I'll push you back ✄ bade

Cupcakes. And Cat.

"Cat, baby, she can only play one song at a time," Andre sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder as Beck let out a laugh from the front.

"Fine," she sighed, pressing her back against the seat. "Play 'Give It Up'." If it was Cat's normal happy-go-lucky nonsense, Jade might not have listened. But since they had sung it together one karaoke night and it was one of her favorites too, she put it on.

"Someday I'll let you in!" Jade began to sing as the boys whooped. The rest of the drive consisted of more singing, it was nice to hang out together like they had since they were in middle school, even if it was only for fifteen minutes.

Beck was almost sad it was over as he pulled into her driveway, the fact it was actually their last year at Hollywood Arts beginning to hit him.

"Have fun, tell Robin I'll see her later," he called out the window as the two girls walked up Jade's driveway. Beck had missed Jade during their break up last year, sure, but he had also missed her sister. And so ever since they had gotten back together, he made a conscious effort to let Robin know he would be sticking around for the foreseeable future. He had been a constant in her life since she was a toddler and he figured the girl could do with more people sticking around.

"Yeah, yeah. Love you too!" Jade yelled without turning back, punctuating the remark with a flash of her middle finger.

He shook his head before starting up the truck again and pulling away from the house.

"She's a handful, huh?" Andre laughed, having moved into the front seat.

"She sure is," Beck agreed with a fond smile. "I don't even know what I'd be doing without her."

Back at the house, Jade unlocked the door and flung her bag on the floor.

"Honey, I'm home!" Cat called out with a flip of her hair, her tone flirtatious enough for Jade to feel the bile rise in her throat.

"Cat," she warned, her teeth practically gritted, but her friend simply shrugged with feigned innocence.

Cat had dropped the airhead accent she had gained in recent years for a play this summer and stubbornly refused to let it return. She'd been seeing a new psychologist, a better one, who had helped her realise she wasn't all that dumb after all. But then again, she was stupid enough to flirt with Jade's brother in front of her.

Luckily for her, the tension in the room was broken by Robin screaming Cat's name and charging into her legs.

"Ro Ro!" Cat yelled back, scooping the girl off the floor and spinning her around. Jade had aways thought the nickname was stupid, but at least Cat had cared enough to build a relationship with her little sister.

"What? No love for me?" Aiden teased, entering the room covered in flour. Jade shot him a warning look, to which he winked as Cat wrapped her arms around his torso.

She was ridiculously close to texting Beck to pick her up when Robin grabbed her arm and dragged her towards the kitchen. Upon closer inspection, she realised that Aiden wasn't the only messy one as she took in the batter in her sister's hair.

"Look!" Jade assumed she was referring to the uncooked mixture in rainbow cupcake cases, though she could have been pointing out anything in the war zone that used to be a kitchen. There was batter up the walls, eggshells on the floor and flour covering every flat surface.

"Aiden, I say this in the nicest way possible, but what the fu-"

"Fudge!" Cat butted in. Her babysitting business with Sam made her good with kids and used to interrupting swearing. For such a upbeat person, she did seem to surround herself with the polar opposite.