Thanks so, SO much to Spikedpillows for the idea, and for beta-ing. This is the first in a series of oneshots.


"My brother came in my room last night and started eating my hamster's food," said Cat as she pulled on her PE uniform. "He really liked it. I saw him eating some for breakfast this morning too."

"Cat, shh..." whispered Jade. She could hear giggles from behind them, and a quick glance told her that a group of girls was pointing and laughing at Cat. She frowned.

"But Jade, he ate all of it! What am I supposed to feed Santa now?"

Tori raised her eyebrows. "You actually named our science project hamster Santa?" Cat giggled.

"He's round and squishy!" Cat exclaimed, and the soft giggles from the girls behind them turned into outright laughter. It caused a reaction in Jade that surprised even her. The need to -in a sense- protect Cat from these girls became almost overwhelming.

"Cat, if you stop talking about your brother right now, I'll take you to buy some more hamster food after school, okay?"

"Kay kay!" Cat skipped out of the locker room and Jade let out a relieved sigh. At least Cat was now out of earshot from the girls.

"What a freak show," Jade heard one of the girls -Lila Foster- say in disgust, while tightening her ponytail.

"I know," another girl named Hannah confirmed. "Have you ever met her parents? That whole family belongs in an institution."

"Hey," Jade said threateningly, glaring at Lila and her friends. "You might want to be shutting your mouths there." She smiled at them, but it was far from friendly.

Tori watched Jade intently. Was she standing up for Cat? It was certainly something Tori hadn't expected from her.

"Or what?" questioned Hannah, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You just might regret it."

Lila snorted, clearly unfazed by Jade's seemingly empty threat.

"Come on guys," Lila said to her friends, motioning for them to follow her out of the locker room.
Jade finished getting dressed slowly, waiting for the last few girls in the room to leave before reaching into her backpack and pulling out a pair of scissors.

"Watch the door," she commanded Tori as she opened Lila and Hannah's lockers. Tori obeyed, but not before trying to get answers.

"What are you doing?" she hissed, following Jade with her eyes.

"I don't bluff," was all Jade said as she pulled an expensive looking top from Lila's locker. She held the top under her chin, stretching it out with her free hand and cutting into the sides with her scissors.

"Jade! You're going to get in trouble!" Tori warned, but Jade ignored her. She finished slicing up the top, moving on to Lila's jeans, and then to Hannah's clothes, making sure that each article was properly ruined.

"You better leave now, unless you want to get blamed for this," Jade instructed. "Now!" She yelled when Tori didn't move.
Tori hesitated, but left the room quickly, joining the rest of her class. When the period was over, and all the girls were back in the locker room, Jade smiled to herself when she heard Hannah and Lila's shrieks of terror.

"You did this!" Lila exclaimed, pointing at Jade with tears in her eyes. "This top is worth more than your whole outfit!"

"And now it's garbage," Jade sang, smirking, chuckling to herself when the girls -who had dressed the best they could- ran out of the room, looking for the PE teacher.

"Jade?" Cat called softly, tugging on the hem of Jade's shirt.

"What?"

"Did you do that to their clothes? That wasn't very nice..." She was crestfallen, and afraid Jade would get in trouble.

Jade removed Cat's hand from her shirt and shrugged.

"They were being bad and needed to be punished. Don't worry about it, okay?"

Cat smiled again, brighter even than before.

"Okay!" She left the locker room in a blur of pink and gold, leaving Tori and Jade alone once again.

"I knew you weren't entirely made of stone," Tori said, poking Jade in the ribs and pulling her hand away quickly when she received a death glare. But at Tori's words, Jade simply shrugged again.

"They were being mean to Cat."

"You're mean to Cat," Tori boldly pointed out.

"But that's different. I don't really mean it," Jade said, adjusting her bag slung over her shoulder. "It's like she doesn't even notice people make fun of her," Jade continued. She chewed the inside of her lip thoughtfully. "Someone has to stand up for her." And with that she left, leaving Tori alone.