Chapter Text
“Let’s see. The bread mold.” Tori Vega was in her house working on a science project. Recording observations on mold. She’d rather do anything else but it’s not like she has much of a choice.
“Bread mold.” The boy she was partnered with, Ian, started recording results on his PearBook.
“Furry.”
“Furry.”
Tori touched the bread.
“Mushy.”
“Mushy.”
Tori switched to the other side of the table.
“Next, the fish mold.” She honestly couldn’t wait for this to be over with so she can get this out of her house.
“Fish mold.”
She leans down and brings the fish to her nose. She takes a long sniff, not bothering to waft it.
“Stinky.”
“Did you hear about Kaylee?” Ian suddenly changes the subject. Kaylee used to be one of Tori’s friends, what happened was... well, they kind of just drifted apart. Tori wasn’t sure why.
“No, why?” Tori leans on the table. “What happened?”
Ian huffed out a laugh.
“New guy of the month is some dude from Hollywood Arts...” he pauses, “that’s where your sister goes, right?”
Tori nods slowly, eyebrows wrinkling in confusion. Kaylee’s dated a lot of people, but never anyone outside of Sherwood.
“I think they said his name was...” he contorts his face, trying to remember what he heard, “Rodrick?”
Tori simply shrugs.
“I’m not surprised.” She laughs dryly. “I hope he won’t feel as bad when he finds out he’s just BF of the month...”
Ian laughs with an eye roll in return.
“Yeah, remember when Michael threw a fit and they had to suspend him ‘cause he wouldn’t stop following her?”
Before Tori could answer, her sister Trina slams open the door. They both snap their heads towards her.
“I am so upset!” The door slams shut. Trina placed her bag down and stomps her way to them. “You won’t believe who I got partnered with for the big showcase.”
Tori rolled her eyes, she was used to her older sister’s whining.
“Who?”
“Andrew Harris,” doesn’t sound that bad, “a tenth grader.”
Tori couldn’t understand what the problem was with this, but there was no use arguing with Trina. Ian speaks up.
“What’s the big showcase?”
“It’s a performance they put on at her school every year where-”
“They invite agents and directors and producers and other super-powerful people in show business-” she takes his hand and starts dragging him to the front door as she talks, “and it’s extremely important to me which is why I am very upset and goodbye.”
Ian tries to protest but Trina slams the door shut in his face. Tori scoffs.
“He and I have a science project due tomorrow!” She steps into the living room. “I have to turn in my mold bush.”
“No, Andrew’s coming over and you gotta help us figure out what we’re gonna do in the big showcase.” She argues. “I definitely wanna sing.”
She slams a random chord— if it even was a chord, on the piano and starts singing off-key.
“How was that?” She wiggles her eyebrows. Her pride in herself was completely baffling.
“Loud?”
“Awesome!”
Wasn’t a compliment.
The doorbell rings.
“Ugh,” Trina goes to answer it, “he’s here.”
Tori moves forward to meet him too.
“Stay.” Tori halts.
The door opens and a boy wearing a blue jacket with a bag hanging from his shoulder walks in.
“Come in.”
“Thanks.” Much like Trina, he doesn’t look too thrilled to be here.
Trina sighs and waves a hand towards Andrew.
“Tori, that’s Andrew.”
“Andre.” Ah, so Andrew wasn’t his name. Figures.
“Hey.” Tori greets him, hoping to alleviate Trina’s sourness.
It looks like it worked, Andre smiles.
“You go to Hollywood Arts, too?”
Tori could laugh at the idea.
“Oh, no,” she shakes her head, “I’m not a performer. Just my sister.”
With that, Trina perks up.
“Yep.” She slings a hand across Tori’s shoulders. “I got the talent and she got the strong teeth. You know, she’s never had one cavity?”
“I try not to brag about it.” It wasn’t really that impressive.
Andre’s eyes flash over to the piano.
“Oh,” he quickly sits down on the stool, “nice piano.”
He plays it and he plays it beautifully. Tori had to admit, she knew how to play but she couldn’t consider herself to be this good.
“Oh my god,” she sits next to him, “you’re fantastic.”
Trina rolls her eyes at the obvious flirting between the pair.
“He’s okay.”
Andre notices a smell coming off Tori’s hand, taking it and trying to figure out what it is. She nods her head. Probably should’ve washed it before welcoming in a guest.
“Fish mold.” He drops her hand on the piano.
X
ToriVega
5 DAYS helping Trina and André rehearse. Trina’s driving me INSANE!
Tori via TwitFlash 5min. ago
X
“No, grandma, listen.” Tori walks in, drinks in each hand, to Andre on the phone. “There’s no way you can drown at my school.”
He takes one with a nod towards Tori. He tries to end the call but gets cut off each time. Instead, he settles for a simple “I’ll call you later!”
Tori stands there with an amused smile on her face.
“Your grandmother’s coming to the big showcase?”
“Yeah,” he answers, “it’s gonna be the first time she’s left the house in six years.”
Woah.
“Why?”
Andre scoffs.
“‘Cause the woman’s afraid of everything: people, umbrellas, rabbis, bikinis, breakfast foods...”
A thought pops into Tori’s head.
“So if she saw a rabbi in a bikini eating pancakes...”
“The woman would burst into flames.” Tori smiles. She’d be lying if she said that there wasn’t one good thing to come out of this thing. Andre was a great guy to have around.
Of course, Trina had to ruin the moment by being well... Trina.
“You guys, come on!”
Tori rolls her eyes.
“Back to rehearsal.”
“Let’s go.”
They walk in to find Trina in a... not-so-flattering dress. Their eyebrows furrow in a mix of confusion and disgust.
“So?” She shows off her dress. “What do you think? Fabulous, right?”
“You really need to wear that, just to rehearse?”
“A performer needs to feel the part to be the part.” She taps her sister on the nose with every iteration of the word ‘part’.
“I thought we talked about you not tapping my nose anymore.” Something about being tapped on the nose bothered Tori, not just by Trina, by everyone. Trina brushes it off.
“Okay,” she swiftly moves on, “we got the comedy stuff down so let’s start with my song.”
Everything about this whole performance would be a comedy. Maybe except for Andre.
“And by ‘your song’,” he scoffs, “I’m guessing you mean that song I wrote?”
“No one cares who wrote the song.” Considering the kind of school they go to, they probably do care. “Now, take it from ‘When I make it shine.’”
Andre starts playing the piano and Trina starts singing off-key. Way off-key. A little flat as well. She’s so bad that sometimes Tori thinks she does it on purpose.
“Well?” If she knew how bad she was, she didn’t let it show.
“Do you have any aspirin?” Tori’s ready for this moment. She pulls out a bottle and hands him a few pills.
X
ToriVega
ditching school - going to Trina’s BIG SHOWCASE
Tori via TwitFlash 5min. ago
X
The day of the showcase has arrived and it proves to be quite entertaining, but not the best in the world. Tori notices an old woman squeeze in behind her. She assumes it’s Andre’s grandmother.
“Oh, hi.” She smiles. “You’re Andre’s grandmother?”
Tori must’ve said something wrong, as she immediately freaks out and drops to the floor.
“I don’t know you!”
Tori shakes her head. Suddenly, screams and cries can be heard from backstage. A man hurried his way over to Mr. and Mrs. Vega.
“Excuse me, you’re Trina’s parents?”
A confused expression passes over her dad’s face.
“Uhh... yes.”
“Why?”
“Please come with me.” The urgency in his voice prompts all three of them to follow him. Andre’s grandmother peers over as soon as they get up. The others around her sporting annoyed expressions.
Backstage, Trina is freaking out, her tongue grossly enlarged.
“ Mah tong!” A few people are crowded around her, but most of them are minding their own business. This was just an everyday thing when you go to school with Trina Vega.
“There she is!” The rest of the Vega’s and Lane rush in.
“Trina!” Her mother rushes over.
“What happened?”
“ Un thins ong ith ah uung.” She points at it as if it isn’t the first thing people would notice.
“Oh my god, it’s huge.”
“ Ahmbahee tsu thumpthin.”
The nurse looks around.
“Does anybody know how this happened?”
Tori suddenly remember something from earlier.
“The Chinese herb gargle.”
Trina nods her head vigorously and attempts to say something, maybe ‘yes?’ In Tori’s defense, she tried to warn Trina.
“Wait, what are you talking about?” This probably wouldn’t have happened in the first place if their parents were there to stop her.
“She found some website that shows you how to make a special Chinese herb gargle that’s supposed to help you sing better.” Saying it out loud makes it sound even stupider.
“Well, she must have had an allergic reaction to it.” There was no way the nurse could fix this in time for the showcase.
Trina continues to speak, nobody being able to quite understand her. The nurse confirms that there was no way she could perform.
“Stop talking! Your tongue could burst!” The nurse lets out, completely tired and frustrated.
“I’m sorry, sweetie.” Holly shakes her head.
“Next year.” David tries to offer a comforting hand, but it doesn’t work.
The nurse pulls her aside to massage her tongue.
“I guess my grandma came here for nothin’.” Except there was no way Lane was gonna let him leave his grandma hanging.
“Wait,” an idea seems to come to his mind, “does anyone else know Trina’s part?”
Andre gets hit by realization.
“Her sister does.”
“M-me sister?” There was no way, Tori was not a performer.
Andre only nods in response.
“No way,” she scoffs at the idea, “there’s no way, I just helped them rehearse. I’m not even a student here. I couldn’t go on stage.”
Andre grabs her arm.
“You know this whole thing inside and out,” he starts listing all of them, “you can do this, come on.”
“Uh-uh.”
“She said she’ll do it.”
“No, I didn’t.” But she’s drowned out by everyone’s cheering.
“Woah, woah, she cannot go on stage wearing that.” Lane said.
“Excuse me.”
“Go get her something cool to wear.”
“No!” Everyone drags her in to change. She attempts to run away but gets caught by Andre.
The performance starts, and Tori struggles to get off the stage. It starts slow and tentative, but then she asks Andre to speed up the song. It doesn’t take her long to lose herself in the moment. She delivers a showstopping number that drowns everything out with thunderous applause.
Tori shrieks and jumps into Andre’s arms, giggling. Between all the congratulations, the principal asks Tori to join the school. Everyone encourages her to despite her doubts. Andre even asks the whole theatre to give their opinion.
It leads to one big ‘Okay!’ from Tori.
X
Tori Vega:
My 1st day at Hollywood Arts. EPIC!!!!
Mood = Freaking 😣
X
Before heading to school, she asks Trina to stop by FunNuts. In Tori’s opinion, they made the best blueberry donuts. Trina agrees, but not without an overly dramatic groan. She would be amazing in horror movie sound effects.
As soon as got her donuts, she stepped outside. Trina was nowhere to be seen. That’s fine, it’s not like they were going to be late, plenty of time.
She hears coughing from behind her, and she sees a homeless bum sitting on the curb.
“Hey, are you okay?” She comes closer, but not close enough to touch him. She was nice, but she wasn’t stupid. Could be a brutal mugger.
“Hm?” He turns, the guy was definitely high. “Oh, yes. Just a little cold.”
Weird, Tori thought, it is the exact opposite of cold right now.
“Well,” she searchers her bag and comes up with two dollars, “here. I think it’s enough to buy a small coffee.”
He takes it happily, a little bit confused, but he doesn’t protest.
“Thank you.” He stands up. “May I offer you a piece of advice in exchange?”
“Uhh,” she tentatively nods her head, “sure?”
“The best way to get rid of an enemy is to make a friend.” He said it with complete seriousness.
“Wow, that’s pretty solid advice.” He laughs dryly.
“Ah yes,” he sits in contemplative silence for a few seconds, “I took it from a fortune cookie I picked off the ground.”
Ah.
“Well,” she backs away slowly, “have a nice day, sir.”
“And you too.”
Trina’s car pulls up at the right moment. Tori rushes over the passenger’s seat.
“Drive.” Trina raises an eyebrow, but she drives.
“Woah, what happened to you?”
“I just met a total lunatic.” He was. “I think the guy was high.”
“Well,” Trina laughs, “we do live in Los Angeles.”
“That’s true.” Tori eases up a little.
“And besides,” she gives her younger sister a not-so-gentle punch on the shoulder. “It’s nothing compared to what you’ll see.”
Trina was right. Hollywood Arts was loud. But not the kind of loud you would get from a normal high school. It was the kind of loud that would energize you. Just like it is energizing Tori. She looked way out of place, gawking and following Trina around like a baby duck.
“See? It’s just a high school.” Is she kidding?
“Uhh, this is not just a high school.” Tori spots another girl having an impromptu jamming session with some other kid. From the looks of it, they’ve never met before. “These kids are all artsy and creative and talented, and I’m just...normal.”
“It’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with being average.” Tori nods her head. Classic Trina. “Anyway, you’re not alone. I got your back.”
“Okay, so—”
“Trina!” She’s cut off by a shorter girl. “Eric Paulson got his hair straightened!”
“Shut up! Oh, my god—” Tori is left standing there dumbstruck.
“I’m alone.” She didn’t know what she was expecting from Trina. She’s never really fit into the cool big sis role very well. And now because of her, Tori’s back to gawking.
She spots a redhead with curly hair walking by.
“Hey, um,” the girl turns around to look at her, “can you tell me—”
A flash of recognition goes through her face.
“Oh my god, you’re Tori, right?” Tori didn’t think people would know her. She was just a carp in a sea of unique and colourful fishes.
“Uh-huh.”
“You were so awesome in the big showcase.” Tori liked this girl already.
“Aw, thanks.”
“My name’s Cat.” It fit her. Tori wasn’t sure why, she just thought so.
“Like the animal?”
Her mood switches instantly.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing, I-I love cats.”
And just like that, she’s back to being as jovial as ever.
“Me too, they’re so cute.” And then she walks away, leaving Tori dumbstruck. Again.
The door swing opens and a scrawny boy with glasses carrying a puppet in his arms walks in.
“Hey, um—”
“Oh, hi.” He swings around. “Hey, hello. Female? Yes.”
He makes eye contact with his puppet. Weird...
“Can you tell me where Mr. Sikowitz’s classroom is?”
Instead of the boy, the puppet speaks.
“Down the hall, swing a left at the water fountain, second door on your right.”
Ooh, this boy was good. Weird, but good.
“Thank you.” She walks away slowly.
“Whatever it takes, cupcake.” The boy blames the words on the puppet.
Tori arrives in the classroom, which is relatively empty. She turns around and bumps straight into another boy, spilling coffee on his shirt.
“Oh my gosh.” She freaks out.
“Ah, it’s cool.” She tries to get the stains out by rubbing her arm against his che— shirt.
“No, here. I think it’s coming out.”
“You might be making it worse, actually.” She was, yet she didn’t stop. He’s laughing though, so she figured it was okay.
A voice comes from the doorway.
“Dude, why you rubbing my boyfriend?” If this was a sitcom, she could hear the cheers in the background as she walks in. She was absolutely gorgeous.
There’s a moment where Tori doesn’t say anything and the other girl just sends her a questioning glare. If she thought the guy in front of her was hot, this one was... daammmnnnn ...
Tori snaps out of her momentary trance.
“I just— I spilled coffee on—”
“Get away from him.” She motions for her to do exactly that.
“Relax.” The boy with the good hair walks towards his girlfriend and plants a kiss on her cheek. It doesn’t do much to take the edge off of her, she squints her eyes at Tori. She shudders at the intensity.
“Oh my god!” A man that Tori recognizes as the homeless bum she met before arriving at school barges in. “There’s a fire!”
Everyone starts screaming but no one actually moves. They all stay on the spot and spinning their heads around as if it would magically teleport them to safety.
“Kidding, kidding.” Seriously? “Just wanted to get your blood pumping, which I did— ha!”
This guy’s a lunatic! The school had security guards, right?
“All right!” He shuts the door. “Now, let’s get started— rumps in chairs.”
He throws his jacket to the side like a bowling ball.
Wait a second, this guy’s not a homeless bum! Certainly not. That’s two dollars wasted.
“He’s our teacher?” Tori has her seat scooched close to Andre. Right now, he was the only comfort she had in this loony bin of a school.
“Okay,” he claps his hands together, “first, I’d like to introduce our new student Tori.”
She waves timidly.
“And I’d like to thank Tori for her generous gift of two dollars—” he pulls out said two dollars “—which she handed me outside this morning.” He then shows it off. “Not necessary, but much appreciated.”
“Why’d you give him two dollars?”
“I thought he was homeless.”
Andre only nods. He couldn’t blame her. He certainly dressed the part.
“Now, today we’re going to continue our study in group improv.” And just like that, he’s moved on. “Tori, I assume you’re familiar with improv?”
“No.”
“Okay, crash course. Improv— acting without a script,” he explains, “which means the actors must make up their own actions and dialogue as they perform the scene. Understood?”
Tori attempts to ask a question.
“Excellent.” He leaves Tori confused. “Jade, you will captain the first group of the day. Choose your actors.”
The realization that she probably should’ve done her homework before she came to a performing arts school came a little too late. But hey, at least she knows what improv is and the mean girl’s name.
She struts to the stage with a confidence Tori could dream of having.
“Cat, Eli, Beck...” she says Beck’s name with a flirty tone, “and Tori.”
She says hers with a little more venom. Tori glances up, confused. Andre gives her the okay to get on stage.
“Okay. Let’s give ‘em a place.”
Puppet boy raises his hand.
“Home.”
“Home.” He writes it down on the whiteboard.
“Ooh, real creative.” Tori didn’t understand, if the boy was controlling the puppet, why was he being so mean to himself?
“You be quiet.” He reprimands him like a toddler. The puppet slaps him in retaliation. “Ow!”
“And now we need a situation.”
“Big news,” Andre said.
“Andre, nobody wants to see big nudes.” Everyone in class stares at him.
“News.” He corrects.
“Ah, well, that’s different.” Oh, it is. It is very different. “Big news.”
That goes up on the board too.
“Uh, why don’t you go wait in the hall?”
“Uh, okay.” She steps out into the hall and the scene starts.
“Hey, babe,” Jade jumps into the action with ease, “how was work today?”
“Uh,” he hesitates just the slightest bit. “I got fired.”
“Oh.”
“Again?” The voice came out of nowhere, but wherever it came from, he’s not going to end up voice acting.
“It’s okay.” The hostility in her voice was gone. She truly was an amazing actress. “I have great news that’ll cheer up this whole family.”
“What is it?”
“Tell us.”
“I went to the animal shelter...” she drags Tori on to the stage, “a dog.”
“Uh, yep.” Tori had no clue what she was doing. “I’m the new family dog. Woof.”
“Sikowitz, will you please tell this amateur that dogs can’t talk and that they don’t walk on two legs.” Not even a second passes and she screams his name.
“Oh sorry. I was sucking milk out of this coconut.” Confusion flashes through everyone’s faces. “But it’s true, Tori, if you’re going to play a dog, be a dog.”
They all look at her expectantly and kneels.
“Woof.”
“And action.”
“I went to the animal shelter and got us a dog.”
Eli and Cat— the kids— all rush towards her to pet her.
“Uh-oh,” Jade gently touches her hair, and it feels kind of nice, “looks like this dog’s got some bugs in her hair.”
Hold on just a second...
“Uh, woof?” She washed her hair this morning...
The kids jump away in disgust.
“Oh, it’s okay.” She moves towards the class. “I read on the internet that coffee works great for getting rid of fur bugs.”
Andre and Beck try to stop her, but the next thing Tori feels is ice cold coffee running down her back... and then she’s soaked.
“What’s the prob,” there’s the hostility, “dog?”
Tori runs from the class, embarrassed and angry. She sits on the steps and pulls out her phone, only to get a face full of ass.
Andre follows her out.
“Hey, whatcha doing?” The concern was there in his voice. The voice that Tori has been conditioned to feel relief every time she hears it. But it’s not going to work this time.
“Calling my mom to go back to my old school.?
“Why?” Andre didn’t want Tori to go. She’s only been here for minutes and it would already feel wrong without her.
“‘Cause I don’t like having black coffee in my hair.” He had to find a way to make Tori stay. He had to.
“Then I’ll get you some cream and sugar. Everything will be chill.” Humor doesn’t work.
Tori’s on her call with her mom when Andre snatched the phone away.
“Gimme back my mom!”
“You’re gonna quit this school on the first day just because of one mean girl?”
“It’s not just her!” The feelings she kept hidden at the beginning of the day all come rushing out. “It’s just— I don’t fit in here with— all this.”
“C’mon this place isn’t that different from other schools.” Except it was. What other schools pretty much obligates students to decorate their lockers.
“Oh, yeah,” her voice is dripping with sarcasm, “like regular schools have improv classes with barefoot teachers and nerd with puppets and bipolar cats and mean girls who make you bark like a dog?”
Nerd with a puppet walks into the scene.
“Uh, you guys—“
“Sikowitz wants you both back in class.”
“He asked me to tell them!”
Tori flashes a look towards Andre that says, “see?”
“Will you guys be cool?”
“Him?” The puppet takes a glance at Robbie. “Be cool?”
The idea makes him laugh.
“You’re a demon!”
Enter, ditzy cat.
“You guys,” she addresses them, “Sikowitz really wants everybody back in class.”
“And you really wanted a date to the prom last year, but you didn’t get one, did ya?”
“Rex!”
“Tell your puppet to quit being mean to me.” She sounded like she was close to tears.
“Don’t call him a puppet. That’s an offensive term!”
This was getting out of hand. Next, the whole class is just gonna be hanging out in the hallway.
“Yeah, this school’s pretty normal.” To Andre’s dismay, Robbie and Cat only confirm Tori’s doubts.
“Just please go back to class and tell Sikowitz we’ll be there in a minute.” Andre sounded desperate.
“You better hurry.”
“Yeah.”
They walk away with Rex picking another fight with Robbie.
“Okay, this school’s not normal.”
“Really?!
“You’re not normal either.” Compared to everyone else? Maybe. “I’ve seen what you can do on stage. You’re special. You’re fantastic. You belong to this school. Normal’s boring.”
He walks back to class. Cat bounced up to Tori.
“It’s true.”
“That normal’s boring?”
“No, that no one asked me to the prom.” And then she was gone again.
X
Tori Vega:
worst day ever. GOING HOME
Mood = Wrecked 🤕
X
Tori sat on the sofa, watching her performance on the big showcase over and over and over again.
Special? Yeah, right.
Trina sits next to her, taking her earbuds out.
“You know, you’re actually not terrible.” Tori sighs. “You’re really gonna quit Hollywood Arts?”
“What do you think I should do?” It was unfair to ask Trina that, she’s never been good at advice.
“I think you should come back.”
“Why?”
“So I won’t be known at school as the girl with the lame little sister who quit on her first day.” Of course.
She gets up and walks away. Before she leaves Tori to think, she adds more.
“And I think you were really good in the big showcase.”
“Thanks, Treen.”
“But I would’ve been amaziiiing.’ Of course.
X
Tori Vega is feeling... conflicted.
Mood = Lost 😕
X
The next day she walks into the classroom. Trina and Andre were right, there was no way she would quit this school. At least not on the first day.
She’s a little late, and by the looks on everyone’s faces, they weren’t expecting her to show up.
Sikowitz is the first to speak up.
“Tori, you’re back.” He puts down the eraser. “Have you ever thought about coming in through the window?”
Random.
“No...”
“Think about it.” Aside from that, he didn’t have anything else to say about her return. “Now, sit, sit.”
And she does.
“Okay, today we’re going to do some alphabetical improv.” As if reading their minds, he says, “What is alphabetical improv? You ask. So I answer. It’s when we give a letter to the first actor in the scene. If we used the letter ‘A’ as an example, then the actor must make his first word start with the letter ‘A’.”
Tori could hardly keep up with him.
“Which might go something like...” he turns to Beck.
“Apples are falling out of my butt.”
“Lovely.” He continues. “Now, the next actor who speaks must start his line with the next letter in the alphabet, in this case, ‘B’, so he might say...”
He gestures towards Andre.
“Bring those apples, so that we may all enjoy the fresh fruit from Beck’s butt.”
“Charming. Now, who wants to lead the first group?”
Tori raises her hand, eager to prove herself.
“I do.”
“All right, Tori.” She struts to the stage with a newfound confidence in her steps. “Choose your actors.”
“Okay.” She doesn’t even need to think about it. “Andre, Cat, Andre, Beck, and Jade.”
She raises an eyebrow.
“Yeah, you.”
On her way up to the stage, she kisses Beck. Which makes Tori roll her eye.
Is this girl ever gonna realize that I don’t want him?
“Jade, kiss your boyfriend on your own time.”
“Oh, I will.”
Yeah, no, Tori would rather not think about the implications in those three words.
“Okay, if you start your line with the wrong letter—“ he makes a buzzing sound, “—you’re out. Robbie, give us a letter.”
“P”
“P!”
“Oh, I was going to say ‘P’!”
“Okay, the scene can be about anything you want. The first letter of the first line is ‘P’. Tori, action.”
“Please, go take a shower.” She immediately addressed Jade. She might be trying to be the bigger person, but hey, a little revenge never hurt anyone.
“Quit telling me what to do.”
“Relax, girls, let’s all try to get along.” The thought was nice, but they did not need a mediator here.
“Totally.” And Cat was out.
“Cat, your line had to start with an ‘S’.”
“Oh, my life’s the worst!”
“Here’s a piece of candy.”
She takes the candy.
“Yay! I love candy.” Cute.
“All right, Andre.” Back to it. “Letter ‘S’ to you.”
“Uh, something just bit my toe.”
“Turtle. That turtle just bit his toe.”
“Unbelievable that you’re even here.” Instead of playing along, Jade continues her little spat with Tori.
“Very immature of you to say that.” Thank you, Beck.
“Uh...” Andre wasn’t much of an actor. That plus the tension was not working well for him.
“C’mon Andre, ‘W’!”
“What if the turtle bite broke my toe bone?”
“X-rays are the only way to find out.”
“You should shut up.” If it didn’t annoy Tori when it first started, it did now.
“Zap! I just healed your toe with my magic finger.” Tori feels a bit better at everyone going with their story instead of letting it turn into a fight.
“Thanks!” And that was his mistake.
“Andre, your line had to start with an ‘A’. Sit down.”
“Aw, and I just got my toe bone fixed.” Tori pats him on the shoulder.
“Tori, letter ‘A’,” he wildly gestures towards her, “to you.”
“Aliens are the only people who can heal toes by finger zapping.”
“By the way—“ Jade blows a raspberry.
“Correct, I am an alien.” This might as well be a scene between Beck and Tori.
Tori gasps.
“Ooh, a twist.” If Sikowitz was on a seat, he’d be at the edge of it.
She takes a large step closer to Beck.
“Don’t hurt me, please!”
“Even though she’s extremely annoying.”
“Fainting, because I can’t breathe—“ he crumbles to the ground, “—your earth’s air.”
“Gosh, it fainted!”
“Excellent!” The guy jumped up and down like a little kid getting a puppy for Christmas. He motions for them to move forward. “Tori and Jade, keep going, the next letter’s ‘H’.”
Jade jumps in without missing a beat.
“Hey,” she has a smile on her face, but her eyes give it away, she’s starting to crack, “why don’t you go jump off that cliff over there?”
Is she that petty? God.
“I think you should.”
“Just where did you come from?” Jade was starting to get frustrated. Tori was not giving in and stayed completely calm while Jade was near her limit.
“Kangaroos,” Tori said it so easily, completely satisfied with herself.
The other girl took the opportunity to take another jab at her.
“Lousy animals, kangaroos.” She strutted over behind Tori, hands on her hips. “They’re awkward and dirty.”
Before Jade could think she gained the upper hand, Tori turned and fired a retort.
“Maybe they learned from you.”
There was a chorus of ‘ooh’s and a few snickers from the class, even from Sikiowitz.
Gotcha.
The smile on Jade’s face was the only thing keeping Tori from dying that day, and even that was slipping away.
“ No one talks to me like that.” Setting aside her calm, Tori decides to dish out her finishing blows.
“Obviously someone should.”
“Please run in front of a bus.” Jade’s responses were increasing in volume.
“Quite obnoxious of you to say.” But it’s fine, Tori could do that too.
Jade’s hands were back on her hips. She was bold, she can give her credit for that. But she shouldn’t be. Everyone was afraid of Jade West. Tori couldn’t be an exception.
“Really?”
“Sure was.”
“ Thanks.” She draws the ‘a’ out, letting the shorter girl know just how frustrated she was.
It isn’t like Tori wasn’t losing her cool too. She was. Slowly.
“Up your nose, I see boogers.” It was immature, but she didn’t care at this point. She’s proved herself enough.
“Very clever.” God, I really hate this girl.
“Wish you’d thought of it?” Tori smiled at her, but that only did more to anger Jade.
Jade points at Tori’s nose.
“‘X’ marks the spot I’d like to punch.”
“Your finger smells weird.” Tori scrunches her nose, glancing between Jade and her finger.
“Zero is what you are, on a scale from one to ten.” She moves back to her original spot.
“And back to the letter ‘A’!” It was Sikowitz. Tori had totally forgotten he and the rest of the class were still there.
Tori turned around.
“As if I care what you think.” She didn’t bother masking the irritation.
“Better watch yourself.” The class leaned forward, anticipating what Tori would come up with next. The girl was full of surprises. If it wasn’t working against her, Jade would honestly find it attractive. She likes unpredictable. Just not on Tori.
Tori raised an eyebrow, almost mimicking Jade’s stance.
“Can’t take it?”
“Don’t push me.” If you squint, you could see a slight hint of fear in the goth’s eyes.
“Eat your pants!”
“F-forget you!” Tori didn’t miss that stutter.
“Gee, I would, but I think everyone’s enjoying me too much for that.” She also didn’t miss the small nods of agreement.
“How are you such a gank?” The screaming girl was a stark contrast to the calm Vega in front of her. Their noses were only inches away from each other.
“I don’t know, I think that question would be better suited for you.” A low growl escaped Jade’s throat, followed by a smug smile.
“Just don’t come crying to mommy when I destroy you.”
There was a pause, and Jade thinks she’s won. An idea suddenly came to Tori’s mind, and before she could stop herself, it all came rolling down her tongue.
“Kiss me.” Beck immediately lifts his head, his jaw dropping. He’s not the only one, the class is entirely speechless. Sikowitz’s eyes were shining as if a missing puzzle piece has finally clicked in his mind.
Jade was speechless. Tori was about to backtrack when she glanced at their teacher and sees him giving her a thumbs up and vigorously nodding her head.
She steps forward and closes the distance between her and Jade. To her surprise, she kisses back. She wasn’t sure whose heart was the one beating like crazy. She wasn’t sure why this was even happening in the first place.
A low whistle from the back of the class snaps them out of it. Jade pushes her away.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Jade’s eyes widen even more than it already is. “Wait!”
Sikowitz snaps his fingers in disappointment. At Jade starting with the wrong letter or her abruptly ending the kiss, no one knows.
“Dang it, Jade!” He sighed. “The next letter was actually-”
“‘L’!” The sudden mood change could’ve given Tori whiplash. “I know!”
She gave one last lingering look to Tori. Somewhere in between anger and confusion, and maybe something else? If there was, Tori had no clue.
Sikowitz had already moved on while Tori was still trying to catch up.
“Alright, keep the scene going.” He claps his hands. “Letter ‘M’!”
“Maybe you should rest, Alien.” She pulls a mildly shaken Beck to his feet.
“I- buh?”
Sikowitz made a buzzing sound. He points at Beck’s seat without saying a word. The class looks to each other unsure over whether they should clap or not. Andre starts clapping and slowly the class starts to follow his lead.
“Man, I love this school.”