This is dedicated to the amazing Liz Gillies who turns 20 years old today. Happy birthday to you, even though you'll never read this. Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious.

Jade HATES Birthdays

If anyone should be excited for their birthday, it should be Jade. Birthdays mean that you get one year older and one year closer to death. Yet everyone hated death, but loved birthdays and it ticked Jade off. So now that your one year older and closer to death, it's something to celebrate? Jade didn't see anyone celebrating at her grandma's funeral because she died of old age. Just the year before they were celebrating her new age as a ninety-one year old women.

Today, July 26th, Jade West turned twenty years old. Jade was not happy about it one bit and didn't want to do anything. She just wanted to go off like it was a normal day and she was just in her usual bad moods. Her friends and boyfriend, though, had other plans. Each one of them called to say happy birthday to her.

Cat Valentine was the first one to call, calling the landline. Jade just ignored the call, already knowing what was going to be spoken of on the other line. Then it rang again. Jade ignored it once more. It rang about ten more times, before Jade angrily disconnected the landline. It had worked, there was no more ringing for a couple minutes. Then her cell phone rang.

Jade groaned and gave up trying to ignore her friend's call. "Hey Cat." Jade sighed. She prepared herself for the squeal, scream or song that was about to come from Cat. Unluckily for Jade, it was all three. First was the squeal. Then came the scream, "Happy birthday, Jadey!" And finally was the song.

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy twentieth birthday to Jadey!" Cat sang. Jade rubbed her temple with her free hand as the other held her pear phone to her ear. Cat was giggling on the other line and Jade couldn't take it anymore, so she hung up. Then Cat texted her: Happy Birthday! :) xoxo Cat

Next was Tori Vega, the rising popstar Jade heard rarely from anymore. Tori called whenever she could and Jade prayed she couldn't today. Her prayers weren't exactly answered as Tori called her cell phone, too. "Hey, Jade! I tried calling your landline, but it said it was disconnected or something," Tori explained in a peppy voice. Jade groaned, "Just make it quick Vega."

"Oh, happy birthday, Jade!" Tori said. Jade could hear the smile in her voice and it irked her. "Whatever." She mumbled. She hung up and leaned back, hoping that the boys would just simply forget her birthday. Today just wasn't Jade's day, because ten minutes later Andre Harris called.

"Hey, Jade, happy birthday." Andre told her. Jade pursed her lips. "Is that all?"

"Yep,"

"Good." Then she hung up. Andre was officially her favourite person who called on her birthday. Jade kept that in mind when Robbie Shapiro called her half an hour later. "Hi, Jade." He greeted her.

Jade narrowed her eyes. "If you have that puppet with you, I swear-" Robbie cut her off to reassure her.

"He isn't with me and Rex isn't a puppet!" Robbie said offensively. Jade rolled her eyes and waited for Robbie to speak before she would hang up. "Well, happy birthday, Jade."

Then Jade hung up and laid back. Next would be her beloved boyfriend's call and she wasn't sure she was ready for all the sappy and cheesy stuff he was going to say. She waited an hour and he still hadn't called her. Beck was in New York shooting the pilot of a new show he was casted in, Socio. Maybe he didn't get signal where he was filming. She knew he usually had lunch breaks at twelve o'clock and went somewhere to eat where she was sure he would have signal. It was twelve thirty five and still no call. He better call her before two in the afternoon before she gets angrier than she already was.

It's not that Jade was upset that Beck wasn't calling her. She knew Beck couldn't have forgotten she just wanted to get his sappy call over with. She wasn't upset. Was she? One o'clock came and still no call from Beck. She watched reruns of Boy Meets World trying to not think of reasons why Beck wasn't calling her. That didn't stop her from thinking about the worst case scenario being that Beck was with his female co stars and totally forgot about his six year girlfriend.

It was two in the afternoon and Jade was annoyed. Beck still hadn't called her. What was taking him so long to call and give the stupid cheesy speech? Suddenly, her phone rang. It was on the kitchen counter and Jade practically lunged for it from the couch to get it. Without checking caller ID, she answered, assuming it was her boyfriend.

"You insensitive little-" She was cut off by the sound of her father, step mother and little half-brother, Hayden.

"Happy birthday, Jade!" they said in unison. Jade sighed as she heard their yappy little dog in the background.

"Are you having a good birthday, Jade?" her step mother asked.

"No, because I still think birthdays suck." Jade snarled. She heard her father sigh.

"Well, we'll see you at your birthday party tomorrow!" she heard Hayden try and lighten the mood. Jade raised her eyebrow confused. What birthday party? Then she groaned. Cat must've set it up, like it was supposed to be a surprise.

"What birthday party are you talking about, Hayden?" Her father said nervously. Unlike his daughter, Jade's father was not a good liar or actor. "There's no birthday party!"

Jade rolled her eyes, not in the mood for his unconvincing story on how there wasn't going to be a birthday party. "Yeah, okay, bye." Jade deadpanned as she ended the phone call and resumed watching Boy Meets World, impatiently waiting for Beck's call. Another hour passed and he still hadn't called her.

It was three o'clock, then four o'clock, then five o'clock with no phone call from him. Angry and fed up, Jade decided to call him herself. She waited until she heard, "Hey it's Beck-"

She didn't wait for him to finish. She spoke quickly and angry, "Beck, it's Jade! What's wrong with you? It's five o'clock and-"

She was cut off by Beck still talking. "Sorry I can't come to the phone right now. Take a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can." Then there was a beep and Jade realized it was his answering machine. Not wanting to leave a message, Jade angrily threw her phone at the wall with a grunt. Her birthday was seven hours away from being over.

Soon enough another hour passed by. There was still no call from Beck or even a text message (which Jade still would have not been satisfied with). Maybe he had sent me an email, Jade thought. She walked over to her laptop and logged into her email. She had one new inbox and it was from her mother. Jade frowned, but clicked on it anyways.

Dear Jade,

Sorry I didn't call! I recently dropped my phone and it cracked. I'm having it repaired.

Happy birthday to my baby girl! Your twenty years old! One more year and you'll be legal! Have fun on your birthday, please try to enjoy it. I love you!

Love,
Mom

Jade deleted the email without replying and shut the laptop in defeat. She swore if Beck forgot, when he got home from filming, he would be in so much trouble. She decided to call Cat to see if she had heard from Beck. She ignored the crack on her phone from her throwing it against the wall as she dialled her number and waited for her to answer. "Hi, birthday girl," Cat giggled. "See what I did there? I said birthday girl instead of Jade because it's your birthday and you're a girl so-"

"Yeah, yeah I get it." Jade rolled her eyes. "I was wondering if you've heard from Beck."

"Yeah of course, I've heard of Beck."

Jade sighed putting her head in her hand. "I know you've heard of Beck. Have you heard from him? Like, has he called you today?"

Cat thought for a moment. Jade heard a muffling noise, but no answer. Jade was confused for a moment, before rolling her eyes. "Cat, I can't see you." She told her.

"Oh! I was shaking my head no." Cat explained. "Why do you want to know where Beck is? Just call him."

"Wow, I didn't think of that." Jade said sarcastically. "Well, good thing I did!" Cat said proudly, not realizing that Jade was being sarcastic. Jade clenched her fists, trying to control her anger. "I already did call him, Cat! He didn't answer! He didn't even call to wish me a happy birthday! I'm going to kill him!"

"No!" Cat said dramatically. "No killing! Maybe he's going to call you later. It's only six thirty."

"Exactly, it's six thirty." Jade snarled. They were silent for a moment, when Jade remembered something. "And Cat, did you plan me a surprise party for tomorrow?" Her voice was dangerously low and frightening to the redhead on the other line.

"Uh, um, oh..." Cat stuttered. Cat was a terrible liar, but a fantastic actress. Jade never got that about her. "What's that, mom? You want me to help you make dinner? Okay! Sorry, Jade I have to go."

"Your mom just returned to Idaho with your brother." Jade narrowed her eyes.

"D-did I say mom?" Cat stuttered. "I meant, I meant...coming!" With that Cat hung up. Jade threw her phone on the couch and crossed her arms over her chest, standing there for a moment. This is exactly why she hated birthdays. For Jade, someone would always throw her a party. For the last five years, it's been Cat and before that had been her mother. Someone would usually forget to call. It had always been one of Jade's parents. Not that she cared, though. She cared this year because Beck had forgotten. And if he hadn't and just called late, he would be getting an ear full of yelling.

Once more, another hour passed. She had texted Andre, Tori and Robbie to see if they had heard from him. They didn't. Jade eventually got hungry and went out to eat at Karaoke Dokie, by herself. She sat down and ordered a burger when someone sat across from her. "Crabby Kathy!"

Jade looked up from eating her burger to see Sikowitz perched on the other side of the table. He had that goofy look on his face like he always had. Jade hadn't seen him since graduation. Jade raised her eyebrow suspiciously, but gave away a small smile. "Sikowitz? What are you doing here?"

"Why to get a meal but of course!" Sikowitz smiled. Jade managed to laugh. "Then I saw you and remembered it was your birthday! The big two zero!"

Jade's face became hard. She snarled and took a bite of her hamburger, ignoring Sikowitz. "Still not a big fan of your birthday I see." Sikowitz observed. She rolled her eyes.

"It's not just that. Cat planned me a surprise party tomorrow and Beck still hasn't called me." Jade told him. Sikowitz nodded understandingly.

"I don't get why you're mad about the surprise party, you get gifts." Sikowitz pointed out. Jade shrugged, realizing that, that was a pretty good thing. She started to drink her water as Sikowitz spoke. "But I do understand why you're mad at Beck. Maybe he's planning something big! Like maybe he's going to be proposing!"

Jade's eyes widened alarmingly. She choked on her water. Sikowitz stared at her until she calmed down and shook her head. "I can assure you, me and Beck aren't getting married for a while."

"Good, you're much too young." Sikowitz said simply. He looked at his watch and got up. "Aha. I have to go now. Happy birthday, Jade."

Jade cringed when he said happy birthday to her. As he walked out the door, she realized something. "Wait, you didn't eat yet!" she called after him. Sikowitz turned around. "Oh yes!" he remembered.

He scanned over the room before walking over to one of the table's where a girl and a boy was at. He took the fries they were sharing and smiled gratefully at them. "Thank you." He said as he walked out the door.

Jade chuckled as Sikowitz disappeared out the door. That left her alone, eating her hamburger. Her angry thoughts resumed when she thought of Beck and how he was forgetting about her birthday.

Jade arrived home and yet again, there was no call from Beck. The hours passed, until it was five minutes to eleven o'clock. Jade was upset as she lay on the couch, flipping through channels. It was official, Beck had totally forgotten about her birthday. Once he got home, she swore she was going to rip him to shreds.

Isn't this what she wanted, though? Not to be bothered with the constant happy birthdays? She guessed it just hurt that the love of her life forgot. It hurt and made her angry.

Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door. She was confused. It was almost eleven o'clock who would be at her door? "Are you a murder?" Jade called.

"Possibly!" a voice came from the other side of the door. Jade knew it couldn't be a murder, yet was intrigued to go answer the door. She forced herself up from the couch and walked over to the door. Jade opened the door and revealed her boyfriend, Beck Oliver with a small-ish looking box in his hand. It was wrapped in black wrapping paper and tied with a dark blue bow.

He grinned at her once he saw her surprised face. "Happy birthday, baby," Beck smiled, leaning in to kiss her. Jade put her hand in front of his lips, glaring at him.

"You didn't even call me! My birthday is over now, Beck!" Jade snapped at him. Beck sighed, but smiled at her.

"Actually," he checked his watch. He paused for a moment before looking at Jade with a smirk. "It's ten fifty eight. The exact time and date you were born."

Jade practically gaped at him. Jade was born on July 26th at 10:58 am. She was shocked Beck remembered when she told him when they were sixteen. "So really," he stepped closer to her. "I'm right on time everyone else was just early." He leaned in once again to kiss her and this time Jade let him. She kissed him back and then pulled apart. She quirked her eyebrow, her arms crossed across her chest.

"I can't believe you did that to me. You had me believe you forgot my birthday!" Jade accused him. Beck chuckled, walking in and shutting the door behind him.

"Never would I forget your birthday," Beck told her. "We wrapped up filming earlier than expected, so I planned to be here in the morning, but my train was delayed. So, I made this plan to come exactly on your birthday."

Jade managed to smile at him. "Impressive, Oliver." She admitted. Beck bowed, looking up at her with a cheeky smile. "I try."

He stood himself up straight and handed her the gift. "Open it." He told her. Jade obeyed, not bothering to be careful with the wrapping paper. Inside was a silver charm bracelet with a small scissor charm.

"Do you like it?" Beck asked hopefully. Jade looked at him with a grin as she carefully picked it up. "I love it."

"You better, because I had to get that scissor charm made." Beck laughed. Jade latched the charm bracelet on to her wrist and gave him another kiss.

"Now, get prepared for cheesy mode." Beck smirked at her as he guided her over to the couch to sit down. Jade rolled her eyes.

"Beck, don't." Jade told him sternly. This is one of the reasons why Jade hated when Beck gave her birthday/valentine's/Christmas/anniversary presents. It was because he always had a speech going along with it. Jade thought she dodged this year, but once again she was wrong.

He went on anyway as they sat down on the couch. "I can't believe you're twenty. Wow. It seems like just yesterday, you were turning fourteen. Soon, when were older, we'll get married and have children-"

"If." Jade corrected him teasingly. He rolled his eyes playfully and continued. "Next year, you'll be twenty one and I'll have to take you home drunk." Jade glared at him and he laughed. "Kidding. Point is, you're growing up, but you'll always be my Jade."

Jade smiled softly at him. "That speech wasn't needed, but...thanks." she told him. He kissed her once more and pulled away with a smile.

"So, how was your birthday this year?" Beck asked her. He always got the same response. 'I hated it' was usually the case. He thought this year would be different, though.

Wrong. "I hated it." Jade told him simply. Beck sighed. "Why?"

"Cat planned me a surprise party for tomorrow."