One More Chance With Time

As lunch approached, Beck wandered around the school in a bit of a daze. He knew that he couldn't betray Cat's trust but at the same time, he had seen how Jade had been acting since she had beaten the hell out of Ryder the day she had found Tori's body.

Since that day, it was almost like she had withdrawn into herself when she was at school. But Beck had heard the rumors. A few days ago, Jade had apparently been picked up for being found in possession of alcohol while underage. Coincidentally, Ryder had been beaten to within an inch of his life while being held in custody the same night according to the rumors. Beck knew that Jade wasn't stupid enough to get caught with something like that. She had wanted to get caught because she had wanted to get to Ryder.

She's going to end up hurting herself. Beck thought as he sat down at one of the tables and shook his head. If she keeps lashing out like this something bad will happen to her. She needs help...we all need help.

Beck looked around and saw Robbie sitting at a table nearby. What concerned Beck was the apparent lack of Rex. Robbie was just staring blankly down at his food. As Beck got up and walked over he placed his hand on Robbie's shoulder.

"Hey." Beck said simply as he sat down next to him. Robbie didn't look up from his food and didn't speak for a few moments. "I feel horrible." He finally said as he looked up from his food. "I...I remember when I did that stupid Robarazzi thing on the slap. I..." He couldn't finish as he began to sob. "I betrayed her trust." He whispered between sobs. "She was nice to me. She was always nice to me and I...I did that to her."

Beck tried to get a word in but Robbie just kept crying and crying. "I hate myself." He muttered over and over again. Beck turned around for a moment and looked in the garbage and saw Robbie's puppet Rex laying in the garbage. Beck turned to look at Robbie who was still muttering to himself.

"Why did you throw Rex in the garbage?" He asked gently as Robbie finally looked up at him. "Because he's just a stupid puppet." He muttered. "He's not real and I was stupid to listen to him when I thought he was more than a puppet."

Robbie took a look at the garbage and shook his head. "Stupid puppet." He muttered as he looked back up at Beck. "I can't forgive myself. I don't I'll ever be able to."

"It's going to be okay." Beck said quietly as he placed his hand on Robbie's shoulder. "I told Andre to go talk to one of the grief counselors earlier, I think you should as well."

Robbie looked back down at his food. "Maybe." He said simply as Beck stood up. "Promise me that you'll talk to one of them Robbie, Everyone is having trouble dealing with this but the counselors are here to help."

Robbie didn't look up but his voice became slightly bitter. "If that's true then why haven't you talked to one of them yet?" He muttered. Beck looked at him sharply but couldn't come up with an answer. "Just...Just please talk to one of them, alright Robbie?"

Robbie kept looking down. "Fine."

Beck walked away and continued walking around the school as he found his thoughts returning to what Cat had told him.

"Tori liked Jade."

He still remembered his and Jade's breakup and he lowered his head in shame as he thought back to what he had done.

"I don't understand why! I thought we were happy!" He had shouted at Jade who was looking down at her feet. It was one of the few times in her life that she actually looked vulnerable. She had tears running down her face. "I'm sorry, Beck! I...I don't know why! It doesn't feel right anymore! I don't think it ever felt right! Please...I'm sorry but I can't keep doing this." She whispered.

Beck paced back in forth in front of her and shook his head. "We've been together for years! And that's all you can say?! That it never felt right? What does that even mean?!

Jade buried her head into her hands and sobbed. "I'm sorry Beck! I don't know what it means! Every time we kissed, every time we went out on dates...It didn't feel right. That's the only way I can describe it!"

Beck simply stared at her for a moment and had angrily stormed off. He had left the school in the middle of the day and had tried to get his composure back. It had taken him a few weeks but he had managed to stop being angry at Jade and instead had attempted to try and be friends with her again.

He stopped for a moment and leaned against one of the lockers and tried to keep calm but he was rapidly losing it. He had treated her like crap when even she didn't know what she was feeling and now he was trying to help everyone else when even he wasn't that emotionally stable right now. He tried to gather his composure but it was getting harder and harder to do so.

He was forced to put his own feelings to the back of his mind for the moment as he heard the sound of something that suspiciously sounded like metal being struck over and over and angry sobbing.

"...Make it stop!" The voice screamed over and over again, gradually losing it's intensity and then just when it seemed that the voice was done screaming it would echo down the hall again. Beck already knew what he would see when he came around the corner but it didn't make it any easier on him. He watched as Jade continued to pummel the lockers that surrounded Tori's, Jade's hands were bruised and her knuckles were bleeding badly from where they had impacted with the metal of the lockers. She just wouldn't stop sobbing and screaming.

"Jade?" He said carefully. "Jade, it's me." He said as he came up behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder. The angry goth whirled around and stared at Beck with tear stained eyes. "Go...Just go away!" She screamed.

"No." Beck said quietly. "Jade...I need to talk to you. Now."

"I said leave! Now!"

"No." Beck said in the same quiet tone. "Jade...I talked to...to someone earlier and I think that there is something that you need to know. Just give me five minutes." He said gently as he tried to sit her down but she wouldn't. She just kept staring at him with the rage and despair still evident in her eyes.

"Jade. I...There's something you don't know about Tori."

Jade laughed bitterly. "I was there for her last words. I learned a lot about her before..before she died." Her voice caught in her throat. "She told me she thought I was pretty." She said quietly as she slid down to the ground. "She...He kept calling her a dyke. Over and over again." She looked down at her fists and smiled darkly as she thought back to how she had made Ryder pay for what he had done to Tori.

"Jade...I. Tori was talking to someone a few days before she...died." He said hesitantly. "She..." Beck tried to control the tone of his voice and tried to keep himself from crying. "She really liked you Jade. I mean, she really liked you. She didn't just think that you were pretty, She..." Beck couldn't finish the sentence as Jade stared down at him in shock.

"She...She liked me?" Jade whispered.

"Yeah." Beck said quietly.

Jade got back to her feet and began walking down the hallway as she headed for the parking lot. Beck followed her and was hard pressed to keep up the pace as Jade picked up speed.

"Where are you going?" he asked carefully.

"Away." Jade said quietly as she reached her car and slammed the door shut behind her. Beck could only watch as Jade drove out of the parking lot. As she turned the corner, he caught a glimpse of her face which was soaked in tear.