SOUTH OF THE BORDER ⇉ BECK OLIVER

02 | BATTLE LINES DRAWN

"Do you think there's anything wrong with me being friends with other girls?" Beck inquired in his usual, smooth and casual tone. His dark, mocha eyes peered upwards at the olive-skinned girl - a sliver of hope evident amongst the amber speckles for the answer he desperately needed to ease the tensions between him and his firecracker of a girlfriend.

"We're not talking about you being friends with other girls, we're talking about you being friends with Tori," Jade interjected before Eden could reply - her voice surly and snappy. Her prominent, dark eyebrows furrowed together as her light features contorted into a frustrated sneer. The hot-headed shrew was promptly reaching the end of her tether with Beck's ignorance towards his relationship with Tori Vega, and how insecure their taboo friendship made her feel about her own relationship.

"Do you think there's anything wrong with me being friends with Tori?" the taupe-skinned boy rephrased his original question, gritting his teeth out of sheer resentment for his girlfriend's overbearing jealousy. A pained, artificial smile painted it's way across his exotic features, as he attempted to keep the conversation as pleasant and docile as possible for Eden's sake.

"I can give you an answer to that question, but I don't think it's the one that you're looking for," Eden regretfully admitted; it was a truthful indication to her thoughts on the situation. Her conscience had overruled her hunger on this particular occasion, forcing her to side with Jade. After all, Eden couldn't blindly agree with Beck's dismissive attitude - especially when she had called into question the nature of his and Tori's relationship herself, albeit in the sanctum of her own head.

"Suddenly, I'm really interested in what you have to say," the sable-haired girl's interest peaked, dropping the small, bamboo fork into the remnants of her lunch. A complacent smirk had crept it's way across her pale face - the corners of her peach-toned lips upturning with satisfaction at the fact somebody else had taken notice of her boyfriend's fondness towards the preppy brunette. "Elaborate," she instructed, her voice slightly less hostile than before.

"There's nothing wrong with you being friends with Tori, or other girls, but I guess you can be a little too friendly with her at times," Eden voiced her opinion - aiming to remain as neutral as possible by arguing on both sides of the cause.

"Like when?" Beck questioned, exasperation laced heavily within his subtle Canadian accent as he urged a further explanation. However, it probably wasn't the wisest counter-defence - especially when there was an abundance of examples that both Jade and Eden could list there and then; all the times Beck defended Tori - even when she was in the wrong, all the times he went drastically out of his way to help her and all the times he blindly supported her. But that was what friendship was, wasn't it? At least Beck seemed to think so.

"Like the time you kissed her in Simowitz' improv class," Jade shot a response, her tongue dripping in acid. It was undeniable that the fair-skinned virago had harboured all the bitterness and betrayal she had felt in that moment. Two years later and she still considered Tori to be a threat. After all, Tori was the one who had deviously suggested that they kiss in the first place - knowing full well that Beck was in a committed relationship with Jade, and that it would only fuel her hatred towards her.

"That was two years ago - and part of a scene." Beck rarely got angry, but when he did his temper flared explosively. Eden had only ever witnessed such an explosion once before - when Tristan Avery hit his beloved Mercedes in the school parking lot, denting the passenger side door and scraping the freshly-applied custom paintwork. But, in this very moment, the umber-eyed Latina could recognise the warning signs that an eruption from Beck was imminent; his usually luminous, terracotta eyes had clouded over a dark and ominous shade of cobalt, and his voice had lowered by several octaves.

"It still happened," the capricious girl continued push him - her own compartmentalised rage threatening to rear its ugly head. Each syllable which rolled off her venomous tongue was laced with acid and despair, escalating the argument between the two lovers further with each fury-filled word.

"I'm so sick of your jealousy," he raised his voice - something which he had never done before, not to Jade.

Aware of his impending combustion, Beck had decided to remove himself from the situation. One more surly comment from his sardonic spitfire of a girlfriend and he was certain he'd cause their whole relationship to implode - all four years together, obliterated by his inability to control his insurgent temper. Tossing his backpack over his broad shoulder, the athletically built boy retreated to his car, uncomfortable under the judgemental stares of his fellow Hollywood Arts students.

★ ★ ★