which was pretty slim already, but still. Could this year, get any worse?"

"Bad phrase Angel… you know what they say; ask and you shall receive," Yasmin reminded her and Cloe sighed, leaning back onto Yasmin shoulder, Jade leaning onto Cloe and Sasha onto Yasmin, the four of them knowing the worst was yet to come.

Reviews are lovely! Thanks for readings guys! x