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Chapter Text

Tori’s POV

The last thing Tori needed on that uneventful Sunday afternoon was for Trina to burst into the living room and rush Tori's science project partner out the door. She was so close to finishing that stupid, stinky mold bush project, and she just really wanted to get it over with so that she could relax and look forward to the upcoming winter break.

But, no.

Trina dragged Ian, Tori’s partner, from his seat in the kitchen all the way across the living room and shoved him out the front door, all without taking a single breath to pause her monologue about why she was so upset about being partnered with a 10th grader and why the Big Showcase was such a big deal. “—and good bye.” Trina slammed the door in Ian’s face.

Tori just didn't understand why Trina always had to rope her into all her school projects. And she had a lot of weird school projects. But Tori had a mold bush science project to finish, and Trina just kicked out her partner.

Then again, Tori remembered how bummed Trina had been that they didn't let her perform for the Big Showcase the year before. So, she grudgingly put aside her mold bush and agreed to help her sister.

"I definitely want to sing," Trina declared confidently. She positioned herself behind the piano and played a discordant chord. She also belted out an equally discordant note, and Tori winced. Flat and off-key. How did she even manage to—

"How was that?" Trina asked, grinning wide.

"Loud," Tori answered as diplomatically as possible.

"Awesome!" Trina fist-pumped. The doorbell rang. "Ugh, he's here." Trina headed for the door. Tori followed out of habit, but Trina held up her hand almost immediately. "Stay," she barked.

Tori was taken aback but did as she was told. It wasn't often that Trina decided to open the door herself.

A boy entered, the same age as Tori herself, with kind eyes, dark chocolate skin, and a cool, confident demeanor. Tori immediately liked him.

"Tori, that's Andrew," Trina introduced the newcomer off-handedly.

"Andre," the boy corrected Trina with a slight frown, slinging his backpack off his shoulder. Turning to Tori, he smiled. "You go to Hollywood Arts too?"

"Oh no, I'm not a performer," Tori waved away the suggestion. "Just my sister." Tori jerked a thumb at Trina.

Trina flung an arm over Tori's shoulders. "Yep, I got the talent, and she got the strong teeth!" Trina grabbed Tori's jaw and made a show of showing off Tori's pearly whites through a squished smile. "You know she's never had one cavity?"

"I try not to brag about it." Tori shrugged humbly. She didn't miss the amused twinkle in Andre's eyes.

His attention quickly slid away from the two sisters and past them to land on the wooden grand piano.

"Ooh, nice piano," he observed, immediately taking a seat. He began to play scales and a beautiful melody. After untangling herself from Trina’s grasp, Tori felt herself drawn to his side and took a seat right next to him on the piano bench.

They exchanged a smile as Tori complimented his skills, despite Trina's attempts to undercut the moment with her less-than-impressed reaction.

Of course, Tori's mold bush project was the final nail in the coffin for the moment, because Andre sniffed the air and immediately recoiled when he discovered the source of the odor.

Tori excused herself quickly to scrub the smell off her hands in the privacy of a bathroom.

The five days of rehearsal passed by in a flash. Tori found herself enjoying the new company, sharing tidbits about Trina with Andre when her sister wasn't listening and joining in his amused laughter whenever Trina did anything too wild.

If there was one thing that Trina could do, it was hold a note. The girl had amazing lung capacity. Not that it helped much when the note she sustained was off-key.

But Tori had put up with almost two and a half years of Trina singing, and so she had a bottle of aspirin at the ready when Andre asked.

By the end of the five nights of rehearsals, Tori was surprised how much of the entire performance they had managed to finalize. Comedy, a bit of dancing, and of course, Trina's solo piece, "Make It Shine," an original song written and composed by Andre.

Tori fell asleep the night before the performance with excitement and pride for her sister's performance. Even if she didn't kill the solo song, Trina had all the confidence in the world to make up for any flubs. Besides, the comedy piece she was going to act out was genius. Even though Trina seemed dead set on becoming a singer when she graduated Hollywood Arts, Tori knew that Trina would always have comedy to fall back on if she needed to.

The day of the Big Showcase had arrived. Their parents had even allowed Tori to skip school that day to attend the show. Vibrating with excitement in her seat, Tori was seated next to her parents in the audience.

She watched, starstruck, as several performances passed by. Incredible songs, amazing dance numbers, tear-jerking monologues, and belly-aching comedy routines. Each one was breathtaking in their own way. More than anything, Tori could hardly believe a school like this even existed, where such talent was curated and encouraged. Tori didn't know much about the school since Trina never shared many stories about it aside from drama Tori didn’t care about, but the Big Showcase really changed Tori's perspective of the school.

It was all a little surreal.

In the middle of a dance routine, a very sudden and very loud wail erupted from somewhere backstage, and Tori and her parents, along with most of the audience, looked around confused.

A man approached Tori and her parents, mentioning Trina, and he hurriedly escorted them backstage.

Trina stood wailing nonsensically with a voluminously engorged tongue that was apparently throbbing erratically. All of a sudden, everyone was in a panic. Everything moved really fast, with fast decisions being made without her consent. People whirled around Tori, pulling and tugging her this way and that. Then, she suddenly found herself being chased around backstage, forced into a sparkly dress, mic'ed up, and pushed onto the stage.

In front of a very large audience.

Oh boy. Tori hadn't felt anxiety like this in a long, long time.

The cold tendrils of stage-fright wrapped themselves around Tori's stomach and clenched tight. She swallowed, but it didn't do much to help her dry mouth. She cleared her throat and took a deep breath, casting a nervous glance at Andre (the lead instigator to Tori's current situation, aside from the Chinese herb gargle Trina had insisted on using last night, which had led to the engorged tongue).

He nodded encouragingly and smiled warmly.

Tori slowly felt a fuzzy feeling spread through her as she took one last breath of preparation.

"Here I am… once again…"

Her voice sounded so small against the vast silence of the auditorium. If it weren't for the microphone, she was sure no one on even the other end of the stage would be able to hear her. But the microphones were in place, and she was standing there, a single lone spotlight shining down on her in the middle of a way-too-large stage.

Tori swallowed again, pushing past the anxiety now clawing at her throat, and she closed her eyes, imagining herself to just be in the safety of the living room again. No one around but Andre and Trina and maybe her parents. Only, it was Tori singing, not Trina. It was Tori spinning and dancing around.

She opened her eyes, feeling her confidence surge and swell with each passing note. She glanced at Andre, this time with a gesture to speed up the slow ballad tempo until the band kicked into full swing at a rapid pop-song speed.

Suddenly, she was whirling around the stage, stomping and strutting, dancing and shaking.

Suddenly, she felt a rush like she never had before.

Suddenly, she was standing in the middle of the stage, frozen in the final pose, breathing heavily from the sudden exertion.

The crowd leapt to their feet, clapping and cheering.

Once backstage again, Tori was crushed from every side with hugs and cheers. She was breathless, not only from doing the full dance number and singing and releasing all of her nervous anticipation, but also from the exhilaration she felt as the adrenaline pumped its last through her veins and her muscles began to settle again.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" a tall man with square glasses, a neatly trimmed beard and an ecstatic smile asked Tori.

"I'm Tori Vega. Who are you?" The adrenaline was making her filter rather thin. Tori realized too late that it was kind of a brash response to the man.

"This is Mr. Eikner. Our principal," someone explained.

"You don't go to school here?" the man asked.

"No, I just—"

He immediately held up a hand to silence whatever explanation Tori was about to ramble about.

"Do you want to?"

The question slammed into Tori like a truck. This was an opportunity, a small voice in her head whispered. A decision that Tori could feel in her bones was going to change her life.

But like always, the doubt in Tori's thoughts rushed out of her mouth before her confidence even had a chance. Excuses poured out, protests and non-committal "I don't know"s.

She voiced aloud the question that haunted her all her life.

"But what if I'm not good enough?"

She was met with a chorus of groans and refutes, and amidst the arguments, Andre pulled the curtains open again. He posed the question to the entire auditorium, and Tori was quite positive she had never been more flustered in her life.

Tori was met with more positive applause than the resounding standing ovation from her performance.

"Okay?" Andre asked, smiling that warm, gentle smile.

"Okay!" she beamed, jumping into his arms and hugging him tightly.

Over Winter Break, Tori’s parents took care of all the transfer paperwork, and Trina saw a doctor. After a week of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medicine, Trina’s tongue finally returned to normal.

And boy, was Trina conflicted about Tori enrolling in the same school as her again.

Truth be told, so was Tori. For very different reasons.

Ah, the first day of school at Tori's new high school: Hollywood Arts. Home to insanely talented up and coming artists of all kinds.

"See? It's just a high school," Trina grinned.

Um. This most definitely was not just a high school. And Tori told Trina exactly that. To which Trina responded with some more of her trademark narcissism and unhelpful jabs.

"You're not alone," Trina assured her. Until some girl ran up to Trina screaming about an Eric Paulson and his straightened hair, and…

"I'm alone!" Tori called after her sister with a heavy, defeated sigh. She groaned and looked at her schedule.

Looking around at the colorfully decorated and unique wall of lockers, the sprawling murals across every uncovered bare wall, and the clusters of students who were chattering, dancing, or playing instruments, Tori felt the gnaw of anxiety in the pit of her stomach again. No one looked particularly free to stop and give directions to a lost new student. They were engrossed in their phones or chatting with a group of friends or otherwise occupied.

Tori wandered on her own for a bit, managing to locate the first of her morning classes, and she decided that was enough for now. The rest she would have to figure out as she went.

Leap-frogging with directions from a kind classmate from each class, somehow Tori managed to get through three class periods.

The bell rang and students shuffled to gather their things. Jumping on the opportunity, Tori stopped a redheaded girl from leaving. She sat a few rows over from Tori, but Tori didn't catch her name, too flustered from walking in late.

"Hey, um, could you tell me where—" Tori started.

But the girl cut in excitedly before Tori could get another word in. "Oh my god! You're Tori, right?"

"Uh-huh," Tori grinned, albeit a bit concerned at the girl's volume. She looked around nervously to find no one gave either of them a second glance. Then again, Tori doubted anyone could really match the energy levels of the girl standing before her.

"You were so awesome in the Big Showcase!"

"Aw, thanks." Tori decided she liked this girl. The bubbly personality and bright smiles. Like a shaken-up bottle rocket of sunshine and rainbows ready to explode at any moment. Tori found herself easily reflecting the girl's smile.

"My name's Cat," she introduced herself.

"Like the animal?"

The girl's face flipped like a switch. Once shining, happy eyes were suddenly a stormy, murky brown, watering like tears were about to rain down uncontrollably. "What's that supposed to mean?!" she shrieked.

"Nothing!" Tori amended quickly. "I-I love cats." She didn't mean to upset the fragile girl.

Just as quickly as before, Cat's face flipped like a switch, lighting up with immeasurable happiness again. "Me too! They're so cute!" she giggled. Then, without another word, she turned on her heel and walked away.

Tori stared after her, still confused and reeling from the bizarre exchange.

And she never got her directions. Dang it.

Tori sighed and followed the rest of the class out into the hallway. She spotted another person who might be not-distracted enough to spare a few moments to give her directions.

"Hey, um—"

"Hi," the curly-haired boy replied automatically, as if desperate to make as little social contact as possible. He very nearly sped past Tori without another word when he paused. "Hey, hello," his eyes dropped down. "Female," he muttered below his breath. His eyes snapped back up to Tori's face before she could make a comment. "Yes?" His voice had risen an octave or so and increased in volume that he was practically shouting.

Tori decided not to make a big deal about it, though it did set off a twinge of discomfort in the pit of her stomach. A nice companion to the anxiety still curling in her gut. Though her first few classes seemed relatively normal, it did little to ease her that most of the students around her looked positively bored. She even spied one of her desk neighbors doodling (if one could call it just doodling) a very detailed caricature of their math teacher. Tori was starting to feel that sinking feeling again.

"Can you tell me where…" Tori peered at her schedule. The paper already wore several wrinkles and creases from being shoved in her pocket to being shoved in her bag before being pulled out time and again. "Mr. Sikowitz's classroom is?"

"Down the hall," Tori was surprised to see the puppet on the boy's arm animatedly reply, "swing a left at the water fountain. Second door on your right."

"Thank you," Tori replied slowly, a wary eye on the very creepy puppet.

"Whatever it takes, cupcake," Tori heard behind her as she moved past to follow the directions. She cast a confused and uncomfortable glance over her shoulder as she walked away, but the boy was gesturing like he hadn't said it, like the puppet had a mind of its own. Which was, Tori believed, ridiculous. The puppet was being controlled and voiced by the boy, surely. Like a really, crazy good ventriloquist act.

Strange, Tori thought as she entered the classroom, and it was these thoughts that preoccupied her so much that she hardly realized someone was right behind her until she turned around and saw a handsome boy sporting a large brown blotch on a white band t-shirt, peering down at the stain in shock.

"Oh my gosh," Tori rushed out.

The boy began to wave it off, but Tori felt so incredibly guilty. Nothing was going particularly well on her first day. Her anxiety levels were reaching their peaks, and she just needed to fix something. Something needed to go right.

So she began to try and rub out the stain with the sleeve of her cardigan, not missing how hardened the abs underneath felt. Her gaze slowly dragged up his torso, and she found her eyes drawn to his. They were kind and soft like Andre's, if a bit empty. Like there were purposely no secrets to glean.

Tori didn't even realize they were still in that position (he had stopped complaining, Tori noticed) when the sharpest, rudest voice that had ever assaulted Tori's ears rang clear across the silence in the room and burst the little bubble of a moment Tori was sharing with this good-looking boy.

"Dude, why you rubbing my boyfriend?"

Panic immediately flooded Tori's body. At the doorway stood an imposing goth girl, fitted with a (very sexy—wait what?) eyebrow piercing, a nose piercing, and a tattoo. She wore mostly black attire, but the dark scheme of her clothes didn't do much to obscure how… endowed her… assets were. Which Tori probably should've realized was kind of the point.

But instead, the only two thoughts rattling in Tori's anxiety-riddled brain were: 1. She looks super hot, and 2. She looks super scary.

The second thought drowned out the first one almost immediately, and very soon, Tori's habit of rambling kicked into gear, and the senseless words spilled out of her mouth like no tomorrow. Faster than the coffee she spilled over the poor boy's shirtfront.

"Get away from him," the girl's patronizing voice cut through Tori's rambling like a knife through butter, and Tori snapped her jaw shut.

"Relax," the boy murmured, pressing a placating kiss to the girl's cheek. Though the girl's frame relaxed marginally at the affection, the scowl on her face remained fierce as ever. She stayed standing there, continuing to glare at Tori for a few moments longer, even when her boyfriend left to take a seat.

Tori and the girl's moment was then interrupted by a man bursting into the classroom yelling about a fire.

What was it with Tori having these moments? And more importantly, fire?!

Tori, along with most of the class, began to panic until the man yelled that it was a false alarm.

Heart thudding in her chest (or, at least, Tori was pretty sure most of her heightened pulse was from the adrenaline of the threat of fire), Tori slowly settled into her seat.

With a sinking feeling (which Tori was finding to be an unfortunate pattern for the day), Tori recognized the man as the person she had handed two dollars to on her way into the main hallway earlier that morning.

As the man showed off Tori's "generous donation," Andre, who had taken a seat next to Tori, leaned over and whispered, "Why'd you give him two dollars?"

"I thought he was homeless," Tori replied quickly, already blushing from the publicity of it all, on top of being the new student.

The man, (Mr. Sikowitz, Tori noted), didn't seem dazed or offended at all, which relieved her enough to move on from the embarrassment and try to focus on what he was saying.

"Tori, I assume you're familiar with improv?"

"No," she responded as confidently as if her answer had been the opposite.

"Okay! Crash course." He clasped his hands. "Improv: acting without a script. Which means the actors must make up their own actions and dialogue as they perform the scene. Understood?" Tori opened her mouth to ask a question, but he plowed forward without stopping for a breath. "Excellent. Jade! You will captain the first group of the day."

The girl with the piercings and tattoo stood up, a smug smirk already planted on her face. It suited her well, and Tori would've appreciated how pretty the girl looked if she wasn't feeling that all-too-familiar sinking feeling (again) with the predatory glint in the girl's eyes.

"...and Tori."

Tori's mouth went dry. She reluctantly stood and joined the others on the small stage at the front of the classroom.

A setting was chosen (home) and a situation (big news, which was clarified after a small misunderstanding between Mr. Sikowitz and Andre). Then, Jade smiled sweetly, the kind that didn't reach her blue-green eyes, and asked Tori to wait in the hall.

Moments later, the girl, Jade, was guiding Tori back in, saying, "... and got us… a dog."

Tori chuckled nervously. "Uh yep, I'm the new family dog." She paused before adding an uncertain woof for good measure.

"Sikowitz," Jade drawled. "Will you tell this amateur that dogs can't talk? And that they can't walk on two legs?"

Tori gaped at the girl. Then at the teacher, who made some very strange (at least, Tori thought so, but apparently the rest of the class wasn't fazed at all) comment about coconut milk.

"It's true, Tori," he said with a sigh. "If you're going to play a dog… be a dog."

Tori grimaced but got down on all fours. She woof-ed again, Sikowitz called action, and, really, Tori felt she should've seen what happened next coming. But then again, she was so used to being optimistic and giving people the benefit of the doubt that it hadn't occurred to think that a girl could be capable of such… meanness.

Jade slowly poured the freezing coffee over Tori's head like she was preparing a pot of pour-over coffee. Then came the big clump of ice.

Tori's jaw dropped. Tears stung her eyes. Without looking at anyone else, she ran out of the room, desperate to be away and alone before the tears began to fall.

Jade's last words rang in her head like an echo that couldn't stop. What's the prob, dog?

What was that girl's problem? More importantly, what the hell was Tori thinking, thinking that she could ever fit into a school for talented people?

She was just Average Tori. Heck, even Trina said it to her face that morning.

She didn't belong.

She got one lucky performance. That was all.

So when Andre came chasing after her in the hall, even going so far as to steal her phone, Tori unloaded what all the voices in her head were shouting.

Then, suddenly, it wasn't just her and Andre, the curly-haired boy and Cat were also outside. And Sikowitz wanted them back in class.

Tori groaned. The puppet and the curly-haired boy bickering was not easing her anxiety. In any other situation, maybe she would've found it funny, if she could get past it being just plain bizarre. But Andre waved them away, and it was just them again.

"You're not normal either. I've seen what you can do. You're special." He took a step forward. His eyes shined with warmth. Tori didn't feel the urge to hold herself so tightly anymore. "You're fantastic." Tori's arms relaxed further as the warmth spread from his kind gaze to form a small bubble of confidence in Tori's chest. "You belong here." He began to walk back down the hallway, but he turned around to add, "Normal's boring." Then, he turned the corner and was gone.

Tori pondered his words in silent contemplation. It did feel good to be on the stage. She'd never felt that kind of exhilaration before. The stage fright had always choked her up to the point that she never actually got to perform. But now, knowing the rush that awaited her on the other side of the anxiety, Tori began to wonder…

"It's true," Cat said softly, breaking Tori out of her thoughts.

"That normal's boring?"

"No, that no one asked me to the prom!" Cat cried out before racing back down the hallway to Sikowitz's classroom again.

Tori stood there, still confused as ever. Cat was a sophomore, that much Tori gathered from their shared class before Sikowitz. Wasn't prom typically for juniors and seniors anyway? And wasn’t she a freshman last year?

But that was so beside the point.

With grudging steps, Tori headed back to class and sat through the rest of the lecture. But she told herself it was only because Andre had stolen her phone and was keeping it hostage until the end of class.

After a long, hot shower, Tori told her mom about her decision and what had happened at school (that was to say, overall, nothing much really, besides major anxiety and one very mean girl, Jade), and she settled herself in the living room with her PearBook.

With a grimace of nostalgia and a small craving for a confidence boost, Tori pulled up a recording of her performance. Surprisingly, someone had already posted a full, good-quality version of it on The Slap (which Tori was still debating if she wanted to keep her account for, since she soon wouldn't be a student anymore).

Tori looked up to find a smiling Trina settling into the couch beside her.

"You know, you're actually not terrible."

Tori forced a grin. She knew her sister wasn't the greatest at giving heart to heart encouragement, but she knew Trina was trying. Tori let out a sigh.

Trina asked next, "You're really going to quit Hollywood Arts?"

It was a rare moment to even get a quiet (much less, sympathetic) Trina, so Tori decided to seize the chance. "What do you think I should do?"

"I think you should come back," Trina stated firmly. Tori glanced up to find nothing but sincerity written on her sister's face.

A genuine smile crept across Tori's lips. "Why?"

"So I won't be known as the girl with the lame little sister who quit on her first day," Trina scoffed, giving Tori's shoulder a playful shove. Trina got up to leave, having apparently expended all her genuine big sister love for the day. Probably for the week. Maybe the whole month. Who knew?

Tori smiled, shaking her head. She knew Trina was only ever half-joking, and the familiarity of it all, as well as the wistfulness with which her sister had broached the topic, made Tori's insides curl with warmth.

Halfway to the stairs, Tori heard her sister's footsteps pause, then turn.

"And…" Tori turned to look over her shoulder at her sister, who was now fiddling with her earphones. The picture of uncertainty. Tori had rarely, if ever, seen her boisterous and overconfident sister so bashful. "I think you were really good in the Big Showcase."

"Thanks, Treen," Tori grinned.

"But I would've been amazing!" Trina sang the last word, surprisingly on-key. Tori rolled her eyes and turned back to her PearBook.

Andre's encouragement and Trina's heartfelt compliments were building up the swell of confidence slowly growing in her.

After dinner, Tori knocked on her parents' bedroom door and sat with them.

They asked her the question again, and this time, Tori smiled as she said with confidence, "I want to stay."

The next day, Tori walked into Sikowitz's classroom and was met with varying reactions, the oddest, of course, coming from the teacher himself: "Have you ever thought of coming through the window?"

"No," Tori frowned.

"Think about it," Sikowitz said. "Now, sit, sit." He gestured to the only empty chair, in the back of the classroom, and Tori did as she was told, feeling the side of her head burn from the glare of a particularly unhappy person across the room.

Though Sikowitz's reaction was the first, it wasn't the first one Tori noticed. In fact, the one Tori did notice wasn't even the most prominent one. It was completely silent.

Jade had sat straight up from her slouched position in the plastic chair, arms crossed and scowl deepened. A stark contrast to the warm and surprised smiles she received from Cat, Andre, Beck (the handsome boy), and Robbie (the curly haired puppet boy).

Jade shot Tori one last glare (and she made it a point to make sure Tori caught it) before turning around to pay attention to the activity Sikowitz was introducing: Alphabetical Improv. The teacher pointed to Beck for a demonstration.

"Apples are falling out of my butt," Beck said without skipping a beat. Tori stifled a chuckle.

"Lovely," Sikowitz deadpanned. "Now, the next actor who speaks," he continued, moving around the room until he landed behind Andre, "must start his next line with the next letter in the alphabet, in this case, B, so he might say…" he leaned forward, resting his hands on Andre's shoulders and his chin on Andre's head.

"Bring those apples, so that we may all enjoy the fresh fruit from Beck's butt."

Tori nearly clapped. It was poetic. It was dramatic. It was even alliterative. She knew Andre was talented in songwriting, but wow. To pull something like that from thin air, and for such a ridiculous prompt? Tori wanted to do that.

"Charming." Sikowitz patted Andre's shoulder and straightened up. “Now who wants to lead the first group?”

“I do!” Tori volunteered immediately. She shot a smug grin at Jade, who had already returned to slouching in her chair.

“Alright, Tori, choose your actors.”

Tori strode up confidently to the stage, hoping that the confidence she was exuding would somehow seep into the knots of anxiety still squirming in her stomach.

“Okay.” Tori turned to face the class. “Andre, Cat, Beck, and Jade.”

Jade raised her pierced eyebrow in a silent question. She looked nonplussed, but there was a flicker of amusement and surprise in her blue-green eyes.

“Yeah, you,” Tori said sharply in response to the unspoken question.

Jade relented with an expression that shouted, “Alright, your loss.” And she joined them on stage.

Tori watched Jade closely as she walked up, but Jade didn’t seem fazed at all. In fact, she grabbed Beck by the jaw and planted a lingering kiss on him. Tori fought the urge not to gag on the spot and instead just rolled her eyes. There was something so wrong about the image. Before Tori could puzzle out why she felt that way, Sikowitz was reprimanding Jade loudly, and Tori and Jade exchanged a silent glare.

They lined up, and Sikowitz laid out the rest of the rules of the activity.

“Tori, action.”

And so began a fierce battle between Tori and Jade. The first of many legendary battles, though neither knew it yet. The audience faded. Heck, the rest of the students on stage with her faded. All Tori saw was Jade. And all Jade seemed to see was Tori.

Even Beck took a sideline seat to their verbal rally. Back and forth like a tennis match, they went.

Until they were shouting alphabetical insults at each other so fast that Tori barely had time to think of her next line when she realized they were fast approaching—

“You eat your pants! Wait!” Jade cried out, eyes wide and frantic, hand splayed out in front of her as if to stop the inevitable outcome she had brought upon herself.

Sikowitz made an obnoxious buzzer noise, and a triumphant smile split his face in half. “Sorry, Jade!” he exclaimed, not looking sorry at all. “The next letter was—”

“F! I know!” Jade shouted. She shot one last glare at Tori as she stomped off the stage. Tori let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. She never did well when confronted with curse words. They made her flinch. And from what Tori had seen of Jade, she didn’t put it past the girl to curse loudly and profusely.

But, with Jade now out of the round, Tori felt her nervous jitters slide away. She helped Beck up, saying, “Get up, alien.”

“Head… feels dizzy,” he said weakly.

Inspiration hit Tori like lightning. Her face lit up as she thought ahead to the next letters she needed to start her lines with. It was much easier to keep track of the upcoming letters now that it was just the two of them. And Beck was a much calmer person to rally lines with than the very intense Jade.

Tori grinned. “I know what’ll make you feel better.”

“Jumping jacks?” he smiled uneasily.

“Kiss me.” She dared not sneak a glance off stage to take in what was no doubt the most incredulous and indignant glare shooting out from Jade’s eyes.

Beck’s smile widened into a genuine one. “Let’s do it,” he replied, already leaning in.

Their lips met.

It was nice.

But that’s all it really was.

(Really, what made the kiss good at all was the sheer fact that she got to rub it into Jade’s face.)

“Man, I love this school,” Tori beamed as she pulled away. Some kids in the back cheered and whistled, and Sikowitz silenced them with a look and a cautious glance at Jade, whose glare had not wavered from Tori’s face.

Tori’s face paled and her smile faltered when she saw Jade’s hand slowly reaching into the side of her boot. Her blue-green eyes had laser focus that dared not stray from Tori’s figure.

Sikowitz cleared his throat loudly and clapped his hands, motioning for the remaining two to take their seats. He hopped back up to the stage and called on the next group’s captain, Robbie, who insisted that his puppet, Rex, had to join him. Sikowitz sighed and relented, taking a seat in the front row again as the next group started on the letter C, courtesy of Cat and her airy giggle.

Jade refused to even look in Tori’s direction for the rest of class. She barely even reacted when Beck pecked her on the cheek again, in that placating way that Tori had seen just the day before.

Tori wasn’t sure what she was supposed to feel, but she was pretty sure she wasn’t supposed to feel this numb. This was a victory for her. She had one-upped the mean girl who had poured coffee on her head and made her bark like a dog in front of class on her first day at a new school. She was supposed to feel some semblance of happy. But instead, she still felt the ever-constant anxiety twisting her stomach into knots, now joined by a small pit of guilt.

No. She should feel victorious. She was victorious.

But she sure as heck didn’t feel like it.

She ate lunch alone in the janitor’s closet, unwilling to go outside and face the couple she had probably caused a rift in.

But the more she thought about it, the more irrational her thinking became, because honestly, a stage kiss like that shouldn’t have meant anything. Sure, maybe it lasted a little longer than expected, now that Tori thought back, but it wasn’t like they exchanged tongues or anything. It was chaste, and Beck was respectful, and Tori appreciated that. Plenty of actors and actresses acted kissing scenes, and that was never considered cheating on their spouses or significant others.

So why was Jade making such a big deal about it?

And, why the heck was Tori?

Tori groaned. She just needed to get through two more classes, and then she would have officially finished her first full day at Hollywood Arts.

Two more hours.

She hoped her anxiety wouldn’t eat her alive.

Just her luck, her last class of the day had Beck, Cat, Andre, and Jade all in it. “Practical Acting” was the official title of the class, but as Beck explained (or began to, before Jade cut him off), it was a bit of a mixed-bag class where a bunch of guest lecturers came in to teach for a couple classes. The topics were usually pretty random and unrelated from lecturer to lecturer, but they were supposed to be helpful in a lot of different ways.

Today’s lecture was by the regular teacher himself, and it was on auditioning. Apparently, Tori had missed the first half of the lecture since she skipped the day before. After a five minute recap, Tori was still lost, and she resolved herself to just try and absorb as much information as she could.

Beck and Jade’s stiffness radiated through the room like an icy wind, and Tori could not wait for the class to pass by faster. She just wanted to get home and change into sweats and try to forget all of this. Or apologize. Or just try to blank-slate everything and start over. If Jade was even capable of that.

But Tori was Tori, and Tori gave people second chances and the benefit of the doubt. She didn’t go around kissing people’s boyfriends just to get revenge. That wasn’t her. All of this was so uncharacteristic of her. And it scared her because everything was so new.

Tori didn’t even realize she was venting all of this to an unlistening Trina in the short ten-minute car ride back home until Trina cut in.

“Wait, you kissed Beck? In front of Jade West?”

“Uh, yeah, I think. Why?”

“She’s like the meanest, scariest chick on campus. You know she carries around a pair of scissors in her waistband like a freak? And another pair in her boot?”

“She… she does?” Tori gulped, remembering how Jade was reaching for something in her boot in class earlier. She also briefly remembered Jade’s fingers dancing near her waistband, and Beck’s hand tugging it away to interlink their fingers several times during their other shared class.

“Yeah, the girl’s got some problems. Doesn’t know how to chill. I don’t understand what Beck sees in her.”

“Yeah…” Tori mused absentmindedly, mulling over this new information. Had Tori known that her life was so very close to flashing before her eyes, she wouldn’t have dared to sit so close to the couple in their Practical Acting class. Heck, she wouldn’t have even come to class at all, had she known any of what she knew now.

As Tori fell asleep that night, she decided to blank-slate it. Screw it if Jade wasn’t the type of person to accept it. Tori had messed up bad, even if Jade had fired the first shot. Tori had a feeling in her gut, an inexplicable tug, to want to get close to Jade. The girl was no longer a nameless mean girl with a fierce appearance and even fiercer demeanor. Out of the two major interactions Tori had had with Jade so far, the girl had shown nothing but bitterness toward Tori. And it stood out against a sea of faceless indifference and overwhelming support from everyone else she had met: Cat, Andre, Robbie, and even Beck, her boyfriend. It intrigued Tori, as much as it scared her. And it scared her even more how intrigued she was.

But she made a decision. She would blank-slate it all. Start over. And maybe, hopefully, start off on a better foot with Jade West on Monday.

Jade’s POV

“I can’t believe you did that.”

“What was I supposed to do?”

“Uh, I don’t know, maybe not kiss some girl who isn’t your girlfriend in front of the whole class?”

“It was a stage kiss! It didn’t mean anything! Why are you acting like I kissed her in front of the whole school?”

“Oh, because that’s what you really wanted? Because you might as well have! The whole school was already talking about it by the time school was out! Tori Vega: the girl who stole Big Bad Jade West’s boyfriend.”

“Is that all I am to you?”

“No, of course not! I just don’t like it when you don’t say no to people.”

“Improv is about ‘yes, and.’ Remember?”

“Not for everything!”

“Jade, please. Do you believe me when I say that it didn’t mean anything? Yes or no?”

“Yes, of course, but—”

“No but’s. It didn’t mean anything, Jade. I promise.”

“You promise?”

“Yes.”

“... You swear?”

“Yes.”

“Come here.”

Jade smiled into their kiss, and she knew Beck was doing the same. He felt right. He felt like home. Warm and comfortable and safe.

Chapter Text

Tori’s POV

Monday, Tori woke up late. So late that she barely had time to wash up, change into somewhat presentable clothes, and grab her books and bag before jumping into Trina’s car, lest her sister take off for school without her.

Tori audibly groaned when Trina made a “pit stop” for coffee at Jet Brew on their way. That explained why she was screeching that Tori was going to make them late.

Nothing like walking into school three minutes late with the Jet Brew that made them three minutes late.

But Trina being Trina, she didn’t even offer to get Tori a cup. Not that Tori really needed it. Once the sleepy haze was lifted from her brain, she was actually positively buzzing with anticipation to get to school. It was a new day, a new school week. And Tori was feeling pretty confident that it was going to be a good one today.

If she could survive Trina’s antics until they got to school.

Tori’s phone buzzed with a new text.

Andre: Hey, Tori, it’s Andre. They’re going to list the new plays for the semester today, and I wrote the music for one of them, Moonlight Magic. I think you’d be great for the lead role. You should audition. See you at school!

Tori beamed. She replied back with an affirmative and sighed. Andre was the nicest guy Tori had ever met. Only a week (barely two days, really) of knowing her, and he was already recommending her to try out for a lead role in a play? Well, “mildly suggesting,” Tori supposed, would be more accurate. Still, Andre’s confidence gave Tori another surge of energy, and she was so distracted by those thoughts that she didn’t see a crack in the parking lot. Before she knew it, her foot got caught, and her books and everything tumbled out of her hands and sprawled across the asphalt ground.

Trina was still droning on and on about some new drama with her and her friend group, not even casting a single backwards glance. Tori glared at the retreating figure as she gathered her books. She thanked a few strangers who handed her some of her scattered materials before hurrying after Trina. Why was her gym bag so heavy?

“Tori,” Trina shrieked from the main hallway, apparently annoyed that she was mid-story only to find her sister not dotingly by her side and clinging to her every word.

Tori huffed and threw open the door, barely managing to stumble in, and even then, a few of her notebooks slipped from the pile in her arms again.

“Did you not see me fall down in the parking lot?”

“It was very funny,” Trina replied, dripping with false sympathy.

“I wasn’t trying to be—”

Trina gasped, cutting Tori off. “The new play roster!” she exclaimed. “Hold my coffee,” she demanded, slamming the half-full cup onto Tori’s newly-stacked, newly-gathered armful of books and supplies. Trina pushed her way forcefully through the crowd to pluck an orange flier from the bulletin board.

Tori rolled her eyes, still struggling to keep her balance. Why were there so many textbooks, and why were they all so heavy?

Trina made her way back and was exclaiming, “Oh my god, I am perfect for all of these!”

“The plays for this semester? Hey, is Moonlight Magic on there?”

“Uh, yeah, number four, why?”

“Andre texted this morning. He said he wrote the music for it, and he wants me to try out for the lead.”

“You?” Trina chuckled. “Why?”

Tori scowled. “Take your coffee, and go.” Tori handed Trina her coffee with a stony glare, which only intensified as Trina ruffled Tori’s hair playfully.

“Ooh, somebody fell down on the wrong side of the parking lot.”

Tori huffed, but Trina had already disappeared down the hallway. She continued forward to her locker. Just her luck, Jade, the first (kind of) friendly face Tori had seen all morning was coming around the corner.

“Need some help?” Jade asked. Hope blossomed in Tori’s chest. Perhaps all was forgiven.

“Yes,” Tori sighed, an expectant smile painting her face.

“Interesting,” was all Jade said, never slowing in her stride as she passed by without a second glance. Tori would’ve scoffed, if she hadn’t felt all her energy drain out of her from that short exchange. And all these heavy things she had to carry because she couldn’t properly pack her bag this morning were really weighing down on her arms.

Just a few more steps, she tried to encourage herself.

Balancing the chin-high stack of textbooks and notebooks on her left arm, cradling them against her chest, while shrugging to keep her gym bag from slipping off her other shoulder again, Tori barely managed to spin her locker combination and swing open the empty little box.

Andre and Robbie’s voice (and Rex’s) filtered down the hallway.

Relief washed over her, and she called out, “Hey, can you guys help me?”

“Sure,” they both said without any hesitation. Robbie set Rex down on the floor.

With their help, Tori managed to get all her books and her gym bag in, and she sighed in relief, rubbing her sore arms, and thanked them.

“Alright, my locker is filled,” she declared, slamming the door shut. “I feel complete.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Andre said, “not yet.”

“What?”

“You gotta customize it.”

“Everyone at Hollywood Arts has to customize their locker,” Robbie added.

“Oh.” Tori looked at her own plain gray locker with forlorn. “Well, what did you do for yours?” She turned back to the boys.

Robbie’s was apparently a mosaic using all the baby bottle nipples from his childhood. Tori didn’t even know where to begin unpacking that statement. “They remind me of a happier time!” Robbie insisted when he was met with Tori’s confused look.

Tori decided to drop it and turned to Andre. “Yours?”

“Check it out,” he waved them over around the corner towards the stairs.

With a flourish, he displayed his own locker, painted with a shiny black lacquer and fitted with a keyboard along the side that the lock typically sat. He immediately spread his fingers and began jamming out a tune on the piano keys of the keyboard, which soon had half of the hallway bouncing to the tune.

Lane’s voice suddenly cut over the small crowd as he approached. “Hey Andre, Robbie! That squirrel is back in my office again.”

The two boys grumbled to each other and headed out dejectedly, leaving a very confused Tori behind.

Shaking her head and deciding to leave it to be yet another Hollywood Arts mystery to figure out later, Tori sighed and walked back to her locker. It looked so painfully plain.

Tori supposed she shouldn’t be surprised that this was another aspect of Hollywood Arts Trina failed to mention before.

As she stood contemplating how to decorate it, a low, breathy voice suddenly whispered over Tori’s shoulder, “Wanna see my locker?” Tori turned slowly to see who had intruded her personal space. It was Sinjin, a pale and lanky boy with glasses, a mop of curly, sandy hair, and beady eyes. He gave off such weird vibes when he introduced himself after school on Friday.

“I guess,” Tori replied, hesitant but undeniably curious.

He explained that his locker was decorated with food he chewed but never swallowed.

Tori slowly backed away before taking off down the hallway and around the corner, desperate to escape the weirdo’s weirdness.

At break, Tori signed her name up to audition for the lead in Moonlight Magic.

The rest of the day seemed pretty normal. Until it came time for Sikowitz.

Which, again, Tori was coming to accept was the norm for Hollywood Arts. The man was so eccentric.

In the middle of a scene Jade and Cat were rehearsing in front of the class, Sikowitz chucked a ball at Cat, and it caught her square in the cheek.

The bell rang as Sikowitz and Jade argued about the sudden display of violence (which, Tori noticed Jade wasn’t completely against), and Cat’s mood flipped from angry and hurt and upset to bubbly and cheerful and excited about lunch. Jade rolled her eyes, and the students filed out.

Andre and Beck stopped by Tori's seat on the way to the door. Beck asked, “Hey, you wanna come to lunch with us?”

Tori beamed. “Sure, just let me—AHHH!” she screamed.

The same ball that had caught Cat in the face sailed inches past Tori’s cheek, slamming so hard into the wall next to the door that a folder organizer hanging from the wall fell off.

“What was that for?” Tori asked heatedly. “I’m not acting right now!”

“We need to chat,” Sikowitz stated gravely.

“And ‘Tori, can I see you’ wouldn’t have worked?” Tori asked snarkily. She had picked up how casually the students often bantered with Sikowitz.

“Have fun,” Andre said, as Beck added, “Protect your face.” And the two boys strode out, leaving Tori alone with Sikowitz.

“What’s up?” Tori asked, walking back to where Sikowitz stood on the stage.

“I hear you signed up to audition for a play.” He folded his hands behind his back. “Moonlight Magic.”

Tori hummed in confirmation and nodded. “Andre wrote the music for it, and he wants me to play the lead,” Tori dutifully repeated, just as she did to Trina earlier that morning.

“You should,” Sikowitz nodded.

“Yeah?” Tori’s face lit up. If Sikowitz thought Tori would be a good choice for the role—

“But you can’t.”

“Huh?”

“Not until you pass ‘The Bird Scene.’” Sikowitz retrieved a book from his podium, which stood tucked in the back corner of the stage, and handed it to Tori, already open to a page with a short monologue.

“‘The Bird Scene’?” Tori repeated back, confused.

“Here at Hollywood Arts, every student must successfully complete ‘The Bird Scene’ before they can audition for any and all school productions,” Sikowitz explained.

Tori glanced through the monologue. It was short and simple. Tori nodded.

“Hey, Sikowitz,” Cat’s voice called from the doorway. “I forgot to ask you a question about the homework.”

“Off to lunch you go,” Sikowitz waved Tori away. With a sigh, he addressed Cat as she approached. “Yes, Cat?”

Tori waited for Cat outside the classroom, studying the monologue in the quietness of the hallway.

“Are you sitting with us at lunch today?” Cat asked Tori excitedly, tearing Tori’s focus from the thin book Sikowitz had given her.

“Yeah, if you’ll have me,” Tori replied, smiling.

“Yay!” the redhead squealed, linking arms with Tori and excitedly leading her over to the blue table where everyone already sat.

For the first time since starting at Hollywood Arts, Tori felt like she belonged in a friend group.

Tori spent most of that night studying the monologue until she could recite it perfectly by heart. Then, she fine-tuned the emotions and lilts in her delivery until she was satisfied it sounded like a heartbroken, wistful southern belle living a lonely life on a prairie.

She was nervous but excited and ready to take on The Bird Scene the next day. The only snag in the perfectly normal and regular day leading up to Sikowitz’s period was getting called to stay behind for a few moments by her math teacher, asking Cat to tell Sikowitz she’d be late to class. The redhead happily complied, skipping off to Sikowitz’s room while Tori stayed behind.

By the time Tori finally made it into Sikowitz’s class, everyone was up out of their seats, yelling in various, vaguely British accents and arguing. Tori took a seat by the back, one of the only available seats left that was out of the way enough from the shouting and commotion.

“Alright, alright!” Sikowitz called loudly over the arguments. He clapped loudly to get everyone’s attention. “Very good! Quiet down!” he added for good measure as the class settled down again. “Now that we’re all loosey and/or goosey,” he danced a silly little jig, “the time has come for our newest student to tackle…” He began to rapidly stomp his feet rhythmically, and the students all joined in, creating a strange drumroll made of stomping feet. “The Bird Scene!”

This was it. Tori took a deep breath and smiled, willing the confidence that shone on her exterior to seep into her insides, just like when she faced off Jade in Alphabetical Improv last Friday.

Amidst mild applause, Sikowitz retreated to a chair in the back of the classroom by the door as he said, “Tori, the stage is yours, though you can’t take it home.”

“Um,” Tori said as she took her spot on the stage. “Can I ask you a quick question before I start?” Her question was barely out of her mouth before Jade let out a very loud and exasperated groan, coupled with her head being thrown back dramatically. Tori turned to glare at Jade with a slow blink of disbelief. She decided not to grace Jade’s outburst with any acknowledgment and turned back to Sikowitz. “So—”

“Just doyourbest,” Sikowitz cut Tori off quickly. “Action!”

“Okay!” Tori said, setting the book down in front of her. Here goes nothing.

She recited the monologue perfectly. Her southern belle accent lilted in just the right places. She mimed and gestured to where she imagined the bird would have sat, if she had a prop or something. Her eyes swept out across her audience, her peers, and for a fleeting moment, she saw Jade’s eyes cross and begin to close like she was dozing off. She didn’t let that shake her. She pressed on boldly.

“And so went my spirit,” Tori concluded, bowing her head. Several moments passed, and she was met with silence. She lifted her head bashfully and scanned the crowd again, a hopeful smile tugging on her lips.

“How was that?”

“What do you mean?” Sikowitz's voice was flat, his face impassive. The rest of the class was similarly giving Tori a blank, expressionless stare.

“Did I do the scene right?” Tori asked slowly.

“Oh! No, not at all.” He got to his feet and quickly met Tori on the stage.

“Okay, then what did I do wrong?” Tori asked next, confused and a little disappointed, but mostly confused.

Sikowitz handed Tori the book back, ushering her off the stage, saying, “You’ll have to perform the scene again tomorrow, and get it right, or else you cannot be in Andre’s play or any other.”

“But can you tell me what I did wrong?”

“No, I can’t,” Sikowitz replied breezily, striding back to the stage.

“I don’t get any feedback?”

“That is correct.”

“But—”

Sikowitz clapped his hands, and the students collectively leaned forward with rapt attention once more. “Drive-by acting exercise!” he cried out. “You’re all terrified dolphins! Go!”

Immediately, the room was filled with shrieks and squeals resembling dolphin calls, and every student but Tori was up out of their seat, wriggling and hopping like a dolphin jumping out of the water. Tori slunk into her chair, dejectedly flipping through the book back to the page with the Bird Scene monologue, wondering where the heck she went wrong.

On the way out of Sikowitz’s classroom, the group of classmates (minus Andre) were debating hotly. Well, more like four against one.

“Oh, come on,” Tori insisted. “How am I supposed to do the scene right if no one will tell me what I did wrong? I thought you guys were my friends.”

“I’m not your friend,” Jade retorted snarkily, taking Beck by the hand and dragging him over toward the vending machines.

Tori shot Jade a weak glare but soon turned back to the other two (three, if she counted the puppet).

Then, the puppet said some creepy pickup line, and Tori shot a full-force glare at it, then Robbie, for putting the puppet so close to her face. Robbie immediately moved away.

“Ugh,” Cat groaned. “It’s so gross how he’s always hitting on every girl.”

“I never hit on you,” the puppet shot back.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cat cried out, eyes blown wide with confusion and hurt.

Jumping into diffuse the situation, Tori tried to get the discussion back on track. “You guys, my problem?”

“Number one rule of the Bird Scene,” Beck said from the vending machines as he and Jade slowly walked back to where they had gathered in front of Tori’s locker. “No one’s allowed to help you.”

“No one,” the puppet emphasized. Tori rolled her eyes.

“So this is what you did with your locker?” Jade asked, gesturing to the dry erase board Tori had hung up earlier that morning.

“Yeah,” Tori turned to give Jade her full attention, happy to explain something that apparently held Jade’s interest. Anything to carry a civil conversation with Jade. Blank-slate, Tori reminded herself. Blank-slate. “See, it’s a dry erase board with a bunch of colorful pens in a convenient cup. So whoever wants to can write or draw whatever they want.” Tori turned to the rest of the group to gauge their reactions.

“But you’re supposed to decorate it yourself,” Beck pointed out.

“It’s a Hollywood Arts tradition,” Cat added.

“Well, what’s wrong with letting other people be expressive on my locker?” Tori asked.

“For one thing,” Robbie said hesitantly, pointing over Tori’s shoulder. “They can do… that.”

Tori turned around, following where Robbie pointed toward, to find Jade grasping Beck by the hand and walking away after dumping a red marker back into the convenient cup. A bold red word had been added, so the board now read: “Tori’s STUPID Locker.”

“Yeah?” Tori huffed, desperate to respond with something, even as Jade walked away so smugly (and so confidently with that… strut). “Yeah? Well, my locker’s smarter than your locker!” Tori shouted at the receding figures.

“How can a locker—” Cat began to ask.

“I don’t know!” Tori exploded. She sighed, lifting the dry erase board off her locker door, not willing to endure any other written insults. “Come on, somebody tell me how to do ‘The Bird Scene’ or I’m gonna cry.”

“Can’t,” Cat replied simply with a shrug.

“And don’t be so whiny,” Rex added.

“Yeah, man up,” Robbie scoffed.

Andre came around the corner, a wide grin on his face. “Time for our first ballet class.”

“Ooh! Ballet!” Robbie squealed with excitement.

Tori frowned. It was strange to see a boy so excited about ballet. It wasn’t wrong. Just unusual. At least, Tori had surely never seen a male so excited about ballet before. Especially not a male like Andre. Robbie, she could see, but Andre?

Then again, who was Tori to judge? Besides, she still needed to figure out "The (stupid) Bird Scene.”

Tori sulked all through lunch.

That night, Tori hatched several plans to get “The Bird Scene” right. Among them involved two large coconuts.

Of course, Tori had forgotten a pair of scissors. Luckily, she knew just the girl who might have a pair in times of emergency.

“Hey, Jade,” Tori started tentatively when she saw the girl in class the next day.

Jade merely looked up at Tori from her seat.

Tori took Jade’s silent attention as her cue to continue. “Um, can I borrow a pair of scissors?”

Jade regarded Tori carefully for several long moments. Tori fidgeted under the stare, even though she was the one standing over Jade. Finally, Jade sighed, reached into her messenger back and pulled out a pair of orange scissors. She offered them, blade-first, to Tori.

“These are crappy ones I don’t care about, but if you ruin them, I’ll ruin you.”

“Noted,” Tori replied through a grimace, carefully wrapping her hand around the closed blades. She pocketed the pair and returned to her seat, making sure she had everything else set in place. She made sure to come to class early that day to give herself a few extra minutes to prepare.

“So,” Beck greeted Tori as he entered the classroom and approached Tori’s seat, “you ready?”

“Oh, I’m way past ready,” Tori scoffed confidently. Today, her confidence wasn’t just painted onto her exterior. She was brimming with it from the inside out. “Sikowitz wants ‘The Bird Scene’? I’m gonna give him ‘The Bird Scene.’ I got props, I got a backdrop, and just to kiss up a little, I even got Sikowitz two large coconuts.” Tori drew them out from her bag and showed them to Beck, Jade (who had walked over when she spotted her boyfriend) and Robbie (who had walked in with Beck).

“Those are good ones,” Beck nodded, gesturing between where Tori held them about chest-level. Tori caught Jade throwing Beck a glare as he stifled a smile.

Tori blushed. Thankfully, she was saved from having to address the comment. Robbie asked, “What’s the deal with Sikowitz and coconuts?”

“He says the milk gives him visions,” Jade sighed, raising her arms up like she didn’t know what else to say. She walked away to join where Beck was setting his bag down.

Robbie shrugged and took his seat by the front of the classroom, near the windows.

Sikowitz made his entry not long after. “Alright, we have much to do today. But first…” He gestured to Tori. “Tori. ‘The Bird Scene.’”

“I’m ready!” Tori declared, standing up. “And before I begin, I’d like you to have these two large coconuts.” Tori handed the fruits over.

Sikowitz appraised them lovingly. “Wonderful. You know, their milk gives me visions.”

“I’ve heard,” Tori nodded with a smile.

Sikowitz took his seat in the back. “Everyone, pay attention. Tori?”

“One second.” Tori pulled down the backdrop she installed over the whiteboard earlier that morning before school.

“Ooh, a backdrop.”

She pulled on the glasses that hung from the chain around her neck. “And, I’m ready.”

“Delightful! Action!”

Tori launched into the monologue, much the same as the day before. This time, when she introduced the bird, she rolled the stuffed prop bird down the pulley using the hand-cranked pencil sharpener that stood attached to the wall off to the side of the stage.

“—for that afternoon, the bird left.” Tori quickly flipped the scissors out of her pocket, snipped the string suspending the bird beside her from the ceiling, and chucked the stuffed bird out the open window. She stuck the scissors in her back pocket and spoke the last line, “And so went my spirit.”

She bowed her head, a big smile plastered on her face. She knew she was supposed to be professional and have schooled features, but she just had too good of a feeling of how that rendition of "The Bird Scene" went, she couldn’t help it.

(Even if Tori caught Jade rolling her eyes as Tori rolled the bird down from her little makeshift pulley system.)

She was proud of this scene. And swelling with confidence—nay, nearly bursting with confidence—that she had nailed it.

But just like yesterday, she was met with several seconds of deafening silence. She looked up expectantly at Sikowitz again. This time, she wasted no time in getting straight to the point. “So? Was that good?”

“Exactly what are you asking me?” Sikowitz asked stiffly.

“You know, did you like what I did with the scene?”

“Sure!”

“So did I get it right?”

“Oh no. You failed. Again.”

“What? Why? I did everything—”

“Hey!” the janitor’s voice cut across Tori’s rising protests. “Watch where you throw your props!” The stuffed bird sailed back into the room. If Tori hadn’t ducked, she would’ve caught a face full of bird.

Tori frowned and slunk back to her seat again, moping for the rest of class and mulling over the scene again. She had done it flawlessly. What could she have gotten wrong?

She pulled out the scissors from her back pocket and studied them for no particular reason other than the fact that she was trying to drown out the rest of the class and needed something to focus her eyes on.

Tori decided it didn’t matter. She had come up with a few contingency plans the night before. And she was going to get answers today no matter what.

Sikowitz let them out early, despite his earlier declaration that there was much to do that day in class, and the students filtered out into the hallways. Tori managed to catch Cat before she headed out and motioned for the redhead to follow her out to the stairs while no one was around. The rest of the group had already disappeared (Robbie and Andre to get ready for their ballet class, and Beck and Jade to beat the lunch rush at the Grub Truck).

“Cat, you have to try these!” Tori gushed, pulling something out of her bag.

“Handcuffs?” Cat stared dubiously at Tori.

“Uh-huh! Here, put ‘em on one wrist.”

“Okay,” Cat complied easily as Tori locked one cuff loosely around the wrist Cat offered.

“Good, and now we lock the other part around here.” Tori locked it around the metal railing of the stairs.

“Fun!” Cat exclaimed, still not recognizing how she was effectively shackled to the railing.

“Okay, now try these.” Tori held up a box of hard candy.

Cat gasped. “Ooh, candy!” She held out her free wrist, and Tori gladly dropped one into Cat’s waiting palm. Cat immediately popped it into her mouth without question. “Mm, these are so… so hot!” She spat out the candy immediately. “What are these?” she demanded.

“Choo choo peppers,” Tori replied deviously.

“They’re burning my mouth!” Cat fanned her mouth desperately.

“I know, want some water?”

“Yes!” Cat immediately grabbed for the bottle Tori held up, but Tori swiftly moved out of reach.

“Tell me the secret of ‘The Bird Scene’!”

“I can’t! And I need water!” Cat whined, swiping for the water bottle again.

“Oh, fine!” Tori stomped, handing the bottle to Cat’s outstretched hand.

Cat gulped down two-thirds of the water quickly. Tori huffed and stormed away to go to her locker. “Wait, Tori!” Tori heard Cat call after her, but Tori was too frustrated to care. Cat didn’t call again.

She slammed open her locker and tossed her books in.

Beck sidled up to Tori’s side and leaned casually against the lockers next to Tori’s. “Whatcha doing?” he asked with that boyish smile on his face.

“Angrily throwing books in my locker, can’t you tell?” Tori bit out irritably. She closed her locker with a sigh.

“Have you figured out how you’re gonna decorate it yet?” he asked.

“Yes, look. I put a stripe on it.” Tori gestured to the perfectly straight strip of neon pink duct tape she had put on to decorate her locker. It had taken her more than fifteen minutes of unbroken focus to get it so straight. “Did you see the stripe?”

“I see the stripe,” Beck nodded, but his expression was anything but impressed.

“Well, I don’t know what to do,” Tori huffed, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall of lockers.

“Why don’t you do something, you know,” Beck shrugged, “creative and deep?”

“What’d you do for yours?”

“Come on.” Beck motioned for Tori to follow her around the corner. He showed off the bottom row locker that Tori could see held several textbooks and a hanging plaid flannel.

“Clear?” Tori asked.

“Transparent,” Beck corrected her. “I’ve got no secrets, and neither does my locker.”

“But—aw, that is creative and deep.”

Beck shrugged in a semi-modest way, a gentle smile on his face.

“So anyway, about that ‘Bird Scene’...”

“Tori!” Cat’s voice cut across their conversation. Tori closed her eyes. She forgot she left Cat cuffed to the railing.

“Um, Tori, why is Cat…”

“I’ll grab the key, just…” Tori trailed off, too preoccupied with trying to dig out the master key to the cuffs from her bag.

“Alright, later,” Beck said, laughter tinging his voice.

“Sorry, Cat,” Tori said with a sigh as she unlocked the cuffs.

“Out of my way!” Trina’s voice cut through the air moments before she barreled right between Tori and Cat. “Gotta get to lunch before they run out of paninis!”

Cat simply tossed Tori the empty water bottle before taking off after Trina, squealing, “Paninis!”

Tori had one last backup plan to use, and she put it into motion after the last class of the day. She spotted Robbie at his locker. Perfect.

“Hey, Robbie. Hi, Rex,” she remembered to address the puppet, knowing it would make things easier if she played along with Robbie’s weird schtick.

Robbie (and his puppet) returned the greeting.

“Did you guys quit ballet?” she asked, remembering their conversation over lunch.

“We can’t, unless we want a ‘zeh-ro’,” Robbie replied with a horrible imitation of a French accent.

“Aww,” Tori frowned. She needed to turn up all the charm and sympathy she could fake for this to work. “Well, I’m sorry you’re feeling stressed.” She reached up and tucked a strand of his curly hair behind his ear and kept her hand there, fingers occasionally stroking his hair (which was surprisingly soft).

Robbie started and stopped his sentences several times. Each time, he was so overwhelmed with the sensation of Tori’s fingers stroking his hair that he got distracted. Finally, he caved and said, “Would you keep doing that please?”

“Sure,” Tori replied, smiling.

“This is gettin’ weird,” Rex noted. Tori shushed the puppet.

“Hey, you know what’s making me feel stressed?”

“Tell me, I’ll kill it,” Robbie declared. Tori dropped her fingers to toy with the collar of Robbie’s polo.

“It’s this whole ‘Bird Scene’ thing,” Tori sighed, running her other hand up and down Robbie’s unoccupied arm.

“Ah, there it is, the ulterior motive,” Rex chimed in again.

“Hush, puppet!” Tori covered the puppet’s mouth and over its muffled protests, Tori continued, “You’ll help me with ‘The Bird Scene’, won’t you?”

“I-I’m really not supposed to—”

“Ow!” Tori withdrew her hand sharply, observing her palm. “He bit me!”

“Rex!” Robbie chastised the puppet, and Tori was too preoccupied with the very real injury she just received (from a puppet!) to even say anything about Robbie’s interaction or stop them from making their hasty exit.

Tori just gaped after the two, still clutching her throbbing hand.

Tori threw herself into making the most perfect performance of “The Bird Scene” possible. All other avenues had failed. So for two sleepless nights, Tori worked her tail off to prepare for the best delivery of “The Bird Scene” Hollywood Arts had ever seen. Or, that was her goal anyway.

When she rolled up to Sikowitz’s class on Friday, she was ready. Not “ready” like she was on Tuesday. No, this time, Tori was sure it was going to be a slam dunk.

She scared Sikowitz by suddenly appearing behind the curtains she set up in front of the stage, but Tori didn’t care. She was too amped up on nerves to care about the old man’s heart. She was going to do this scene so right that no one was going to have anything bad to say about it.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Tori heard Sikowitz announce from the other side of the curtains. “Once again, ‘The Bird Scene,’ starring Tori…”

“Vega,” Tori supplied, momentarily poking her head out from the curtains.

“Vega!” Sikowitz clapped and took a seat.

Tori drew the curtains, pressed play on the prairie music (that she spent hours searching the internet for), struck a pose, and began.

The monologue was mostly the same. After all, it was the same words that she had performed twice now.

She whistled for the cockatoo to fly in through the window, just like she had trained it to for the past two nights, and it performed wonderfully.

“And so went my spirit.” Tori bowed her head.

“That,” Sikowitz said, standing up as Tori lifted her head, “was impressive.”

Tori was giddy with the praise. “So did I get it right?” she asked excitedly.

“Nope,” Sikowitz said. In the back of the room, Tori spied Jade smirking smugly.

“But… but I…” Tori sputtered. “I… I did too get it right!” she exploded.

“Tori, listen—” Sikowitz sighed, but Tori wasn’t done yet.

“I’m not trying to be disrespectful, but do you know how hard I worked on this scene?” Tori couldn’t take it anymore. She had chosen to stay at Hollywood Arts, and now, she wanted—needed—to prove that she was willing to fight to stay. “I made this costume! I downloaded special prairie music! I even trained that cockatoo to fly in and out of a window on command!” As if it heard its cue, the white bird soared back in through the window and landed on its perch with a squawk. “Not now!” Tori shouted at the bird, and it fled right back out. Tori’s emotions were bubbling over, and she couldn’t control them anymore. “Look, I know you’re a great acting teacher and everything,” and Tori meant it. Everyone seemed to respect and look up to Sikowitz for his wisdom, even if his teaching methods were unconventional at times (almost all the time), “but I don’t care what you say. The scene I just did was good, and I’m proud of it. No matter what anybody thinks.”

Surprised and impressed looks were thrown between the students, and Sikowitz began what soon turned into a ripple of applause that rang around the classroom. Even Jade clapped, as reluctant as she appeared to be at first.

Tori sighed, defeated, deflated, and empty. “What?”

“You just passed ‘The Bird Scene’!” Sikowitz declared, beaming wide.

Tori was still confused. “But… but you said—”

“Tori, the whole point of ‘The Bird Scene’ is to teach a performer, like yourself, to believe in your own choices, no matter what others think.” Tori considered this. It… actually kind of made sense. A lot of sense, actually. “We are artists. And a true artist does not define success based on approval from others.” Sikowitz had reached the foot of the stage and was now addressing both the class at large and Tori in his lecture, surprisingly, one of the few normal sounding lectures with sound logic and an actual lesson. “A true artist need only please himself, or herself,” Sikowitz gestured to Tori.

“So,” Tori stepped down from the stage. “All three times I did the scene…”

“Were delightful,” Sikowitz nodded. “It was only wrong when you asked if it was right. Hm?”

Tori smiled. There was an undeniable twinkle of pride shining in the old man’s eyes.

He clapped his hands. “Drive-by acting exercise!” he declared loudly. “You’re all elderly people walking barefoot on broken glass! Go!”

The class was immediately up and on their feet. Several people were groaning in withering voices, others were hunched over and grasping their backs. The air was filled with moans of pain and shouts. Tori even heard Beck yell, “What? I can’t hear you!”

Sikowitz offered his arm with a smile. Tori beamed back and slipped her arm around the offered one. Together, they took painfully small and slow steps, groaning like geriatric elderlies in immense pain.

All weekend long, Tori stayed afloat on the buzz of passing “The Bird Scene.” Cat finally set up a group chat with all six of them in it, and Tori’s smile lit up whenever her phone buzzed with a new text. She had purposefully changed the notification tone to be the iconic five notes from “Make It Shine” so that she could tell apart the texts from other regular texts. All the while, Tori worked on her locker decoration. She now had the perfect design in mind.

With a little help from her dad with the electronics and stuff, Tori was finally done with it Sunday night, and she was ready to install it first thing Monday morning.

Only, she had to wait until lunchtime for her dad to drop it off since Trina had gotten them to school just seconds before the bell, and Tori knew there was no way she was going to be able to install it in time.

In Sikowitz’s class, her dad had texted saying he dropped by the school and installed it for her as a surprise, so she didn’t need to worry about doing it herself. Tori breathed a sigh of relief. She was honestly a little worried how she was going to do it without enlisting help from someone with tools, and she already seemed to be on the janitor’s bad side.

At lunch, she was vibrating with excitement to show off her new locker decoration. She had everyone gathered (except Robbie and Andre, who were still recovering from their ballet injuries) in front of her locker.

“You guys ready?” Tori asked, beaming. She was met with a chorus of excited nods, yeses, and Jade’s indifferent “Whatever.”

Tori swung her locker door shut dramatically and gesticulated wildly to show off her design.

She had painted it a dark midnight blue. In bold, bubbly letters, "Make It Shine" was plastered over a star-filled night sky that dominated the dark silhouette of a distant cityscape across the bottom.

“Make what shine?” Trina asked, face scrunched in confusion. Beck looked pensive and contemplative. Cat looked supportive, if nothing else. And Jade just looked bored and uninterested.

“It’s the title of the song I sang in The Big Showcase,” Tori explained.

“Oh,” Trina said with a slow nod.

“Right!” Cat exclaimed.

Beck nodded in agreement.

“Whatever,” Jade repeated, eyes rolling to the ceiling now.

“‘Cause, you know, that’s what got me here in the first place,” Tori continued, still seeing confusion tinge their responses.

“I don’t like it,” Jade declared, taking a sip of coffee.

“Maybe the words should be bigger,” Cat suggested. Trina immediately agreed. Soon, a babble of suggestions and other comments surged forward, and Tori had had enough.

Tori waved a hand and silenced them. “I believe in my own choice, and I don’t need approval from others.”

“Ah,” Beck smiled, “the young female has learned the ways of ‘The Bird Scene.’” Jade shot Beck a glare that he missed completely.

Tori gave a semi-modest shrug, just like Beck did earlier when he showed off his locker.

“I still think it’s dull,” Jade interjected.

“Yeah?” Tori smiled smugly. “Well, then maybe I should…” Tori adopted a dorky little announcer voice, “make it shine.” She pressed the little red button in the bottom corner of her locker, the crowning jewel of her locker decoration. The stars and the words lit up, and Tori was met with a chorus of approval. Again, barring Jade, who simply looked miffed.

“Okay, are we going to eat or what?” she snapped, taking everyone’s attention away from Tori’s locker.

“Oh, yay, food!” Cat exclaimed. Everyone turned away, Jade leading the crowd.

Beck hung back for a moment. “Coming with?” He tilted his head toward the doors leading out to the parking lot.

“Sure,” Tori nodded, grinning. She noticed Jade had paused only a few steps away from Beck, immediately noticing he didn’t follow.

Jade leveled a lingering glare on Tori as she kept pace with the group until Beck wrapped a hand around Jade’s and squeezed once. Only then did Jade drop her gaze. She continued to ignore Tori for the rest of the time the group was together.

Jade’s POV

“Vega did what?”

“It’s okay, Jade. She unlocked the cuffs soon after. It’s not like she left me there all throughout lunch.”

“Cat, are you okay, though?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“She—”

“Jade, it’s fine. Seriously. I’m not hurt. And Tori passed ‘The Bird Scene’ without any of our help anyway. It all worked out in the end. Besides, it’s not the first time I’ve been cuffed.” Cat winked.

“Y—wait, what?”

“Y’know. I’ve done some… stuff.” Cat winked again.

“Some things, I don’t need to know, baby girl.” Jade shook her head.

“Anyway, Beck was with Tori, if you don’t believe me.”

“He left me to go see Vega?”

“Well, you know how stressed she was. And good friends check in on their stressed friends.”

“He left his girlfriend to check in on another girl?”

“Jadey—”

“I told you not to use that nickname, Cat,” Jade warned.

“You call me ‘baby girl’,” Cat pointed out. “It’s only fair.”

“Life isn’t fair, baby girl,” Jade retorted with a sly smirk.

Cat pouted, and Jade rolled her eyes.

“Ugh, fine!” Jade relented with a groan. “But only when no one else is around. Got it?”

“Uh-huh,” Cat smiled and winked, “I got it, Jadey.”

Jade groaned again. She knew Cat knew she secretly liked the nickname. It felt special. It was special. A relic from simpler times. But she knew Cat also knew Jade would rather suffer extreme bodily harm before admitting that. So Jade knew that Cat’s smile was her silently relishing in the fact that Jade still gave her permission to call her by her old nickname.

It was the least Jade could do. But it definitely wasn’t all.

Oh, and Vega still hasn't returned those scissors.

Chapter Text

Tori’s POV

Tori groaned. She had been so focused on passing The Bird Scene that she had let her other classes slip a little. Which meant, she forgot she had to choose an instrument for her Intro to Music class. She hadn’t practiced the French horn all last week.

The French horn that she was now struggling to fit into her locker.

“Tor-ay!” Andre’s cheerful voice cut across the hallway. Tori turned to see Cat and Andre approaching her.

“I’m having a horn problem." Tori sighed. "Why do I have to play an instrument anyway?” She gave up trying to fit the horn into her locker for the time being.

“Everyone at Hollywood Arts has to play an instrument,” Cat shrugged.

“Okay, well, I sing. My throat is my instrument. I’m a throat—” Tori blushed and decided not to finish that sentence. Luckily, Andre brushed past the moment quickly, and if Cat noticed, she didn’t make a comment about it.

“Doesn’t count,” Andre said. “Why’d you pick the French horn?”

“I don’t know. I like French fries, French toast…” Tori shrugged.

“Well, let’s hear your horn!” Cat suggested brightly.

“Yeah, play that funky music, white girl,” Andre encouraged Tori.

“You know I’m half-Latina.”

“Then, hit it, muchacha,” Andre course-corrected easily.

Tori sighed and positioned herself. She played several broken notes poorly and out of tune. She smiled sheepishly. “I think it’s broken…”

“Here,” Andre grinned. “Let me fix it.” He took the horn from Tori’s hands and played a simple tune. The sound came out loud and clear (no broken notes, Tori noticed).

“Broken, huh?” Cat nudged Tori. Tori tried not to, but she knew the scowl had broken out onto her face.

“To have Andre’s magical, musical hands,” Tori sighed.

“Aw,” Cat cooed, nudging Tori again. “Cheer up, Tori. I’m sure you’ll find an instrument for you. Aside from throat-playing.” She winked and walked away, leaving a very flustered and very flushed Tori behind.

“Here.” Andre handed the horn back to Tori, who frowned at the sight of the instrument. “It’s a hard instrument,” he shrugged. “Maybe pick something easier?”

Tori groaned and carefully stowed the horn into her locker and slammed the door shut.

Practical Acting class rolled around, and Tori was early to the room. Only to find Beck and a buff white dude caught in an intense fistfight—one that Beck was losing badly.

“Beck!” Tori cried out before her body lunged forward and leapt to cling to the stranger’s back.

“Tori!” Beck yelled from the ground.

“Who is this chick?!” the guy yelled.

Several hands appeared to pry Tori off of the guy’s back, and Beck and the teacher were both shouting for her to relax.

Eventually, Tori was lowered back down to ground level, panting from the sudden exertion.

“What are you doing?” the teacher demanded.

“That guy was beating up Beck!” Tori answered.

“Oh, you poor thing,” Jade drawled without a single ounce of pity, sidling up to Beck’s side and threading her fingers with Beck’s.

Beck explained, “We were practicing.”

“This is Russ," the teacher explained.

“I’m Russ!” the big beefy white guy emphasized.

“He’s a professional stuntman,” the teacher continued. “I invited him here to teach the class about ‘stage fighting.’”

Tori grimaced. She forgot the teacher had mentioned last Friday that a guest lecturer was going to come today, too preoccupied with The Bird Scene and all the anxiety that came with it.

Jade smirked. “And now, Tori says, ‘What’s stage fighting?’” Jade’s ridiculous imitation sounded nothing like Tori’s voice.

Tori grimaced. “I wasn’t gonna say that.” But she quickly turned to Andre and whispered, “What is it?”

“Fake fighting that looks real, like for a play or a movie,” Andre explained.

“Oh.” Tori felt rather… dumb in that moment. She probably could’ve figured that one out by herself. Instead, she had played right into Jade’s little trap.

She turned back to Beck and Jade when Beck began to explain, “I took a class with him last summer.”

“Well, it looked like he was hurting you,” Tori insisted.

“Why do you care?” Jade asked pointedly.

Tori had no idea where the sudden spike of boldness and courage she felt came from. Perhaps it was from the high of passing The Bird Scene. Perhaps it was fueled by the unparalleled desire to blank-slate what happened and start an actual friendship with Jade. Perhaps it was because it seemed Jade took every opportunity she saw to jab and needle at Tori, no matter how petty the comment. But the retort flowed out of Tori’s mouth easily. “‘Cause, I figure he already suffers enough pain dating you.”

“You wanna see pain?” Jade growled, lunging at Tori. If Beck hadn’t caught Jade by the shoulders, Tori was certain Jade would’ve started swinging. Or worse, whipped out those scissors she was rumored to carry around in her waistband and/or boots.

“Hey,” Beck said in what was apparently supposed to be a placating voice. "Why don’t we go sit down over there?” He steered Jade by the shoulders to the chairs set up for the class.

As Tori and Andre moved to take a seat too, Tori asked the burning question in her chest, “Why does she hate me?”

“Maybe she heard you play the French horn,” Andre teased. Tori shot Andre a withering glare.

“Alright, everybody,” the teacher called out. “Take a seat. Russ, take it away.”

The lecture actually turned out to be pretty interesting. Russ demonstrated the importance of keeping distance and how to use different angles to obscure that distance from the audience.

Tori had to admit, Cat was a surprisingly good actress, timing the reaction to the punch immaculately. And it really did look like a real punch once the sound effect was added to the demonstration.

“Alright, I’m going to pair you guys up, and each team is going to work with Russ this week to prepare a fight scene. And I'll have sign-ups for the end of the week when you will all perform your fight scenes here in front of the class. Now, the pairs will be: Beck and Cat. Andre and Gwen. Darren and Jess. Tori and Jade—”

Tori bolted upright.

“Tori and who?” she blurted out. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jade slowly turn to look at Tori with a wide Cheshire Cat grin on her face. Tori turned to meet Jade’s gaze, and Jade bounced her eyebrows once.

Tori gulped. The bell rang, cutting off the teacher from announcing the last pair, but seeing as they were the only two remaining students, he shrugged and let it be.

“Uh, wait,” Tori said, approaching the teacher tentatively with her bag slung over her shoulder. The other students were already filing out of the Black Box Theater. “I’m not comfortable with my partner.”

“Just a sec,” the teacher said tiredly, turning to discuss something with Russ.

“Hey, partner.” Tori couldn’t deny the cold shivers that ran down her spine at the sound of Jade’s voice. She slowly turned to face her assigned partner with a gulp. “I can’t wait for our fight,” Jade continued. She began to walk away, then paused to turn back and add, “scene.” She smirked at Tori’s face draining of color, and Tori watched as Jade sauntered out the doors, closely followed by an unamused Beck. Tori’s mouth was dry, but she gulped anyway, hoping to swallow the fear that threatened to overtake her.

During the next day and a half, Tori was a nervous wreck. If she thought her nerves were bad when she was on stage at The Big Showcase, this was ten times worse.

On their first full run-through, Tori was jumpy and distracted.

They were in their starting position, working with the skeleton of a script they had ad-libbed together. Jade’s hand curled around Tori’s shoulder while her other fist pressed against the small of Tori’s back like she had a weapon. Tori gripped her cane tightly.

“Okay, Tori, remember, three big steps back and a nice wide swing,” Russ instructed.

Tori nodded.

“When you’re ready.”

“Action,” Tori called.

“I ain’t playin’,” Jade growled, in character. “Give me your money!”

“Well, wouldn’t you rather have this?” Tori straightened up as Jade’s grip slackened on cue. She took two big steps forward and turned. She swung her cane around, and in the last split-second, she saw Jade’s eyes widen and body lurch backward as the tip of the cane narrowly missed Jade’s face.

“Jesus, Vega!” Jade hissed.

“I said three big steps,” Russ reminded Tori.

“Oh,” Tori said shakily. “Right. Sorry.”

“Alright, back to initial positions,” Russ said, noting the tension between the two.

Tori flinched but willed herself to stay still as Jade’s hand wrapped over her shoulder again. This time, Tori remembered to take three big steps. The cane sailed harmlessly a safe distance from Jade’s face. Jade scowled nonetheless and didn't move a muscle.

“Jade,” Tori whispered. “You’re supposed to pretend to get hit.”

“Well, forgive me for appreciating the one time you didn’t almost give me a black eye, Vega,” Jade snarked with an eye roll. “I think we got this position down, Russ. Let’s move onto the others,” she sighed.

Tori frowned, but Russ agreed. “Alright. Next position. You girls wanted to do something like this, right?” Russ directed Tori to grab him by the shoulders while he kneeled on the ground. “Okay, your knee goes up to here,” he demonstrated, holding Tori’s knee up to about his chin height.

After a few practice runs, Tori nodded, and Jade stepped into Russ’s place.

Tori wasn’t sure if her nerves were playing tricks on her eyes, but Jade almost looked nervous, kneeling in front of Tori, with Tori’s hands now gripping her shoulders.

But they continued with the scene.

They concluded with the final blow, which consisted of Tori’s character kicking Jade’s character in the gut so hard that Jade’s character rolled over from the impact, landing face down and unmoving. By far, the easiest position to practice, since it was easy to do the full range of motions with plenty of empty space between them.

Tori jumped out of her skin each time Jade so much as grazed her skin, despite their opening position. Eventually, after several more run-throughs (broken and full), Tori had managed to minimize her reaction to a slight startle, but she still felt a silent whimper pass through her each time.

Tori wasn’t quite sure why the rehearsals with Jade made her feel so uneasy. After all, if either of them actually did make contact, the one who hit the other would lose half a letter grade. And the rehearsals seemed to be going fine so far. Jade threw herself into the character and was scarily good at portraying a brutal mugger, which wasn’t really surprising. Tori was quite certain there was something else, and she wasn’t sure if she was crazy from losing sleep over anxiety about performing the scene, but it felt like Jade was kind of nervous too. But, like, a different kind of nervous.

Tori groaned as she flopped over to her other side on her bed. She needed sleep. She was going to perform the scene the next day, and she needed to get some shut-eye so that she was focused. But Jade’s sharp blue-green eyes haunted her thoughts every time Tori closed her eyes.

Eventually, fitfully, Tori did manage to fall asleep, only to be rudely awakened by her alarm clock all too soon.

She groaned and got ready for school.

During lunch, Beck and Jade sat two tables away by themselves, while Tori, Andre, and Cat sat together. Tori kept casting glances over at the couple, keeping an especially wary eye on Jade.

Despite Andre’s assurances, Tori wasn’t convinced that Jade wasn’t up to something. She was acting weird during rehearsals, and Tori could feel the churning feeling in her gut that something was going to happen.

She just hoped she would come out of it unscathed. Hopefully without a broken nose and a black eye.

She changed into sweats before class, just as Jade, Cat, and Andre did. (Cat had confused her performance date, but she stayed in her sweats anyway with a shrug and a smile.)

Tori watched as Andre performed his scene with Gwen, and her eyes widened when he was flung into a breakaway table.

She and Jade hadn’t even considered using breakaway furniture. Too late now, she thought to herself. This was what they got for signing up for an early spot in the performances though: less time to rehearse in order to just get the performance over with.

Applause rang out for the pair, and the teacher announced, “Next up, we have Tori and Jade.”

Jade hopped to her feet, a giddy smile on her face. Tori grimaced back.

Tori shakily introduced their scene, and Jade’s unwavering, unsettling smile did nothing to calm Tori’s nerves.

“Okay, as always, be safe. And if anything goes wrong, just yell the safe word, which is ‘butternut.’” Russ looked like a happy puppy whenever he announced the safe word. He apparently took great pride in repeating his spiel for every pair.

Just as the teacher was about to call action, Tori felt twitchy and jumpy, seeing a particular glint in Jade’s eye, and she blurted out, “Butternut!”

“What?” Jade yelled exasperatedly.

Tori sheepishly tried to make an excuse but drew a blank, so she resolved herself to just get through the scene as quickly as possible, knowing her nerves were not going to stop buzzing until they were done.

“And action!” the teacher called.

Tori fell into her character, though she knew it wasn’t half as convincing as when she rehearsed as she stumbled through her first lines.

Jade sprang behind her on her cue and grasped Tori’s shoulder and pressed her fist into the small of Tori’s hunched back. The first position. Tori’s heart was beating wildly, thumping so hard and fast that it felt like it was trying to leap out of her chest. She blinked to refocus herself. She vaguely heard Jade repeat, “Give me your money. And your watch!”

That was her cue. “Oh,” Tori said in her withering elderly voice, “wouldn’t you rather have this?” Three big steps. A nice wide swing.

Jade went down. Hard. “OW!”

That was not the sound Tori was expecting to hear. Jade trembled from her position face down on the floor. Jade slowly pushed herself up to her knees, still not turning around. “Butternut!” she cried out, one hand flying up to her face.

Tori paled. Jade turned around. Tori dropped the cane.

“Butternut!” Jade called again, her voice quivering.

“She’s bleeding!” Cat shouted.

“Cut!” the teacher yelled uselessly. The students crowded around Jade, who had angrily tossed her beanie to the side. Tori backed away slowly.

No, that can’t be right, Tori thought. She had definitely taken three big steps forward. Three big steps.

The teacher, Russ, and Beck fawned over Jade, trying to examine Jade’s face while she began to sob.

“You okay?” Beck asked, eyes wide with concern.

“No! Tori hit me in the face for real!” Jade declared loudly. Her hand flew back to cradle her injury. The blood was beginning to drip down her cheek. Her eyes were watering.

“No, I didn’t!” Tori insisted, still trying to understand how that could be when Jade was too far away. Did she not take big enough steps? Was Jade closer than when she usually was during rehearsal? But no, Tori hadn't felt any impact from the cane.

“Tell that to my bloody eye!” Jade shouted. “Ow!” Apparently, the raised voices had moved her face muscles that disturbed her injury, and Jade cradled the side of her face again.

The teacher called for a chair, and Tori, now feeling rolling waves of guilt, glanced around frantically. She spotted a chair a few paces to the side of where Jade stood. She presented it, and Jade sat down…

…only for the chair to break apart as soon as Jade’s weight was put onto it.

“That was a breakaway chair!” Russ shouted at Tori.

Tori was at a loss of what to do. She had apparently hit Jade (which she still wasn’t totally sure she believed) but she had also now (unknowingly) given Jade a breakaway chair to rest on, only for Jade to plummet straight to the ground. The evidence was stacking up against her.

A student who was sent to fetch an ice pack from the nurse’s office had just returned. Tori sulked in the corner of the room, with only Andre willing to keep her company.

Cat walked over, anger clear in her wide brown eyes. “Why’d you hit Jade in the face with a cane?” She threw her arms up in exasperation. A gesture Tori felt she had more right to make than Cat. Or really anyone else in the room.

Frustration was bubbling up in Tori. “I didn’t!” she gritted out.

“Okay!” Cat shrunk away, arms up defensively. “I believe you! Don’t hit me!”

Tori sighed and groaned, throwing her head back. She did have an unfair height advantage over the petite redhead, but who would want to hurt sweet Cat? Tori turned to Andre. “Will you back me up here?”

“Okay, look,” Andre said calmly, “I’m sure Tori didn’t mean to whack Jade in the face with a cane.”

Tori groaned again. “Why does everyone think I hit her?”

“Well, we were watching you guys do a scene. You hit her across the face with your cane. She fell down. And now, her eye’s all bloody,” Andre explained.

“Well, that doesn’t mean I hit her,” Tori insisted.

“Uh, I kinda think it does,” Andre countered, eyebrows raised in surprise.

Tori groaned and stormed over toward Jade.

“Jade, you know I didn’t hit you. I swung, but I missed.”

“Look, Tori,” Jade started to reply, voice weak and shaking. Her balance went wobbly, and she nearly collapsed to the floor had she not been caught by Russ and the crowd of others by her side.

“We gotta get her to the nurse,” the teacher decided.

“But I didn’t hit her!” Tori repeated.

“Can someone call my mom?” Jade asked as she was guided toward the door. The rest of the students took their cue to pack up their things after glancing at the clock. Five minutes to the end of class.

“I’ll call your mom,” Beck piped up instantly. Ever the dutiful boyfriend. Tori didn’t know why a scowl appeared so quickly on her face at the sound of Beck’s helpful offer.

“She doesn’t need her mom,” Tori said. She immediately turned to Beck and shook a firm finger at him. “Don’t bother her mom!”

“I gotta call her mom.” Beck shrugged helplessly.

Jade turned around, a few steps away from the door. She looked directly into Tori’s eyes and in a quivering voice, she softly said, “And I thought we were just starting to be friends.”

Tori blustered and tried to protest one last time, but no one bothered to turn and give her a second look.

The intercom crackled overhead, and a static-y voice announced, “Tori Vega, please report to the Guidance Counselor’s office. Tori Vega, please report to the Guidance Counselor’s office. Thank you.”

Tori sighed, gathering her things. She stopped by the bathroom to change into her regular clothes again, hoping to regain a shred of dignity after being ostracized by her entire class and publicly called to the guidance counselor’s office.

What a day.

“Oh, hey, Tori,” Lane said casually, spinning around in his hanging wicker chair to face her. Tori let the door shut behind her slowly as she took in the room. “Have a seat,” he motioned to her.

Tori did so, setting her bag on the floor next to her feet with a quiet sigh.

The room was strange, halfway to an antique shop yet still looking like a regular office, with a desk overflowing with paperwork. A candle stood burning on the corner of the desk next to Lane who carefully regarded her as she sat.

“You look a little worried,” he noted lightly.

“Yeah, well,” Tori shrugged, still irritated by the events of the day. The anxiety hadn’t eased at all, and guilt now added an extra coating of uneasiness in her stomach. It was feeling a lot like after she stage-kissed Beck. Only worse. But Tori couldn’t find it in herself to put any of that into words, so she simply settled for saying, “It’s not fun getting called into the guidance counselor’s office.”

“You’re not in trouble,” Lane reassured her with a light chuckle. “I’m here to help you. With your violence issues.” Tori didn’t miss how Lane couldn’t look her in the eye when stating the last little bit.

Tori scoffed. “I’m not violent!”

“I believe you,” Lane smiled easily.

“Then why is he here?” Tori gestured to the security guard who often stood post at the gate to campus, Officer Derrick, staring stone-cold at Tori’s every movement. “Explain that.”

“Tori,” Lane sighed, voice even gentler as he tried a different approach. Tori almost recognized the tone as the one parents would use when sugar-coating bad news to a five-year-old. Tori resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “I know that Jade probably isn’t your favorite person.”

“So?” It was completely accurate, but even now, Tori had no hard feelings against Jade. She was just confused and irritated by the situation.

“So, in life,” Lane continued. “Just because we may not like someone… that doesn’t mean it’s okay to beat ‘em with a cane,” he rushed out the last words.

“I didn’t!” Tori exclaimed. Derrick stiffened, hand flying to his belt. “Oh, re-lax, Derrick,” Tori snapped. Lane raised a hand to placate Derrick, and he reluctantly relaxed. Tori continued, “I did not hit Jade with that cane.” She was starting to get tired of repeating the same defense.

“Then how do you explain her black eye?” Lane asked.

“I don’t know,” Tori shrugged. She bent down to grab a water bottle from her purse, and Derrick stiffened again, hand again reaching for his belt. “I’m just getting water,” Tori snapped. Derrick relaxed again, relief clear on his face.

“Listen,” Lane pressed on. “You were under a lot of stress. And you were worried that Jade was gonna hit you, right?”

“Well, yeah,” Tori agreed, taking a sip of water.

“So you were afraid. Your adrenaline was pumping. And maybe in the heat of the moment, you swung on Jade with that cane for real. Maybe.”

Tori shrugged. “I guess it’s possible.”

“A-ha!” Derrick exploded, an accusatory finger pointed directly at Tori.

Tori furrowed her eyebrows. Lane chastised Derrick who resumed his stony pose with a muttered apology.

“Now, don’t you feel better admitting that you hit Jade?” Lane sighed.

“If I say yes, can I go?” Tori pleaded.

“Sure.”

“Okay, fine, then yes.”

“Wait, not so fast,” Lane said. “You haven’t heard your punishment yet.”

Tori sighed, already on her feet but shrugged. “Fine. Hit me.”

“I wasn’t gonna,” Lane smirked, but he quickly wiped it off his face at Tori’s deadpan stare. “Two weeks of detention.”

Tori groaned.

“And—”

“And?”

“And tomorrow night, the middle school’s doing a play here in the Black Box Theater. It ends with a big food fight scene.”

“So?” Tori asked hesitantly. She already didn’t like where this was headed.

“So, you have to clean the theater after the show. You know,” Lane made a motion with his hands, “scrape the food off the walls.”

“Can’t I just have three weeks’ detention?”

“Sounds fair to me,” Derrick mused. Lane shot him a look, and he glanced down immediately, folding his hands in front of him in respect.

“We need someone to do it. Derrick will supervise. You’re free to go home after school and get changed into clothes you don’t care about. The play should end at 8.”

Tori nodded. “Can I go now?”

Lane nodded. Tori made a swift exit.

The next day, Jade’s black eye looked worse. Tori grimaced every time she caught a glimpse of it, though Jade kept it modestly hidden behind a curtain of her hair. Mostly.

Guilt twinged in her gut when Tori looked across the Asphalt Cafe at lunch and saw Jade’s glum face as she poked disinterestedly at her salad.

“Two sugars,” Tori heard Jade call after Beck.

Beck promptly replied without looking over his shoulder, “I know what to do.”

Tori sighed and turned to head back indoors before anyone saw her. She wasn’t feeling hungry, and she certainly didn’t feel up to sitting with anyone. Not when they were going to silently judge her for something she didn’t even do but had admitted to doing anyway. Tori was tired of defending herself to unwilling ears, so instead, she headed to the library where she could sulk in peace and quiet.

She was quite surprised when Andre burst into the library near the end of lunch, whisper-shouting her name with a frantic look in his eyes.

“Up here,” Tori called softly, earning a few indignant shushes from her fellow students. She shushed back louder.

Andre bent over double, trying to catch his breath.

“Jade… faked…” he panted. “Jade faked the black eye,” he managed to get out in a single breath before leaning on a nearby bookshelf.

“She what?”

“She faked it. It was makeup. And fake blood.”

“She…” Tori gaped, lost for words.

“Thought you ought to know,” Andre gasped before collapsing backward onto one of the nearby couches over the arm and heaving a sigh. Tori was too distressed to even appreciate the casual Harry Potter reference.

Jade’s combat boots stomped up the ramp and stopped when she turned the corner and saw Tori standing there, mouth still hanging open.

Her makeup was running badly. Her face was wet. With tears or water, Tori couldn’t really tell from that distance. But there were definitely tears in her eyes.

With a clenched jaw, Jade wordlessly stomped away and loudly exited the library, but not before aiming one last glare at Andre, who missed it by staring at the ceiling, still trying to catch his breath.

“Is she gone?” Andre asked quietly after a moment.

“Yeah,” Tori replied, just as quietly. She slowly turned to lean back against the end of a bookshelf and slid down to a crouch, cradling her head between her hands.

“So, what’re you going to do, chica?” Andre asked, getting up to plop down next to Tori.

Tori sighed. “I don’t know.” But that was a lie. She had already made up her mind as soon as she locked eyes with Jade and saw those unshed tears.

“Well, just desserts and all that,” Andre said, patting Tori’s shoulder comfortingly.

“Yeah.”

Tori didn’t speak to anyone for the rest of the day. She actively avoided them, especially now that they had a pitying look on their face. She couldn’t deal with their apologies. Not yet.

At 8 pm, Trina dropped her off at school again with one last scoff and shake of her head. “I don’t know why you’re doing this for that gank. If I were you, I would’ve turned her in in a heartbeat.”

“I know, Treen. But I gotta do this. For both of us.”

“You’re a bigger person than me, sis,” Trina said with a soft smile. Tori glanced surprised at Trina and found only sincerity in her sister’s eyes and a small twinkle of pride.

“Thanks, Treen.” Tori gave her sister a side hug as best she could before stepping out of the car. “I’ll text Dad to pick me up after.”

“Sounds good. I’ll be out and about with Molly and them.”

Tori rolled her eyes with a fond smile. “I know. Have fun, stay safe.”

“See ya!” And Trina was gone.

Tori sighed and adjusted her purse strap so that it rested higher on her shoulder before turning and heading inside toward the Black Box Theater.

As soon as she walked in, the smell hit Tori like a tidal wave.

“Ugh, they weren’t holding back,” Tori remarked as she observed the walls littered with food.

“They really weren’t,” Derrick sighed, taking a seat at the table and kicking his feet up with his phone out.

Tori rolled her eyes but grabbed a bucket, a towel, and a scraper and got to work.

About 45 minutes in, Tori had cleared one whole corner.

Derrick had just returned from a bathroom break when he walked up behind Tori and asked, “Is that mac and cheese?”

“Who cares?!” Tori exploded. She had been working in silence, fuming at herself for even doing this because her muscles ached, especially her wrist, from the repetitive motions, and her heart sank every time she turned around and saw how much more she had to clean. But she tried to remind herself why she chose this for herself. And that it wasn’t just for herself, but for the both of them.

“Just wanted to know if it was mac and cheese,” Derrick replied dejectedly. He frowned and walked away to resume his position of sitting at the table with his feet kicked up and his phone out.

Tori turned to the sound of footsteps approaching from behind again. Only, they sounded different. Tori could’ve recognized the sound of those combat boots anywhere, especially after today, because they had echoed in her head so loudly and for so long after their dramatic departure from the library.

Jade stood there, face contorted like she was chewing on some bitter herbs, or considering it as a better alternative to breaking the tense silence between them. She looked down at Tori, crouched by the baseboard of the wall. Tori simply waited. She had nothing to say to start the conversation. It was up to Jade now.

Jade sighed, shrugged, and glanced around at the food-stained walls. “I don’t get it,” she stated flatly.

“What?"

“I know Andre told you that I faked everything: the blood, the black eye—what is that, mac and cheese?”

“Looks like it, right?” Derrick said, unmoved from his position.

Tori shot him a glare, and he sheepishly returned to his phone. She sighed and stood up. “Why are you here?” Tori finally asked.

“Why are you here?” Jade shot back. “Why didn’t you tell on me?”

“Because,” Tori sighed. “We both go to school here, and it’s not gonna be much fun for either of us if we’re fighting all the time.” She brushed past Jade, who looked dumbfounded at Tori’s explanation.

“So, you’re just gonna let me get away with it,” Jade stated, though it sounded almost more like a question.

Tori scraped another smeared pile of something off the wall and watched it land in her bucket with a plop.

“You took detention,” Jade continued, “and a lower grade and you’re scraping crusty pudding off the wall on a Friday night, just so I won’t get in trouble?”

Tori turned around and nodded. “Pretty much.”

“Well,” Jade blustered, “you can’t be nice to me when I’ve been mean to you.” She insisted, “That’s not how it works.”

Tori rolled her eyes before turning around. Honestly, that was one of the most juvenile excuses she could’ve possibly thought to hear that night. “Well, then, try being nice to me sometime. Maybe, that’ll work. Now, go play,” Tori waved her scraper at Jade in a shooing motion. “I gotta scrape this onion dip off the wall.” Tori turned back to the task at hand, already regretting switching sections too early. It was worth it in the moment to just get away from Jade, but now she felt even more lost without her system. She was still mulling over the weirdly open and not-hostile conversation she just shared with Jade when she heard a soft thump, the scrape of an empty bucket dragging across the floor for a moment, the thwup of a towel being slung over a soft surface, and the first sounds of a scraper scraping against a hard surface.

Tori whirled around with a confused frown on her face.

Jade shot her the most sarcastic smile in the world, clutching a scraper against one of the red pillars on the stage with a towel slung over her shoulder.

Tori granted her half a smile before turning back to her wall.

In that silent exchange, there was more friendliness than Tori ever hoped to expect after the past week and a half of knowing Jade. Tori found herself smiling at the image of Jade helping her serve her punishment. From what Tori had learned about Jade in the short time she’d known the girl, Jade did not seem like the type to offer help like this lightly. This knowledge alone formed a small, warm bubble in Tori’s chest.

The warm bubble only grew when she heard Jade declare loudly, “You know, this might be more fun with some tunes.”

Tori turned around in time to see Jade take a few more sauntering steps toward the wall, slip on something and just barely manage to slam a palm against the control pad on the wall before catching her balance. Jade played it off with an elegant hair flip, and Tori let her smile overtake her face.

They bobbed their heads and swayed their hips as they scraped. Music always revitalized Tori, and this was no exception. She worked at the smeared stains with renewed vigor.

Tori spied Derrick nodding his head in beat with the tunes too. She was struck with an idea.

“Hey, D!” she called. “Come scrape with us, this is fun!”

Derrick looked up with a confused frown and pondered the offer for a moment. With a shrug, he nodded, “Alright.”

He joined the girls, picking up a scraper from an empty bucket on the ground and began to scrape.

Jade, beaming wide, suggested, “Here, try it with two.”

Derrick happily accepted the additional tool and began to dance more energetically, gyrating his hips and bobbing his head emphatically with a scraper in each hand. When he hopped into a twist and began to dance against the wall, back faced to the two girls, Jade quietly set down her bucket and towel and tapped Tori on the shoulder.

She jerked her head toward the exit with a bounce of her eyebrows. It was the same look of mischief she had given Tori barely three days ago, but this time, there shined something else. A hidden understanding, a silent offer.

Tori grinned and put down her tools too, hoping the loud beat of the song playing overhead would cover the thump of the half-filled bucket being set down on the floor.

They grabbed their bags and proceeded to dance their way out of the exit.

Once they were outside again, sucking in the night air, they finally broke down into a hysterical fit of laughter.

“Oh my god,” Tori wheezed, “did we really just do that?”

“We did,” Jade nodded, “we did.”

They stayed like that for a long while, laughing together and leaning on each other so as not to topple over.

“Oh god,” Tori sighed, catching her breath again. “Thanks for bailing me out.” Tori’s cheeks hurt a little from smiling so much, but she didn’t mind. It was a familiar ache, her favorite kind of muscle ache, because nothing could ever beat the light feeling in her chest as she expelled her lungs in laughter.

“Thanks for not telling on me,” Jade replied. Her smile faded a little. She glanced down at Tori’s hands, which were still resting on Jade’s biceps, and her smile faded to almost nonexistence. She cleared her throat and pushed Tori off, breaking contact completely, and took a few steps away.

“Oh, um, sorry,” Tori said awkwardly, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. She wrapped her arms around herself. “Um, I guess I should call my dad,” Tori mumbled, more to herself. But in the quiet stillness of the night, Tori might as well have shouted.

“He’ll probably take too long,” Jade blurted out quickly. “I’ll give you a ride.”

Tori’s eyes snapped to Jade’s profile in surprise. Tonight, Jade had surprised her more than Tori could’ve ever imagined. Yet here she was, surprising Tori again.

“A… a ride?”

“Y’know,” Jade shrugged nonchalantly, though there was a quiver in her voice, an edge of hesitation and uncertainty in her words, that betrayed she was feeling anything but. “Home, or whatever.”

“Or whatever?”

“Vega, do you want the ride or not?” Jade snapped, finally turning those intense blue-green eyes on Tori sharply.

“Yeah, yes,” Tori nodded immediately. “Thanks, Jade. Um, but…”

“What?” Jade sighed.

“My parents are home, and they’re not expecting me back for another hour or so. They’ll know I ditched if I come home this early.”

“Well, you can’t stay here.”

“Obviously,” Tori agreed.

“You like donuts?” Jade asked abruptly.

“Uh, yeah, sure. Why?”

“There’s a shop I know not far from here. Great coffee. We’ll hang out there for a while, then I’ll drop you off at a reasonable time. Or back at school so your parents can come pick you up. Whatever.”

Without waiting for an answer, Jade took off at a brisk pace to her car. Tori had no choice but to follow quickly, lest she be left behind. But Tori had a sneaking suspicion that Jade slowed her pace just a little bit when Tori’s footsteps fell in stride with Jade’s.

“Thanks, Jade,” Tori said again. She was currently holding a box of donuts in her lap, in the passenger seat of Jade’s car, and suffocating from the silence that Jade seemed adamant on maintaining.

“Whatever,” came Jade’s clipped response. It was like Jade had retreated into this shell of a human being with only basic social functions. She barely uttered five words to Tori since they started to drive. Jade sipped on her coffee in the long bouts of silence, and Tori nervously nibbled on her donut. Several times, Tori felt Jade’s eyes on her, but when she turned to meet Jade’s gaze, the blue-green eyes were fixed on the road like they never left.

Tori turned back to stare at the dashboard whenever it happened.

They drove around in silence for another half an hour before Jade turned around and headed back to the school.

“Text your parents,” Jade commanded.

Tori whipped out her phone obediently and sent the text with rapid fingers.

Jade pulled into the parking lot and swerved into a spot, turning off the engine. They sat in silence until the overhead light automatically dimmed, then turned off completely, plunging the pair into total darkness of the night.

“Well?” Jade snapped impatiently. “Get out.”

“But—”

“Out,” Jade repeated. “And leave the donuts.”

Tori gave Jade a lingering look, but she wrapped one more donut in a napkin and carefully set the box aside before climbing out.

“Thanks again, Jade. For everything tonight.”

“Never speak of it,” Jade said, her eyes never diverting from looking straight ahead.

Tori pursed her lips and nodded. “Good night.” She ducked out and shut the door, walking away to wait at the curb with her donut and a half in hand. But she didn’t hear the engine turn over, and she didn’t hear Jade’s car reverse and peel out of the parking lot. No, instead, it stayed quiet and still, like the night. Tori was about to approach Jade’s car again, when twin cones of light bounced over her from the distance, and a car pulled up to the curb.

“Hey, kiddo,” David Vega’s voice called out from the rolled-down window.

“Hey, Dad.” Tori climbed in eagerly.

“How was it?” he asked as he pulled out of the parking lot. He looked confused at the sound of a car engine turning over and roaring to life, and even moreso when the car came up right behind their car, blinking their signal to also exit the school parking lot.

“Not bad. Just tiring,” Tori shrugged.

“Donuts?” he asked absentmindedly.

“Oh, yeah. Leftovers from the staff lounge,” Tori lied, surprised at how easily it slid out of her mouth. “They were going stale, and I was getting kind of hungry. Derrick snagged some for me from the staff lounge.”

David nodded but didn’t press further.

“And was that Derrick’s car?”

Tori glanced through the rear window, seeing Jade’s car disappear in the opposite direction. “Not sure,” Tori murmured. “He had to finish locking up, so he told me to go ahead.”

David hummed and nodded again. The rest of the car ride was filled with idle chatter. How the rest of the day went, how much homework was assigned. Any other school news. Tori answered absentmindedly and half-heartedly as she stared at the donut wrapped in a plain brown napkin in her hand.

She knew there was only going to be one thought on her mind for the rest of the weekend: figuring out the enigma of Jade West.

Jade’s POV

Jade sighed as she fell backward onto her bed, arms and legs spread wide to cover as much of the mattress as she could.

She thought over the events of the week. She had felt so certain, so sure of herself in the beginning. A perfect revenge plot to get Vega back for torturing and interrogating Cat. Then it spiraled into nasty rumors of Vega having violent tendencies and anger management issues. Which was nice, Jade supposed, to finally have that kind of heat off of her own image for a while. But then that stupid girl had to splash that cup full of ice water and ruin everything. Jade scowled at the memory.

And the scowl only deepened at the memory of Vega’s dumbfounded look. The look with eyes that shone with… pity. Jade shuddered at the thought.

And oh, the guilt. That annoying little voice in her head nagging her about how hurt Vega had looked. How confused.

And that led to thoughts of how happy Vega looked when Jade had offered her a ride and an alibi, sort of, for the night. At least to cover Vega for her parents. Derrick was probably going to be a different issue. But Jade already had an email typed up, a confession to get Vega off the hook for the other two detentions, with the counter-offer of taking three whole detentions in order to make up for the one they ditched together that night.

Man, what the hell was Vega doing to her? She’d never even considered doing such selfless acts in the past, let alone this many consecutive ones. Or this drastic.

Still, come Monday, Jade was sure this nagging feeling of guilt would lessen until it was but a light brush on her thoughts, something she could ignore again instead of a large, heavy, pressing weight in the pit of her stomach.

Jade needed to get it together. She had already shown Vega one of her favorite and most private spots near school. That, Jade considered, was already opening up too much to the new girl who just joined the school like two weeks ago.

Jade tossed and turned that night, unable to go to sleep. She cursed her short-sightedness in getting a coffee (even though she was pretty sure this restlessness wasn't totally because of the late night coffee). Whatever, at least she could sleep in since it was the weekend.

Chapter Text

Tori’s POV

On Saturday morning, Tori woke up early, dreading the first detention she needed to serve. As she wolfed down a piece of toast, Tori’s phone buzzed with a new email notification. It was her school email account. Frowning, Tori tapped it open.

Hello, Miss Vega,

Please note that you have been excused from serving the two Saturday detentions assigned to you by Mr. Alexander Lane due to the anonymous confession of one of your peers. It has come to our attention that you were unjustly accused and punished for displaying violent tendencies toward one of your classmates. Please enjoy your Saturday off, and stop by the Guidance Counselor’s office if you have any questions or wish to discuss anything further.

Best regards,

Anna

Hollywood Arts Admin

Tori’s mouth fell open. She had enough awareness to finish chewing the mouthful of toast and swallow it, but anything beyond that, Tori couldn’t move.

There was only one person who could’ve stepped forward about it, since Tori had practically begged Andre not to breathe a word about any of it and just let Tori handle it. He had very reluctantly agreed. Though Tori had only known Andre for a few weeks, she trusted him enough to keep his promises.

Which could only mean one thing.

Jade turned herself in.

Tori closed out of the email app and opened up the group chat with the six of them. She scrolled through the member list until she came to Jade’s number and opened up a direct message thread to her. Then she thought better and decided to screenshot the email first before composing a message.

Tori: [download attachment]

Tori: Jade, did you do this?

When five whole minutes passed by with no word or indication that Jade had even opened the message, Tori texted again.

Tori: Ok, I know you’re not a morning person, so you’ll probably see this way later. But thanks, Jade. You really didn’t have to do that

Jade’s response didn’t come until well into the afternoon, after Tori had explained why she wasn’t at school serving detention and shown her parents the email from the school.

Jade: Never speak of it

Tori: My lips are sealed

Jade didn’t respond, and Tori didn’t try to start any conversation with Jade beyond that short exchange. She spent the rest of the weekend enjoying her freedom and basking in the simplicity of regular homework.

On Monday, during lunch, Tori and Andre were discussing the pros and cons of having experienced a bee sting when Beck invited them to sit with him and Jade at a nearly-empty table.

“I don’t want them sitting here,” Jade sighed, sucking her thumb. Tori and Andre took a seat anyway.

“You know, it’s great that you’re so open with your bitterness,” Tori remarked as she opened her lunch tray. Just as she was experimenting with the perfect sandwich order from Festus’ Grub Truck, she was also experimenting with slowly quipping back whenever Jade snarked at her. And she had a pretty good feeling that she was starting to hone in on something.

“She’s just grouchy ‘cause she got stung by a bee,” Beck explained as Jade opened her mouth, no doubt about to fire a scathing response to Tori’s remark.

Andre bemoaned never getting stung by a bee when Tori noticed the script pages sitting under Beck’s lunch tray. When Tori pointed them out, Beck’s eyes lit up, and Jade (for some odd reason) decided to steal Tori’s pickle right off her tray. Tori filed that strange moment for further inspection at a later time.

As Jade chomped on her stolen snack, Beck shared, “I’m auditioning for a movie called ‘Misfire.’ It’s about this woman cop who gets fired and then goes on this crazy rampage.”

“That’s so cool! Who plays the woman cop?” Tori asked, taking a big bite of her sandwich.

Beck smiled smugly. “Melinda Murray.”

Tori’s eyes bugged, and she nearly choked on her sandwich when she inhaled too sharply mid-chew.

“Shut up!” Andre exclaimed beside Tori as he rubbed circles on her back to ease her coughing fit.

Tori swallowed hard and sucked in a deep breath before asking, “You’re gonna star with Melinda Murray in a movie?” She tried to ignore Jade’s smirk at her near-death experience.

“Well, I’ll be playing Waiter #1, and I only have two lines… That’s if I get the part,” Beck explained. Jade ran a hand up and down Beck’s arm soothingly, but she kept her mouth occupied with chewing through Tori’s pickle.

“So where’s the script? I wanna read it!” Tori clamored, abandoning her sandwich completely. Out of the corner of her eye, she could almost make out Jade eyeing it. Tori was too excited to pay it any mind.

“Well, you don’t get the whole script unless you get the part. They only give you a few pages to audition with.” Beck held up a small packet of worn pages held together by a metal clip.

“Well, break a leg at the audition, Beck.” Tori smiled, picking up her sandwich again.

“He doesn’t need your luck. He’s going to get the part,” Jade stated confidently. She dusted her hands after popping the last of the pickle in her mouth and picked up her bag. “I’m gonna go write in the library.” She pressed a kiss on Beck’s cheek before getting up to leave. Beck gave Jade’s hand a quick squeeze in response and smiled after her receding figure.

Beck sighed as Jade disappeared into the main hallway and turned back to the script. He flipped through a few pages blankly before settling on one page. “I wish I had her confidence sometimes,” he murmured.

“You’re gonna do great, dude,” Andre reassured him with a bright smile.

“Thanks,” Beck beamed.

The next day, during morning break, Tori found Andre and Cat applauding to a student who had just finished a breakdance routine in the middle of the main hallway.

“Hey, hey,” Tori greeted them. She dug into her backpack to produce her newest musical conquest instrument. “Look’it what I got!”

“A piccolo?” Andre asked.

Tori bobbed her head. “It’s my new instrument.”

Cat piped up, “I thought you were playing the French—”

“It didn’t work out,” Tori cut across Cat with a tight smile. “So, now I’m a piccalist.” She led the way toward her locker, and Andre and Cat followed. “Oh, you guys wanna hear ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’?”

Andre and Cat immediately hesitated. “Uhhh…”

“I’m playing it,” Tori decided, ignoring their less-than-enthusiastic response.

They grumbled and relented.

Tori blew a few shrill notes, but overall, it sounded much better than her practice the night before. Even still, she saw Andre wince several times, and eventually, he plucked the small silver instrument right out of her hands and shook his head saying softly, “No, no. No, no.”

Tori frowned. “Was it that bad?”

Andre and Cat both gave Tori tight smiles that looked so pained they looked almost like grimaces. After a beat of hesitation, Cat offered, “I like your skirt.”

Tori sighed as she took her piccolo back and stowed it back into her bag.

Just then, Robbie and Rex burst into the main hallway, arguing loudly. Tori still wasn’t used to thinking of the puppet as its own being, but she was slowly getting used to seeing these fights and arguments whenever they broke out. It seemed everyone else kind of just accepted it, or at least went along with it, if only to preserve the socially-awkward boy’s feelings.

“Any of you guys got gum?” Robbie asked desperately. “I didn’t have time to brush my teeth this morning.”

“Why not?” Tori asked.

“And why do you look all sloppy and gross?” Cat added.

Robbie self-consciously smoothed his wrinkled shirtfront and smartened up the collar of his button down. “I’ve been having these… nightmares,” he mumbled.

When Cat pressed for more information, the pair quickly escalated into a shouting match that Tori jumped in to diffuse. Cat looked hurt at Robbie’s quick and curt deflection of her question while Robbie looked agitated even discussing the subject. They both looked away, unwilling to maintain eye contact with each other.

“I gotta find some gum,” Robbie grumbled before hastily continuing down the hall.

Andre bid them both good-bye shortly after.

With only Cat left by her side, Tori sighed and asked again, “Was my piccolo playing really that bad?”

Cat gave Tori a sympathetic smile and carefully pulled a long strand of Tori’s hair in front of her shoulder and patted it as she replied, “Yeah…”

Tori slumped her shoulders, and Cat walked away. Tori was about to follow behind when Beck greeted Tori.

“Oh hey,” Beck said, “you said you wanted to read the ‘Misfire’ script?” Beck held up a much thicker script than the small packet he held on Monday.

“Yeah, but I thought you said they only give actors the whole script unless…” Tori trailed off, recognition slowly alighting her face. Beck bounced his eyebrows and grinned. Tori gasped. “You got the part!”

Beck immediately shushed Tori, glancing around with a furtive look before quickly saying, “It’s not that big a deal.”

“It’s a huge deal,” Tori insisted. “You’re gonna be in a movie with Melinda Murray! Congrats, dude!” She landed a playful punch on Beck’s shoulder, and a wide smile broke over his face.

“Thanks,” he chuckled.

“I say we celebrate with a little tune.” Tori whipped out her piccolo and attempted to play “Mary Had a Little Lamb” again, but Beck immediately winced at the third note (which was so off-key, even a less-musical person like him could tell). He grasped the little silver instrument and pried it out of Tori’s hands. He stowed it away into his backpack, softly chiding, “No, no.”

Tori pouted, and Beck laughed. He tussled her hair and said, “See you in Sikowitz,” before disappearing down the hall.

Wednesday, Tori found herself the unwilling volunteer to Sikowitz’s latest lecture. Improv with Sikowitz was quickly becoming Tori’s favorite class of the day, if not because of the teacher’s eccentricity, then simply because of the wild unpredictability of what the day’s lesson would bring.

That day, Tori had to repeat the same line but emote them with the various situations Sikowitz called out.

“Falling off a cliff!” Sikowitz declared.

Tori windmilled her arms slowly as she leaned back on one leg. Her voice slowly grew smaller as she called out, “What did you do to my paaaants!”

“Now, like a robot!”

“What did you do to my pants,” Tori dutifully recited in a monotone voice.

“Wrong!” Sikowitz exclaimed. “Robots don’t wear pants! It was a trick.” He broke out into a silly little victory dance. The class watched on, amused but mostly confused. The usual mood of the class. When he was done with his moment of gloating, he strode up to the stage and said, “Tori, you may sit. I suggest you use a chair.”

“I’ll give it a shot,” Tori replied lightly. The playful riffs with the eccentric teacher came naturally now. As soon as Tori settled into her seat, Beck entered the classroom.

“Sorry, guys,” he apologized. He was met with excited gasps and greetings anyway.

Cat blurted out the question on everyone’s mind. “How was working on the movie?”

“You know,” Beck half-shrugged in that modest way, with a cool, casual smile curling his lips.

“Beck!” Sikowitz barked. He crossed his arms and stared sternly at the latecomer. “You’re late.”

“I’m sorry, We’re doing this scene, and there was a problem with the lighting—”

“Say it like a robot,” Sikowitz ordered.

“There was a problem with the lighting,” Beck intoned robotically. “I’m very sorry,” he added.

“Wrong!” Sikowitz thundered. “You said you were sorry, and everyone knows robots don’t have emotions and, therefore, cannot feel regret. You kids have got to do your robot research!” Sikowitz stomped indignantly. He sent Beck to his seat with a huff. He then proceeded to attempt to continue his lecture but soon, even he couldn’t keep up the farce. “Good Ghandi, I’m boring myself,” he declared mid-sentence. “Beck! Tell us all about the movie,” he requested, taking a seat on the steps of the stage, fists tucked under his chin like the image of a child awaiting eagerly at the foot of a storyteller. Before Beck could get two sentences into his story, Sikowitz ushered him back up to the center of the stage and promptly took Beck’s seat himself.

“Okay, well, my call time was this morning at 5 am.”

“Ooh!” Cat exclaimed. “That’s early,” she giggled.

“Yeah,” Beck agreed easily, quickly moving past Cat’s interjection with nothing more than a concerned glance at the redhead. “Well, they did my hair and makeup, and then the costume designer came to my dressing room and—”

“Wait,” Jade was the one who interrupted this time. “The costume designer was in your dressing room?”

Beck nodded.

“Was she cute?”

“He was adorable,” Beck replied with a smug smirk.

Jade settled back into her seat, looking a little ruffled still, but appeased enough to let Beck continue. She resorted to idly observing her nails for chips in the polish. Tori’s eyes left Jade only when Andre burst out with the second most anticipated question: “Did you meet Melinda Murray?”

“No, not yet,” Beck shook his head.

“I bet she’s been stung by a bee,” Andre glowered darkly.

“I wouldn’t know,” Beck replied with an easy smile. “But! You can ask her yourself.”

“What?” Tori blurted out.

“The assistant director told me they need extras for a couple scenes. So if any of you guys wanna do it—” Beck didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence. He didn’t need to.

The entire class leapt to their feet in unison, stampeding toward Beck.

The bell rang over the excited clamor of the students.

“Alright, everybody read chapter seven for tomorrow!” Sikowitz announced over the noise (the residual chatter of Beck’s offer and the additional sounds of students packing up and filing out the door). “And study robots!” he added.

After school on Thursday, more than half of Sikowitz’s fourth period class were dressed up and made up, waiting for the call to roll cameras.

Tori, Jade, and Cat watched Andre get turned down by one of the interns, who grimaced as she sped away.

“Yeah, I think she’s into me,” Andre grinned, though the uncertainty was clear in his eyes.

“Right,” Jade drawled, smirking, “we could tell by the way she ran screaming from you.”

“She wasn’t—”

“Dude, she’s way too old for you anyway,” Tori pointed out.

“Older women are hot,” Andre shrugged.

“Because it’s every woman’s dream to be seduced by jailbait,” Jade rolled her eyes, sarcasm dripping from every word.

“Chiz, you’re right,” Andre sighed, shaking his head. “Guess I just got caught up in being on a real movie set for the first time.”

Cat patted his shoulder sympathetically.

The director began calling for everyone’s attention. “Melinda’s on her way to set. First positions, please!”

Cat gently touched Tori and Jade’s elbows and jerked her head over toward their assigned table towards the back of the set. Andre headed to his assigned spot by the bar in the back of the set as the bell rang overhead.

Melinda strolled in. Well, strutted may be the more accurate term. With an entourage of people fixing minute details like rolling the lint off a corner of her blouse or taming a few stray strands from her perfectly curled hair, Melinda took her seat and waved them away.

The director was explaining the blocking of the scene when a boot nudged Tori’s leg under the table. Tori tore her eyes away from her (probably creepy) stare at the very attractive blonde actress and glared at Jade and Cat, trying to decipher who did it. Judging from the smirk on Jade’s face, Tori’s money was on her, but she wasn’t expecting to see such a knowing smile on Cat’s face at the same time.

“And the waiter—” the director gestured to where Beck was standing, snapping his fingers and scrunching his face in concentration.

“Beck,” Beck offered his name.

“Beck,” the director nodded.

“My boyfriend,” Jade added loudly. Tori shot her an exasperated look, which Jade only responded to with a self-satisfied grin.

“Her boyfriend,” the director added, albeit a bit confused at the clarification, “will come in, do his line, then move off to the left. Who’s not ready?”

No one answered, and the set hands scattered off the set and out of sight from the camera.

“Good.” The director moved to take his seat beside the camera and called, “Roll.”

The camera rolled. The clapboard was clapped.

“And action.”

The two lead actors began their dialogue, and Beck moved away from serving Tori, Jade, and Cat’s table to interrupt the conversation, as scripted.

“I’m sorry, the chicken breast isn’t available today.”

Melinda held up a hand and broke character. “I’m sorry, what did you just say? Cut! Can we cut?”

“Melinda, please,” the director pleaded softly. He mumbled some other words, but Melinda stood up and scoffed, waving away his words like an unpleasant odor.

“He needs to learn his lines,” she demanded after doing a sneering imitation of Beck’s delivery.

“So let the script supervisor tell him that,” the director replied with a sigh. But Tori wasn’t listening. She pulled out the script from under the folded napkin on her table and scanned the lines until she found what she was looking for.

“She’s right,” Beck said before the director could start an argument about Melinda overstepping her role. “Totally my fault. I’ll get it right this time,” he promised.

“Hope so,” Melinda quipped with a dismissive glance at Beck as he retreated back to his first position. Tori cast a glance at Jade and saw her frame tensed and her gaze burning focused on Melinda Murray’s perfect blonde hair.

“First positions again!” the director called. He took his seat by the camera again. “Roll.”

“Uh, wait, excuse me?” Tori piped up before the camera guy could report the camera was rolling. Tori waved the script fragment she just studied. “Um, actually, Beck got his line right.”

“Tori,” Beck laughed nervously. “No, no. No, no.” He shot Tori a very serious stare with wide eyes. But Tori wouldn’t stand for it. Beck was letting Melinda, who was acting frankly like a grade-A gank at the moment, walk all over him.

“What?” the director said, walking over toward Tori.

“Sit. Down,” Jade gritted through clenched teeth.

But Tori ignored her. If even his own girlfriend wasn’t going to stand up for him, Tori would. It was the least she could do for a friend.

“See,” Tori pointed out on the script fragment. “Waiter #1’s line is, ‘I’m sorry, the chicken breast isn’t available today.’”

“Oh, yeah. Kid, you got it right,” the director acquiesced tiredly. He clapped a hand on Beck’s shoulder and moved to take his seat again when Melinda approached them, a haughty expression spread over her perfectly made up face.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you,” she demanded more than asked. She flicked her fingers in Tori’s general direction.

“Background player, big fan,” Tori turned to address Melinda Murray with the widest smile on her face. She was actually standing within arm’s reach of Melinda Murray! Tori could hardly breathe. “Hi, Melinda Murray,” she managed to squeak before passing out from lack of oxygen.

“Okay, an extra is correcting me on the set.” Melinda turned to address the director directly, completely disregarding a bouncing Tori to her side.

“I’m sorry,” Tori began to explain. Her excitement was deflated a little, sure, from Melinda’s sharp words and blatant disregard for Tori’s presence. “But you yelled at my friend, and he was totally right—”

“She’s your friend?” Melinda turned an icy glare onto Beck.

“Yeah,” Beck smiled uneasily. “She’s—”

“Go.” The word pierced the air and left a very heavy silence behind it.

“Go?” Beck parroted back dumbly, blinking.

“I want you off this movie,” Melinda demanded, pointing toward the studio door.

“Melinda—” the director tried to cut in.

But Melinda wasn’t having it. “You want him here or me?” she asked simply.

The director gaped at the woman for a moment before turning to Beck with hands spread helplessly. “Kid, I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s cool,” Beck muttered, leaving the towel he had hung over his forearm on the table and making his way off set.

Tori’s mouth hung open at the scene unfolding around her. Around all of them. Tori stammered, “N-n-n-no, no!” Tori threw her hands up in exasperation. “Why’d you get mad at him? I’m the one who corrected you.”

“Good point,” Melinda mused. “Bye!” she sang, wiggling her fingers in farewell.

Tori blustered, trying desperately to defend herself, but Melinda shook her head and curtly repeated, “Out. Go.”

Tori hung her head and trudged out. Once she was at the door, she glimpsed Beck’s figure disappearing into the outside, and Tori ran after him.

“Beck, I’m sorry,” Tori said immediately when she caught up to him.

“It’s fine, Tori,” Beck shook his head, attempting to smile, even when tears lined his eyes. “Not like it was supposed to be my big break or anything,” he mumbled, ducking his head and looking away. “I-I’ll see you tomorrow,” he whispered in a broken voice, choking back a sob before speeding away to his truck.

Tori was left standing there, chest aching and drowning in guilt. This wasn’t what she wanted to happen.

The next day at lunch, Tori slumped into a seat next to Andre, tossing her lunch tray onto the table before dumping her bag onto the ground with a sigh.

“Ooh, you got tater pops!” Andre noted excitedly, popping one into his mouth. Before Tori could protest, Andre began playing a funky upbeat jingle with a smile.

Tori looked at Andre, face devoid of amusement. She had only one word for him. “Why.”

“‘Cause you know what’s great about movies?” Andre challenged. When Tori struggled to come up with a single answer, Andre answered his own question. “A musical score. Whenever stuff happens, you always hear the perfect music to go with it. See, tater pops make me happy, so,” Andre popped another piece into his mouth and played a different but equally upbeat jingle as he smiled and chewed.

Tori sighed and glanced around. She spotted Jade and Beck walking over from the Grub Truck. “Oh, great. Here comes Jade.” Jade had sent a relentless barrage of gifs and memes to compound the guilt already weighing on Tori’s chest all night. Until Beck told her to stop.

Andre played an ominous tune as Jade and Beck slowed to a stop.

“Can we sit somewhere else?” Jade asked.

“Nope,” Beck replied, taking a seat. Jade groaned audibly but followed suit.

“Fine,” Jade said, sitting just a little too close to Tori (probably to make Tori squirm a little at the proximity, Tori figured). “We’ll sit with the girl who can’t keep her mouth shut and got you fired.”

Tori rolled her eyes but kept quiet. It wasn’t like Jade said anything false. She just wished Jade wasn’t so obvious about rubbing Tori’s nose in it.

Tori ignored Andre’s new sinister jingle and turned to the scorned actor. “Beck, I swear if there was anything I could do to make it up to you, I would.”

“I bet you would,” Jade smirked, dragging her eyes up and down Tori’s hunched figure.

Tori turned to frown at Jade. Was the girl ever going to give her a break? And what was with that suggestive tone and that arched eyebrow? Was she suggesting—

Andre’s next jingle, a funky little tune a little too reminiscent of a steamy love jam, answered Tori’s unfinished question for her. Tori shot Andre a glare before Jade’s voice pulled Tori’s focus back to the pale beauty’s face.

“You know if you really wanted to help, you wouldn’t just sit there like a bag of doorknobs. You’d do something.” Jade stood up abruptly, shouldering her bag and picking up her unopened tray of food.

“Where’re you going?” Beck called after her, a hint of exhaustion lining his voice.

Jade threw her response over her shoulder without looking back, “Anywhere else.”

At Andre’s jingle to play out Jade’s dramatic exit, Jade returned only to slam the batteries out of Andre’s keyboard and leave it face down on the table.

Andre grumbled something once Jade was out of earshot, but Tori was too distracted to try and make it out.

Beck sighed. “I’d better go calm her down.”

“I’m so sorry,” Tori apologized again as Beck gathered his things.

“Stop saying that,” Beck assured her. “I talked it out with Jade yesterday, and I’m fine. At this point, she’s more upset than I am.” Beck patted Tori’s head fondly before following his girlfriend.

“Don’t let it get to you,” Andre said as he gathered the batteries back into his keyboard.

“No,” Tori shook her head with a groan. “She’s right. I should go apologize to Melinda Murray and get Beck his job back.” Tori’s eyes lit up with sudden inspiration.

“You got an idea?” Andre smiled.

“Yeah, you free after school?”

“Nope, got a big project for my music class.” He gestured to the notepad he was scribbling on before Tori had joined him at the table.

Tori nodded. “Good luck, and stop narrating people’s lives with cliche jingles.” Tori got up and left Andre gaping after her.

Cat ended up being Tori’s partner in crime in her endeavor. Robbie was dealing with his sleep problems and was nowhere to be found. And Jade had made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with Tori after Tori cost Beck the role.

The two of them snuck onto set, splitting up to slip past the security guard. Tori believed they were in the clear when the guard spotted Tori and stopped her in her tracks.

Tori stammered her way past a half-believable lie, silently thanking Cat for making a dramatic diversion to distract the guard long enough for Tori to slip away.

Cat wailed about not being able to find her mother and clung desperately to the flustered guard as Tori raced to the set they were all extras on the day before. After a few wrong turns, Tori managed to find it again. She scanned the crowd of people and spotted Melinda’s blonde hair and deep purple blouse by the catering table. When she tapped on her shoulder, she was met with a horrifying dissonant image.

A bearded man with an exposed and very hairy chest stared at Tori confused, just as Tori gaped confused back at him.

“Oh,” he chuckled, finally realizing that Tori had initially addressed him as Melinda. “I’m Melinda’s stunt double.” Tori nodded slowly, unable to stop staring in horrific fascination. His eyes dragged up and down Tori’s frame.

“I’m 16,” Tori stated, and the man immediately looked away.

“Later,” he mumbled and sped away with his plate full of snacks.

“Okay, people!” the director clapped, gaining the attention of everyone on set again. Tori snuck into the back of the crowd as the director launched into a lengthy explanation of the blocking for the scene. As soon as the director gestured for everyone to get into position and the bell rang across the set, Tori weaved her way over to Melinda. She gripped the strap of her bag nervously as she approached the formidable woman.

“Ugh, who let you on stage?” Melinda snapped when her eyes landed on Tori.

“Look, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have corrected you—”

“Michael!” Melinda yelled, hands on her hips.

“No, no, no! We don’t need Michael, no Michael!” Tori shouted over Melinda’s calls. She turned her attention back to the formidable actress. “Look, I just want to say I’m sorry, but you shouldn’t get mad at Beck because he didn’t even know—”

“Just go away,” Melinda enunciated.

“Come on,” Tori pleaded. “Just let Beck have his part back. He’s just a high school kid trying to get his foot in the door. It’s not his—”

“Get out!” Melinda shouted.

There was a twang and a hiss as a crossbow released a bolt and the bolt sailed through the air, impaling Melinda’s outstretched hand clean through.

Tori let out a horrified scream. But not before Melinda expelled her impressive lungs into a blood-curdling scream first. The entire set was thrown into a panic as people swarmed around them. Tori wanted nothing more than to push her way through the crowd and get out of there, but there were too many bodies.

“Somebody call 911!” someone yelled.

“On it!” another person yelled back.

“Get this arrow out of my hand!” Melinda cried out. She collapsed to the floor, still screaming in shock, and presumably in pain too.

Tori managed to steal away to a quieter corner of the set until the paramedics arrived, adding to the already bustling cluster of bodies. Tori’s heart was thumping with anxiety from the accident that had unfolded right before her eyes, literally. And the claustrophobia wasn’t helping much.

“Somebody get my ex-husband on the phone!” Tori heard Melinda demanding as she was wheeled off-stage in a gurney.

The director was on the phone, somberly nodding and murmuring back occasionally.

“Yeah, I’m sorry too.” He hung up and turned to address everyone on set. “Okay, people, that was Melinda’s manager. Um, because of the injury to her hand, we’re gonna have to recast her role.”

Murmurs arose all around.

Tori wanted to sink into the ground and let the earth swallow her whole.

“Wait,” the other lead actor said, “Melinda’s not going to be in the movie?”

“Nope, thanks to her,” the director nodded at Tori.

“I… I feel so bad about this,” Tori stammered.

“Bad?” the director parroted back, eyebrows raised.

“We all hated her,” the lead actor chuckled. The set burst into thundering applause and cheers as many hands began to pat Tori on the shoulder and on the back.

“She was a nightmare!” the director chimed in, breaking into a wide grin. “What’s your name?”

“Uh… Crystal Waters?” Tori said, racking her brain to remember the alias she had given the security guard earlier.

“On behalf of everyone here, thank you, Crystal Waters,” the director said with a sincere smile. “You tell your friend…”

“Beck,” Tori supplied.

“Beck,” the director nodded, “that the role is his again, if he wants it.”

“Really?” Tori squealed.

“Really,” the director confirmed, beaming. “I’ll give him a call first thing tomorrow. Everyone, go home early. We’re wrapped up here for today.”

Cheers erupted once more as the set buzzed with activity.

Tori decided not to tell Beck the big news, not until Beck broke the news to everyone himself.

On Monday morning, she practically skipped over to Beck and greeted him at his locker.

“Hey, Beck!”

“Tori Vega,” he beamed. “Are you sure you’re not Crystal Waters?” His eyes narrowed in mock suspicion.

“You got the call!” Tori exclaimed happily.

“I’m back on the movie,” Beck nodded, arms spread wide.

“Yay!” Tori jumped into his arms, crushing him in a tight bear hug. Beck chuckled into the embrace.

“One,” Jade’s sharp voice pierced the morning air. “Two.” Tori pulled away slightly to find Jade standing at the corner holding a Jet Brew cup and looking exceptionally blase. “Don’t let me get to three,” she growled.

Tori and Beck sprang apart, each straightening their tussled shirts. Beck leaned casually against the wall of lockers while Tori readjusted her purse strap.

“Better.” Jade smiled that devilishly sweet and unsettling smile that didn’t reach her eyes. She immediately slipped into Beck’s side, letting his arm wrap around her shoulders as she kept a careful and even gaze on Tori.

“I was just thanking Tori for getting me my role back,” Beck explained.

“I know. It’s not like you were kissing her or anything,” Jade drawled, taking a long sip of her coffee, still unwavering in her scrutinizing stare at Tori.

“Okay, why don’t we go talk somewhere private?” Beck suggested, steering an uncooperative Jade away by her shoulders. Tori watched them go for a moment before heading to her locker.

Jade’s POV

She knew she shouldn’t feel such overwhelming jealousy, but she couldn’t help it. It always flared twice as badly whenever it came to Vega. And only Vega. She had no idea why.

Of course, Beck asked her why, and of course, Jade didn’t have an answer. So she defaulted to the simplest explanation she could think of, even if the same excuse was sounding tired to her own ears.

“Jade, you gotta let that go. It happened weeks ago now. You can’t tell me you still hate her for it. Or you wouldn’t have taken her detention for her.”

Jade narrowed her eyes. “We’re not discussing that, remember?” she gritted out through her teeth.

Beck sighed and carded a hand through his fluffy hair. Jade used to find the motion endearing and attractive. Now, Jade knew it as his frustrated tic, when he was angrier or more upset than he let on but was choosing to bite his tongue so as to avoid another pointless argument.

“Look, she got me the role back. It was just a hug. Friends hug each other.”

“It lingered.” Jade looked down. She wasn’t sure why she was feeling so petulantly stubborn.

“It didn’t mean anything. I still love you and only you.” He curled a finger under Jade’s chin and lifted her face so that her blue-greens met his honest dark browns. “Okay?”

“Okay.” Jade leaned up and met his lips. They kissed soundly for a while until the bell broke them apart.

“I’ll see you in Sikowitz,” Beck promised. Jade pulsed a squeeze through their locked hands, and Beck squeezed back with a smile before breaking the connection.

Jade let a small smile ghost her lips. It never got old hearing Beck say those three words.

Chapter Text

Tori’s POV

Tori groaned. How could she have forgotten Trina’s birthweek? She mentally berated herself as she clicked through shop after shop and item after item in the catalog. She was so close to just slamming her PearBook shut in frustration when Cat and Robbie found her sitting on the stairs in the main hallway frowning.

“Hey, Tori,” Cat greeted her brightly.

“Hi,” Robbie echoed.

“Yeah, hey, hi,” Tori replied absentmindedly. She had opened up yet another store, only to be disappointed by the items once again.

“Whatcha doin’?” Cat asked.

“Thanks,” Tori mumbled, barely registering Cat’s question beyond the fact that she asked… a question. She just assumed Cat asked some normal follow up question like “how are you.”

Tori only looked up when Robbie growled, “That’s a time out, mister,” and briefly watched Cat and Robbie wrestle the puppet into Robbie’s backpack amidst his (its?) protests. Tori shrugged, assuming Rex had made some weird comment again.

Earlier in the morning, Cat had filled Tori in on how Robbie sat down with Lane (and Rex) and discussed some abusive patterns in their relationship and how to set boundaries. Tori was proud and impressed by Robbie, even if she still found the whole puppet-as-its-own-being concept weird. But Tori had to admit that Rex’s typical tone, humor, and comments were a very far cry from anything she had come to expect from Robbie’s own mouth, and several times, she caught herself actually thinking of the two as separate beings.

But now was not the time to dwell on Robbie’s borderline unhealthy codependent relationship with his puppet.

Tori was entering panic mode, so she missed another exchange between her friends as Andre joined the mix and there were mentions of iced coffee. “Ooh!” Tori sat up. “A massage helmet. A stylish helmet that massages your head. That sounds fun, right?”

There were weak mumbles of assent and support.

“No, it’s awful,” Tori groaned.

There were immediate grumbles of protests against the massage helmet.

Cat plopped down and rested her bent arm on Tori’s shoulder, and she was grateful for the close contact. Close enough to fulfill Tori’s craving for human contact but not so intrusive like a hug when she needed both hands free to continue surfing the internet for gift ideas. It was nice to have a friend who was so openly physically affectionate like she was.

“Why is she all—” Andre began to ask.

“Because,” Tori sighed, “it’s only three days until Trina’s birthday, and today is the start of Trina’s birthweek.”

“Her birth-week?” Cat asked.

“Yeah, you don’t know Trina,” Tori sighed. “She thinks one day isn’t enough celebration, so she has what she calls a ‘birthweek.’" Tori could already feel her words accelerating as they tumbled out her mouth in a breathless rant, “Now, if I don’t get her an amazing present, I’m gonna have to listen to her complain about it for the next six months.”

“Alright, alright,” Andre nodded, moving to join them in sitting on the stairs. “Chill down. We’ll help you through this.” Cat and Robbie both agreed immediately.

“Okay,” Robbie clapped his hands.

“The perfect present for Trina,” Cat mused.

“Something amazing,” Andre continued.

When silence reigned over the group of four, a muffled voice from inside Robbie’s backpack irritably snapped, “Just get the massage helmet!”

Tori aimed a swift kick at the bundle in the backpack, earning a pained response, “Ah! My ribs!” Tori received a threatening text from Trina to get her butt outside and in the car or else she wasn’t going to get a ride home. Tori begged them to help her more tomorrow as she gathered her things. They all reluctantly promised as they went their separate ways.

The next day, at lunch, everyone sat around the blue table at the Asphalt Cafe, munching on their food. Like the day before, Tori was engrossed in her PearBook. So engrossed that she didn’t even realize Sinjin had unexpectedly taken Beck’s spot next to Jade that day, gazing lovingly at Jade’s profile as she snipped her French fries into tiny bite-sized chunks with a pair of scissors. Not until she looked up and glanced around the table to ask her gathered friends for suggestions.

She had forgotten Beck was going to be missing school for the rest of the week to be on set for ‘Misfire.’ Jade’s mood was significantly gloomier in Beck’s absence, especially in the way she basically refused to participate in any conversations besides just being there.

“Okay, Andre, start us off.”

"Cheese," he proudly announced. He was met by blank stares from everyone at the table but Jade and Sinjin. "Let’s not do cheese," he mumbled, ducking his head and returning to his notebook.

Tori moved on without gracing Andre's suggestion with a response. "Robbie."

"Lotion," he declared confidently. Again, he was met with blank stares. "Or various lotions," he amended. Crickets continued to chirp.

"Gross,” Tori quipped. “Cat?"

"Well, for my last birthday, I really wanted a bike, but when I got home from school, my brother was trying to cut off all his hair—"

Tori closed her eyes. Not another random tangent about Cat's brother. They popped up in conversation every now and then, each story as bizarre as the last, but Tori really did not have the patience to listen through one today.

Tori sighed and opened her eyes. She cut through Cat's story sharply by calling, "Jade!"

Jade's French fry demolition paused momentarily, an icy gaze leveled against Tori for breaking her concentration. "What?" she snapped.

"What should I get Trina?"

Without skipping a beat, Jade deadpanned, "Talent." And she resumed her snipping.

Sinjin sighed dreamily. "Jade is so pretty."

Jade froze again. "Three. Two, one—"

Sinjin scrambled to his feet and nearly tripped over himself running away as fast as possible.

“Does anyone have a good idea about a present for Trina?” Tori cried out, exasperated.

“You people give me a rash,” Jade remarked, standing up and grabbing her bag to walk away.

Tori was affronted by Jade’s comment, but more confused than anything.

“She’s just grumpy that Beck’s skipping school to finish filming for the movie,” Andre reasoned, catching Tori’s glum face. He nudged Tori’s shoulder, and she managed a half-smile.

Then, Robbie’s phone began to ring.

“Ugh, it’s my grandmother again,” Robbie moaned. “Hi, mammaw,” Robbie answered the phone. He listened for a beat. Then, he groaned, “Another computer problem? N—no, mammaw, I was not being sarcastic. M-mammaw, don’t—wh—” Robbie sighed. “Mammaw, don’t hang up on m—” Seconds later, Robbie’s hand fell away, still clutching the phone. He looked deflated.

“What’s your grandmother bugging about?” Andre asked.

“She bought a stupid computer, and she can’t figure out how to work it. So she calls me every, like, four minutes for ‘tech support,’” Robbie motioned with air quotes.

“That’s cute,” Andre chuckled.

“It’s not cute,” Robbie defended hotly. “I was at her house for 3 hours last night, and I have to go back again tonight.” He perked up at an idea. “Will one of you come with me?”

Andre and Tori immediately glanced away, but Cat sat up straight with a bright smile. “Sure!” she chirped. “I love old people! It’s so cute when their hands shake as they pour their juice.” Cat mimed the motion for a moment.

Tori let out a sarcastic laugh. “You know what that makes me think of?”

“What?” Cat asked.

“Nothing!” Tori snapped. Maybe the third cup of Jet Brew wasn’t such a good idea. Tori sighed and groaned, seeing Cat’s face fall. “Sorry, Cat,” she mumbled. Cat nodded, but she didn’t perk back up again. “I’m just…” Tori sighed. She cradled her head between her hands, rubbing her temples. “What am I gonna get Trina for her Birthweek?” she moaned miserably.

Tori heard a familiar and unwelcome voice, deep and breathy say, “How about a—”

“My dad’s a cop,” Tori cut over whatever Sinjin’s suggestion was going to be.

“Right, moving on,” Sinjin nodded, speeding away.

Tori rubbed her temples, hoping the motion would magically generate a genius idea.

It did not.

The perfect idea struck after school as Andre gave Tori a ride home.

“Fazzini boots!” Tori exclaimed, clutching her hair.

Andre startled and sharply exhaled. “Girl, don’t scare me like that!” he exclaimed after he somewhat recovered from the mini-heart attack.

“Sorry,” Tori whined. “It’s just, it’s perfect.”

“What the chiz are Fazzini boots?” Andre asked.

“Designer boots with a bunch of rhinestones and super expensive,” Tori explained in a rush. “I totally blanked until just now that Trina has been raving about getting a pair for, like, forever. It’s perfect!” she exclaimed, clapping giddily. Tapping Andre’s arm rapidly, she pleaded, “Can we go to DSW, please?”

Andre waved away Tori’s insistent advances and said, “Alright, alright! Chill, chica!” He signaled and rounded the corner to head over to the shoe warehouse.

What should have been a simple search took them to over 11 different stores. By the eighth store, Tori was a frazzled and anxious mess, and Andre was growing a minor headache.

This was the last time Andre was going to give Tori a ride to her errands on the off-days he didn’t need to drive his grandma.

At long last, they snagged the perfectly-sized pair and zoomed back to the Vega residence.

“Thanks so much, Andre,” Tori repeated for the millionth time as she admired the boots standing proudly on display on the dining table.

“Don’t sweat it. Just buy me the nachos tomorrow for lunch, and we’ll call it good.”

“Are you sure?” Andre nodded, and Tori crushed him in a bear hug.

The front door slammed open, and Tori yelped before tossing the boots back into the box and sliding the box out of sight.

“What’s got two thumbs and is already having a fantastic Birthweek?” Trina declared as soon as she entered the living room.

Andre and Tori both looked at Trina expectantly.

“This girl!” Trina exclaimed, wiggling her thumbs exaggeratedly at herself. “Check out my kicks!” she continued, beaming wide. She hopped up onto the table and spun around in a dainty rotation. The rhinestones sparkled and dazzled in the bright lights of the Vega living room. “Fazzini boots!” she squealed. “Got ‘em at Simone’s—on sale!”

Tori’s expectant smile immediately fell to a scowl.

Not only did Trina get the same kind of present that Tori was going to gift her, Trina just had to get the exact same color and design too. Sure, Tori might have been able to get away with it if she had gone with a different style, but no. The perfect pair for Trina was of course already picked out by Trina.

Why did Tori ever think she had a chance with this idea?

Tori crossed her arms and pouted. Trina noticed.

“Oh, don’t be sad,” Trina said softly. Tori glanced up, not expecting a display of sympathy from her sister for something she surely couldn’t have known about. “You can borrow them.” Tori’s hopes were immediately dashed to pieces, and her face fell into a scowl again. “After I’m dead,” Trina added with a scoff, as if Tori needed more of a reason to feel upset. Trina laughed and headed toward the stairs, calling up to the second floor, “Mom, I got Fazzini boots! Mom! Mom!” she screeched the last call.

Andre turned back around to face Tori. “You’re gonna have to come up with another present—”

“I know that!” Tori snapped irritably.

“I got a cheese guy that could put together a mean charcuterie board,” Andre suggested.

“I’m not giving her cheese,” Tori insisted. She tossed the boxed boots onto the tabletop and collapsed into a chair next to Andre. “Maybe I should just give up and accept the fact I’m not gonna find anything good and Trina is gonna hate me for the next six months,” she rushed out in a single breath. She sighed and leaned her throbbing temple against her palm.

“Cheese is a great present,” Andre mused, and Tori glanced at Andre.

“Any other ideas?” she asked tiredly.

“Alright,” he raised his hands in surrender. “Uh,” he rubbed his hands together. “How ‘bout a song?” he suggested.

“A song?” Tori asked. “As a present for Trina?” Her eyebrows were lifted in disbelief.

“Yeah,” Andre replied. “You can write it, perform it yourself, you know,” he shrugged. “Do it up real big.”

“That’s not bad,” Tori murmured. “Only one problem: I don’t know how to write a song!”

Andre grinned. “What has two thumbs and knows how to help a friend write a song?”

Tori perked her eyebrow questioningly at Andre.

“This guy!” Andre wiggled his thumbs at himself in a silly impression of Trina.

Tori smiled. Sometimes, she wondered what she did to deserve such a great friend like Andre.

“You’re a lifesaver, dude,” she said with relief coloring every word.

“Come on, I think I still have my keyboard and my guitar in my car.”

About an hour later, Tori laid upside down on the couch, legs hanging off the back and head propped up by pillows on the coffee table while Andre fiddled with his keyboard on the other half-sofa.

“How about this?” Andre began to play a poppy little diddly on his keyboard, and Tori bobbed along, beaming.

“That’s good!” Tori managed to sit up to face Andre properly. “I love that. But,” she hesitated, “you really think we’re gonna be able to have a whole song ready by Trina’s birthday?” She sighed. “It’s this Thursday.”

“No worries,” Andre replied breezily, sipping on his soda. “I’ll get a bangin’ band here, some girls to back you up, lights,” he listed, “it’ll be the chiz.”

“Really?” Tori asked.

Andre nodded, smiling softly. "Really." He reached over to his side and pulled out his notepad and pencil. “Let’s get back to the lyrics.”

“No,” Tori whined. “I can’t write lyrics. Just play more stuff on your thingy!” Tori pointed at Andre’s keyboard like a kid pointing to a toy they wanted sitting on a high shelf in a toy store.

“I’ll help you,” Andre assured her. “Just tell me some of your favorite things about Trina.”

Tori thought for a moment.

Then for a longer moment.

“I said,” Andre enunciated, “tell me some of your—”

“I heard you,” Tori snapped.

Andre chuckled. “Come on, dig deep.”

But Tori was only drawing blanks. “Okay, okay… um…” Tori stared at the ceiling. “Trina is the whole reason I got into Hollywood Arts.”

“Now you’re digging,” Andre said encouragingly, scribbling something onto his notebook.

“Yay, I’m diggy,” Tori exclaimed softly.

“When you think of Trina, what’s the first word that pops into your head?” Andre asked next.

Tori didn’t skip a beat when she replied, “Crazy.”

“Crazy,” Andre nodded, scribbling some more.

“But I love her,” Tori added.

“Have you told her that lately?” Andre glanced up with a small grin.

“No,” Tori frowned. “Are you sure this stuff is gonna help us write a song?”

“Let’s see,” Andre sighed, setting aside the notepad and bending over his keyboard again. Andre began to sing as he pressed the first couple chords softly, “You might be crazy, but have I told you lately, that I love you. And that you’re the reason that I…” Andre finished the measure with some scats.

Tori could only smile. “You’re good,” she remarked, nodding and impressed.

Andre half-shrugged with modesty, a habit clearly learned from Beck, Tori noticed.

“No, seriously,” Tori leaned forward. “That’s incredible.”

“Practice makes perfect,” he humbly replied. “Now, come on. We got more to write.”

As they continued working through the lyrics, Tori began to find a lot of similarities between Trina and… well, Tori wasn’t sure how much she wanted to really entertain that thought. (Like, sure, they’re both a little crazy, and they often do make a scene to get their way, and maybe it gives her a little bit of a (large) ego boost whenever she knows that they’re truly proud of her, but love? That’s…)

She shook her head out of that line of thinking and tried to focus on what Andre was suggesting they add.

“If it was raining, she’d yell at the sky to stop,” Tori snorted at Andre’s latest prompt.

“No arguments there,” Andre agreed. “Loudest voice in the school.”

“Well, it’s helped a few times. Back in elementary school, she told off some mean kids who were picking on me. She’s always been there to pick me up when I was down. And she had my back when we were growing up. Even when we made a mess.”

Andre nodded, scribbling furiously now.

“I think we got our bridge,” he announced happily.

“How are you not signed onto a record label yet?” Tori asked. “You’re so crazy talented!”

“I…” Andre hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

Tori stared at Andre, elation spreading over her features. “Shut up, no way! Did you get signed?!”

“No, well, not yet—”

“What? Not yet? You got something in the works?” Tori hadn’t expected Andre to actually respond to her passing comment. But now, she couldn’t put out the excitement in her if she wanted to. “Come on, spill!” she pleaded.

“I sent a demo to a record label on Monday, and I’m waiting to hear back from them,” Andre explained, ducking his head to scribble idly on his notepad.

“Congratulations, dude!” Tori sprang to her feet to hug Andre. “That’s huge!”

“I mean, it’s just a demo. They haven’t said anything yet…” Andre picked at his pencil, his lips twitching to fight the smile.

“Still,” Tori maintained, grinning wide. “That’s so great, Andre. Really. You’re going places, man.”

“Thanks.” Andre glanced up to meet Tori in the eye. He finally let the smile break over his face. “Now,” he cleared his throat and motioned at the instruments spread out in front of them, “let’s finish this song.”

Tori nodded, but she lingered to smile at Andre for a few moments more. He truly was an amazing guy.

On Thursday evening, everything was in place. Trina’s friends had taken her to a spa treatment at the mall after school, so Tori made sure to ask Trina to come in through the garage when she got home.

The lights were dim, and her parents had the birthday cake all set with candles lit and everything.

Trina looked ecstatic at the decorations, hugging each of her parents tightly.

After Trina made a wish and blew out her candles, she asked, “Where’s Tori?”

“Over there,” Holly gestured, rotating Trina around to guide her into the chair that David pulled out for her.

“With a special surprise,” David added, excitedly scooting Trina toward the raised platform that the piano stood on. “You’re gonna love it,” he promised before dashing off to fetch the camcorder.

As Trina looked around her in bewilderment, Andre and several strangers appeared from their hiding spots around the speakers and the grand piano. “What is going on?” she asked with a confused laugh.

“Just relax,” Andre said gently. He clicked a button on a remote, and a fog machine hissed to life.

The drummer tapped out a countdown before starting up a steady rhythm, and Tori appeared at the top of the stairs, beaming wide. She skipped down, all done up in a short zebra print dress with sleeves coming down to her elbows.

Tori jumped into the song as the guitar kicked in, low and heavy. She sang and pranced around in the well-practiced choreography, despite the limited space she had around the living room and the kitchen. Her backup dancers were flawless, smiling bright and matching Tori’s contagious energy as they flowed from chorus to verse to chorus again.

At the end of the performance, Trina all but leapt into Tori’s arms, crushing her sister in a tight embrace. Tori squeezed back just as hard.

“Happy birthweek, Trina,” Tori said once they pulled apart.

“Thanks!” Trina beamed from ear to ear, tears brimming her eyes. “So, where’s my present?” she asked, glancing around.

Tori’s smile was frozen on her face as her thoughts came screeching to a halt.

An awkward silence hung over the crowd as everyone stared at Trina. Tori included, only scowling now with incredulousness.

“A-are you kidding me?” Tori asked.

“No,” Trina shook her head. “Where’s my birthweek present?” she repeated, holding out an expectant hand.

“Mom, dad,” Tori said in as controlled of a voice as she could muster. “Could you please take everyone outside?”

“But it’s raining,” Holly said, pointing to the drenched patio doors and the sheets of rain pouring outside.

“Then upstairs, or anywhere else but here?” Tori hissed. She was trying hard not to clench her jaws, because she’d been doing that all week from the pent-up anxiety agonizing over the perfect present for her sister, and Trina had the audacity to—

Holly and David mutely and quickly ushered everyone upstairs, leaving a fuming Tori and an increasingly bewildered Trina in the empty living room.

“Don’t break anything,” were David’s final words, laced with concern and warning before he disappeared last up the stairs.

“No promises,” Tori replied tightly, lips stretched into a grimace.

Trina’s confusion was slowly morphing into nervousness as Tori just stood there for a few moments, concentrating on taking deep, slow breaths.

“The song was your present,” Tori finally explained.

“How much did it cost?” Trina asked, cocking her head with a knowing smile.

“It didn’t cost money!”

“Then it’s not a present!”

“You’re unbelievable!”

“And you didn’t get me a birthweek present!”

Tori huffed and walked a few paces away. “I wrote a song for you. I rehearsed it, and the people—I performed it for you!”

“Yeah, you were a little flat on the last chorus,” Trina winced with a sympathetic, pitying smile. She patted Tori’s shoulder, but Tori shrugged off the contact.

Tori was feeling tears brim in her eyes. She scoffed incredulously and backed away several steps. “I can’t believe you,” she repeated in a broken whisper. “I can’t believe,” she continued in a louder voice, growing angrier by the second, “that you aren’t deep enough to appreciate a gift that totally came from my heart.”

“A song is not a gift,” Trina maintained.

“It is too!” Tori exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

“Can I wear a song?” Trina asked. Before Tori could answer, she answered her own question. “No. Can I eat a song? No. Can I flaunt a song and make anyone jealous? No!” Trina continued her own question-and-answer tirade in one breath. She jabbed a finger at Tori. “You failed.”

“You know what?” Tori scoffed, reaching into her bra to pull out a flash drive. “Here. I am so sorry this is all I got you.” She grabbed Trina’s wrist and slapped the drive into Trina’s open palm.

“What is this?” Trina asked, holding up the small drive with a confused grimace.

“A flash drive with the song on it,” Tori replied tiredly. “Enjoy Andre’s and my hard work,” she said with a sour smile before storming up the stairs.

She only barely made it into her room before the tears began to fall.

She didn’t hear the rest of the guests shuffle downstairs awkwardly over the sound of her sobs.

A couple hours later, she finally fell asleep, exhausted from the week’s events and feeling empty.

The next morning, Jade’s sharp voice cut through Tori’s morning haze as she tried to spin the combination on her locker for the fourth time. “Hey! Vega!”

Tori ignored Jade in favor of concentrating on making sure the right numbers were spun to this time around.

“Tori.”

Tori turned at the use of her first name. “What?”

Jade thrust a cup of Jet Brew at Tori. “Try this coffee and tell me what it tastes like.” As Tori (hesitantly) accepted the cup, Jade watched Tori with surprising scrutiny. It had been a while since Jade had paid such close attention to Tori. It made Tori’s skin prickle with an uncomfortably familiar warmth.

Tori sniffed and tentatively took a sip. She smacked her lips a few times, trying to identify the flavor. “Hazelnut?”

“I don’t know,” Jade replied, smirking impishly as she unwrapped the stick of gum she pulled out from her bag. “I found it in the garbage.” Tori watched the stick of gum disappear behind pearly whites before Jade’s words registered in her slow brain.

Tori immediately turned to spit out whatever residual coffee still laced her mouth. The taste had immediately turned sour, though, Tori wasn’t sure how much of that was purely psychosomatic. And she definitely couldn’t think straight with her sleep-addled brain that morning—not when Jade was staring at her like that. (That pierced eyebrow arched like that was going to be the death of her, Tori swore in her head.)

“Hey, Tori,” Trina’s voice broke Tori’s attention away from warily keeping an eye on Jade’s even and amused stare. “Hey, Tori’s friend.”

“Yeah, I’m not really her friend.” Jade chose that moment to brush past Trina and make her swift exit, despite having lingered for a few long moments to simply… stare… at Tori.

Trina and Tori both watched Jade as she disappeared around the corner. Tori turned back to her locker, which she finally got open after accepting Jade’s garbage coffee. Tori frowned at her new burden and temporarily placed the cup inside her locker as she exchanged books and folders for her morning classes.

“So, listen,” Trina started.

“I’m not buying you a present,” Tori cut her off.

“Ah, but you already did,” Trina replied, grinning cheekily. She pointed excitedly at her head as she circled around to the open side of Tori’s locker and explained, “This hat!”

Tori frowned quizzically at her sister. The fedora-style hat was, like most of Trina’s latest fashion, bedazzled a blinding amount. The brim was moderately wide, and the entire hat seemed covered (where not bedazzled) in soft, black velvet.

“I didn’t buy you that hat,” Tori replied.

“Did too!” After a beat, Trina rolled her eyes and added, “Well, indirectly.” She chuckled. “See, I sold the song and used the money to buy the hat. I know most girls can’t pull off the whole hat look, but my head has a perfect shape…”

Tori drowned out the rest of Trina’s rambling as she retrieved her cup of garbage coffee (intending to throw it away in the nearest trash can, where it belonged), when Tori’s brain finally processed Trina’s words.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!” Tori rounded on her sister. “What do you mean you sold the song I gave you?”

“Well, you know my friend Molly?”

“Little feet, big thighs?”

Trina hummed and nodded. “Her uncle is one of the main dudes at Devolution Records,” Trina explained. “I played the song for him, and he, like, freaked over it.”

“The song that I sang for your birthday?” Tori clarified, fist landing on her hip.

“Yeah! He gave me five hundred bucks for the rights. And, get this,” Trina beamed, “he wants me to record it professionally!” Trina squealed.

“You?” Tori pointed at Trina, eyebrows rising so high they nearly reached her hairline. “You’re gonna sing it?”

“Of course!” Trina nodded emphatically. “He thinks it could be a hit! I turned your terrible present into a new hat and a great opportunity!” Trina began to walk away, a bounce in her step.

“But, wait,” Tori said, shooting out a hand to catch Trina by the elbow. “But does he know that I was the one singing the song and not you?”

“You know,” Trina mused, “that did not come up…”

“Trina!” Tori growled in frustration. “How can you do that? You can’t just—” The tri-toned bell rang over the hall, cutting off Tori’s rant.

“Got to scamper!” Trina paused to point at the Jet Brew cup still in Tori’s hand. “You gonna finish that?”

“No,” Tori immediately pulled the cup out of Trina’s reach. “Jade found this in the—” A mischievous idea struck Tori in that moment. “You can have it.” Tori thrust the cup toward Trina’s waiting hands.

Trina blew Tori a kiss before turning around and speeding off to class.

“Hope you enjoy that garbage coffee,” Tori muttered irritably under her breath as she headed to first period as well.

Tori wasn’t expecting the call that evening, but she was tired of fighting with her sister. Trina and Tori had never been able to stay frigid and angry at each other for longer than a week, and it was honestly draining on Tori every time.

She just wanted her sister back.

So she picked up the call, and she had never gotten ready to bolt out of the house faster than she did that night.

Andre picked her up halfway to his house, and together, they drove to Devolution Records’ satellite studio: a much smaller scale studio not located at their headquarters building.

Trina sulked in the back, but several times, when Tori opened her eyes after a particularly passionate part of the song, Tori caught Trina smiling softly, a hint of pride shining in her eyes.

Tori knew that they were going to be just fine after this.

Then, there were wild gesticulations from Devon after receiving a phone call, and the music suddenly cut off in the middle of the verse.

“Uh, what happened?” Tori asked, unable to hear anything without the intercom button being pressed. No one on the other side of the glass seemed to want to pay Tori’s question any mind. They continued to discuss, and Tori felt the confusion rise within her. “Are we taking a break?”

Andre and Trina glanced at Tori with identical expressions. The confusion began to morph into the beginning stages of nervousness.

Devon and the other producer were both on their feet, jumping, expressions wild but unrecognizable. Excitement, maybe?

“What’s happenin’ out there?” Tori tried again with a nervous laugh.

Again, she was ignored. Left alone in the recording booth, she was starting to feel suffocatingly isolated.

Tori tapped the microphone a little, just in case it was turned off along with the music. “Hello? Guys?”

Devon and the other guy were grabbing their jackets.

Just then, Andre burst into the booth while Trina bodyblocked the two men from leaving. Andre yanked the headphones off of Tori’s head, hung them up on the microphone, and grabbed Tori’s wrist to tug her out of the soundproofed booth.

“I paid five hundred bucks, I own the song fair and square!” Devon was shouting.

“Trina doesn’t own the rights to the song,” Andre explained. “This girl does.” He pointed at Tori.

“I do?” Tori asked, bewildered.

“Yeah, when I exported the song onto the flash drive, I made sure the file was digitally signed by a key generated for you. Trina never owned the rights, so she could not legally sell you,” he turned to the music producers, crossing his arms across his chest, ”the rights to the song.”

“But Beyonce, man,” the other producer whined.

“Chill, man, we’ll figure this out,” Devon said to his colleague with a placating wave of his hand. Turning to the three teenagers, he said, “Listen, if we let you tag along, will you hand over the rights?”

Tori didn’t answer right away. Instead, she turned to Andre. “Andre, this is your song. You wrote most of the lyrics and composed the music. I can’t just hand over the rights without you on board.”

“I made my decision when I had you sign it digitally,” Andre shrugged. “But for what it’s worth, I think you should get the chance to record it professionally. With your vocals, and on your terms.”

“But Beyonce, man,” the other producer whined again.

Everyone turned to glare at him.

Devon sighed. “Alright, if you won’t hand over the rights, then I want my 500 back.” He held out an open palm.

Tori and Andre turned to Trina with expectant looks. Trina rolled her eyes. She reached into her purse and retrieved her wallet. She pulled out a folded check and slapped it into his waiting hand. “Here’s your stupid money. Now, can we go?”

Devon and the other producer stepped aside, and the three filed out into the parking lot. Andre headed out first after receiving a phone call from his parents.

Trina and Tori got into the car and started the drive home in silence.

Finally, Tori broke it. “You never cashed in the check?”

Trina shrugged. “I got lazy. Besides, Mom and Dad gave me some cash on Monday to start off my Birthweek, and I was eventually gonna get around to it.”

Tori nodded.

“And, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry I tried to sell the song.”

Tori didn’t answer.

“I figured you were going to be able to write and create more, so I didn’t think it would make a difference.”

“I made the song for you, Trina.”

“I know…”

“And you just gave it away like it was an old t-shirt!”

“I know…”

“And I had a lot of help…” Tori sighed. “Andre helped a lot. You owe him an apology too.”

Trina sighed too. “Do I have to?”

“He drove me to eleven different shoe stores to help me find you the perfect Fazzini boots, and when you came home with the exact pair already, he helped me write, compose, and perform the song. He put together the band and got the backup dancers and everything. Yeah, I think you do.”

“You were going to get me Fazzini boots?”

Tori crossed her arms and looked out the window instead of replying.

“Tor, I’m sorry I get so grunchy every Birthweek. I just…” she sighed. “Mom and Dad always threw you the best birthday parties when we were younger, and I got jealous. They weren’t even that fancy. But you were always so happy with even the smallest things.”

Tori rolled her eyes almost audibly. “Because they didn’t need to spend a bunch of money on me. I was just happy to have everyone’s company and feel the love.”

“I realize that now,” Trina replied. In a much quieter voice, she added, “I’ll talk to Andre on Monday.”

Tori nodded but didn’t say anything further.

They drove in silence for a stretch.

Then, Tori broke the silence again. Without turning to look at her sister, she quietly offered an olive branch. “Wanna get Freezy Queen? My treat.”

Tori didn’t need to turn and face her sister to see exactly the wide smile that broke across her sister’s face.

“Sure,” Trina responded, facing the road ahead again. “But I’m getting all the toppings.”

Tori rolled her eyes and smiled.

Jade’s POV

Jade slammed her room door shut. She never liked this room. She never liked having to spend the week at her dad’s anyway. But the bedroom was perhaps one of the worst parts. Not to mention that Beck had been super busy all week, and Jade hardly got to see him.

So when Beck had texted Jade right after dinner two nights ago that he was free to hang out for a couple hours, of course Jade jumped on the opportunity, barely mentioning where she was headed in passing before she was out the door. Not that her old man ever really cared where she was going.

That was Wednesday night.

Jade had broken curfew. She slipped into her dad’s apartment a little past midnight, quietly and carefully, but her dad had caught her just as she was about to enter her bedroom.

They exchanged a few words. Their conversation very quickly escalated into a screaming match. Which resulted in Jade’s current position on this cold and lonely Friday night.

Grounded.

Alone. And bored.

At least tomorrow morning, Jade could finally return to her mom’s place and the comforts of her basement bedroom. Where she truly felt home. Safe. Secure.

Because these four, cold walls that currently surrounded Jade, these foreign and rough sheets, felt so clinical and sterile, not lived-in and comfortable. She felt like a stranger, an intruder, poisoning these neat and folded sheets with her very presence, her essence, tainting the clean white sheets with her moody blacks and dark colors.

She never liked her dad’s place because it forced her to live in her own head. And Jade hated being alone with her thoughts. At least, if she was at her mom’s, she had a plethora of distractions to choose from.

Jade sat upright and decided enough was enough. If she was to be a prisoner in this cold and unforgiving room, then she might as well make the most out of it.

She pulled out a blank sheet of paper and a pencil and just began to write.

It had been a while since she handwrote something like this—with good old-fashioned pencil and paper. And she found the motions almost meditative. The words flowed as she scribbled out an outline of a plot and a few lines of dialogue.

She didn’t stop until she heard the front door close and a handful of keys clatter into the ceramic dish by the door.

“I’m home,” came a gruff voice. Jade didn’t respond.

His very presence caused a disturbance in Jade’s flow. She sighed and crammed the papers and pencil back into her bag. She replaced them with earbuds and her phone. She slipped under the covers, music blasting in her ears, and curled up, hoping to fall asleep soon.

She was out before the door to her bedroom softly inched open and a tired, haggard face poked in to check on her.

She dreamt that night about wells and tears and a little crying girl.

Chapter Text

Tori’s POV

With finals week (and Trina’s Birthweek) finally over, the gang felt a wave of relief as they returned to school on Monday. The previous week was all kinds of weird and high stress for all of them, and they looked forward to not having to study for big exams for the foreseeable future.

Well, everyone but Tori. Since Tori had transferred into Hollywood Arts so late into the fall semester, Tori was exempt from all exams. Tori was grateful for it, since it had freed her up to stress out about Trina’s Birthweek present. And bug everyone else about it.

At least she and Trina were on better terms after the weekend.

Monday seemed to pass by fairly normally. And, as per usual, Tori looked forward to Sikowitz to be the highlight of her drab and normal Monday.

She was not disappointed.

The bell rang, interrupting Sikowitz’s lecture, and he absentmindedly dismissed the class with a vague farewell.

Then, he said, “Wait. Tori, Andre, Beck, Jade, Cat, Robbie. Stay for a moment.”

It was no secret that Sikowitz favored the group of six. Probably because they were among the only ones who actively played off of Sikowitz’s strange antics instead of writing him off as a little loose in the head like most students. Some other students rolled their eyes on their way out, but nobody commented on it.

The six friends remained in the room, staring expectantly at the teacher.

“How would you teenagers like to do something,” Sikowitz asked with a pregnant pause, “for money?”

The six students hesitated to answer, exchanging confused looks with each other.

Tori was the first to answer. “Uh, can we have some details first?”

Sikowitz grinned smugly. “Well, I assume you’re all familiar with Kevin Chase.”

“Doesn’t he own, like, half the hotels in Vegas?” Beck asked.

“Indeed,” Sikowitz nodded, though mild irritation tinged his expression at Beck’s interruption. “Kevin was my roommate in college,” he continued to explain. “And now he’s extremely wealthy, and his little boy is turning four years old this week. Ah, the big oh-four,” he sighed wistfully.

“Can I leave?” Jade deadpanned, already turning toward the door. Beck turned her back with a tight smile, and Jade glared at him but stayed put.

“Wait,” Sikowitz dragged out the half-command, half-plea. He sighed before continuing, leveling a tired look at Jade. Jade merely shrugged, unaffected. “Kevin hired The Waggafuffles—” Cat let out a soft gasp, eyes blown wide in surprise and yearning, “—to perform a song at his son’s birthday party.”

“Oh, I love The Waggafuffles!” Cat cried out. She began to demonstrate one of their most famous songs, complete with the accompanying dance.

“Cat,” Sikowitz said, as calmly as possible. His calmness broke the very next moment. “CAT!” he thundered. Cat immediately fell silent. “I was telling a story,” he continued in his normal voice.

“Sorry, Sikowitz,” Cat bowed her head.

Jade sighed loudly and approached the stage, holding out a dollar bill. “I’ll give you this dollar to get to the point,” she deadpanned.

“I couldn’t possibly take your money,” Sikowitz replied with sarcasm dripping off his words. He snatched the bill out of Jade’s outstretched fingers with a sour smile.

Jade returned to Beck’s other side, so she was between her boyfriend and her oldest friend. She gave Cat a small shoulder pat, and Cat seemed to perk up a little. Tori smiled at the small exchange, but she wiped the expression off her face as soon as she was met with Jade’s murderous glare.

Sikowitz continued his explanation, drawing everyone’s attention back to him. “Apparently, The Waggafuffles’ private jet crashed…” he left another pregnant pause, lips twitching in an effort not to smile. The six again exchanged confused looks, not understanding how the tragic news could possibly be so entertaining to their strange teacher. Only Jade looked mildly amused, though the other five were fairly used to her interest in the macabre. “And so, now,” Sikowitz schooled his features, not finding the reaction he was looking for in his students’ faces, “Kevin needs a new musical group to perform at his son’s birthday party.”

Robbie clarified, “So you want us to form a kiddie musical group?”

“For just one performance,” Sikowitz nodded.

“No,” was Jade’s immediate response. She had already turned on her heel, ready to stride out the door, with Beck in tow, when Sikowitz revealed the true incentive.

“He’ll pay you a thousand dollars.”

“A thousand?” Tori repeated incredulously. All six perked up at the number. Beck and Jade turned back to face Sikowitz.

“Shall I tell my friend you’re all in?” Sikowitz asked smugly.

“Uh,” Andre hesitated. “Where would we do this?”

“I’ll set up the party here at school in the Black Box Theater,” Sikowitz explained breezily. “You can perform, on stage,” he swept out his hands dramatically. “After the kids have their cake and ice cream,” he continued to mime out the basic placement of the party. “It’ll be fantastic,” he concluded.

The six exchanged glances with each other again. The incentive was clearly running through their minds. A thousand, split six ways, wasn’t the prettiest or most even number, but it was a pretty piece of income for a high school student.

Jade still seemed hesitant about it all. She chewed on her thumbnail restlessly while the others discussed it out loud.

Cat seemed completely on board with the idea, to no one’s surprise. Andre seemed hesitant, and Tori supposed she should’ve expected that.

Robbie took one look at Cat’s excitement and immediately casted his vote in support of Cat’s vote.

Beck seemed indifferent and shrugged coolly, still looking to the others to come to a decision.

Tori voiced her opinion, and Jade rolled her eyes. Tori ignored it. She was getting pretty good at pretending it didn’t get to her as much, in hopes that it would actually stop bothering her so much someday. So far, it wasn’t really working.

“I’m doing this for money,” Jade finally snapped. She didn’t stick around to observe the reactions to her response (Cat and Robbie’s enthusiastic excitement, Andre’s hidden crestfallen expression, and Tori’s confusion at the different reactions she saw).

“I’ll call Kevin,” Sikowitz announced giddily, pulling out his phone.

After school, the group met up at the school’s music recording room.

It was spacious, with really nice acoustics (as the music-philes of the group noted upon entry), and not altogether very different from the Devolution Records recording studio Tori and Andre had visited just last Friday. All the same equipment was present, along with a variety of instruments. The only thing missing was a separate soundproofed room to house a separate microphone.

It was Tori’s first time entering the space, and she was awestruck that such a room was even on campus. Apparently, attending school for a month was not enough time for Tori to explore all the hidden gems of the campus, like this room.

Andre was immediately in business mode, with his notepad and pencil already out and ready to jot down ideas. Cat settled onto one of the stools, while Robbie plopped down onto the floor. Beck claimed another stool, with Jade draped over his lap. Tori claimed the last stool and set her bag on the floor.

An hour passed, and the group of six hardly came up with anything at all. Robbie picked idly at a guitar he found in a dusty corner of the room. Jade sat on the floor, snipping paper into small bits with her scissors. Beck scrolled through his phone. Cat was absorbed in pressing different buttons and playing with the sliders on the mixing board (which Andre had unplugged within fifteen minutes of the beginning of Cat’s fascination). Andre kept pressing different chord combinations on the keyboard. And Tori was nursing a headache trying to come up with lyrics.

Tori wasn’t lying when she told Andre she couldn’t write songs. Song lyrics truly weren’t her forte. She sighed and scrolled further down on the search results on her PearBook.

“This is a song ‘bout broken glass,” Robbie began to sing. He had been trying to sing the same song for the past half-hour.

Tori groaned and grasped Robbie’s guitar by the neck. “No,” she said tiredly.

“I liked that one,” Jade mused. “Especially the part about sandwiches made of broken glass.”

“You would,” Tori retorted without thinking.

Jade froze and stared at Tori, her pierced eyebrow arched high questioningly.

Tori met Jade’s gaze with determination. She was done letting Jade push her around.

“My grandpa has a nose, and my grandma has a nose. Everyone you know has a nose, nose, nose,” Andre began to sing instead.

“That song is a filthy lie,” Jade cut in, not bothering to pause in her snipping. Everyone but Beck turned to Jade. She explained casually, “My grandfather’s nose got blown off in the war. So someone I know doesn’t have a nose.”

Beck squeezed Jade’s shoulder lightly. Jade glanced at the contact for a moment before shrugging off Beck’s hand.

Tori watched the small, silent exchange before turning back to her PearBook. (There was nothing to puzzle over in that exchange, she tried to tell herself. She needed to focus on the kiddie song they were trying to write anyway.)

“Well, I’m sorry,” Andre shrugged haplessly. “I’m a serious musician. I don’t know how to write a little kiddie song.”

“Why did we agree to do this?” Beck asked, finally looking up from his phone. He had quietly endured the bickering of the group for the last hour and was finally fed up.

“It’ll be fun!” Cat chirped immediately.

“Yeah,” Jade chuckled sarcastically. “It’s so fun to put on humiliating costumes and dance around like idiots for sticky, little three-year-olds.”

“Four-year-olds,” Tori corrected Jade. Jade threw a sharp glare at Tori, and Tori braced herself for a round of back-and-forths with Jade.

“Okay, let’s think,” Beck clapped, attempting to take control before the discussion could devolve into more bickering. “What do four-year-olds like?” He glanced at Tori, and Tori caught a small smirk on his face. Her reflected mirth slid away when she noticed Jade’s intense glare leveled on her.

“Um,” Cat hummed in thought, breaking up the little tense triangle of silent looks. “Cartoons?” she offered.

“Animals,” Andre suggested next.

“Being annoying,” Jade added, eyes never wavering from Tori. Tori held back a scoff rising to her throat. Jade perked an eyebrow as Tori huffed and bit her lower lip to prevent herself from saying any retorts that would just dig herself a deeper hole.

“Broken glass,” Robbie sang with a strum of his guitar.

Everyone glared at Robbie. He shrugged, a hopeful smile on his face.

Andre’s phone buzzed, and his face lit up when he saw the caller ID. “I gotta take this. Be back in a sec.”

Tori waited until he was far enough away that the discussion wouldn’t detract from Andre’s conversation before supplying her findings. “On Splashface, it says the top seven most popular kiddie songs are all about food.” She turned around her PearBook to show the remaining four.

“So, let’s write a song about food!” Cat chirped excitedly.

“Broken glass is not a food…” Robbie began to sing again.

“What is wrong with you?” Tori cut in loudly, eliciting a sharp look from Andre.

Robbie fell silent, and Jade chuckled. “I liked it,” she commented with a grin.

“Alright, great,” Andre said with a wide smile, walking back to the group. He hung up the phone and announced, “Remember last week, how I sent my demo to that music producer?”

The group all nodded in acknowledgment.

“That was him,” Andre continued excitedly. “He played my demo for his boss, and they might wanna sign me to their record label.”

“Shut up!” Tori squealed, hopping to her feet. She was the first to wrap Andre into a big hug. “That’s huge!”

“Congratulations, Andre!”

“Way to go, man!”

“Congrats, dude!”

“How exciting!”

“Thanks, guys!” Andre beamed. “He wants me to come up with another song!”

“But wait, we need to finish this one,” Cat said. “Will you be able to write two songs this week?”

“You guys were talking about food, right? Should be easy to knock this one out, and I’ll have plenty of time to come up with another one.”

“I’m hungry,” Jade announced snippily, punctuated with a final snip of her scissors. Her entire lap was covered in small white paper confetti, jagged and sharp and uneven.

“Yeah, let’s get some food,” Beck agreed. With a glance around the room, everyone began to gather their things and follow the couple out the door.

Over pizza at a late-night restaurant, the group managed to come up with (most of) a silly song about different kinds of foods, starting with pizza.

Later, as they spread out across the Vega living room, they finalized the lyrics and began to put together a catchy little melody.

The next day, the group rehearsed the song and some choreography for the performance after school. Cat promised to get them all costumes, despite everyone’s protests. But, they all grudgingly admitted that they couldn’t exactly perform to four-year-olds without putting in some effort to play into the silly. So, they let Cat get her way.

On Wednesday, the group changed into their costumes. As Sikowitz checked in with Tori for final preparations, Cat dragged Tori away, claiming that Jade couldn’t fit into her costume, specifically being vague about the issue. The two hurried away, leaving behind a very confused Sikowitz.

Upon entering the dressing room, Tori understood why.

Jade’s well-endowed assets, while a blessing on most days (Tori appreciated them in a purely platonic and aesthetic way, she swore to herself, even if her appreciation bordered on jealousy some days), was a hindrance at the moment. Whoever had designed the hamburger costume had clearly not accounted for accommodating larger-chested individuals.

With a lot of awkward manhandling and touching in a way that made Tori blush only because it was weird (they weren’t even friends!) to be helping Jade in such a way with so much physical contact in an oft-forbidden area, they finally managed to fit Jade into the costume.

Tori lingered a curious gaze on Cat, who seemed wholly unaffected by the whole ordeal.

Cat caught Tori’s gaze and explained lightly, “Nothing new to me. Seventh grade opened a lot of doors for us.”

“That’s enough of that, Cat,” Jade said, swiftly and effectively shutting down the discussion. “Get your cherry on top,” Jade gestured to the red satin ball Tori had set down on the table.

Tori nodded and tied the thin ribbon under her chin, balancing the foam “cherry” carefully atop her head. She nodded to herself, trying to get into the mindset of the performance. There would be plenty of time to ruminate on whatever Cat said later.

Sikowitz introduced them as “The Diddly-Bops,” and Tori watched Jade roll her eyes so hard, she was mildly concerned for a split second that Jade had pulled a muscle. Jade’s eyerolls were legendary and impressive, but Tori certainly didn’t want to see those (beautiful, mesmerizing) blue-greens forever stuck behind white.

Tori shook her head out of that line of thinking and followed Cat, dressed as a stalk of broccoli, out onto the stage.

The short song went over well, and the crowd of four-year-olds cheered and applauded. It wasn’t a standing ovation from a crowd of music appreciators, but Tori still felt a warm fuzzy feeling in her stomach seeing the sea of excited faces clapping for them.

They smiled as they declined an encore and shuffled off stage as quickly as cordially possible.

As soon as they were backstage again, Jade’s smile fell into a scowl, and she growled as she began to pull at the hamburger costume she was stuffed in. “Somebody get this off me!” When the boys started over, she loudly declared, “Not you!”

Even Beck was taken aback, but all three backed away, hands up in surrender.

Tori sighed but trailed behind Cat as they relocated Jade to the dressing room and began to work on freeing Jade of the foam costume.

All the while, Jade huffed and puffed and complained about the job.

“A thousand bucks,” Tori tried to remind her.

“Not enough,” Jade bit back.

Jade sucked in a deep, appreciative breath as soon as she was free.

Tori immediately turned to strip off her (luckily, felt and cloth) costume and change back into her street clothes. The three girls changed in silence.

The boys were waiting for them when they came out, and together, all six snuck out of the back entrance to the theater.

They went to Inside-Out Burger for a well-deserved celebratory dinner for surviving the humiliating experience.

As they ate, Tori watched as Jade seemed to chew with a vengeance. She wondered if it was a weird form of reclaiming power over hamburgers after the whole costume incident that night. She smiled slightly and looked away before Jade could catch her staring. And if she managed to glimpse Jade’s pale hand flashing over her plate out of the corner of her eye and a few fries missing from her plate when she turned to look more fully, Tori didn’t say anything, even as she saw Jade holding a bitten fry in her fingers and chewing with a self-satisfied smirk.

The next day, Jade loudly called for Tori’s attention as she rounded the corner. “Hey, Vega!”

Tori turned from her open locker to face Jade.

“Here’s your theater history book. Thanks,” Jade said, handing Tori a textbook approximately the size and thickness of her missing textbook (one she belatedly remembered she had loaned Jade last week so that Jade could study for the final). Only…

“Why is it all black now?” Tori asked, blinking slowly at the textbook she turned over in her hands, then looking up to blink slowly at Jade.

Jade shrugged as she popped a stick of gum in her mouth (an action that Tori was finding unnaturally… addicting, for lack of a better word). She casually replied, “I have black paint,” like that explained everything.

It did not.

“But…” Tori frowned, puzzled, “but why would you paint—”

Lane’s voice called Tori and Jade’s names across the hallway. “Hi,” he greeted the girls as he approached, a small toddler in tow.

“Hey,” Tori greeted the counselor back kindly.

“What,” Jade deadpanned, chewing on her gum loudly.

“This is my little nephew Devon,” Lane explained, patting the kid’s shoulder proudly.

“Hey, Devon,” Tori greeted the kid with a wide smile.

“What,” Jade repeated more forcefully.

“He loves the Diddly-Bops,” Lane explained, beaming, “and wanted to know if he could get your autographs.”

Tori glanced panickedly at Jade, who returned the look in equal measure. Tori turned back to Lane, seeing Jade frozen like a statue. “Uh, how does he know about the Diddly-Bops?” Tori asked.

“Oh, he saw you guys do your song, ‘Favorite Foods,’ on that website. You know, Videos For Kiddios?”

“What?” Jade repeated for the third time, this time with much more shock coloring her tone.

“We’re on that website?” Tori gestured between her and Jade.

Lane nodded. “Top of the homepage.”

“Wait,” Jade cut in, “someone recorded us?”

“Can I get your autographs?” the little kid, Devon, asked, holding out a small notebook and pen to the two girls.

“Sure,” Tori replied, a confused frown still set on her face. She grabbed the pen and notebook and scribbled a short note and signed her name before handing it over to Jade.

Lane bent down to address Devon. “She was the ice cream cone,” he pointed at Tori. “And she was the hamburger,” he pointed at Jade.

“Don’t talk about it,” Jade grumbled as she wrote her own note and signed her name.

“Yeah,” Tori agreed quietly, “seriously. Don’t.”

Jade snapped the notebook shut and handed it and the pen back to the kid with a scowl.

“I really appreciate this, guys,” Lane reiterated.

“No prob,” Tori replied as the kid opened up the notebook, a gleeful grin on his small face.

He gasped and pointed at Jade. “She wrote a bad word!” he declared.

“I write what I feel,” Jade gritted out, enunciating each word as she bent down to speak directly at his face level. Lane’s face paled as he snatched the notebook out of Devon’s hand and read Jade’s autograph.

He gave Jade a stern look and gently steered the kid away, saying, “Let’s go, Devon.” When the kid asked what the word meant, Tori caught Jade smirking as Lane quietly replied, “Just keep walkin’.”

“Way to scar a four-year-old,” Tori sighed, turning to fully face Jade.

“I learned worse words when I was his age,” Jade retorted, thrusting her chin at the receding figure of the kid. “I’m expanding his vocabulary,” she shrugged. “But more importantly, who the hell recorded us?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, Jade,” Tori replied, closing her locker up.

“Real helpful.” Jade rolled her eyes and stalked away to her locker.

Tori sighed and headed to her class early. Along the way, she sent a message to the shared group chat alerting them of the new development.

At lunch, Tori sat with Andre, watching a clip that had managed to get reposted from Videos For Kiddios to Splashface.

“Aw man,” Andre moaned, head between his hands. “I don’t wanna be on the internet lookin’ like a big blob of stupid spaghetti.”

Before Tori could respond, Trina’s voice broke into their conversation. “I thought we were sisters!” she demanded.

“Nah, I’m a dude,” Andre replied, a spark of snark in his voice, though it was mostly drowned out by misery.

“Not you,” Trina huffed and sat heavily at the table. She angled her body to face Tori completely. “You formed a musical group and didn’t ask me to be in it?”

“We didn’t even want to be in it,” Tori defended, gesturing between her and Andre.

“Then, why did you—”

Sinjin interrupted Trina’s question, informing Andre that a handsome man (Sinjin’s words) was looking to talk to him.

“He’s the music producer from the record label,” Andre explained when he spied who Sinjin was talking about. He got up and left the table to talk to the man.

“Music producer?” Trina perked up, already rising out to her feet.

“Down, girl.” Tori grabbed Trina’s wrist and tugged her back down to her seat.

Trina watched Andre like a hawk as he approached the man waiting in the parking lot.

“What do you think they’re talking about?” Trina prodded Tori, eyes never leaving the pair.

Andre looked agitated. Even from this distance, Tori could tell. Andre was always one to wear and emote largely and expressively, like Tori did.

Tori shrugged. “I don’t know, but I hope it’s good news?” She tried to stay hopeful, but Trina was rising out of her seat again. “Treen!”

Trina huffed and picked up her bag. “Fine, I won’t hound and stalk the music producer. Now, will you let go?” she asked irritably. Tori released her grip on her sister’s wrist, and she immediately bolted toward the producer and Andre.

Tori sighed, helpless but to watch on as the producer got into his car with fear etched into his face and sped away out of the parking lot. Trina threw her hands up as the car screeched around the corner and out of sight. She had only made it to the edge of the parking lot. (Officer Derrick had stopped her from going any further.)

Andre looked dejected as he returned to the table. The rest of the group (minus Cat) had already gathered by then.

“They looked me up online and don’t wanna sign me because ‘it’s not the image Michael wants.’” Andre bounced his fore- and middle fingers in air quotes as he used a mocking voice to imitate the producer.

“Who’s Michael?” Jade frowned.

“The producer’s boss,” Andre replied. “My life is over,” he moaned.

“Oh, come on, it’s not that bad,” Tori tried to reason with him, rubbing a sympathetic hand on his back in slow circles.

“I just lost the best shot I’ve ever had at signin’ with a major record label.”

“Which is bad,” Rex supplied, rather unhelpfully. Everyone glared at Rex. “Y’all can stare at me, but it’s still bad.” Everyone glared at Robbie next. Robbie shrugged and gestured helplessly at Rex.

Beck sighed—the first to shift focus back to Andre. “Dude, you know you’re an awesome songwriter and musician.”

“The best,” Tori added.

“There are other record labels,” Jade shrugged.

“Yeah, and they’re all gonna look me up on the internet,” Andre replied hotly, “and see me dressed up like a pile of noodles, singin’ a stupid kiddie song.”

“Well, maybe,” Robbie piped up next, “but that doesn’t mean that your life is over.”

“It kinda does,” Rex argued.

Jade wordlessly sat up and yanked Rex’s arm straight out of its socket. Rex let out a pained yell. Tori watched with morbid fascination, thinking to herself how horrible it would’ve been if Rex was a real person, then remembering that Rex was, at the end of the day, just a puppet.

“Give me his arm back!” Robbie demanded from Jade over Rex’s pained screams.

Jade tossed the limb into Rex’s lap with a sarcastic smile.

“Rude,” Rex growled.

“Yep,” Jade replied disinterestedly as she went back to scrolling on her phone.

“Hey guys!” Cat greeted the group excitedly as she bounded over toward their table. “Guess what?” She giggled but didn’t wait for anyone to actually answer. “I got us another gig!”

“What kind of gig?” Tori asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“The Diddly-Bops,” Cat shrugged. “I got us booked at the Green Meadow Mall, Friday, after school.”

Everyone gaped at her confusedly. Tori was the first to ask the question on all their minds. “Why?”

“‘Cause little kids love us,” Cat explained simply. “I thought… we all liked being the Diddly-Bops…” She trailed off, seeing the confusion and borderline irritation written on the group’s faces.

There was a chorus of disagreements, including an adamant declaration from Andre, “It ruined my life!”

Cat’s excited demeanor fell into a sad pout. “But they’re gonna pay us, and I promised we’d be there.”

Jade’s voice was stern, and her finger firm, as she pointed at Cat and declared, “We are never performing as the Diddly-Bops ever again.”

Cat’s pout turned into imminent waterworks.

“Why don’t you rip her arm off?” Rex asked Jade. Jade leveled an icy glare at the puppet and lurched forward. Rex flinched backward.

“I’ll be a Diddly-Bop,” Trina offered, appearing out of nowhere. Everyone looked at Trina with a mix of shock and irritation.

“Where did you even come from?” Jade asked.

“The bathroom,” Trina replied breezily. Turning to Cat, she continued, “Now, what’s this about being paid to perform and sing in front of an adoring audience?”

“You’ll be dressed as a hamburger,” Beck explained, lost as to why anyone would accept the job.

“Singing to four-year-olds,” Robbie added, a similarly confused look on his face.

“Don’t you have any respect for yourself?” Tori asked.

Trina didn’t dignify her sister’s question with a response. She looked at Cat (whose demeanor had perked up again significantly) and declared, “Take me to the hamburger.”

“Come on!” Cat squealed.

“I’m out of here,” Andre sighed, gathering his bag.

Tori began to chase after him, but Beck sighed and gently pushed Tori back into her seat. “Let him cool off.”

Tori turned back to the table, only to catch an icy glare from Jade. It was then that she noticed Beck’s hand was still on her shoulder. Tori shied away from the contact as discreetly as possible, and Beck seemed to get the hint after a moment. He awkwardly shoved his hand into his pocket and cleared his throat and took a conspicuously large gulp from his Jet Brew cup.

When Tori learned that Andre skipped both of his last classes of the day, Tori grew concerned. She looked all over campus for her friend, finally locating him on the bleachers of the gym. It was weird being in the gym, seeing as she didn’t have to sign up for Gym when she first joined the school. The gym looked barely used. Though, Tori supposed, knowing that Robbie and Andre had finally managed to transfer out of that awful Ballet class after their misguided attempts to woo a girl and ended up kicking each other in the nuts, there must have been some Gym class offered at Hollywood Arts.

“Hey,” Tori said softly, approaching Andre. He was seated on the floor, legs stretched straight out in front of him, back leaned up against the bottom-most row of the bleachers. He had a carton of chocolate milk in one hand and his keyboard spread across his lap. “What are you doing? You missed two classes.”

“I’m just sitting here,” Andre shrugged. His voice was flat and devoid of his usual cheeriness.

“What, pouting?” Tori tried to tease.

“No,” Andre defended, immediately crossing his arms across his chest and frowning.

Tori sighed and took a seat next to him. “Look, I know you’re upset, but you’re not making things better by ditching class and sitting here by yourself, drinking a gallon of chocolate milk. Where did you even get such a big jug?”

“Festus,” Andre grumbled, snatching back the jug that Tori had picked up to examine. “Do you understand that, for me, being taken seriously as a singer and a songwriter is everything?”

“People do take you seriously.”

“They did,” Andre corrected Tori, “until…” He played a familiar tune. “Ooh, yummy yummy. Ooh, yummy yummy. Ooh, yummy yummy,” he sang in an awful mockery of “Favorite Foods.”

Tori shrugged. “It’s catchy,” she insisted, desperate to find any positive spin on her friend’s situation.

“Catchy like a rash,” Andre bit back, taking a big gulp of chocolate milk.

“Okay, then,” Tori said. “If you don’t like your song, change it.”

“What do you mean, ‘change it’?”

“Y’know,” Tori shrugged, “change the lyrics. I’m sure in that wonderful brain of yours, you have some lyrics in a backlog somewhere.”

“Yeah, I mean, maybe.” Andre scratched his head.

“Come on,” Tori urged him.

Andre shrugged and played the chords for the chorus again. His face was drawn into a mask of concentration as he tried to listen to the notes a different way. He kept adjusting the tempo until he finally settled on a slower ballad-like speed.

“I don’t know what you’ve been used to,” he sang softly. “Never been with a girl like yo-ou. Give you a love that’s true to,” his voice dipped. “Your heart, na-na na-na-na-na,” his voice rose again. His face broke into a tentative grin, while Tori beamed wide.

“See? I knew you had it in you.” Tori playfully punched Andre’s shoulder. “Come on, hit me with more.”

Andre happily obliged.

They eventually relocated to Tori’s house. The words began to pour out more easily, the longer they worked on the song.

“I’ll give you my song, these words, to you,” Andre crooned. “Sing you what I feel, my soul, is true. I don’t have the world. Can’t give it to you, girl. But all that I can do, all that I can do, is give this song to you.”

Tori could feel her cheeks straining. “Amazing,” she breathed, leaning over the piano as Andre let the last notes fade. “I can’t believe you were able to turn ‘Favorite Foods’ into this song!”

Andre reflected her smile with one of his own. “Thanks, Tori,” he said softly.

“I didn’t do much,” Tori said dismissively. “But hey, consider it payback for helping me come up with ‘You’re the Reason’ for Trina. And defending me last Friday.”

Andre grinned and ducked his head. “No, seriously. Thank you, Tori.”

“You have to play this song for the record guy and his boss. I guarantee they’re gonna love it.”

Andre looked like he was about to say something, then quickly backpedaled. “I don’t have the time to record a proper demo.”

“You can do a live performance at school,” Tori suggested.

“They’re not gonna come,” Andre shook his head, waving his hand to dismiss Tori’s suggestion.

“Yeah, they will! I’ll beg them. I’m a really good beggar!” Tori insisted. “Okay?”

Andre chuckled and rose to his feet. He shook his head, watching a flustered and wound-up Tori round the piano. “Dude,” he started to say.

“Listen!” Tori grabbed Andre by the lapels of his flannel button down, leveling a very serious and very determined gaze on Andre’s face. “If I get ‘em to come, will you just sing your stupid song that isn’t stupid anymore?” she rushed out in a single breath.

Andre pursed his lips, considering Tori’s offer. “Will you sing backup for me?”

Tori didn’t hesitate to answer emphatically, “Yeah, I will!”

Andre finally caved and nodded. “Alright, I’ll do it.”

Tori squealed and wrapped Andre in a bear hug again. Andre chuckled into her shoulder.

There was a yelp and the sound of a person tumbling down the stairs. Andre and Tori broke apart to see Trina sprawled at the foot of the stairs, the hamburger costume pinning her down to the floor.

“How did Jade fit her boobs into this costume?” she asked.

Andre glanced at Tori and raised his hands in surrender. “I’m not getting involved. And I should head home anyway.” He grabbed his bag and headed to the door. Right before he was about to leave, he paused to turn around and repeat one last time, “Thanks, Tori. For believing in me and staying by my side.”

“Of course, Andre,” Tori smiled. “Get home safe, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you. And good luck with…” he gestured at Trina still struggling to get to her feet, “that.”

Tori grimaced and waved. After the door shut behind Andre, Tori turned to her sister with a huff and her fists planted on her hips.

The things she did for Trina.

Later that night, Andre sent Tori a text saying the music producer agreed to stop by after school the next day, along with his boss.

The next day, after school, Andre and Tori took up their positions at the rooftop stage overlooking the Asphalt Cafe. A few of Andre’s musician friends were waiting already, having received Andre’s rough arrangement the night before. Robbie, Jade, and Beck had done their part to draw a sizable crowd to watch the performance. Even Lane had joined, after dropping his little nephew Devon off at the Green Meadow Mall for the Diddly-Bops performance. He did look a little confused why five of the members were still at school and not in costume at the mall, but he didn’t really question it.

A familiar red SUV pulled up to the parking lot, and Tori spotted the music producer from earlier that week step out, alongside a stern-looking man on the phone.

She nudged Andre and nodded at the newcomers.

Andre cleared his throat and announced into the microphone, “This is called ‘Song 2 You.’” He glanced around the stage and received affirmative nods. He strummed the beginning chords of the song on his guitar and began to sing. “I don’t wear, designer clothes. I don’t go to the finest schools. But I know…”

Tori’s voice harmonized with Andre’s as they sang the next line, “I ain’t no fo-ool, baby.”

They swung into the chorus not long after as the bass and drums kicked in behind them.

As they sang, Tori briefly spotted a van swerving into the parking lot, and several figures tumbled out of the vehicle, in varying states of distress. Trina, Sinjin, Cat, Sikowitz, and two other classmates Tori didn’t recognize staggered to their feet. Their costumes were shredded and destroyed, with the stuffing poking out in several places. But they all looked up in admiration and were soon bobbing and swaying their bodies to the song.

“But all that I can do,” they sang together, “all that I can do, is give this song to you.” Andre sustained the last note, opting to leave it low as the melody faded out around them.

The crowd erupted into cheers, and Tori spied the two record people looking impressed as they clapped.

Andre updated the group later that evening, explaining that they wanted to buy the song off of him. He had managed to negotiate a contract with the record and get in writing that he would get credited for the songwriting, and he would be brought on as an associate music producer. But they already had an artist in mind to sing the song. Andre had accepted what he was offered, knowing that it was the most he could negotiate as a sixteen-year-old.

Everyone congratulated him, and they promised to have a celebratory lunch and hangout the next day.

Jade’s POV

Jade was pretty satisfied with her progress. With the Diddly-Bops commitments out of the way, Jade finally had time to sit down and continue writing the story she had begun the week before.

She also had time to practice for her audition Monday morning for the lead in the next school production, Uptown Downtown. She knew that Beck was going to be the perfect choice for the main lead, and naturally, Jade was going to be the female lead. Besides, Andre wrote the music for the production last semester and was just waiting for the school to finally put the play into production.

She hadn’t anticipated Tori also trying out for the lead role.

This was going to complicate things. The complications being the weird tug Tori seemed to have on Jade. This inexplicable desire to rise up and crush Tori, even though the peppy girl seemed to always bounce back with bright smiles and optimism any time Jade tried to push her down. She had tried to ignore the girl and distance herself as much as possible without completely isolating herself, but there was only so much Jade could do. They hung around the same group of friends, after all. And occasionally, Tori’s company wasn’t… awful.

But Jade couldn’t deny Tori’s talent for singing, even if her acting left much to be desired.

And the production was a musical, relying heavily on a crucial song-and-dance number at the climax that Tori’s range seemed to fit much better than Jade’s.

Jade sulked for a day before she settled for the role she was given: the main female character’s best friend and confidante. Jade would’ve laughed at the irony, but she decided to instead ignore it, seeing it as an opportunity to, not only bide her time but also, observe Tori and see if she really did have any intentions to steal Beck from her.

Tori’s growing confidence of late was… concerning.

Chapter Text

Tori’s POV

On Wednesday, during a break in rehearsal, Jade stood up and loudly announced, “Guys, guys, everyone shut up a second.”

“Whatcha got?” Beck nodded to Jade, approaching alongside Tori as the students crowded around Jade, staring intently at her phone.

“An email from Principal Eikner.”

“That says?” Tori prompted Jade.

Jade threw Tori a long-suffering stare before turning back to her phone to read off the email. “To all students involved in our school’s production of Uptown Downtown, Sofia Michelle will be in Los Angeles this weekend and will be personally attending your opening-night performance.”

There were excited murmurs rising amongst the students.

“Oh my god,” the teacher overseeing the production smiled. The smile quickly faded as his face paled, and he clutched his stomach. He sped out of the theater.

“Who’s Sofia Michelle?” Tori asked.

Jade glanced at Tori for a long moment before groaning, “Oh, no, no, no…” She grabbed Beck’s hand and tugged him over to sit down with her in some empty chairs.

“What?” Tori spread her hands.

Jade sighed heavily, pressing the corner of her phone deep into her forehead as she loudly lamented, “She gets to be the lead, and she doesn’t even know who Sofia Michelle is.”

The crowd of students gave a mixture of shocked and disbelieving stares at Tori.

“Look at the cover of your script,” Robbie suggested.

“Oh! Sofia Michelle wrote the play we’re doing.”

“Oh!” Jade mocked Tori, staring determinedly at her phone as Beck massaged her shoulders in an effort to get her to back down a little.

Tori glared at Jade, even though Jade never received it, or bothered to glance up to meet Tori in the eye.

“She’s a big playwright on Broadway,” Robbie explained further. There were a few supporting murmurs from their fellow cast mates.

Right then, the teacher burst back into the room, guzzling half of a water bottle in three gulps. “Alright, you guys,” he panted, still looking rather pale and sweaty. “We knew we had to be great. Now, we have to be perfect. We are not gonna disappoint Sofia Michelle.”

“Are you sure you want Robbie in this play?” Rex blurted out.

“I’m good,” Robbie insisted.

Rex quipped back, “At what?”

The teacher paled impossibly more at this exchange and mumbled something about another nerve pill before swiftly making his exit again.

The other teacher helping oversee the production shook her head at the departure and sighed. “Alright, everyone, we’ll run through the scene one more time and call it a day. Sinjin, lights reset?”

Sinjin shouted back an affirmative and flashed a thumbs-up from the catwalk.

“Places!” she shouted, amongst other instructions. Once everyone was settled again, she called, “Action!”

After rehearsal, Tori searched for Cat after receiving her text that she was still stuck in class. Tori rubbed her stomach after it gave a pitiful rumble. Rehearsal was long and brutal, and she hadn’t had breakfast that morning. She needed food, and soon, or she knew she would start getting hangry.

“Cat?” Tori called as she entered the makeup classroom. There was a row of vanities set up like the makeup and dressing room in the backstage of the theater. “Cat?” Tori tapped the shoulder of a nearby student, asking, “Hey, have you seen Cat?”

The guy turned around, and Tori nearly jumped out of her skin. She vaguely registered that she had let out a blood-curdling scream.

“It’s just special effects makeup,” the guy shrugged, like his face wasn't covered in severe burns, looking like someone had tried to deep-fry his entire head.

“Oh,” Tori replied shakily, “well, that is… special.” She grimaced and nodded. “And I have been affected.” She quickly sidestepped the student and continued her search. She found her redheaded friend stationed in front of another student. “Yo, Cat.”

“Oh, hey, Tori,” Cat greeted brightly.

“We doing lunch?” Tori asked.

“Uh, yeah,” Cat replied, returning her focus to her model seated on the chair in front of her. “Just a sec…” She lightly swiped a thin brush across one of the cheeks as she explained, “I’m almost done with my assignment.”

“Ooh, what’s the assignment?” Tori asked. She had always been curious to see this side of the backend of production.

“To transform a human face into a terrifying monster,” Cat recited proudly. She glanced over the model’s shoulder and asked excitedly, “Wanna see?”

Tori grinned, setting down the cotton swab she had picked up to fidget with. “Terrify me.”

Cat turned the model around in the chair, gauging Tori’s reaction.

It was definitely special, alright. And it had some kind of effect on Tori. The main one being… confusion.

“Isn’t he scary?” Cat prompted.

“No,” Tori said slowly. “He’s kind of adorable.” The model’s face was covered in yellow, with bushy eyebrows, a pink nose, and equally pink eyeshadow all around his eyes. Overall, he looked like a fantastical humanoid cat. Which was… kind of fitting, Tori supposed.

“Aw man!” the model exclaimed, leaning to the side to observe his reflection in the mirror. “You made me cute!” He hopped off the chair and to his feet. “You’re the worst!” he rounded on Cat.

“Well,” Cat blustered, trying to calm him down, “let me try again after school!”

But the model wasn’t having it. He vehemently refused. “I’m done with you.”

“No, but wait! You can’t just—”

“Done with you!” he repeated before swiftly exiting the room.

“Oh,” Cat pouted and stomped. “That’s the third model who’s quit on me.” She threw her brush down onto the vanity counter. “I’m gonna get an F—in makeup!”

“Aww, that bites,” Tori deadpanned, no sympathy in her voice. “Let’s go get an A in food," she suggested instead. She grabbed Cat’s wrist and tugged to get them both well on their way to food. Her stomach was starting to grumble, more adamantly now.

“Wait!” Cat gasped. Tori turned around to catch Cat’s expression. The one that now carefully regarded Tori with renewed determination.

“No…” Tori said, hoping to preemptively cut off whatever Cat was scheming (which she was pretty sure involved her sitting in place of the model who just quit).

“I just need—”

“I am not gonna be your monster makeup model!” Tori protested.

“But if I don’t transform someone’s face into a hideous monster by Monday, I’m gonna fail this class!” Cat exclaimed.

“And if I don’t cram a turkey sandwich down my throat, I’m gonna fail not starving to death!” Tori countered. Tori turned to leave. She was going to go get lunch, with or without Cat.

“Come on!” Cat pleaded, running to block Tori’s path. “We can do it tonight, tomorrow night, whenever you want!”

“I’m in a huge play,” Tori explained. “I have to learn all my lines and five songs.”

“Tori,” Cat pouted.

“Cat,” Tori retorted with equal exasperation.

Cat continued to plead as Tori continued to decline (well, more like, refuse).

Until Tori’s stomach gave the loudest grumble yet, and she finally caved. “Okay, fine, I’ll do it!”

“Yay!” Pure joy spread over Cat’s face.

“But you’re buying my lunch,” Tori amended.

“Oh,” Cat’s face fell a little.

Tori grabbed Cat’s wrist again and tugged them towards the door. “Let’s go.”

Cat allowed herself to be dragged out to the Asphalt Cafe.

After school the next day, Andre came over to help Tori practice her songs. He made her sing several of them in different styles.

“Nice, now sing it like an old jazz singer,” he instructed Tori.

Tori furrowed her eyes in confusion. “Why?”

“To amuse me,” he shrugged.

Tori grinned and cleared her throat. In the raspiest voice she could muster, she repeated the song, “Suddenly, my choice is clear.”

“Clear,” Andre demonstrated.

Tori laughed. “I can’t do it like you can.”

“Come on, try, one more time.” He demonstrated again, "Clear."

“Clear,” Tori attempted, the lowest register she could reach.

Andre chuckled lightly. “Now, I’m amused.” He set aside his keyboard, and Tori checked the time on her phone.

“Hey, it’s almost 8. Are you getting hungry?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he patted his stomach thoughtfully. “Want me to go pick up a pizza?”

“Yeah, sure!” Tori agreed brightly. “Let’s get a large pepperoni, with pineapples, olives, and sausage.”

Andre nodded and inputted the order into the online system for Omar’s.

The doorbell rang, and Tori was already on her feet as she called out, “Coming!”

She opened the door to Cat, who was posing in the doorway. With a bounce of her eyebrows, Cat trilled, “Makeup time!”

Tori tried to hide her nervousness as she greeted, “Hey, Cat.” She stepped aside to let Cat in. Cat lugged a large suitcase behind her.

“Where should I set up?”

“Kitchen table,” Tori gestured, closing the door.

Cat nodded brightly and crossed the living room. In passing, she greeted, “Hey, Andre!”

“Sup, Little Red,” Andre replied distractedly.

Cat giggled. “I like that!”

Andre looked up and smiled. He then turned to Tori and said, “Order’s been placed.”

Tori thanked Andre and addressed Cat, “Can we just get this whole monster makeup thing over with?” She willed herself to stop picking at her nails.

“Sure,” Cat agreed readily. “Let’s get started. Can Andre be my assistant?” she asked as she began to unpack her suitcase full of supplies.

“You can ask him,” Tori shrugged.

“Hey, Andre—”

“Pizza’s ready, gotta go!” Andre announced loudly moments before the door swung shut behind him.

“Oh.” Cat’s expression fell a little.

“I’m sure he’ll be back soon,” Tori said gently. “I hope,” she added, rubbing her own stomach. “I’m hungry…”

“I’ll try to be quick,” Cat winked, seating Tori down at the table.

Andre did indeed return later with the pizza, with exactly half of it already consumed.

“I got hungry,” was all the explanation he offered, with a half-hearted shrug.

Tori tried to give him a deadpan glare, but with the foundation of the monster makeup already on her face, it was hard to emote anything.

Andre chuckled and wished the girls luck on their endeavor before leaving again.

Tori sighed and resigned herself to her fate, looking longingly at the pizza awaiting her after the makeup was done.

Cat excitedly returned with a mirror and asked, “Ready?”

Tori nodded. “Yep, show me, me.”

Cat presented the mirror to Tori, and Tori gasped, marveling at the detail. “Wow, look at me,” she breathed in awe. “I’m hideous!”

“You really think so?” Cat asked, bursting with pride.

“Yeah,” Tori replied, standing up. “I totally look like a zombie.”

“Yay,” Cat cheered softly with a smile, “I’m not a failure!”

“Oh, hey, let’s go scare my sister,” Tori suggested with what she hoped looked like a devious grin. With all the makeup on, though, it was hard to know if her expressions were even distinguishable. Oh well, Tori reasoned. It was all going to come off soon anyway.

Cat readily agreed, and they got into position. Tori hid out of sight from the stairs, at the entry of the hallway that led to the first-floor guest bedroom.

“Trina!” she called up the stairs. “Come see something!”

“Is it for me?” came the distant reply.

“Yeah, sure,” Tori replied quickly.

Trina soon came bounding down the stairs. Frowning, she glanced around and asked Cat (the only one in sight), “Where’s Tori?” She gasped. “Did my online order arrive?”

Tori chose that moment to jump out and growl menacingly.

Trina turned to face Tori slowly, her face painted with unamusement.

Tori dropped her arms and rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on. How could you not be scared by this?”

“I’ve seen our grandmother naked,” Trina deadpanned. “Nothing scares me anymore.”

“Come on, Tori, I need to get pics of your face!” Cat quickly beckoned for Tori to come back to the kitchen.

“Oh, okay!”

Trina followed Tori into the kitchen to grab herself a glass of apple juice.

“Over here, into the light,” Cat instructed as she began to snap pictures.

Tori posed several times, most being simple stares into the lens, and a few silly ones for good measure.

“Uh,” Trina said from the kitchen table. She was holding up a bottle with a concerned look on her face. “What is this for?”

“Oh, that’s glue,” Cat replied easily.

“Yeah,” Trina nodded. “But why is it with your makeup supplies?”

“What’s the problem?” Tori chimed in.

“This is Grizzly Glue,” Trina explained. “It’s, like, an industrial cement.”

“Huh?” Tori must have heard wrong. She had to have heard wrong. Trina did not just say—

“Cat…” Trina said slowly. “Tell me you didn’t use this on Tori’s face.”

“Oh no…” Cat glanced between the two sisters. “I’m sorry! I ran out of Dermaglue, and I asked my brother to get me some glue, and he must have grabbed that out of my dad’s toolbox!”

Tori grabbed the bottle out of Trina’s hand and read the label. “For industrial use only… Caution: avoid contact with skin…”

“Are you serious?” Trina shrieked.

“Will it come off?” Tori panicked.

Both sisters’ panic was spiking through the roof.

“Here, let’s try to get it off,” Cat murmured, grabbing some long cotton swabs and sculpting tools. Trina did the same.

The two poked and prodded at the thick makeup, and while some came off, the majority was still stuck to Tori’s face.

“Ow, ow, ow!” she exclaimed, waving away both pairs of hands.

“This is not gonna work,” Trina sighed.

“You guys, I’m playing the lead in a big musical tomorrow night, and my character is supposed to be beautiful!”

“Well,” Trina replied, “you do not look beautiful.”

“No, chiz, Catherine Obvious,” Tori bit back bitterly.

“Can’t you postpone the play?” Cat asked.

“No,” Tori sighed. “Sofia Michelle is coming to see it.”

“Oh, that's exciting!” Cat applauded.

“No, it’s not!” Tori retorted hotly. “Because I look like a rotting zombie!”

“Oh, right.” Cat grimaced and took a big step behind Trina, cowering behind the older girl like she was a human shield.

“Well, what the hell are you going to do?” Trina threw her hands up in exasperation, wondering how exactly she got roped into her sister’s mess.

“Well, I’m going to try and wash it off in the bathroom.” Tori sped to the bathroom, irritated beyond belief.

Cat and Trina glanced at each other and decided to split up the calls.

Trina called the family physician, Dr. Doty, while Cat called the customer service line for Grizzly Industries printed on the bottom of the label.

Tori returned a little while later to find Cat pacing the living room and Trina stretched across one of the half-couches.

"Who are you on the phone with?" Tori asked Trina first. Trina held up an impatient finger.

"Dr. Doty, shh!" Trina shushed her sister loudly.

Tori turned to Cat next. "And who are you on the phone with?"

"The glue company," Cat replied, similarly holding up a hand to silence Tori. "Shh!"

“Okay,” Trina nodded and ended her call first.

“Well? Can he get the glue off my skin?” Tori asked impatiently.

“No,” Trina reported with a slow, sad shake of her head.

“You do?” Cat asked excitedly into the phone. Tori sprang to her feet. “Uh-huh, okay. And where can I buy some? Uh-huh. Uh-huh, okay. Uh-huh. Okay, and what are the hours?” Cat nodded, “Uh-huh. Okay. Thank you so much, Gail. Mhm, bye!”

“Well?” Tori asked expectantly again.

“They make a solvent that’s safe for skin,” Cat reported happily. “But it’s not sold in stores. You can only get it at Grizzly Industries.”

“Well, where’s that?”

“Bakersfield.”

“Bakersfield?!” Tori repeated.

“Relax,” Trina said, settling a hand on Tori’s shoulder. “That’s only like two hours from here. I can drive you there tomorrow.”

“When?” Tori asked exasperatedly. “I have school until 3, and then I have final rehearsal, and then, I have to do the play!” she listed off her fingers.

“Calm down,” Cat reassured Tori. “After school tomorrow, I’ll go with Trina to Bakersfield, pick up the solvent, drive back, and get the makeup off your face before the play starts.”

“Okay, okay, that sounds like a plan,” Tori nodded, finally starting to breathe normally again.

The doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it,” Cat offered, when Tori let out a tired groan.

Two Sunshine girls were at the door, taking a deep breath to recite their spiel when they laid eyes on Tori peering at them around Cat. They screamed at the top of their lungs and ran away.

“Wait!” Tori cried out. “Aw, dang it, I wanted cookies…”

Tori couldn’t wait until she got her hands on that solvent.

During the final rehearsal, the teacher called for a break after the cast performed the final dance number again.

He pulled Tori aside.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Tori asked as casually as she could manage.

“Your face,” he deadpanned. “It’s still hideous.”

“I know, but my sister and Cat are already on their way back here from Bakersfield with the solvent.”

“You’re sure?” he asked, anxiety writhing in every word and expression.

“Totally, yes,” Tori nodded as confidently as she could muster.

“Alright,” he acquiesced nervously. He walked away to give final notes to some of the other actors.

Tori waited until he was out of earshot to whip out her phone and call Trina.

“C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon," Tori muttered under her breath each time the line simply rang.

Finally, Cat picked up. "Hi, this is Trina's phone!" she chirped happily.

"Please tell me you're on your way back with the solvent?" Tori asked pleadingly. Her voice was strained and tired.

"Um, I'm not quite su—oh, here." The sound quality suddenly changed, and Cat sounded more distant. "Tori, you're on speaker. Trina is also in the car," Cat dutifully reported.

"Hey, sis!" Trina greeted Tori brightly over the phone.

"Where are you guys?" Tori asked quickly. Her unoccupied fingers were trembling and grasping at the hem of her shirt, near the opposite hip. Her forearm was pressed against her stomach in a desperate attempt at a half-self-hug. She was practically hunched over into herself. She could feel eyes on her from behind, and she glanced around behind her before her eyes met Jade's. Jade quickly turned around. Tori frowned a little, but she was fairly confident the thick makeup hid the expression well.

"... And we'll be there before the curtain rises!" Trina was saying.

"Wait," Tori cut in, shaking her head. "Did you say you're not at the factory yet?"

"No," Trina denied tiredly. "We just left the factory. Cat's got the solvent in her lap right now."

"Yep!" Cat affirmed with a dull tapping sound like a full aluminum canister of lighter fluid.

"So, you'll be back before the curtain rises? You're sure?"

"Yes," Trina assured her over the phone. "As long as we don't run into traffic or cops or something…"

"Trina, you are going kind of fast," Cat murmured.

"Treen," Tori pinched the bridge of her nose as best as she could approximate, "please don't get another speeding ticket. You know Dad is gonna ground you again."

"Would you relax?" Trina huffed. "I'll be there—ahem, we'll be there—in like an hour and a half," Trina snapped impatiently.

"Good. Drive safe. Please?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Kay kay, bye, Tori!"

Tori sighed and hung up the phone.

"I could play Penny," Tori heard Jade telling the teacher.

"We don't have anyone to play your character," the teacher countered.

Jade rolled her eyes and muttered, "I knew we should've casted understudies." In a louder voice, she snippily added, "We're indoors. Lose the scarf." And she stormed away, leaving a flabbergasted adult man looking self-conscious and queasy in the wake of her insult.

"They're 90 minutes out," Tori informed the teacher, and his nerves looked marginally relaxed at the news.

He nodded and sped away, probably in search of another water bottle.

Tori couldn't help but grow increasingly nervous, especially as she changed into her costume. Jade kept throwing her glances. Not quite glares, because Tori wasn't quite sure what to make of the veiled emotion hidden behind the look. Something about how Jade's eyes, while narrowed, weren't framed by downward pointing eyebrows. In fact, the eyebrows seemed to slant upwards slightly. But her brow was furrowed all the same. Or maybe the fact that the corner of Jade's mouth sometimes twitched downward in a frown, for just a fraction of a second, before her lips returned to a tightly-pressed line.

In any case, Tori couldn't quite recognize whatever was going on with Jade's face, and the confusion was not as helpful of a distraction from the anxiety brewing in her stomach as she had hoped.

Ever since Moonlight Magic, this was the first time Tori had auditioned for a lead role, and she had actually gotten it this time. And for things to go so disastrously bad for her on opening night? For a production that the playwright herself was going to attend?

"Sofia Michelle is here!" Robbie excitedly whispered, flanked by Beck, who confirmed the sentiment. Beck pressed a kiss to Jade's lips, whispering good luck, and Jade returned the actions eagerly, wrapping a hand around his neck.

Tori glanced away, fidgeting nervously, now with the hem of her bright red blazer.

Robbie came up to Tori's side and reminded Tori, "You have a few minutes of buffer before Penny enters the stage for the first time. I'm sure they'll get here in time."

"Well, Trina isn't exactly known for her punctuality," Tori scoffed. "But… thanks, Robbie. Break a leg out there."

"You too," he nodded, smiling.

First places were called, and Beck and Robbie took their positions.

Tori's phone vibrated in her hand, and she could've cried with relief seeing Trina's name as the caller ID on the screen.

"We're at the back door to the theater!" Cat said as soon as Tori picked up.

"On my way," Tori replied, immediately heading for the door to let them in.

They seated her on a makeup chair and scrubbed the thick makeup off, working as rapidly as possible.

Tori heard Robbie begin to adlib lines in an effort to stall, since the next line was Penny's entrance.

"It's off, you're free! Go, go!" Trina declared.

Tori grasped her prop suitcase and wheeled it behind her, pausing only for a moment in the wings, just out of sight from the audience, to collect herself with a deep breath. She nodded a little to herself and strode on stage.

"Whoa, whoa," Robbie's rich companion said, cutting off Robbie's improvised angry spiel telling off the bellhop (played by Beck). "Look at that girl," he said, just as Tori approached the couches of the "hotel lobby."

"She's gorgeous," Robbie said not very softly or subtly.

"She's beautiful," Beck murmured in awe.

No longer protected by thick layers of makeup, Tori couldn't hide the small blush that crept up to her cheeks after hearing those words.

Even if Tori didn't see either of the boys like that, it still felt very nice to hear. Especially now that she no longer looked like a hideous zombie.

The rest of the play went without a hitch.

In the last dance number, Tori was really into character, and even glanced down at Beck's lips momentarily as they froze in the last pose.

When Tori's eyes flicked back upward, she could see Beck's eyes looked a little dark, his pupils slightly dilated. If it weren't for the spotlight shining down on them, Tori may not have even noticed, but as it was, it was hard not to see everything in excruciating detail.

The curtains fell closed, and the cast dispersed, finally free of the pose. Even behind the curtains, the applause continued to thunder for a few moments longer before the theater was filled with the sounds of chairs being rearranged, and people shuffling towards the exit.

"You did amazing, babe." Jade seemed to appear out of nowhere, and she pulled Beck into a deep and passionate kiss. Tori again glanced away awkwardly before opting to just make a beeline for the dressing room.

Jade joined her soon after, alongside the other girls of the cast.

They didn't speak. Not until Tori had pulled down her t-shirt to her waist and began putting her hair up into a messy bun.

"You look less awful," Jade remarked before brushing past Tori and exiting the small room.

Tori scoffed belatedly, indignant, if it weren't for the blush tinging her cheeks that betrayed what she really thought of Jade's comment. God, she really, really wanted to hate the comment. But she didn't.

Tori joined the rest of the cast, now changed into their street clothes, gathered around Sofia Michelle at her request.

"It's an honor to meet you, Miss Michelle," Tori greeted the playwright with an extended hand.

The playwright shook it, nodding. "I'm impressed that this production came out of a high school cast. In particular, your portrayal of Penny was very good."

"R-really?" Tori squeaked. She suddenly felt like all the air in her chest was being squeezed out of her chest.

"Really," Sofia repeated. "In fact, all of you did a good job."

The teacher burst out of nowhere from the sidelines, pushing through the crowd of teenagers to shake the playwright's hand emphatically. He introduced himself and thanked her over and over for the high praise.

"I never said it was up to Broadway standard. But it was impressive for a high school," she coldly amended. The teacher dropped the handshake instantly. His face paled again, and he gaped wordlessly.

"Thank you for the high praise anyway. Feedback from a respected member of the community like yourself is always appreciated. And thank you for personally attending opening night," Jade quickly jumped in, a polite smile on her face, though Tori, across the crowd of students, could tell that the smile didn't reach those stormy blue-green eyes.

The teacher clenched his round gut once more and squeaked some excuse before rushing out of the theater.

"Well, I'm off. Good job, kids," Sofia said stiffly before striding out of the theater herself.

Beck rewarded Jade with a kiss pressed to her temple and strong arms wrapped around her. Jade smiled into the contact, a lazy one that spread through all her features. Tori glimpsed for a second how relaxed Jade looked before she opened her eyes and leveled an icy glare at Tori.

"What," she barked. "Stop staring like a creep, Vega."

Tori shook her head. "Deny it all you want, West, but I know you have a soul somewhere deep inside there." Tori smirked at Jade's deepening scowl. Because Tori was beginning to notice that there were a few different scowls Jade wore, just like there were a few different smiles Jade sometimes wore. And this one was the one she would hastily put on as a self-defense mechanism. For some reason, this scowl gave Tori the greatest satisfaction. Perhaps because seeing this scowl told Tori that she had successfully gotten under Jade's skin.

"How dare you," Jade growled before Beck tugged Jade back into an embrace from behind.

"Let's all head over to the cast party, eh?" Beck suggested in an effort to break the tension.

The group of students chorused in excitement, all but Tori and Jade who were locked in an intense staring match.

Jade's POV

Beck gently eased Jade away, keeping her at arm's length.

"What?" she growled, frustrated and worked up.

He was in the mood to talk, Jade could already tell. He wanted to talk. Not make out passionately like the horny teenagers they were supposed to be. No, he wanted to be mature about it all and actually communicate feelings that were better left unspoken, in Jade's opinion. But talking about feelings was what led to the arguments that plagued Jade's middle school years. So, no, Jade didn't often (ever) want to talk about feelings.

But Beck did. Constantly.

Sometimes it made Jade feel better, but most times, like now, Jade just grew more frustrated and annoyed.

Because some of these feelings couldn't be put into words easily. Jade didn't know how to feel about these feelings. All she knew was that she wanted them to go away. She wanted things to go back to the perfect equilibrium she existed in before Tori Vega stepped into Hollywood Arts—hell, before she ever stepped foot on that stage at the Big Showcase. Back when things were simpler. When things all had a place. Just the five of them against the world and Beck by her side.

Jade sighed heavily and retreated backward a few steps. She crossed her arms. She saw Beck sag a little, because they both knew what that meant.

Jade was cutting off all access, denying any and all entrance into herself emotionally and physically. At least until Beck finally explained what exactly he wanted to talk about. Then, and only then, would Jade reconsider opening up again.

"What's with the hot and cold lately?" Beck asked with a tired shrug. "Is it because I'm playing opposite Tori in the lead couple?"

"No," Jade replied easily, dropping her gaze to uninterestedly study her chipped fingernails.

"Then?"

"Nothing. Just the stress of Sofia Michelle coming to see opening night."

"You said so yourself, that we all did amazing."

"I said you were amazing. I never said anything about… anyone else." She was so close to slipping up. She hoped Beck didn't catch her momentary hesitation. Before Beck could reply, she quickly added, "Just like I knew you would be."

Beck sighed and leaned against the wall. "So you're really not gonna talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about," Jade shrugged nonchalantly. She finally folded her arm back across her chest. "Now, can I continue kissing my boyfriend?"

Beck cracked a grin. "Yes. Yes, you may."

Jade rolled her eyes and uncrossed her arms, closing the distance between them with a few long strides. "Dork," she mumbled adoringly before locking lips with him again.

She wasn't ready to talk about any of it yet. So he needed to suck it up until she was. Even if that was never.

Chapter Text

Jade's POV

Uptown Downtown finally finished production on Monday night, much to Jade's relief. She wasn't sure how many more times she could stand Tori and Beck freeze framing staring at each other at the end of the final dance number. As much as Beck assured Jade that it was just a role and that the two of them were professional actors, Jade couldn't help but feel her stomach pinch with discomfort each time. Especially after seeing Tori's gaze dip to Beck's lips on opening night.

Jade kept such a vigilant watch on Tori that she was blindsided when the first Slap post tagged her and Beck to a top trending Buzzfinger article:

Hollywood beauty Alyssa Vaughn spotted with a new beau, a local student at Hollywood Arts.

Beck was pictured riding next to Alyssa Vaughn, laughing easily and freely, unlike the tense expressions he seemed to wear around Jade for the past couple days.

When Jade confronted Beck about this, he tried to dismiss the implications away and walked off. Jade threw a rock at his general vicinity (which, to her surprise, sailed rather close to his head. She hadn't expected that. Her aim was usually terrible, but maybe her aim improved when she had vengeance fueling her arm), and he ducked to narrowly avoid getting a concussion before first period. He spun around, raising his arms questioningly.

Jade shrugged, and she knew Beck knew how terrible her aim usually was. That didn't detract from his irritation at her strong reaction. Jade's arms were crossed again, and Beck noticed the pose with a sigh.

Beck shook his head and continued walking away. The bell rang, preventing Jade from chasing after her boyfriend. The next chance she got to hound him was lunch.

"Hey, we're not done talking about this!" she yelled after him. They were coming down the stairs from the upper west wing of the main building.

"I am," Beck maintained coolly, not bothering to turn around as he strolled to his locker.

"Well, I'm not," Jade insisted.

Beck turned around to face Jade, only a few paces away from his locker.

"Listen," he sighed. "Alyssa Vaughn is just a friend."

"A 'friend' who has already sent you six text messages today," Jade pointed out. Beck's phone chimed an incoming text just then. "Seven," Jade amended through gritted teeth.

"You don't know that's her," Beck scoffed nervously.

"Is it?" Jade bit out.

Beck glanced at the text, and grimaced. "What's your favorite tropical fruit?"

"The mango," Jade huffed. "And I don't like your new little relationship with Alyssa Vaughn."

"It's a text message," Beck countered, holding up his phone for emphasis.

"And what does it say?" Jade continued icily. "Maybe," in a high-pitched imitation of a dolled-up airhead celebrity, Jade mocked, "'Hi, Beck, my daddy just got richer, and I got prettier. Let's make out!'"

Beck closed his locker, which he had just opened, and slowly turned around to face Jade. "Okay, let me see if I understand you."

"Let's see if you do," Jade agreed curtly.

"Because you and I date," he started, "I can't be friends with other girls?"

"You can be friends with ugly girls," Jade suggested. "But not girls who are gorgeous socialites who text message you a hundred times a day!"

"Y'know, you—" Beck glanced past Jade's shoulder, and his eyes lit up in recognition. "Tori." Jade scowled. Of all people Beck could've called over, or who could've stumbled upon this very public argument… "Tori," Beck called again, beckoning the girl over, "can you come here?"

"What?" Tori asked warily as she slowly approached the couple. Jade turned to face the newcomer to the discussion, arms crossed.

Beck clasped his hands and took a deep breath. "If you were my girlfriend—"

Jade let out a loud and indignant noise. "Great way to start the question."

Beck leveled an even glare at Jade before continuing like he hadn't been interrupted. "Would you be all freaked out that I'm just friends with Alyssa Vaughn?"

"Who cares what she thinks?" Jade gestured toward Tori dismissively.

"Honestly," Tori shrugged. "I wouldn't love it."

"I care," Jade sidled up to Tori's side smugly, "what she thinks."

Beck wasn't as impressed. "How can you say that?" he demanded. "You don't even—"

"Y'know, I really don't wanna be in the middle of this…" Tori tried to back away sneakily, but Jade's hand flew out to grasp Tori by the elbow.

"No," she insisted, turning Tori back around and dragging her back into the conversation. "You stay right here," Jade grumbled over Tori's squawked protest.

"You don't think a girlfriend should just trust her boyfriend?" Beck challenged Tori next.

"No, I-I do," Tori replied.

"Get out of here, Tori," Jade cut in coldly.

"I'd love to," Tori said in a rush, turning to make a speedy exit once more.

But Beck called out, "Stay."

Tori groaned but turned back around obediently.

"Alright, you know what?"

"Tell me what," Beck deadpanned.

"No, no," Tori said, suddenly anticipating where the conversation was headed. It was probably the finality in her voice. But Jade was too focused on the thundering blood pounding in her ears and the singular decision she came to in the last couple minutes. She barely registered Tori's hand grazing her elbow in a silent plea. "Don't tell him what."

Jade ignored her. "We're. Done."

"Jade," Tori said softly. Again, Jade didn't even grace her with a sideways glance.

"So, you're breaking up with me," Beck stated more than asked. His voice was low, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

"No, no, no, no, no, she's not," Tori kept trying to butt in, even though she had clearly stated that she wanted nothing to do with the conversation just moments prior.

Jade at least appreciated that she and Beck both were blocking Tori's annoying presence out of this exchange.

"Yeah," Jade nodded with finality. "I am." And she stormed off down the hallway, footsteps loud, powerful, and purposeful.

"You're being ridiculous," Beck called loudly after Jade.

"What do you care?" Jade turned around to shoot back. She spread out her hands. "I'm not your girlfriend anymore!"

As soon as Jade turned the corner, Trina's nasally voice assaulted Jade's ears. "Come see my one-woman show, Friday night!" An offensively bright orange flier was thrust at Jade. Jade grabbed it out of the offering hand, balled it up, and grasped Trina by the shirtfront before stuffing the balled up paper into Trina's ample cleavage. "It starts at 8:00 sharp!" Trina continued to yell after her.

Jade rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to flip the girl off over her shoulder as she stalked off.

Jade couldn't sleep that night. She had been too angry to even check The Slap on her phone. She had opted to just turn it off completely.

The sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach threatened to swallow her whole.

She felt cold, wrapped up all alone in her bed. The window wasn't even open, but she began to shiver. All the while, she felt this gaping hole in her chest.

If it was going to be this bad, Jade dreaded school the next day.

But she could put up a front. She could do it. No one at school needed to know how badly she was hurting. She had hidden worse pain before. She was used to this.

The next day, Jade put on her makeup, a low effort outfit, and practiced forcing a smile in front of the mirror. She dropped the smile altogether after a few attempts. Something always seemed off. So she opted for a scowl, one fierce enough to deter any undesirables and leave her the fuck alone, but not one that required quite so many face muscles.

She could do this. She's hidden worse before. She could do this.

At lunch, Jade sat alone. None of the gang had come out for lunch yet, and Beck sure as hell was staying away from her. She took over an empty table, glaring at Sinjin and an accomplice when they attempted to sit down to join her. "No." Her voice was cold and sharp and bitter.

They immediately scrambled away.

She poked at her salad disinterestedly. Nothing seemed to want to go down easily, least of all, the bitter truth that Jade had just cut out the best thing going in her life.

She was broken out of her downward spiraling thoughts when Tori softly greeted her, "Hey." She looked up to see Andre settling in the seat across from her too.

"Hey, Jade," he nodded uncertainly. From his furtive glances toward Tori, Jade knew he had been dragged unwillingly into this.

"You look a little like a lady who could use some lunch buddies," Tori was explaining brightly, like she needed an excuse to encroach upon Jade's personal space and privacy. Wait…

Jade halted that train of thought as quickly as possible, refusing to acknowledge the mental Freudian slip, and scrambled to regain the carefully constructed mask from earlier that day.

She scoffed. "Please," she grunted, before going back to poke at her salad. It looked wholly unappetizing today, even though she knew for a fact that she had had this exact salad just Monday and consumed it eagerly and deliciously.

God, what was wrong with her?

"Well," Tori said slowly, carefully, like she was attempting to approach a skittish, cornered animal. "I just thought that you were mad, because of—"

"I broke up with Beck, okay?" Jade cut in sharply. "I dumped him."

Tori and Andre exchanged a glance, but Jade dropped her focus to her food. There was a whole burrito she also hadn't touched yet. Why did Festus' lunch tray seem to give her so much food today? Her appetite was unusually small, practically non-existent that day and—

An engine revved in the parking lot, breaking through Jade's angry, mental rant. A stereo blasted some super poppy radio station that made Jade's skin crawl. Jade turned, despite her every instinct telling her not to, especially since all the other students gathered in the Asphalt Cafe seemed way too interested in whatever was going on in the parking lot behind her.

A bright yellow car, some luxury brand that Jade didn't care about, swerved into the parking lot, top down and thumping some low-grade pop melody as the passenger and driver gazed at each other, big smiles painted on their faces.

Jade felt her stomach drop.

"Whoa," she vaguely heard someone say behind her, now that her attention was zeroed in on the bright car.

Alyssa fucking Vaughn laughed as she said something to Beck, who seemed to accept or agree whatever the celebrity said, a faraway look in his eyes as his lips curled into a boyish grin.

"Is that Alyssa Vaughn?" Tori asked loudly, causing Jade to spin around to glare at the gaping loudmouth.

"Yeah? So?" Jade spat, returning her gaze to her pathetic lunch tray, largely untouched.

Tori's mouth moved like a fish out of water for a few seconds, and Jade could practically see the wheels spinning overtime behind those coffee brown eyes. "N-nothing," she finally stammered. "She's gross," she added. Pulling out one golden stick from a pile on her lunch tray, she offered sheepishly, "French fry?"

Jade picked up her burrito instead.

"Gross?" Andre frowned, incredulous. "Look at her! Oh," he practically moaned, just staring past Jade's shoulder. Jade followed his gaze over her shoulder again because curiosity won out. The two were still chatting, all smiles and—did she just touch Beck's shoulder? Her hand is lingering just a little too long… "That girl is smokin' hot. I'm serious," he murmured dreamily.

Jade whirled back to glare at Andre.

"I should shut up," he muttered to himself. He snapped his jaw shut. And looked down at his lunch tray.

Tori ran a hand through her hair, exasperated. "Look, he didn't mean to say that," Tori began to defend Andre. What, did Tori expect Jade to whip out her scissors on Andre for stating a fact?

"I don't care," Jade cut across Tori airily but sharply. "If Beck wants to date that," Jade said through clenched teeth and a grimace, "I hope he has tons of fun with it."

"Uh…" Tori's gaze drifted down for a moment.

"What?"

"You're hurting your burrito," Tori nodded to Jade's tray.

Jade glanced down at her clenched hands. The filling had been squeezed out of both ends. Jade tossed it back into the tray, splattering some of the insides onto both Tori and Andre. Jade grabbed her bag and left the table in a huff, not bothering to bring her tray with her.

She stormed over to the janitor's closet and threw the lock on. She finally let the tears that were threatening to escape her eyes leak out as she tossed her bag to the floor and curled up against the locked door. She drew her knees up to her chin and buried her head into her folded arms as the sobs racked through her body.

One day. She couldn't keep it together for even one day.

God, she felt pathetic.

The ache in her chest hadn't eased in the slightest, and she knew this was going to be one of the fights that she would cave first in.

Her breathing evened out well into the next class period, so Jade confidently but quickly snuck into the bathroom to fix her makeup before walking into class nearly half an hour late.

Jade took the detention without batting an eye and slumped into her seat heavily. No one dared glance at her, lest they risk an icy glare thrown at them.

She just needed to get through the rest of the day.

She went to Beck's trailer immediately after school.

"I'm sorry," was what she had intended to say. Instead, what came out of her mouth was, "Am I forgiven yet?"

Beck gave Jade a look.

Jade dropped her gaze and shifted from leg to leg. She clutched her bag strap tightly and asked, "Can I at least come in?"

Beck sighed audibly, but Jade knew the creaks and sounds of the trailer well. After all, two years of being with Beck was a long time to learn things like that. So she knew that the creak she heard was Beck stepping aside to allow enough space for Jade to just barely slide past him.

She glanced up to find her suspicions to be true.

But Jade should've taken the first slip-ups as a sign that this discussion was not going to go the way she hoped.

At every turn, Jade felt her words twist up and tangle over themselves in her mouth, coming out as garbled ganky barbs.

With each back and forth, Beck grew increasingly heated until Jade saw he was about to yell for her to get out. And she took the initiative to storm out with her dignity still somewhat intact. She needed to feel like she had some kind of upper hand.

But as soon as she was in her car and turning the corner out of sight from Beck's "front door," the first tears streaked down her cheeks.

She sniffed and wiped at them, but they were replaced faster than her hand could move away. Eventually, she just let them flow, knowing full well how badly her mascara was running. Her breaths came out ragged and punctuated with hiccups. Nothing felt balanced within her, and she hated how short of breath she felt.

She didn't even realize where she was until she turned off her engine, staring at a driveway she had only looked at once before. She had no idea how she drove here without even paying attention. She was surprised she even remembered how to get there. She hadn't even driven that day.

(She belatedly excused her choice of support by remembering that Cat was away for the week to see her brother’s special doctor.)

She felt her body move on autopilot.

About halfway to the front door, she slowed to a stop.

Why was she here? What would she even say?

She turned around and began to walk away because she knew she didn't know the answers to those questions. (That, or she was terrified of the honest answer, but she would never admit that.)

Jade made a long circuit around the block, slowly ambling her way inevitably back toward the house. She stopped when neon yellow, pink, and blue caught her eye.

It was gaudy and bright and sunny and looked like it held the promise of childhood and a carefree life.

A kite. It was a broken kite.

Jade picked it out of the bush it was tangled in and gripped it tight.

The tears were beginning to form anew, and she raced back to that front door before they could fall again. (It was too late already, but Jade didn't care.)

She jabbed at the doorbell. She was about to jab it again when the door swung open.

"Jade?" Tori's brow was furrowed, her face scrunched up in confusion.

She couldn't muster up any words when her throat was already closed up, and she choked back a sob as she brushed past Tori and strode into the living room.

"And now you're in my house," Tori muttered to herself, just loud enough for Jade to hear.

Jade stood in the middle of the living room, assessing her situation. There were tears in her eyes (mascara running like no tomorrow). There was a sharp, throbbing pain in her chest (it hurt to breathe). She was clutching a kite (it looked so ugly and pitiful all mangled and tangled up in itself). The door swung shut behind her, and she turned around to face a slowly approaching Tori.

Jade held up the kite clenched tightly in her fist. "This kite is broken," she stated blandly. It was the first thing to come out of her mouth, and she ran with it. At least her voice sounded somewhat steady. As much as it quivered, and she felt her lower lips quivering equally.

"Okay…" Tori said slowly. "And?"

"I was just walking around, and I saw this kite, stuck in a bush, and…" Jade rushed out the last words, not trusting her voice to not break, "it's broken, and someone needs to fix it!"

Tori continued to stare very confused at Jade. "You want me to fix your kite?" she asked.

"Will you forget about the stupid kite?" Jade exploded through a sob. She threw the kite to the side. God, why weren't the right words coming to her tonight? She normally didn't have such a hard time organizing her thoughts, but tonight, all her words kept getting scrambled as they traveled from her brain to her mouth.

"I'm sorry I brought it up?" Tori shrugged.

Finally, the words broke through Jade like a very full dam bursting, at the same time the tears sprang anew in her eyes. "I want Beck back!"

"But you broke up with Beck," Tori pointed out.

"I know!" Jade wailed, and the words streamed out of her mouth with so little filter, she was barely aware of what she was saying until she heard her own voice say "potato patch pal," and she immediately knew it was too late to just stop talking. "—to some greedy orphans!" She inhaled deeply, collapsing onto the edge of one of the half-sofas nearby. She buried her face into her hand as she sobbed.

"Jade," Tori sighed. "If you wanna get back together with Beck, then why don't you just tell him?"

"I did," Jade explained through desperate sobs, hating the fresh wave of pressure that rushed through her chest as she said the next words, "but he rejected me."

"Um," Tori seemed to hesitate as she chose her next words carefully, "not to be mean, but… why are you coming to me for help?"

Fuck. Jade had hoped Tori wouldn't bring up this topic.

Jade waited a beat before answering, mainly to come up with some semblance of a legitimate excuse because honestly she had no idea. Because you're too nice, and I know it, and I knew I could take advantage of it, Jade thought at once. Instead, once again, the words got lost in translation somehow as they traveled out of her mouth. "Because I don't want anyone who's cool to see me like this."

"Okay, maybe you should—" Tori stopped abruptly. "Wait, are we fr—we're not even friends!" Tori exclaimed.

True, Jade was inclined to immediately agree with Tori. And she did. Tori was right. "Yeah," Jade managed to say, "but if you help me, maybe I'll like you."

Bulletproof logic. Jade patted herself on her back mentally for being able to come up with that on the spot. It wasn't anywhere near the magnitude of the truth (the truth that Jade denied existed), but it was in line enough with Jade's behavior up to now that she hoped Tori would just take it at face value.

"So, if I help you," Tori thought out loud as she took a seat next to Jade on the half-sofa, "I get a mean friend and a broken kite…"

Jade felt another sob escape her. "Please," her voice was hushed and quiet. "Just please talk to Beck for me."

Jade West never begged.

And she had just begged Tori to fix her relationship. The one that Jade had punched holes into in the first place. Because apparently, Jade had no idea how to stop talking out of her ass.

Jade grasped for a pillow behind her and buried her face into it once it was in her lap. She let out several heavy sobs.

Jade heard Tori shift uncomfortably next to her.

But she wasn't expecting a hand to rest on her head and begin patting her comfortingly. Jade stiffened initially at the contact, but she succumbed to the gentle touch, letting the sobs flow freely out of her.

After a few slow pats, Tori's hand moved away, and Tori sighed. "Okay. Okay, okay, I'll talk to Beck."

"Do it soon," Jade sniffed into the pillow, finally able to suck in a deep breath. She finally lifted herself back up and glanced down at the pillow. "I got a little makeup on your pillow," she pouted, extending the pillow toward Tori to examine the damage.

Tori chewed her lip for a moment as she studied the stain. "That's okay," she said, slowly exhaling and delicately taking the pillow from Jade's grasp. "I'll just… ask my grandmother to make me another one." She stroked the soft, worn fabric fondly. "If she ever comes back to life."

Jade would've missed the last bit if she wasn't totally focused on Tori. The slightly slouched figure. The tender strokes over the fabric and stitching. The fingertips tracing the stains and wet blotches.

Jade felt her breath hitch, and a wave of guilt crashed over her already aching chest.

Oh, fuck.

"I-I'll get you another one," Jade said quickly. "Or I'll get it dry cleaned. I'll wash it!"

"Jade, it's fine. I'll take care of it," Tori smiled wistfully.

Jade felt herself melting a little, going boneless a little, at how soft and warm those eyes that regarded her looked. They reminded her of how Beck first used to look at her. Kindness, not judgment. Something about them seemed to be searching, probing, Jade for something, something hidden deep inside.

For only the second time in her life, Jade—briefly—entertained the idea of letting someone find it. But the thought was quickly and swiftly squashed.

It was dangerous enough that Beck, the last person Jade had let in like that, had rejected her earlier that night. Jade knew it would destroy her if it happened again.

No, it was safer, Jade reasoned with herself, always safer, the less people she opened up to.

"Talk to him soon," Jade repeated softly, her voice barely a whisper, before she swiftly headed out the door and drove home.

She scrubbed her face free of tears and makeup before collapsing into bed that night.

She was so exhausted that as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out like a light.

Jade cornered Tori at her obnoxious Make It Shine locker the next day.

"How did it go," she demanded.

"Good morning to you too, Jade," Tori replied sarcastically.

"I don't need your sass, Vega," Jade hissed. She had woken up in a considerably more normal mood, if only with a shorter temper. "I need answers."

"Why did you get him a can of lemonade for his birthday?"

Jade rolled her eyes. "Because he likes lemonade."

"Yeah, but out of a can?" Tori winced.

Tori had a point, but Jade would be damned if she let Tori know that. "He drank it," Jade countered.

"Yeah, but—"

"Do I have a boyfriend? Or don't I?" Jade snapped, growing impatient with Tori's twenty questions game.

Jade felt the presence before she heard that annoyingly breathy voice over her shoulder. "Do you want one—"

"Walk away," Jade hissed. He bowed his head and walked off obediently.

Tori watched him go with unease.

Jade snapped Tori's attention back to her—and the main issue at hand. She continued her interrogation. "Did he say anything else?"

"No," Tori sighed, shutting her locker and heading to the vending machine for a can of Wahoo Punch (Cherry Blast? Interesting choi—ugh, not the time right now!).

"Help me," Jade whined.

"I tried!" Tori retorted. "Maybe you just need to forget about Beck."

Jade gaped at Tori's words. How could she? This girl who knows nothing about anything, how could she so freely say such cruel words?

Jade didn't know what else to do but grab Tori by the wrist and drag her to the janitor's closet. Jade's only safe hideaway. Despite Tori's protests and confused exclamations.

She threw Tori inside, following close behind. She slammed the door shut, threw the lock, and flicked on the lights.

"And now we're in a closet," Tori remarked dryly.

Jade froze for just a fraction of a second. Did Tori know? How could she? No, she couldn't possibly. And Tori definitely was not someone Jade considered close enough to divulge that kind of a secret just yet. Tori wasn't Cat.

Besides, there was the more pressing issue of Beck. Or lack thereof.

She turned to face Tori, tears lining her eyes for the third time in two days. "How can Beck not want me back? I'm cool. And hot! I've got it all!"

"Yeah, but guys don't just care about how cool and hot you are," Tori argued.

Jade could've scoffed at Tori's ignorance. Jade knew for a fact that that's pretty much the only reason Beck had initially gone out with Jade. She was the novelty. The girl who wasn't like other girls. She inwardly cringed at the cliche. "Well, what else is there?" Jade threw her hands up in frustration. Clearly, that was all that mattered to Beck.

"Beck says you haven't done one nice thing for him in two years," Tori explained.

"That is so not true!" Jade sniffed, knowing full well exactly how true that was. Jade's love language wasn't acts of service or gifts. It was touch and a general turning down of her cranky gankness to the people she truly loved, like Beck. "We've only dated for a year and eleven months!" That was definitely not the point. Jade could've kicked herself for putting her foot in her mouth yet again.

Tori sighed, almost inaudibly, but it was enough for Jade to bury her face into her hands again. She couldn't stand seeing the half-scolding, half-pitying look of concern Tori was wearing. Not for another second.

"Well," Tori's hands slapped against her thighs. Jade assumed Tori threw her hands up in exasperation while Jade's head was buried in her hands. "Maybe he'd take you back if you did something nice for him."

"You mean, like, make him fresh lemonade?" Jade had hoped for it to sound like a joke, but between her quivering voice and dry sobs, it was difficult to convey the nuance of sarcasm.

Tori rolled her eyes. "If you want Beck back, you're gonna have to think bigger than beverages," Tori reasoned.

Jade bit back the rising snark. Tori was actually trying. Damn her, she was actually trying. Despite her initial reluctance. Jade knew she should latch on tight while Tori's help was freely given. She could just as easily snatch it away and leave Jade high and dry, for all Jade knew. Even though she had a sneaking suspicion that that just wasn't Tori's style.

Suddenly, inspiration hit Jade like lightning. She snapped her fingers and pointed excitedly at Tori. "A dog!"

"Okay, if you're gonna be rude—" Tori started to protest.

"No!" Jade said, trying to will the words to come out correctly this time. "No," she tried to explain, "Beck's always saying how he wants a dog… a…" She snapped her fingers trying to remember the breed. "A… a rottenheimer!"

"A rottweiler?" Tori corrected with a raise of an eyebrow.

"Yes!" Jade exclaimed. "That's what he wants. Okay." Jade began to pace back and forth in the small closet, suddenly brimming with electric energy. "What's our next move?"

"Just get the boy a dog!" A gruff voice barked from the corner of the closet.

Jade and Tori both stared for a solid five seconds at the man whose head had suddenly appeared underneath a leopard print throw. Jade didn't think someone would be in here. Even less, taking a nap. And least of all, that person being an adult man.

"Go. Go, go out," Tori said, voice low and wary. She was already heading for the door. "Now. Run."

Jade was fumbling at the lock as fast as her trembling fingers would go. She slid the lock free, wrenched the door open, and tore out of the closet, with Tori hot on her heels.

Tori was the one who found the dog. The girl's willingness to help truly knew no bounds. Jade found herself smiling a little when Tori led the dog into the backseat and sat with it the whole ride over to Beck's trailer. It was the first time in nearly three whole days that Jade felt hope.

She hoped that this would be enough.

They parked a little ways down the street, out of sight from the windows of Beck's trailer so that they could sneak the dog in there.

"Okay," Jade whispered. "Wait one sec."

Jade peeked into the dark trailer. In the darkness, Jade just barely made out the silhouette of a figure in Beck's bed. She ducked out quietly.

"Beck's asleep. Give me the dog."

"Okay," Tori said. "Oh wait. He has a runny nose." She pulled out a tissue from that monster purse she lugs around and deftly wiped away the dog's nose. "Okay, here." Tori handed Jade the leash.

Jade gripped the leather tightly. She didn't like dogs. Most dogs didn't like her. But this one seemed alright. Maybe.

Jade opened the door again and quietly slipped in, tugging the dog leash gently to get the big beast to follow her inside.

"Beck?" She said, softly calling out. "Beck, wake up. I got a surprise for you."

"Huh?" said a voice that was much too deep to belong to Beck. "Whozzat?"

"Mr. Oliver?"

The man grunted and flipped on a lamp. "Oh, it's you," he grumbled.

The dog began to bark and get increasingly wild and uncontrollable.

Jade struggled to keep the dog under control. In as soothing of a voice as Jade could muster, she tried to pet the dog and whisper, "Hey, sh, sh, sh. It's okay. It's okay…"

But the dog only grew more agitated. Jade tugged on the leash harder to keep its snapping jaws away from the man.

"Beck?" Jade heard Tori's voice from outside say loudly. "If you're out here, then who…"

"My dad! He's—" Beck burst into the door, and Mr. Oliver made a run for it. Jade only barely managed to keep the big beast back far enough that Mr. Oliver could slip past unharmed.

"Whoa! That is a big dog. Okay, outside. Now," Beck instructed sharply. Beck led the way, holding the door open while Jade was all but tugged along by the huge dog's weight rearing to get outside again.

Jade basically threw the leash at Tori who managed to grasp it at the last second before the dog could run off. She still stumbled a few steps forward before she was able to bring the dog back to her side.

The man, Mr. Oliver, grumbled something, glaring at Jade, before he turned and stormed back inside the house.

"My dad already hates you," Beck sighed, carding a hand through his hair. Jade almost smiled at the familiarity in the motion. It was such a tic for him.

"I know."

"My dad almost got mauled to death by this big dog. And he’s allergic. Whose dog is it anyway?"

"Tori's," Jade replied immediately.

"Dude!"

"Fine, well, it's kind of yours."

"The dog's a she," Tori interjected unhelpfully. Jade rolled her eyes and glared at Tori before turning back to Beck.

"She belongs to you, Beck. You always talked about how you wanted a… Rottweiler," Jade emphasized the last part through gritted teeth. "I just wanted you to have a dog, because I know you've talked about getting one ever since I met you, and I thought that maybe—"

Beck wordlessly leaned in and kissed her, cutting off her rambling. His lips, warm and molded perfectly to fit with hers, slotted themselves against her own, exactly where they belonged. Jade's hand found its usual spot on Beck's chest, fingertips resting on his collarbone, while the other snaked around to grip the back of his neck, at the nape where his fluffy hair ended.

When he pulled away, he was smiling. Jade herself donned a silly little grin.

"You love me again," she stated, dumbfounded.

"Who said I stopped?" His eyes shimmered warmly in the moonlight.

"Awww," Tori cooed from behind Jade, still holding the dog. Jade turned around slowly to face Tori. "I ruined the moment," she recognized.

"It's cool," Jade sighed. "I… really do owe you one." They exchanged a small grin.

Jade turned back to kiss Beck. She couldn't get enough of his familiar figure under her fingertips as they skated over polyester and cotton. His hand dug into the small of her back, pulling her closer. The kisses were just starting to heat up when Tori's voice broke into the moment again.

"Hey, um…" Tori hesitated. "It's getting kind of late, so I was wondering if maybe you could drive me home?"

"It's not that far of a walk," Jade snapped, irritated she had to break away from the kissing again.

"Try not to swallow each other," Tori's bitter snark cut across the night air from a distance. Evidently, Tori had decided to get a head start. Jade hummed and smiled into the kiss.

Beck broke the resumed kissing this time, leaning his forehead against Jade's.

"You should go give her a ride home. It's going to be hard to walk that big dog back alone at this time of night."

Jade sighed, knowing Beck was right. "You don't want to keep the dog? Vega kind of took it without asking."

"My dad can’t be anywhere near dogs. And he’s deathly afraid of them. That's why I was never allowed to have a dog, growing up."

"But," Jade gestured to the trailer, "your roof, your rules."

"Yeah, but I can't raise a dog in that small space. It wouldn't be fair to either of us. Besides, I don't want anyone to get between us ever again."

"Not even a dog?" Jade smirked.

"Not even a dog." He pecked Jade on the lips once and repeated, "Go, give Tori a ride home. I'll be here, waiting."

Jade feigned a groan and a sigh and an exaggerated eye roll, but she relented. "I'll be right back. I missed you."

"I missed you too. But I'm not going anywhere."

With one last kiss for the road, Jade finally pulled away, reluctant, and chased after Tori.

"Vega! Wait up!"

Tori’s POV

Tori turned to find Jade jogging after her. Tori stopped to let her catch up.

"I'll give you a ride," Jade explained, tilting her head toward where she parked her car.

"Thanks, Jade." Tori didn't press things further. She was grateful that Jade seemed to have a change of heart, regardless of her sneaking suspicion that it was probably Beck's idea.

Just like the way there, Tori sat in the back with the dog, and texted her parents about the news. She was going to have to bring the dog back to the pound tomorrow, but the pound had already closed for the night.

Tori sighed and settled into the backseat. The car had soft, worn leather for each of the seats. Tori skimmed her fingertips over the surface fondly.

"Wait," Tori said suddenly realizing something, "this doesn't count as the favor, does it?"

Jade hesitated before responding. "No," she decided, glancing at the rear view mirror to catch Tori's eyes in the reflection. "But the offer expires at the end of this weekend.”

Tori's phone buzzed with a new text from her dad. The dog needed to be out of the house by the end of the weekend because they were going to fly out tomorrow night for a cousin's wedding in Georgia on Sunday.

Tori groaned. "Then, can I ask you to take me to the pound to return the dog?"

"That's your favor?" Jade asked in disbelief. "That's what you want to use your favor on?"

"Well, no, but the dog can't stay at my place. We're gonna be gone most of the weekend, and it didn't seem like Beck was going to be allowed to keep the dog. Beck's dad didn't seem too fond of the dog being around."

"What are you, a dog whisperer now or something?"

"No, just observant and in tune with the people around me."

Jade scoffed. Tori paled.

"Wait, no, I didn't mean—"

"Oh, I know exactly what you meant, Vega," Jade replied bitterly. "I'll take you and the stupid dog back to the pound tomorrow. If only I could leave you both there."

"Hey!"

"What's the prob, dog?" Jade smirked.

Tori fell silent, glowering at the memory of getting coffee poured over her head.

Jade pulled into the Vega driveway not long afterward, thankfully, so there was only about a minute, tops, of awkward silence between them.

"Thanks for the ride, Jade," Tori said tiredly, leading the dog to the front door.

"Don't mention it. And…" Tori turned around at the lingering statement. She saw Jade pick at her nails before curtly adding, "Thanks for tonight."

Tori smiled warmly. "Don't mention it. Good night, Jade. Drive safe."

Jade made some kind of grunting noise of confirmation before rolling up the window and backing back out into the street. Within moments, she was out of sight, speeding back to Beck's place.

Tori sighed and headed inside.

At least she had Trina's reaction to look forward to. Tori grinned.

Chapter Text

Tori’s POV

As much as Tori loved her extended family, she couldn’t wait to get back home. Hotel beds, while nice, were hard to enjoy when she had to share a bed with her sister (who snores a lot).

Not to mention the fact that she, Beck, Andre, and Cat were all busy this past week and couldn’t meet up to work on the assignment for Mr. Gradstein’s scriptwriting class.

Well, Tori had been fairly busy, what with Jade and Beck’s break up and subsequent make up.

And Andre was definitely busy. The record label had agreed to wait a week for Andre to finish performing the live music for the production of Uptown Downtown, a commitment he had made months prior. Now that the play was over with, Andre had been spending almost every day after school at the recording studio, shadowing a music producer as his song, “Song 2 U,” was being recorded and finalized.

Tori didn’t really know where Cat went, but she wasn’t at school for most of the week.

And Beck and Jade had been like forces of nature—colliding, coming apart, then drawn back together again.

So, no one in the group had much time to make progress on their assignment.

Tori texted the group, having forgotten about the assignment until right before her cousin’s wedding ceremony, and they made a plan to meet up as soon as Tori landed and got home from the airport.

Then, it was suddenly Sunday afternoon, and Tori was so exhausted from her lack of sleep that weekend that she napped at the airport until Trina nudged her awake to board the plane back home. Tori tried to fall back asleep and steal a few more minutes of shut-eye, but the rumbling of the plane during takeoff coupled with the extremely uncomfortable seats made falling asleep impossible.

Tori instead pulled out a book she had been trying to read through for the past month or so, Moonstone, and tried to relax.

But Trina seemed intent on pushing all of Tori’s buttons.

As soon as the fasten seatbelt sign was turned off, and the subsequent announcement was made that passengers were free to move about the cabin, Trina nudged Tori. “Hey, Tori,” Trina said. Tori rolled her eyes. She dropped the book into her lap but didn’t respond. “Hey,” Trina repeated.

“What?” Tori bit out tiredly. It had been an exhausting week, and an even more exhausting weekend, and Tori just wanted to get home.

Trina turned to her sister, displaying a questionable white cube of something impaled on a fork. “Is this chicken?”

Tori recognized it from the onboard meal her parents had paid for with their plane tickets. Perhaps to make up for the fact that they had booked their own flight separately from their daughters.

Trina shoved the mystery food on a fork closer into Tori’s face. Tori took a tentative sniff and wrinkled her nose. “I think it might be pineapple,” Tori replied. “Or… part of a thumb.”

Trina drew the fork back and observed it again. Then, she distastefully discarded the utensil and mystery food altogether onto her untouched tray, declaring, “Ugh, I can’t eat airplane food. Too gross.” She gathered up the container and trash and dumped it onto Tori’s seat tray. “Ugh,” she repeated one last time.

Tori scowled at the items. “And why is this now on my tray table?”

“Because I’m done with it,” Trina explained with a shrug. “Besides, you’re closer to the aisle.”

“But—” Tori’s rebuttal was cut off by a thumping sound coming from behind Trina’s seat.

“Hey. Hey, kid!” Trina snapped, turning in her seat. “I told you to stop kicking my seat!”

“So?” the kid sneered back, kicking the seat a few more times to emphasize his point.

“Stop that!” Trina exclaimed.

“You’re not the queen of this plane,” the kid snarked.

Trina spotted the man sitting in the seat next to the rude kid and leaned over with a polite voice Tori had rarely heard before. “Excuse me,” Tori heard Trina say, “will you please do something about your son?”

Tori heard the man sigh in the seat directly behind her and flatly ask in the most tired voice Tori had ever heard, “Will you stop kicking her seat?” Tori wouldn’t have been surprised if the man had hardly glanced at the kid as he asked the question.

“No,” the kid replied smugly.

Trina sank back into her seat with an incredulous expression on her face. “Some people are so rude.”

“I know,” Tori deadpanned, waving the used napkin Trina had dumped onto her seat tray earlier. She shook her head and tried to return to her book.

The announcement chime sounded overhead again, and this time, a male voice crackled through the speakers. “This is Captain Stu Bing. Sorry about our late start today. We should be arriving in Los Angeles at around 11:14 pm.”

Tori glanced up from her book. “Wait, what time did he say?” Tori asked Trina, who seemed to be trying to catch some shut-eye during the flight.

“11:14,” Trina replied, cracking one eye open to address her sister before rolling her head back toward the window.

Tori rifled through her carryon bag for her phone. Once she extracted it, she checked the time and groaned. “Oh, great. Three and a half hours late.”

“Why do you care?” Trina asked.

“I’m supposed to meet Andre, Beck, and Cat to write a script for class that’s due in the morning.”

“What teacher?”

“Gradstein,” Tori sighed.

“Ooh,” Trina winced. “He’s tough.”

“No chiz.” Tori raised her hand to hail down a passing flight attendant. “Excuse me, does this plane have Wi-Fi?”

“No,” the flight attendant clasped her hands apologetically, with nothing resembling pity on her face. “But we do have wireless internet service.”

Tori blinked. “But that’s what Wi-Fi is.”

“Please don’t give me attitude,” the flight attendant smiled and walked away.

Tori frowned, bewildered by how she was giving the woman attitude. She was just—

Tori shook her head. She needed to think of another solution to the assignment problem fast. She dug through her carryon for her PearBook and pulled it out.

“What’re you doing?” Trina asked curiously.

“I’m gonna see if Andre’s online so we can finish the assignment through video chat.”

“Oh, smart. Maybe you guys can—” Trina’s suggestion was cut off by more rhythmic thumping behind Trina’s seat. She whipped around and glared at the kid. “Did you just kick my seat again?”

“Why don’t you ask your butt?” he snarked.

“Look, if you don’t knock it off, I’m gonna tell the flight attendant,” Trina warned.

“Ooh, you’re a scary witch,” the kid sneered.

Even Tori turned around to gape at the kid.

“I wish I was a witch,” Trina growled, “because I would take my broomstick and I would shove it—”

“Trina!” Tori cut in sharply. “Sit!”

Trina snapped her jaw shut and glared at the kid one last time before slumping back into her seat with a huff.

Tori rolled her eyes before returning to her PearBook, which had just finished connecting to the Wi-Fi. “Oh good, Andre’s online.” Tori requested a video call.

Moments later, the connection was established, and Andre was greeting her cheerily, “Tori Vega! What’s up?”

“Hey,” Tori greeted him back. “I’m on the plane,” she explained, “and I’m not gonna land until after 11.”

“Oh,” Andre frowned. “But we gotta write that script for class.”

“I know. Wanna do it over video chat?”

“Yeah, sure,” Andre nodded. “I’ll text Cat and Beck, and tell ‘em to get online.” He grabbed his phone and began typing away.

“Cool.” Tori breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back for a moment.

The thumping resumed behind Trina’s seat.

“Quit kicking my seat!” Trina whirled on the kid yet again.

“Quit kicking my seat!” the kid mocked back. Then, the kid immediately shrank into his own seat, smirking but keeping his legs tame and right in front of him as the flight attendant approached with a tray.

“Your desserts,” she explained as she handed a plastic cup and a spoon to each of the passengers.

“Wh-what is this?” Trina asked, observing the plastic wrapped container with a grimace.

“I dunno,” the flight attendant shrugged. “Pudding?” she suggested before continuing her rounds down the aisle. She didn’t bother to take in Trina’s horrified reaction.

“It’s got fur in it,” Trina gaped.

Tori grimaced and set aside her “pudding” cup.

“I guess I’ll just scrape the fur off the top,” Trina shrugged. Tori blanched when Trina made hums of appreciation. “Hey, are you gonna have yours?” Trina asked Tori. “It’s not bad,” she mused.

“Here,” Tori handed hers over without any resistance, eager to get rid of the questionable dessert.

“Hey, Tori,” Andre waved on camera to get her attention again.

“Oh, hey,” Tori turned back to the video chat. “Did you get Cat and Beck?”

“Yeah, they’re about to get online,” Andre reported.

“Nice,” Tori nodded. It was then that she noticed Andre’s background. “Wait, where are you?”

“At my grandma’s house,” Andre replied. “She called me and said she was scared because the numbers kept changing on the digital clock.”

Tori frowned. “Isn’t that what clocks… do?”

“All I know is my parents are out, and I was the only one she could get a hold of.”

Tori offered a sympathetic smile.

“Oh, Cat’s on,” Andre noted at the sound of a chime.

“Yep, I see,” Tori nodded, already requesting Cat to join the video call. “Inviting her now.”

Moments later, Cat joined the chat and chirped a bright greeting, “Hiii!”

“What’s up, Little Red?” Andre greeted her. Cat smiled at the nickname fondly.

“Hey, Cat,” Tori grinned.

Before she could say anything more, Andre’s grandmother’s voice cut into the chat. “Andre!” she called loudly. “The numbers on my clock changed again.” Her voice quivered in fright.

“It’s a clock, grandma,” Andre explained patiently. “The numbers are supposed to change.”

The woman, barely halfway into the frame, nodded shakily and slowly walked away. Off-screen, there was an ear-splitting scream that pierced the air.

“What was that?” Cat asked, concerned. Tori couldn’t ask because she was too busy digging through her carryon for earphones to plug into her PearBook. She had already caught several dirty glares at the loud volume. Tori ducked her head apologetically at every one.

“My grandmother just screamed,” Andre replied. “I think she saw herself in the mirror.” He glanced off to the side.

“Andre, there’s a stranger on the wall!” the woman yelled off-camera. Luckily, Tori’s earphones were plugged in, and the sound was mostly contained to just Tori’s ears. Luckily for the other passengers, at least. Tori’s ears were not so fortunate.

“It’s okay, grandma!” Andre replied loudly in the direction of his grandmother. “Just introduce yourself! I’m sure she’s nice!”

“Beck’s online,” Cat noted.

Tori nodded as Andre agreed. “Requesting…”

“Ow!” Trina squealed all of a sudden.

“What?” Tori questioned, yanking one earbud out of her ear.

“That rotten kid behind me kicked my seat again and made me poke my eye!” Trina didn’t bother to keep her voice down and brandished the tweezers she was using to groom her brows.

“I didn’t kick your seat,” the kid retorted with faux-innocence.

“You did too!” Trina snapped, turning in her seat yet again.

“Your brows aren’t even nice,” he sneered.

“That tears it.” Trina got up out of her seat high enough to kneel and reach over behind her seat to grab the kid by his shirtfront with two tightly-curled fists.

“Trina!” Tori exclaimed, setting her PearBook to the side and yanking out the other earbud. “Trina!” Tori yanked her sister back into her seat by the forearms. “He’s a little boy!”

“Yeah,” Trina huffed. “And I’m about to put him into a little hospital!” she snapped furiously.

“Just get the flight attendant next time you see her,” Tori requested tiredly.

Trina ground her teeth back and forth but nodded in agreement. With a final huff of indignation, she turned to curl up in her seat, facing the window, hoping that sleeping would be a benign activity compared to plucking her eyebrows.

“You requested my face?” Beck’s voice said gently as soon as Tori put her earbuds back in.

“Hey, man,” Andre grinned.

“Hi,” Tori waved.

“Hey, Beck!” Cat chirped.

Tori leaned into her screen. “Is… is that a dog with you?”

Cat gasped. “Look at the puppy!” she cooed.

Indeed, Beck was reclining on his bed, cradling a small, brown fluff ball to his chest tenderly.

“He’s cute, huh?” Beck grinned, nuzzling his nose into the puppy’s little face.

“So cute,” Tori agreed with a smile. “But wait, I thought your dad was allergic to dogs,” Tori remarked, remembering why she had to return the big sweet Rottweiler she had adopted with Jade just two nights ago back to the pound.

“Yeah, but I’m just watching him for my neighbor while she’s at her cheerleading practice. And he’s small enough to keep just in my trailer,” Beck explained.

Andre’s face fell. “You live next door to a cheerleader?”

“I do,” Beck grinned.

Andre scoffed mirthlessly. “Figures,” he scowled with an eye roll. “I live next door to a grouchy one-legged man who’s hard of hearing and always arguing with his wife.”

Beck chuckled. “So, what’s up?”

“Tori’s plane is late,” Andre explained.

“I don’t get in ‘til almost midnight,” Tori added.

Beck frowned. “But we’ve got to write the script for Gradstein’s class.”

“Yeah, so we’re gonna do it here over video chat,” Andre replied.

“Oh, sounds good,” Beck nodded. He bent down to set the puppy onto the floor.

“Alright,” Tori said. “I will type.”

“Cat, read the assignment,” Andre requested.

“Kay kay,” Cat chirped, grabbing her notebook and flipping a few pages. “It says, ‘Write a single scene script between seven and ten pages. The scene must involve a mystery.’ Ooh,” Cat intoned. “‘Use at least three characters, and have a surprise plot twist,’” she concluded.

“Got it,” Beck said.

Andre nodded. “We can do that.”

“Ideas?” Tori prompted. “Ooh, maybe there’s a kid who goes into a closet to look for something, and—”

A video chat request popped up on Tori’s screen. Tori groaned and rolled her eyes at the screen name.

“What?” Beck asked while Andre asked, “Who’s that?”

“Robbie’s requesting to join the chat,” Tori replied. She sighed and accepted.

The four groupmates chorused half-hearted greetings, and Robbie returned a snippy one.

“Listen,” he said, “I need your guys’ help.”

Rex hummed in amusement. “You need professional help,” he quipped.

“I do not,” Robbie retorted hotly.

“Robbie,” Andre cut in.

“We’re trying to work on a script that’s due in the morning,” Tori explained.

“This will just take a second,” Rex declared confidently.

“Okay,” Beck shrugged, grabbing an apple to eat. Tori noticed and figured it was from the same batch as the one he was snacking on last Thursday, when she had gone over to convince him to get back together with Jade. A conversation that went abysmally. “What’s your problem?” Beck asked, taking a big bite.

“On Friday at school,” Robbie began to explain, “I asked Rex if he wanted to see a movie with me on Sunday night. True or false?” Robbie directed the question at the puppet.

“You said, ‘How would you feel about seeing a movie on Sunday night,’” the puppet replied. “And I said, ‘Sounds like a plan.’”

“Exactly!” Robbie turned back to face his four friends, who were in various states of disinterest. “And now it’s Sunday night, and Rex says he has other plans!”

“Which I do,” Rex added snidely.

Robbie turned to the puppet. “Why would you go and make other plans when you said you’d see a movie with me?”

“You guys,” Tori groaned. But the boy and the puppet were undeterred.

“I never said I would see a movie with you,” Rex argued. “I said, ‘Sounds like a plan.’”

“What’s the difference?” Robbie asked heatedly.

“You never called me to confirm,” Rex replied simply.

“I’m gonna get a root beer,” Andre mumbled, quickly rising out of his seat.

Beck shook his head. “Robbie. Rex. You guys work this out yourselves.”

Tori’s cursor already hovered over the Kick button. “Bye, Robbie,” Tori waved.

“Wait, no!” Robbie protested. “Don’t kick us out of the chat! No, don’t—”

“Alright,” Andre said, settling back into his chair, beverage in hand. “Back to our script.”

“Hey, what if we write about a giraffe who learns to love?” Cat suggested.

The other three grimaced and hesitated. “I don’t know if we can make a mystery out of that,” Beck said.

“Let’s just stick to the kid in the closet,” Andre replied.

Cat pouted but didn’t say anything more.

“Right,” Tori took the lead again. “So, I was thinking, maybe he comes home from school looking for something. And he goes into his closet, and there’s like a small secret door in the back of…”

Cat’s giggles interrupted Tori’s train of thought. Well, her giggles and the sudden shifting rainbow colors flowing across her video.

“Cat?” Tori leaned into the screen to squint at Cat’s video. “What are you doing?”

“I clicked on ‘Rainbow,’” she giggled. She raised her hands and wiggled her fingers, and sparkles appeared following wherever her hands traced.

Tori chuckled despite herself. “Will you please stop that?” she asked gently.

“We’ve got to do this project,” Andre firmly added.

“Sorry,” Cat said, immediately shutting off the effect.

“Where were we?” Tori sighed.

“Uh, the kid goes into his closet,” Andre supplied.

“Right,” Tori nodded. “And maybe he’s not a normal kid. Maybe he’s, like, created by a scientist in a government lab or—”

Another video chat request appeared on screen.

“Who’s ScissorLuv?” Tori frowned.

“Jade,” Beck replied. “Let’s see what she wants.”

Tori reluctantly accepted.

As soon as Jade’s video loaded, Beck explained, “Hey, look, we’re doing this project that’s due tomorrow morning, so—”

“Where have you been?” Jade asked sharply, cutting across Beck like he wasn’t even talking. She was scowling, the annoyed and frustrated kind.

Tori groaned. She had just gotten the two back together. How could they be fighting like this already?

“Home,” Beck replied. “Why?”

“I left you a voicemail, and you haven’t called me back,” Jade bit out.

“I’m… doing homework,” Beck explained, clearly confused as to why Jade was irritated.

“So you wanna break up with me,” Jade concluded.

“Wait, no,” Beck frowned, shaking his head. “No. Why would you think that I want to break up with you? We just got back together like two days ago.”

“Why do you have that animal?” Jade scowled, again cutting Beck off from all rational explanations.

“It’s my neighbor’s dog.”

“His neighbor, the cheerleader,” Andre added with a grin.

“Cheerleader?” Jade repeated through gritted teeth.

“Why,” Beck sighed. “Why would you say that?”

“Sorry,” Andre shrugged. But Tori could see Andre’s jealousy clear as day. Andre did have the decency to look apologetic, obviously sensing that he just set off the couple on another big argument.

“Why are you doing favors for a cheerleader?” Jade questioned. “And what is she doing for you?”

“It’s not what you think,” Beck tried to explain. “She’s just—”

“I’m coming over there,” Jade decided quickly.

“No, no, you don’t need to—”

Jade exited the chat, much to Tori’s relief. Nothing made her more anxious than seeing a worked up Jade, especially with this big assignment looming over her head.

“Alright,” Tori sighed. “So far, we have nothing. So it would be great if we could do a little writing together. Okay?”

Cat giggled, and Tori closed her eyes to count to ten. “Look! I’m in a kaleidoscope! Woooo!” Tori heard Cat say.

“Whoa,” Andre breathed. “How does she do that?”

“You just click ‘Effects’ in the lower left corner,” Cat explained.

Tori opened her eyes to see a bobbing mirrored Cat head floating amongst repeated patterns. “This is not a time for effects!” Tori protested. But of course, her protests were ignored.

“Hey, look at me!” Andre gleefully said. His forehead was swelled into focus like a fishbowl lens. “You guys are giving me a headache,” he joked.

“Andre!”

Beck’s video began to spin. “Woo, I’m getting dizzy! Look at me! I’m spinning around!”

“What effect is that?” Cat gasped.

“It’s spinning clockwise,” Beck replied.

“Why tell her that?” Tori exploded.

Cat’s video began to spin like Beck’s.

“We’re not making progress,” Tori insisted.

“Here I go!” Andre laughed. His video began to spin.

With all three videos spinning like that, Tori felt her stomach lurch. She was beginning to get a little motion sick. She squeezed her eyes shut and snapped, “Andre, I need you to focus!”

But the three were having too much fun.

“You guys,” she managed to say when she trusted she wouldn’t vomit, “we have a project to work on! I’m not gonna sit here and watch you guys spin clockwise!”

“Hey, you heard the lady,” Beck finally said. “Ready?”

“Counterclockwise!” Andre cheered as all three videos began to spin the other direction in perfect synchronization.

“When did I become the mature one,” Tori moaned.

“I don’t know,” Trina shrugged next to her. Her seat lurched forward, and Tori glanced over, pulling out one earbud. Sure enough, the kid was at it again with the seat-kicking.

Tori hailed the flight attendant, who was walking up the aisle to check on the passengers.

“Excuse me,” Tori said, trying to ignore the excited cheers of her friends coming from her earbuds. She yanked out the other one and forced a polite smile. “That kid,” she pointed over her shoulder at the little menace one row behind her, “has been kicking my sister’s seat the entire flight. Can you do something about it?”

The flight attendant rolled her eyes and sighed, but she tapped the man awake and said, “Excuse me, sir? I’m going to have to ask you to move your child to the middle seat and keep his seatbelt fastened for the remainder of the flight, or you will both be escorted off the plane.”

The man huffed, then grumbled, “I gotta wazz…” He got up and locked himself into the lavatory.

“Enjoy your wazz!” Trina acerbically spat as he walked away.

With a controlled breath, the flight attendant seemed to firmly wrangle the kid to being locked into the middle seat (so that his short little legs couldn’t reach the backs of either Vega sister’s seat) and sternly repeated the warning.

The kid muttered something, but the plane finally seemed blissfully quiet, without a thumping of a kicked seat every five minutes.

Trina wore a satisfied smirk before pulling on her own earbuds to start dancing triumphantly to her own music.

Tori sighed and rolled her eyes, thanking the flight attendant belatedly before returning to the video call. “You kids had enough fun yet?”

Beck and Andre chuckled and turned off the video effects. They both nodded and confirmed. The three of them stared at Cat until she finally turned off her effect too.

“Alright.” Tori began to type out the general notes they had so far and the first few lines of the script. “Boy in a closet…”

At last, it seemed like they were getting somewhere. “So, the little boy yells—” She sighed and yanked an earbud out of Trina’s ear. “Will you stop that?” Trina’s dancing was shaking the entire row and making Tori motion sick again.

Trina grumbled but turned down her volume and her dance moves.

Tori returned to the script. “The little boy yells, what?”

“How about, ‘Mom, there’s evil in my closet,’” Andre suggested. “‘Eviiiilll…’”

“Okay,” Tori nodded, typing away. “Good. And how do I spell, ‘Eviiiilll’?”

“Use four ‘i’s and three ‘l’s,” Beck supplied.

“Got it.” Tori finished typing out the line and continued, “Okay, now, why don’t we say, the mom walks into the closet to find her son’s face being eaten by—”

“—by a giraffe!” Cat suggested with a giggle.

“Cat, we said we weren’t going to do the giraffe idea,” Tori said gently.

“Okay, then maybe a demon?” Cat shrugged.

“A demon, yeah,” Andre nodded. “That could work.”

“A demon,” Tori narrated as she typed. “What else we got?”

“Didn’t you say that—” Beck was cut off by a loud doorbell ringing from Cat’s video.

Cat gasped excitedly, perking up much like a dog on alert. “Ding-dong,” she sang softly. “Oh, I have to go,” Cat whispered quietly, glancing past the camera, presumably toward her door. Her face was uncharacteristically solemn. “My brother’s home, and he needs my help.” Cat signed off pretty quickly after that.

Tori groaned and sank back into her chair.

“What happened?” Trina asked, leaning over.

“We just lost Cat. Her brother came home.”

“Ah,” Trina nodded. “Her brother seems really strange.”

“I know,” Tori agreed.

“Let’s just continue,” Beck suggested. He recapped, “Okay, so there’s evil in the closet. ‘Eviiiilll.’”

Tori readily joined. “Yeah, so what if the closet starts to turn into this fiery den of—”

Another video chat request appeared on the screen.

Tori let out a whine of frustration. “It’s Robbie again. He wants to rejoin our chat.”

“No,” Andre said, shaking his head, as Beck similarly deadpanned, “Deny it.”

“Denied.” Tori was already clicking on it, even before the boys provided their opinions.

Then, there was a loud banging coming from Beck’s video.

“Open the door!” a familiar voice shouted, sounding distant and somewhat muffled.

Tori squinted at Beck’s video. “Is that Jade?”

“Yep,” Beck confirmed tiredly. In a louder voice, he shouted back, “I’m busy working on a project!”

The banging continued, more fervent now. “I need to talk to you!”

“Sorry!” Beck replied loudly. “Door’s locked!”

There was a crash and the sound of metal clanking onto concrete pavement.

Beck frowned. “And now it’s not locked,” he remarked dryly as Jade strode into the trailer.

“She has a key?” Tori asked, confused.

“No, she has a foot,” Beck corrected. Jade stood just at the edge of the frame of the camera, hands on her hips.

“What is going on?” she demanded. Andre and Tori exchanged a look.

“You just kicked my door open,” Beck retorted indignantly, cradling the small puppy to his chest again, rather protectively.

“Put the dog down, and tell me about this cheerleader chick who lives next door,” Jade continued firmly.

“I’m not gonna put the dog down!” Beck argued back.

“Oh, aren’t you?” Jade challenged icily.

“If you want to meet the cheerleader,” Beck sighed, “she’ll be back any minute to pick up her dog.”

“Then I’ll wait for her.” Jade took a seat on the other side of Beck’s bed in the background, a fierce scowl etched into her face.

“Whatever you want,” Beck relented exasperatedly.

“Okay,” Tori grimaced. “Can we get back to writing the script now?”

“Yeah, let’s get this done,” Andre agreed, an edge of impatience bleeding into his normally lax voice.

“Okay,” Beck said. “Boy in closet, face getting eaten. Mom walks in, and…”

“Another video chat request?” Tori gaped in disbelief.

“Who is it now?” Andre asked, tossing his pen onto the table beside his PearBook with a soft clatter.

“Someone named…” Tori frowned. “Lil Stephanie 21?”

“Who’s she?” Beck asked, eyebrows furrowed.

“I dunno,” Tori shrugged. “Let me see,” she sighed.

“Hello…” Robbie said with a sheepish smile.

“Robbie!” Tori slapped her palm against her forehead.

“Dude,” Andre deadpanned.

“Oh, come on,” Beck groaned.

“You created a fake screen name?” Tori demanded hotly.

“You denied my real one!” Robbie countered.

“But why Lil Stephanie 21?” Andre asked, still confused.

“Because Lil Stephanie 1 through 20 were already taken,” Robbie replied like that explained everything.

It did not.

“You… couldn’t have picked a boy’s name?” Tori asked.

“Well…” Robbie hesitated.

“Says a lot, doesn’t it?” Rex snidely remarked.

“Hey!” Robbie snapped at the puppet. “Look,” he said, shaking his head. “Don’t you guys agree that if a person says he’ll see a movie with you on Sunday night, he should honor that commitment and not just leave me hanging?”

Tori clicked Kick.

“What happened to Robbie?” Beck asked.

“My finger,” Tori replied.

“Ah,” Beck nodded.

“Alright, we’re not accepting any more chat requests, okay?” Tori sighed.

Both boys agreed readily, and Jade retreated back to the background, sulking.

“Andre!” a new voice called from off-screen.

“Oh man, that’s my parents,” Andre explained. “Guess they’re here to take over.”

“Andre, go home and make sure your sister has dinner,” a woman’s voice instructed firmly.

“But Mom, I’m in the middle of a—”

“Now, Andre,” the woman insisted. Somewhere in the back, Andre’s grandmother screamed again.

“I gotta go, guys. I’ll join again when I’m back at home,” he promised before logging off.

“Guess that just leaves you and me,” Beck sighed.

“And me,” Jade protested.

“Let’s just get an F and be done with this,” Tori groaned, sinking back into her seat.

“Oh, come on,” Beck grinned. “We can finish this script ourselves.”

“You really think so?” Tori asked.

“Sure,” Beck replied readily. “Why don’t we just try to—”

There was a tapping on Beck’s trailer door.

“Oh, now what?” Tori groaned. “Is that your cheerleader friend?” She watched as a Cheshire Cat grin spread across Jade’s face, not unlike the one Jade wore when she and Jade were assigned to be stage fighting partners. Tori felt a shiver run down her spine at the memory of that anxiety-inducing project. Jade sat up straight, eagerly anticipating the interaction.

“Come in,” Beck called out.

“Yeah, come in!” Jade repeated sharply.

“Hi, Beck!” a little girl in a cheerleading uniform greeted Beck brightly, striding up to his side.

“Hi, Allie,” Beck greeted her back kindly. He carefully handed the puppy over.

Jade looked absolutely horrified, mortified, and appalled. Her mouth hung agape as she stared openly at the little girl who settled by Beck’s side. Tori grinned.

“Jade,” Beck said, “this is my neighbor, Allie. Allie, this is my girlfriend, Jade.”

“Nice to meet you,” Allie turned around to greet Jade, who finally recovered enough sense to snap her jaw shut.

Jade’s lips were pulled into a tight smile. “Hello, Allie,” she replied with a small wave.

“Thanks for taking care of Sparkles,” Allie turned back to Beck, still cradling the small furball to her chest.

“Anytime, kiddo,” Beck replied brightly.

“Your girlfriend’s pretty,” Allie stage-whispered.

“I know,” Beck replied likewise, grinning knowingly.

“Bye,” Allie sang as she stood up and waved to the couple.

“See ya,” Beck waved. Jade sucked on her teeth in the background, warily observing the little girl until she exited the trailer.

As soon as the little girl was out of sight, Jade got to her feet and immediately plopped back down to Beck’s side.

“Wow, Jade,” Tori drawled, smirking. It wasn’t often such a golden opportunity presented itself to Tori. So, of course, Tori had to take advantage of it. “Looks like you got some competition there.”

“You gonna say you’re sorry?” Beck teased.

“You didn’t tell me she was nine,” Jade protested.

“You didn’t give me the chance,” Beck countered.

“Don’t try to turn this around on me,” Jade argued.

Tori could already see the bickering snowballing into a full-blown fight. “Hey,” she tried to say over the rising voices. “Beck? Listen… Can you guys fight later?”

“Stay out of this, Tori!” Jade yelled abruptly.

“But I just need Beck to help me write—” Jade forcefully clicked to leave the chat on Beck’s computer, and Tori groaned.

She pulled out her earbuds and unplugged them, coiling them to stuff them back into her carryon bag.

“Now, what’re you going to do?” Trina asked with a sympathetic frown.

“I’m going to continue working on it until we land. And then hopefully Andre and I can finalize it when we get home. We have…” Tori checked her phone, “62 minutes until we land, and I’m sure if I type really fast, I’ll be able to get down most of the ideas that kept getting interrupted.” Tori rolled up her sleeves and got to work.

Though Tori was running on a total of maybe 12 hours of sleep for the past three days, she sped out of the airport like she was hyped on her third cup of caffeine that night. Trina sped home, as eager to get to her own bed as her sister was to finish her assignment.

Andre was ready and waiting by the time Tori logged back on. They had been able to work together for the last 30 minutes of the flight that Tori was allowed to use her PearBook.

Together, they were able to cobble together a ramshackle script that meandered and barely made sense. But the basic criteria were met.

At least three characters. A mystery. A surprise twist.

Tori was delirious by the time she and Andre exchanged goodnights and logged off.

Exhausted, Tori barely had enough energy to wash her face before changing into sweats (leaving her worn clothes on her bedroom floor) and climbing under her sheets. She fell asleep immediately.

Jade’s POV

“You know that’s not true!” Beck insisted.

“Isn’t it?” Jade retorted hotly. “First, Alyssa Vaughn, and now that?”

“Allie is nine years old!”

“A fact that you conveniently forgot to mention!”

“You didn’t give me the chance!” Beck repeated, enunciating each word.

“You could’ve led with that piece of information. Or mentioned it in passing instead of focusing on the stupid Gradstein script!”

“Gradstein is a hard teacher! We all needed this assignment to boost our grades!”

“I could’ve helped you with the assignment if you hadn’t distracted me with the stupid cheerleader who lives next door!”

Beck paused. “Wait, you… you would’ve done that? For me? For us?”

“Well, mainly for you, but I guess for the others too,” Jade shrugged. “Besides, you know I got the top grade in Gradstein’s class last semester.”

“I guess I forgot you took Gradstein,” Beck chuckled, all anger and frustration suddenly gone.

Just like that, the tense atmosphere was broken.

Jade sighed. “I don’t like when there are potential threats hanging around you. People who could push me out.”

“No one can push you out,” Beck stated firmly. He cupped Jade’s jaw and softly said, “Hey. No one can replace you. No one will.”

“I just get so jealous,” Jade admitted quietly.

“I know. We’ll work through this together, eh?”

“You know I hate your stupid Canadian accent,” Jade grinned, no bite in her grumble.

“It just slips out sometimes,” Beck shrugged with a matching grin. “Just like your jealousy slips out sometimes. Sometimes, we can’t help it.”

“Yeah,” Jade agreed. “You’re too good-looking to let go.”

Beck chuckled. “Is that all I am?”

“You’re nice too,” Jade offered coyly. “And…” she feigned being deep in thought.

“I love you,” he smiled.

“Right back at you,” Jade grinned, pulling him into a kiss.

“We are going to work on this jealousy thing though,” Beck reiterated, pulling away from the kiss and embrace briefly.

“Yeah, yeah,” Jade said, diving back into the contact.

Chapter Text

Tori’s POV

Somehow, the four were able to turn in the assignment the next day, even though they barely made it to seven pages.

Tori had study hall for second period, so she took a power nap and woke up feeling much recovered from the weekend.

At lunch, Andre, Tori, Beck, and Jade were gathered around the table, mostly not talking. Beck and Jade seemed cozy again. Andre and Tori were both too tired to comment, and they decided to just bask in the peace while it lasted.

Cat joined them soon after, proudly plopping a large square device in the center of the table, a silent squeal of excitement coming out of her open mouth.

The four stared at the machine for one second, then collectively returned to their lunches.

“Don’t you guys wanna know what that is?” Cat asked.

“Is it a transporter from the future that can beam you to another table? ‘Cause if it is, what button do I push?” Jade deadpanned.

“That’s mean,” Cat pouted.

“You know,” Tori sprang to Cat’s defense, “you don’t always have to be mean to everyone.”

“See?” Cat wrapped an arm around Tori as she sat down. “Tori’s interested in my device.”

“I’m really not…” Tori admitted. Cat retreated her arm. Tori caught Jade glaring at her, and she answered it with a quizzical frown. Tori was sure that after she helped Jade patch things up with Beck, at least some of the pointed glares and icy demeanors would fade. Clearly, Tori was wrong, and Jade was keeping just as much (if not more) distance between them.

“Aw, c’mon, Little Red,” Andre cooed, draping an arm around a slouched Cat. “Show us your doo-hickey.”

Tori smiled. Leave it to Andre to pick up Cat’s mood. Cat brightened almost immediately at the prompt.

“Okay,” she declared. “It’s called the Snowbee! Watch.” She leaned forward to fiddle with the settings and then push a button.

Suddenly, the air was filled with little white flecks propelled into the sky and falling down like… snow.

Jade managed to shut it off amidst the white chaos.

“It makes pretend-snow!” Cat cheerfully explained, squealing with glee.

“I see that,” Andre noted, unamused.

Beck examined his lunch tray. “It’s all over my tostada…”

“And my pizza,” Tori bemoaned.

“Well, do not eat it,” Cat warned gravely.

“Why?” Jade drew out the question in an annoyed tone as she picked out pieces of the fake snow from her hair and her jacket.

“Because it says,” Cat said, reading from a manual, “the fake snow is toxic and can cause abdominal bleeding.”

The four glanced at their trays, now completely covered in the white substance, and simultaneously pushed their trays to the center of the table, far away from their rumbling stomachs.

“So, what made you buy a machine that poisons people’s lunches?” Tori asked.

Cat proudly held up a thick magazine. “This catalog!”

“Sky Store?” Beck read the cover.

“Yeah!” Cat chirped. “I went to visit my uncle and uncle last Saturday in San Francisco, and they had these on the plane! It’s like,” Cat began to flip through the catalog, “filled with all kinds of cool stuff you can buy.” She gasped. “Ooh, like this: a tree face!” She turned the magazine around to show the group the entry in question. “You put it on your tree to give it a face.”

“What if you don’t have a tree?” Tori indulged the line of questioning.

“It also works on bushes!” Cat replied happily.

“Unbelievable!” Robbie stormed over to the table, shaking his head. “You guys have no idea how upset I am about—” Robbie paused to take stock of the scene in front of him, just as he was about to take a seat. “It snowed? In Los Angeles?!”

“I told you global warming was bogus,” Rex declared.

“Stop watching Fox News!” Robbie shot back.

“No!” Rex shook his head. “It’s fair. And balanced.”

“Dude…” Tori chuckled at Robbie’s near meltdown.

“It’s not real snow,” Beck explained calmly.

“But you can eat it,” Jade offered a forkful of the substance, a chillingly faux-sweet smile on her face.

Robbie sagged into the seat next to Tori. “I don’t wanna eat anything,” he mumbled.

“What’re you all upset about?” Andre asked.

Beck tiredly added, “This time.”

“Well,” Robbie sighed and began to explain, “the seniors, the ones who run The Slap?”

“Dot com?” Cat supplied helpfully. Or, she must have thought so.

“No, dot gov,” Robbie replied back with an unusually large dose of sarcasm. “Yes, dot com!” he exclaimed. “They want to cancel my blog!”

“Why?” Jade asked with sudden enthusiasm, but before anyone could comment, she snapped her fingers like she just had a sudden realization. “Oh wait, I don’t care.”

Tori rolled her eyes and turned to Robbie. “Why?” she asked sincerely.

“‘Cause it’s boring,” Rex cut in before Robbie could respond.

“It is not bor—” Robbie growled in frustration. “Do you guys think that my blog on The Slap is boring?”

Beck grimaced and looked out into the distance. “Hey, look!” he said, a terrible approximation of a convincing lie. “It’s that guy over there!”

Cat turned over her shoulder, catching on quick. “It is that guy,” she agreed, gathering her Sky Store catalog and her backpack as Andre did the same next to her.

“Wait up, guy!” Andre added.

As Jade, the last of the four to make their hasty exit, passed behind Tori and Robbie, she added in a low voice, a smirk apparent in her words, “There is no guy.” She strode off confidently to join the other three in the distance.

Tori sighed and turned back to her friend in need. “I’m sorry they wanna cancel your blog.”

“I just don’t understand why.” Robbie hit his palm on the table and slumped.

“Well, what kind of things do you report on?”

“Y’know, school news! The whole reason The Slap dot com was even created? I wrote a review of Trina’s one-woman show last week—which, by the way, please keep your sister from killing me? I had to do it out of journalist integrity, you understand, don’t you?”

Tori nodded, knowing full well how fuming Trina was for the first half of the weekend. “Yeah, I know. I think she partied out most of her aggression at our cousin’s wedding over the weekend though, so you should be fine.”

Robbie sighed in relief. “Thanks.” He continued, “Oh, and last week I also did a report about the library being painted.”

“Boring!” Rex chimed in, unwarranted. “Your review of Trina’s play as a comedy was the best thing you wrote in the last three years.”

“I’m only a sophomore!” Robbie blustered.

“Exactly,” Rex replied snidely.

Tori rolled her eyes and sighed. “What else?” she prompted.

“Um, I did a piece on Principal Eikner’s new office makeover,” Robbie tried.

Rex let out an obnoxious yawn, which was strange to observe, given that his face was wooden and couldn’t emote like normal human beings. (Wait, why was Tori even entertaining this line of thought again?)

Tori held in a groan and instead took a deep breath as she picked at pieces of the fake snow.

“Oh!” Robbie exclaimed, noticing Tori’s disinterest, “I did a three-part series on carpooling.”

“Which was three parts too many,” Rex quipped.

“Look,” Tori sighed. “If you wanna save your blog, why don’t you just make it about the students here?” she suggested. “You know, like all the stuff that goes on in their lives.”

“You think?” Robbie grinned, a glimmer of hope shining in his bespectacled eyes.

“Sure!” Tori nodded confidently.

“Okay,” Robbie agreed. “I can try that.”

“Good,” Tori said, standing up and collecting her bag. “Oh, and uh, don’t eat the snow unless you wanna bleed internally.” She patted Robbie on the back before heading inside.

“Okay!” Robbie bobbed his head.

The next morning, before school, something caught Tori’s eye in the mirror she hung up on the inside of her locker door as she exchanged her books for the morning.

Leave it to the lack of sleep and the overwhelming stress of the previous week to culminate in a pimple. Tori groaned and did her best to pinch her fingers to pop it, but it wouldn’t budge. She sighed and glanced around, hoping no one saw her struggles, and with a sinking feeling growing in her gut, she spotted Robbie with a camcorder recording an interview with Sinjin. She quickly ducked her head and sped down the hallway, hoping that the interview didn’t catch any of that.

Tori had never had good luck with timing most of her life.

Of course, the next day, all the school hallways were buzzing about Robbie's “pimple piece” on The Slap. Flushed and humiliated, Tori dodged question after question and catcall after catcall with variations on her pimple popping habits exposed to the whole school—courtesy of one Robert Shapiro.

She turned the corner and spotted the curly head in question.

“Robbie!” she growled. Robbie squeaked and turned tail, sprinting down the hallway, but not fast enough. Tori caught him by the backpack and hauled him back a few steps before spinning him around to face her.

“Heya, Tori,” Robbie chuckled nervously. “How are things?” he grimaced.

Tori glared at Robbie for a long moment.

“I see you’re still rockin’ that chin zit,” Rex greeted her snidely.

Tori raised a fist and took a step forward menacingly. Robbie took a defensive step back, leaning Rex away.

“You hit me, I’ll sue!” Rex warned.

“You wouldn’t make it to court,” Tori growled. She dropped her fist with a sigh and turned to Robbie. “How could you post that video of me squeezing my pimple?” she asked angrily.

“You told me to make my blog about the students,” Robbie defended, “the stuff that goes on in their lives.”

“Yeah!” Tori huffed. “Not the stuff that grows on my face!”

“But it’s really popular,” Robbie insisted.

“I told you to do stories about what’s going on in students’ lives, not to embarrass and degrade people. I mean, seriously,” Tori took a step forward, “is being popular that important to you?”

Robbie stayed quiet.

The bell rang, cutting their conversation short. Robbie sped away after exchanging a look with Rex. Whatever that meant.

Tori didn’t have time to find out. She had a math test to get to.

Tori found out the next day. She had been tagged in several Slap posts throughout the afternoon, all stupidly vague, yet all laughing hysterically. Jade, Beck, Andre, and Sinjin were also tagged in the same ones.

Finally, during study hall in her last period, Practical Acting, Andre, Tori, Jade, and Beck gathered around Andre’s PearBook to finally watch the video.

“Welcome to Robarazzi,” Robbie’s voice narrated over the poorly edited video. “Starring Robbie Shapiro,” an on-screen Robbie added in an undertone with a wink and a grin. “Robarazzi,” the intro continued, “your home for up-to-the-minute, tasty gossip about the students at Hollywood Arts. Robarazzi,” the intro repeated, “starring Robbie Shapiro.”

“Oh my god,” Tori deadpanned at the cringe-y intro. It looked way too similar to the celebrity gossip columns and TV shows Trina loved to watch.

“Coming up on Robarazzi,” Robbie narrated from the video. “Tori Vega’s pimple: shrinking or growing?”

Tori’s hand self-consciously rose to dab at the pimple as she frowned. She spotted Beck’s hand also approaching, and she swatted it away. “Don’t touch it,” she snapped.

“Also,” the video continued, “does Andre Harris have a ketchup problem?” The video had switched to showing a terribly Photo-Docked picture of Andre holding a massive bottle of ketchup. And not even a good brand, Tori noted. “Hmm?” The video-Robbie held up a similar bottle of ketchup to further his point.

The group of four watching the video exchanged glances and quizzical frowns with each other. Andre shook his head vehemently.

But the video wasn’t done yet. “Does Sinjin Van Cleef steal famous teeth?”

Everyone nodded at that one. That seemed the most probable out of all the headlines Robarazzi was introducing.

Then came the big whammy. “Is it Splitsville for Beck and Jade?”

Jade’s eyes went wide, and her face darkened into a glower as she glared fiercely at the PearBook, barely remembering to swallow the sip of coffee she just took. Beck seemed to smirk knowingly, and Tori frowned. Such contradictory reactions.

“All this and more,” the video concluded, “on Robarazzi.” The video never failed to add in an undertone, “Starring Robbie Shapiro.”

Tori leapt to her feet and stopped the video. “He’s a dead man,” she declared.

“Beck and I aren’t splitting up!” Jade thundered.

“Well…” Beck mused.

Jade glared dangerously at her boyfriend. “Dude…”

“Kidding,” he assured Jade, hands up in surrender.

“I use an appropriate amount of ketchup!” Andre insisted.

“Let’s go fix this right now,” Tori asserted. The group of four all gathered their things and headed to the door. Tori paused, noticing her redheaded friend hadn’t budged from her spot since they all sat down to watch the video. “Uh, Cat, are you coming?”

“Oh my god!” Cat squealed, ignoring Tori’s question. “Underwear that floats!” She immediately grabbed her phone, setting her Sky Store magazine into her lap.

Tori shook her head and headed for the door, finding the other three already gathered there. There was a flash of something in Jade’s eyes that Tori only barely was able to glimpse. But Jade’s scowl was still firmly in place, and when Tori realized she was staring for a beat too long, Jade turned her icy glare toward Tori.

Tori gulped and ducked her head. She led the charge to the video production room which doubled as The Slap headquarters.

“Hey!” Tori shouted as she slammed the door open, followed by Andre, Beck, and Jade.

“I don’t use any more ketchup than the next guy!” Andre exploded.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,” Robbie raised his hands placatingly. “Come on, guys, we’re in the middle of taping my show.”

But the four weren’t having it. They stormed up to Robbie at his podium, backing him up significantly.

“Beck and I aren’t ‘Splitsville’!” Jade thundered next.

“Well…” Beck hesitated.

“Is there something you want to talk about?” Jade rounded on Beck.

Beck chuckled. “Kidding,” he said again, running a hand up and down Jade’s arm.

“Uh, are you guys getting this?” Robbie said, and Tori whirled around to see he was not addressing his friends, but rather the camera-people: Sinjin and some other girl stationed at two corners of the room. “‘Cause this is really great stuff!”

“Robbie!” Tori pulled the curly-haired puppeteer’s attention back to the issue at hand. “You’re not gonna have any friends left if you keep exploiting us for your dumb blog!”

“Okay,” Robbie nodded, picking up a marker and turning to his clear whiteboard like a cool tech bro he was trying to imitate. “We have…” he narrated as he scribbled on the board, “Tori… fuh-reaking out.”

Tori gaped at Robbie’s back. “Is he serious?”

She heard her appalled sentiments echoed by her three friends. The four of them advanced toward Robbie, all their voices overlapping and rising in volume and anger as Robbie continued to shrug off the accusations with a smile and indignant deflections of blame.

Finally, Tori had enough. “STOP!” she cried out, silencing the room. “This is your last chance,” Tori prodded a finger at Robbie’s chest. “Are you gonna stop this Robarazzi thing or not?” she demanded, crossing her arms angrily.

Robbie didn’t answer.

Tori rolled her eyes and stormed out of the office. He looked crestfallen. She hoped he learned his lesson.

The rest of the group filed out after her.

Later that night, Tori got her answer.

She sat on one of the living room half-sofas, PearBook on her lap, as she watched the latest video she was tagged in.

“Coming up on Robarazzi,” Robbie announced. “Tori, Andre, Beck, Jade. All caught on a psychotic rampage.” The video cut to a slow motion clip of the commotion that happened in The Slap headquarters earlier that afternoon, with all four of them looking flustered and irritated and all the more ridiculous in slow-motion. “Is anyone safe?” Robbie questioned in the video.

Tori growled and slammed her PearBook shut.

Robbie was asking for it.

At lunch, Tori was a jumpy mess.

Every student who passed by seemed to have some comment to make about the four of them sitting there with Cat.

“Ugh,” Tori grouched. “I’m so mad at Robbie. I feel like everyone is staring at my pimple!”

“Everyone is,” Jade quipped. Tori glared. Jade shrugged.

“How do you think I feel?” Andre chimed in. “Five people today have asked me about my ‘ketchup addiction.’” He bounced his fingers in air quotes around the exaggerated accusation. “One kid called me Mr. Ketchup.”

Everyone shook their heads solemnly in empathy. Well, except Cat.

“It’s all Tori’s fault,” Jade decided, stabbing at her salad.

“Really?” Tori retorted tiredly. She had had enough of Jade’s grouchy attitude, and frankly, from all the recent events stacking up, her spiking anxiety was quickly becoming the norm. And Tori didn’t like it.

“They were about to kick Robbie off The Slap,” Jade pointed out. “You were the one who told him to start reporting on our personal lives. Then you gave him ideas by letting him shoot video of you playing with your pimple.” Jade quietly ordered Andre without skipping a beat, “Gimme the salt.”

Andre handed over the salt, and Jade shook a generous amount over her fries.

“Hey, Andre,” some sandy-haired towering hunk of a junior sneered. “We thought you might need this,” he grinned, now flanked by two equally smug-looking nobodies. The junior placed an industrial-sized jug of ketchup onto the table by Andre’s elbow. “Save some for dinner,” he snarked before walking away with his two snickering buddies.

“I do not,” Andre shouted, rising from his seat and brandishing the jug, “have a ketchup problem!”

“Andre, Andre! Right here! Look over here!” a sudden clamor of high-pitched squealing boy voices sounded behind Tori and Cat, facing Andre directly. Flashes and auto-focusing beeps followed, and Andre blinked and flinched at the sudden sensory overload.

A gaggle of freshmen holding cameras and eager smiles were tripping over each other to snap an exclusive picture of Andre holding the massive jug of ketchup.

Tori, Beck, and Jade shooed them away loudly, and Cat looked on with amusement.

“Who were they?” Andre frowned.

“Robarazzis,” Beck explained tiredly.

“Robbie’s little ninth-grade photographers,” Jade added with a lingering glare at any stragglers.

“Aw man, now Robbie’s got pics of me with this industrial-size ketchup!” Andre moaned. “We gotta do something.” He set the jug down by the empty seat next to him.

“Clearly,” Jade snapped.

“I think we just have to show Robbie that we’re not gonna be his friends until he stops embarrassing everybody,” Tori concluded.

Cat giggled in approval as she bent to fiddle with her new machine.

“That from the Sky Store?” Beck questioned Cat.

Cat nodded. “Uh-huh.”

“What is it?” Andre asked.

“It’s the world’s most powerful portable juicer!” Cat assumed an announcer voice to recite the tagline: “For juicing on the go!”

“My god…” Jade murmured, a pitying look on her face as she studied Cat.

“No, it’s really cool, trust me,” Cat protested, standing up. “Look’it.” She grabbed the slice of pizza Beck was about to bite into and opened up the short chute at the top of the machine. She pressed it down with the long baton-like extension that slotted into the chute and flipped the switch, and, sure enough, a reddish liquid flowed out of the bottom spout into the cup already positioned below.

Cat handed the cup over proudly to Beck. Beck took it with a wary glance. “You juiced my pizza,” he deadpanned, clearly unamused.

“Why chew what you can drink?” Cat asked like it was an obvious choice.

As everyone pondered the philosophical question Cat posed, Robbie approached the table, humming and scatting cheerily.

“What’s up, my peeps?” he declared, squeezing in next to Andre’s seat where there was no space. Jade flinched at the contact, pressing herself closer to Beck’s side. Andre grudgingly scooted over as Robbie set down his bag and lunch tray. “How’s everyone doin’ this fine day?” he grinned.

Everyone, including Cat, gave him blank stares. Tori and Jade crossed their arms and full-on glared at the newcomer.

Robbie paused and smirked, pointing at the jug of ketchup on Andre’s other side. “Do you really need that much ketchup?” He chuckled at his own joke, glancing around the table and expecting similar reactions to his joke when Andre grabbed Robbie’s backpack and flung it across the Asphalt Cafe.

Jade quickly followed up by grabbing Robbie’s lunch tray, barely opened, and launching the enchilada across the table for it to land with an unappetizing splat onto the concrete pavement a few paces away from the table.

Robbie gaped at the attacks and dumbfoundedly asked, “What’s wrong with you guys?”

Tori leaned forward and repeated her plea yet again. “Stop embarrassing us on your dumb Robarazzi blog!”

“Seriously, Rob, it’s not funny anymore, okay?” Jade chimed in.

The others quickly followed suit. Even Cat added sternly, “It’s not nice!” (Because, yeah, Robbie had done an expose on Cat’s shopping addiction too. Which was, kind of like the expose on Sinjin, pretty accurate. Unlike the rest of the stupid stories Robbie was spinning.)

Robbie shouted over all the protests, “You guys embarrass yourselves!” The protests immediately silenced. “I just get it on tape and show the world,” he shrugged.

“And that somehow excuses it?” Tori blustered.

“Well, we don’t wanna be your friends ‘til you stop,” Andre declared firmly.

“Fine,” Robbie shrugged confidently. “Lots of other people want to be my friends. Smart and attractive people,” he shouted. “See ya on the web,” he said with finality as he slunk away.

“Do you want me to juice your bagel?” Cat asked in an attempt to lighten the heavy mood.

“I really don’t,” Tori replied, shaking her head with a sad smile. Sometimes she wondered how much of Cat’s playfully childish antics were really her and not just a personality choice.

“Well, the offer’s here, if you change your mind,” Cat chirped brightly as she patted her portable juicer.

Tori sighed and buried her head into her folded arms on the lunch table. Maybe if she hid her head, people would stop staring at her pimple.

Later that night, as Tori trudged through her homework, her phone rang. It was the ringtone for unknown numbers. Frowning, Tori accepted the call. “Who are you, and why is your number blocked?” she greeted the caller with a sigh.

A familiar voice raged from the other side, screaming obscenities and incoherent threats of bodily harm that barely made sense.

“Jade?” Tori hadn’t realized her number was blocked. When did Jade steal her phone and do that? They were literally texting directly just a few weeks ago. And they were still in the group chat that Cat had made with all six of them together. Though Tori thought back and realized Jade seemed to be rather quiet in that chat lately. Even though Tori had chalked that up to her just being antisocial like her usual prickly self.

“... I can’t believe that curly-haired idiot could do this!” Jade was screaming. “I mean, who does he think he is? He’s seriously creepier than Sinjin, and that’s saying a lot! I mean, this… this is fucking illegal, it has to be!”

“Jade?” Tori repeated, unable to get a word in edgewise. “Jade, I don’t—”

But Jade’s voice kept buffeting over Tori’s words like an unstoppable wave. “He’s a fucking creep, and you enabled him! Filming me and Beck—” Jade paused abruptly to heave a heavy sigh. “This is all your fault, Vega. I’m gonna fucking eviscerate him and his stupid puppet! I’ll fucking burn them both to ashes!”

“Why are you screaming at me?” Tori snapped.

“Because it’s your fault!” Jade screamed into the speaker.

“How is it my fault that Robbie—”

“I told you during lunch and I’ll say it again! You convinced Robbie to do his stupid—”

“Jade,” Tori sighed, cutting across Jade’s old spiel before she had to hear it again.

“Just go to The Slap. There’s a new video Robbie posted. Do it now!”

“Okay, okay! I’ll watch it,” Tori said.

“Now, Vega!”

“Right now,” Tori confirmed with an eye roll.

“Good.” And Jade hung up.

Tori shook her head and went back to her PearBook to open up The Slap and click on the new trending Robarazzi video. She rolled her eyes through the intro and only perked to attention when Robbie’s sidekick, a blond whose name Tori couldn’t remember at the moment, chuckled, “I got Beck and Jade in the front seat of Beck’s car, and…” He grinned, allowing a pregnant pause to swell. “You need to see this.”

The camera panned to the TV screen behind Robbie, who also turned to watch. The TV screen was filled with handheld footage of the backs of Beck and Jade’s head.

“C’mon,” Beck was pleading with Jade. “Let’s just go. It’ll be fun.”

“No,” Jade whined.

“Why not?” Beck asked.

“‘Cause,” Jade sat up from her slouch and turned to lean in towards Beck more fully. “I… I didn’t shower this morning, and I had tuna fish for lunch…” she began to list out what seemed like excuses. Tori frowned. Where was this going? “And…” Jade stopped short, suddenly noticing a presence. Slowly, she turned to the camera. She startled and glared. “There’s a dude in the back seat!”

“What the—” Beck turned in his seat like Jade. “Hey, man!” he exploded. “What are you doing?” he demanded. “This is my car!”

“Get out!” Jade shrieked.

“Are you out of your mind?” Beck continued to shout as the camera began to rise unsteadily and quickly back away.

“What is wrong with you?” Jade cried out just before the camera panned away in a hurry, and the film cut to black. “I’m gonna kill you!” was the last line of audio captured on the footage before the TV screen went black.

Tori slammed her PearBook shut, heart thudding, mind racing.

That was crossing so many lines, Tori didn’t even know where to begin. She was certain her dad would have something to say, but she didn’t want to get Robbie thrown into jail for this. Still, it violated so much privacy. And Beck and Jade were Robbie’s friends, for crying out loud.

The front door opened, and Holly strode in, holding armfuls of shopping bags. “Hey, Tor,” she greeted her youngest daughter brightly.

“Hi, Mom,” Tori replied glumly.

“Take off your shirt,” Holly instructed as she sped toward the dining table, where Tori was seated, trying to do homework.

“Why?” Tori frowned.

“When was the last time you shaved under your arms?” Holly asked instead, spreading out her haul across the table.

“I dunno,” Tori shrugged. “Last night? This morning?”

“Are you stubbly yet?” Holly continued to interrogate.

“Uh,” Tori hesitated, reaching under her shirt to feel her underarm. “Maybe a little,” she admitted.

“Oh, good,” Holly practically squealed. “Shirt off,” she repeated. “Come on.”

“Okay…” Tori began to unbutton her flannel. “You wanna tell me what this is about?” She shrugged off the shirt and draped it across the back of the kitchen chair she had been using for most of the night.

“I found this new depilatory cream from Sweden, and it totally made me think of you,” Holly explained, holding up a wide, white tub with a blue lid on it.

“Why me?” Tori frowned.

“Depila-Tori?” Holly shrugged.

“Oh my god,” Tori muttered under her breath.

“Okay, arms up,” Holly instructed, waving her hands to will Tori’s limbs to do exactly that. She unscrewed the lid and scooped up a generous amount onto her fingertips. “All the way.”

Tori did as she was told, a sour smile on her face.

“Alright,” Holly murmured as she applied the thick, white paste. “We just smear this stuff under both your arms,” Holly rubbed a lot of the cream under each arm, “and in 15 minutes, your pits will be as smooth as a baby’s butt.”

“I can’t wait,” Tori said sarcastically, already feeling the strain on her shoulders.

“Why does it seem like you’re in a weird mood?” Holly asked as she searched for a kitchen towel to clean off her hands.

“Because,” Tori sighed, letting her arms bend at the elbows to cross over her head. “You know my friend, Robbie?”

“Glasses, puppet, afro?” Holly confirmed.

Tori nodded. “Yeah. He started doing this online blog thing…” Tori trailed off.

A few more than just a gaggle of ninth-graders, Robbie’s Robarazzis, Tori noted bitterly, were flashing their cameras and clamoring outside of the glass doors leading to the backyard.

“Hey, hey! Get out of here!” Tori blustered, rushing at the doors.

“Whoa, arms up!” Holly exclaimed. Tori grunted but raised her arms back up again.

“Go! Get away!” Tori shouted through the glass door. “What are you doing?! Leave! Get off my patio!” Tori huffed and turned back to her mother, lowering her arms in frustration.

“Keep your arms up!” Holly repeated, panic in her eyes.

“They’re up!” Tori sighed in exasperation, raising them back up straight over her head. “Okay,” Tori decided. “I need to put an end to this now.”

“Put an end to what?” Holly questioned, but Tori brushed past her mother without another word. “Why do those kids want pictures of you?”

Tori rolled her eyes as she stomped up the stairs. Not like her mother was the type to actually listen whenever Tori vented. She fell backward onto her bed to wait out the rest of the 15 minutes in peace, arms up over her head, while still somewhat comfortable.

When she was finally free to wash off the cream, she toweled off in the bathroom before grabbing her phone from the kitchen table and starting a new group chat: Revenge on Robarazzi.

(She also unblocked Jade’s number immediately. She still had no idea why or how that happened.)

(And, okay, maybe the name was a bit dramatic, but Tori was past the point of being embarrassed. Every new humiliation was just more fuel to her burning, fiery anger.)

Together, the five of them concocted the perfect revenge plan.

Tori’s pit cream pics were already trending on The Slap by Monday morning. But Tori ignored it with a clenched jaw and a scowl.

Robbie was going to regret messing with Tori.

Tori paced back and forth frantically while Jade observed the camera she had been loaned from Beck. It was the same model as the ones the freshmen seemed to wield so frequently these days, and Tori noted a glimmer of fascination and intrigue as Jade carefully studied the instrument in her hands. Tori herself was too fraught with anxiety and anticipation for this all to be over that she couldn’t keep still or appreciate this moment of a quiet and contemplative Jade.

“Where are they?” Tori groaned.

“Patience,” Jade drawled, flicking a lazy glance toward either end of the hallway they waited in.

“But they ended Gym ten minutes ago!” Tori was quickly losing what little sanity she had left after this week.

Jade sighed and pushed off the wall of lockers she was leaning against. “It takes time to get from the locker room all the way here.”

Tori shook her head and checked each end of the hall one last desperate time.

“Hey, did that pit cream work?” Jade suddenly asked.

“Never,” Tori hissed lowly, “speak of it.”

Jade arched her eyebrow in amusement but kept her mouth shut. There was something twinkling in Jade’s eye that Tori recognized to be akin to mirth, but not quite. There was something… else. Jade turned around to check the other end of the hall before Tori could comment. She must have spotted the boys approaching behind Tori, because her face soon lit up into a gleeful grin, and she was patting Tori’s arm, saying, “Turn it on, turn it on!”

Tori powered on the camcorder she also borrowed from Beck and pointed it toward the end of the hall in anticipation.

“Here we go,” Beck grinned as he and Andre came sprinting around the corner, holding a bundle of clothes.

“He’s right behind us,” Andre nodded, similarly grinning.

“It’s not funny!” Robbie’s voice thundered down the hallway. “You guys better give me back my clothes, or I swear I’ll—” He rounded the corner, met by rapid flashes, courtesy of Jade’s fast finger on the shutter button, and the undiscerning eye of the camcorder Tori held, pointed straight at Robbie’s thin and lanky body, clad only in a towel wrapped around his lower half. “Aaah!” he yelped. “Turn off the camera!” he pleaded as he vainly tried to cover up his exposed torso with his thin arms.

“Why?” Tori chuckled. “You look so cute!”

“Dance for us, Robbie,” Jade commanded with a smirk.

“Gimme back my clothes!” he demanded again.

“Should we?” Tori turned to the group of four. She was met with a chorus of negatives, and she agreed with them. As did the small gathering of students who were attracted to the commotion as they milled about the hallway. “Yeah, I think we need to put this video online.”

“Wh—No!” Robbie exclaimed.

“Sorry,” Jade deadpanned, snapping a few more pictures, without a trace of remorse in her voice.

“The people wanna see what the people wanna see,” Tori shrugged helplessly.

“You cannot put this video online,” Robbie warned.

“Okay,” Tori nodded.

“No problem,” Beck agreed easily.

“We’ll kill the video…” Andre chimed in next.

“If,” Tori continued, “you kill Robarazzi.”

“What? No!”

“Yes,” Tori corrected Robbie.

“But my blog is a hit!”

“Alright, then I’m just gonna zoom in right here,” Tori mused.

“Wait, no, no, no, no, no!”

“Are you gonna stop?” Tori asked again.

“Well,” Robbie huffed. “If I don’t do Robarazzi, what am I gonna do for my blog on The Slap?”

“Didn’t you make that low-fat mac and cheese one time?” Beck suggested.

“What, so I just do like a low-fat cooking show?”

The group shrugged. It sounded like the most innocuous alternative that could’ve been suggested.

The next day, Low Carb-a-Robbie piloted its first episode on The Slap.

All five friends commented on the video, praising it. Tori herself grew a sudden craving for blueberry muffins.

After school, Beck, Andre, and Tori sat Cat down for an intervention.

Sitting on the steps of the main hallway, Cat sniffed, flipping through the pages of the catalog one last time with forlorn and wistful longing.

“Come on,” Beck said gently, extending his open hand. “Let me have it.”

“Maybe I can talk my parents into giving me my credit card back,” she said hopefully.

“Cat…” Beck repeated firmly.

“It’s time to say goodbye to Sky Store,” Tori agreed.

“Don’t you think that’s the best thing to do?” Andre asked.

Cat pouted as she pondered this. She glanced around at each of her friends. Slowly and reluctantly, she handed the magazine to Beck and muffled a squeak of pain as it left her grasp.

Beck grimaced and took a hold of the magazine before tearing it in half.

Cat could barely contain the next whimper, and she clamped both hands over her mouth.

“I know it hurts now,” Tori said gently as she scooted closer to Cat’s side, wrapping a warm arm around her petite friend’s shoulders, “but you’ll feel better soon.”

“I know,” Cat sighed.

“Wanna come hang for a while?” Andre offered.

“No, thanks,” Cat replied glumly. “The boy I met last week wants to hang out again. I think it’s safe to call him my boyfriend now. I’ll catch up with you guys later,” she promised.

“Okay,” Tori said with a sympathetic smile. She patted Cat’s head.

“See ya, sport,” Beck nodded.

Andre patted Cat on the knee before joining Beck and Tori as they headed out to the parking lot.

What a week.

Jade’s POV

Beck and Jade were doing better now. Jade was cooled off from her bursts of jealousy and anger for the time being, and Beck had (finally) stopped joking about breaking up. (It still felt too soon.)

But with the whirlwind of a week Jade had just gone through, she made a major breakthrough on her script, now titled Well Wishes and saved on her PearBook. She had plowed through the majority of the key scenes and was now alternating between filler transition scenes and editing what she’d already written.

But tonight, something was nagging at Jade. It wasn’t until she picked up her phone to text Cat that she realized she hadn’t texted with her best friend for nearly two weeks. She had to scroll quite a bit to actually find her conversation with Cat, and the fact alone made Jade give pause.

She decided to give Cat a visit.

The redhead had just gotten home (presumably from a date with that mystery boy Cat kept alluding to all week), looking bright and happy—even more so when her eyes landed on Jade waiting for her in the living room.

“Hi!” she chirped.

“Hi, Cat,” Jade deadpanned, arms folded across her midsection. She couldn’t really tell why she was feeling so guarded tonight, but something was nagging at her, and she needed to find out what. It was distracting, to say the least, when all she wanted to do was finish that script.

Cat approached carefully, her emotions now mellowed. Her arms were spread slightly, and Jade rolled her eyes but let her arms spring open as well. Cat squealed as she snuggled in to give Jade a squeeze.

“Three, two, and one,” Jade counted. Cat retreated, still wearing a smile.

“So, what brings you here?” she asked, leading Jade to her bedroom. Jade followed close behind, since Cat’s room was pretty much Jade’s second home.

“Just checking in on you,” Jade shrugged, even though Cat couldn’t see. Something about appearing nonchalant and keeping up her facade felt comforting while Jade grappled with these unfamiliar feelings swirling in her gut.

“Aww, thanks, Jadey,” Cat cooed. They settled onto Cat’s bed, and Jade glared weakly, which Cat laughed off.

“How was the trip to your brother’s special doctor last week?”

Cat shrugged. “They gave me some medicine to start with. They’re still testing out the dosage, and they said one of the side effects is mood swings.”

“Is another side effect an obsession with shopping?” Jade questioned, nodding at a copy of the Sky Store catalog. Jade frowned for a moment. She was sure Beck mentioned that he tore up Cat’s copy earlier at school…

“Well, hyper-fixation, which commonly leads to obsession and addictive behavior patterns,” Cat corrected. Jade didn’t really hear much of a difference.

“So, Sky Store,” Jade nodded, glancing at Cat to confirm. Cat bobbed her head, her expression dropping to a solemn one. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I wanted to see if I could do this on my own for a bit,” Cat admitted, biting her lip a little. “I ran to you for all my problems when we were growing up, and being away from the group for a whole week made me realize how much I depend on you. On all of you.”

“Baby girl,” Jade said softly. The use of the old nickname brought a grin to Cat’s lips. “You know you can tell me these things, right?”

Cat nodded, but she didn’t lift her head to meet Jade’s eyes.

“Shit,” Jade breathed, belatedly realizing something. “Is that why you took my comment about teleporting you to another table so hard on Monday?”

“Jade, I know you didn’t mean it…”

“Cat,” Jade threw her head back. “I told you to tell me when these kinds of things happen. You know I don’t have the greatest radar for when to dial back the gank.”

“I didn’t want anyone to start asking questions…”

Jade sighed and rested her hand on Cat’s shoulder firmly. “Next time, baby girl, tell me. Okay?”

Cat nodded. “Okay.” With big brown eyes shining brightly and filled with newfound mirth, Cat locked eyes with Jade and said, “Thanks, Jadey. I feel a lot better already now, though. They adjusted the dosage again.”

“Alright,” Jade murmured quietly and nodded. “Good.”

“How’s the play coming along?” Cat asked, eager to pivot topics.

Jade sighed and flopped backward onto the bed, taking up a large part of the mattress. “Pretty good, actually. Speaking of,” she suddenly propped herself up onto her elbow. “Do you wanna play the lead?”

Cat squealed. “Yes! I’d love to!” Cat dove and wrapped Jade into another tight bear hug as Jade let the chuckles roll out of her easily.

“Alright, alright,” she said, patting Cat’s back. “It’s yours, baby girl. I know you’re perfect for it.”

“Yay!” Cat cheered. She pulsed one last tight squeeze before pulling away again to let Jade sit up. “You’re the best, Jade.”

“I know,” Jade replied with a cocky smirk. But somewhere, deep inside, Jade had a gnawing suspicion that that just wasn’t true.

Chapter Text

Tori’s POV

Tori walked into school hoping she could have an easy rest of the week. She exchanged books for her morning classes and trudged her way to the first classroom to wait outside when she stopped in her tracks.

"Ah!" she startled, as the figure she laid eyes on did the same.

They stood there, staring at each other for a long moment.

Tori recovered first. "Danny," she pointed to the familiar face.

"Hey," he chuckled, unsure of himself, "you go to school here?"

"Yeah,” Tori frowned, “you know I left Sherwood."

"Right," he nodded, "but I just didn't know where… I mean, isn't… isn't this school for like," he glanced around at the hallway, taking in the colorful halls with an awe Tori remembered feeling just two months ago, “really talented kids who…" He trailed off and caught Tori's furrowed brow. He always did have a knack for putting his foot in his mouth.

Tori tilted her head, a polite and mock-confused look on her face. She was daring him to continue, to finish that train of thought.

"Uh…" he hesitated with another nervous chuckle, "I did not mean—"

"No, no, keep talkin'," Tori encouraged brightly. "You're doin' great," she nodded.

He pressed his lips into a tight grimace. "Sorry."

Tori broke her facade with a light chuckle. "It's," she shook her head, "it's cool."

"So, when did you get into performing?"

"Oh, see," Tori laughed. "My sister's tongue got all big and swollen," she explained, "and, here I am!" She made a show of gesturing at the hallway and decorations around them.

Danny forced a laugh. Tori tried not to scowl. He never did appreciate her dorky sense of humor. He always, kind of, awkwardly just… ignored it.

"So who's that?" A familiar, sharp voice sneered over the chatter of the hallway. Tori's feeble smile wavered as she ducked her head. Of course Jade would just happen to come down the hallway here. Tori turned to throw the approaching couple, Beck and Jade, a bright smile.

"Uh, this is Danny," Tori replied.

"Hey," he waved.

"'Sup," Beck nodded with a lazy two-finger salute.

"Why are you talking to Tori?" Jade interrogated next. Tori leveled a glare at Jade, who was wearing a smug grin on her face.

"He… goes to my old school," Tori replied. Internally, she chastised herself. She was speaking on behalf of Danny again, like she used to. But she really couldn't help it at the moment. Jade would never live it down if she knew. Maybe she could soften the impending wave of barbed comments if she ripped the band-aid off herself…

"Sherwood," Danny supplied helpfully.

"He…" Tori paused for a beat, glancing at Danny. He looked uneasy, like he wasn't sure what to expect out of her mouth next. Tori turned back to Beck and Jade. "He was my boyfriend," Tori revealed in as light and casual of a voice as she could muster.

"Girlfriend," Danny confirmed, pointing at Tori, in the same way she had jerked a thumb to indicate him.

Jade waited only a beat before firing off her next question, that self-satisfied smirk ever present on her face. Tori wanted to wipe it off so badly. She clutched her textbook tighter instead.

"So why'd you dump her?"

"Jade—" Beck began to protest, but Jade wasn't about to stop.

“Can I guess?” she plowed forward like Beck hadn't made a sound. "'Cause," she chuckled, stepping forward, "I got a lotta guesses."

"Um, actually," Danny fidgeted with his keys.

"You, you don't have to," Tori said quickly, trying to signal to Danny that it was not a good idea to reveal—

"Tori broke up with me," Danny said. Tori closed her eyes for a moment to brace herself for the next wave of barbs.

She turned back to Jade when she next spoke.

"Oh," Jade sounded slightly shocked. But any hope Tori had that Jade would simply drop the subject withered away the instant Jade opened her mouth again. "And how did you celebrate?"

"Do you ever take a day off?" Tori bit out, but Jade merely continued to smile, meeting Tori's glare with that same infuriating smirk. Jade merely shrugged a little.

“So,” Beck said loudly, trying to break up the impending bickering and steer the conversation into more neutral territory. “Whatcha doin’ here?”

“Yeah,” Tori frowned. “What are you doing here?” She turned back to Danny.

“Well, I’ve kinda been dating this girl that, y’know, goes here,” Danny explained. “And, uh, I was supposed to meet her…”

An excited squeal sounded from the top of the stairs in the main hallway as a redheaded streak blurred toward them.

“Daniel!” Cat’s high-pitched squeal was starting to hurt Tori’s ears.

Or maybe Tori just felt a prickle of annoyance as Danny turned to greet Cat with a happy, “Hey, babe!”

And the prickle turned into a wave of shock and a dirty feeling Tori couldn’t quite place. Cat all but leapt into Danny's arms and let the momentum spin their embrace into a circle as their lips locked soundly.

Tori felt her mouth fall open, and Jade didn’t even try to muffle her amused guffaw.

“This is the guy I’ve been telling you about,” Cat explained to her friends excitedly, poking Danny in the stomach. “My boyfriend!”

Tori muffled her groan and tried to school her scowl, but nothing really got past Jade. Not when she was studiously observing Tori’s every miniscule reaction ever since the revelation that Tori and Danny had… history. Those piercing blue-green eyes were on Tori every second they weren’t surveying the rest of the drama unfolding before them. And things just got really awkward…

Cat giggled, oblivious to whatever was going on (thankfully, Tori thought to herself), and began to introduce everyone. “Daniel, these are my friends: Beck, Jade, and that’s Tori!”

“Yeah,” Tori forced a smile, “we’ve met.” She certainly didn’t intend for the words to come out sounding so bitter and condescending, but they tasted sour as they passed over her tongue.

Danny made some kind of nonverbal sound of confirmation, like he was trying to play it off as casual and cool, but no words actually made it out of his mouth.

Tori was glad she at least wasn’t the only one drowning in the awkwardness in the air.

“Really?” Cat gasped, eyes blown wide open in surprise. “You know Daniel?”

“Oh,” Jade grinned, “she knows Daniel.”

Tori rolled her eyes and leveled a glare at Jade. And Jade just continued with that smug smile on her face. Yeah, Tori had expected this level of teasing and needling. She had just hoped it wouldn’t actually happen.

“So…” Tori dragged out the word in hopes that she would soon be inspired with a new direction for the conversation to go (ideally, in a direction far, far away from her and Danny being exes. It was making Tori’s stomach feel all squirmy inside just thinking about what Cat’s reaction might be if she knew).

“So…” Danny parroted, apparently having the same thought, and the same fruitless results.

“So…” Jade added, glancing between the two exes.

“How come everyone’s being all weird?” Cat asked, a slight frown marring her bubbly cheerfulness.

“I’ll tell her!” Jade immediately volunteered.

“No, you won’t,” Beck said immediately. Jade snapped her jaw shut in an effort to hold herself back.

“Cat,” Tori said, bracing herself to just bite the bullet. Clearly, Jade was intent on letting the cat out of the bag, and it was up to Tori to beat her to the punch before it seriously scarred Cat. “Um, I used to go to Sherwood. With Danny. Before I came to school here.” It wasn’t the whole truth (sue her), but it was close enough to hopefully mollify Cat’s curiosity.

Honestly, Tori should’ve seen the signs. Of course, Cat’s follow up question was immediately, “Oh, so you guys were friends?”

Tori winced at the word. Jade slowly circled around behind Tori to end up right next to Cat, drawling, “Yeah, they were goooood friends.”

“I… I’m confused.” Cat glanced between Danny and Tori, looking for an explanation.

Jade looked at Tori with a tilted head and an expectant bounce of her eyebrows. Tori gulped. “Danny and I used to date,” she blurted out.

Cat let out a strange noise, something between a strangled gasp and a disgusted sound at the back of her throat. Her expression was equally unreadable. Tori fidgeted with the edge of her textbook cover.

Jade looked at Cat, no doubt still wearing that smug smirk. Gosh, Tori really wanted to wipe that stupid smirk off Jade’s face.

Beck sidled up next to Jade and placed his hand on Jade’s shoulder, gently but firmly. “Hey, why don’t we walk over to some other location?” he suggested in a placating tone.

Jade merely crossed her arms and stayed put.

“Okay, wait,” Cat said, still processing the new information, “so you and Tori were like…”

“Girlfriend,” Danny pointed to Tori.

Tori, likewise, pointed back to Danny. “Boyfriend.”

It was Cat’s turn to awkwardly drag out, “So…” At least, she finally caught up to everyone in the discussion. Why were Beck and Jade still here?

“Please don’t feel weird about this,” Danny pleaded with Cat.

“You really shouldn’t,” Tori agreed. “I mean, we broke up a year ago.”

“Yeah,” Danny nodded, “it’s-it’s been a year.”

“It’s only been 11 months,” Tori snapped before she could stop herself.

“What difference does it make?” Danny bit back.

“Forget it!” Tori held up a hand in surrender. “The point is,” she pulled her lips into a tight smile and turned back to Cat. “I’m totally cool with you guys dating.”

“And I’m totally cool that you two are friends,” Danny jumped in.

“Well,” Cat slowly began to smile. “Not that either of you really need to give your blessing about that, but… okay, then! It’s all happy!” she giggled. She turned to Danny and gazed up at his eyes lovingly.

Jade rolled her eyes and let out an obnoxiously loud sigh.

“Yay,” Tori cheered quietly, ducking her head after noticing Danny glance down at Cat’s lips.

“I’m bored now,” Jade declared before walking away.

Beck was left behind, looking tired and exhausted. “I apologize. For… her,” he gestured after Jade before quickly departing to follow after his girlfriend.

Tori watched him go, gazing pityingly at his receding and slouched figure. She turned around to ask, “So, how did you guys me—” But she was met with the image of passionate kissing between Danny, who was leaning down into the kiss, and Cat, who had to stand up on her tiptoes to accommodate him.

Tori turned away to call after Beck and Jade, “Hey, do you guys wanna go—” But that couple was also passionately making out (against Tori’s locker, no less).

Tori sighed, glancing between the two couples lost in love. “Yeah, I…” She couldn’t even think of a decent excuse to dignify herself. “Okay,” she muttered to herself before making a beeline for her first period.

The next day at lunch, Tori rubbed her hands, excited to dig into her favorite lunchtime side: fries from Festus’ Grub Truck. Only, they weren’t as salty as they usually were.

“Hey, can you pass the salt?” Tori asked Jade.

Jade folded her hands and dramatically leveled a tired stare on Tori. “Why should I?” she asked gravely.

“‘Cause my French fries aren’t salty enough?” Tori replied, unsure why Jade was putting on such theatrics.

Jade heaved a sigh and placed the requested condiment in front of Tori.

“Sorry to put you through that trouble,” Tori remarked sarcastically as she began to shake the salt over her tray.

“Guess who?” a familiar voice sang. Tori’s gaze snapped to her side, where Danny was leaning over Cat, covering her eyes.

Tori felt that same icky feeling return to her stomach. It hadn’t really gone away completely, but it definitely receded enough that Tori could ignore it once Danny was out of sight (and luckily, he didn’t seem to stick around for the rest of the day yesterday). And now it was back, full force.

“Um,” Cat said. Tori glanced across the table and saw Jade smiling approvingly at the little sappy exchange. “Is it Beck?” Cat guessed, a rare smirk playing on her lips.

“How—” Beck sputtered. “I’m sitting right next to you. I don’t…”

“I’m kidding,” Cat giggled. “Daniel?”

Danny uncovered Cat’s eyes, and Cat leaned to the side to look back over her shoulder.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Danny chuckled.

“Daniel!” Cat squealed, and Tori was struggling to resist the urge to roll her eyes. She saw Jade catch her reaction, and she mentally made a note to try and school her face more around Jade. It was really hard to do when Jade’s eyes seemed to pierce through Tori’s every defense. Literally, all the time. Cat sprang to her feet to pull Danny into a kiss. (Tori couldn’t resist anymore and let out a soft sigh and an eye roll.) When Cat pulled away, she asked, “What are you doing here?”

"I had a half day," Danny explained, taking a seat next to Cat. "Thought I’d come visit you for lunch."

“Aww,” Cat cooed as they linked hands.

“Well, this is so nice,” Jade remarked. “Daniel gets to have lunch with his new girlfriend,” she gestured to Cat, “and his used girlfriend,” she gestured to Tori with a smirk.

Tori smiled tightly. “You know, you can try to make this awkward, but it’s not gonna work!” Tori declared. “Because unlike you, everyone at this table is mature.”

Jade raised a disbelieving eyebrow and exchanged a look with Beck.

Tori could only barely wait two beats before tacking on, “And by the way, I dumped him, so ha!”

But Jade was undeterred. Not letting the awkwardness of Tori’s little outburst linger for more than a few seconds, Jade was on the prowl again. “So… did you invite Daniel to the Kickback?”

“Oh my god,” Cat said, “I forgot!”

“Kickback?” Danny asked, confused.

“Yeah!” Cat eagerly chirped. She explained, “Once every semester, the school lets us have a Saturday night party right here in the parking lot.”

“Live music, cheese fountain,” Beck began to list the pros of the party.

Tori was feeling restless in her seat.

“Cheese fountain?” Danny repeated.

“Cheddar,” Cat nodded with a sly glance at Danny’s lips. “Will you come?”

“Yeah, totally,” he agreed.

Tori found a piece of trash on the concrete pavement to glare at as the conversation continued around her.

“Tori,” Jade addressed her brightly. “Will you be at the Kickback?”

“Yes, Jade, I will be,” Tori replied, a tight smile back on her face.

Cat gasped all of a sudden and declared, “Ooh, guess what I made!”

“Uh, what’d you make?” Danny indulged her.

Cat dove down to rifle through her backpack before proudly holding up a small container. “Brownies!”

“Wow!” Danny exclaimed.

Tori smiled wryly and dusted her hands of the salty residue from the fries she had been pushing around on her tray. “Sorry,” Tori sang, “but Danny doesn’t like brownies,” Tori smugly informed Cat.

“Everyone likes brownies,” Cat insisted. “Open,” she commanded Danny as she reached into the container and selected a decently-sized cube. When Danny opened his mouth to protest, Cat shoved the piece right into his mouth hole and waited for his reaction.

Danny initially made a polite sound and chuckled nervously before he slowly began to chew, and his expression morphed into one of amazement. “Wow. These are really good,” he mused.

“What?” Tori blurted out in disbelief.

“He said Cat’s brownie is really good,” Jade enunciated to Tori like she was hard of hearing.

Tori let out a soft, incredulous chuckle and scratched her head. “I made you brownies—twice—and you told me you didn’t like brownies.” She turned to give Danny a hard stare.

“Yeah, but…” Danny shrugged. “Cat’s are…” He looked like he was about to say something and reeled himself back right before he said it, and Tori’s eyes narrowed. “Different,” is what he settled on saying.

“Different how?” Tori snapped. “What do you mean ‘different’?”

“Tori,” Daniel slumped.

“Try one,” Cat insisted before the two exes could fight from either side of her. Cat handed a piece to Tori as well. Tori took it and chewed angrily for a few seconds.

She couldn’t deny the little redhead could bake.

She didn’t need to be happy about it.

“How is it?” Beck asked with a knowing smile.

Tori looked around the table, finding a range of expectant smiles to Jade’s smug smirk. She threw the half-eaten brownie into her untouched lunch tray and bitterly declared, “I gotta go.” She gathered her bag and stormed away.

Tori sulked for an entire day, looking up brownie recipes and scrolling angrily through The Slap.

Cat posted some new pictures of her looking love-drunk and happy with Danny, and Tori fought to not hurl her phone across the room.

She exited out of The Slap and tried to go to sleep early.

She tossed and turned for hours.

Finally, Saturday night rolled around. The night of the Kickback.

Tori was looking forward to it. After all, it was her first Kickback at Hollywood Arts, and she was excited to see how the performing arts students partied compared to Sherwood.

(Tori couldn’t lie, Sherwood dances were usually pretty lame, and student-thrown parties were wild enough that her dad was often on-call to break them up.)

Trina always seemed to have a fun time whenever she went to Kickbacks at school. So Tori was nervous, but in a good way.

She wove her way through the dancing students as she sipped on punch. She greeted and chatted with fellow students and classmates. She mingled around until she eventually made her way to Sikowitz, who was grilling some wieners on the engine of a Volkswagen.

“Hey, Sikowitz,” she greeted the eccentric teacher.

“Tori!” He greeted her cheerfully, returning his focus to the grill before long. “How are you enjoying your first Hollywood Arts Kickback?”

“It’s really fun,” Tori replied. And it really was. Aside from the nagging cloud of guilt and that gross feeling Tori got whenever she thought about Cat and Danny being together for too long, the party was fun, with thumping live music mixing great tunes, and a great vibe that just compelled her to keep moving her body to the rhythm. What rhythm, Tori didn’t know.

“Would you like a sausage?” Sikowitz offered.

“Sure,” Tori nodded after a moment’s hesitation. “Okay.”

“Excellent,” Sikowitz noted, scanning the grill for a wiener ready to be enjoyed. “Here’s a nice fat one. I’ll just impale it with this stick.” He held up a bamboo skewer to demonstrate before he pierced the meat with a dramatically drawn out scream.

Tori arched an eyebrow but didn’t comment on it. Honestly, Tori felt like this was pretty on par with typical Sikowitz weirdness.

“Here you go!” He handed Tori the snack.

“Thanks!” Tori said, accepting it. She took a bite and hummed in approval. “What kind of sausage is this?”

“Oh, just sausage,” he waved a hand dismissively. “You know.”

“Yeah, but,” Tori took another bite, trying to analyze the flavor. It really was unlike any sausage she’d had before. “What kind of meat is it made of?”

Sikowitz just cackled maniacally. He bent over double wheezing with laughter. And he didn’t stop.

Tori slowly backed away.

That definitely topped the weird Sikowitz moments.

Tori finally found a quiet clearing to enjoy the music without being pressed up against bodies or standing too close to the speakers. She scanned the crowd, just enjoying people-watching, when her eyes fell upon the two again.

Cat and Danny standing close together, dancing and nuzzling noses as they stared longingly into each others’ eyes.

Tori barely noticed someone sidling up next to her until she heard a familiar voice cut into her thoughts.

“Daniel ever spin you like that?” Jade asked, gesturing to the couple now spinning each other in fancy waltz-like moves.

Tori glared at Jade, then offered a sour smile. “You wanna get slapped in the face?” she shot back.

Jade seemed to ponder the offer for a genuine moment. “Sure, if you dare,” she smirked, her pierced eyebrow arched in a challenge. She leaned forward to emphasize just how serious she was, and Tori leaned away instinctively.

Jade’s scissors, her various pairs always kept in convenient reach at all times, were never far from Tori’s mind when she considered messing with Jade. It was a constant source of anxiety, if Tori was being honest.

“No,” Tori said, when she regained control over her voice and mouth (which was hanging agape at Jade’s counter-offer, Tori noticed with a hint of embarrassment).

Jade straightened up and dragged her eyes up and down Tori’s body slowly, like she was sizing her up. “Figures,” she murmured softly before walking away.

Tori gaped after Jade with a whirl of confusion and (whoa, what is that heat?), yeah. Just confusion.

Shaking her head, she returned to studying the couple before she couldn’t stand it anymore and left in search of more punch. She had lost track of her first cup.

She came across Robbie (and Rex) near the Grub Truck, where a table full of snacks and refreshments were set up.

“Hey, Tori,” Robbie greeted her.

“Hey, pretty thing,” Rex seemed to leer with his unblinking and blank, soulless eyes.

Tori immediately snapped, “Oh, hush, Rex.”

“Uh,” Robbie tried to dispel the awkward tension in the air by suggesting, “have you tried the hot cheese fountain yet?”

“No,” Tori shook her head.

“They have a hot cheese fountain,” Robbie explained. But he didn’t go any further than that. Like… that was supposed to be the explanation. Or a suggestion. Or… something.

Tori didn’t really know.

After a few extra long moments of awkward silence, Robbie ducked his head and walked away. Tori was mildly surprised Rex didn’t jump in with some crude comment or insult. But she didn’t have much time to dwell on that.

Because as soon as she turned around to look for the hot cheese fountain, of course, she turned just in time to see Cat and Danny making out right next to the fountain in question.

Tori wasn’t sure what came over her in that moment, but the next thing she knew, her hand was on the valve and cranking it higher than its maximum, sending hot cheese spraying all over the couple.

“What the hairballs!” Sikowitz thundered as he raced over to the malfunctioning machine. He immediately unplugged the machine, and the sprays of cheese died down into weak, pitiful pulses, until it petered out completely. Lane was by Sikowitz’s side in a flash.

“You got cheese in our hair!” Danny cried out.

“Tori.” Cat had tears in her eyes. Or maybe they were in Tori’s eyes? Tori wasn’t sure.

She wasn’t sure about a lot of things.

All she knew was that the world was feeling just a little too close, and breathing was getting kind of hard to do, and her heartbeat was definitely racing faster than normal. She just needed to get out of there. But her feet wouldn’t move. Her mouth just kept opening and closing soundlessly, making her look like a gaping goldfish out of water.

“Why did you do that?” Danny asked next.

“I… I-I don’t know,” Tori stammered, glancing at the crowd that had gathered around the commotion. “I just…” She made some kind of whimpering noise before racing out of there, without much thought to where she was headed.

She found herself in the Black Box Theater, where a camping set had been set up. Without thinking, she dove into the tent set up in the center of the stage and zipped up the flap.

She was alone for the moment. Blissfully alone in the darkness.

Her mind was racing with a million thoughts.

She wasn’t a jealous person. No. And she definitely didn’t have lingering feelings for Danny. Those had faded months before she broke things off with Danny during freshman year anyway. All she had felt, upon laying eyes on him again earlier that week, was confusion. And emptiness.

Maybe that’s why it hurt so much.

To see Cat be so blissfully happy with him.

Tori wished she could’ve been blissfully happy with him. Maybe then, she wouldn’t be here, miserable and alone in a tent in a theater, drowning in guilt, while he was out there, comforting his girlfriend after her big freakout.

Tori had a fleeting thought that this was exactly the kind of material Robarazzi would’ve killed to cover in their exclusives. Boy, was Tori glad that she and the others had put a stop to Robarazzi, or she never would’ve been able to endure the rest of high school with this kind of reputation.

Tori missed it. The easy laughs, the casual touches, the goshdarned familiarity and constant-ness of having someone in her corner all the time. Having a guy be there for her, and being there for him just the same. Tori sniffed, and only then did she realize that she had begun to cry. She muffled her sobs as much as she could, but the tent still shuddered a little with each vibration.

“Tori!” Beck called. A second pair of footsteps sounded behind Beck’s. “Yo, Tori!”

“We saw you run in here,” Jade called out.

Tori stilled. She couldn’t let Jade see her like this. If all of Jade’s teasing in the past couple days were any indication, Jade would take any and all opportunities to kick Tori while she was down.

“What’s with all the stuff?” Tori heard Beck ask.

Jade explained, “Sinjin and his friends are doing some play about a camping trip gone wrong.”

“Gone wrong?”

“They end up eating each other, I don’t know,” Jade replied exasperatedly.

“Tori! Tori!” Beck continued to call out. “Yo, Tori!”

Tori felt the sobs subside, but she couldn’t quite muffle the sniffle that escaped when her nose threatened to run.

Suddenly, something large was thrown straight at the tent, catching Tori’s elbow right on the funny bone with stiff plastic. Tori let out an anguished, “Ow!”

“Tori,” Jade sang in a creepy (but really, really musically beautiful) sing-song, “come out and play!” The lights turned on in the theater, and Tori sighed.

She unzipped the tent flap and kneeled by the open entrance. Jade stood imposingly in front of the tent, hands on her hips, a smug smile on her face. Beck slowed to a stop as he wrapped his arm around Jade and held her close.

“Leave me alone,” Tori grumbled miserably, wiping her cheeks dry of tears.

“What up with the hot cheese attack on Cat?” Beck questioned gently.

Jade just couldn’t resist, could she? She just had to add in a sneer, “And her boyfriend, Daniel?”

Tori crawled out of the tent and staggered to her feet. “I don’t know,” she sighed. “I mean, I’m so not the jealous type. I’ve never ever done anything like that before,” she moaned. “But seeing my ex-boyfriend making out with Cat… I guess I just… I just lost it for a second, and next thing I knew, my hand was on the cheese valve,” Tori finished in a rush. She groaned and ran a hand through her hair. “I have to go apologize to them.” She brushed past the couple and headed out the door.

The closest bathroom to the parking lot was the one in the main hallway. Tori headed there when Danny walked out of the bathroom, clutching a paper towel in one hand and his stained flannel in the other. He was digging a bunched-up corner of the paper towel into his ear.

“Danny,” Tori said softly, earning his attention.

“Hi,” he greeted her flatly.

“Where’s Cat?” Tori asked. They were alone in the main hall. The redhead was nowhere to be seen.

“Oh, she’s still trying to get cheese out of her ear,” Danny replied snippily, gesturing toward the bathroom.

Tori threw her head back and groaned. The guilt was really just about to eat her alive. “Alright, listen,” she sighed. “I have no idea why I did that.”

“Were you jealous?”

“No,” Tori said quickly. A little too quickly.

“‘Cause it doesn’t make sense for you to be jealous,” Danny pointed out. “You broke up with me.”

“I know,” Tori said, taking a few tentative steps forward. She motioned to the stairs with a questioning glance. He relented and took a seat next to her on the stairs, a respectful distance between them. “It makes zero sense.” She looked down at her hands. “I guess it’s just a dumb girl thing,” she mumbled.

“Like wearing skirts over jeans?” Danny offered with a smile.

Tori grinned. It was a discussion they had a long time ago, one of the last civil ones they had about absolutely nothing. Right before Tori dumped him.

“Yeah, I guess kind of like that,” Tori nodded.

“I mean, are you, maybe, still… into me?” Danny asked next. Evidently, he was still puzzling over the whole thing, and Tori knew she was running out of time to try and organize her thoughts coherently so that they didn’t devolve into the same explosive argument they had the night they broke up. Tori noticed the trace of hesitation in his voice, like he was afraid to say things too similar to what was shouted that night. Maybe he noticed it too, all the similarities to that night.

“No,” Tori turned to look Danny in the eye. Because this was the truth. “Not at all,” she assured him. But she saw something like a glimmer of hope in his eye.

Maybe they weren’t on the same page after all.

“And I love Cat,” Tori continued. “She’s like the sweetest thing ever. And I’m psyched that you guys are going out. I guess it’s just… it’s just…” Words were failing her again.

And goddamn, Danny was looking at her with those eyes again. And Tori never cursed in her head, but this time felt warranted. And she was leaning forward. And he was growing closer.

And their lips met.

Sweet, sweet familiarity.

Like a rhythm they never learned to forget.

They broke apart when they heard a small squeak. Then, they sprang apart as they both came to the same realization at the same time. Tori and Danny scrambled to their feet, gaping at Cat, who was standing there, paper towel clutched in one hand, hair still damp from washing out the cheese, mouth agape at the scene she just witnessed.

“Uhhhh,” Tori and Danny tried to come up with some kind of explanation or defense, but only that one sound came out.

“Uhhh?” Cat intoned questioningly. Evidently, she was having just as hard of a time coming up with words. She gestured between Tori and Danny. Her eyes were wide and filled with hurt.

“Nuhhhhh,” it was a sound halfway between “No” and “Uh,” which was fittingly as incoherent as the entire situation.

Cat clutched her chest, and her bottom lip quivered. Her eyebrows slanted down as her face morphed into a dejected frown. Her eyes were lined with unshed tears as she turned on her heel and stormed off.

“Cat!” Danny called after the petite girl.

“Oh my god,” Tori murmured under her breath as soon as she recovered as much as Danny did. “Cat!” she called out.

But the girl was out of sight before either of them could chase after her.

“Hey, do either of you guys know what kind of meat Sikowitz uses in this sausage?” Robbie asked, bursting into the hallway, oblivious to the heavy atmosphere. “I asked him, and he just started laughing like,” Robbie threw himself into an impression of Sikowitz’s deranged cackling.

“Read the room, Robbie!” Tori shouted at the boy.

Robbie bowed his head and ducked back out to the party outside without another word.

Tori ran a hand through her hair as she paced back and forth. Danny just stood rooted to the spot, hand on his elbow as he watched Tori freak out.

“Do you… regret it?”

“Of course I regret kissing you,” Tori snapped.

“No, I mean, breaking up with me,” Danny clarified.

“Do you still have feelings for me, Danny?” Tori questioned.

“No!” he said quickly. “No, seriously, I don’t. I… It took me a long time to recover after you… dumped me.” He seemed to suppress a shiver.

Tori grimaced at the thought of reducing this young man before her into a heartbroken, sobbing shell of a human being.

“Then why do you ask?”

“Because…” He sighed and carded a hand through his damp hair. “I guess you never really gave me a reason. And I’m starting to think maybe you didn’t really have one?”

“We weren’t working anymore, Danny. We hadn’t been for a while before I ended things. I just… couldn’t go on like that anymore,” Tori confessed. “I’m sorry you haven’t found closure. But that kiss was a mistake. And if you care about Cat as much as I do, you won’t ever hurt her like that again. Because I know I’m going to try my hardest to make it up to her. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go apologize properly to her.”

Tori brushed past Danny and headed down the halls to begin her campus-wide search for the elusive redhead.

It was Sunday morning, and Tori still hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Cat Valentine. She stomped down the stairs to the living room to find the entire gang (sans Cat) gathered around a fish tank.

Oh yeah. Trina had been going on and on about some fish treatment to make her feet all soft. Tori had, in passing, seen Robbie and Andre over at the house, dunking their feet into the fish tank like Tori had seen Trina do Tuesday night. Tori had declined, too exhausted from all the Robarazzi drama from the week before, and every night since, what with all the Daniel drama going on.

“I’ve left Cat five voicemails and sent her twelve text messages. And she still hasn’t gotten back to me at all,” Tori moaned.

“Well,” Andre shrugged. “You did squirt hot cheese into her ear,” he reasoned.

“And played smushy-face with her boyfriend,” Robbie added.

“Those things upset some girls,” Jade stated simply with a sour smile. Tori knew Jade was referencing the stage kiss Tori had (kind of) tricked Beck into her second day at Hollywood Arts. But the two of them were long past that. Or, so Tori thought.

“You wanna try the pooka fish?” Trina suggested with an eager smile.

“You got rice and soy sauce?” Tori shot back.

“No.”

“Then, no.”

Tori turned on her heel and stomped upstairs again.

Sulking alone in her thoughts was always better than sulking in a room full of friends who were judging her and amplifying the guilt already weighing on her.

The next day at school, Tori spotted Cat peering warily around the corner while Tori was at her locker. She slammed her locker shut and chased after Cat, who ran away screaming.

Finally, Tori cornered Cat and dragged the surprisingly feisty and scrappy little girl into the janitor’s closet where they could talk privately. Hopefully without Cat freaking out any more than she already was.

“Let me out,” Cat demanded, but her soft voice was anything but threatening.

“Cat,” Tori pleaded.

“This is kidnapping,” Cat insisted. “Or… Cat-napping.” She managed to giggle before returning her face to a mask of anger and indignation. “Open the door,” she demanded.

“I’m sorry,” Tori said, taking Cat by the shoulders. “And I’m not just saying ‘I’m sorry.’ I’m really, really, seriously sorry.”

“You sprayed cheese on me and then kissed my boyfriend.” Cat looked at Tori, searching for something, an explanation perhaps, and Tori still didn’t really have one she could put into words.

“Yeah,” Tori sighed, dropping her hands limply by her sides. “Yeah, I did.”

“Why would you be mean to me?” Cat asked softly.

“I don’t know,” Tori groaned. “Maybe, maybe I did get jealous. Not of you dating Danny. But just… having a boyfriend, I guess?” She brought her hands up to fidget with her fingernails. “And maybe that’s why I went a little crazy. Seeing you two be all mushy together.”

“You could’ve talked to me about it,” Cat chided.

“I know,” Tori dropped her fidgeting hands. “What I did was terrible and awful and immature. And you have every right to be mad at me. I swear, Cat, if I were you, I’d just punch me right in the face.”

Cat’s fist was rocketing toward Tori before she had time to blink. Tori’s head snapped back, and she felt her nose throb and pulse painfully as she clutched it.

“Ow, god!” Tori exclaimed. “I didn’t think you’d actually punch me in the face!”

“You said to,” Cat said simply.

“I—” Tori sighed. “You know what, you’re right. I deserved that.”

“Does it hurt?” Cat asked softly.

“Yeah, a lot. I think I might need to go to the hospital,” Tori moaned, still clutching her throbbing nose. “I think it might be broken.”

“I’ll call us a ride,” Cat said, tapping away on her phone.

“Listen, Cat, I… I don’t really know how else to say this but, I guess here goes?” Tori shrugged. “It wasn’t about Danny. Or you. I just… I saw how happy you two were. And I wanted that. I don’t know how it got all screwed up in translation where I ended up spraying you with hot cheese and kissing Danny. But, Cat, I have to tell you something.”

“Whattie?” Cat prompted, her voice barely above a whisper.

“I didn’t initiate the kiss, I swear.”

“You… you mean Daniel kissed you?” Cat asked in disbelief.

“I don’t know, maybe we were both leaning in, but I think you should talk to him. Soon.” Tori sighed. “If there’s one thing I learned from dating Danny, it’s to not push off discussions ‘til later because you’re scared. That’s how I ended up miserable in the last months of our relationship. I wish I’d just talked to him sooner about some stuff.”

Cat nodded. “Kay kay. Thanks for the advice, Tori.”

“Feel better?” Tori asked.

Cat nodded. “You?”

“Yeah,” Tori smiled. She held up a hand in her universal silent request for a hug (the other hand was still clutching her throbbing nose). Cat easily stepped into the embrace.

Cat pulled apart when her phone vibrated. “Oh, our ride’s here.”

They headed into the hospital together.

A nurse probed Tori’s nose with a gloved hand and frowned.

“Is it broken?” Tori asked, dabbing at her nostril where blood had begun to drip a few minutes into the car ride to the hospital.

“I don’t think so,” the nurse said slowly. She continued to probe the injured area unkindly, making Tori wince with each brash touch on sensitive skin. “Just bruised,” she concluded. She pulled her hand away and asked, “How’d this happen?”

“I…” Tori glanced at Cat. “Uh, fell,” she concluded lamely.

Belatedly, she realized how that sounded like a thinly-veiled excuse common in domestic abuse cases. Mainly because the nurse raised one disbelieving eyebrow. “On what?” the nurse pressed.

“Something hard?” Tori squeaked.

“Do I need to file a report?”

“No!” Tori said quickly. “Nothing like that. Seriously. It’s not… that. It was a friendly argument, and some miscommunication. And…” Tori trailed off. The more she rambled, the more it really did sound like an abuse case. “It’s just not that. Messy story. We’re all good now though.” Tori wrapped an arm around Cat and beamed.

“Well,” the nurse said with a sigh as she pulled the latex gloves off. “We should get you X-rayed.” She gestured to a row of chairs lined up against a wall. “Take a seat over there. We’ll call you in shortly.”

“Okay,” Tori nodded as Cat thanked them brightly. Tori was almost at the chairs when she turned to find only empty space where she expected Cat.

“Oh my god!” Cat exclaimed, several paces behind.

Tori raced to her side instantly. “What?”

Cat had pulled aside a curtain divider and stood gaping at the inhabitants within the secluded section. Tori peered in too and was met by the sight of Trina, Robbie, Andre, Jade, and Beck in various states of pale, clammy skin, coughing, and overall just draped over the chairs and beds they crammed in the little section together. All of them looked horrible; Trina and Robbie looked like they had it worst of them all.

“Whoa,” Tori said, taking in the scene.

“You all look awful,” Cat observed solemnly.

“What happened?” Tori asked.

Andre took out the thermometer he was meant to be keeping under his tongue to reply bitterly, “Ask your sister.”

Trina looked like she was in no shape to say anything at all. In fact, she looked just about ready to vomit.

“It seems they all have Myroleticulitis,” the attending doctor informed Tori and Cat, upon hearing about the familial connection. “It’s an infectious attack on the central nervous system that can be very dangerous unless treated immediately.”

“How’d they get it?” Tori asked with concern growing in her stomach as the doctor explained the diagnosis.

“I have no idea,” the doctor admitted. “It’s very rare in America. Have any of you recently gone swimming in the Zingu River near Puerto Iguazu?”

Trina looked wholly uncomfortable at the mention of that name, and Tori frowned.

“Trina,” Beck wheezed.

“What?” Trina said, staring up at the ceiling and refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

“Tell him,” Beck managed to say before succumbing to a fit of coughs again.

“Okay!” Trina relented reluctantly. “I bought some illegal pooka fish from a guy in a van,” she admitted.

“Pooka fish?” the doctor repeated incredulously. “For feet smoothening?”

“Yeah,” Trina squeaked.

“Do you know how dangerous that is?” He shook his head at Trina. “The saliva of the pooka fish is riddled with toxins and bacteria. You’re lucky to have contracted a mild strain of the infection. A round of antibiotics should clear it out of your system, provided you stay hydrated. And you two,” the doctor motioned to Trina and Robbie, “will have to take extra supplements to fight the infection. You both have the most severe progression of the infection out of all of you here.”

“Our feet are so smooth though,” Trina whined.

“Smooth feet or not, you’re going to feel miserable for a few days while the toxins are flushed out of your system.” He scribbled some notes onto the clipboard in his hand before addressing the group again. “I’ve written prescriptions for all of you to pick up at the pharmacy downstairs once your guardians arrive to discharge you.” He moved to exit the small quarantine.

“And,” Tori managed to grab the doctor to stop him for just a moment, “this infection, it’s not contagious, is it?” Tori grimaced at Trina retching her insides into a tub yet again.

“No,” the doctor explained tiredly. “Myroleticulitis can’t be transmitted through the air or through skin contact with bodily fluids. You need to have had direct contact with pooka fish or a similar carrier of the bacteria to contract it. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” He shrugged off the contact and swept out of the curtained section.

Tori was called for her X-ray moments later. As she was led to the X-ray room, she locked eyes with a cute boy with dirty blond hair and an easy smile.

Jade’s POV

The doctor was right. Jade was miserable for the next couple days. But she and Beck were thankfully mostly recovered by Wednesday, though Andre, Robbie, and annoying, older Vega were still struggling. Andre’s symptoms were mostly gone by Friday, and Jade assumed that Robbie and Trina were going to get over it before the weekend was over.

But she didn’t really care. Because as soon as Jade was recovered, she put the final touches on Well Wishes and submitted the play for production with an initial cast for the roles she knew she would cast for (namely Cat for the lead role of the little girl who fell).

And she waited for the school to make a decision.

As she did, she couldn’t help but notice that Tori posted on The Slap that very same day that she just had a very fun and very cute date with a mystery boy.

Not that Jade was curious, but she definitely wanted to try and figure out who this mysterious boy was.

Jade didn’t think too deeply on why. (Because if she did, she was going to lose a lot more sleep than she already was over waiting for the school to make their decision about her play, and Jade just really didn’t want to have all that added stress in her life.)

Chapter Text

Tori’s POV

Jade seemed to withdraw completely from the group chat as the week bled into the weekend. When Tori tried to text Jade about it, as a concerned friend (and to check in on her recovery from the pooka fish incident), Tori’s texts went unanswered and left on read. Which was rude, but not unheard of. And definitely within the realm of reasonable reactions coming from Jade.

So, Tori didn’t really think much of it until Beck forwarded a play script that Jade had written. Apparently, he needed a second (or third) opinion. Whatever that meant.

Regardless, Tori was happy to help. She had never been made privy to Jade’s writing before, and she was eager to see what went on in that locked up head of hers.

It turned out, it was a wild, wild world of vivid imagination and beautiful creativity. Tori was honestly blown away. The bittersweet and ambiguous ending? The characterization and raw emotions from each of the main characters? Even down to the flashbacks and memories of the little girl’s childhood spent at her grandmother’s? Tori was moved to tears. Literally. A few tears actually fell as she read the last lines of the script.

Tori sent a few more desperate texts to Jade, praising the work. Jade responded once, telling Tori “thanks but it’s worth jack shit if the school won’t let me put it on.” She didn’t respond to anything after that, despite Tori’s repeated attempts to get more information. Tori had to confirm with Beck for the whole story, and even he seemed to be having a hard time getting in contact with Jade.

But Tori didn’t let that dampen her mood.

Because Cat and her were on speaking terms again. They awkwardly danced around the topic of Danny before they both just agreed to avoid the topic altogether when they could. So, Tori remained blissfully insulated from details of the relationship between Cat and Danny, and Tori got her friend back.

Oh, and to top it all off? Tori scored a date with that cute boy from the hospital. His name was Steven. He was the same age as Tori. He was kind and sweet and a good guy. So, no, Tori wasn’t interested at all about the details of Cat’s love life anymore.

Tori had a good feeling about this one.

Dating Steven was a little strange for Tori. It wasn’t bad, just… unconventional. Yeah, that was it.

Two days after their amazing first date, Steven had to leave LA.

He explained his parents were divorced, so he often traveled between LA and Seattle to spend an alternating weekend or two with each parent. It seemed like a large burden to bear for a sixteen-year-old boy, and taxing on him to be traveling so frequently. But since he was homeschooled, he had a lot of flexibility to constantly keep in contact with Tori.

It was nice, Tori thought, to have that kind of constant closeness again. They texted constantly and called every other night.

Of course, the group teased Tori that he didn’t even exist because he left so suddenly and so soon after the first date. But, Tori finally managed to wrangle a promise from Steven to save a date where they can all be properly introduced. Tori couldn’t wait.

Monday, Tori’s nose was all recovered, as were the rest of the group, including Trina.

During morning break, Tori happened to meet up with Cat and Andre, and Tori remembered the Chinese restaurant she had found right up the street and convinced Trina to go with her to celebrate their recoveries.

But Cat and Andre didn’t seem to grasp how amazing this place was.

Tori was explaining to them as they made their way back to the main hallway, “I mean, they have these egg rolls that are so good—”

Cat gasped and interjected, “Do the egg rolls come with sweet and sour sauce?”

“Yes, and it is amazing,” Tori gushed. “Seriously. Not too sweet, not too sour. It’s even got a little kick to it.”

Andre chuckled. “I didn’t know sweet and sour sauce could be bad.”

“You haven’t had bad Chinese food then,” Tori countered with an eyebrow raise.

“You don’t know that,” Andre defended.

Tori was about to respond when she spotted Beck glancing around frantically. “Hey, Beck!”

“Yeah, what’s up,” he responded absentmindedly. His eyes barely landed on each of the three friends for a fraction of a second to acknowledge them all before he returned to looking up and down the hallway.

“After school, we’re—ohmygod,” Tori rushed out. Half of her books had decided to take a spill out of her hands, and she only barely managed to catch them all before they tumbled to the ground. She heard Cat and Andre stifle their snickers behind her and threw them a withering glare before returning to the question at hand. Beck merely raised an eyebrow, one corner of his mouth curled upward in amusement. “After school,” Tori began again, “we’re going to this insane Chinese restaurant I found right up the street. Wanna come?”

“Uh, maybe,” Beck replied, glancing around the hallway again. “If I can find Jade.”

“Where is she?” Andre asked as Beck started off.

“I don’t know,” Beck shrugged, looking more and more lost by the second. “She blew off her last two classes.”

“She’s still mad?” Tori ventured.

“Oh, yeah,” Beck nodded.

“Why is Jade mad?” Cat asked.

“Because,” Beck sighed, “you know that play she wrote, Well Wishes?”

“Yeah, she wanted me to play the lead,” Cat nodded.

“Well, she wanted to put it on here at the school, and they won’t let her,” Beck explained.

“Why not?” Andre asked.

“The teachers think it’s too ‘weird and disturbing,’” Tori replied, remembering the small bit of context she was able to glean from talking with Beck.

Sinjin just happened to be walking by at that exact moment and interjected, “What’s wrong with weird and disturbing?”

Tori slowly turned around and gave him a look that should’ve made it obvious. But he just kept staring back, utterly oblivious. Tori wanted to just tell him flat out that he was weird and disturbing, but what came out of her mouth next was the next thing she noticed about his lanky frame. “Your pants are unzipped.”

“I know,” Sinjin said with a chuckle, like it was on purpose. Weird and disturbing, case in point.

Tori and the rest of the group frowned in confusion and watched him walk away confidently.

Their moment of bewilderment was interrupted by Robbie dashing to the group, panting and out of breath. “We found Jade,” he reported.

“Where?” Beck asked immediately.

“Janitor’s closet,” Rex replied. Tori frowned. Why didn’t Robbie just say it? He even added like a breathless pant in the middle and—

Tori decided not to dwell on that anymore. She had already been bitten by the puppet, and the puppet had clearly spoken from inside a backpack with no hand up its… rear. Maybe it was time Tori accepted that the puppet actually was its own entity.

Puppet thoughts aside, Beck led the charge toward the janitor’s closet, and the rest of the group followed.

“Hey,” Beck sang softly as he slowly and carefully opened the door and tentatively approached. “Whatcha doin’?”

Jade was seated cross-legged on the floor, with jagged pieces of plastic littering the ground around her, her orange scissors (identical to the pair that Tori just remembered she never returned to Jade after the second failed Bird Scene attempt. Tori gulped at the memory and made a mental note to definitely return that pair that was just sitting at the bottom of her bag at the moment) flashing as the blades worked through the thick plastic to shear off another jagged piece.

“Cutting up a big trash can,” was Jade’s dry explanation.

“You cut up the janitor’s entire trash can?” Robbie asked fearfully.

Jade paused. “He’s got another one,” she shrugged, gesturing her scissors over her shoulder to indicate the other empty trash can still standing in the corner of the closet. She returned to cutting up the one in her lap.

“Jade, listen,” Tori chimed in. “I read your play, and I think it’s really good.”

“I’m not your friend,” Jade stated flatly without bothering to look up from her task.

“Well!” Tori exclaimed.

“Anyway, if the school won’t let me do my play,” Jade paused in her trash can destruction again, “then who cares if it’s good?”

“Why don’t you just produce your play yourself?” Cat jumped in. The closet was really getting crowded. But Tori didn’t mind the little redhead pressing herself against her side snugly.

“You know how much money that would cost?” Jade retorted.

“A lot?” Cat shrugged. Jade gave Cat a withering, weak glare and returned to cutting up the trash can.

“Did she cut up that whole trash can with just a pair of scissors?” Andre murmured. “Damn, girl.” He stayed the furthest away from Jade.

“How much do you think it would cost to produce your play?” Tori asked.

“I don’t know,” Jade sighed. “Two, three grand?”

“Okay. Well, then, it shouldn’t be that hard to find someone to put up the money,” Tori said easily.

Everyone turned to look at Tori. Jade included. Jade dropped the large piece of trash can she was working on and quickly got to her feet. Pointing her scissor blades directly at Tori, she asked, “You’d really find me someone to put up the money to produce my play?”

“I meant that—”

“Hey!” Jade shouted, turning on the others, her scissor point never straying from wherever her focus was turned to. She swung so quickly that the tips nearly caught Beck across his nose. He flashed her a tight smile, eyes trained on the scissors. “Did she not say,” Jade’s voice transformed into the most ridiculous impression of a southern belle from a 1940s movie that Tori had ever heard, “It shouldn’t be that hard to find someone to put up the money?” Jade’s eyes flashed dangerously as they swept over the other four.

Everyone murmured agreement.

Jade smiled and turned back to Tori, who suddenly felt very, very cornered in this small, small closet. Her eyes were icy and laser-focused on Tori, and Tori gulped subconsciously. “So you’ll do that, right?” Jade’s tone gave no indication that Tori had a say whatsoever in the matter.

Screw it, she dug this hole herself.

“Sure,” Tori said in a strained approximation of a cheery and enthusiastic voice. She managed a tight smile.

Jade snipped her scissors closed, and grunted, “Good,” as she gave Tori a once-over. Perhaps to detect if there was a dishonest bone in Tori’s body. Without another word, Jade made her way out of the janitor’s closet, scissors and scary demeanor and all, leaving the five other friends to take a collective deep breath to settle their nerves.

Cat and Andre left first, eager to escape the confines of the small closet, but Beck and Robbie weren’t so lucky. Tori blocked their exit before they could get away. She pulled on her biggest megawatt smile she could muster and asked, “Hey, do you guys want to give me 3,000 bucks to produce Jade’s play?”

The two boys gave variations of wincing and feigning remembering they had to do something and made noises of hesitation before squeezing past Tori.

Tori groaned.

How the heck was she supposed to get that money? Her and her stupid big mouth.

Tori, Andre, and Robbie went to the Chinese restaurant, Wok Star, after school, as promised. Beck and Cat had bailed, hoping to help cheer Jade up after school instead.

Tori made a Slap post about her new conundrum as they waited for their food to come out. None of the comments and replies so far have been helpful. Aside from organizing a massive fundraiser like a car wash or bake sale, Tori was completely stumped.

But hey, at least the Chinese food was still just as good as when she had brought Trina.

After stuffing themselves full with food, Tori, Andre, and Robbie went around the table opening their fortune cookies.

Tori went first. “Okay, my fortune says: He that is not right is often never wrong… What?” She looked up to Andre and Robbie, and they both shrugged.

“Maybe they had a typo?” Andre suggested. “Anyway, mine says,” he cracked open his cookie and unrolled the small paper. “Help, I’m being held hostage in a Chinese cookie factory.” Tori, Andre, and Robbie exchanged looks. “Sounds like one of those chain emails.” Andre shook his head.

Robbie cracked his cookie open next and asked Rex, “You wanna read it?”

“Yes,” the puppet replied like it was obvious. He cleared his throat as Robbie held the paper up in front of its eyes. (Tori was still uneasy about accepting Rex as his own being, but it made a lot more sense the more Tori thought about it.) “It says: Robbie will never be loved by a woman.”

“What?” Robbie blustered. “That’s not true!”

“The cookie has spoken,” Rex maintained with a snicker.

“But—”

“It’s fine, Robbie. Hollywood Arts isn’t all straight. It’s an art school, remember? Almost everyone is a little fruity,” Andre reasoned.

“But I’m not!”

Andre and Tori didn’t respond right away. Robbie looked between the both of them in disbelief.

“So, back to Jade’s play…” Tori said abruptly to change the topic.

Robbie grumbled and sank back into his seat, lost in thought. Andre simply groaned.

“Well, she expects me to find someone to pay for the whole thing,” Tori exclaimed.

“None of us have that kind of money,” Andre pointed out.

“What about your bat mitzvah money?” Tori asked Robbie.

Robbie pinched the bridge of his nose. “First of all, it was a bar mitzvah. I am a boy.”

“Theoretically,” Rex chimed in.

Andre and Tori both glared at Rex.

“What?” he asked, staring back with his lifeless, painted eyes.

“Dude. Not cool.” Andre shook his head.

“And second,” Robbie sighed, “I already spent the last of my money on leather pants and male makeup.”

“Good for you, Robbie,” Tori said. “I’d love to see you debut your leather pants—when I’m not under a death threat by Jade.”

The three were interrupted by the owner of the restaurant approaching the table and asking, “Everything okay?”

The three responded with affirmatives and praise for the food. Rex was the only one in a sour mood and blurted out a noncommittal, “Eh, whatever.”

“Ooh,” the woman gasped, pointing at Andre’s chest. “HA jacket! You kids go to Hollywood Arts?”

The three all nodded proudly, confirming.

“You know, my daughter auditioned to go to school there,” the woman explained wistfully, “but they said she was talentless and irritating.”

The three frowned. They gave their condolences and sympathy. Again, Rex was the only one who detracted from the overall mood of the group. “Wah, wah,” he intoned sarcastically before snapping, “Just give us the check.”

“Sure,” the woman frowned, placing the leather folder on the table. “And nobody want anything else?”

“Yes,” Tori said sarcastically, “$3,000 to put on a bitter girl’s play.”

“What play?” the woman asked immediately, voice as solemn as a stone.

“Oh,” Tori chuckled. “No, I was just kidding. How much is the—”

The woman was by Tori’s side in a flash, tugging on her arm. “But I like theater very much,” she insisted. “Tell me about the play.”

“Oh, well, one of our classmates wrote it.”

“Yeah,” Robbie chimed in, “it’s about a little girl who falls into a well and then drowns in her own tears.”

Rex chuckled darkly. “It’s hilarious.”

Andre just gaped at the puppet. “You’re sick, Rex,” he stated flatly.

“What happened, man?” Rex said. “We used to be tight.”

Andre just shook his head.

“Okay,” the woman decided loudly. “I will put up the money for your bitter friend’s play.”

“Re—Why?” Tori asked.

“Because! I love acting, and theater, and maybe one day, if you kids get famous, you will end up on my wall of celebrities!” She beckoned everyone up and out of the table. “Come see. Come! This way.” As an afterthought, she added, “And bring the puppet, I guess.”

Robbie paused and sighed. “It’s not a—forget it.”

They all gathered around the wall near the cash register counter.

“All those celebrities have eaten here?” Andre gestured to the wall. There certainly was an impressive number given how new the restaurant seemed. Or maybe the restaurant was a lot older than Tori thought.

“Oh, yes,” the woman nodded excitedly. “Even Angelina Jolie!” The woman pointed out the picture. “She ordered the wonton soup, and then, she tried to adopt my daughter.”

“The, uh, same one who auditioned for Hollywood Arts?”

“Yes, but Angelina Jolie didn’t offer enough money.”

The three were stunned into silence. Awkwardly, they shuffled back to the table, paid the bill, and scurried out of the restaurant.

Tori spent most of the afternoon looking up potential theaters to rent now that she had a budget. She called up Wok Star to exchange numbers with Mrs. Lee, the owner of Wok Star and now the main financial backer to Jade’s play, so that they can keep in contact. Tori texted Jade excitedly, and Jade demanded updates as soon as Tori had them.

After school the next day, Tori found the perfect theater, well within budget, and got a ride with Beck and Jade. She texted Mrs. Lee to meet them there.

“Come on! C’mon, c’mon, c’mon,” Tori beckoned them inside and flicked on the lights.

“Wow,” Beck breathed, the last one through the door. All three of them took in the sights. “This is a nice little theater.”

“Right?” Tori beamed.

It was a spacious place. The seats were already arranged in an auditorium style, with the rows further back raised above the seats closer to the front of the stage. The stage itself was roughly the same size as the stage in the Black Box Theater, making the space feel relatively familiar already.

“And this restaurant lady, who you barely know, is really gonna pay for this place?” Jade asked, momentarily pausing from her gaping at the venue around them.

“She’s paying for everything,” Tori assured her. “The whole $3,000.”

“She really hooked you up,” Beck remarked. Jade shot him a look as he took a seat.

Tori hummed expectantly and grinned as she turned back to Jade. “Love me? Love me now?” she teased. “Yeah, you do.” She held up her arms wide. “C’mon, give Tori a squeeze.”

Jade merely smiled and stayed rooted to her spot stubbornly. But Tori didn’t relent. She shimmied her shoulders and wiggled her fingers. Still, Jade didn’t give in.

Finally, Jade said, “Here, I’ll… playfully punch your arm, as if we were friends.”

“I’ll take it,” Tori nodded, turning to the side to present her shoulder.

Jade really did softly knock her knuckles across Tori’s arm and muttered, “Okay,” and moved to explore the rest of the stage. “Well, I’ve got a lot of work to do here. I gotta ask Sinjin if he’ll help me with set dressing. Maybe Robbie could do the lighting if I ask…”

The door opened, and in strode a cheerful-looking Mrs. Lee, dressed in a green blazer the color of the brightest St. Patrick’s Day advertisements. “Hello!” She greeted everyone loudly as she made her way to the center of the room.

“Hey!” Tori waved to her as she approached.

“Look, it’s Tori Vega with the beautiful cheekbones!”

“Oh, you,” Tori blushed and waved off the compliment with a smile. She turned to Jade and gestured to Mrs. Lee. “Jade, this is Mrs. Lee from Wok Star.”

“Oh, it’s really cool to meet you,” Jade smiled politely.

“Is this our playwright?” Mrs. Lee tilted her head to Jade.

“That’s her!” Tori nodded.

“I’m Jade,” Jade stepped forward, offering a handshake. Tori noticed Jade’s nautical star tattoo on her right forearm was on prominent display. “This is my boyfriend, Beck.” Jade gestured to where Beck had settled into a corner chair.

Mrs. Lee shook Jade’s hand warmly, and Tori barely noticed the slight twitch in Jade’s eye before Jade pulled out of the handshake.

“I am the boyfriend,” Beck confirmed with a wave and his signature boyish smile.

“And listen,” Jade said, pulling Mrs. Lee’s attention back from staring at Beck. “I can’t even, like, tell you how amazing it is that you’re paying for all of this.”

“Bah,” Mrs. Lee waved her hand, “don’t even mention that! I’m just happy you get to do your play!”

“Well, thanks! I can’t wait for you to read it.” Jade smiled. It was the true, genuine kind that Tori had rarely ever seen light up Jade’s face.

(Tori could probably count on one hand the number of times she had seen Jade actually smile like that. Tori wasn’t sure when she started paying so much attention to Jade’s microexpressions, but something about dissecting Jade’s reactions felt like the right thing to do. After all, Jade was often just a hair’s breadth away from suddenly switching to homicidal threats, so, Tori reasoned to herself, this was just a defense mechanism. Yeah. A way to learn the warning signs to avoid Jade’s explosive bouts of anger and violence. Yeah, that had to be it. That’s all there was to it.)

“I already did!” Mrs. Lee happily reported.

"Oh," Tori explained, “I gave her a copy last night.”

“I read it in the bathtub!” Mrs. Lee shared.

Jade’s smile turned into one tinged with slight discomfort. “And, what did you think?” she asked politely. Tori shared in Jade’s discomfort. Jade’s play was definitely not a relaxing-in-the-bathtub kind of light reading.

“Loved it,” Mrs. Lee gushed.

“Really?” The light was back in Jade’s eyes, and the true, genuine smile fought to break through. Wow, Tori felt lucky. Twice in the span of five minutes. Tori wondered if everyone in the room knew just how lucky they were.

“Awesome!” Tori couldn’t help but to chime in.

“Yeah,” Mrs. Lee nodded and headed to the chair where she set down her purse. “I only have a few notes.”

And just like that, the air in the room turned to thick, foggy ice.

Tori, Beck, and Jade exchanged glances. Mainly Beck and Tori, because they knew what was probably going through Jade’s head.

Tori glanced at Jade and saw her gripping the strap of her Gears of War messenger bag tightly.

“What do you mean, ‘notes’?” Jade asked carefully, voice tight and controlled. Tori glanced nervously between Jade and Mrs. Lee, who had just straightened up after pulling a hard copy of the script from her purse.

“You know,” Mrs. Lee continued to smile. “Ideas to make the play better? Spice it up a li'l bit,” she shimmied her shoulders in an awkward little dance.

Tori tried to laugh to dispel some of the sudden thick tension in the air, but one glance at Jade’s furious eyes stopped her in her tracks. “Oh gosh,” she muttered to herself.

“Uh,” Jade grimaced, “you want to change my play?”

“Wow,” Beck suddenly declared loudly, “I gotta go to the… uh…” He didn’t bother to try and come up with a believable excuse. He just flashed Jade a tight smile and left the theater quickly.

Jade and Mrs. Lee turned back to stare at each other. Mrs. Lee wore an impish grin, and Jade glowered.

“He’s so pretty,” Mrs. Lee murmured. “Like a pretty pony.”

“He’s sixteen. And taken,” Jade growled.

Mrs. Lee shrugged. “He’s still handsome.”

Jade forced a strained, polite voice. “What ‘changes’ do you want to make to my play?” Tori could hear Jade try not to emphasize the “my” in “my play.”

“Jade," Tori said warningly.

“Well,” Mrs. Lee started, taking Jade’s momentary pause as a sign to forge forward, “like, what if, when the girl falls down into the well, she sings a song on the way down?”

“It’s not a musical,” Jade stated evenly.

“But it could be!” Tori interjected, desperate to mediate between the two. But one glare from Jade made Tori backtrack immediately. “But it’s not.”

“Who sings when they’re plunging to the bottom of a well?” Jade asked.

“Batman,” Mrs. Lee retorted sassily.

“I, uh… I don’t think Batman sings,” Tori said quietly as she took a step toward Mrs. Lee. Could this woman not see how close Jade was to blowing her top?

Mrs. Lee simply pushed Tori to the side without a glance. “Look,” she said, taking a step forward toward Jade instead. “I’m just trying to help. Don’t get your underpants in a twist.”

Jade stepped forward to match Mrs. Lee. “I’ll twist your underpants if you—”

“O-kay,” Tori said loudly, placing an arm across Jade’s chest to push her back. Jade retreated reluctantly, never taking her eyes off the woman in a green blazer. “I think we can all work this out and keep our underpants untwisted.”

Jade let out a mirthless chuckle. “I don’t need anyone’s ideas,” she stated plainly.

“Well, you need my money, so you have to listen to my suggestions.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Jade,” Tori tried to say again.

“You do, too.”

“I do not.”

“Jade.”

“Do too.”

“Lady,” Jade growled.

“Jade!”

“I’ll smack her!” Jade glanced at Tori.

“I don’t see you smackin’ my money!”

“Listen, I don’t—” Jade surged forward again, and Tori only barely managed to yank Jade back. She tugged Jade’s wrist so that she turned around and pointed toward the back of the stage. With a huff, Jade followed Tori a short distance away.

“Are you insane?” Tori sighed.

“No,” Jade snapped. “She is.”

“She’s paying for your whole play,” Tori reminded her.

“I don’t need her input,” Jade growled.

“Too bad! That’s how show business works.”

Jade peered around Tori’s shoulder and sighed. “It seems wrong,” she admitted softly.

“Oh, it is,” Tori nodded. “Do you want that lady’s money, or don’t you?”

Jade softly thumped her boot against the ground and sighed. “Yeah.”

“Then play nice,” Tori said with finality. Grabbing Jade’s wrist, she guided Jade back to where Mrs. Lee sat.

“So,” Jade started in a strained voice as they approached the green blazer. “Um, she… sings a song as she falls down the well.” Jade grimaced and swallowed. “That could work,” she forced through clenched teeth.

Mrs. Lee simply smiled smugly. “No, no,” she drawled. “If you don’t like that idea, then you don’t have to do it.”

“I don’t?” Jade asked way too quickly. Tori inwardly winced. She had a bad feeling about this.

“No,” Mrs. Lee waved her hand. Before she could explain more, the door to the theater opened again.

A soft, timid voice said, “Mom?”

“Ah! There you are,” Mrs. Lee exclaimed, welcoming the newcomer (a small little girl who barely looked like a 7th grader) and tugging her over to Tori and Jade. “Girls, this is my daughter, Daisy.” In a lower voice, she sternly commanded, “Say hi to them.”

“Hi,” the girl said shyly.

“More power,” Mrs. Lee demanded.

“Hi!” the girl projected her voice, eyes wide in fear that she startled the older girls.

“Hi,” Tori and Jade waved at Daisy.

“Daisy’s going to play a big part in your play,” Mrs. Lee explained, stroking her daughter’s straight jet-black hair and sweeping it behind her shoulder fondly.

Tori and Jade kind of imitated vaguely pleasantly surprised expressions and gaped at each other wordlessly.

It felt like they had an entire conversation just staring at each other for a few moments.

Did you know about this?

Of course, I didn’t!

What if she’s terrible?

Can it be worse than making it a musical?

They turned back to Mrs. Lee with forced, tight smiles. Jade chuckled mirthlessly. “Wow,” she said in a strained voice. “What a great idea…”

“Say thank you,” Mrs. Lee instructed gently.

“Thank you,” Daisy mumbled.

“More power,” Mrs. Lee demanded again.

“Thank you!” the girl practically shouted, wincing at her own volume.

“Great…” Jade said through clenched teeth as she turned her completely forced grimace onto Tori. “Just. Great.”

The rehearsals were tense. If Tori thought the first standoff between Jade and Mrs. Lee was intense, the rehearsals made that spat seem like a mild disagreement.

Tensions and tempers ran high from the get-go, but Tori stubbornly stayed by Jade’s side. If only to help jump in and mediate before Jade did something she was going to regret.

Beck seemed to keep a wide berth from Jade, and he never stopped by rehearsal. Tori felt all the more reason to stay close to Jade, knowing Beck was typically the only other person who could reel Jade in.

If only Mrs. Lee would stop messing with Jade’s vision for the play.

Multiple times, Mrs. Lee had jumped in with her own “notes” to improve the actors in a scene. And the majority of them were directed to Daisy, who was apparently now a flying angel to Cat’s character, Ariel. Tori didn’t fail to notice that Jade seemed determined to ignore Daisy’s entire presence in the play. And that included deliberately not giving Daisy any notes. She left that to Mrs. Lee.

Still, it was only their second rehearsal, and Tori (who considered herself a fairly patient person) was fed up with Mrs. Lee. She could only imagine how much self-control it was taking Jade to not whip out her scissors and just start snipping or stabbing.

“Is this what you meant, Nana?” Cat cried out as Ariel. “I’ve done good my whole life, but now I’m trapped down in this well. And I’ll probably never get out!” She collapsed to the floor, sobbing.

“Don’t cry,” Daisy croaked out as the pulleys squeaked, and she came swinging down on a wire harness. “Don’t you cry little girl. Down in that well. The well where you fell. The secrets you tell,” Daisy continued to "sing" as the harness swung her back and forth, and she flapped her arms in what seemed to be an attempt at looking graceful. “You don’t have to cry. Just believe you can fly, and you will! Fly up, out of that well!”

Tori didn’t believe she was being unnecessarily cruel or mean when she honestly thought that Daisy’s voice sounded like a dying cat.

“Yes!” Mrs. Lee leapt out of her chair, clapping. (The only one clapping.) “That was so good! She kill it! Whoo!” she whooped.

Jade covered her mouth in an expression of horror, disgust, and nausea. Tori rubbed a hand on Jade’s shoulder comfortingly, and Jade weakly shrugged it off. Tori retreated her hand back to her lap.

“I’m sorry, I’m confused,” Cat said, getting up to her feet. Daisy was being pulled back to her starting position. “My character can fly now?”

“No,” Jade declared sternly.

Mrs. Lee turned around slowly from where she stood.

“So, then, why is my angel telling me to fly up out of this well?” Cat asked, oblivious to the burning staring contest going on between the playwright and the sponsor.

“Because the angel’s mother is a crazy—”

Tori grasped Jade’s arm and squeezed, quickly cutting in, “A nice lady, who is paying for this play.” Jade glared at Tori’s hand, and Tori relinquished her grip quickly.

“That’s right,” Mrs. Lee sang smugly.

Jade aimed a forced smile at Mrs. Lee just to get her to turn around again. As soon as the woman did, Tori saw the smile drop into a fierce scowl.

“Sing it again, Daisy!” Mrs. Lee called.

Daisy’s harness was pulled, and she swung back and forth as she started up the song again. “Don’t cry… Don’t you cry, little girl…”

Jade exhaled noisily through her nostrils. Tori fidgeted with her fingers in her lap. Cat shook her head and held a hand to her temple, apparently massaging it. Mrs. Lee clapped along and swayed to the song. And Daisy flapped her arms and gently swung back and forth over the stage.

There was a snap, and Tori glanced over at Jade, whose jaw was clenched so hard that there was a dimple from the flexed muscle in her pale cheeks. Clutched in her fist was a pencil she was using to jot down notes to share with the actors later. Only, it looked impossibly bent, like the pencil was broken in two. When Jade relaxed her hand and maneuvered the two pieces to be held more comfortably in her fist like a folded up pocket knife, Tori glimpsed the splinters lining Jade’s palm.

At school on Wednesday, after that horrible second night of rehearsal, Tori spotted Sinjin sprinting away from Jade’s locker with a dark stain running down his jeans leg.

Tori approached Jade at her locker, still exchanging books. “You know, he’s only trying to make your play better,” she said.

“So?” Jade shrugged, barely giving Tori a glance.

“So, now he’s got pee running down his leg,” Tori pointed out.

“I’m not responsible for Sinjin’s bladder control, or lack of it,” Jade replied simply, shoving a book into her bag.

“Why’re you being such a baby?” Tori finally asked. Jade had been acting downright petulant for the past two days, and frankly, it baffled Tori. “Okay, so you’re not getting to do your play exactly how you want, but at least you’re still getting to do it!”

Jade hummed lightly. “And how do I explain that—” She stopped abruptly and dropped her gaze to the ground. She shook her head. It was a slight movement, like it was more to herself than to Tori.

But now, Tori’s curiosity was piqued. As was her concern. Jade suddenly looked uncertain. And nervous.

The Jade West that Tori knew did not ever get nervous. She was confident and loud and an absolutely unstoppable force of nature. Kind of like Trina, but actually aware of her talents. And a little more self-aware. Just a little bit. But she did not get nervous.

“What?” Tori pressed. But Jade simply turned back to her locker. “Tell me,” Tori implored.

Jade slammed her locker shut and glanced around. Satisfied, she looked back to Tori and demanded, “Hold out your wrist.”

Tori, bewildered, offered her limp wrist to Jade.

Jade wordlessly wrapped her fingers around it and tugged Tori down the hallway. Tori knew where they were headed, but for a moment, she was distracted by how soft and warm Jade’s hands were. It wasn’t often that she was granted extended contact with Jade. Even rarer still that Jade initiated the contact.

But the moment was soon over, as Jade flung Tori into the janitor’s closet and closed the door. Both instinctively checked the corner to make sure there wasn’t a napping janitor hiding under a blanket. That incident had definitely scared both of them to be more vigilant.

Tori waited patiently for Jade to explain. Jade didn’t start speaking for a long moment. She toyed with the cap on her water bottle, twisting and untwisting it.

“I… invited my dad to come see my play on opening night,” Jade confessed quietly.

“And?”

“He hates me,” Jade deadpanned.

“Uh,” Tori gaped, trying to think of a response. Somehow, she ended up saying, “but why would anyone hate you?” Tori hated how unsure she sounded as she said what should've been a rhetorical question.

Jade sighed and set her water bottle down, only to pick up a level and began tilting it side to side to watch the bubble move. “He doesn’t understand creative people,” Jade explained slowly, like she was searching for the right words as she said them. It was strange to see this side of Jade. Unsure of herself. Vulnerable. “He thinks that… wanting to be an actor or a writer or director is stupid.”

Tori took a second to consider all this. Jade was talented in so many different forms of art. Acting, writing, and, as Tori was recently learning, directing too. She couldn’t fathom why anyone would want to suppress such a creative soul. Or limit a mind as sharp as Jade’s.

But Jade wasn’t done. She exchanged the level for a pair of pliers and continued, “So I invited him to my play because I thought it was going to be really good and hopefully make him finally have some respect for me.” Jade’s voice began to rise, and her words began to accelerate as they tumbled out, “But then you let your restaurant lady turn it into a joke. Which is just going to make my dad think he was absolutely right about my dreams being stupid and pointless. Thank you,” Jade slammed the pliers onto the top of the toolbox that she picked them up from and rounded on Tori, “for ruining my life.” She grabbed her water bottle and took a big gulp.

Tori was speechless. She had no idea all this was going on. She had just glimpsed a side of Jade that she felt she wasn’t supposed to see. And yet.

Nothing came to mind to try and comfort Jade, so Tori fell back on trying to lighten the mood with humor.

“Pfft,” Tori scoffed, “dads…”

Jade sucked her teeth and nodded. That little subtle nod that seemed more for herself than for Tori. She seemed to be chewing on words that were straining to leap from her mouth. Just like that night she bailed Tori out of cleaning the Black Box Theater from food stains.

Finally, she said, “Thanks, Tori.” She aimed a sour smile at Tori and handed her the water bottle. “That really helps put things into perspective.”

Tori had a sinking feeling she said the wrong thing. But she had no idea how to fix it.

Jade swept out of the janitor’s closet without another word.

Tori raised and dropped her arms helplessly after Jade’s receding figure. In her frustration, she tossed the water bottle into the trash can. Only for it to fall apart. It was then that Tori noticed it was a terribly glued-together trash can with bits that looked suspiciously like the large pieces Jade was carving into with her scissors.

Tori made a run for it.

After school, Beck, Cat, Andre, and Robbie were gathered at Tori’s house to play cards before Tori and Cat needed to go to rehearsal. Tori recounted the story of how she made Jade upset, and all that horrible tension that’s been going on during the rehearsals. Cat occasionally jumped in with her own anecdotes.

“And then?” Beck prompted.

“She thanked me for ruining her life,” Tori replied.

“At least she thanked you,” Andre joked.

Tori rolled her eyes.

“Gimme one,” Beck requested, throwing down a card from his hand. Andre dealt him a new card.

“Two,” Tori requested next. Andre dealt her two.

Robbie looked over into the kitchen and pointed. “What’s Trina doing?”

Tori turned around to investigate. She had known her sister came down almost half an hour ago, midway through the story, but she had been suspiciously quiet for the past couple minutes. Now, Tori knew why.

Trina was standing at the island counter, fingers and face covered in a green, mushy concoction.

“I’m putting avocado on my face to give it a natural glow,” Trina explained with a shrug.

“I use male makeup,” Robbie remarked.

“You know, maybe you shouldn’t tell so many people about that,” Beck said slowly. “It kinda ruins the whole natural illusion.”

“Yeah, honestly, if you didn’t tell me, I never would’ve noticed,” Tori agreed. Robbie pondered this.

“Wait,” Cat abruptly said, setting down her hand of cards for a moment. “Jade’s dad is only coming to the play on the first night, right?”

“Yeah,” Tori nodded.

“So then why don’t we just do it the way Jade wrote it for that one night?” she suggested.

“Because,” Tori sighed, “Mrs. Lee’s gonna be there, and she wants it done her way.”

“But,” Cat smiled devilishly, “what if she’s not there?”

“I think Cat’s onto something,” Andre remarked as the five exchanged glances.

“Yeah,” Tori nodded, grinning. “Come on. C’mon, c’mon, c’mon, c’mon,” she gestured to the others. “How do we keep Mrs. Lee from going to the play on opening night?”

Silence fell over the group, save for the squishy noises coming from Trina applying the avocado to her face.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Andre suddenly said. “Mrs. Lee is totally obsessed with celebrities.”

“Yeah?” Tori nodded, and Robbie agreed.

“If a celebrity walked into her restaurant right before the play started…”

“How are we gonna get a celebrity to walk into the restaurant right before the play?” Beck asked.

“A celebrity big enough that Mrs. Lee will want to take a photo with,” Robbie added.

“Maybe we can't get a real celebrity, but what if we had a fake celebrity?” Tori suggested.

“Like?” Cat asked.

Tori turned in her chair and gestured to Trina, causing everyone else to also look at Trina. Trina looked back at them like a cornered animal, face lathered in chunky avocado.

The plan was coming together.

Tori and Cat told Jade about their little scheme that night just before Mrs. Lee and Daisy arrived for the beginning of rehearsal. Together, they devised a new schedule to double up on rehearsals. One would be with Mrs. Lee and Daisy and all the (ridiculous) additions to appease the sponsor, and the other would be run the way Jade originally wrote the play.

With the plan in motion, Tori finally saw Jade find her stride. And that was when Tori began to see the little changes.

Jade was a different person as a director, Tori noticed. She was particular and direct, shrewd and sharp. But for the first time, Tori noticed that Jade wasn’t cruel. Instead, she was precise. She studied all of the blocking carefully, like she had an exact vision in her head of how everything should be played out.

Tori stayed by Jade’s side the whole way. Every rehearsal, Tori sat right next to Jade, and most times, it was like Jade was too concentrated on the play that she didn’t notice how close Tori was. Tori herself was often surprised to find that there was hardly a foot of distance between them—the closest Tori had ever dared to come to Jade without Jade overtly trying to fluster Tori. Or threaten to maim her.

But it was fascinating to watch Jade in her element. Providing directions. Sharp and concise instructions. Barking orders like she belonged in charge. Not that Tori ever doubted that for a second.

It was only more apparent during the secret second rehearsals. Jade was a perfectionist, with a very high standard. And though she worked everyone to the bone, Tori knew that Jade was working the hardest, agonizing the most, over everything in the play. And now, Tori understood why.

Opening night came. The final rehearsal had finished earlier that morning, and Mrs. Lee and Daisy left early to open the restaurant. That left the cast and crew most of the afternoon to run through one last secret rehearsal before the curtain rose.

Tori was glad to not have to deal with Trina diving into full diva mode to practice her celebrity persona. Apparently, Robbie had taken it upon himself to do final touch ups for Trina’s makeup after she was in costume and ready to go.

The audience was steadily filling up the seats in the theater as Tori found Jade peering nervously from the wings.

“Hey,” Tori greeted Jade, but Jade didn’t take her eyes away from scanning the audience.

“What,” she bit out. “What?!” she snapped, startling Tori.

Tori knew Jade was wound up and anxious, but knowing that never prepared Tori for how terrifying Jade could be.

“Will you calm down?” Tori finally said when her heart rate finally started to slow.

“Sorry,” Jade muttered, voice frazzled and eyes sweeping left and right frantically. “I’m just freaking a little.”

Tori sighed. “There is nothing to worry about,” she assured Jade.

“You guys?” Cat said, weaving her way through the curtains. “I was getting into costume, and I dropped my bra in the toilet.” Cat held up a dripping bra.

Jade turned to give Tori a bitingly sour smile. “Nothing to worry about,” she parroted Tori in that awful southern belle voice.

“I don’t talk like that,” Tori snapped.

“So what do I do about my—oh.”

Jade snatched the bra out of Cat’s hands, wrung it out, and thrust it back at Cat. “Now, go get ready.”

“Thank you?” Cat said, a little confused. But she disappeared behind the curtains to go backstage again.

“You know,” Tori remarked as she watched Jade wipe her hands on her jeans. “She’s so sweet, but sometimes I wonder—”

“There he is,” Jade suddenly said, backhanding her knuckles against Tori’s stomach to get her attention and also to shut up, Tori presumed. “There he is, there he is, there he is,” she repeated in quick succession.

“Who?” Tori craned her neck to look around Jade without poking her head too far out of the wing.

“My father.” Jade pointed to a solemn and severe-looking man who had just entered the theater and was making his way to an empty seat in the audience.

“Wow,” Tori remarked. “He looks kind of—”

“Like he hates my guts?” Jade suggested immediately.

“I was gonna say cold and judgmental,” Tori replied.

“That works too,” Jade conceded with a tilt of her head.

Tori sighed. “Look, you don’t have to freak out. Your play is going to happen exactly how you want it to, and the guys are going to make sure Mrs. Lee never gets here.”

“Okay,” Jade nodded. “And what about daughter Daisy?”

“No worries,” Tori grinned. “I had a chat with her earlier, and I told her that we’re going to be doing things a little differently tonight. I had a feeling she was forced into the play as much as we didn’t want her to be in it.”

“How much did you bribe her?” Jade asked with a smirk.

“I—what—I did not—” Tori blustered. But with Jade arching her pierced eyebrow in that way, Tori caved. Tori muttered, “20 bucks.”

“Good bargain for her,” Jade remarked with an approving nod. “And she finally gets a night off from that harness.”

Cat was in the middle of delivering her main monologue as Ariel when Tori leaned over to Jade and whispered, “Do you think your dad likes it?”

“It’s hard to tell,” Jade whispered back, leaning closer to Tori to account for their lowered voices. Tori tried not to notice, but Jade felt really, really warm. “I’ve never seen him like anything before,” Jade admitted. “But he doesn’t look angry.”

“That’s a good sign,” Tori whispered. “Right?”

“I guess.”

Tori’s phone vibrated, and she hurried to check the text. “Mrs. Lee just left the restaurant,” she informed Jade.

But Jade wore a smug smirk. It looked so at home on her face. Tori had missed it for most of the past week.

“She’s too late,” Jade said.

“It’s too late,” one of the paramedics on stage said with a heavy sigh.

Tori smiled.

“How is she?” Ariel’s dad jogged onto the stage, kneeling by Ariel.

“She’s gone,” the other paramedic informed him.

“What?” he whispered in disbelief as he pulled off his cap and slowly lowered it to the ground beside the still Ariel. He paused for a moment, caressing Ariel’s crown before bending down and placing a kiss on her forehead.

Ariel stirred awake, and Ariel’s father helped prop her up into a sitting position.

“Dad?” Ariel murmured. And the lights faded. And the curtains drew to a close.

Applause rang across the audience, and Tori was right on Jade’s heels making it out to the seating area.

Jade fielded a few compliments and praise for the show, and she accepted them quickly and curtly.

“Great work,” one audience member said, extending a hand toward Jade.

But Jade’s focus was pulled elsewhere, past the man’s shoulder. “Whatever,” she said quickly, dismissing him with a cold glare.

Mr. West approached from behind the audience member, and Jade sidestepped the man to come face to face with the intense, stoic Mr. West.

He folded his hands in front of him, solemn and expressionless. For a moment, the daughter and father simply stared at each other.

Tori thought she had seen intense tension with Jade and another person all week, but nothing prepared her for this encounter. Perhaps it was the extra adrenaline from having the show go without a hitch and exactly as Jade had originally written it, but Tori was feeling an extra helping of anxiety as she stood in the presence of an unstoppable force colliding with an unmovable object.

“Dad,” Jade finally broke the silence with a very flat and toneless greeting. If one could even qualify that as a greeting.

“Jade,” Mr. West returned, just as stonily.

They continued staring each other down, sizing each other up, and waiting for the other to break first.

Only, it was Tori who broke first.

“Just say whether you like it or not!” Tori exploded, unable to contain her nerves any longer.

Mr. West looked nonplussed at Tori’s interjection. He gave Tori a long glance, studying her like he only just noticed Tori was even standing there, before turning back to Jade to ask, “Friend of yours?”

“Eh,” Jade shrugged. Tori looked at Jade incredulously. (Honestly, after this whole week and everything Tori did, Jade still didn’t—) “So, my play?” Jade prompted.

Mr. West took a deep breath before saying, “I thought… It was excellent.” His voice was clinical and cold. Not a trace of warmth in it. But his words sparked a bubble of hope in Tori’s chest, and Tori excitedly glanced at Jade for her reaction. To Jade’s credit, she was doing an incredible job at keeping a poker face.

“Thanks,” Jade replied, in a voice just slightly higher-pitched than normal. She paused before asking slowly, “Anything else?”

Mr. West stood in silence for a moment longer. Then, he sighed. “Would you please take that jewelry out of your face?”

Jade blinked once, slowly, and replied, “No.”

For a second, he looked like he was going to launch into a long lecture, but he seemed to think twice. Instead, he exhaled, “Bye.”

“Bye.” Immediately, she crossed one arm across her stomach and perched her other elbow on her hand. She ran the tip of her thumbnail over her other nails as she observed the polish for chips. It was a pose Tori recognized well. The one Jade assumed when she wanted to appear nonchalant, even though she was feeling anything but.

“Well,” Tori exhaled and stepped around to face Jade. “Get what you wanted?”

“Mhm,” Jade nodded. “I’ve never seen him look that happy before.”

Tori raised her eyebrows and grinned. A scowl flashed across Jade’s face when she caught the expression.

Tori raised her arms up and shimmied her shoulders and wiggled her fingers. “Come on,” she urged. “Give Tori a squeeze.”

Jade made a show of rolling her eyes and feigning reluctance, but she stepped forward into the embrace easily enough. She wrapped her arms around Tori’s midsection as Tori’s arms wrapped over Jade’s shoulders. Tori could've sworn she heard a small, soft sigh escape Jade's lips, just under her ear and ghosting across her neck. Tori could practically hear the content smile in the sound.

They stayed like that for a long moment. Longer than Tori had dared hope for. And Jade didn’t move away.

Not until Mrs. Lee came stomping into the theater in her high heels and moaning, “Aww, I miss it?” Jade stepped away first, and Tori let her, naturally turning to stand by Jade’s side instead as they both looked toward Mrs. Lee. “Aw, dang it, I miss it!” The woman kicked a chair over in anger.

“It’s okay,” Tori assured the woman.

“You can see it tomorrow night,” Jade smiled.

“And watch your daughter fly and sing again.”

“Just like she did tonight.”

“Aw,” Mrs. Lee’s scowl softened into a prideful smile. “Was my little girl wonderful?”

Jade and Tori scoffed. “Oh yeah.”

“She stole the show.”

“Aww,” Mrs. Lee beamed.

“Let me actually go see if she’s changed out of her costume,” Tori said quickly. “I’m sure you two want to discuss some notes?” Tori nudged Jade in the ribs.

Jade stammered, “Uh, yeah. Right, sure.” She led Mrs. Lee to sit in the front row chairs and took a seat exactly one chair away. A proper and healthy Jade-appropriate distance between them. Tori grinned before disappearing behind the curtains in search of Daisy to make sure the other end of the deal would be upheld.

Jade’s POV

On Monday night, the last night of production for Well Wishes, daughter Daisy told psycho restaurant lady that the jig was up and blabbed about not letting her star on opening night. Jade could've smacked the smug little kid. But Tori held Jade back, even though the kid had effectively swindled her out of 20 bucks.

(Did Tori's patience know no bounds? Seriously. It was almost concerning.)

But now, Jade and Tori were banned from Wok Star. (At least they didn't leave Daisy dangling from the ceiling in her flying harness. That would've been a smidge more gratifying.) Given that Beck, Robbie, Andre, and Trina were also complicit in the scheme to distract Mrs. Lee with the whole Jackie Bonet act, even they were banned. The devious little Daisy had overheard all of the plans and relayed it all dutifully to Mrs. Lee. (Jade's scissors were itching to snip that smug smile off the girl's face.)

In any case, Tori reminded them all that even though they were banned, the plan had worked. Jade's play was done right for one of the nights, and Jade's dad had given her the recognition she deserved. And Jade couldn't argue with that.

As horrible and cringey the last two nights of production were, somehow, Jade was able to bear through it with gritted teeth and a tight smile because of the knowledge that opening night was a success.

Jade took Cat out for ice cream after opening night for a job well done (honestly, the little redhead was perfect, but Jade would never give such high praise flat out. She knew that Cat knew though, because her oldest friend was really good at reading between the lines like that). And the gang all celebrated together Monday night after the last run of the show.

Jade and Beck shared an intimate night together after the celebration dinner. And Jade felt full and happy for the first time in a long time.

So she didn't understand why she felt so incomplete Tuesday morning.

Maybe because for the past week, Tori had been there whenever Beck wasn't. And Jade supposed she just kind of got… used to it—Tori being right there by her side wherever she turned. Jade believed it would feel suffocating as time wore on, but it actually had become a source of comfort, to have a steadfast shoulder to lean on (figuratively, of course) amidst what felt like her world falling to pieces as Mrs. Lee continued to shred apart her play and stitch it back together into a cartoon joke.

But, whatever, right? It's not like Jade needed Tori. Jade got what she wanted in the end. As far as Jade was concerned, this more than made up for bailing Tori out of detention and not returning her scissors. (Yeah, Jade still remembered that.) It's not like Jade and Tori were friends or whatever. Tori wasn't Cat, and never will be. And she and Tori would never be "close" like Jade was with Andre and Robbie. Those two were just… acquaintances. And Tori was just a shade more familiar than a stranger.

(It still felt safer to keep Tori at an arm's distance away. Jade took comfort in the fact that, so far, she had managed to keep herself from revealing too much about herself. Apart from that little meltdown in the janitor's closet. Yeah, that was a fluke. And it proved exactly what Jade had suspected all along. Tori was just a little Miss Perfect with the most perfect family and personality, so how could she fathom what it was like to have a man like Mr. West as a father?)

So, no, Tori and Jade were not friends, and they never would be, if Jade had anything to say about it. Jade just… grew a little respect for Tori's occasional devious plots. That's all.

Chapter Text

Tori’s POV

Suffice it to say, it had been nice to spend a week getting closer to Jade. Tori couldn't quite place her finger on what changed, but something did. Tori and Jade's interactions weren't laced with quite so much hostility, even if Jade seemed hellbent on keeping Tori at a distance.

But Tori couldn't help it if she got close sometimes. Something kept drawing Tori in.

So Tori woke up in a fairly good mood Tuesday morning. Well Wishes had just finished production the night before, and everyone hung out for a celebratory dinner together afterward. Even if they got banned from Wok Star, (well, everyone but Cat, because who could deny the sweet girl anything?) Tori wasn't super bummed because they still had good ol' BF Wangs to fill their Chinese food cravings.

Daisy swindling Tori out of 20 bucks was a bit annoying, but Tori shrugged it off. She was on too much of a high from getting a genuine (lingering) hug from Jade Saturday night that nothing could really burst Tori's bubble.

Tori thought that seeing Jade's true smile was a treat, but nothing came close to how nice it felt to be hugged back by Jade.

Long story short, Tuesday found Tori in a really good mood.

"Hey, Trina-rina," Tori greeted her sister by the Wahoo Punch vending machine.

"Oh, hey!" Trina greeted her back. "You want a soda?"

"Uh, sure," Tori grinned.

"Me too. Gimme money."

Tori chuckled but complied, pulling a fiver from her pocket. Trina punched in the selections and handed a can to Tori.

"Aw man," Trina whined. "I hate this flavor."

"Then why did you choose it?" Tori shook her head.

"Because—" Trina's response was cut off by a sudden laser beam noise coming from a barely-hovering circular model-spacecraft.

Tori and Trina just stared at it for a moment as it continued to shoot its pitiful lasers. Before Tori took her textbook and whacked it to the ground. It fell with a loud clatter and sputtered lifelessly.

Tori and Trina looked down the hallway to find the gaping owner of the lifeless machine (Robbie) standing next to an amused Beck.

Beck murmured something and clapped Robbie on the shoulder with a grin. Robbie was finally spurred into motion. He walked up to the sisters and started off soft. "Hey, thanks a lot," he said, "FOR WHACKING MY ASTRO CRAFT!"

Tori shrugged. "It was attacking us."

"And stupid," Trina added.

"That doesn't give you the right to—"

“Oh my god,” Trina gasped and looked past Robbie and Beck and down the hallway. "They're filming something!" Trina tore down the hallway to get in front of the camera.

Tori, Beck, and Robbie all looked on with shaking heads and grimaces. They slowly made their way over to the crew as well, curiosity getting the better of them.

Lane seemed to be showing a group of people around the school, explaining the hallway and the tradition of students decorating their lockers. A man holding a camera was trying to maneuver around Trina to film some dancing students.

The cameraman eventually got fed up and said, “That girl keeps blocking my shot.”

Tori decided to save her sister from further embarrassment and approached. “Hey, what’s goin’ on?”

“Oh, these guys are shooting a TV show,” Lane happily explained.

“A TV show?” Robbie perked up.

“I wanna be on a TV show,” Trina declared solemnly, grabbing Lane by his arm.

Tori shook her head and smiled. “What show are you guys from?”

“It’s a new one, called ‘The Wood.’”

“I wanna be on ‘The Wood.’” Trina blurted out. “What’s ‘The Wood’? I wanna be on it.”

“These are the producers.” Lane gestured to each of the suited men as he introduced them, “Kyle and Mick.”

The four teens murmured introductions and greetings, all a little starstruck in the presence of real TV producers.

Beck was the first to speak up with a real question. “So, what’s ‘The Wood’ about?”

“It’s a reality show,” the producer named Kyle replied.

“About teenagers in Hollywood,” Mick added.

“I’m a teenager,” Trina insisted, “and I’m in Hollywood right now. See?”

The producers stared blankly at Trina. Lane intervened and gently guided Trina a few steps back. Tori felt bad. Trina had been riding a high like Tori had—except Trina’s stemmed from being recognized as a celebrity (even if she was just acting as a fake one for one night).

“They’re here getting some shots of the school,” Lane explained.

“And to look for interesting kids to feature on the show.”

Tori stepped forward. “So, is there gonna be, like, a casting session?”

Kyle and Mick both nodded as Lane chimed in. “After school, in the Black Box.”

“I’ll be there,” Trina declared, keeping steady eye contact with both producers. Yet the tone of her voice sounded more like a threat, than a promise.

After Trina walked away, Kyle asked Lane, “Hey, can we get some shots of kids outside?”

“Sure.” Lane nodded. “Let’s go this way.”

Tori watched them all go before turning to Beck and Robbie. “So? You guys gonna try out?”

“Yeah,” Robbie said immediately.

But Beck hesitated. “I don’t know. A reality show?”

“Yeah, they can be really fun sometimes,” Tori nodded.

“Yeah, but I’m an actor,” Beck countered. “I don’t know if I wanna be involved.”

“Hey!” Robbie suddenly shouted. “I think my astrocraft still works!” He proudly held up his remote and pointed down the hallway, where it now feebly hovered a few inches off the ground.

“I thought I killed that thing,” Tori murmured.

“You may have inflicted some minor damage, but watch,” Robbie grinned, “as I hit Return to—whoa!” He ducked and the astrocraft sailed straight over his head and smashed into the pillar next to the main doors to the hallway. He whined as he looked upon the carnage.

“At least it didn’t hit you in the face, bro,” Beck chuckled. He offered a hand and helped Robbie to his feet.

After school, Tori and her friends (minus Cat) and Trina waited on the sidelines for their turn. Beck had been coerced to audition at the behest of Jade. Jade, who Tori was certain smirked evilly every time she glimpsed Tori taking a sip of coffee. Tori started growing suspicious that Jade did something to her coffee when her name was called.

Tori hopped up onto the stool in front of the camera and waved. “Hey, Tori Vega. Girl.” She gestured to herself.

“We can tell,” Mick quipped good-naturedly.

“Okay, Tori,” Kyle said, “this is a really informal audition.”

“We’re just tryna get a feel for your personality, so we’ll be asking some questions.”

“Got it.” Tori nodded. “Fire away!”

Kyle thought for a moment before settling on a question. “What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?”

“Oh.” Tori had to take a moment. “Oh, wow… um…” A couple strong contenders came to mind. A prank on Trina gone wrong, resulting in Trina getting a scar and thirteen stitches on her leg. Ditching detention to get donuts with Jade (and lying to her parents about it afterward). Then it hit her. Of course. “Oh, I know.” Tori blushed a little at the memory but pressed onward. This was her shot at being featured on a reality show anyway. Might as well make the most of it, right? “I squirted hot cheese all over my friend and her current boyfriend, who was my ex-boyfriend, and then we kissed right in front of her, which I felt really bad about. But then it was okay ‘cause she punched me right in the face!”

Kyle was grinning wide by the time Tori finished her story. He bent down by the PA, who was rapidly taking notes, and whispered, “Put a star by this girl.”

The rest of the audition went by pretty fast. It was only a fifteen minute time slot anyway, but Tori felt like the rapid fire questions felt even faster after she saw how excited he looked from her first answer.

Andre had a near meltdown on his audition when the producers posed a philosophical question about a song about brussel sprouts. Tori was certain she’d never seen Andre go through so many stages of anguish in such a small amount of time. She patted his shoulder gently after he got off the stool and headed back to the sidelines, where the rest of the group waited.

Trina’s audition went… okay. Trina was her usual unaware self, and one look at the producers’ faces told Tori all she needed to know. She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach knowing that Trina was probably not going to be picked for the show. She made a mental note to buy Trina some Freezy Queen on the way home.

Beck’s audition seemed to go well. The producers seemed interested, but they started to lose focus as Beck went on a monologue about acting.

Then, the PA suddenly blurted out, “Are you dating anyone?” And everyone stared at her. Especially Jade, who wore a particularly intense glare.

“Katie,” Kyle warned.

“I just think we should know if he has a girlfriend,” the PA shrugged. With an intense stare, she turned back to Beck and asked in a low, husky voice, “Do you?”

Beck frowned and tilted his head in confusion. “Yeah. I do. What does that have to do with—”

“Dang it!” Katie exploded, startling everyone again.

Kyle whispered into Katie’s ear, and the PA set aside her laptop to storm outside. They didn’t see her again for the rest of Beck’s audition.

When Katie returned, it was Robbie up next. Robbie had hardly sat in his seat and introduced himself before Kyle loudly declared, “No!”

“Thank you for your time,” Robbie said politely and quickly, ducking his head.

Rex muttered, “Jerks,” as Robbie carried him away.

When it came time for Jade’s audition, Mick chose the money question. “Okay, Jade. What do you hate?”

Jade, who had a running series on The Slap titled “What I Hate,” proceeded to list out many, many, many things she hated. Some of the things Jade listed even surprised Tori, who was a regular follower of Jade’s Slap series.

“... cilantro, rainbows, ducks—man, I hate ducks. Uh, cramps, string cheese, clocks…”

And on and on she went. Tori glimpsed Kyle tapping Katie on the shoulder and nodding discreetly, an awed expression on his face.

The next day at lunch, Andre, Tori, Trina, Beck, and Jade were seated around a table at the Asphalt Cafe.

Jade explained that Cat was off sulking about a fight with Danny and wanted to be left alone. Tori mentally made a note to check in on Cat later. After all, Tori knew firsthand how taxing it was to argue with Danny.

Andre was showing off his new shirt, a long sleeve with green and yellow stripes when Lane approached and greeted the group. "Kyle has some cool news for you!"

"Tori Vega, Beck Oliver, Jade West, and Andre Harris, congratulations. You're all gonna be featured on 'The Wood.'"

Everyone took the news well except Trina.

“Wait, what about me?” Trina asked.

“No,” was all Kyle said.

“Why not?”

“‘Cause you reek of desperation.”

“That’s kind of harsh,” Tori murmured as Trina stormed off toward the Grub Truck.

“She’s talentless and irritating,” Jade shrugged, smirking at Tori. Tori shot Jade a glare for quoting Mrs. Lee.

“She’s not talentless. She just refuses to see where her talents actually lie,” Tori countered.

“Well, whatever,” Kyle said, answering yet another text on his phone. “I gotta bounce. Andre, we’ll start at your place after school, since you mentioned you need to take care of your grandmother later tonight?” Andre nodded to confirm. “Great, and Tori, the crew will be over at your house afterwards.”

“Cool,” Tori agreed easily. “Oh, but Trina is gonna be home later tonight too.”

Kyle sighed and rolled his eyes. “She can be in the background as long as she doesn’t interrupt any of the shots.”

“I’ll make sure she’s on her best behavior.”

“See you all around!”

As Kyle walked away, the four turned to the Grub Truck, where a commotion was brewing. At the center of it, Trina was wrestling Robbie for a lunch container, and Festus was trying to break apart the fight with a broom.

Somehow, limbs got tangled around the broom, and Festus got yanked straight out of the truck, landing harshly on his arm. The four winced at the quiet crack that silenced the Asphalt Cafe. Soon, everyone was craning their necks to see what was happening. Lane rushed over to investigate.

“That’s gotta hurt,” Jade remarked dryly before turning back to her lunch. The other three continued to look on, concerned and mostly intrigued by what the heck happened.

Later that night, Trina locked herself in her room, sulking about her punishment (she had to run the Grub Truck with Robbie until Festus gets discharged from the hospital), leaving Tori free to welcome in the production and camera crew from “The Wood.”

“Okay, so how do you want me to do this?” Tori asked nervously as she set her jacket down on the half-sofa back.

“Just tell us where you are and what you’re doing.” Kyle scooped a large handful of popcorn into his mouth and chewed loudly.

“And really have fun with it,” Mick added. He reached for another handful of popcorn from Kyle’s bag.

“Okay…” Tori cleared her throat and took a deep breath. Tori’s voice transformed into an overly peppy valley girl as she introduced herself completely uncharacteristically.

Kyle and Mick immediately nixed whatever intro Tori was attempting to do.

Mick even said, “Not that much fun.”

Tori nodded and cleared her throat again. She took a deep breath and tried again, imagining she was introducing herself as a new student.

“Hey.” She waved to the camera, smiling. “I’m Tori Vega. I live here in the Hollywood Hills with my mom, dad, and my big sister, Trina.” She glanced toward the producers, and they nodded and gestured for her to keep going. “Alright, uh, let’s see.” She began to amble around the living room, circling toward the grand piano. “Trina and I usually—” Tori was cut off by her phone ringing. “And, that’s my phone. Should I…” She gestured to where it sat on the kitchen island.

The producers nodded wildly, and the camera crew with their looming boom mics all shuffled after Tori as she made her way to the kitchen.

Tori glanced at the caller ID and immediately smiled. “It’s my aunt Sonya!” Tori tapped Accept on the call, and greeted her aunt. “Hey, you.” Tori loved her Aunt Sonya, her mom’s chill older sister. She used to live in Florida, with Tori’s grandparents, and always had the craziest stories about the locals, until she moved to Irvine a couple years back.

“Hey, Tori, my favorite niece! Don’t tell Trina I said that,” Sonya whispered the last part with a hearty chuckle. Tori grinned. “Are David or Holly home?”

“Uh,” Tori glanced out the street-facing windows to peer at the driveway. Neither of her parents’ cars were parked out front yet. “No, my parents aren’t home.”

“Oh, darn,” Sonya sighed. “Maybe I should come over and wait for them to come home?”

“Yeah,” Tori agreed easily. “You should come over!”

“I just miss you all so much! When was the last time I saw you, Christmas?”

“I know,” Tori groaned. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”

Sonya murmured agreement from the other side of the line.

“Hey, how’s little Ankimo?” Tori asked, before remembering “The Wood” crew was still filming her. “Last month,” she explained, turning the speaker away from her for a moment, “she got this new puppy named Ankimo, and he is the cutest thing ever.”

“Ankimo’s great! Settling in, and finally house-trained,” Sony was saying. She gasped lightly. “Ankimo, you wanna say hi to your cousin? You wanna come say hi?”

“Wait,” Tori gasped excitedly, “you’re putting the puppy on the phone?” Tori whispered to the camera crew, “She’s putting the puppy on the phone!”

“Say ‘hi,’ Ankimo!” Sonya urged. There was an excited little bark from the other side.

“Hi, puppy!” Tori crooned. “Hi, baby!”

“Aww,” Sony laughed, “he’s rolling over for belly rubs.”

“Aw, you want me to tickle your tummy?” Tori said in a mock-babyish voice, grinning.

Kyle lifted his hand to get Tori’s attention. “Maybe you should wrap up the puppy talk,” he whispered loudly.

“Right, sorry.” Tori nodded. “Aunt Sonya?

“Hm?”

“Yeah, I gotta go.”

“Okay—oh wait, before you go, I wanted to let you know, I bought the car!”

“Wait, you bought the car? No way!” Tori grinned. “Does mom know?”

“No, not yet. I want to surprise her.”

“Okay, okay, I won’t tell her.”

“Good. I can’t wait to see her face when she sees I got it first,” Sonya giggled. “Okay, now go, little missy. I love you.”

“Alright, love you. Miss you.”

“Miss you too. Take care, hun. Ankimo say, ‘bye’!”

Tori pressed a kiss into the phone for the puppy and added, “Later.” She ended the call and turned to the producers. “Okay, so how was that?”

The producers just grinned at each other before turning back to Tori and nodded, “Yeah, good stuff.”

“Anything else you need from me then?”

“What about gossip, y’know, other stuff that goes on at school?”

“Oh, uh, well… Trina actually knows more about that stuff than me. I try to stay out of drama. Y’know, when I can avoid it.”

“Alrighty then, we’ll work with what we’ve got so far. Thank you for your time, Tori.”

The crew began disassembling their gear and packing up.

Tori sighed as she closed the door behind the last one to leave.

That wasn’t so bad after all.

Tori caught up with Beck at lunch just a few minutes too late.

Beck had just hung up a call, with “The Wood” crew up close in Beck’s face. Beck’s discomfort was obvious, but the crew didn’t seem to care.

“The Grub Truck is a mess today,” Tori remarked, glancing over at the chaos that had gathered in front of the truck.

“Yeah, I just ordered a pizza from Omar’s for Andre, Jade, and me.”

“What?” Tori whined. “You didn’t wait for me?”

“You snooze, you lose.” Beck shrugged, grinning.

Tori pouted. “I guess I’ll just wait until after school then. Or maybe Trina can save me a sandwich or something after lunch.”

Tori and Beck both stared at the Grub Truck and the steadily rising voices and panic.

“Yeah,” Beck sighed and shook his head. “I don’t think that’s likely.”

Tori slumped forward, burying her head into her arms when Jade approached and bumped Tori out of the way with a hip check, forcing Tori to scoot over. Tori lifted her head to glare at Jade, only to find that she had settled into the open seat by Beck anyway.

Andre arrived soon after, slapping a few bills into Beck’s outstretched hand and settling into the newly-vacated seat that Jade had cleared. Jade smirked, and Tori glared, but they didn’t maintain eye contact for much longer. Tori was much too hungry and miserable to try and go toe-to-toe with Jade today. And Jade seemed to be in a particularly good mood.

The four made idle chatter as “The Wood” camera crew hovered around them. At least until Beck announced he needed to go pick up the pizza, and Jade tagged along.

Andre nudged Tori. “You alright, Tor?”

“Just hungry.” Tori nodded over to the crowd still surrounding the Grub Truck and explained, “Trina and Robbie need to man the Grub Truck while Festus is in the hospital for a few days. I didn’t plan ahead, so now I don’t have lunch.”

“That’s alright, chica. You can have a slice of my share. Beck said he ordered an extra large, remember?”

“You’d really do that?” Tori’s eyes shimmered with newfound life. “You’re literally a lifesaver, dude.” She threw her arms around Andre in a tight hug. Andre patted her arm fondly.

“No problem,” he replied kindly.

After school that day, Tori checked The Slap while she waited for Trina to get out of the shower (to “scrub the Grub Truck ick off”). She was surprised and concerned to find Cat’s newest update stated: Cat Valentine is no longer in a relationship.

Frowning, she immediately called up Cat, who picked up the phone with a sniffle.

“Cat?” Tori said tentatively.

“Hi, Tori,” Cat whispered amidst sharp inhales and sniffs. Tori felt her heart break in two at the sound.

“Want me to come over? I can be there in maybe twenty minutes.”

“It’s… okay. Jade is here.”

Tori was stunned into silence. “Jade is?”

“Yeah, I’m… I’ll be fine. Thanks, Tori.”

“Okay,” Tori murmured. “I’m just a phone call away. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Thanks,” Cat whispered. She soon hung up.

Tori stared at her phone for a long moment after the line went dead and blinked. She didn’t think Jade would be the type to offer support like that. Then again, Tori supposed, Jade and Cat went way back. They were apparently friends since elementary school, even before Jade met Beck.

Another piece to the puzzle of Jade West. Another piece that didn’t seem to quite fit.

Tori was broken out of her thoughts when Trina barged into her room to announce, “Bathroom’s free. Oh, and make sure to clean out the drain. There’s a lot of hair built up.” Tori opened her mouth to protest, but Trina was already out the door, yelling over her shoulder, “Thanks, Tor, you’re the best!”

Tori shut her mouth and growled. Sometimes, Trina could be the worst.

It seemed that “The Wood” was done with its filming for now, so Tori got to enjoy a whole day free from a camera getting shoved into her face at random times and having to narrate the most mundane things as she went about her daily life.

On Saturday evening, Tori (as well as Beck, Jade, and Andre) was sent an email saying that an advance DVD copy of the first episode of “The Wood” was shipped to her house. It was expected to arrive the next day.

Excited, Tori asked the group chat if they wanted to get together for a watch party of the episode, and everyone agreed. Everyone but Cat, who opted to stay at home, and Robbie, who had to attend his sister’s cheerleading competition.

In the end, it was decided that the other three would gather at Tori’s place the next evening.

Sunday night found Beck lounging on one of the half-sofas, Andre loading up the entertainment system with the DVD, and Tori pouring Beck a glass of lemonade per his request.

Beck accepted the glass handed to him with a frown. “Why is it… pink?”

“It’s pink lemonade,” Tori replied.

Beck narrowed his eyes. “I’ve never seen any pink lemons,” he pointed out.

“There are no pink lemons.”

“So… what makes it pink?”

“Well, you know.” Tori gestured vaguely. “It’s… it’s a… shut up!”

“Hi,” Trina said flatly as she passed behind Tori to head for the stairs.

“Hey, you wanna stay for the watch party?”

“Not really,” Trina replied lifelessly.

“Come on,” Andre urged.

“No,” Trina said a little more emphatically. “They rejected me.”

Tori couldn’t argue with that.

“I’m going to bed early. Don’t bother me,” Trina grumbled before climbing the steps.

“Alright,” Andre sighed and settled into the other half-sofa. “Let’s view this.”

“Crank it,” Beck nodded.

“Wait,” Tori paused. “Don’t you wanna wait for Jade?”

“Jade’s here,” Beck replied easily. He looked at Tori with a “didn’t you know?” look.

“I’m here,” came the snappy response of a familiar, cutting voice.

Tori whirled around to find Jade stomping down the stairs. “Wait, when did you get here?”

“Half hour ago.” Jade shrugged.

“Well, where have you been?” Tori frowned.

“In your room.” Jade’s lips curved into a smirk. “You have a lot of… things in there.”

Tori stared dumbfoundedly at Jade for a beat.

Unprecedented and unwarranted, Jade made a biting motion and left Tori standing there very flustered and very confused and (belatedly) very concerned about what exactly Jade found in her room.

Jade was already sitting down by the time Tori regained control over her mouth. Tori began to sputter, “Wait, but why—I don’t… I don’t…”

“So, let’s see it,” Jade snapped, cutting off Tori’s stammers and gesturing to the TV.

Tori sighed and gave up. She moved to sit down in the seat next to Jade, but Jade hip-checked Tori, sending her sprawling to her rear on the floor. With an indignant huff, Tori glared at Jade as she took the empty seat next to Andre on the other half-sofa instead.

Andre hit play, and a dramatic announcer began the introduction to the show as various clips of Andre, Beck, Jade, and Tori played.

“Beck and Jade have been dating for two years,” the announcer narrated.

“Ugh, yeah, shoot me from that angle,” Jade complained loudly at a shot of Beck and Jade sharing a kiss in the hallway.

“You look great,” Beck assured her.

“I know,” Jade retorted in a quiet voice.

The announcer continued, “But is Beck getting tired of the same old thing?”

The TV screen flashed to Beck on the phone, and Tori recognized Beck’s outfit to be the one he wore the day the four of them shared the extra large Omar’s pizza. The video cut to Tori standing at the kitchen island, also on the phone, talking to her Aunt Sonya. Only… Tori realized too late how each of the sound clips were taken completely out of context and edited together to make a phone conversation that didn’t happen.

Tori leaned forward more and more as the conversation continued to play out. She could feel the couch shift and sigh the more Andre twisted himself into the cushions.

“Bye,” the Beck on-screen said.

“Later,” the Tori on-screen replied and hung up the phone.

Immediately, Tori could feel Jade’s glare burning the side of her face.

“Man, this show is good,” Andre exclaimed nervously in an effort to lighten the tension with some humor.

The joke fell flat.

Tori wasn’t sure exactly what happened next; who moved first, who grabbed what, who moved where. All she knew was that this was quite possibly the closest Tori has ever felt a dream (a nightmare, really) become reality.

Jade’s fingers were tangled in her hair. Her voice was screaming things unintelligible in her ear. Fingernails scraping Tori’s scalp painfully. Hair tugged to its fullest extent without getting yanked out.

Somewhere along the way, Jade’s hands were removed from Tori’s hair and instead pressed against her hips. Jade’s arms were looped around Tori’s waist, tightly, and Jade was heaving Tori up like she was winding up to suplex her over her shoulder and onto the hardwood floor below.

Andre and Beck were shouting, and the four of them were a tangled mess of limbs. Tori never thought she would live (or survive) the day that Jade actually attacked her with the intent to kill.

Somehow, Andre managed to pry Jade off and send her spinning and careening right into Beck’s arms, where she was held tight (for both comfort and Tori’s safety, Tori was sure), while Tori ended up cradled against Andre’s chest.

When Tori finally regained her bearings, she glanced around the room. The coffee table was on its side and one of the half-sofas was overturned.

Beck was shouting, “Okay! That phone conversation never happened!”

“I saw it!” Jade shouted back, pushing away from Beck’s embrace.

“I need some more pink lemonade!” Andre loudly excused himself and headed to the kitchen.

Tori sighed. “That phone conversation between Beck and me wasn’t real,” she reiterated.

“You offered to tickle his tummy!”

“I was talking to a puppy!”

“And I was ordering a pizza!” Beck added.

“How does she know,” Jade rounded on Beck, “that you like having your tummy tickled?”

“Everyone likes having their tummy tickled!” Tori cried out, exasperated.

Beck sighed. “The producers took two separate phone conversations and cut ‘em together.”

“I wanna hear that from them,” Jade demanded.

“Fine,” Tori relented, throwing her hands up in surrender.

“Fine,” Jade echoed tersely.

It was a really tense and short phone call with Steven that night, when Tori tried to explain the mess she got caught up in. And then, Steven went on a long rant about how he understood where Jade was coming from, and how infidelity is the worst betrayal any person could make against someone they love.

Tori couldn’t deal with any more of that and promptly cut the call short.

The next day, the four of them found Kyle and Mick in the Black Box Theater, their temporary base of operations while they were filming “The Wood.”

When Jade demanded to know, Kyle scoffed. “Yeah, we took two separate phone conversations and cut ‘em together.”

“Pretty cool, right?” Mick grinned. The producers walked deeper into their setup, and the four gaped after them.

“Cool?” Beck parroted back in disbelief.

“She,” Tori grabbed Jade’s wrist and whirled her around, dragging her closer to the producers for emphasis, “almost killed me.”

“I wouldn’t have actually killed you,” Jade retorted.

“Oh, well, aren’t you sweet,” Tori bit back sarcastically.

Andre jumped in to address the producers. “Isn’t ‘The Wood’ supposed to be a reality show?”

The producers nodded and hummed in confirmation.

“But the phone call you guys cut together…” Beck frowned in confusion. “That wasn’t real.”

Mick chuckled. “So?”

The four looked at each other, bewildered.

Kyle explained, “Almost nothing is real in reality shows. It’s entertainment.”

“Drama,” Mick nodded.

“Our job, as producers, is to take the footage we get and make it into something people wanna watch.”

“Well, yeah, we get that,” Tori said, “but—”

“Look, you kids go to this school ‘cause you wanna entertain people, right?” Kyle asked.

The four nodded, still confused.

“Okay, well, this is no different than being in a play.”

“Or a movie,” Mick chimed in.

“It’s acting.”

“Just without a script.”

“So, like improv?” Beck asked.

“Exactly,” Kyle nodded, as Mick exclaimed, “Thank you!”

“Well,” Jade spread her hands, “you coulda told us that.”

“Before the attempted murder,” Tori added.

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Jade sighed.

“No,” Kyle suddenly said, very serious. “Be more dramatic.”

Mick jumped in. “And the next time that you two have a girl fight, could ya call us first, so we can get it on video?”

“Or…” Jade grinned. “We can re-enact it.”

Mick and Kyle’s faces lit up in delight.

Tori looked at Jade, brows furrowed. Jade tilted her head ever so slightly and gave her a small, encouraging nod. Tori raised an eyebrow. Jade’s grin grew into a cocky smirk. Jade had issued a challenge. And Tori was game to rise up and meet it. She broke into a wide grin.

They tensed and faced each other. Somewhere in Tori’s periphery, she vaguely made out Beck and Andre’s figures quickly scrambling a safe distance away, even keeping others out of the general vicinity of the two gearing up to “fight.”

“Action,” Tori sang.

Jade lunged first this time, slow enough that Tori could see her movements coming. One hand latched into Tori’s hair as Tori grabbed Jade by her shoulders.

They screamed and tugged, never painfully, but just enough with flexed muscles to make it seem like it was real. Tori even aimed a few knee strikes toward Jade’s groin, and Jade took it into stride, jumping with each “impact” and doubling over after the second one.

It was like the world around them faded, and it was just the two of them, riffing off each other. They experimented, faster and more fluidly than their stage fighting skit nearly two months ago. Like they had somehow learned how the other moved in the past two months, and they knew how to navigate the space around and between their bodies.

Jade cut the fight off eventually, breathing heavily from the exertion. Tori knew what she looked like, and in any other context, she felt like it could’ve been misconstrued pretty badly. Flushed cheeks, heavy breathing, tousled hair, wrinkled clothes. She was sure Jade’s grip on her wrist bruised her skin slightly (or at least left a red handprint). But all she felt was exhilaration, like the first time Tori stepped onto that stage and performed “Make It Shine.” Light, giddy, exhausted, but buzzing with adrenaline.

“You got enough footage?” Jade asked the producers. From the delighted expressions on their faces, Tori knew they got more than enough.

The next couple days, Beck and Andre seemed to turn the whole fake drama fighting into a sort of competition against the girls. Or maybe it was just Jade’s competitive streak coming out to play. Every staged argument or blow-out that Beck and Andre performed, Jade always muttered, “We can do better.”

Tori was inclined to agree. After all, Jade was a phenomenal actress, and though Beck was a formidable rival, Andre wasn’t the best scene partner for Beck. The two of them were just too close of friends for their shouting matches to really feel real. But Tori didn’t pay any of that much mind. Her attention was preoccupied by Jade’s sudden and constant presence. Somehow, Tori got roped into being Jade’s willing sidekick in these master plots as she devised new ways to kick up the drama by another notch.

Wednesday was no different. Andre and Beck were having another “argument” about Beck trashing Andre’s beach house for a party until they cut the scene and shook hands with the producers and camera crew.

The onlooking crowd dispersed as the camera and production crew returned to their base (probably to charge the camera battery, because apparently that thing was always dying).

As soon as the hallway was mostly clear and the typical capacity of teens milled about, Tori and Jade descended the stairs together to walk to their respective lockers.

Jade took a sip of her Jet Brew and declared, “We can do better.”

“Whatcha got?” Tori asked. She had begun to look forward to the creative (sometimes borderline concerning) ideas Jade pitched, even if they were just elevated versions of Tori’s (according to Jade, "lame") ideas.

Jade hummed in thought. Her eyes narrowed as they honed in on the passing janitor. “What if Mr. Janitor,” Jade gestured to the gray-clad man pushing a bucket into the supply closet, “got us in trouble for something, and we got so pissed off about it that we, uh…” Jade turned to Tori with a smirk and an eyebrow raise (that stupid, sexy pierced eyebrow). “Maybe take our anger out on his car?”

Tori furrowed her eyebrows. “We can’t trash the janitor’s car. He got us those cute little chocolate mops for Valentine’s Day.”

Jade rolled her eyes. “We don’t trash his real car.” Tori looked at Jade blankly. Jade sighed and explained, “My dad’s boss owns a junkyard. We get him to drop off a piece-of-junk car here, and we wreck that one.”

“And say it’s the janitor’s car,” Tori finished for Jade, finally nodding in understanding.

Jade gasped. “Oh, wow, I wish I’d thought of that.” Jade immediately deadpanned, “Oh right, I did.”

Tori rolled her eyes but smiled. She mulled over the plan in her head.

“Wait,” Jade mused quietly, breaking Tori from her thoughts. “That janitor didn’t give me a chocolate mop for Valentine’s Day.”

“He didn’t?” Tori frowned. Her frown soon morphed into a triumphant smirk. “Ha-ha,” Tori sang as she walked off toward the locker, leaving a dazed and indignant Jade in her wake.

At lunch the next day, the Grub Truck was chaotic as ever, but Jade and Tori evaded the crowd in favor of their mission.

“Where’s the junker car?” Tori asked, scanning the parking lot for any rusty and dilapidated vehicles.

“Uh,” Jade checked her phone, “the guy said he dropped it off in the north corner of the parking lot.”

“Oh, there it is.” Tori pointed out a car that fit the description they were looking for. The two made their way over there. “Sinjin!” Tori called over her shoulder.

The strange boy hurried over, lugging a golf club caddy with him.

“Five iron,” Tori requested.

“Five iron,” Sinjin nodded, slipping out the club and handing it to Tori.

“I didn’t know you golfed,” Jade remarked with an impressed smirk.

“I don’t,” Tori shrugged, grinning. “But my dad plays enough that I’ve picked up on a few things.”

“Gimme a pitching wedge,” Jade requested, never taking her eyes off Tori. She held out her hand, and Sinjin pressed the club into Jade’s grasp.

Tori arched an eyebrow, a mirror image of Jade’s.

Jade shrugged. “My dad golfs a lot. Taught me since I was six. I haven’t played in years though.”

Tori nodded. Another piece to Jade. Another little piece unlocked. She shook her head out of her thoughts and told Sinjin, “Now, go tell those producer guys to come to the parking lot because there is good stuff about to go down.”

Sinjin scurried away.

“He’s such a weirdo,” Tori remarked.

“Yeah, total creep.” Jade suddenly tapped Tori’s shoulder rapidly with her free hand, an action reminiscent of when Jade backhanded Tori’s midsection repeatedly when she first spotted her father entering the theater on opening night for Well Wishes. Tori wasn’t sure why she felt warm at the memory, and she quickly tried to school her features to focus on what Jade was trying to say. “They’re here. Showtime.”

They pulled out their sunglasses from their pockets and pulled them on, despite the sky being a gloomy, overcast, cloudy, gray mess overhead.

“Let’s fake some reality TV,” Tori declared with a confident nod to Jade, who returned one with a smirk.

“Action.” Jade was the one to call it this time. The two strutted side by side to the junker car.

Tori faced the cameras and declared, “This is what happens when a school janitor gets us in trouble.”

“Janitor’s car,” Jade announced, “feel the wrath.”

Jade and Tori unleashed their first swings on the car. Tori’s club bounced off the hood, leaving a sizable dent in the metal, as Jade’s club left deep, spiderweb cracks that spread from the exact center of the backseat window. Tori’s next swings smashed the windshield, making it absolutely impossible to see past the myriad of cracks on the tempered glass. Jade’s swings continued to assault the car door, leaving angry indents on the metal frame. They continued to swing and smash and destroy when suddenly…

“Hey! That’s my car!” A heavily-accented voice yelled across the parking lot. Festus pushed through the camera crew and demanded, “What are you doing to my car?!”

“Your car?” Tori repeated.

“What is going on here?” Lane pushed his way into the crowd next.

“We were wrecking this junker car for the show,” Tori explained slowly. Saying it out loud sounded pretty dumb, now that she thought about it.

“Keep going,” Kyle urged, a manic excitement alight in his eyes.

Lane had to hold Festus back as his arm in a cast kept swinging toward the producers angrily. “Shut up, buddy!” Festus roared, spit flying from his mouth.

“This is Festus’ car,” Lane explained, struggling to restrain Festus from lunging at the cameras.

Jade and Tori looked at each other. Tori exclaimed, “You said some guy dropped off this junker car for us to whack!”

“He did!” Jade insisted. Right then, Jade’s phone chimed with a new text notification. She scanned the parking lot and sighed. “I guess he meant that one.” She gestured to a different car the next aisle over sandwiched between two modest sedans. “Way to go, Vega.”

Tori ignored Jade’s barb in favor of bemoaning, “Aw, man, we abused the wrong car!”

“Alright,” Lane huffed. “TV people, out.”

“But we got a show to make,” Kyle protested.

“Then go make it at another school! You all are done here.”

“You can’t kick us out, man,” Mick insisted.

“What?” Lane rounded on the producers angrily. He whirled around and yanked the pitching wedge right out of Jade’s hands and brandished it. “What? What was that? What?!”

Kyle and Mick glanced at each other, eyes wide with fear.

“There’s other schools,” Kyle wheezed, face pale.

Mick nodded frantically. “Let’s go to one.”

“The Wood” camera and production crew quickly sped away. Lane finally put the club down and heaved a heavy sigh. “Call a tow truck for Festus’ car,” he instructed Jade. “God, Eikner is gonna have a field day with this mess,” he muttered under his breath, rubbing his forehead.

“Now, how am I gonna get home?” Festus groaned. "Or work the truck tomorrow?"

“Don’t worry, Festus. These two girls will figure out a way to get you a ride home.” Lane's very aggressively stern stare made both girls swallow any complaints or protests immediately. "And they'll also cover for you tomorrow. I'm sure Trina and Robbie have learned their lesson by now."

Tori and Jade gaped at Lane, but Lane just stared back evenly and calmly, like he was daring them to protest. Luckily for Tori, it seemed Jade's will to fight had deflated somewhat in the past couple minutes, so she stayed just as silent as Tori.

"Good." Lane nodded, satisfied the situation was handled and sped back into the school.

Tori pulled out her phone to begin requesting a ride share for Festus.

An hour later, Festus was packed up and sent on his way home after Tori had to explain the situation to the driver.

The driver looked very peeved at the situation but did as requested. Tori made sure to leave a five-star rating and some extra tip, just in case.

Somehow, Jade was able to finagle a deal with the auto shop to fast track at least the windshield repair to be completed by the end of the weekend. Festus seemed somewhat mollified by this news before he got into the ride share car.

Tori was quiet during the car ride home that day, and Trina must have noticed, because her big-sister voice came out.

"Everything alright, Tor?"

"Not really," Tori sighed. She straightened up from her leaned posture against the car door and twiddled her thumbs, trying to think of words to explain why she was feeling uneasy.

On the one hand, the reason seemed simple enough: she was going to be forced into close proximity and close quarters with Jade in a stuffy food truck for at least an hour, with virtually little chance to escape, should Jade feel a little too murder-y again. On the other hand… well, Tori wasn't sure why a small part of her was excited.

They had gotten into trouble, after all. Together. And now needed to serve punishment together. All of this should logically add up to an overall bad feeling. But Tori wasn't feeling all bad.

Maybe Tori just enjoyed the fleeting feeling of being rebellious for once, the sidekick to Jade's plans to upheave the status quo and push the boundaries of dramatic into straight-up kind of crazy.

But Tori hesitated saying any of that, leaving an increasingly worried Trina in suspenseful silence.

"Tori?" Trina tried again.

Tori shook herself out of her thoughts. "Sorry, yeah. Just… a lot of thoughts in my head."

"Well, hey, the Grub Truck isn't so bad once you know your way around it. And if Jade kills you in there, she'll have to end up doing all the work herself, so, on the bright side, you kind of have built-in protection, in that sense."

"How comforting," Tori replied dryly with an eye roll. She slumped against the car door again.

"Hey," Trina urged. "C'mon, there's something else, isn't there?"

"Is it… weird that I… enjoyed this past week?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like the fake fighting, the staged arguments, the drama… It was… fun."

"You're a performer, Tor, of course it was fun."

"No, I mean—" Tori sighed. "Never mind."

"What? What is it?"

"Nothing. Just, drop it, Trina."

"Tor—"

"You better give me the basic rundown tonight so I'm not left floundering tomorrow in the truck."

Trina pursed her lips and didn’t respond for a beat, internally debating something. Finally, she slowly exhaled and nodded. "Sure, Tor. Whatever you say."

Jade's POV

Working the truck with Vega wasn't as bad as Jade had initially imagined.

Sure, it was a cramped, claustrophobic space with barely enough room for the two of them to squeeze past each other. More often than not, Jade found they kept bumping elbows and hitting hips—hell, even knocking knees—as Tori maneuvered around her.

Jade had taken it upon herself to man the front: taking orders, relaying them to Tori to prepare, and handing out the food in exchange for the cash. Jade never made the same mistake Robbie once did, accepting payment in the form of a coupon. Then again, who in their right mind would ever try to swindle Jade like that? That's right, no one.

Anyway, Tori took on most of the hard work, preparing the different meals. Apparently, having a sister who was forced to work the very same job for almost a full week had some perks. In fact, Tori seemed adamant that Jade stay away from the different appliances, like she was concerned Jade would burn herself somehow. Whatever that meant, Jade didn’t dwell too long on it. It was just Tori being the nice girl she always was to everyone.

All in all, the experience wasn't horrible. That's all Jade really had to say about the matter. Because Tori took care of things, like she always seemed to.  And Jade, for once, simply stayed out of her way, contributing only the bare minimum, as per usual.

In fact, they were so busy during lunch that Jade hardly had time to squeeze in a quip or two at Tori. Whenever Jade thought to, Tori was busying herself with some other task to occupy her hands. Cleaning the hot plate, wiping the excess oil that splashed around the fryer, even properly closing the lids to the boxes of fresh ingredients so that they all stacked neatly again.

So, instead of making digs at Tori, Jade simply observed Tori in her downtime. With Tori’s efficiency, as well as Jade's notoriety keeping the line outside, well, in line, the Grub Truck served way more customers than it did the entire week that Trina and Robbie were inside the truck. And Tori was… interesting to watch. The way she threw her whole self into every task, bending over double until she was almost eye to eye with the surface she was scrubbing clean, or sweeping her hair back every few seconds as she bent down to retrieve ingredients from the storage below, or even how her hips swayed ever so subtly to a rhythm only she could hear as she tended the grill, spatula in hand and waiting to flip the patty and buns.

Jade wasn't sure what to make of her newfound people-watching (Tori-watching) habit, so Jade tried to cut herself off every time she noticed she would slip back.

And just like that, their hellish shift came to an end. Before they parted ways, Tori stopped Jade for a moment and dug through that monstrous purse she always carried around. Jade rolled her eyes and huffed with impatience, but stayed.

“Here,” Tori finally said, presenting Jade with the pair of scissors she had borrowed on, like, the second week of school. Jade suppressed an amused chuckle. “I figured, better late than never.”

“Whatever, Vega.” Jade made a show of inspecting the scissors for damage, even though she knew these were one of her cheaper pairs that could easily have been replaced. “Thanks,” she muttered. She turned and walked away instead of sticking around to see that insufferably bright megawatt smile that was undoubtedly spreading across Tori’s goofy idiot face.

When Jade got home, she got a text from Cat asking if she could hang out. Jade replied with the affirmative, so long as she got to wash up and change before picking up her friend.

Cat's mood seemed better, but not 100% her normal self just yet. So Jade suggested they do what they did the last time one of them couldn't seem to get out of the dumps no matter what.

They decided to dye their hair together.

Cat went with a brighter red this time around, more akin to a flaming inferno than the darker, deeper crimson of a red velvet cupcake. And Jade went with jet black for her whole head and green for her highlights this time around.

They both decided to get it with temporary dye, only meant to last a couple weeks, especially since Jade wasn't sure how she'd like her hair completely black. She was confident it would fit her aesthetic, but she wasn't sure if she'd like it. And Cat was more than willing to return to her typical red-velvet red once she was done experimenting with this brighter color.

In the end, Jade decided she liked the black very much. For now.

And Cat looked good too.

Hell, they both looked hot as fuck.

Chapter Text

Tori’s POV

Hollywood Arts greeted the new week by kicking off the unofficial midterm week. The week that all teachers unanimously seemed to agree to stack all their exams and project due dates so that students would be at an all-time high stress environment before finally being released to enjoy the spring semester break.

Tori was no stranger to midterm exams, but with all the drama swirling around her and her friends lately, she was surprised to find she had time to finish her assignments at all these days. But taking a look at her grades for the semester so far, Tori really needed some high scores to keep her grades afloat. Tori was honestly surprised that a performing arts high school like Hollywood Arts had such an intense midterm exam season like Sherwood did.

But Thursday rolled around all the same. With most of her exams and projects done and over with, Tori was feeling lighter as she walked to the Asphalt Cafe with Andre for lunch.

Festus was fully recovered, with his arm out of a cast and his knee brace only on occasionally. He also seemed to be in a chipper mood now that the week was more than half over, bringing them all closer to Spring Break.

“Hello, buddies,” he greeted Tori and Andre heartily.

“What’s for lunch today?” Andre asked with a grin.

“Let’s see… I have the spaghetti—”

“Oh!” Tori perked up.

“—the ravioli—”

“Ooh, I love ravioli—”

“YOU LET ME FINISH!” Festus suddenly thundered.

Tori immediately shut her mouth. “Sorry,” she said softly. “Go ahead. Finish.”

“That’s all we got,” Festus finished in his normal voice. “The spaghetti and the ravioli.”

“I’ll have the ravioli,” Tori requested quietly, nodding.

“Yeah, me too,” Andre added, already digging through his pockets for the cash.

“I will get you your foods,” Festus announced cheerily and disappeared into the truck.

Tori frowned. She would never understand that man. His food truck seemed to have the most eclectic menu that changed on a whim based on Festus’ mood. And Tori was glad she didn’t have to work inside the truck another day. The place was like a maze inside a hot tub of sweat and grease.

While Tori and Andre waited for their food, cash in hand, Cat walked up to them and asked what was on the menu for lunch.

“Oh, they got the spaghetti and the ravioli,” Tori replied in an impression of Festus’ accent.

“Ooh, I love ravioli!” Cat exclaimed.

“You let her finish!” Andre suddenly thundered, startling Cat, before breaking down laughing.

“Did I miss a joke?” Cat giggled.

Tori shook her head. “Oh, Festus is just in a mood, I guess.” Tori shrugged with a wide smile.

Jade approached them as Andre recovered and greeted them all with a flat, “Sup, losers.”

“Jade!” Cat gasped and swatted lightly at the pierced bad girl.

“I’m going to Cancun with Beck, making me a winner.” Jade shrugged. “And you all have nothing fun to do over break, making you all losers.”

Cat pouted.

“Oh, cheer up, Cat. You always find something fun to do over semester break, don’t you?” Jade bumped shoulders with the redhead and attempted a smirk. Though, Tori wasn’t sure her eyes were deceiving her, because she was pretty sure that wasn’t a trademark Jade West smirk, and instead, a soft, reassuring grin with slightly concerned eyes.

Jade must have felt Tori’s gaze on her, because her pale blue-green eyes snapped to meet Tori’s and narrowed into a glare.

Jade walked away without another word, leaving the three of them all equally confused.

Festus’ voice pulled them all out of their thoughts before too long. “So, you got nothing to do for semester break?”

“No,” Tori replied, a little dejectedly. Truthfully, she did want to do something over break. Something fun. Maybe travel somewhere, or do a road trip with friends.

“Come to the back of my truck,” Festus suddenly whispered loudly.

Tori gestured to herself and raised an eyebrow. Festus nodded.

“Um, okay?” Tori replied nervously.

“We'll stay close by,” Andre assured her, and Cat nodded enthusiastically.

Tori met Festus behind the Grub Truck as he relaxed atop a stack of crates.

“Nice truck,” she commented, hoping to dispel some of the tension with a lighthearted comment.

“Don’t lie to me,” Festus growled.

She immediately fell silent.

“Listen,” he said, “how would you like to take a trip to my home country, Yerba?”

“Yerba?” Tori frowned.

“It’s a very exotic island.”

“Like Hawaii?” Tori blurted out. It was the first comparison she could think of, and honestly, that seemed to be a pretty appealing deal.

“Sure, yeah, like that…” He took a long sip of his soda. “My brother,” he continued to explain, “he’s in charge of best hotel in Yerba. And my people, they love to see American-style entertainment. Bit of singing, the dancing…”

She nodded slowly, still unsure of where this was headed.

“So, if you and your friends will sing and dance at the hotel, my brother will make your whole trip for free.”

“That sounds amazing,” Tori said immediately, beaming. A free week-long vacation at an exotic island with her friends, for the price of a few performances? It was like a dream come true.

"So you take down my brother's phone number in Yerba."

Tori pulled out her phone eagerly, fingers at the ready to input the numbers. “Okay.”

“You reach him by dialing: 0, 5…”

“0, 5,” Tori parroted back.

“6, 3, 1.”

“6, 3, 1.”

“7, 7, 1.”

“7, 7, 1.”

“8, 1.”

“8, 1.”

“3, 6, 5.”

“3, 6, 5.”

“7, 5, 2.”

“7, 5, 2.” Tori tapped Save and pocketed her phone with a grin.

Festus finished slurping from his soda and continued, “8, 3, 6.”

Tori pulled out her phone again to edit the contact before Festus could continue. “8, 3, 6?”

“6, 7.”

“6, 7.”

“7, 4, 3…”

“Oh, come on, Festus!” Tori exploded. “Just how long is his phone number anyway?”

“1, 1,” Festus concluded. “That’s it.”

“1, 1,” Tori growled and punched in the last digits before hitting Save again. She glowered at Festus, who merely shrugged.

He sipped on his soda and said, “You didn’t let me finish.”

“I’ll call your brother tonight. Thanks, Festus,” Tori grumbled before returning to Andre and Cat. Before Tori could even greet her friends again, Festus yelled out of the Grub Truck ordering window, “Your two raviolis!”

Tori and Andre got their food and waited for Cat before they headed over to their table together.

Later that night, Tori invited Andre, Robbie, and Cat over to her house after she finished speaking with Festus’ brother, Sgrodis, and got the rest of the details for the trip.

Gathered around the Vega kitchen, Tori explained to her friends, “So, I called Festus’ brother as soon as I got home, and it’s true! They’ll pay for our plane fares, our hotel rooms, our food. And all we have to do is one performance a night.”

“That sounds so fun!” Cat exclaimed.

Andre chimed in, “And this island, uh…”

“Yerba,” Tori supplied.

“Yerba.” Andre nodded. “It’s a cool place?”

“Yeah! Festus said it’s kind of like Hawaii.”

There was a chorus of intrigued hums from Tori’s friends.

“Oh, and I went to the official Yerba website, and look.” Tori turned her PearBook around to show off the webpage she was looking at earlier that afternoon.

There was another chorus of oohs and ahhs. The homepage to the website boasted a beautiful beachfront resort that bordered a white sand beach and clear blue water extending out as far as the eye can see.

“Ooh, a white sand beach,” Robbie murmured.

“Okay, so if your parents say it’s cool, do you guys wanna do it?” Tori asked.

Everyone agreed enthusiastically.

“Awesome!” Tori handed Andre her PearBook and instructed him, “Here, check out some more pics of the resort.”

“Alright, cool,” Andre replied, hopping down from his perch on the kitchen island and leading everyone over to the kitchen table where they could crowd around the screen more easily.

The front door slammed open, letting in a very frustrated Trina.

“I’m never going mini-golfing there again!” Trina declared. Holly had followed Trina inside, hot on her daughter’s heels.

“We did not sign you up for mixed martial arts so that you can assault a seven-year-old!” Holly yelled.

“What happened?” Tori asked the warring Vega women.

“Trina missed a putt, because a seven-year-old was being distracting—”

“He was insulting me!” Trina insisted.

“He may have said some unkind things,” Holly amended. “And Trina threw her golf club at the kid and tackled him to the ground. When the kid’s father came to try and pry them apart, your father got involved and took a backhand to his nose.”

“Dad could’ve easily dodged it if he was paying attention,” Trina scoffed.

“Well,” David said, finally entering the house and swinging the front door shut. “That was fun,” he deadpanned. Tori gaped at her father’s face. A thin trickle of blood was dried from his nostril down and wrapped around the side of his mouth. His nose was an unsightly mix of dark purple and red, and it looked slightly swollen.

Holly moved to be by David’s side and gingerly reached up to probe the swollen, bloody, and bruised nose. “Oh, honey,” she cooed. “It’s throbbing. Trina, go get an ice pack.”

Trina groaned loudly. “No! I’ll be in the garage, working the punching bag!” Trina swiftly made her exit, leaving her parents in the living room.

Tori slowly approached her parents, clutching her glass of iced soda. She reached up to probe her father’s nose too and murmured, “Oh, it is throbbing…”

“Yes,” David sighed, nodding tiredly. “Yes, thank you, baby.” He wordlessly took Tori’s glass and pressed it up against his injured nose with a silent groan of relief.

“Oh, did you talk to your friends about Yerba?” Holly suddenly remembered, glancing past Tori’s shoulder.

“Yeah.” Tori nodded. “I think we’re all going.”

“Good!” Holly lit up. “You’re taking Trina.”

Tori’s face fell. “No.”

“Yes.”

“You are taking Trina,” David added.

“Not happening,” Tori insisted, walking away. The last time Tori had to travel with Trina, that weekend trip that they took to attend their cousin’s wedding, was not far from Tori’s mind. And that was only for two days. Tori couldn’t imagine how much worse a whole five days would be.

“We’ll buy you a car,” Holly bargained desperately.

“Any car you want,” David agreed.

Tori turned around to face her parents, exasperated. “You know I don’t even have my license yet!”

“All the more reason for you to finally get one!”

“Please, your sister’s aggression is really starting to rack up points, and we can’t afford another incident so soon.”

“Why hasn’t she started the anger management therapy yet?” Tori asked.

“Have you met your sister? What makes you think we can force her to go?” David pointed at his injured nose.

“Um,” Robbie tentatively approached Tori from behind, clearly hesitant to interrupt the family discussion. “My mom says that Rex and I can go to Yerba,” he explained, “but there has to be an adult chaperone.”

“I thought your mom moved out.”

“She’s giving me one more chance!” Robbie snapped irritably. Tori was taken aback. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “Rex isn’t here.”

“Of course you have to have an adult chaperone,” Holly agreed.

“Why?” Tori whined. “I’m sixteen!”

“Adult chaperone or no trip.” David stayed firm.

“Dad,” Tori protested.

“Please don’t argue with me,” he said lightly, “while my nose is throbbing.”

“Will one of you go then?” Tori asked.

“Oh, honey, you know we’d love to,” Holly sighed.

“But we both have so much work to do,” David finished for his wife.

“Why don’t we get Sikowitz to chaperone?” Robbie suggested.

“Great idea!” Tori exclaimed.

“Great. I’m going to go lie down. You kids have fun figuring out the details,” David quickly excused himself.

“I gotta go wash up. You kids have fun,” Holly added, following David up the stairs.

Tori turned back to her friends. Andre and Cat seemed engrossed in their research. “Alright, Sikowitz, it is! I’ll ask him after class tomorrow then.” Robbie and Tori high-fived.

The next day after class, Tori hung back after the rest of the class was dismissed for lunch. As Sikowitz went between the rows of chairs, collecting the script they were studying in class, Tori explained the plan for the trip.

“Yerba?” Sikowitz asked curiously.

“Yeah.” Tori nodded. “It’s a small island, just off the coast of—”

“Oh, I know where it is,” Sikowitz cut Tori off. He explained, “I spent two weeks in Yerba when I was 23.”

“Cool,” Tori smiled. “So, what’s it like?”

“I remember nothing of that trip.”

“Well, do you want to be our chaperone?”

“To what?”

“Our trip to Yerba!”

“Yerba?” Sikowitz repeated. “I spent two weeks there when I was 23.”

Tori rolled her eyes and smiled fondly. She recognized when Sikowitz was doing a bit. She asked, “Will you just be our chaperone?”

“Of course,” Sikowitz beamed.

“Yay!”

“So, who all is coming?” Sikowitz settled himself on-stage.

“Okay, it’s gonna be me, Andre, Cat—”

There were loud bickering voices growing louder from the hallway. Beck was dragging something (or someone) into the classroom.

“No!” a familiar voice insisted. “I don’t want to—”

“We’ll both ask her,” Beck insisted with a sigh.

Tori frowned as she looked upon the scene. Jade looked disheveled and annoyed. Beck looked tired and exasperated. “What’s going on?” she asked the couple.

Jade crossed her arms and stared at the ground, at the windows, at the walls. Anywhere but Tori.

Beck explained, “My aunt says we can’t go to Cancun.”

“Aw,” Tori cooed sympathetically. “How come?”

“She found out I was bringing Jade.”

Jade’s eyes rolled up to the ceiling, still adamant on not landing anywhere near Tori.

“Ha!” Sikowitz barked with amused laughter.

“So, we hear some of you guys are going to Yerba,” Beck transitioned smoothly.

Tori raised an eyebrow and glanced at Jade, an idea forming in her head.

“Yes,” Tori replied. “Yes, we are. Would you like to come to Yerba with us, Beck?” Tori asked, pointedly avoiding Jade’s sudden glare aimed at her.

“Oh, that’d be great, thanks!” Beck accepted easily.

Beck and Tori both turned to Jade, and Jade leveled an irritated glare at each of them, lingering on Beck for a moment longer.

“Jade,” Tori nodded, hands on her hips and a cocky smirk on her lips. “Do you have a question for me?” Tori wanted to bask in this moment for a long, long time. Jade, glaring mutely at her, with absolutely no standing to insult her or berate her or be a gank. For all of five seconds, Jade West needed to swallow her pride and ask for Tori’s permission. It made Tori feel a special kind of powerful.

“Can I…” Jade turned to the side to mumble the rest of the question under her breath, “come to Yerba?”

“Hm…” Tori pondered in thought dramatically, chewing her lip for a long moment. “Maybe.” Tori watched Jade’s face fall faster than a boulder in a river. Jade’s expression was bordering indignant anger. So Tori quickly amended her statement. “But first, you gotta give me a hug,” she sang her request. She met Jade’s cold blue-green eyes boldly, but was unfazed. She raised her arms and shimmied her shoulders and wiggled her hips. Her universal invitation to an embrace.

Jade gaped disbelievingly at Tori’s pose, with an expression akin to disgust coloring her face. But all Tori really saw in those stormy blue-greens was hesitation.

“Come on,” Tori urged. “Just do it.”

Jade snapped her mouth shut as her face morphed into an unhappy scowl. Finally, she relented and leaned forward, arms similarly outstretched. Tori’s arms wrapped eagerly around Jade’s midsection as Jade’s arms rested over Tori’s arms, and her hands interlocked behind Tori’s upper back. There was a short fraction of a moment between Tori’s arms snugly securing themselves around Jade’s frame, and Jade’s arms returning the gestures. In that short moment of hesitation, Tori felt Jade’s frame stiffen. Then, Jade’s arms were fully wrapped around Tori, and Tori felt comfortable enough to rub small circles on Jade’s back.

“See?” Tori murmured, even swaying their interlocked bodies a little side to side. “Givin’ Tori a big ol’ hug isn’t such a bad—” Tori felt the wind suddenly get squeezed out of her chest as Jade’s arms abruptly tightened like a vice. “Thing,” she wheezed. Jade’s arms only constricted tighter and tighter. “Okay, that’s really tight,” she managed to say, breathless. “Oh, god, help me!” she squeaked as Jade shifted to take Tori down to the floor. Jade ended up on top of Tori, still squeezing the life out of her, while every breath Tori forced herself to take in despite Jade’s arms wrapped tight around her chest felt like an uphill battle.

Eventually, Sikowitz and Beck together were able to pry Jade’s arms apart, leaving a breathless Tori on the ground, staring up at the ceiling in a daze as she thanked her lucky stars she survived yet another attempted murder by the hands of Jade West.

When Tori finally got back to her feet, she dusted herself off and fixed her hair as she sucked in several deep, appreciative breaths. Beck kept Jade tightly tucked into his side, and Jade seemed to cling to his form willingly.

“So, Yerba,” Beck said, running his free hand through his fluffy hair.

“Yeah, Yerba,” Tori replied, still catching her breath. “Andre and I are working on the set list. We’ll send it over to you guys when it’s done. In the meantime,” Tori turned to address both Sikowitz and the couple, “pack for warm weather! Exotic island Yerba, here we come!”

Jade rolled her eyes and groaned loudly but didn’t make another move toward Tori. Tori gathered her bag and slipped out of the classroom as fast as she could.

Sunday night, everyone was gathered at LAX, luggage and suitcases gathered around them as they looked for the plane they were supposed to take. With Sikowitz as the adult in charge, they somehow managed to find the tiny gate and board the plane, pleasantly surprised to find that the plane was relatively empty.

It was the layover flight that really should’ve been the next big red flag to the group, but they were all so delirious and sleep-deprived from the first turbulent plane ride that they welcomed the relatively smooth flight for the last leg of the journey, even if the plane they boarded looked decades old and rusted in precarious places.

When they landed, the scenery and nature around them was pretty enough. Enough to lull the knots of anxiety back to a dormant state. The vegetation was lush and bountiful, and the roads, though mostly dirt, seemed well-worn and well-traveled on. The truck that brought them to the modest-looking hotel sounded like it was hacking and coughing the whole way there from the airstrip, but Tori didn’t let that bring down her optimistic mood. She cheerfully kept up conversation with the group, engaging them in light and substanceless chatter as much as possible to pass the time.

It wasn’t until they finally stepped foot into the hotel that Tori let the anxious doubt run freely through her body.

The hotel was… well, it was a ratty place. It was only a few stories high. The lobby furniture was old, dusty, and worn. The leather armchair seemed to sport a duct-tape covered arm on one side and the stuffing poked through the numerous holes and the worn spots on the stained leather. The yellow sofa next to it had more holes dotting the upholstery than gaudy flowers in the design of the fabric. And there were a lot of gaudy flowers.

The stone walls did little to inspire a welcoming feeling to the guests. In fact, Tori felt like the stone walls gave off more of a medieval dungeon kind of feeling, and she felt the claustrophobia beginning to claw at her throat. The dead plant standing by the front door didn’t contribute much to the less-than-lively atmosphere all around. And to top it all off, the entire place had this weird… aura to it. Tori couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

But Andre succinctly beat her to the punch. “This dump is our hotel?”

“Yeah,” Tori replied with a hesitant smile.

“Gross.” Trina shivered as she looked around the place.

Oh, and there was a furry thing that Tori wasn’t sure was a plushie or not, but it was definitely shaped like roadkill and balanced on top of a series of cages, which she assumed were supposed to make up some kind of coffee table between the leather armchair and the ratty yellow sofa?

“Now, I’m kinda glad I don’t remember this place,” Sikowitz murmured with a grimace.

The group began to set down their luggage and take in the rest of the hotel lobby with varying degrees of disgust and shock.

“Hello!” a short man suddenly exclaimed from the front desk at the far end of the lobby. “Hello to you, buddies!”

Tori recognized that voice. Festus’ brother.

“Which is Tori Veega?” he asked excitedly.

“Oh, that’s me.” Tori waved. “Are you Festus’ brother?”

“Yes, buddy.” He nodded emphatically. “I am Sgrodis. Is happy to meet you.” Without any preamble, Sgrodis grasped Tori’s hand by the wrist and proceeded to place his entire face into Tori’s lax palm and sniff deeply.

Tori retracted her hand almost immediately. All she had to say was, “Why.”

“It’s a Yerbanian custom,” Cat explained from behind Tori, holding a PearPad. “See?” She showed Tori the article she had pulled up. “It says, ‘In Yerba, when people greet each other, they will often sniff each other’s hands as a sign of friendship.’”

Tori turned back to face Sgrodis’ hand outstretched at Tori’s face level. “Oh, that’s… that’s okay,” Tori said gently, grasping Sgrodis by the wrist and lowering his hand away from her face.

“Uh, so,” Sgrodis wrung his hands in an effort to skate over the awkward air. “How you all like the hotel?”

Everyone murmured half-hearted, hesitant answers.

“It’s disgusting,” Jade declared loudly.

Everyone turned to stare at Jade.

Sgrodis leaned in closer to Tori and whispered, “She said, what?”

“Uh,” Tori scrambled to think of how to put it more diplomatically. “This hotel… it doesn’t really look like the picture we saw online.”

“Oh!” Sgrodis’ face lit up in understanding. “The picture. Yes.” He pointed behind the lobby desk, at a framed picture on the wall no larger than a computer monitor. “There she is.” Sgrodis waved all of them over to admire the picture more closely.

“So, where’s that hotel?” Andre asked.

“I dunno,” Sgrodis shrugged. “Maybe Cancun?”

Tori could hear the exasperation in Jade’s short exhale. Everyone winced and quietly grumbled. Tori, most of all. She felt the pit in her stomach drop further and further with each new aspect of Yerba she was learning. Why hadn’t any of this come up during her research?

“I will go get someone to help you with your bags,” Sgrodis said cheerfully.

As the group processed their situation in silence, Rex declared, “I don’t like this place. At all.”

Tori glared at the puppet.

“Festus said this hotel was nice?” Beck asked Tori, a hint of accusation in his voice.

“Okay, this isn’t my fault,” Tori insisted.

“Yeah, it is,” Jade retorted immediately. Trina took Jade’s side quickly with an affronted nod.

“How was I supposed to know—”

“Hey, buddies,” Sgrodis greeted the group, cutting Tori’s defense short. “This is Kerploch. He will take your luggages.”

A man in a mustard yellow cardigan that looked older and wrinklier than his own face was introduced to the group. He was munching on a sandwich of some sort, and he nodded with a full mouth and a close-lipped smile.

“Hello,” Tori greeted him kindly. “We are so happy to be—”

A shrill whistle pierced the air, causing everyone’s hands to fly up to their ears against the noise. Everyone, but the native Yerbanians. Kerploch ditched his sandwich and clung to Robbie, Rex, Trina, Jade, Beck, whoever he could reach as several soldiers swarmed the lobby and made a beeline straight for him. The whistle continued to shriek, now combined with the frantic, confused yells of everyone in the human knot as the soldiers pried Kerploch’s hands away from the teenagers and dragged him out the door.

Half the group ended up on the floor while the other half were bent over, chests heaving and trying to catch their breaths as the adrenaline slowly left their system.

“Is there another bellhop who can help us?” Tori asked Sgrodis, who looked like he was about to (or had already) soiled his pants.

He shook his head mutely, face pale and sweating. “I am… sorry, buddies.”

“That’s… that’s okay, I guess,” Tori replied shakily. “Let’s, uh… we can take our own luggage to our rooms. Can we get our keys?”

“Ah, yes.” Sgrodis took a moment before straightening up and beckoned Tori to follow him to the lobby desk. “Just give me a moment to organize myself,” he muttered quietly.

Eventually, Sgrodis handed Tori a series of strange-looking keys on chains. They looked like screwdrivers. When Tori questioned it, Sgrodis explained, “Just stick it in the keyhole and jiggle it around. It should unlock the doors. Eventually.”

After Tori got a few other questions answered, she took the “keys” with a hesitant smile and an uncertain, “Thanks,” and distributed them to the group. Jade was one of the last ones Tori had to give the room “keys” to. Trina and Robbie had made a beeline for the upstairs to explore their rooms first. “These are the keys to our rooms,” Tori presented them to Jade with a weak grimace.

“Those are screwdrivers,” Jade deadpanned with a slow blink at Tori.

“I know.” Tori separated the two “keys” and handed one to Jade. “He said to stick it in the keyhole and jiggle it.”

“What’d he say about the indoor swimming pool?” Sikowitz questioned, seeming to materialize out of nowhere.

“Uh,” Tori blinked a few times to gather her thoughts. “Well, apparently, this country is sort of… ‘at war’...” Tori bounced some air quotes around the phrase. She was unsure how any of this was never mentioned on the official Yerba website. “So, the swimming pool here is currently filled with… ammunition.”

“Where’s the white sand beach?” Jade asked pointedly.

“Yeah, where’s the beach?” Sikowitz echoed, though not with half the malice that Jade had asked the question with.

“It’s been taken over by rebels,” Tori replied meekly.

“Okay,” Jade chuckled softly and mirthlessly. “So, before you booked our trip here,” Jade began to brandish the screwdriver key a little dangerously close to Tori, and Tori eyed its sharp point with the same wariness that she would have for any sharp objects in Jade’s hands (particularly, scissors), “you forgot to find out that this is the worst country on Earth?!” She shouted the last words.

Tori opened her mouth to speak, to say anything in her defense, but Jade was right. Tori had nothing to say but to admit, “Yeah.”

Jade nodded along with Tori’s guilty admittance.

“Jade,” Sikowitz chided, “don’t be such a crabby Cathy.”

“I have every right to be a crabby Cathy,” Jade snapped. She turned, and her eyes fell onto a sight that was sure to make her see red. Tori glanced over as well and saw Beck surrounded by two overly-touchy Yerbanian women stroking slow fingertips through Beck’s hair and tangling their fingers with Beck’s own. “Uh, crabby Cathy’s about to get a little bit crabbier,” Jade declared, stalking over toward her boyfriend.

Beck looked up and locked eyes with Jade and just gave a helpless shrug.

“Hey!” Jade’s sharp voice made the two women jump in fright and glare. “Get your hands off my boyfriend’s head.”

The two women began to hiss in tandem at Jade, and Jade began to hiss back even more aggressively until they ran away, looking absolutely offended.

Tori couldn’t understand why she couldn’t look away. Her gaze followed the two Yerbanian women until they disappeared down the hall, and a small shadow of concern crossed her thoughts. She hoped they wouldn’t do anything for revenge later that night.

Trina’s voice broke Tori out of her thoughts as she came running back into the lobby, with Robbie hot on her trail.

“Okay, Robbie and I just looked at our rooms, and there’s no way I’m staying here.”

Robbie nodded emphatically to support Trina’s declaration. “Me neither.”

“What’s so bad about your rooms?” Tori asked, though she really didn’t want to know the answer to that.

“Well, we can start with the foreign man I found in my closet,” Trina began.

“And there was a grenade in my toilet.”

“There’s nicer hotels in Northridge,” Rex added. Tori let out a silent groan. If Rex was bringing up Northridge as a comparison, and Tori knew that Rex knew Northridge the best out of the group (wait, he’s a puppet, right?), it was hopeless.

Andre exclaimed in surprise from the couch and clutched at his neck. Cat gasped next to him, and all eyes were on Andre as he sprang to his feet and looked around wildly.

“What’s wrong?” Cat asked.

“Something bit my neck!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Beck nodded gravely, rushing to his friend’s side. “It looked like a moth.”

“Are you okay?” Tori came to Andre’s side as the rest of the group gathered around the musician, murmuring concern and surprise.

“What happened?” Sgrodis asked over the commotion.

“A moth bit our friend’s neck,” Cat explained.

“Was it about this big?” Sgrodis held up two fingers about three inches apart. “And black, like the night?”

“Yeah,” Beck confirmed.

“Ah, that was a vampire moth.” Sgrodis looked excited.

“Well, is he going to be okay?” Tori asked, when Sgrodis clearly didn’t seem to have any intention of explaining further.

“Of course! Being bitten by a vampire moth is very good luck!”

“Wait, but…” Cat interrupted Andre’s sigh of relief, swiping through her PearPad. “It says here that a bite from a vampire moth could kill you.”

“Yes,” Sgrodis wrung his hands, “but if you live, you are very lucky!”

Andre did not look pleased with these odds and outcomes. He gingerly dabbed at the bite with a frown.

Jade, surprisingly, was already pulling out a small travel sized first-aid kit, complete with alcohol wipes and antibiotic ointment.

Tori arched an eyebrow as Jade prepared the materials.

Surprisingly, it was Beck who answered the look, even though Jade definitely saw it. She had even opened her mouth slightly to respond, no doubt with an acerbic comment to make Tori stop scrutinizing her. But Beck quickly explained, “Jade always keeps a first-aid kit handy. It’s a habit she picked up from being by Cat’s side all the time.”

Tori nodded slowly, a soft smile lifting her lips slightly. Jade glared weakly but didn’t comment further. She moved to seat Andre down next to her on the couch.

As Jade cleaned up the wound, Sgrodis excused himself to go call the local doctor, and the rest of the group, minus Tori and Sikowitz, shuffled up the stairs to settle their luggage in their rooms.

After a very long discussion, Sikowitz finally declared that they would all share two rooms: guys in one, girls in the other. No one looked too happy about even staying in the hotel, but they all grumbled in agreement once Sikowitz pulled out an unnaturally stern, parent-y voice.

The girls settled into Jade's room, as it was the largest, surprisingly, with a massive queen-size bed that comfortably fit all four girls. And with the added bonuses of a window and no foreign men in the closet, and running water in the bathroom, somewhat.

Their next obstacle came in the form of sleeping arrangements: who was going to sleep next to who.

Jade immediately claimed the edge and pulled Cat to bed beside her. That left Tori with the choice of either being sandwiched between Cat and Trina (and one body closer to Jade, which the thought alone gave Tori shivers), or the other edge spot, where she was likely to get pushed off the bed with Trina's wild sleeping habits, if she didn't roll herself off first to escape Trina's deafening snores.

Tori decided it would be better to have the edge spot in the event that she needed to make a midnight trip to the bathroom. And if Trina's snores got really bad, maybe she could curl up on the desk chair for the night. Maybe…

But it turned out that all their headache in figuring out a comfortable sleeping arrangement was all for naught. Well, except for Jade, who was somehow sleeping soundly through everything from the shrieking whistles outside to the automatic gunfire to the thundering explosions that rattled the window panes. She merely turned over once as Cat clung tightly to Jade's side when the latest explosion was laced with screams that pierced the night air.

Cat, Trina, and Tori sat up against the headboard, knees and blanket drawn up to their chins as the sky outside their window lit up frequently with muzzle flashes and bright flares.

"I don't like this hotel," Cat murmured. The three of them all shrieked as another bomb exploded nearby.

There was a knock on the door. Tori, being on the edge and Jade sleeping like a rock on the other side, was forced to go answer it.

"Robbie?"

"Can I please sleep in here? Andre and Beck won't let me sleep in the bed, and Sikowitz took up the other, and the only other place is the bathtub. Your room floor looks a lot cleaner too."

"What? No! You can't sleep in here."

"Please, Tori? There was a lizard in the bathtub, and I don't know where it went after I shooed it away."

"And what if you brought the lizard into here?"

"Come on, please?"

"You're being a baby," Tori sighed. "We all are. Just because this place isn't as cushy as America, you make it seem like we're in—" Tori was interrupted from her exasperated response by the sound of glass shattering and a loud thump, mixed with screams from Cat and Trina. Tori whirled around to see Kerploch sprawled on the lower half of the bed, hands still cuffed together and scrambling to untangle himself from the sheets. Two uniformed officers came clambering in through the window soon after, and Tori clutched onto Robbie's arm in surprise as the four awake inhabitants continued to scream at the scene unfolding before them.

Kerploch was once again dragged away, out the window from where he entered, screaming in Yerbanian.

Once the room had returned to relative quiet, and Tori could breathe again over the thundering of her heartbeat, she declared, "I take it all back. We are getting out of this country!"

Robbie took off to rouse Sikowitz, Beck, and Andre. Tori was all fired up to lead the charge downstairs and give Sgrodis a piece of her mind. There was a moment of hesitation when Tori considered waking Jade, but… Jade looked really peaceful sleeping soundly, despite the flash of explosions lighting up her face in mesmerizing ways, accentuating the sharp and soft corners of her features. And, Tori also considered the high likelihood that Jade would respond violently to being roused abruptly, especially from such a deep slumber.

So Tori decided against it, and she was flanked by Cat and Trina as she stormed up to the lobby desk, where Sgrodis was savoring a bowl of mushrooms.

"Hey!" Tori declared.

"Hello, buddy," Sgrodis smiled. He looked none too fatigued given all the commotion outside and all the excitement from just this afternoon. Did this man ever sleep? He didn't even look tired. "Who wants mushroom?" He offered up his bowl.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cat begin to lunge forward and catch herself, resulting in a half-step stumble. She ducked her head away. Tori offered Cat a reassuring stroke on her arm before turning back to Sgrodis with a stern, "We don't want mushroom." She crossed her arms.

Trina took the reins. "We are leaving this—"

Another thundering explosion sounded outside, this time rattling the walls of the hotel slightly. The three girls ducked down, glancing at the ceiling at the walls, hoping nothing would cave in. Tori glanced at Sgrodis to find the Yerbanian hotel owner nonchalantly picking at his bowl of mushrooms, waiting for the aftershocks to recede.

"We are leaving this country!" Trina rushed out before another explosion could interrupt her.

"Right now," Tori added for emphasis.

"Oh, buddies…" Sgrodis shook his head patronizingly with a sly smile on his face.

"There they are," Robbie's voice declared from behind. The three girls turned around to find their teacher and other friends joining them at the lobby.

"Okay," Sikowitz sighed. "What's all the fizzy buts?" He rolled over the back of the couch to faceplant lengthwise onto the cushions.

Tori frowned. Did he mean hissy fuss? Then again, Sikowitz wasn't known for his accurate use of idioms and Americanisms.

"We want to go ho—oh my god! Look at Andre!"

Indeed, the musician now had a massive swollen growth on the side of his neck, the size of a small melon. He looked unsteady, and Beck had to keep grabbing his shoulder to balance him upright every now and then. Andre clutched at the back of the couch for support.

"What's on his neck?" Trina looked aghast as she pointed.

"It's from his moth bite," Beck explained, rubbing his eyes. "It won't stop growing."

"But I thought Jade cleaned and disinfected it," Tori said.

"I don't think vampire moth bites can be treated like normal bug bites," Cat said softly.

Andre broke out in loud, unintelligible gibberish.

"Wh-what's he trying to say?" Tori asked, gently stroking Andre's arm.

Beck shrugged and sighed.

"Apparently," Cat said, already on her PearPad. "A person who has been bitten by a vampire moth will often experience hallucinations or bizarre speech patterns."

Andre broke out into more gibberish, gesticulating wildly with the hand he wasn't using to hold onto the couch for support.

Tori's heart felt heavy. This was all her fault. Andre had a massive bug bite that didn't seem to be recovering anytime soon. They had all become traumatized with the Yerbanian bellhop being dragged away by soldiers before their very eyes, twice now, for the girls (and Robbie). And they hadn't even survived their first night of this so-called vacation. Tori felt horrible inside.

As if on cue, Jade strolled in, hair messy and bags under her eyes as she stifled a massive yawn behind a pale hand.

"Hey," Jade addressed Tori, specifically (weirdly). "I just woke up and found this," Jade held up a lizard by its tail, "sitting on my chest."

"Ew," Tori recoiled immediately. Everyone else backed away instinctively.

"A dead lizard?" Cat asked.

Jade turned to regard Cat. "It's dead now," she shrugged with a smirk. She licked the corner of her mouth and wiped it with her thumb. Tori felt a wave of a feeling hit her stomach as it flipped into uneasy somersaults at the sight of the gesture. Tori was grateful Jade's attention switched away to marvel at Andre's neck growth. "Whoa, Andre, who's your friend?" She lightly prodded at the swollen lump, and Tori saw Beck shake his head at the motion and try to shoo away Jade's curiosity. Andre shuddered and muttered at each touch, and Tori had had enough.

She turned around and stomped back toward Sgrodis, who was still enjoying his bowl of mushrooms behind the lobby counter.

"Give us our plane tickets home right now," Tori demanded.

"Why you want to leave Yerba?" Sgrodis asked, clearly confused.

"Our friend is hallucinating!" Beck exclaimed, joining Tori's side at the lobby counter.

"An escaped prisoner crashed through our window and was dragged out by Yerbanian soldiers!" Tori added hotly.

"And our bed is lumpy," Cat pointed out. "Like I can feel these hard little rock things poking into my back."

"Are there grenades hidden in the mattresses?!" Tori balked.

"Okay," Sgrodis nodded, "I'm very sorry about the troubles." Another distant explosion sounded, but at this point, it seemed everyone was too tired to acknowledge them. Especially one so far away. "Here," Sgrodis bent down behind the counter before presenting a crate of yellow labeled cans to the group. "Everyone, please enjoy a free can of Yerbanian gravy."

Beck picked one up to study while Tori, Trina, and Cat simply stood there gaping at the audacity of the man.

"Yerbanian gravy?" Rex asked from Robbie’s shoulder.

"Made in prison?" Beck read off the label.

Sgrodis nodded with a wide grin.

"We don't wanna eat your prison gravy," Tori insisted.

"We are leaving this country now!" Trina declared yet again.

"You kids promised to make singsong here for five nights." Sgrodis pointed a stern finger at all of them.

"Well," Sikowitz said, standing up from his perch on the couch and setting down the stuffed roadkill. "I'm afraid that's a promise they're going to have to break."

Everyone nodded and turned to Sgrodis, determined stares set on their faces.

Sgrodis returned the stare evenly as he reached out next to him and yanked down hard on a rope. A blaring alarm sounded and footsteps pounded in the hallway outside. A parade of uniformed Yerbanian soldiers entered with menacing glares, overly-masculine slouches, and billy clubs on their shoulders.

Tori gulped. "So, we'll do our set list like we practiced, tomorrow night," Tori declared weakly.

As dingy as the rest of the hotel seemed to be, Sgrodis' hotel ballroom seemed to be set up with half-decent equipment, according to Beck and Robbie, who were in charge of running the show’s speakers and equipment for the night.

While Andre was drifting in and out of lucidity, he seemed to understand more than he could convey, since he was able to perform most of his dance moves without much trouble during the morning rehearsal.

During the afternoon, Sgrodis led the doctor to a makeshift hospital setup to attend to Andre, so the four girls continued to practice their routine without him.

After the last rehearsal, everyone was stretching to stay limber when Robbie walked up from backstage and declared, "Hey, you know what?" He lifted up the yellow-labeled can and scooped a spoonful of a brown substance into his mouth. "Yerbanian gravy? Not so bad."

Everyone grimaced as he walked away to share his newfound good news with the others.

"Let's watch the sun come up," Trina sang, off-key, as she crossed the stage to find a water bottle.

Jade grabbed Tori's arm, and Tori startled slightly. Jade's palm felt warm against Tori's bare skin. "You're really gonna let your screech box of a sister," Jade removed her hand to jerk a thumb over her shoulder, "sing with us?" Jade planted her hands on her hips and cocked them in an aggressive stance.

"They guys are gonna keep her mic turned off," Tori assured Jade, fighting the urge to rub the sudden cold spot on her arm where Jade's hand had warmed it.

Jade rolled her eyes, and her voice slid into an annoyingly familiar southern belle lilt. "Oh, that's swell news!"

"I don't talk like that!" Tori insisted at Jade's receding figure.

"Whatever," Jade replied without bothering to cast a backwards glance.

Tori was about to fire off another retort to reclaim some of her lost dignity when Sikowitz hopped up the stairs to make his way backstage.

"Hey, Sikowitz."

"Hey, Vega," Sikowitz retorted.

"How are we gonna do this performance if Andre's sick?"

"Relax," Sikowitz declared. "He's with the Yerbanian doctor right now, behind that stained sheet." Right then, Andre let out a loud moan. "Come, let's check on him."

Tori followed the balding man to the makeshift space, picking at her water bottle nervously. When they arrived, Tori was face to face (well, if one ignored the height difference) with a young boy dressed in clothes that resembled scrubs and a stethoscope looped around his neck.

"Oh. Hello," Tori greeted him uncertainly.

The boy, like Sgrodis the day before, wordlessly lifted Tori's hand and sniffed deeply. Tori yanked her hand away sharply. The boy was taken aback by the sudden movement.

"I don't like that," Tori stated plainly. The boy visibly relaxed once Tori's arm fell slack by her side. "Okay," she turned to Sikowitz and asked, "where is the doctor?"

"That's him." Sikowitz cleared his throat. "There." He pointed at the little boy that Tori was certain she just offended. And who was now grinning wide to show off an array of missing teeth.

"What? The boy?" Tori gaped. "He's, like, 11."

"Almost 12," the boy corrected.

"How is he, doc?" Sgrodis asked, joining the group.

"Eh," the boy replied noncommittally. He shrugged with a shake of his hand side to side in a "so-so" motion.

"That boy is not a doctor," Tori declared, growing increasingly concerned for her friend's wellbeing as she spied the fully-emptied syringe in his hand.

"No," Sikowitz agreed. "But he is the doctor's son."

"Well, where's the doctor?"

"This boy is the best they could find," Sgrodis explained.

When Tori looked to Sikowitz for more of an explanation, Sikowitz merely shook his head gravely. Tori dropped the subject.

Sikowitz decided to press forward on the topic at hand. "Is Andre going to be okay?" he enunciated loudly and clearly.

"Maybe," the boy-doctor shrugged. "I gave him shot." He showed off the syringe. "Now, I give him lulu pop." He set down the syringe and dug through his bag for a green lollipop and opened Andre's jaw to stick it in. He shut Andre's mouth around it and closed up his bag. The doctor-boy raised his hand in farewell, saying some Yerbanian word Tori didn't recognize, and Sgrodis echoed it with a nod and a wave. With that, the doctor-boy was gone.

Tori placed a hand on Andre's shoulder and grimaced. "Andre? Do you think you can perform tonight?"

Andre pulled the lollipop out of his mouth and replied, "Yeah, I think so." His voice sounded tired and low-energy. He managed to prop himself up to his side, resting on his elbow.

"Tori! Tori!" Trina and Cat's excited voices melded together as they called Tori's name. They yanked the stained sheet aside as they stumbled into the little quarantine room.

"Big news!"

"The chancellor of Yerba is coming to see us perform tonight!"

"Good Ghandi!" Sikowitz exclaimed next to Tori.

"Who is the chancellor of Yerba?" Tori asked. She was really feeling the regret of not researching more Yerbanian history before committing to this trip.

"Yes, who is that?" Sikowitz added in an undertone.

Tori almost sighed in relief. Even their teacher didn't know, so maybe it wasn't such common knowledge after all.

"Our chancellor," Sgrodis began to explain, "he is like your president."

"And look, he only has one eye." Cat showed Tori the image of the Yerbanian chancellor sporting an eye patch.

"What happened to his other eye?" Tori asked.

"It stopped working after he was bitten by a vampire moth," Sgrodis explained.

"What?!" Andre exclaimed, bolting upright after he had just settled back down to lying comfortably on the makeshift bed.

"Nothing, buddy," Sgrodis chuckled, patting Andre on the back. "Forget about that. Eat your lulu pop." He guided the green candy back to Andre's mouth. Andre reluctantly laid back down.

Tori was getting a bad case of the pre-performance jitters, and it was nothing like any of her performances before. They were in a terrible country (which was apparently at war), one of their strongest performers was at risk of losing his voice forever (if that boy-doctor's mystery shot didn't cure it completely), and to top it all off, the stakes were much higher now that the Yerbanian equivalent of the President was going to be attending their very first performance. No, this was definitely not going to be an ordinary performance.

"Would you stop bouncing?" Jade gritted through her teeth at Tori.

"I'm sorry, I'm just nervous!"

"It's just another performance," Jade shrugged. "What's there to be nervous about?"

"Oh, I don't know maybe—"

"Tor," Trina said, placing a firm hand on Tori's shoulder to keep her from bouncing more. "You know I love you, but we don't have the time to play your therapist right now."

"Trina’s right. The boys are about to call us up," Cat agreed.

Right on cue, Trina's name was called, and she was the first to step out onto the stage. One by one, they all followed, Tori last of all. Donning her megawatt stage smile and adjusting the strap on her heel one last time, she took a deep breath and stepped out to join her friends.

They took their positions, and the music started up. A few short, staccato violin notes.

"I feel delirious," Tori began. "Come, let's get out of here."

They slid into the well-rehearsed routine. Tori could tell even Trina was giving it her all, and she was proud of her for it.

"We're heading for the sky! And we'll get lost in it, 'cause all I want, all I want, all I want is everything."

The drums kicked in as the song picked up, and soon, they were hurtling through the chorus. Tori's shoe was bothering her just a little bit, but she ignored it. They were finding their flow, and far be it from Tori to stop a performance because her shoe felt a little weird. The first verse and chorus passed by without a hitch. Even the second verse.

It was when the second repetition of the chorus came around, and Tori had to do a kick move, when things went downhill real fast.

Tori watched in slow motion as her heel slipped off her foot and flew across the room, headed straight for the chancellor. His head snapped back from the impact as the shoe bounced to the floor, having inflicted its damage. The chancellor cried out in pain, and the place erupted into a clamor as he clutched his only working eye.

"Stop the music!" Sgrodis yelled over the panic.

"Your shoe hit the chancellor!" Cat exclaimed, pointing at Tori's bare foot.

"In his last good eye!" Robbie added.

"I'm so sorry," Tori pleaded. She tried to explain, "My shoe just flew off, and I—"

Whistles sounded and the entire place was alive with commotion. From audience members scrambling to escape the chaos (lest they too get arrested in the mess) to soldiers clamoring to capture the one-shoed assailant.

Tori felt strong hands wrap around her arms and begin to drag her away, despite her struggling against them.

"Wait, no, please, I can explain!"

"Where are they taking her?" Tori heard Sikowitz thunder over the commotion.

"To the prison!" A gruff voice answered loudly.

At the sound of that, Tori struggled all the more, but it was hopeless. These soldiers were large, burly men with stoic faces and piercing glares. Tori had thought she knew fear, but never like this. Would she be able to go home? See her parents again? Ever go back to her normal teenage life? Oh god, was she going to die here?

She saw an opening and seized her chance, kicking off her other shoe and wrenching her arms free from the soldiers. She sprinted back to the ballroom, but the soldiers were faster, and they dragged her away for a second time.

With a sinking heart, she saw that the whole gang wasn't there. Andre and Jade weren't there.

Tears stung Tori's eyes as she succumbed to her fate.

Jade's POV

Heart thundering, eyes frantic, Jade slammed the room door shut behind her and sucked in a few heavy breaths. She had lost Andre in her escape, though both of them had run out at the same time. Jade was glad she had made a mental map of most of the hotel already to be able to skirt around any hallways that might cross paths with the soldiers on high alert.

Tori fucking Vega. Of course. Tori fucking Vega.

Jade swore loudly and ran a hand through her hair. Her heart didn't seem to want to slow down in its frantic rhythm anytime soon. She gulped down a few more gulps of air to at least get her breathing under control.

God, what was this feeling?

Jade hadn't felt the notion of fear in a while. Not like this. Cold, insurmountable, and unmoveable. It stared at Jade in the face like a formless monster of the dark. Sure, she enjoyed writing it. And she was all too familiar with the sensations it brought. But this wasn't in the safe realm of fiction, in the worlds she dreamed up in her head. This was real life. And that scared her plenty enough. Now, Vega was being dragged off to prison, and Jade had done fuck-all but turned tail like the coward she was. At least the others had stuck around. Well, Jade wasn't too sure about Andre, but she was sure he had his own reasons.

So here she was, back pressed against the door in the room they had just shared with the other girls not 12 hours ago. Why hasn't her heart stopped racing yet? It was starting to get annoying.

Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out of her back pocket to check. It was a text from Beck in the group chat, summoning her and Andre back to the lobby to strategize.

Jade ran a hand through her hair again. Her cheeks flushed at the thought of facing everyone after her ungraceful departure. Especially Trina, who no doubt was already holding a grudge against her for abandoning Tori, even after she so graciously allowed Jade to come along on this (hellish) trip, despite all their history.

She gritted her teeth and sent her response that she would be down in a few minutes.

She sighed. Long and slow. She looked up, and her eyes fell upon a ratty old doll that she remembered seeing Tori clutch right before everyone settled into the bed. Tori had called it her Cuddle Me Cathy doll or something.

Jade shook her head out of her thoughts. She resolved herself and headed down to the lobby.

The atmosphere was stiflingly quiet. Everyone wore somber masks. Trina was already on the phone with someone while Sikowitz seemed to be meditating. Andre had beaten Jade to the lobby, and he fell silent when he saw Jade approach. The other three he was talking with also looked up. Sikowitz noticed the shift in the air and cracked one eye open.

"Ah, Jade. Good of you to join us. Now that we're all here, let's brainstorm how to save our dear friend Tori."

Jade's mouth itched to open, but she kept it shut. Now was not the time to assert that Tori Vega was decidedly not her friend.

Beck and Cat both, separately, glanced at Jade, and she tossed them both back an unbothered glare. They both turned away in silence. Jade knew they didn't need to say a word. She was just as surprised as them, if she was being honest. But when had Jade been honest with herself lately, when it came to matters regarding Tori?

"Ideas?" Sikowitz prompted.

"The Yerbanian justice system seems pretty similar to the American justice system," Cat offered. Her trusty PearPad was out again, already opened up to several tabs. "You can request legal counsel in her trial."

"Okay, this is good. We can work that angle. What else?"

"Maybe the embassy here can offer her some protection?" Robbie suggested.

"The embassy has been taken over by the rebels," Sgrodis piped up. "Not very good chance there."

"Okay, so the embassy is a no-go," Sikowitz murmured.

Trina hung up her phone conversation. "That was my parents," she reported. "They're going to go to the DA's office to see if they can find some legal strings to pull so that Tori can't get tried on foreign soil."

"Can we get an audience with the chancellor first thing tomorrow?" Sikowitz asked Sgrodis.

Sgrodis shrugged, and Jade was two steps away from throttling the man. How could a human being be so fucking useless?! Beck held her back when she took a step forward, and she let herself focus on his touch. She counted in her head with her eyes closed before relaxing her body. She melted into Beck's frame with a sigh. His arms wrapped around her tightly, and she let herself sink into the embrace. He was warm, familiar, stable. Exactly what Jade needed right now.

"I will try," Sgrodis promised. He left to go make a phone call.

"I think that's all we can do for now," Sikowitz nodded. "You kids get some sleep. I'll stick around to see if he needs anything else for our appointment tomorrow."

Jade wasn't too sure about the others, but she knew for a fact that she was not going to be able to sleep well that night. She didn't even mind that Trina sprawled out to cover half the bed, leaving Cat to cuddle up close next to Jade's side. She only wished she was back home, safe in Beck's trailer or her own bed. Beck's arms wrapped around her tight. Whispering into her ear that things would turn out alright.

Jade drifted off, only barely noticing how Beck's soft voice in her head turned into a low husky whisper that sounded familiar and reminiscent of a different kind…

Jade jerked awake.

There were no air sirens, no bombs or explosions, no gunfire and yells and soldiers blowing whistles as they chased down an escaped prisoner. There was no lizard staring her down from where it rested on her chest. There was no light murmur and deep breathing from the other end of the bed.

All was still. Too still.

Jade checked her phone. It was 2 in the goddamn morning. She had just had a really nice dream, up until the end, and she couldn't remember much aside from bits and pieces. She was in a garden, laughing, probably at home, given how comfortable and carefree she felt. In a way she hadn't since she was seven, playing in the sandbox with Cat.

And someone else was there. Warm, coffee brown eyes. Beck's maybe? Only, they were sad. No, scared. Crying.

They were Tori's.

Jade stifled a groan and glanced at Cat, who had all but wrapped herself around Jade like a koala clinging to a tree trunk. As carefully as she could, Jade extracted herself from Cat's complicated grasp and padded to the bathroom.

She splashed some cold water onto her face and neck, hoping to shake off the last remnants of a dream she could barely remember enough to analyze. She was tired. And deprived of caffeine for at least 28 hours, and that alone was a dangerous fact. She knew caffeine withdrawal headaches were sure to onset soon, and she couldn't remember if she packed some ibuprofen.

Great. Cranky, sleep-deprived, and caffeine-less. This was sure to get them home extra quick.

Then Jade considered, why didn't they just get the hell out of Dodge and this godforsaken country? Aside from, well, the obvious reason that literally no one would want to leave one of their group behind. But all of the main ones were alive and well and safe. The original crew. Hell, even Rex seemed to be safe and sound.

But, a little voice whispered in Jade's head, Beck would never forgive you for leaving Tori behind.

And that made Jade see red.

Why the hell did everyone even care so much about Tori anyway? After all, Tori was the one who had done barely enough research to book a week-long vacation in this war-torn shit hole of a country in the first place! Tori had only dug them into deeper and deeper messes since the minute they stepped foot in Yerba. To think that she was so close to spending a paradise week in Cancun if it weren't for Beck's judgmental aunt.

But Jade knew Tori. Or, at least, people like Tori. And people like Tori weren't cut out to survive a day in prison, especially prison in a country like this. Tori would get eaten alive if she couldn't keep her spazzy, jumpy hands to herself and her motormouth shut. Though Jade had often daydreamed of Tori's demise, even she wasn't cruel enough to sign her rival up for such a fate. After all, Jade wanted to be the one to ruin Tori for good. With her own hands.

So the only option Jade saw was to open her PearBook, connect to the shitty public Wi-Fi the hotel offered, ignoring the fact that it wasn't even password protected, and look up whatever she could to dig Tori out of this hole. The sooner Tori got out, the sooner they’d all get home.

It was close to 7am when Cat and Trina began to stir. By this point, Jade had washed up and procured some food for herself, as well as some caffeine, in the form of some local Yerbanian tea. It was cold, watered down, and downright disgusting, but Jade gritted through it because she wanted to delay the caffeine withdrawal headaches for as long as possible. She really didn't want to deal with another fight with Beck because of a stupid headache while all this other shit was going on.

"Jade?" Cat murmured sleepily as she rubbed her eyes. "How long have you been up?"

"A while."

Trina just sighed loudly and claimed the bathroom first.

As soon as Trina was out of earshot and behind a locked bathroom door, Jade asked, "How'd you sleep, baby girl?"

"Okay," she shrugged. She regarded Jade carefully. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Researching."

"Researching what?" Cat prodded.

"Stuff." Jade shrugged and put her PearBook to the side. "Nothing important."

"You couldn't sleep?"

"Bad dream."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Not really," Jade shook her head. "No."

Cat nodded.

Jade wasn't sure why it suddenly felt so difficult to talk to her best friend of more than a decade. After all, they knew each other better than almost anyone. Perhaps that was why Jade felt so uncomfortable beneath Cat's insistent gaze. Jade could practically feel Cat probing the defenses Jade put up, lifting the layers one by one. She wanted it to stop.

"I just want to get out of this shit hole of a country," Jade stated bluntly, hoping the combination of the swear word and the half-truth it was based on would be enough to deter Cat.

It seemed to mollify Cat, at the very least. Cat nodded and finally looked away. "Kay kay," she said softly.

Trina emerged from the bathroom. A record time washing up. "Bathroom's yours, Cat." Trina glared at Jade but said nothing else. Instead, she began to strip down and change into her outfit for the day. Jade respectfully diverted her eyes, though she couldn't deny she got an eyeful she wasn't asking for, and, well, Trina's talents left a lot to be desired, but she was certainly well-endowed with assets that rivaled Jade's own.

And those thoughts were immediately thrown into a locked box to never surface into Jade's consciousness ever again.

The chancellor's office didn't allow everyone to attend the trial, so Sikowitz (as the adult chaperone to the trip) and Trina went, guided by Sgrodis. That left Cat, Andre, Beck, Robbie, and Jade at the hotel lobby, waiting for a call from one of the Vega parents and to brainstorm alternative solutions if the trial didn't pan out in Tori's favor. They all had a sinking feeling that it likely wouldn’t.

Jade offered what she had researched: loopholes in the Yerbanian law, the least gruesome punishments (should it be unavoidable), and even proper honorifics to address the chancellor if they were summoned to appear before him.

Jade ignored everyone's surprised looks with a casual shrug and a simple explanation that she couldn't sleep much the night before. Something to do with the lack of coffee. Jade shot Cat a look to silence any intentions of revealing the empty can of iced tea Cat had definitely seen Jade cradling earlier that morning.

Working with what they've got, they still didn't have much legal ground to stand on in Tori's defense, and it was looking likelier and likelier that Tori would either have to pay her pound of flesh, or serve whatever prison term the chancellor sentenced her to. Neither choice seemed good.

The grim news continued when Sikowitz and Trina returned.

Tori was to be sentenced to four years in Yerbanian prison.

Tori’s POV

The entire trial was a sham. A complete kangaroo court. Tori supposed she shouldn't have expected much else given that this was a country at war, with a dictator in charge, not a president. Still, for her lawyer to crawl away on all fours in the middle of her trial? That was a new level of shameless corruption.

And Tori thought she'd seen some corruption from the stories her mother used to share from work.

Tori sighed and tried to focus on the card game in front of her. She was trying to teach two fellow inmates how to play Go Fish, and they weren't exactly the most receptive students.

"Go fish," Tori declared.

Without warning, the inmate sitting directly across from Tori picked up a large stick and whacked Tori right on the arm.

"That is not how we play Go Fish in America!" Tori yelled.

"Careful!" the other inmate hissed. "She's the one who stabbed the chancellor's eyeball."

The one with the stick paled immediately and dropped the stick. "I-I-I am so sorry." She took off running, her friend hot on her heels.

"Yeah, you better run!" Tori called after them, rubbing her arm. "Ow," she murmured under her breath. She felt eyes on her, and she turned around to scan the leering faces of the men on the other side of the fence. She felt uneasy that so many of them were only divided by that one chain link fence. One fence that separated her from a pack of ravenous-looking criminals. Not that the female side was much better. Some on this side had also given Tori some looks, only much more furtively, like they were waiting for yard time to be over before they'd make their move.

"Pssst! Tori!" Cat's voice called out, and Tori spun around to locate it.

"Oh my god," she breathed. She'd never felt so grateful to hear a familiar voice. Still clutching her throbbing arm, she ran to the iron gate opposite the yard from the chain link fence separating the two populations. "You guys!" Tori felt tears spring to her eyes.

"Hey, Tori," Andre smiled. The swelling from his bite seemed slightly smaller, and his voice seemed totally intact. For that, Tori was elated. Perhaps that little boy-doctor did know a thing or two.

Trina reached through the bars, and Tori reached out to grasp her hand.

"No touching!" A guard barked from behind. Immediately, the two sisters dropped contact.

"You've looked better," Jade greeted Tori with a trademark dry quip.

Tori was too relieved in the moment to even retort. It just felt like a slice of normalcy. So she only offered a quizzical frown toward Jade. (After all, why was Jade even here, visiting her?) Then, she addressed the group at large. "Where's Sikowitz?"

"He's with Beck and Robbie," Cat replied.

"They're on the phone with Mom and Dad, an American ambassador, some lawyers…" Trina explained further.

"Well, why wouldn't they call the embassy?"

"Mm!" Andre exclaimed. "It's been taken over by the rebels," he replied through a mouthful of a white crystalline powder.

"Andre, what are you eating?" Tori asked in morbid fascination as he shoveled another spoonful into his mouth.

"Salt."

"But why would you—"

"One of the signs of getting over the moth poison," Cat explained, "is an extreme craving for salt."

"I hate the taste, but I can't stop." Andre moaned again as he inhaled another mouthful.

"So, has anyone tried to beat you up?" Trina asked, voice laced with concern, before Tori could continue questioning the moth poison side effects.

"No," Tori replied, deciding not to reveal the little incident that occurred just moments before. "I've got some street cred in here, 'cause they think I'm the 'psycho girl' who stabbed the chancellor in his eye."

"But you are," Cat pointed out.

"Not the point," Tori said quickly.

"Wait," Andre paused in his salt consumption to say, "are those dudes over there?"

"Uh-huh."

"Oh my god, this prison is for women and men?" Trina shrieked, scandalized.

"Yeah. But there's a big fence separating the guys from the girls."

"So you're telling me, that freak show is a girl?" Jade gestured to the tallest woman on the female side. Sheema. Tori had been lucky enough to avoid crossing paths with her, since it seemed she had a lot of pull in the prison as one of the older inmates.

"Jade, please don't—" Tori pleaded, but too late, Sheema had already noticed them.

"What are you looking at?" Sheema growled.

Jade made a motion like she was confused if Sheema was addressing her. "I'm looking at a big, stupid lady in prison. What are you looking at?"

Sheema growled as she brandished a large stick (where were these people getting all these big sticks from, Tori wondered).

Jade merely drawled, "Oh, me make big man lady mad."

Sheema swung at the bars, leaving a loud echoing clang of metal ringing in the air.

"Ooh, good one," Jade continued to mock.

Sheema glared but spat at the floor and walked away.

"Hey!" Jade called out after Sheema, "Call me! We'll go skirt shopping!"

Tori sighed. "Must you aggravate my fellow prisoners?"

"Yes, I must," Jade smirked and bowed her head. Cat tugged on the sleeve of Jade's leather jacket.

Tori rolled her eyes. "Will you guys just please get me out of here?"

"We're trying," Trina nodded.

"Everyone is doing everything they can," Andre declared through another mouthful of salt, sending sprays of the white powder out with each syllable.

"We'll visit when we can," Trina promised.

"Hey! Veega!" A voice shouted from behind.

"Try not to get killed in there, Tori," Jade said with a half-smirk, nodding at the big rocks the two ladies were holding. They were the two who Tori was trying to play cards with earlier.

"Want to play rocks?" the other inmate asked.

"Sure…" Tori replied through a tight smile. "Please hurry," Tori whisper-pleaded to her friends.

Jade's POV

Jade felt somewhat relieved coming back to the hotel after their prison visit. Tori seemed to be handling her own so far, keeping her head down and out of the way from the big fish in the tank, so to speak. Jade only mildly regretted antagonizing the big lady, but she needed to know how Tori would react. And also if the big lady saw Tori as a nuisance. But the lady had barely glanced at Tori twice during the entire exchange. No lingering glares of a grudge held tight inside. So at least there seemed to be people who mostly ignored Tori. Which was good. Those two who wanted to play "rocks" with Tori, on the other hand… they seemed like trouble.

Jade sighed and rolled over into her side. Beck had updated the group that they had another appointment at the chancellor's office the next day to appeal the sentence. This time, they all had to go.

It was one thing to do the research and give the group the ideas to rescue Tori. It was another to stand in a public place and declare her support for the naive girl. But she supposed that if Tori got released, then they would all be that much closer to a plane ride back home, and Jade couldn't wait to get out of this place.

The next day, at the chancellor's office, they were presented to the chancellor. Sikowitz took the lead.

"Chancellor, we're here to beseech you to let Tori Vega out of your filthy prison."

"No."

"Well, we tried," Jade nodded, ready to go. It was pointless to try and reason with a dictator who was clearly pettier than half of the celebrities in Hollywood. At this rate, their only option was going to be breaking Tori out, if it came to it. Any legal methods they could try would take months, and Jade didn't have to stick around this awfully decorated office in this godforsaken country to wait that out.

But Beck grasped Jade by the arms and steered her back.

Trina tried next. "Uh, sir? Hi, I'm Tori's sister, and I can promise you she is a good girl. I mean, is she a perfect sister? No. Is she the prettiest or the most talented girl? Not by a long shot. Is she—"

"How is this helping anything?" Beck cut Trina off loudly.

"Look," Andre stepped in. "Tori didn't mean to kick her shoe off and have it… enter your eye," he put it delicately.

"It was an accident," Cat added.

"Hey, is that a squid in your fish tank?" Robbie asked. Everyone stared at him for his non-sequitur.

"Squeed? What squeed?"

"He is admiring your oc-to-poos," the general informed the blind chancellor.

"Ah, this is an octopus," Robbie nodded.

"It was given to the chancellor by the prince of Gustavia."

"Ah! When I was 19, I spent a whole month in Gustavia," Sikowitz murmured with nostalgia.

"It is beautiful country."

"Is it? Because I don't remember one minute of that trip."

"Hey, come on now," Andre pleaded. "Can we all get back to Tori?"

"Please let Tori go," Cat requested.

"We promise you, we will take her and leave," Beck declared solemnly.

Jade was rather pleased that everyone seemed to pay attention to her lengthy lecture she gave to addressing the chancellor formally. Well, except for Trina. But even she did her best to be respectful in her own way.

The chancellor sighed. "Very well. I will free Tori Veega."

The group let out a collective sigh (well, in Jade's case, it was more of just a short huff). "Thank you," the group murmured.

"But! You are all banned from returning to my country ever again."

The group agreed easily to this. "No arguments here."

"I'll sign something," Jade added for good measure.

There was a clatter, a splash, and a shriek.

As soon as Jade registered the situation, all she could do was sigh and sink her head to rest against her fingertips, squeezing her eyes shut.

She had to sit through an overly emotional chancellor mourning the death of an octopus and only snapped to attention when the whistles started blowing again.

Great. Just fucking great.

When Jade got the chance, she was going to kill Robbie with her own hands.

Where the hell was Sikowitz in all this chaos? Jade had to wonder as they stood lined up against the fence separating the men from the women.

"You murdered the man's octopus?" Tori asked in disbelief from the other side of the fence.

Robbie's lower lip quivered as he nodded.

Beck rubbed a consoling hand on Robbie's shaking shoulder.

"Great. Just great." Tori sighed. "Now, how are we gonna get out of here?"

"You two geniuses got us in this mess," Jade declared, waving her finger between Tori and Robbie. "Now, get us out of it."

"And how do you propose to do that?" Tori retorted hotly.

Jade took a good look at Tori. She looked tired. Her hair was slightly unkempt, though nothing more than slightly-tousled bed head. But there was something in her eyes. Warm, coffee brown eyes. Jade abruptly broke eye contact and stared at the ground, arms crossed. Her dream was coming back, and she didn’t want to dwell on those thoughts. Not here. Not now. Maybe not ever.

"Come on, now, we gotta work together on this," Andre reasoned.

Jade huffed and walked a few paces away. It felt suffocating being near Tori, and she wished she had some scissors and something large she could deconstruct. But as it was, she had nothing, so she could feel her fingers already working on the rough fabric of the orange jumpsuit. Beck followed Jade from the other side. They sat down back to back as they spoke softly to each other.

"You doing okay?"

"Just peachy," Jade replied sarcastically. She picked at a few small pebbles on the dirt ground around her and tossed them into the distance. They clunked lightly against some overturned crates serving as stools to an empty table.

"We're going to get out of this. Before we went to the chancellor's office and Robbie's butterfinger accident, Trina got a call from her parents saying they were close to finding some clause in the Yerbanian law that they can't prosecute and sentence foreigners for longer than the minimum prison sentence of Yerba."

"And what's that, three years instead of four? We didn't even get a proper sentence. Only Vega did." Jade's voice was bitter. The words felt so sharp, it almost hurt for Jade to say them out loud. Because hidden under all the spite was the unwavering fear that they really were all stuck here. For at least the remainder of their high school years. In a foreign country she barely wanted to even visit.

"If we're lucky, we'll be out of here before we all get a trial like Tori did."

"Ever the dreamer, Beck."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with being optimistic."

"We're in prison in a foreign country run by a dictator, and we are separated by a big fence and surrounded by a bunch of criminal adults. What about this situation screams optimism to you?"

"The adults have a plan in motion. We just gotta trust that."

Jade scoffed. "Like there's ever been an adult in my life who I can trust to responsibly take care of me."

"There's…"

"Don't say your mom. We both know she only tolerates me."

"She still cares for you, in her own way."

"Y'know, I'm really sick of people telling me that. Why can't they just show they care about me in the normal way? What's so wrong about that?"

"It's not that it's wrong, it's that it's… difficult. You don't always make it… easy."

"So I'm the problem? Of course, I fucking am." Jade scoffed again. "I've always been the fucking problem."

"Jade." There was the sound of feet scuffling around the dirt. Beck's fingertips pressed into Jade's back through the fence. "Jade, babe, you know I didn't mean it like that."

"Forget it, Beck. I got what you meant. Just forget it."

Jade stood up and walked away, hoping to find a quiet corner to sulk in, unbothered and away from Beck. Away from the thoughts. Away from everything.

Just for a little while.

It was around nighttime when Jade finally meandered over to join Trina and Tori. Cat was off somewhere, and a small concern began to grow in the back of Jade's mind: Jade wasn't sure if Cat was allowed to bring her medication in when they got arrested. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t seen Cat with her pills the whole trip. And it was around the time she usually took her pills for the night, based on the handful of sleepovers and late nights they had shared together since the whole Sky Store debacle.

But Jade was still cooling off from her fight with Beck, and she didn’t really have the mental space to worry about Cat too.  She needed to get some aggression out. Hit something, or get hit, Jade didn’t really care. Without her scissors in here, she felt powerless, and she was getting desperate to regain some ounce of control in her life again.

"Big scary lady, big scary lady," Trina warned, tugging on Tori's arm.

"Oh, great, it's the one you called big and stupid the other day," Tori groaned at Jade.

Perfect, Jade thought.

"Whatever," Jade shrugged, cracking her neck. This would definitely scratch the itch. "I'm not scared of this chick."

Tori gaped at Jade, but Jade barely noticed. She squared up as the lady approached and stared down at her. She had a good foot or so on Jade, giving her height and reach advantage. But Jade didn't plan on winning so much as just blowing off steam.

"So," the big lady spat, "do I still look big and stupid?"

"Alright," Jade said. "Listen, hot stuff, you better just turn yourself around and walk away from me, because I'm gonna—" A massive palm covered the majority of Jade's face and a strong shove sent her sprawling onto the ground. Jade only let the shock linger on her face for a moment before quickly retorting, "I like it on the ground."

For some inexplicable reason, Jade felt her eyes drawn to Tori in that moment. Perhaps to watch for Tori's reaction to Jade's revelation, because it was true. She did like it on the ground. It was exactly the type of comment that would've made Tori blush like a cherry tomato and stutter her way through a half-baked excuse to get herself away from Jade. In any other circumstance, that is. And Jade supposed it was just habit, really, and nothing else that drew her eyes from the menacing lady cracking her knuckles to search for coffee brown eyes and caramel skin and a kindness that exuded brightness at the same intensity as her constant anxiety.

Jade let her focus drift for just a little too long, because while she laid there, prone and on the ground, only propped up by her elbows and staring for a little too long than was acceptable as Tori's frenemy or whatever… well, the big lady had picked up a massive plank and was bringing it up overhead to bring it crashing down onto Jade's leg. Jade felt a flash of panic as Tori suddenly stepped in between the two.

Tori’s POV

"Uh, Tori? Tori?!" Trina tugged on her sister's arm again.

Tori looked up to find Sheema raising a large plank overhead.

"Hey, hey!" Tori shouted, stepping in between. In broken Yerbanian, from what little she could pick up from the past couple days, she told Sheema to stand down.

Sheema pointed at Jade and protested in Yerbanian, probably weaving in some colorful Yerbanian in her description of Jade.

"She's my friend," Tori explained after a short hesitation. She was still feeling a bit weird from all this. Tori hadn't really imagined she would be in this position, talking down a scary veteran inmate from beating up Jade West, and by extension, that she, Tori Vega, would be protecting Jade West, of all people.

"Yeah, we're… we're super close," Jade agreed, not sounding convincing in the slightest.

Sheema used the tip of the plank to lift Jade's chin and growled, "You are lucky, American." She discarded the plank and stalked away.

Tori reached down and grabbed Jade by the wrist and heaved her up to her feet.

"I didn't need your help," Jade grumbled, and Tori balked. It was like the girl was incapable of gratitude. Jade dusted herself off and shook off Tori's hand in the process.

"She would've eaten you," Tori rebutted.

"Maybe I would've liked it," Jade replied easily. There it was again. That look in her eye. The same one Jade had when she had declared she liked it on the floor—which, whoa, Tori's mind had no right to go where it did when it processed that comment. She was glad that the fear of Jade getting pummeled had overtaken her sense to be flustered by the comment. But here, now, Tori had no defense. Jade's eyes looked aflare with something. Something Tori didn't recognize. Or, more accurately, something Tori couldn't quite name.

"I'm sure you would've," was the best Tori could muster. Jade raised her pierced eyebrow in amusement.

"Hiiii!" Cat greeted the group in her typical perky manner. "Ew, Jade, your outfit's all dirty."

"Oh no!" Jade exclaimed with mock despair. "Now I'll never win the prison beauty pageant."

"Wait, they have that?" Cat exclaimed, excitement shining in her eyes. Jade paused. And Tori frowned. Even Trina seemed mildly concerned. "Whattie?" Cat asked, finding all three girls staring at her.

"Cat…" Jade said slowly, and there seemed to be some nonverbal communication between the two. Tori watched silently, fascinated.

Cat's eyes lit up in recognition, then her face fell. She nodded glumly, and Jade's shoulders slumped a little. Jade tossed her head back and sighed heavily. Cat reached up to pat Jade's shoulder, and Jade took Cat's hand in her own, not only to bring it off her shoulder, but also to squeeze a blink-and-you-miss-it quick pulse through their linked hands before dropping it.

"Um, everything okay, Cat?" Tori asked tentatively. "Where have you been all day? We've all been pretty worried."

"Oh, I joined a prison gang," Cat revealed nonchalantly. She giggled.

"What do you mean?" Tori was the first to ask.

"Well, this group of really mean, tough prison ladies said I was cute and funny, so they invited me to join their prison gang."

"A-and you said yes?" Jade blustered.

"Uh-huh," Cat nodded. "I told the gang ladies I'm gonna make us all special t-shirts."

"Did…" Jade's voice dropped to a low whisper, so low that Tori barely heard it. "Did any of them… you know… try to play pirates?"

Cat shook her head. "They're all really nice to me, Jade. I don't think they want to play pirates."

"But, you're, you know…"

Cat's mouth formed an "o," and her brow furrowed in concentration. She rolled her eyes up to the sky, thinking for a long moment. Then she answered, "No, they don't want to play pirates with me, Jade."

"You're sure?" Jade's voice was uncharacteristically soft, and she rubbed her hands up and down Cat's slender arms.

Cat bobbed her head. "I'm sure. If you're so worried, why don't you join the gang too?" Cat winked.

"Rather not get tied down. I'm not exactly planning to stay here very long, Cat."

"You!" A guard wearing aviators suddenly called out, shouldering a bully stick and glancing around jerkily. "You people!" He gestured to the four girls with his stick.

The four glanced at each other in confusion. His Yerbanian accent sounded off.

"Who misses their favorite teacher?" the guard said in a lowered voice, tipping his aviators down his nose a little.

"Sikowitz!" Tori exclaimed in a barely contained squeal. The four rushed over to the fence.

He shushed them all immediately. "You have to act like I'm a Yerbanian prison guard."

"Right, right." The four all turned casually and leaned against the fence, looking varying degrees of disgruntled and annoyed.

"Where did you even get that outfit?" Tori asked.

"They sell these at the hotel gift shop." Sikowitz chuckled. "How stupid is that?”

Tori shrugged. She imagined it would be a rather lucrative market, as long as it was kept on the down low. Useful for slipping by uniformed areas like this.

“Would you just get us out of this prison?” Trina demanded sharply.

“I’m working on that.”

“You have a plan?” Jade asked.

“Sort of,” Sikowitz nodded. “I’ve got a duck truck. I met a farmer and offered him 100 shvackles to let me borrow it.”

“I joined a prison gang!” Cat blurted out. Her non-sequiturs were getting concerning. Tori glanced at Cat and spied Jade doing her absolute best to disassociate from the situation entirely. At least, that’s what it looked like. For all Tori knew, she was cooking up an escape plan for herself.

“Oh Cat,” Sikowitz chuckled. “You are delightfully filled with joy and stupidity.” Tori watched Jade glare sharply at Sikowitz, who obviously missed it, because he continued without skipping a beat. “So, I’ll have the truck tomorrow night. There’s an access road right behind this building. I’ll be there, waiting, after dark, in the truck. When you kids jump in the back, I’ll drive us across the border and right out of this poop shack of a country.”

“But how do we get out of this prison?” Tori asked.

“Oh, come on, I’m supposed to think of everything?” Sikowitz exclaimed. “I got the duck truck!”

Cat gasped. “Look! It’s my prison gang friends. Wait up, gals!”

“Cat—” Jade groaned.

“I’ll be waiting in the duck truck behind there tomorrow night after dark. See ya!”

“No, wait, Sikowitz—” they all clamored. But the man was long gone.

The three deflated as they sank against the fence.

“How are we supposed to break out of this prison?” Trina despaired.

“Hey,” Jade jerked her chin toward the distance, where a vibrant redhead was demonstrating a dance move they were going to use on their third night’s performance. “What’s Cat doing?”

An idea was starting to form in Tori’s head. “I think I know how we can break out of this place.”

“How?” Jade demanded.

“Be right back,” Tori replied. She jogged over to Sheema who had just bid farewell to an inmate on the male’s side. “Hey, Sheema.”

Sheema grunted an acknowledgment in Yerbanian.

“All these prisoners, they’ll listen to you, right?”

Sheema nodded and murmured an affirmative in Yerbanian.

“You wanna get out of here?”

Sheema smiled. “I must get back to my brothers and sisters on the white sand beach.”

“I have a plan. But you gotta trust me, okay?”

Sheema considered Tori’s offer deeply for a moment. She narrowed her eyes and nodded once curtly. “I will trust you, little American.”

Tori grinned. Step one: complete. Now, for step two… She glanced around for the nearest (actual) Yerbanian guard. “Hey, hey!” She waved to get their attention as she approached the iron gate.

“What, buddy?”

“I want to see the chancellor. I’m ready to confess the truth.” This was, without a doubt, the craziest plan Tori had ever conceived. But she couldn’t let that stop her from the momentum she had. If she was going to do this, she needed to go full-steam ahead, and not stop for anything; otherwise, the fear of the worse outcome was sure to keep her up all the nights she’d be stuck in this prison.

“Very well, we will take you to the chancellor,” the guard nodded. “In the morning.”

“I… I can’t go now?”

“Oh, you want to go now? Sure. Hey, give me key,” he shouted at his partner. “Give me key!”

Tori found herself in the chancellor’s office once more. This time, she didn’t have the comfort of familiar faces. No Sikowitz, no Trina. Only the chancellor, his posse of stoic military men, and the cold stiffness of the soldiers escorting her.

“So you admit you attacked my eye on porpoise,” the chancellor mused.

“Yes,” Tori sighed. “I… did it on purpose.”

“I told you this!” the chancellor exclaimed, gesturing to empty air. “I told you all she did this to me on porpoise!” He was starting to sound more like an indignant child throwing a tantrum than a dictator.

“And to apologize…” Tori interjected gently.

“Yes?” The chancellor perked up. His attendants had to turn his chair again slightly so that he was facing Tori. “Yes?” he repeated.

“Me, and my friends, and the other prisoners, we’d like to perform a song tomorrow night. For you, your family, and any other Yerbanians that you’d like to invite.”

“Why you want this?” the chancellor asked, slightly suspicious.

“Uh, just to apologize. And…” Tori was scrambling for words. “And to honor you. I mean, wouldn’t you like to see a great American performance?”

“See what?” he demanded. “You punctured my last working eye! All I see is black nothing!”

“Please, let us show you how sorry we are for blinding you,” Tori pleaded. “And for murdering your octopus.”

“Well,” the chancellor sighed. “It is a little late for apologies. But I am a merciful chancellor. So I will grant you this request. Okay.”

“Yay!” Tori cheered quietly.

“Now take her away from me!” the chancellor demanded.

“Yes, chancellor!” the soldiers saluted. But they didn’t move. Tori glanced at them.

The general by the chancellor’s side rolled his eyes and sighed. “Now!” he clarified.

“Oh, now. Okay.” They each grasped Tori’s arms and escorted her back to the prison.

Tori took a deep, shuddering breath. Step two: complete.

Tori relayed the plan to the rest of the group as they huddled by the fence separating them.

“This plan is actually insane. Like, literally, you’re insane.”

“Yeah, I realize that, Jade, but do you have a better plan?”

“Well,” Jade sighed. “If we had a blowtorch and a few of those mattress grenades, I’m pretty sure…”

“I mean without killing people or blowing up the prison.”

“It wouldn’t be the whole prison,” Jade pointed out. Tori shot her a look. Jade raised her hands in surrender and sighed. “Fine, we’ll do it your way.”

“Okay, so I was thinking we use the set we were planning to perform for the fourth night. Andre, you remember the choreography?”

Andre nodded. “But you said you promised the chancellor that all the prisoners would join us.”

“Yeah, and it’s crucial that they all do. That’s where you come in. You gotta teach all the guys there the choreo. The six—seven—of us will take care of the singing.” Trina let out a small huff, and Tori placated her sister with a pat on the shoulder. “As long as everyone participates, all the guards should be concentrated in the yard here, leaving light security everywhere else. At the end of the number, during the instrumental, I was thinking, we pull an old move. You remember Derrick and the Black Box Theater after the food fight play?” Tori asked Jade. Jade grinned and nodded. It was hard for Tori to forget, and she was glad to see that it was the same for Jade.

“You really think we can pull this off in one day?”

“We have to. Our only shot is tonight. Everyone clear on the plan?”

“I still think this is crazy,” Jade maintained. Tori glanced around at everyone else.

Everyone agreed.

“Alright, then. Let’s start teaching some choreo.”

They pared down the dance moves to a few simple ones that repeated for most of the song. They practiced the routines in chunks. By the time the evening meal was served, everyone seemed to have a decent handle on the moves.

Tori arranged with Sgrodis to transport the equipment from the hotel, including microphones for the seven kids.

At last, it was time for the performance.

“Make clapter for Tori Veega and the keeds from Hollywood Arts!” Sgrodis announced. Tori led the group out into the cleared yard. Curtains were drawn as they spread out into formation. A spotlight followed Tori out. Weak and scattered applause broke out.

“People of Yerba, we dedicate this performance to you, and your esteemed chancellor.” Tori gestured to the blind chancellor sitting on a throne, just like he was the night of the first performance as clapping broke out. “What a… swell guy,” Tori added, unsure what else to say. The scattered applause returned briefly.

Luckily, Tori was saved from more awkward small talk because the piano intro sounded and the music started, and they all snapped into position.

Just like they practiced, the gang from Hollywood Arts, plus Sheema to round out the number, took the lead in the front with the rest of the inmates forming a block behind them.

The performance went rather well, and Tori was pleasantly surprised no one stumbled into each other or messed up too badly. Then again, Tori rarely had a chance to check in on her fellow performers since she was front and center for most of the number. But the crowd seemed to enjoy it, clapping along to the beat.

Tori led the song as the other six mainly sang backup and a cappella additions.

They made it through the first and second verse.

Right on cue as they sang the bridge, the group of eight began their slow retreat to get lost in the sea of orange jumpsuits.

“Spare me of this cause,” Jade sang.

“I want you back,” the rest of the group chorused.

“Give me back what I lost,” Andre sang next.

“I want you back,” the group responded.

“Oh, baby, I need one more chance,” Tori sang. “Ha!” She kicked high, the same dance move that had gotten her in this sticky situation in the first place. Only, this time, she was wearing snug slip-ons that didn’t have the risk of slipping off and offending the chancellor yet again. “To tell you that I love you,” she continued, feeling victorious from pulling off the dance move, successfully, this time.

“Baby,” they continued to sing. “Oh!”

The inmates continued to fill in the void as the group backed out.

They were so close to being home free.

The final notes of the song sounded and the thundering applause chased them as they all broke out into a frantic sprint, ripping off the microphones attached to their cheeks.

“That way,” Robbie pointed, and they careened around a corner.

At last, a low-squatting truck filled with cages littered with feathers came into sight. “Get in, get in!” Sikowitz waved them over. They clambered onto the back, Sheema included.

“Wait, who’s that guy?” Sikowitz asked.

“He’s,” Tori panted, “a woman.”

“Good Ghandi,” Sikowitz muttered, getting into the driver’s seat.

Everyone wiped the sweat from their brows and let out a collective breath of relief as the truck lurched into motion.

They dropped Sheema off close to the border, at a small rebel base camp.

“Thank you again, buddies,” she said, grasping Tori’s hands, dwarfing them in her own and nodding to the rest of the group waiting on the back of the duck truck.

“Of course, Sheema. You stood up for me when the others wanted to play rocks.”

Sheema patted Tori’s head. “Don’t play rocks with people you don’t know.”

“Good life lesson,” Tori nodded and grinned. “Thank you, Sheema. We wouldn’t have made it out without your help. I hope you find your way back to your brothers and sisters.”

Sheema murmured the Yerbanian farewell, and Tori echoed it with one last hug to the towering woman.

“We gotta go. It’s been a pleasure,” Sikowitz said, urging Tori back onto the truck.

Sheema stayed waving by the side of the road until they were nothing but pinpricks to each other in the distant night horizon.

Sikowitz got them past the border just past dawn. They ditched the truck about a mile from the airstrip, where Sikowitz negotiated a deal with one of the resting pilots to take them to the nearest airport with a connection to LAX.

At last, they were nearly home.

Sikowitz had had the good sense to pack all the luggage that would fit into the duck truck, so they weren't losing too many belongings besides a few clothes each and maybe a charger or two.

They were all too exhausted and grateful to have made it out alive to be too mad about it.

Tori and Trina came home to an empty house. They each claimed a couch and stayed there until their parents came home.

They embraced their parents tight, not caring that they still smelled like that awful prison and duck refuse. Their parents made a big fuss for them to wash up before coming down for dinner. They had picked up ingredients for Vega family pot pie.

David and Holly went back to their respective offices right after dinner.

Tori fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit her pillow. A full stomach, warm clothes, and the comfort of her own bed. There was nothing else Tori could ask for.

Jade’s POV

Jade came home to a mostly empty house. James had apparently stayed up after getting Jade’s text. Jade tousled her younger brother’s hair and hoisted him up to his feet by his elbow. He rubbed his eyes sleepily with his free hand and shrugged off Jade’s grip by the time they reached the stairs.

“You didn’t have to stay up for me, dork.”

James shrugged. “Mom’s on a business trip, and Dad already stopped by earlier in the day. I was going to be home alone anyway. I figured I’d stay up watching some old movie reruns on TV.”

“See any good ones?”

James shrugged again. “I fell asleep in the middle of ‘Magnificent Seven.’”

Jade chuckled. “So nothing good.”

“Just not my type.” James paused at the top of the staircase, blocking Jade from coming up. “So, when are you gonna let me watch your new film?”

“I don’t have any new ones, you know that. Now move, I’m tired and I want to sleep.”

“You look like hell.”

“Oh, what a coincidence, I’m pretty sure I just came from there.” Jade rolled her eyes.

“I thought you were going to Cancun with Beck’s family.”

“What is this, 21 questions? Move, James.” Jade pushed past her brother, lugging her luggage behind her, but she replied over her shoulder, “I got uninvited. So I went on a trip with my friends instead.”

“Beck too?”

“Yeah. Beck too.”

Right. Beck. They hadn’t gotten a chance to talk in private yet about their argument on the last night in prison before the performance. Jade wanted to shake it off. But she couldn’t. Her brain wouldn’t shut off. It felt like it was wired to keep playing Beck’s side of the conversation on loop.

To top it all off, there were all those looks Tori kept throwing Jade during the whole trip, whenever Jade wasn’t expecting them.

And that dream.

After a long shower, Jade fell into bed. She huffed and turned to her side, squeezing her eyes shut and willing sleep to come. It felt like it had been years since Jade had gotten a peaceful night of sleep.

Chapter Text

Jade's POV

Jade jerked awake from another dream. She groaned and rubbed her eyes as the last fleeting flashes of the dream slipped away and her body began to wake up. She flopped onto her other side, nestling into her mattress further and pulling the blanket around her shoulders tighter. The new position didn't help.

She sighed.

This was the third or fourth time since coming back from Yerba that she had been woken up in the middle of the night from a dream she forgot the minute she woke up. The same dream.

She was getting cranky.

It showed in the way that she now needed an extra cup of coffee to calm her down every morning, and the extra caffeine was probably doing more damage than helping her disrupted circadian rhythm. But she needed coffee. It was her comfort drink. Especially given the long days she spent in that hellish country without such easy access to coffee. Jade had a newfound appreciation for the bountiful availability here in America.

On top of all of that, Jade and Beck still haven't talked.

It was annoying, really, the way it kept gnawing at Jade's inner thoughts, instead of quietly subsiding into the background noise of her mind. It wasn't normally like this. So many times before, Jade was able to just push the unpleasantness of their momentary arguments to the back of her mind and let it sit there and rot until it withered away into nothingness. But not this time.

So Jade was an extra potent kind of surly whenever Cat asked to hang out. Not surly enough to decline, but surly enough to make bitter comments about anything and everything that irked her in the slightest, including Cat. Cat, who was still being adjusted back to her usual dosage after being cut off from regularly taking her medication for apparently the entire trip to Yerba.

Jade sighed and rubbed her temples. Any other day, she may have been able to tolerate Cat's giddiness and hyperactive tendencies, but the side effects of Cat's medication were really starting to wear on her already-thin patience from lack of sleep.

And no, Jade did not want to talk about it.

Not to James. Not to her mother. And definitely not to Beck or Tori or Cat.

Tori’s POV

Monday, Tori heard raised voices around the corner where her locker was.

"Seriously, Jade? This is the third time I've had to remind you."

"Well you aren't my parent, are you," Jade snapped tersely.

"Jade!" But Jade had already started to walk away. Tori didn't even realize she was staring at the empty space of the corner that she fully expected Jade to round at any second now.

And there she was.

"What're you looking at?" Jade bit out as her eyes slid to lock with Tori's.

Tori dropped her gaze and turned back to her locker without a word. Jade seemed on edge lately, and Tori didn't want to add fuel to the fire. All of them were tired and recovering from the Yerba trip, and who was Tori to stand in the way of whatever coping method Jade had to use to process what they went through?

Jade stormed off, and Beck followed around the corner but paused when he realized Jade was already too far to chase after. He sighed and leaned against the wall bordering the set of lockers Tori stood in front of.

"Everything okay?" Tori asked lightly, staring blankly into her locker.

"Just trying to get Jade to talk to me," Beck explained with a shrug. "Everything okay with you?" He aimed a concerned look at Tori, who glanced to the side to meet Beck's gaze.

"Yeah," Tori nodded brightly, perking up. It was a lie, but Tori herself was still working her way through why, and she didn't want to worry her friends. "Never better."

Beck nodded. "Oh, and, uh, just a heads up, Cat's a little fragile, still, from the whole… Yerba trip. Just… be careful around her."

"Everything okay with her?"

"Yeah, just… well…" Beck carded a hand through his fluffy locks. "It's not really my place to say. Just, never mind. Forget I said anything. I don't think I need to worry about you." Beck flashed Tori a smile.

Tori returned a confused one at Beck's cryptic words.

"I'll see you around, Tori."

"See you," Tori parroted back. She watched the lean actor head in the direction that Jade disappeared into and sighed.

Yerba was taking a lot longer to recover from than Tori expected.

Tori still had a nightmare or two, and given some of the timestamps from Trina's recent Slap posts (mostly reposts of some Splashface trending videos), Trina was having a hard time sleeping too.

But it was only Monday. Tori hadn't been able to see anyone else from the gang since they all went their separate ways after landing in LAX on Thursday night. The day still had plenty of time to look up. Tori had hope. She had to.

Beck asked in the group chat for the gang to grab him a copy of any homework Sikowitz assigned during class, since he'd be missing it to attend a callback from an audition he did before Spring Break. After sending a congrats text in response, Tori promised to do so, as did most of the rest of the group.

In the Improv class, Sikowitz was clearly back to his wacky antics. Tori was volunteered alongside Andre to be in the first skit of the day: bucket-head acting. While Tori usually understood there was some layered, hidden meaning to Sikowitz's unconventional lectures, she really had no idea how this was supposed to teach them anything.

At last, Sikowitz loudly declared they could take off the buckets from their heads, and Tori pulled it off with a breath of relief. It was oddly suffocating to be stuck in a tight, dark echo chamber of her own voice. It felt a lot more terrifying than she had initially anticipated.

"Well, class dismissed," Sikowitz declared as he patted Tori and Andre on the back for a scene well done, apparently.

"But we still have more time," (surprisingly) Jade pointed out. Tori hadn't pegged Jade to be the type to argue for more class time.

"We do?" Sikowitz hummed. "How much?"

"55 minutes," Robbie reported, after checking his phone.

"Oh." Sikowitz looked lost in thought. "Oh! Well, I do have something to discuss with some of you. Tori, Cat, Andre, Robbie, Jade, please stay. The rest of you," Sikowitz opened the door and gestured outside, "may wander the halls."

After a brief moment of confused hesitation, the other students gathered their things and shuffled out the door. Sikowitz shut the door with a polite smile as the last student left the room, leaving Tori and the gang still in their seats in the now-empty classroom.

"Why did you make them leave?" Cat asked innocently.

"Uh, I don't know," Sikowitz said slowly, like he was struggling to put the exact reason into words. "They never talk."

"Maybe because you don't let them participate," Jade snarked.

"All they do is react," Sikowitz continued like Jade hadn't spoken at all. Maybe those Yerba bomb explosions had done a number on Sikowitz's hearing. Tori frowned.

"So what do you want with us," Jade asked flatly, voice cutting and sharp.

"Who likes parades?" Sikowitz asked.

"Antonio Banderas," Robbie volunteered immediately.

"Hillbillies," was Rex's answer.

"No one," Jade replied bitterly.

"Aw, come on, parades are fun," Sikowitz insisted.

"One time, my brother was in a parade," Cat interjected, idly twirling her flaming red hair around her finger, "but he was inappropriate, so the parade people called the police, and now he's not allowed to be in parades." After a beat, Cat added, "Or be near horses."

For a moment, everyone just awkwardly looked at each other, each imagining horrifying things for Cat's brother to get himself banned from all parades. And for the ban to somehow involve horses.

Jade sighed loudly. "Play with the pretty keys," Jade said, offering her car key ring to Cat, who happily accepted the distraction with a cheery "Kay kay" and a giggle.

Tori glanced concernedly at Cat for a moment. The behavior was eerily similar to when they were in prison. And Beck had mentioned to be careful around Cat earlier that morning too…

But Sikowitz pulled everyone's attention away from Cat. "So, you all know about the woman I've been dating, Felicia…"

The group all shook their heads and voiced their disagreement.

"Well, anyway," Sikowitz waved off their negativity as he took a seat on the steps to the small stage. "She's the creative director of this year's Parade parade."

"Parade parade?" Andre echoed.

"I've never heard of that," Tori remarked.

"Exactly! It's a parade to help raise awareness of parades." Sikowitz looked particularly pensive as he elucidated this to his students. Tori glanced around to see that she wasn't the only one confused about the concept. Jade looked downright furious at this apparent waste of meandering story time. "Anyway, I sort of promised Felicia," Sikowitz continued, "that I'd get some of my most creative students to build a float and perform!"

"In… the Parade parade," Tori clarified.

"Yes," Sikowitz nodded. "So, who would like to—" Sikowitz was cut off by the classroom door slamming shut loudly. Tori jumped and turned around to find Jade's chair vacant and Jade nowhere in sight. Well, there she went. "How about the rest of you?" Sikowitz asked. "Would you guys like to build a float and do a little song in the parade? Hm? For your favorite teacher in the world?"

The remaining four (minus Cat, who was now chewing on one of the keys) all groaned and declined, shaking their heads as Sikowitz attempted to level a passing imitation of a puppy dog pout onto each of the four teens.

"Alright," Sikowitz sighed, getting to his feet slowly. "If you don't want to be on national television, where all kinds of Hollywood producers and, oh, casting directors will see you, that's coodily-doo with me."

"Wait!" Tori stood up to stop Sikowitz from leaving through the other exit to his classroom.

"Yes?" he replied, much too smugly.

"This parade's gonna be on national television?"

"Yep," Sikowitz affirmed.

"Well, if it's gonna be on national—"

The other door to the classroom swung open again. Jade swept inside and demanded from Cat with an outstretched palm, "Gimme my keys back."

Cat handed them over with a frown. Jade took them and thumbed through them before pausing.

"Where's my house key?" she asked.

Cat made some kind of noise and rubbed her stomach.

Jade made a disgusted face and took Cat by the hand. "C'mon, we're going to the nurse's office."

"I swallowed it," Cat confessed quietly, halfway to the door.

Jade slung Cat's backpack onto her other shoulder, still tugging Cat by her wrist behind her as she muttered, "I know. We'll see it again."

Tori just watched as the two disappeared down the hallway.

After school, Trina surprised Tori by taking her on a spontaneous trip to the mall. Trina claimed she needed some retail therapy to help her recover from Yerba. Tori couldn’t fully disagree with Trina’s methods, especially since it had been a while since the two of them had hung out like this (not counting the pity pit-stop to Freezy Queen after Trina got rejected from ‘The Wood’).

Tori waited outside the dressing rooms for Trina to try on her fifth outfit, and the jewelry stand nearby caught her eye. Hanging from one of the many metal arms of the rack, there was a simple necklace with a thin golden chain holding a small circular pendant. The pendant itself was a thick brown disk that showcased a silvery-white exclamation point carved into the relieved center. Tori picked it up to observe it more closely. It drew her in, the way the silver center twinkled and shined in the light.

Her heart was set. If nothing else, she was definitely taking this necklace home.

The next day, after school, Andre, Cat, and Robbie gathered at Tori's house to discuss ideas. Robbie brought Rex and his massive PearPadMax.

The four of them were struggling to come up with ideas for the float.

"What do we have so far?" Cat asked Tori.

"We have two ideas. ‘A tribute to the fruits of Mexico,’ and ‘need good idea for float.’"

"What was wrong with my idea?" Rex protested.

"No one wants to see a parade float called 'The Ladies of Northridge.'"

"Well…" Andre, Rex, and Robbie all replied hesitantly.

Even Cat made a small noise of hesitation. Tori… well, Tori wasn't sure where she landed on that spectrum, but she sure as heck wasn't going to unpack that right then and there.

"Come on, guys," Tori pleaded. "Be serious. You wanna look dumb on national television?"

Trina's gasp from behind her made Tori whirl around. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Even bringing her sister along to Yerba had been a hard sell. Sure, Tori and Trina may have done some work to repair their sisterly bond since the trip. But there was no way Tori was going to be able to convince them to let Trina perform with them on national television. Trina didn't do half-bad, but that was for an audience in a country far, far away that didn't even televise the performances. It was purely local. But this? This had much higher stakes. Well… fame-wise, at least.

"Who's gonna be on national TV?" Trina asked, grinning wide.

"We're performing in the Parade parade," Cat explained happily.

Tori's gaze snapped toward Cat, who remained oblivious to Tori trying desperately to keep the redhead from spilling more details. Tori couldn’t stand seeing Trina’s heart break, not so soon after Yerba.

Trina's smile lit up. Magnanimously, she spread her arms and declared, "I'll do it."

"Trina…" Tori began to say.

"No, seriously, I'll sing, or dance, or I could just stand on the float, like, right in front, and just be the pretty girl. I could totally just be the pretty girl." Trina began to mime how she would pose and do a slow pageant wave to imaginary adoring audiences passing by slowly on either side.

Tori considered the last point. That actually might not be such a bad idea.

"Okay, we'll put it to a vote." Tori turned around. "All those—"

There was a resounding, unanimous, "No!" from the boys sitting on the couch. Even Cat had turned her back on Trina. Tori looked back helplessly to Trina, who was crestfallen at the unanimous denial.

Trina stomped down from the little raised dais she had been miming on top of with her loud, clunky heels. "Fine!" she declared. "I don't want to be in it. I wouldn't be in it if you guys begged me!" Trina grabbed her purse and jacket and swept out of the house, slamming the door shut loudly behind her.

Not a half second later, Trina opened the door again and begged, "Just let me be in it!"

There was a chorus of disapproving shouts, and Trina shouted one last indignant, "I don't even want to be in it!" And she whirled around, crashing into somebody outside as she tried to slam the door shut again. Instead, due to the collision of bodies, the door awkwardly bounced open again, and a very irritated Jade strode in.

"Your sister just elbowed me in my lung!" Jade declared. Ah, so that was who made that very pained and surprised groaning sound. Tori rubbed the pendant of her necklace absentmindedly. It was nice to have something other than fabric (more durable than fabric) to occupy her fidgeting fingers. Jade’s presence always threw Tori off-balance, moreso since Yerba, and especially when her presence was sudden and unannounced.

Robbie sprang to his feet. "I'll get you some ice."

"Sit down!" Jade barked, closing the door behind her. Robbie sat down immediately.

"I'm sorry, did someone invite you here?" Tori asked Jade, a quizzical frown on her face. She dropped her hand when she noticed Jade’s gaze draw to somewhere below Tori’s face.

"Hi, Jade!" Cat greeted her friend cheerily. It seemed to break Jade out of her momentary daze.

Jade ignored Cat's greeting and sharply explained, "Beck told me you guys were performing on national TV?" Jade glanced at Andre and Robbie, who had evidently spilled the beans to their friend.

"So?" Tori prompted.

"And you think you're doing that without me?" Jade scoffed.

"You stormed out of Sikowitz's class," Andre pointed out.

Jade stared at Andre and took slow, measured steps forward toward the seated musician like a huntress on the prowl.

Immediately, Andre's demeanor changed. He meekly suggested, "I feel that Jade should be included."

With a satisfied smirk, Jade settled into the open seat of the half-sofa Andre occupied, setting her purse down on the floor and crossing her legs and arms as she looked at Tori expectantly. That pierced eyebrow was raised again, in that old familiar gesture of a challenge.

Tori sighed. "Okay, fine, whatever. So, what's our float gonna be?"

"Someone should just pick an idea," Andre said.

"Okay, so who's gonna pick?"

"Well, luckily," Robbie piped up, "I have the new PearPad app called Spinamajig." He proudly displayed the app on the massive PearPad he brought. It bore a gaudy neon-bright orange and blue color scheme.

Andre groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. Jade rolled her eyes. Tori rubbed her temple. And Cat merely looked away respectfully, choosing to settle in the far edge of the couch that Robbie just vacated.

"Let me just finish inputting our faces," Robbie explained out loud with massive taps on the giant screen made by his entire palm. "And now, I stroke this, and the wheel spins randomly until it lands on one of us."

"And that person gets to pick what the float's gonna be?" Cat asked.

"No, Cat," Jade replied with that faux-saccharine smile Tori recognized all too well, voice dripping with sarcasm. "That person gets a kidney transplant."

Cat gasped, and Jade rolled her eyes, dropping her face into a scowl.

"C'mon," Tori urged, eager to break whatever dark mood Jade just brought upon Cat before the fragile redhead could break down and cry or something. Tori was already pretty tired, and she wasn't all too happy to be roped into this project while feeling so aimless. Tori needed a plan. And getting through this would bring them closer to having a plan. "Let's just do this," she pleaded.

"Here, go," Andre agreed.

"Okay! Here goes." Robbie spun the wheel instead of hitting the large orange spin button on the top left corner, and some corny carnival music began to play from the tinny speakers. Tori tried to suppress the urge to roll her eyes at Robbie's overt attempts to impress the group with the wonders of technology.

The wheel spun around and around.

And around.

And around.

Jade finally said, "I can't remember a time when this wasn't happening."

"I think it's almost done," Robbie replied with a weak smile.

Andre checked the time on a watch on his wrist that wasn't there and glanced outside to see if the sun's position had changed.

The ticks of the wheel spinning past one of their faces had begun to slow.

At last, it came to a stop.

Cat gasped. "Oh my god, it stopped on my face!"

Jade gave Cat a wry smile, as Tori hummed encouragingly. Cat fanned herself like she might hyperventilate from the overwhelming honor of being chosen by Robbie's spinning wheel app.

"So," Tori reiterated, "you get to pick what our float's gonna be."

Cat beamed.

"So, what's it gonna be, Cat?" Andre asked.

Cat merely giggled.

The other four glanced at each other, and Tori was only slightly relieved to find equal amounts of concern in each of their faces.

"I have an idea."

"Well then spill it already!" Jade snapped.

"Jade!" Tori chided.

Jade glared at Tori, but Tori didn't want to back down this time. Cat was finally smiling again after the whole incident yesterday with swallowing the key, and Tori would not allow Jade's unreasonable gankiness bring Cat to tears. Tori stared defiantly back at Jade.

Jade crossed her arms with a huff.

"Cupcakes!" Cat declared proudly.

"Cupcakes?" Andre repeated, dumbfounded.

Cat nodded and hummed happily in confirmation. "A giant one! I'll draw up some plans tonight and show everyone and Sikowitz tomorrow after class!"

Jade sighed heavily and rested her forehead on her fingertips.

Tori frowned. This piece of the Jade puzzle seemed so inconsistent with the previous ones Tori had managed to discover. Tori had to be missing something, right?

The next day, as promised, Cat presented a very detailed drawing of her float idea, complete with a label noting "Giant" and an arrow pointing at the entire design.

"A giant cupcake?" Sikowitz asked dubiously.

Cat laughed and nodded.

"Trust me, we tried to talk her out of it," Tori muttered to her teacher.

"Alright," Sikowitz shrugged and left the kids to their devices.

"Wh—" Tori blustered.

"Let's get started!" Cat cheered. "Whoo!"

Grumbling and reluctant, the group headed to the nearest hardware store to begin picking out materials and tools for the project.

Working on the float took up most of her free time, Tori realized after the first day of construction. With a start, she realized she hadn't heard from Steven in almost a week, aside from the occasional check-ins. Tori hadn't had a chance to let him know she got back safely after the few days of radio silence when she was in prison, and even now, she doubted she would've been able to recount the tale faithfully had she been more awake during the plane ride home.

Checking the last messages in her conversation thread with Steven, she saw that he had left a noncommittal message to just get back to him when she could. It was dated Wednesday night, the night of the great escape. Groaning at her own inattention, Tori quickly typed a message greeting him and apologizing for the lack of contact. She briefly gave him a summary of what happened, and halfway through the story, she realized it would be easier just to call him.

After a few rings, he picked up. There was loud whirring in the background and other mechanical noises.

"Uh, hey," he greeted Tori.

"Hey, I realized it would just be easier if I called. Everything alright? Did I catch you at a bad time?" Tori frowned. He seemed responsive enough in his texts.

"No, I'm just at the car shop getting some repairs. Sorry, is it too loud?"

"No, no, it's fine." Tori smiled. It was nice to hear his voice again. "I missed you."

"Missed you too."

Tori launched into her story and recapped the whole Yerba adventure with minimal input from Steven's side. What a gentleman, Tori thought, trying to not be all overbearing. Though, a small part of her did crave that concern. For him to show he cared a little, instead of sucking it all up like a macho man.

Tori eventually got around to sharing about the float they were building for the Parade parade, and Steven chuckled in amusement that such a thing even existed.

Then, Steven got called away by the mechanic and had to cut the call short. But not before Tori managed to wheedle a promise out of him to visit the upcoming weekend. He promised with a light chuckle and said goodbye with a kiss.

Tori smiled. She had survived hell and still didn't lose a boyfriend. Perhaps there was hope for her after all.

Beck had joined the construction efforts the next day to work solely on the float's engine. Tori and Jade were tasked with the entire interior structure. Andre and Robbie were in charge of the exterior molding. Cat was in charge of the creative design. Tori was pleasantly surprised that Cat was taking the responsibility in stride.

Tori had to admit, she felt a lot more at peace as the cupcake float came together. Her thoughts felt quieter and more settled the longer she kept her hands and mind occupied with a project. Side by side, Tori drilled screws in as Jade hammered nails in, and the interior of the cupcake float was becoming really solid. It felt like a nice break from being left alone in her thoughts. Tori wondered if her friends felt the same.

And the float was coming along remarkably.

Well, until Cat brought up the issue of costumes.

"We don't wanna wear these!" Andre protested loudly.

"Why don't you guys like your costumes?" Cat asked.

Andre and Beck looked down at the bright candy-designed onesies they were forced into, then back at Cat with looks of utter disbelief. Their eyebrows were raised high.

"Why?" Beck parroted back, confused that Cat was confused.

"They're candy jammies," Cat explained. "I made them all myself. And they go perfect with our cupcake theme."

"Yeah, they do!" Robbie agreed. "I think they're rad cool!"

Andre and Beck just stared as Cat reached up on her tiptoes to give Robbie a hi-five.

"Yeah," Jade agreed, stepping down from the porthole she was working on, a bright smug smile on her face. "I think they look adorable!"

Tori turned around to add, "You know she wants us all to wear them?" Tori donned a smug smirk of her own to see Jade's face fall fast.

Jade rounded on Cat and threatened darkly, "I will pop your head like a zit."

Cat gasped and clutched her head. "Graphic," she mumbled.

Jade crossed her arms but didn't get a chance to add anything else because the door swung open and Sikowitz stepped inside.

"Hi!" He greeted the group of teenagers hard at work. "Ooh, your float is looking gigantically delicious!"

"I know," Tori agreed proudly, setting down her power drill and resting on a bench. "It's pretty cool, huh?"

"Indeed," Sikowitz nodded deeply. "You're gonna finish in time?"

"Yep, we're gonna work all night if we have to." Tori ignored the glare of protest Jade shot at her from the corner of her eye as she turned back to finish up the bright pink porthole she was working on. "We'll get 'er done!" Tori promised in a dorky voice. Jade barely suppressed a snort.

"Excellent!" Sikowitz exclaimed, having not heard Jade's outburst. "Felicia will be so—" He turned around and landed his gaze on Beck and Andre, who were still dressed in their candy jammies. Sikowitz broke out into bellows of obnoxious laughter. Beck and Andre stared back at the balding man, unamused.

“I’m gonna finish up the engine,” Beck declared loudly, exiting the float.

“I’m gonna help,” Andre added, following his friend out.

Saturday morning, the gang caught Trina trying to sneak into the float as the exterior designs were being finalized. They kicked her out of the project space, with Jade threatening bodily harm via scissors she had managed to find a concealed pocket for. Tori was truly amazed how the girl could manage to conceal so many pairs of scissors in so many different ways.

In a way, it felt nice to see Jade grasping a pair of scissors again. For almost the entire Yerba trip, Jade hadn’t held a pair, especially not after they were all… incarcerated. It was a weird kind of normal that Tori hadn't expected to miss.

On the other hand, Tori felt bad that Trina got chased away by the group. She honestly didn’t think it would be a bad idea for Trina to just model. As long as her sister didn’t try any cringey facial expressions that were allegedly supposed to make her look hot. Besides, Tori had a sneaking suspicion that Trina needed a project to move past dwelling on Yerba, just like the rest of them.

And Jade’s rather extreme reaction to Trina trying to stow away on the float gave Tori cause for concern. Jade was definitely not acting her usual self, and it was all the more concerning that Andre and Robbie didn’t seem too bothered by it. Jade was jumpy and irritable about the littlest things. Even though they were working together in a much more spacious interior compared to Festus’ truck, it still seemed Tori was somehow infringing upon Jade’s personal space all the time. But when they had worked The Grub Truck together, Jade hadn’t seemed to mind. In fact, they seemed to work around each other despite all the constant limb-to-limb contact.

It seemed, ever since they got back from Yerba, Jade couldn’t stand being within two feet of Tori. And frankly, it baffled her.

But, at the end of the day, Tori reasoned with herself, this was Jade. Jade, who didn’t like being touched (even though Tori could recount multiple times she had casually initiated touch, and Jade didn’t immediately shy away—namely, that week Tori had helped Jade put on Well Wishes). Jade, who was sarcastic and cruel enough to dump iced coffee on the new girl’s head (even though she was apparently attentive enough to carry around a first aid kit at all times for her oldest friend). Jade, who never seemed to care what others thought about her as long as they feared her (even though she was as wound up as Tori on her worst anxious days when it came to trying to impress her father).

The enigma of Jade West had quadrupled in complexity over the span of the Yerba trip, and Tori, for the life of her, could not figure out why.

Something had happened, and the more Tori tried to puzzle it out in her head, the more stumped she was.

Apparently, Tori wasn't the only one getting the no-touch treatment. Beck and Jade seemed adamant on never spending more than 5 minutes together in close quarters. They weren't outwardly yelling at each other, but there was a frigid rigidity lacing any and all words spoken between them. Anytime Jade sensed her personal space was being intruded upon, her hammer strikes became a lot more forceful. Enough to ward off anyone who dared approach.

Eventually, the last strokes of pink paint were applied to the frosting crown, and the float was declared complete.

The group cheered. Everyone sounded dead tired. Everyone, but Cat. Cat bounced in place and waved her arms and continued to cheer long after the rest of the team’s half-hearted excitement had died out.

“Hey, Cat? Cat?”

“Whattie?” Cat giggled as Jade turned her around.

“YOU’RE KILLING ME!”

Cat immediately stopped in her tracks. Jade scowled and crossed her arms, the picture of a grumpy toddler kept up way past her bedtime.

"Time?" Tori prompted Robbie in an attempt to diffuse the situation. Cat sniffed and snaked her arms around Tori’s midsection. Tori returned the embrace as best she could.

"It’s, um, 1:20 am,” Robbie reported, checking his massive PearPad.

“Great, let’s go home,” Jade said. “We don’t have to check in ‘til 7.”

“How are we gonna get this to the parade?” Andre asked. “Anyone have a tow truck or something?”

“Oh, I knew we were forgetting something,” Tori whined. “This thing only goes like 4 miles an hour.”

“The nearest tow truck yards are probably closed by now,” Beck said through a yawn.

“And the parade is in Pasadena,” Sikowitz added, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

“If we leave now, we’d probably just barely make it,” Andre nodded, checking his watch.

“Alright, people,” Tori clapped. “In the dessert!” Turning to Sikowitz, she handed him the scrunchie with the key. “Oh, here are the keys to the cupcake.”

“Oh, no, no, no,” Sikowitz shook his head. “I can’t drive that thing with you kids in it. I have a… semi-suspended driver’s license.”

Andre and Tori were the last ones outside with Sikowitz. They glanced at each other, then back at their teacher.

“Do I want to ask why?” Tori raised an eyebrow.

“Well… it involved some circus people, and driving through Vegas…”

“We’ll just let Beck drive,” Andre suggested quietly. Tori agreed.

Once everyone was inside, Beck started up the engine. “Alright, hang on, everybody. Here we go.” He put the vehicle into gear and pressed the accelerator. The cupcake lurched into motion and crawled forward.

“Are we moving?” Cat asked.

“Yep,” Beck sighed. “We’re moving.”

“Can’t it go any faster?” Andre exclaimed.

“Yeah, if we were being towed by something that goes faster,” Beck retorted.

Tori groaned.

It was slow going. Robbie navigated using his PearPad. Beck maneuvered the streets carefully. Tori restlessly drummed out a beat on the railing of the spiral staircase she clutched while all the others looked varying degrees of exhausted and bored.

Almost 2 hours into their slow crawl, it seemed Beck had urged the float to go just a little faster than usual.

“What street are we on now?” Cat asked.

“Let’s just say,” Beck replied, “it ain’t Sesame Street.”

Cat gasped. “I love Sesame Street!” She immediately launched into singing the song, “Sunny—”

But Jade cut her off with a loud, “NO!”

Just then, there was a loud pop and hiss, and the float lurched to one side as Beck eased the vehicle to a stop.

“Oh, chiz,” Beck muttered, carding a hand through his hair.

“What was that?” Sikowitz asked.

“I think we got a flat tire,” Beck replied, standing.

There were groans of disappointment and concern. Sikowitz stepped outside, followed by Tori and Robbie.

Sikowitz bent down to inspect the wheel and confirmed, “Yep, we got a flat tire.”

“Fun neighborhood,” Tori noted warily, glancing up and down the dimly-lit street.

“Do we have a spare?” Robbie asked.

“We don’t even have a trunk.”

Sikowitz sighed. “Alright, back in the cupcake for now.” He casted another wary glance down the street as he ushered Tori and Robbie back in. He followed close behind. With the door shut, he explained his plan. “I think we’re on Spates and 23rd?” He glanced at Robbie, who confirmed with a nod. “Alright. There’s a 24 hour Priceco on Spates. I’ll jog up there, buy a tire, and be back in 30 minutes.”

“Are you sure you want to be running through this neighborhood at 3 am?” Andre asked.

“I’m the only one not wearing candy jammies. And I’m the adult here. Just sit tight and don’t attract any attention. I’ll be back before you know it.”

Everyone glanced uneasily at each other as the teacher climbed down from the float and out onto the street.

30 minutes passed, and Tori was starting to get restless. Sikowitz should’ve been back by now. At the 45 minute mark, Tori began to pace around. Everyone kept checking their phones every few minutes in case Sikowitz called. Tori, for one, felt grateful they had exchanged phone numbers with Sikowitz for the Yerba trip. She just hoped the old man would use the line of communication soon, if only to let them know things were going to be alright.

Finally, Tori couldn’t stand it. “I’m calling the cops,” Tori declared.

“And explain what?” Jade bit out icily. “That we’re stuck in a cupcake wearing candy jammies in a bad part of town? They’ll think you’re on a bender.”

“I…” Tori sighed. “Then what do you suggest?”

“The guys head out to find Sikowitz. You two know the way, right?”

“Yeah, but we’re still wearing candy jammies,” Beck pointed out venomously.

“We’re gonna get jumped faster than the dudes in the Yerbanian prison,” Andre added.

“Then go in your boxers, I don’t know!” Jade exclaimed, plopping down into her seat.

“Real helpful,” Beck bit back bitterly. Jade sneered.

“Maybe you guys can flip your jammies inside out so the design isn’t so obvious?” Tori suggested.

“And tie the sleeves around your waist,” Robbie added.

“Man, I don’t like this,” Andre said. “Not one bit.”

“I know, I’m sorry, guys. But we don’t have a lot of choices here. Sikowitz has been gone for way too long,” Tori replied. “Stay safe and keep your phones on you. Okay?”

“Hopefully see you in a bit,” Beck said with a final glance around the cupcake. Andre followed him outside.

Another half an hour passed. Still no word from Beck, Andre, or Sikowitz.

Cat was taking the brunt of it.

“Hey, it’s not your fault, Cat,” Tori assured the redhead as she sniffed and wiped her eyes on her oversized sleeve.

“Yes, it is,” Jade countered in a hiss.

“Jade,” Tori pleaded.

“No, she’s right,” Cat interjected with a slight hiccup. “I forgot because I was just so excited about the cupcake.”

“And that’s all you see, isn’t it, Cat. Sunshine and rainbows and puppies and cupcakes. Well, guess what?!” Jade shouted. “The world isn’t only rainbows and cupcakes!”

“Well, why are you taking it out on me?!” Cat jumped to her feet. Tori and Robbie’s jaws dropped. “You’ve been acting like a gank all week, Jade! It’s like seventh grade all over again.”

A heavy stunned silence filled the inside of the float.

Tori had no idea what Cat meant by her statement, but it was certainly grave enough to make Jade stop in her tracks. Robbie looked just as shocked and confused as Tori felt.

Jade’s eyes seemed just a little watery. In a quivering whisper, Jade muttered, “Fine, I’ll go look for help myself.”

“Jade, no, don’t go out alone!” Tori leapt to her feet.

“What do you care, Vega,” Jade spat.

Tori looked helplessly between Cat and Jade. Cat had turned her entire back to where Jade stood, and Jade looked absolutely furious, her dark eyes swirling with turbulence.

“I’m coming with you, Jade,” Tori asserted firmly.

“Whatever.” Jade ducked out, with Tori close on her heels.

Tori was wary to be out on the streets again. And for leaving Cat and Robbie alone in the float (arguably, they were the two most defenseless out of the group). And for being out here alone with Jade (though, she felt marginally safer with Jade by her side, even though she wasn’t totally confident that Jade wouldn’t leave her for dead if it came to it).

They walked side by side in silence for a while. Tori only vaguely recognized some passing street names, and she was pretty sure they were headed in the right direction, if only because Jade was striding so confidently forward.

Suddenly, off in the distance, there was loud brass fanfare blaring in the stillness of the night, and Jade and Tori glanced at each other.

“The confetti cannon,” they both said at the same time. Was the group in trouble? Was it a signal to head back?

“Well, well,” a drawling voice sounded behind Tori and Jade. The two girls spun around to find a group of four tall figures looming in the shadows. “Two lost little girls. Whatever are you doing out of bed in this dark and dangerous place all alone?”

“Getting the hell away from creeps like you,” Jade retorted. Tori spied Jade slowly easing her scissors out of her sleeve, but Jade didn’t fully bring them out just yet. Tori gulped and looked back at the four slowly approaching figures. They were still far enough away that they could make a run for it. Tori felt pretty confident in her sprinting abilities, but she wasn’t so sure about Jade. Seeing how easily Sheema was able to toss Jade about in the prison yard, Tori wasn’t sure how much bark Jade actually had to her bite.

“Ooh, scary one, aren’t you?” the leader of the four chuckled.

“Leave now and no one gets hurt,” Jade warned.

“But we just want company. It’s ever so cold and lonely here.”

“Stay away. I’m warning you.” Tori attempted to sound as brave and confident as Jade, but she heard her voice waver all the same. She gulped hard.

“She’s got pepper spray, and I’ve got a blade. You don’t want to mess with us,” Jade added. Tori’s head jerked with the resistance to glance surprised at Jade.

Jade flipped her scissors free and let the moonlight glint on its sharpened blades.

“You know how to use that thing, little girl?”

“You really wanna find out?” Jade stopped backing away and instead started to advance toward their assailants, stopping them in their tracks. Tori followed suit only a half-step behind. They both donned their most ferocious glares, and the four started to back away.

Tori and Jade took a few more steps forward and feinted like they were about to lunge. The leader stumbled back in an overestimated flinch.

“C’mon guys,” the leader muttered, leading the group away.

Tori clutched tightly onto Jade’s arm, in hopes that the raven-haired girl had enough sense not to lure them back by shouting unnecessary taunts at their retreating figures. Luckily, she didn’t. Together, they let out a breath as their nerves unwound.

“Let’s get back to the float,” Tori said quickly. Jade nodded.

Once safe inside the float again, the six friends regrouped and let the adrenaline wash out of their systems.

“What happened?” Robbie asked.

“We almost got mugged,” Tori managed through labored breaths. “Jade bluffed our way out of it.”

“With Tori’s help,” Jade added breathlessly. “And you guys?”

“The hooligans who jumped Beck and me,” Andre explained, “chased us all the way back and started rocking the float.”

“We chased them away using the confetti cannon,” Beck added.

Jade and Tori nodded.

“Sikowitz still isn’t back,” Robbie concluded the updates.

“Guys, I know you all don’t want her here, but…” Tori sighed. “I think she’s our last resort.”

“No, we are not calling your screech box of a sister,” Jade protested immediately. “No one likes her!”

“But we really don’t have any other choice!”

“And if she demands she’s a part of the performance?” Andre added. “We all know she can’t sing or dance.”

“She doesn’t need a mic. Just let her stand in front and model. It’s harmless.”

“You’re sure?” Beck asked.

“I’m sure. Vote?”

“All those in favor?” Beck posed to the group. He raised his hand, as did everyone but Jade. Jade rolled her eyes and conceded with a half-nod.

Tori pulled out her phone and dialed Trina’s number.

“Yes, Dad’s van, tow cables, and a change of clothes for everyone… Mhm. Mhm. Yeah. Spates and 23rd. Yeah. Yes, I talked with them. They said—hello? Hello? Treen?” Tori pulled her phone away from her ear to check the screen.

The call had dropped.

“What the chiz?” Tori muttered under her breath as she smacked her phone. It still read no bars of service. “I just lost reception. You guys got any service?”

The five all murmured no’s.

“She should be here in about 20, 25 minutes,” Robbie estimated, tapping on his PearPad. “And once we’re hooked up, we should still be able to make it to the check-in with plenty of time.”

“You’re sure?” Tori asked.

Robbie nodded confidently.

All they could do now was wait.

There was a tapping on the float door about a half hour later, and when no one dared move to answer it, Trina whispered frantically, “Tor! It’s me!”

“Oh, thank god,” Tori breathed and rushed to open the door to greet her sister. She wrapped Trina up in a tight embrace, and Trina returned it eagerly.

“C’mon, Tor, we gotta get the float hooked up and get you all on the road. I don’t have service here, and I want to get moving.”

“Right, right.” Tori released her sister and beckoned everyone to come out and help secure the float to the back of David Vega’s van.

Soon, they were on the road.

Cat opted to join Trina in the van up ahead, while everyone else stayed in the float. They all changed into somewhat comfortable clothes and zipped up their candy jammies over it, so that they could quickly change out if they needed to.

Beck and Jade stayed in icy silence next to each other, a floating inch of space between them at all times. Andre, Tori, and Robbie stayed well away from the couple like they were an active volcano ready to erupt at any given moment.

Within the hour, they were slowing to a stop. Trina once again tapped on the door outside, and this time, Tori eagerly threw open the door.

They had made it to the Parade parade.

Beck made a beeline for a maintenance tent set up next to the massive parking lot reserved for the floats. Only a handful had already arrived. It was just past 5 am. Beck and a standby mechanic made quick work of replacing the flat tire, and the seven all clambered back in to catch some shut-eye before the performance in the morning.

Tori was just about to drift off when her phone rang. With bleary eyes, she read the caller ID: Dad.

“Hello?” Tori answered, voice heavy with sleep.

“Hi, sweetie, sorry to wake you, but, uh… I think I just saw one of your teachers getting booked down here in the station. Erwin Sikowitz?”

“Sikowitz is at the police station?” Tori repeated back incredulously, bolting upright. Her volume garnered the attention of everyone in the float.

“Yeah, the officers who brought him in were saying that a cell phone tower got stolen, and the pantsless homeless man was talking about children in a cupcake. Do you know anything about that?”

“Yes,” Tori breathed. She could’ve laughed at the entire situation if she wasn’t so relieved. “Yes, I can explain, dad. Well, I don’t know about the cell tower, but Sikowitz asked me and my friends to build a float for the Parade parade in Pasadena, and it’s in the shape of a giant cupcake. We’re all wearing jammies with candy decorations on them. Our float got a flat tire on 23rd and Spates, and Sikowitz was trying to get a spare from the Priceco up the street. I don’t know how he lost his pants, but he was wearing them when he left us.”

“He left you children unattended?” David sighed from the other side of the line. “Alright. Well, he claims some hooligans stole his pants, so I’m not worried about that part of the story. Anyhow, I’ll see to it that he gets out soon.”

“Awesome. We’re already at the parade. We checked in about 20 minutes ago. Would you be able to drive Sikowitz here? This was all for his girlfriend, the creative director for the Parade parade.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks, dad. Love you.”

“I assume Trina taking my van at 4 in the morning had to do with all of this too?”

“Y-yeah… don’t get mad at her, dad. I asked her to come.”

“We’ll talk about all that later, young lady. In any case, sit tight until we get there.”

“Thanks, dad.”

“Love you, honey.”

“Love you too.”

David hung up, and Tori sighed.

“My dad is gonna bring Sikowitz here,” Tori shared with the group. The group all let out a collective sigh. At last, it felt like they could rest easy until the performance.

The Parade parade performance was fun. Trina was a pretty amazing front model while Andre, Cat, Tori, and Jade sang, and Robbie and Beck operated the float. They weren’t able to reload the confetti cannon in time, but no one was too broken up about it.

After the parade, the group saw Sikowitz with a woman, and they all respectfully turned away, jumping into the van for Trina to drive them all back home to Hollywood. Tori, for one, couldn’t wait to see Steven when she got home.

Jade’s POV

Jade asked to be dropped off at Cat’s place, since they lived pretty close by to each other. Jade planned on just walking home afterwards, but she knew she needed to first sit down and talk with Cat. Cat wordlessly invited her in. Not overtly. But she didn’t try to slam the door on Jade’s face or anything. She just… left the door open long enough for Jade to trail in behind Cat. And Jade took that as an invitation.

Even after they were in Cat’s room, Jade stayed by the door. Like she needed to feel she could make an escape at a moment’s notice.

Cat sighed. With big, brown, pleading eyes, she regarded Jade. She asked simply, “What’s with you, Jadey?”

The use of the old, familiar name struck a chord within Jade so deep that she felt tears welling up in her eyes without warning.

Jade couldn’t bring herself to answer.

Cat patted the empty space on her bed beside her. Jade didn’t move at first, but when she did, every movement was agonizingly slow, painfully slow, and tentative.

Eventually, she sat on Cat’s bed beside her old friend.

“I’m sorry, Cat,” was all Jade could think of to say.

Cat didn’t speak for a long time. Long enough for the worry to spread up from Jade’s stomach to Jade’s chest and clench tight like a vice.

Finally, Cat sighed. “I accept your apology. But Jade, please, just talk to me, if not Beck. Or someone. I may have been a little wonky because of my dosages this week, but I could tell something was eating you up inside. What is it?”

“I… I don’t know.” While Jade knew that was a blatant lie, it also wasn’t too far from the truth. Because, honestly, Jade didn’t know. She didn’t know why a small argument like Beck was forcing her to run and hide like this. She didn’t know why a little loss of sleep was making her extra cranky and ganky. She didn’t know why she was lashing out at her closest friends. She didn’t know anything, really.

“You look tired,” Cat noted. “Have you been sleeping well?”

“Not since Yerba.”

“Like… like the time you stayed up researching?”

Jade nodded mutely. Since the first night at Yerba, Jade wanted to confess, but the words stuck in her throat. Truth be told, she had been just as awake the entire night during the bomb run. She had just mastered the art of feigning sleep amidst loud noises from a very young age.

“Is it bad dreams?”

Jade half-shrugged. “Kind of. I don’t really remember them after I wake up. I just know I’m mad and upset once I wake up.”

“Maybe it’s good dreams, and you’re mad you had to leave them,” Cat suggested.

“I just know I haven’t been sleeping consistently. I keep waking up in the middle of the night.”

“Do you still have your prescription melatonin?”

“It’s not that bad.”

“Well, it’s affecting you, Jade. And I’m worried for you. You really scared me this week. I thought… I really thought…”

“I know. I fucked up, Cat. I really, really didn’t mean—”

“I know, Jade. Can I… can I hug you?” Cat stretched her arms up.

Jade nodded mutely, not trusting her voice to not break as she leaned into Cat’s wiry arms.

“I don’t want you to be like seventh grade again.”

“I don’t either,” Jade confessed.

Seventh grade. The year that Jade’s life turned upside down and her world split in two. The year that Jade developed her sharp edges that were so good at keeping people away that it very nearly drove her best friend (and then-girlfriend) away too. The year that Jade was, for the first time in her life, deathly afraid that she was well and truly alone.

They held each other for a long time, and Jade quietly sobbed into Cat’s shoulder. Cat was the only one, besides Beck, that Jade could ever let her guard down like this. Finally, Jade pulled away, wiping her eyes on the sleeve of the candy jammy.

“God,” Jade sniffed with a watery scoff, “I’m a mess.”

But Cat’s expression stayed serious. “You need to talk to Beck, Jade.”

“Don’t I know it,” Jade replied dryly. Cat remained unamused. “I know, Cat, I know. I just… I don’t know what to say.”

“Would it help to talk about it?”

Jade shrugged. “You know me. I’m not good with the whole feelings thing. Not unless it involves monsters and pen and paper.”

“Maybe you need to do that then. Until you’re ready to talk to him about it. I’m sure he’ll understand if you ask him for some time to write it out.”

“No, I don’t think this is something I can work out through a monster.” Jade laid back on the mattress to stare at the ceiling. “There’s really nothing to talk about with Beck. You know?”

“There’s a reason it’s been eating you up inside, Jade.” Cat laid down to match Jade.

Jade sighed. “Sometimes, I hate it when you’re right, Cat.”

“That means my special vitamins are working,” Cat giggled.

Jade cracked a smile, a true genuine smile, for the first time all week, and aimed it directly at Cat. “Yeah, I guess it does.” Jade sighed. “I’ll talk to him. I promise.” After a beat, Jade added, “I’m glad you found the right dosage again.”

“Not yet, but getting there. I feel a lot more stable again. And I like it.”

Jade nodded. “I’m glad, Cat.”

“Sleepover?”

“I… I should head home.”

“Kay kay. You know you always have a bed here, right?”

“Yeah.” Jade smiled softly. “I know. Thanks, Cat.”

“Get home safe, Jade. And text me when you do.”

“Will do.” Jade mock-saluted with a smirk.

That night was the first night Jade began to remember what her dreams were about. Or rather, who.

Chapter Text

Tori’s POV

Any lingering worries Tori may have had about Steven being distant and unconcerned were washed away as soon as he swept Tori up into a hug at the airport. He was actually going to be staying in LA for the whole week this time, and Tori was really looking forward to spending time with her boyfriend again.

Sunday night, after Tori washed up from the Parade parade mess, Holly and Tori braved LA traffic and the messy, twisty insides of airport traffic to pick up Steven. They spent the whole evening chatting through dinner and two movies (he was definitely more concerned than he had let on during the phone call earlier that week). Until David called Tori to tell her he was waiting outside (in his police cruiser, no less) and to get her butt in the car because it was way past curfew.

Tori reluctantly stepped away from Steven’s front porch, but not before pecking him chastely on the lips. They lingered for a moment longer before David very loudly cleared his throat, and Tori flashed Steven an apologetic grin.

“I’ll still be here tomorrow,” Steven assured her. With that, their interlocked hands finally separated, and Tori grudgingly walked to the police cruiser.

It turned out that David had a stakeout to go to and was merely dropping Tori off at home. While she appreciated the extra helping of overprotective-father since the Yerba trip, it was still dashed with the cold and indifferent distance that kept David from being a constant presence in the house.

Tori frowned as she changed into her pajamas. She thought back to the first night back home since the trip, how full and happy and content she felt. And how empty and cold the house seemed to be the morning after, when she realized both Holly and David had already left for the office, leaving a small sum for the two sisters to share for sustenance.

It wasn’t normally something that bothered Tori. She understood that both her parents had crazy unpredictable work schedules. There was always an emergency with a case, or some new evidence to be found, or another call through dispatch to provide backup. But it wasn’t until the Yerba trip that Tori really felt the ache of the absence of her parents, when she was scared and alone and incarcerated in a foreign country with literally no hope of coming back home until she was almost past her teenage years.

But Steven helped keep these thoughts at bay. Almost every day after school, Tori stayed by Steven’s side. She recounted several adventures that had transpired since the last time he visited, and even some that she hadn’t shared from before they met.

“Oh, I almost forgot, how’s your car?” Tori asked one quiet evening.

“My car?” Steven asked, frowning.

“Yeah, when I called after the Yerba trip, you said you were at the car shop.”

“Oh, right,” Steven chuckled. “It’s nothing. My car was fine.”

“Oh. They couldn’t find anything wrong?”

“Yeah, it was just typical maintenance. You know, oil change, stuff like that.”

Tori nodded. Car talk honestly went over Tori’s head most of the time. “I see. You know, my parents tried to bribe me with a car to take Trina on the Yerba trip.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t take the deal.”

“Why not?”

“Well, I… I can’t drive yet,” Tori admitted.

Steven smiled softly. “Lucky that you have a boyfriend who does, huh?”

“My knight in shining armor,” Tori agreed.

“I’ll keep that nasty green dragon away from you, my princess,” he declared with a grin.

Tori frowned, puzzled. “Dragon?”

“Well, you know. You keep talking about Jade, and how she’s so mean. I just… I just meant…”

“I appreciate that, but I can handle Jade,” Tori replied quickly. A little too quickly.

“You’re right, of course. I didn’t mean anything by it. I know you can handle yourself.”

“She isn’t all bad, you know,” Tori continued, though she had no idea why. It was like her mouth had lost the off-button and was just stuck in overdrive. “She fended off some hooligans who wanted to jump us, or mug us, or… I don’t know, do something bad to us. Her scissors might’ve saved my life last week. Besides, she’s had a hard life. Her parents split when she was young, something I thought you would’ve been able to relate to, and yeah, she might be mean, but I know she has a heart somewhere in her. Why else would she keep a first aid kit handy all the time?”

“I’m sorry,” Steven said. Tori huffed and crossed her arms, still confused inside why she was so worked up. She uncrossed her arms after a beat and leaned into Steven’s side.

“No, I’m sorry,” she sighed. “I have no idea where any of that came from. I just… she’s been really confusing lately. And I know the Yerba trip has been hard on all of us, and I know she’s not really a ‘normal’ girl,” Tori bounced air-quotes around the qualifier. “But I thought the Yerba trip, as horrible as it was, brought us all a little closer together, you know? Like bonding through shared trauma.”

Steven nodded. “Yeah, I can see it.”

“I’m sorry, that comment about your divorced parents was uncalled for.”

“It’s okay,” Steven said. “Truce?”

“Truce.” Tori smiled. She leaned up to meet Steven’s lips. His kisses were soft, sweet, and chaste. Respectful. Tori liked them. Tori liked him.

She sighed as she snuggled closer to his frame, smiling wider as his arm securely wrapped around her and pulled her in closer.

She fell asleep in his arms.

Jade’s POV

Jade knocked on Beck’s trailer door Wednesday after school. She had avoided him for most of the week, working up the courage and planning out what she would say. Beck didn’t actively seek her out or try to avoid her, but he did send her a few glances of confusion and pain whenever their eyes met in the hallway, and Jade passed by him like a stranger. Jade had texted him earlier that morning that she was ready to talk, but only after school. Beck acknowledged the opening, and he offered his place, knowing she wouldn’t want to have any deep, heavy conversations when her mom could walk through the door at any moment. If there was one thing Jade hated, it was people barging in on deep, heavy moments. Well, she hated a lot of things actually (she had a whole series on The Slap dedicated to it), but this ranked really high up there. Not that anyone had any business knowing that Jade West had a heart.

Anyway, Jade didn’t need to wait long before Beck answered the door and easily stepped aside to invite Jade in. She entered the familiar space. It was slightly more cluttered since the last time she had come in, which was probably the Friday before they all left for Yerba. She suppressed a shudder at the flood of other memories from that hellish trip and sat down on the nearest couch cushion. She wasn’t here to talk about that.

Beck took a seat opposite to her, settling on the edge of his bed. He carded a hand through his hair, but the movement was stuttered halfway through, like he caught himself doing it and tried to stop. He promptly dropped his hand into his lap with a sheepish smile.

“So?” he finally asked.

Jade nodded to herself, psyching herself up internally. The words felt like a fifteen-car collision on a freeway all slamming into each other and lodging tight against her closed throat. She swallowed past the lump of words unspoken and took a breath. “So.”

“Where do you wanna start?”

Jade shrugged, then caught herself. “Let’s start with Yerba,” she decided.

Beck nodded. And waited.

Okay, so he was gonna play it this way. Jade nodded to herself again. She could do this. “I… may have been a gank during the Yerba trip.”

Beck raised his eyebrows, the corners of his lips turned upward ever so slightly, but to his credit, he didn’t add a smug barb to rub it in. This was why Beckett Oliver was a better man, a better person than Jade.

“The conversation we had in the prison—”

“Happened in the heat of the moment during a very stressful time,” Beck cut in. “I understand that.”

“That wasn’t what I was going to say, Beck.”

“Oh.” Beck faltered. His eyebrows stayed raised, but this time, his eyes were slightly widened too. “Sorry. Go on.”

“Well, not completely. The conversation we had in the prison made me think about some things that I didn’t want to think about.”

Beck nodded encouragingly.

“I don’t trust most adults. You know that. And I know that your mom does a lot for me. A hell of a lot more than my own mom does most days. I just…” Jade sighed.

“Take your time, Jade.”

Jade flashed Beck a weak smile in gratitude. He grinned softly. She dropped her gaze to her finger where she twisted a ring back and forth. “I was angry and pissed that we were all locked up. And I was scared. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

“Thanks, Jade,” Beck said. “And I’m sorry, too. I could’ve worded things better. And it’s not an excuse, but I was scared too. And words don’t come as easily to me as they do to you.”

“You weren’t wrong though.” Jade lifted her eyes to search for Beck’s brown eyes. “I am difficult.”

“Nothing worth fighting for comes without a challenge.”

Jade’s vision went blurry. Damn. What was this, three times in four days? Jade hated crying, more than most things. Yet here she was, crying once again. Jade took small solace in the fact that at least it was in front of someone she felt safe enough to cry in front of. Beck had truly seen Jade at her worst. And he was still here. Still insisting on talking things out like mature adults. What did she do to deserve him?

“Why am I worth it?” Jade asked through ragged breaths.

Beck smiled. His eyes twinkled. Hell, they practically glossed over as a million thoughts spun through his head, visible through his eyes. “You want just one reason or all hundred million?”

“Sap,” Jade said through a broken smile.

“But you love me,” Beck retorted easily. He didn’t even need to wait for a response. “And I love you. That’s reason number one.”

“I’ve been a gank all last week. And the week before.”

Beck shrugged. “You’re still you. And look at us now, sitting here, talking things out.”

“Yeah,” Jade rolled her eyes good-naturedly, “it’s everything you ever wanted.”

“Well…” Beck hesitated. “Not everything.” He grinned and raised an eyebrow.

There’s something else, Beck, Jade’s thoughts wanted to scream out. I cried about it, but I don’t want to talk about it. Instead, Jade rose and straddled Beck’s lap, leaning down to find his lips.

I’ve been having dreams, Beck, her thoughts continued. But Jade let her hands wander across his back, refamiliarizing herself with each defined muscle, shivering into Beck’s touch as it grazed her bra line, her waist, her hips, her back.

I want to stop thinking about the dreams, Beck. So Jade let herself get lost in Beck’s familiarity. His warmth. Help me forget about the dreams, Beck. Jade pulled back to look Beck in the eye.

Jade let herself drown in warm, amber brown and tried not to think about coffee instead.

Chapter Text

Tori’s POV

Tori bade Steven goodbye at the airport Thursday night. Steven apparently had to go home a few days early to help out his dad, who had pulled a muscle while he was in LA. Even with Steven’s early departure, Tori was feeling a lot better since the Yerba trip. The Parade parade and the week of uneventful and quiet normalcy had really helped settle Tori’s thoughts, and she felt balanced and at peace for the first time in a really long time.

She could hardly believe it was May already. It felt like just yesterday she was stepping onto the stage at the Big Showcase, in a dress way too small for her, with anxiety clawing at her stomach and throat. And at the same time, it felt like a year had passed already. She had done so much, experienced so much, in the past five months. She couldn’t ever remember a time her life had seemed so hectic and chaotic before.

She faced Monday morning with renewed optimism and determination to make the most of her time. If Yerba had taught Tori anything, it was that everything could go to flames at any given moment, and she needed to cherish every moment spent in the present.

Only, it was hard to do so when Beck was her assigned scene partner for a skit in Sikowitz. She felt Jade’s jealous glare on her every time they met up to run lines. It wasn’t Tori’s fault that Sikowitz explicitly stated the two actors had to be a married couple.

Though, it was pretty interesting to see Cat and Jade perform as a married couple. Their performance on Friday had taken an unexpected turn. Cat’s character was apparently a psychologically manipulative evil mastermind who took advantage of Jade’s character’s blind love and devotion for far too long, for far too many plots. It was a gripping performance, and Tori was on the edge of her seat in anticipation for Cat’s next line of dialogue, spoken coldly and clinically, or Jade’s, spoken with broken-hearted devastation. Long after Tori had gone home, the performance stayed on Tori’s mind, and the longer she ruminated on the story, the more she realized just how much context was packed into the short five-minute skit.

Tori didn’t think Jade could surpass the masterpiece that was Well Wishes. Well, more like she didn’t believe she’d be privy to another taste of Jade’s genius creativity. Especially not so soon. And she definitely was not expecting the petite redhead to portray such a jarringly different personality from her own bubbly one. It shook Tori, more than she believed it should. But she chalked up her obsession over it to simply filling the void of Steven’s presence. (But Cat and Jade had played a far more convincing married couple than Tori had expected, and that caught Tori off-guard.)

Weird obsessive thoughts about Cat and Jade aside, Tori was looking forward to her performance with Beck. Her character was an uptight, bellicose wife who was looking for an argument everywhere she went, while Beck’s character was a husband who always brought his work home with him. Surprisingly, Jade didn’t make too many comments about the glaring similarities between Tori’s character and herself. More than once, Tori found Jade simply staring at her, unwavering. And that, somehow, was even more unnerving than if Jade was in her face, swinging her scissors, and yelling caustic insults. Well, maybe about the same.

Monday afternoon found them all gathered in Sikowitz’s class. Beck and Tori were on the stage, yelling out their final lines.

“I mean, why did we even take a pasta class together?” Tori insisted hotly.

Beck slammed his utensils on the table and pointed a shaking finger at Tori. “I told you, there was an empty slot in the reservations that no one was taking at work, and I thought it would be romantic! I didn’t think I’d be quizzed on every pasta noodle from now until eternity!”

“Just open up the wine.”

“It doesn’t pair with the eggplant.”

“Oh, so now I can’t even have a glass of wine because it doesn’t agree with your dinner? I happen to know that that vintage goes very well with my spaghettini!”

“It’s like a millimeter difference!”

“It makes a difference to me! So you should care.”

“Well, I don’t.”

“Clean up the dishes when you’re done,” Tori declared, pushing her chair out and standing up. “I’m going to bed.” She stormed off stage left, and Sikowitz called the scene.

“Well done,” Sikowitz nodded as he made his way up to the stage, still vigorously shaking the glass jar in his hand like he had been during the whole performance. “Tori, Beck, take your seats.”

Beaming, Tori returned to her seat, and Beck took to his own backwards-turned chair next to Jade. Tori glanced over just in time to see Jade plant a quick peck on Beck’s cheek and whisper something in his ear. Tori looked away quickly.

There was an unnamed feeling brewing in Tori’s gut as she observed that short exchange, and she didn’t want to acknowledge its bitter name. Not now, probably not ever. It just wasn’t right. Tori squirmed in her chair.

“And this is… done!” Sikowitz declared.

“What is that?” Andre asked.

“It was a jar of cream, but now that I have shaken it vigorously for the past few hours, it’s butter.”

“You make your own butter?” Jade asked, raising an eyebrow. Tori herself was curious. There seemed to be a neverending plethora of strange trivia to learn about the eccentric teacher.

“Indeed,” Sikowitz replied.

“Is it good?” Robbie piped up.

“I don’t know. I refused to eat dairy.” Sikowitz then proceeded to drop the entire jar of, well, butter now, into the trash can and clapped his hands. Before the murmurs of confusion could swell loud enough for someone to ask more questions, Sikowitz declared, “For the last few minutes of class, let’s talk about the one-act play I’m directing.”

He looked with excitement on the sea of student faces, drumming his fingers against the purple folder he held in his hands in anticipation. Everyone stared back at him for a long moment.

Finally, Andre again bravely asked on behalf of the class, “Well?”

“Well what?” Sikowitz fired back, grinning.

“You wanna tell us about the one-act play you’re directing?”

“Alright,” Sikowitz sighed dramatically. Everyone exchanged confused looks. While Sikowitz’s strange antics weren’t anything new, they weren’t any less baffling. “First of all, I wanna thank you all for auditioning.” The confused glances this time were laced with excitement. “The two lead roles will be played by…” Sikowitz started up a foot-stomp drumroll, and the class quickly caught on. “Andre and Robbie!”

“Cool,” Andre smiled easily.

“Hot beef!” Robbie exclaimed in contrast.

When everyone stared at Robbie in confusion, Rex muttered, “Would anyone else like to be my guardian?”

Robbie glared at the puppet, and Tori had to admit, it was strange, but it kind of worked?

Cat asked next, “Did any of the rest of us get parts?”

Sikowitz beamed. “Aw, is a certain little redhead hoping she got a role in teacher’s play?”

Cat nodded excitedly. “She is,” she giggled.

“Well, she didn’t.” Sikowitz patted Cat’s shoulder. “Because I have a different role in mind for you. I need some help with the backstage crew. So, Jade, Cat, I want you girls on lighting.”

“Lighting?” Jade enunciated.

“Yes, you pronounced it perfectly,” Sikowitz breezed past the obvious question in Jade’s interjection. “Tori, I want you to work with Sinjin’s team on special effects.”

“Okay,” Tori shrugged, “but I know, like, nothing about special effects.”

“That’s okay,” Sinjin said, and Tori whirled around to stare at the three members of the special effects team with increasing unease. “We’ll teach you.” They all looked at Tori with their best attempts at a seductive smolder, but they all just looked like they really needed to go to the bathroom and were smiling through the pain.

Tori grimaced back and muttered, “Looking forward to it.” As she turned back around, she caught Jade glaring daggers at Sinjin and his two teammates, and she frowned. Maybe it was a feminist thing, Tori reasoned. After all, they had no right to be that creepy and leering. Tori hoped they wouldn’t be that weird during the play. Sinjin alone was often too much for Tori to handle for extended periods of time, but with three of them? It was going to be a challenge.

“Beck, Eli, you’ll be in charge of props and setting. Amanda, Sarah, and John, sound effects. The rest of you will be working the house as ushers. Questions?”

Jade immediately blurted out, “Can I switch my role?”

“No,” Sikowitz deadpanned back. As if on cue, the bell for lunchtime rang, and the classroom was alive with the shuffle of students gathering their bags and heading out into the hallways. Perfect timing, in Tori’s opinion. She was starving.

The line for the Grub Truck was so long that by the time everyone got their food, all the tables at the Asphalt Cafe were filled. In all her time at Hollywood Arts, all five long months, this had never happened. But Andre said not to worry. He had swapped cars with his cousin for the day, so he had driven to school in a bright red pickup truck with a large, empty bed in the back. He lowered the lip and invited all of them up to eat lunch there instead.

Beck and Jade declined and slunk away with smirks on their faces. The last Tori saw them, they were entering the main hall again, and Tori had an idea of where they were headed to. Tori tried not to think about it too much. Missing Steven all the way in Seattle seemed so much harder after being with him for a week (not even a whole week). She texted him an “I miss you” before sighing and digging into her lunch.

“Hey. Hey, cheekbones,” Rex said.

Tori sighed again. “Yes, Rex?” She stared into the lifeless eyes of that wooden face.

“You gonna eat that tah-kee-toe?”

Andre and Cat stared at Robbie, who was still maneuvering the puppet, and Rex was drawing closer to Tori.

“I sure am,” Tori replied with a hint of faux-sweetness. Perhaps being around Jade so much in the past couple weeks had rubbed off a little on Tori. But she didn’t dwell long on that thought. She moved to take a bite. She was so hungry.

“C’mon, give me one bite,” Rex insisted.

“No!” Tori pulled the taquito further away.

“Can I smell it?”

Tori had had enough. “Robbie!” she exploded, and finally, the curly-haired boy pulled Rex back from where he had reached (nearly Tori’s knees, not that the truck bed was that wide).

Robbie chastised the puppet sternly, and the puppet brushed it off. While the two argued, Tori finally took her first bite of food all day and suppressed a quiet moan of satisfaction. Tori heard Cat giggle quietly next to her.

Tori glanced at Cat, and Cat winked. She winked.

Tori had to look away and hope to the stars that Cat didn’t see the blush that was definitely all over her cheeks. All she felt was confused inside. All she wanted to do was eat her taquitos.

Luckily, Cat seemed to brush past that little moment and address Robbie as she sucked on her lollipop. Wait, was that all the redhead was going to have for lunch? How was the girl alive?

“So,” Cat’s voice drew Tori out of her thoughts. “I heard you went out with Jessica Wolf last night.” Her eyebrows bounced in anticipation.

“Oh yes,” Robbie replied smugly. “I did.”

“So, how’d it—”

Andre’s question was cut off by Trina strutting past with a nonchalant, “Hi Tori. Tori’s friends.”

Tori’s phone buzzed. She checked it and let the smile spread freely across her face. Steven replied with a sweet message of his own. She pocketed her phone, planning to respond later when she wasn’t with friends in case it turned into another long text conversation. Tori loved having those with Steven.

“So your date with Jessica,” Andre prompted Robbie.

“Awesome!” he sang, just a little bit flat.

Tori hid a wince and bit into her second taquito. Her phone buzzed again. Tori pulled it out again and checked. It was a Slap notification. She frowned and opened it as Robbie went off describing the old-fashioned and traditional date he had taken her on, complete with a pedal bike ride on the beach at sunset.

“Uh, sorry to burst your bubble, Robbie, but it was not awesome according to Jessica’s last update on The Slap.”

“What’d she write?” Robbie asked, deflated already.

“It’s kind of mean…”

“Read it!” Andre said immediately, an almost manic glee in his eyes.

Tori frowned but relented. She cleared her throat. “Last night, worst date ever,” Tori read from her phone.

“Oh.” A beat. “Well, um, maybe she went out with some other guy after she went out with me and then she wrote that about the other guy.”

Tori smiled sadly as she read the last part of the status post. “Dude brought a puppet.” She refrained from reading the entire thread of updates that detailed her take on the date.

“A puppet?” Rex exploded as Robbie moaned. “Oh, she was talking about me.”

“I’m sorry,” Tori offered, putting her phone away. She glanced at Andre and noticed he was wearing a fascinated expression as he studied Robbie intently. Robbie looked to be on the verge of tears.

“Ah, who cares,” Rex said breezily. “You don’t need to be hooking up with scrunge like that.”

Robbie sniffed.

“Hi everyone,” Trina said, strutting by again. “Yeah.” She fluffed her hair.

Everyone stared at her as she walked past. She stopped in front of a trash can and turned right back around to strut past for a third time.

“That’s right,” she flipped her hair. “Felony jeans.” She stopped by the edge of the truck and leaned against the frame of the truck bed. “And they’re not knockoffs. These are real Felony jeans—the realio-dealio.”

“Realio-dealio?” Robbie parroted back the lame phrase, his sadness forgotten for a moment.

“I think that’s Spanish for ‘real deal,’” Cat stage-whispered conspiratorially with a giggle. Tori glanced at Cat and saw clear lucidity in her wide brown eyes. It was like her eyes were shining with mirth. Her eyes were smiling.

Tori smiled at Cat’s joke.

“And what’s Spanish for ‘dizzy redhead?’” Rex shot back.

Cat glared at Rex, then at Robbie. “Tell Rex to quit being mean to me,” she demanded firmly.

“Rex,” Robbie urged quietly, turning the puppet away from the rest of the group.

Tori was surprised. That was twice in recent history now that Cat had stood up for herself to the group. Even though the bright red had faded from her hair considerably in the past week or so, Cat still seemed to exude a bright, fiery presence as she stood her ground. Tori patted Cat’s shoulder encouragingly, and Cat grinned at Tori.

“But wait,” Cat said, “aren’t Felony jeans, like, super expensive, Trina?”

“Yeah,” Tori agreed, turning to her sister. “You put them back on the shelf when we went to the mall two weeks ago.”

“Yes,” Trina nodded. “Oh, and do me a flavor…” She dug through her jean pockets and fished out a small plastic card that Tori recognized immediately. “And put this credit card back in Mom’s purse?” Trina handed the gray rectangle to Tori.

Tori took it and turned it over in her hands. “Why do I have to put it back in Mom’s purse?”

“Because she’ll believe you when you lie and say that you found it lying around in the living room. I’ve pulled that line one too many times, and I think she’s catching onto me.”

“Treen,” Tori groaned.

“Thanks, sis, you’re the best! And… what is wrong with him?” Trina gestured to the other side of the truck bed.

Tori turned around to see Andre looking constipated and extremely focused. “What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to make myself cry.”

“Looks like you’re about to puke,” Rex replied snidely.

“Want me to jerk a knot in your tail?” Andre fired back hotly.

“Oh my god…” Rex conceded quietly.

“Rex,” Robbie groaned for the third time.

“Why are you trying to make yourself cry?” Tori asked, slightly amused now.

“For the play,” Andre explained. “I’m supposed to cry in the last scene. And Sikowitz says a real actor has to cry real tears.”

“So?” Cat asked.

“You’re a great actor,” Tori shrugged.

“Just cry real tears,” Cat added nonchalantly.

“You know how hard it is to make real tears come out?” Andre asked. “I mean, I can cry and make it look real, and sound real, but I don’t see how an actor can just automatically make actual tears come out whenever. I mean, it’s like—”

Andre’s rant was cut off by Tori, Trina, and Cat all sniffing as tears streamed down their cheeks. Granted, it took Tori a few tries, but it was easy for Cat, the great actress that she was, to produce real tears on command. Trina, on the other hand, did surprise Tori by being able to summon up a decent performance on the fly. Though, Tori supposed, Trina had had plenty of practice when she was younger and would throw tantrums.

Andre gaped at the three girls in disbelief. “Well,” he finally managed to say after a moment, “well, you all are girls. It’s easier for girls to cry—”

He was again cut off by more sniffing. He turned to his left to find Robbie also crying. “Sometimes,” Robbie admitted in a broken whisper, “I have trouble not crying.”

“Ho-how did you—”

“Honestly, Andre, I don’t see what the big deal is,” Tori said, wiping away the tears and bringing back her megawatt smile. “And also, rude. It’s totally just as easy for guys to cry. I mean, look at Beck. He was about ready to cry at the end of our scene we had to perform today.”

“But, but that’s—oh, alright. I’ll just cut up a fresh onion at home,” Andre groused and crossed his arms, pouting.

Tori shook her head affectionately. It was a particular treat to see someone normally so put together like Andre pull an immature-looking expression like a pout like that.

The next day, after school, everyone gathered at the Black Box Theater for the first rehearsal of the one-act play. Sikowitz wove around the theater barking orders.

Tori was waiting for some big surprise from the special effects team, and while she waited, she overheard a conversation from overhead on the catwalk.

Cat giggled. “I love that they call this a catwalk. ‘Cause my name is Cat, and look,” a few footsteps sounded overhead, and Tori smiled, “I’m walking. Walkin’ on the catwalk.” Tori suppressed her own giggle.

Jade’s response wasn’t as happy. “If someone was pushed off this catwalk, and landed on the floor really hard, do you think they’d live?”

“Why are you asking that?” Cat’s voice wavered just the slightest. Tori had to strain to catch the hushed question that followed. “Jade, are you planning to hurt Tori?”

“No,” Jade replied lightly, sounding absolutely unconvincing. “No reason. Besides, I know you’d help me hide the body anyway.”

Cat burst out laughing, and Tori had no idea how to make sense of that exchange. But she didn’t have much time to, anyway, because Sinjin and the special effects team were quickly approaching Tori.

“Hey,” she greeted them with a bright smile, pocketing her phone.

“We wanna give you this t-shirt,” Sinjin explained, handing her a plain-looking charcoal gray t-shirt that was definitely a few sizes too large for her. “It says ‘Special Effects Crew.’” He unfolded the shirt and displayed it to Tori. Sure enough, there was a small, neat logo in the upper left chest area. But Tori’s attention was instead drawn to the large brown stain that was mottled with white, like someone had used bleach to clean off rust, and both substances were irreversibly preserved in the fabric.

Tori wrinkled her nose. “Thanks,” she managed. “It looks… used.” Tori took it into her hands when she noticed Sinjin’s arms shaking just a little in their outstretched position.

“Yeah,” Sinjin chuckled. “That was my shirt.”

“What are these stains?” Tori asked as politely as she could.

Sinjin rubbed the back of his neck and avoided eye contact. “Who can remember?” he shrugged.

“You can’t remember?” Tori repeated, but the three had already walked off. Tori blanched as she looked back at the stain. It covered nearly a quarter of the front of the shirt, and she shuddered to imagine what could’ve possibly happened. Her mind immediately jumped to the image of regurgitated foods, given Sinjin’s locker decoration choice. She fought a dry heave and shut down that train of thought before too long.

The doors to the theater swung wide open, and Beck strode in, urging along a massive machine. “It has arrived!” he declared proudly as it wheeled to a stop near the center of the cleared out space.

“Yeah, there she is!” Andre exclaimed excitedly, rubbing his hands and joining Beck’s side.

“Cool. What’s that?” Tori asked, walking over to join them.

“This is the surprise,” Beck said with a smile. “This is a Turblow Jet.” He slapped a hand on top of the machine.

“To create the tornado for the play,” Andre explained.

“Ooh,” Tori quirked an eyebrow as she studied the machine. “It blows?”

“It blows,” Andre confirmed.

“B-lows,” Beck emphasized.

“Blows, yeah,” Andre sang in a soft melody. Beck hummed in harmony.

“Hmm,” Tori nodded.

“Show her,” Andre smacked Beck’s arm, clearly seeing Tori was not as impressed as she should be. Beck eagerly complied. He flipped a few switches, pushed a few buttons, and checked the settings.

“We’ll start on medium.” He aimed the Turblow Jet, pressed a button, and the machine revved to life. A sudden blast of air shot out of the machine and flung Sinjin forward to faceplant onto the set on stage. “Sorry, Sinj!” Beck called out as the machine whirred back down.

“It happens,” Sinjin called back, still lying facedown on the pile of dirt they needed to spread across the stage. He slowly peeled himself off the floor and dusted himself off.

“Wow,” Tori murmured, truly impressed now. “This thing’s powerful.”

“Yup,” Andre nodded. “And it doesn’t just blow.”

“You flick that little red guy into Reverse…” Beck pointed to a small switch on the far left of the control panel to the machine.

“It sucks,” Andre finished for Beck, clearly proud of his pun. Tori chuckled.

“Show her,” Beck nodded to his friend.

Andre stepped up to the control panel and pressed a few buttons. Again, the machine whirred to life, revving up like an engine. “Now, c’mere!” Andre yelled over the sound of the engine. He tapped Tori on the shoulder and beckoned her over to face the machine’s gaping mouth. He held up some spare papers he held in his hand and let go.

The pages floated, suspended in midair, for a fraction of a second, before they zipped toward the mouth of the Turblow Jet like dust into a vacuum.

“Whoa!” Tori exclaimed. “That’s insane!”

“Yeah!”

Tori had an idea. She stepped up to where Andre stood and held up the stained t-shirt Sinjin had “gifted” her. She let it go, and it zipped into the mouth of the Turblow Jet.

Beck chuckled and powered down the machine.

“Now, that is some serious suckage,” Tori declared. She trotted back to Beck’s side. “I wanna play with it,” she grinned. Beck stepped aside and began coaching her on how to use the control panel.

Over the next few days, the one-act play really started to come together. Tori was pulled around to help out on several different parts that it was hard to find time to sit down and practice operating the Turblow Jet. But she had claimed that machine as her own, so she was going to be operating it for the play.

“Cat!” Tori heard Jade call up to the catwalk from atop the ladder she stood on. She was working on untangling some wires while the bulb was unscrewed. “Don’t turn on 21!”

“Don’t what?” Cat called back.

“Turn on 21!”

“21 on!”

“No, no, wait—”

“Cat!” Tori yelled up immediately. “Turn off 21!”

“Oh chiz!” Cat cried out with a gasp.

Jade stopped spasming and lost her balance. Tori rushed to catch Jade before she hit the ground hard. There were a few moments where it seemed like the world was frozen in place. Jade stared blankly upward at Tori, who was looking down at Jade. Jade was in Tori’s arms. Tori’s hair curtained down around both of them. Jade’s hair, Tori noticed, had faded to its natural walnut brown, and she was sporting a faded pink highlight this time.

Then, Jade spasmed a little, like she was jerking awake after falling asleep, and her eyes blew wide open, wider than they were before, and she scrambled to her feet, throwing Tori backward to land on her butt.

“Jade!” Tori exclaimed. “Are you alright?”

“What do you care?” Jade bit back.

“I—y’know what, you’re right, what do I care.” Tori sighed and walked back to the Turblow Jet. She glanced over just once to see Beck wrapping Jade in his arms, and Jade seemed to melt into the embrace. Tori scoffed and rolled her eyes and determinedly did not stare at the couple.

“Oh, hey, Tori,” Robbie said, appearing from the stage wing.

“Why aren’t you in costume, Robbie? Sikowitz says the show starts in 20 minutes.”

“I’m goin’ to get changed. Will you watch Rex for me?” he asked quickly.

“Why can’t you just take Rex with you?”

“‘Cause I don’t like to change in front of him. He…” Robbie dropped his voice to a hushed whisper and leaned in, “makes jokes.”

Rex snickered. “He’s like a Toyota. He makes it easy. Too easy.”

“Hush!” Robbie whined. Tori rolled her eyes and sighed. “Will you just,” Robbie turned and set the puppet down on a nearby haystack, “keep an eye on him for me?”

“Sure,” Tori relented, crossing her arms.

Not a second later, Sikowitz strode back into the theater and announced loudly, “Alright, adolescents! Let’s do some quick checks! Crew, position!” He waved emphatically and checked his clipboard. “Sunshine!” he commanded.

A white spotlight shined onto the backdrop, lighting up the pink-to-purple hues beautifully.

“Love it! Chirping birds!” he cried out next.

Amanda and Sarah, two girls Tori barely knew but were manning the sound board, hit a button, and suddenly, the theater was filled with loud, angry squawks.

“No, not a cock fight!” Sikowitz belted out, waving his pen and clipboard. “Peaceful birds.”

They replaced the loud squawking with gentle chirps and trills.

“Charming,” he nodded. “Thunderstorm!”

Tori glanced up at the catwalk and saw Jade’s face pulled into a mask of pure concentration. She hit several switches in quick succession, and Tori’s eyes were drawn to the backdrop once more. Blue light flashed rapidly, lighting up the set in an almost-oppressively bright light. Coupled with a well-timed thunder sound by the sound effects team, Sikowitz cried out, “Excellent!”

The light show ended, and the stage was dim once more. “Lights up!” And the theater returned to normal brightness. Tori hadn’t even noticed it had dimmed so much.

“Next,” Sikowitz conferred his clipboard once more, “um, Tori! Let’s see the tornado.”

“Full on?” Tori confirmed.

“Full on,” Sikowitz nodded. “Blow me away,” he chuckled at his own joke. Tori rolled her eyes but did as she was instructed.

“Here we go.” Tori pressed all the right buttons in the right order, and the Turblow Jet whirred to life.

Beck suddenly shouted, “You’re in Reverse!” Tori glanced over and saw that Beck was right. The corn stalks were blowing in the wrong direction.

“Tori, turn it off!” voices shouted from the catwalk.

“I know, I know, I know!” Tori shouted back. She panicked and pressed buttons to try and shut the machine off. Beck was by her side in a flash, trying to find the emergency shut-off, but with both their hands trembling, neither of them could find the right button or switch.

Something zoomed into the machine, and Tori screamed. It thumped with each rotation of the insides.

“Turn it off, turn it off!” Sikowitz shouted.

Beck finally found the right switch and flipped it. The machine slowed to a stop, and a heavy silence settled over the theater.

“Oh my god,” Tori squeaked.

“This shirt’s a little big,” Robbie mused, striding in as he buttoned up the last button on his tucked in plaid flannel just under his chin. “But I think it looks pretty good.” His grin faded as he looked around at all the stunned and horrified faces. His contentment soon morphed into concerned confusion. Beck tried his best to inconspicuously slide in front of the Turblow Jet’s gaping mouth, and Robbie glanced around. His eyes fell to where he had last set down Rex. He turned back to Tori. “Where’s Rex?”

Tori grimaced and glanced at the Turblow Jet. Beck wore a sympathetic and pained smile.

“Robbie, I’m so, so sorry,” Tori began.

“Where’s Rex?” Robbie asked again, this time more forcefully. He took a step forward toward Tori, a little menacingly. His face was a mask of anger.

“Rob, buddy, why don’t you take a seat…” Beck tried to gently steer Robbie to a nearby folding chair, but Robbie shrugged off Beck’s hand.

“Robbie… Rex was in… an accident.”

“He what?” Robbie’s voice cracked.

“He got sucked into the Turblow Jet,” Jade stated plainly, having descended from the catwalk, flanked by several other crew members from the upper level. Jade smirked at Tori, and Tori glared back.

“He what?!” Robbie repeated in a shriek.

“We’ll… we’ll get him out, I promise!” Tori pleaded, immediately dropping to her knees in front of the machine’s gaping mouth.

“Robbie…” Sikowitz said in a warning tone. Tori turned around to find Robbie mid-lunge, arms outstretched like he was ready to strangle her. It took Jade, Cat, and Sikowitz to hold him back.

“Let me go! Let me go!” he cried out.

“I got his arm,” Beck murmured quietly to Tori. “There, grab his leg.”

Tori saw it and reached in and took hold. Together, they were able to coax out the boneless heap of cracked and splintered wood. Tori held up the mangled doll, horrified.

If Rex were to ever star in a horror movie about a cursed doll looking like this, he would’ve definitely won an Oscar.

Wait, he’s a puppet… right?

“Rex! Is he okay?” Robbie continued to shout. “Is Rex okay?” He broke past the three pairs of arms holding him back as Tori turned to face him with the broken and mangled Rex in her arms. He screamed. “No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!” He wrenched Rex from Tori’s grasp and cradled the puppet close to his chest. “What did you do?!” he shouted at Tori.

“I… I just… I just… um…” Tori didn’t honestly know how to respond. She was distracted, sure, by that little moment watching Jade, but that wasn’t enough to distract her from checking which direction the Turblow Jet was set to. At least, she thought it wasn’t. She could’ve sworn the machine was set to Blow.

But Robbie didn’t care for Tori’s stammered excuses. He slid his hand into the puppet’s back slot. “Rex? Rex, can you hear me?”

“Oh…” Rex moaned. “Oh… is that… you, Rob?” Rex managed to whisper.

“Robbie’s here,” the curly-haired boy sobbed. “It’s me. It’s okay.”

“I’m… I’m busted up pretty bad,” Rex wheezed.

“I’ve gotta get him to the hospital,” Robbie murmured to no one in particular.

“Robbie…” Sikowitz moved to pat him on the back.

“I’ve got to!” Robbie exploded.

“Robbie!” Sikowitz took Robbie by the shoulders and shook him firmly. “You’re starring in this play. The audience is outside, waiting to come in. It’s your job to entertain them. No matter what.”

“Oh…” Rex moaned in Robbie’s arms. “I feel cold…”

Robbie turned to the group. “Somebody’s gotta take Rex to the hospital.”

“I’ll take him,” Tori volunteered immediately.

“I’ll drive,” Beck offered, and Tori winced at the reminder that she didn’t have her license yet.

“I’ll go too,” Cat assured Robbie with a gentle stroke of her hand down Robbie’s arm.

“Okay, does anyone else think this is bizarre?” Jade blurted out. “C’mon, it can’t just be me.”

Tori whirled around to glare at Jade. Even if she did agree with Jade, at least Tori had the sense to be somewhat sensitive to Robbie’s emotional turmoil. Clearly, Rex held a lot of sentimental value to Robbie.

“A’right, a’right, it’s showtime!” Andre bounced in cheerily. One glance around the forlorn group and his cheerful demeanor dropped immediately. “What’d I miss?” he asked gravely.

“A murder,” Robbie growled.

“An accident,” Tori corrected.

“Tori tried to murder Rex,” Sinjin supplied eagerly.

“Sinjin!” Tori exclaimed. She sighed and extended her arms toward Robbie. “Let me have him.”

“No,” Robbie sobbed, turning his body to shield Rex away from Tori.

“We’ll take him to the hospital,” Cat promised.

Robbie’s lip quivered. After a long moment of hesitation, he whispered, “Okay.”

Tori nodded as Robbie carefully lowered Rex’s body into Tori’s arms. “I got him.”

“Take care of him.”

“I promise.”

Robbie pressed a kiss to Rex’s battered forehead and choked back another sob.

“Don’t worry about it, bro,” Beck assured Andre with a firm clap on his friend’s shoulder. “Just make sure Robbie stays on track for the show. Cat, Tori, and I are gonna take Rex to the hospital.” At Andre’s bewildered look, Beck added in a hushed voice, “I’ll explain later.”

Tori led the group out, and only barely managed to hear Jade declare, “Well, I’m not missing this,” before she made it out to the hallway.

“Hey,” Jade called after the trio. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait up.”

“What?” Tori sighed. She just wanted a few moments of peace. Was that so much to ask for? Just a few moments away from the hot and cold enigma of Jade West and the ever-increasing confusion swirling in her gut.

“Where are you all going?”

“To the hospital,” Cat replied plainly.

“Cat,” Tori intoned, an edge of impatience in her voice. Cat glanced at Tori in confusion.

“We’re not really going to a hospital,” Beck explained. “It’s a puppet.” He turned to get himself a can of Wahoo Punch from the vending machine.

“Not to Robbie,” Cat protested, softly caressing Rex’s mop of hair.

Tori had to admit, Cat had a point. But it was beyond ridiculous to actually take a puppet to the hospital. To, what, get it all patched up? Jade had the right idea, it all was bizarre. Tori just didn’t see the need to be so brash about it.

“You know what?” Jade pondered for a moment, chewing thoughtfully on the stick of gum she just unwrapped. “Maybe we should take Rex to the hospital.”

“Why?” Tori asked, confused.

“So he can die there.”

“Jade…” Cat said softly.

“Look, it’s not good for a 16-year-old boy to go through life with his hand shoved up a… that.” She gestured to the puppet still lying motionless in Tori’s arms.

Tori had to admit, it was a little eerie to be holding Rex in her arms like this. So motionless and lifeless. Like a real puppet. But she also couldn’t deny the many times that Rex had actually seemed to exhibit some independent sentience.

“Maybe this happened for a reason?” Jade looked around the group, attempting to lift the heavy mood of the group with a bland, old adage.

“But if Rex dies,” Tori countered, “Robbie’s gonna—”

“Get over it and become a normal person?” Jade cut across Tori’s rebuttal sharply. “Yeah, that’d be tragic.”

Tori really couldn’t argue with that. With her. With Jade.

“She’s got a point,” Beck shrugged, sipping on his soda can. “Let’s take Rex to the hospital.” Beck motioned toward the main entrance and led the charge, Jade by his side.

Tori still felt torn, but Cat cheered and followed the couple. Grudgingly, Tori also followed, bringing up the rear with the “patient” in question.

At the hospital, the four found the first familiar face, the doctor who had attended most of the group back when they got sick from the pooka fish infection.

“You kids again,” he grumbled. “Not another pooka fish incident, I hope.”

“Nope,” Jade smiled. “Worse.” She shrugged. “Or better, depending on how you look at it.”

The doctor stared long and hard at Jade. Then, he turned on his heel and began to walk away.

The group continued to follow him around as Beck and Jade laid out the plan.

“But he’s a puppet,” the doctor maintained.

“Yeah,” Beck said quickly. “Yeah, we know he’s a puppet.”

“Look, we just want you to hook him up to one of your beepy machines, and when this kid, Robbie, gets here, pretend he flatlines,” Jade explained.

“You want me to pretend this puppet dies?” the doctor sighed, looking thoroughly unamused.

Cat giggled. “Beepy machines.” She gasped. “Hey, wait, puppet is an offensive term to Rex.”

“Cat?” Jade asked a wordless question with an arched eyebrow (that arched eyebrow, the pierced one. Tori clutched Rex tighter in her arms to avoid showing a reaction).

“Jade?” Cat replied back evenly.

They stared at each other for a long moment, holding a silent conversation with just looks.

Finally, Cat broke eye contact and turned to Tori. “Tori, what do you think of the plan? You’ve been awfully quiet.”

“Well…” Tori hesitated. “I… I think Jade is right. It’s not healthy for Robbie to keep Rex around. And you know how mean Rex can be to Robbie.”

“But?” Cat urged, sensing Tori’s reluctance.

“But… I don’t know, it might destroy him.”

“He’s a big boy, and he can suck it up,” Jade maintained coldly.

Tori felt all squirmy on the inside. She knew, deep down, that this wasn’t really murder. But… Rex seemed so life-like sometimes that Tori was having trouble distinguishing between Rex being treated as his own being and being controlled by Robbie. He bit her palm once, for crying out loud! Nothing about Rex was normal.

Andre’s words from her first day at Hollywood Arts echoed in her head: Normal’s boring.

Tori stared down at the puppet in her arms. And her own idea began to form in her head.

“Fine, I’m on board.” For now. She avoided meeting Cat’s gaze. She was going to break if she turned to meet wide, brown, pleading eyes.

“So will you do it?” Beck asked.

“Look, I’m a doctor, this is a hospital. I can’t justify pretending that a puppet—”

“C’mon, doc,” Beck pleaded.

“Just do it,” Jade added.

Tori and Cat stayed quiet on the sidelines.

“Will one of you do something for me?” the doctor asked Tori and Cat.

Tori suddenly felt very uneasy, and it had nothing to do with holding a mangled puppet that they were plotting to let “die” in her arms. She glanced at Cat, who looked wholly oblivious to the implications. “Uh…”

“Those two already seem like a couple, so she’s out,” the doctor explained, gesturing between Beck and Jade.

That didn’t make Tori feel any better.

Tori, Beck, and Jade (and Cat) exchanged a glance before Tori hesitantly replied, “What?”

“I have a 16-year-old son. His name is Lendle. And he’s… well, he’s a loser.” Tori still didn’t see where this was going. “Would you go out on a date with him?”

“How much of a loser?” Tori asked.

The doctor pulled out his wallet and flipped it open to show Tori a picture of the boy.

“Oh my god,” Tori murmured. Cat made some kind of agreeing noise.

“Yeah,” the doctor agreed.

Tori hesitated. She had a boyfriend, and while Tori wasn’t normally a judgmental person, Lendle really didn’t seem like her type. Like, at all. But at the same time, she couldn’t inflict this unfortunate date onto Cat either. Poor, sweet Cat.

“What if I got my sister to go on the date instead?” Tori suggested. “The one you treated for the pooka fish infection?”

“Why can’t you just go on the date?” Jade asked. At least they were on the same page about protecting Cat.

“I have a boyfriend, Steven, remember?” Tori gritted through her teeth.

“Oh, right. The invisible boy,” Jade pretended to remember.

“He exists,” Tori snapped impatiently. They had even met. Tori didn’t understand why Jade was so adamant on insisting that Steven was but a figment of Tori’s imagination. Heck, Steven had met the entire friend group by now. Before Jade could fit in another quip, Tori turned back to the doctor and said, “Would that work? One hour, and in a really dark restaurant?”

“Done,” the doctor agreed immediately. “Bring the puppet.” He glanced around to find an empty hospital bed where they could set up their ruse.

Before long, the doctor had finished adding the last stitches along the most obvious crack running down Rex’s cheek. The puppet’s head was already wrapped in gauze, and they even added an IV and an oxygen tube to help sell the imagery. The rest of the repair, Tori, Cat and Jade had to kind of DIY with glue and a bit of makeup.

“Wow, it looks so real,” Tori commented as they stood back from their handiwork. They had also grabbed a hospital gown from one of the teddy bears in the gift shop of the hospital a few floors below and dressed Rex in it. Cat carefully folded Rex’s “real” clothes into a small pile on a chair nearby.

“So,” the doctor sighed. “When this Robbie kid gets here…”

Beck recapped the plan. “Just say that Rex isn’t doing well. Let him say goodbye, then… beeeeeep. Dead Rex.”

“Why can’t my son be handsome like you?” the doctor asked after a beat. Jade turned to glare at the doctor (and frankly, Tori was a little taken aback by the comment too. These adults seriously needed to leave Beck alone…), but then, Jade’s attention was caught by something else. She lifted a glass container holding a solid yellow… something… suspended in clear liquid.

“Hey, what’s this?” she asked.

“Oh, this is just a fatty lump that I removed from a cab driver’s back,” the doctor explained, taking it back from Jade’s grasp.

Cat murmured, “Gross,” by the bedside.

“Can I have it?” Jade requested, thoroughly fascinated.

Tori and Beck stared at Jade, and she merely shrugged, completely unaffected by their discomfort at her macabre interests. Cat missed most of the interaction by busying herself with fluffing Rex’s pillow and straightening out his blankets.

“What school do you kids go to?” the doctor wondered aloud.

Jade offered both her hands in a silent request, and the doctor thrust the container into Jade’s waiting palms. Jade’s face lit up into a grin as she marveled at her new collection.

“I have to go see another patient,” the doctor grumbled. “I’ll be back in 20 minutes.”

“Why would you…” Beck began to ask softly as the doctor whisked his way out of the curtained enclosure.

“I like to look at it,” Jade replied as Tori’s phone dinged with an incoming text.

“Who texted?” Beck nodded at Tori as she fished it out of her purse.

Tori looked at the notification. “Andre. They have one more scene left in the play, and then he’s gonna bring Robbie here.”

“Good,” Jade smirked. She turned to Rex, one hand still firmly grasping the container as she casually leaned against the railing of the bed. “One hour from now, you dead,” she murmured darkly at the unmoving puppet.

Jade’s POV

While Jade pulled on her mask of indifference, inside she was a little concerned. Cat didn’t seem as balanced, or grounded. Was it a dosage thing again? Their silent conversation earlier with veiled looks and eyebrow twitches and twisted lips had told her that Cat was hiding something about her progress. Jade just couldn’t figure out what. Cat seemed better, overall. More lucid, more present. Just a couple days ago, Cat had surprised Jade by genuinely laughing at a dark humor joke, the kind that Cat hasn’t appreciated without an eye roll and a swat to the shoulder since… well, in really a long time. And then she’d have these other kinds of moments… like “Rex isn’t just a puppet to Robbie” kind of moments…

And now? Now, Cat was fawning over Rex like he was a treasured member of her prized stuffed animal collection. Like Rex was a real human being who’d just been tossed into an industrial-sized washing machine with blades.

But Jade, for one, couldn’t wait to finally be rid of this annoying loudmouth, what with his crass jokes, his shameless (terrible) flirting, and his creepy-ass weird comments all the time. He wasn’t even that good of a friend to Robbie. Like some parasite forced to live with unfortunate Robbie.

Don’t get her wrong, she definitely did not see Robbie as a friend, or really anything more than an acquaintance. But, she had to admit, sometimes she did feel bad watching the puppet do or say some things that clearly cut down the socially-awkward boy’s already-low self-esteem.

So, yeah, she was pretty proud of this plan. It was foolproof, as long as everyone played their part.

Jade and the others were ushered out of the small space to let Robbie say his final words in peace. Vega, for whatever reason, was asked—demanded, really—to stay behind. Soon, those waiting outside heard a wavering a cappella rendition of Michael Corcoran’s “Forever Baby” from behind the curtain. Jade fought not to have a visible reaction. She would never admit it, because she hated admitting things when it came to Vega, but the girl actually had a really good voice. It even made Robbie’s pitchy voice sound decent as it harmonized.

The machine flatlined behind the closed curtain. Jade didn’t fight the smirk that curled her lips upward. They entered the enclosure with the doctor.

Rex was finally dead.

…

For all of five seconds.

If only Vega had the stones to follow through with the plan. Jade’s plan.

God, seriously. Jade couldn’t fathom why anyone, least of all, Vega, would have turned tail at the last second and backpedaled on Jade’s perfect plan. Except maybe Cat, but Cat had seemed content with watching how things played out. If Jade caught a glimpse of Cat’s big brown eyes wide and mirroring Robbie’s sorrow as he wept over the puppet, she pretended she didn’t by distracting herself with the fatty lump she had procured earlier that evening, watching it twirl in suspension in the liquid. Even though she was already scheming in her mind to drop Cat off at home after a detour to Freezy Queen.

But apparently, Vega could kiss Cat’s boyfriend in front of the fragile redhead, take on street thugs on nothing more than a bluff, and film a half-naked friend for revenge and public humiliation, but letting the puppet die was crossing a line. Jade just didn’t get it.

So now, two days later, they were stuck with Rex’s typical jokes with an extra topping of undead jokes, which ranged from zombies to vampires to witchcraft as Tori “introduced” her invisible boyfriend. (He existed, but it was funnier to Jade to keep pretending he didn’t while he wasn’t around, because Vega would get all flustered, and Vega looked cu—)

Anyways. Jade shot down almost all of Rex’s undead jokes coldly, as she took personal offense to all those inaccurate misquotings of classic horror franchises, and there was only so much she could take. She knew she was outing herself as a bit of a movie buff, but she didn’t care. It wasn’t like she had actively hidden her interest in film in the past.

So what if she noticed Tori’s eyes twinkle a little whenever she got riled up and passionate about correcting every inaccuracy Rex managed to recite?

It didn’t mean anything.

Chapter Text

Tori’s POV

Tori still felt bad about the whole Rex accident. She swore that was the only reason why she made the plan at all to backpedal at the last moment. And well, maybe Cat's sorrowful eyes watching Robbie weep had been the final nail in the coffin. Tori really didn't want to rack up yet another instance that she made Cat cry. Once was already one time too many.

And maybe it was just a little bit worth it to see a new side of Jade come out whenever the whole group hung out. Jade seemed adamant on correcting every single thing the puppet apparently got wrong from a classic horror movie. Not that Tori would know the difference. She avoided scary movies like the plague. But it was nice to see Jade funnel her neverending passionate wrath toward something other than Tori. And Tori believed that seeing someone in their most passionate moments was seeing the person in their truest form.

On top of it all, she did feel really bad for forcing Trina to go on that date with Lendle. It was really unfortunate the guy looked so… well, Tori wasn't mean-spirited enough to try and describe him, because she honestly couldn't come up with a diplomatic way to say it. But… it was… unfortunate. In any case, Tori made sure to buy Trina Freezy Queen afterward, and Trina locked herself in her room for most of the weekend, and Tori thought the worst of the storm had blown over. But, boy, was she wrong.

On Monday, Tori and Andre joined Cat and Robbie at their usual blue table in the Asphalt Cafe for lunch. Robbie was yelling about how he had things he wanted to do in life, and Cat was pouting. (Rex was apparently resting at home, recovering from his injuries.)

"What's going on?" Tori asked, setting her stuff down.

"Cat had a dream that some kids were trying to eat us," Robbie explained.

"And Robbie sacrificed me to the kids!" Cat interjected.

"Is that something you'd do in real life, Robbie?"

"Well—I—yes, but that's not the point!" Robbie blustered.

"So you're mad that Robbie's a weenie?" Andre mused as he unzipped his backpack.

"No," Cat clarified, "I'm mad that… that… oh, forget it!" Cat hmphed and crossed her arms.

"I have things in life that I really, really, really wanna do," Robbie maintained.

"What do you really, really, really wanna do, Robbie?" Tori asked, opening her lunch tray.

"Uh, ride a pony," he listed off his fingers, "take a cooking class, uh…" He glanced at Cat. "Other… things…" he trailed off sheepishly.

"Let adorable redheads get eaten first by cannibalistic children?" Cat suggested grumpily.

"It was a dream," Robbie cried out exasperatedly.

"Is that all you're eating for lunch, Andre?" Cat ignored Robbie. "Ice cream?"

Tori turned to find Andre peeling off the lid of a Lichter's ice cream pint. She raised an eyebrow to support Cat's question.

"Well, it's been in my locker all day," Andre said, setting his backpack on the ground, "so I'm gonna drink it."

The three stared at Andre as he slurped down the melted dessert.

Cat finally asked, "Why?"

"'Cause I wanna meet Ke$ha," Andre replied easily. He reached in and pulled out a red cardboard disc and licked it clean. "Aw, dang it," he moaned.

"Ke$ha's not in there?" Tori joked.

"Har, har," Andre deadpanned. "No, just another stupid K." He held up the disc which bore a bright white K stamped across the center.

"Oh," Robbie snapped his fingers, "is this about that contest they announced over the weekend?"

Tori perked up. She hadn't heard about a contest. Then again, she had been a little preoccupied. "What contest?"

"Ke$ha's doing this contest thing with Lichter's ice cream," Robbie explained.

"See, there's a letter at the bottom of every pint." Andre gestured to his now empty carton. "You either get a K, an E, an S, an H, or an A."

"And if you find all the letters that spell Ke$ha, you win a private concert," Robbie concluded.

"From Ke$ha?" Tori gaped.

"Yup."

"So far this weekend, I've eaten 11 pints of ice cream, and all I've gotten are 11 K's." Andre slumped his shoulders.

"Robbie let a bunch of little kids eat me," Cat grumbled.

"It's not my fault if dream children find you delicious!" Robbie retorted. He grabbed his backpack and got up to storm away. "Hey, Trina," Tori heard Robbie mumble as he passed the fast approaching Trina.

Trina held her hands up and scooted past Robbie so as not to make any contact. "I don't talk to you," Trina hissed. Yeah, their relationship wasn't all that great since the whole Grub Truck punishment. Trina didn't waste much time in switching her attention to her baby sister. "Hey, Tori," Trina sighed as she planted her hands onto the table and leaned forward, "I need your opinion."

Tori chewed disinterestedly on a French fry. "On?"

Trina straightened up and fingered a folded yellow paper in her hands. "Well, let's say a person made a deal with someone."

"What kind of deal?" Andre asked.

"Y'know, like, they promised to do something." Tori frowned. Trina was being awfully vague. "Should that person have to keep their word?"

This was a strangely mature question for Trina to spring on Tori. But Tori readily answered, "Yeah. A deal's a deal."

"Even if it was, like, 10 years ago?"

"Yes," Tori maintained, sipping on her soda. "You have to keep your word, no matter how long ago it was."

"I'm so glad you feel that way," Trina beamed, moving around to stand behind Tori and Cat, "'cause, maybe, you remember this from when you were six, and I was seven." Trina unfolded the yellow paper in her hand and placed it in front of Tori.

Tori picked up the paper and studied it, warm recognition spreading through her chest and spreading across her face. "Oh my god," Tori breathed. "I remember this!" It was covered in glitter, though most of it had rubbed off by now. Big, wobbly letters scribbled in thick marker font covered the paper, and at the bottom, Tori's messy little 6-year-old signature was scrawled on a line with an X. Trina had drawn up the contract to force Tori to confess her crush to a boy back in kindergarten. It didn't go too well, so they had poured glue and glitter all over it to "prettify" it, and it made Tori feel better.

"Just read it," Trina demanded impatiently.

"Oh." Tori broke out of her nostalgic flashback, memories of her carefree days with Trina by her side as they got into mischief still washing over her thoughts. "Okay." Tori cleared her throat and read, "When I, Tori Vega, am 16 years old, I will be married to a handsome prince, and we shall live in a magic sugar castle." Tori felt a little silly reading the words out loud, but whatever, it was a relic of her childhood, a testament to just how blissfully innocent her younger years were. Cat giggled by Tori's side.

"That didn't happen," Andre deadpanned, an eyebrow quirked in confusion.

"I know that didn't happen," Tori responded, suddenly feeling a little defensive.

"Yeah," Trina cut in quickly, "and read what you said you'd do if it didn't happen."

Tori complied. "I will be Trina's assistant and do whatever she says for a whole… month." The pieces were finally clicking into place in Tori's head.

"That's right!" Trina cried out triumphantly, taking Robbie's vacated seat.

Ooh, this was not going to end well. "So?" Tori tried to shrug it off. She folded up the paper again along the well-worn creases. Where the heck did Trina even dig up this old thing? Was this why she locked herself in her room all weekend? "I wrote this when I was 6." Tori tried to channel all the courtroom tricks her mom had taught her growing up.

Unfortunately, Tori forgot that Trina had also gotten the same training. And had a whole year of practice more than Tori. "Yeah," Trina grinned smugly, "and who was it who said you have to keep your word, no matter how long ago it was?"

Chiz. Trina had her there.

"Don't worry, Tori," Trina assured her sister, "I'm not gonna be unreasonable." But the smirk Trina wore said different. She was totally going to be unreasonable. Full diva Trina.

Tori scoffed to buy herself some time to think. She needed a way out of this. Fast. "Will you guys tell her she's being ridiculous?" Tori turned to Cat and Andre.

"Well," Andre shrugged. "You did make a deal…"

Trina's smug smirk grew wider. Tori glared at Andre, but it was weak and half-hearted.

"And you did say a person should keep their word," Cat added.

"Thank you, Tori's friends," Trina said. She dug through her backpack and produced a crumpled sheet of lined paper. "Now, here's a list of things you need to do for me." Trina thrust the paper at Tori, and Tori snatched it up before it could fly away in the wind.

"But, I—"

"I'll have another list for you in the morning," Trina said, cutting off Tori. "Goodbye." She left the table.

Tori sighed and scanned through the list. She blanched. How does Trina have so many different skincare routines for every part of her body?

The next evening, Andre was over, shoveling yet another pint of Lichter's ice cream into his mouth. He had volunteered to keep Tori company as Trina yanked her around with every little barked command.

Tori couldn't remember a time she wasn't Trina's assistant, because it felt like most of her life, she had already been at Trina's beck and call anyway. Only, now, Tori didn't get the choice to say no. She groaned as Trina called her name from the couch without bothering to move from her lengthwise lounging position.

"Yeah?" she grumbled.

"I don't like this song," Trina said around a mouthful of pickle. "I need you to change it."

Tori glanced down at Trina's orange Pearphone, which was resting on top of the half-sofa's back. "Your phone is right next to you."

"Yeah, but I have a pickle in this hand and lip gloss in this one." She held up each of her occupied hands to demonstrate. "Now change the song!"

Tori gaped at her sister. This was a new low. "You're gonna dry out your lip gloss wand, you know."

"Oh, this one's yours," Trina smirked.

Tori rolled her eyes heavily.

"Put on some Ke$ha," Andre suggested from the dining table. "Maybe that'll give my ice cream some luck."

Tori nodded and asked Trina, "You want some Ke$ha?"

Trina wrinkled her face in disgust. "Who puts ketchup on their pickle?"

"Not ketchup, Ke$ha," Tori enunciated, resisting the urge to rip Trina's headphones off out of spite (she knew she'd have to be the one to put them back onto Trina's head just right anyway).

"Oh yeah," Trina agreed eagerly. "Play a Ke$ha song." Tori tapped on a song. "Ooh, good one. Put it on loop," Trina commanded as soon as Tori locked the phone and set it back down.

Tori rolled her eyes but complied. At this rate, she would be able to hack into her sister's phone any time she wanted.

When Tori returned to the dining table to rejoin Andre, she sighed as she slumped into her chair. "How am I gonna be her assistant for a month without ripping her head off?" Tori understood that this whole assistant thing had to, in part, be revenge for the Lendle date. But honestly, this was taking it too far. A whole month?

But Andre wasn't paying attention to Tori's woes. "Oh, yeah, baby!" He cheered in excitement as he licked the cardboard disc and held it up for Tori to see.

Tori let out a squeal of excitement for her friend. "You got an A!" She clapped.

"Yeah, I did!"

"Good! So, now you have K and A."

"Yep, all I need is an E-S-H, and I get a private concert from Ke$ha." He rubbed his hands excitedly.

"You just need 'esh.'"

"I need 'esh' real bad."

An idea struck Tori. "Hey, wait. Andre, if I help you win the concert, would you be willing to let me and Trina come?"

"What're you thinking, chica?" Andre asked carefully.

"Making a deal with Trina," Tori grinned mischievously. "Listen, I need to get out of this assistant contract thing. I really don't know how I'm gonna survive a whole month of this. I have my own life!"

Andre hummed in thought. "And what do I get in return?"

"Your private Ke$ha concert?" Tori suggested with a guilty smile.

"Well, it's not very private if I'm sharing it with y'all, especially your sister. But you are my friend, so…" Andre sighed. "It's a deal—"

"Yay!" Tori clapped.

"If—"

"Awww." Tori immediately deflated.

"You help me write a song."

Tori whined. "Andre, you know I'm not good at songwriting!"

"Think of it as practice." Andre smiled. "Now, do we have a deal?" He extended his hand across the table.

"Don't expect much," Tori warned, reaching over to grasp Andre's hand.

"Oh, chica, I'm expecting a whole song."

Tori whined again and shook his hand. When they released their grips, Tori went to Trina to present the deal to her.

Trina scoffed. "There's no way you're gonna get me a private concert with Ke$ha."

"Then no loss to you, right?"

"Fine. Switch the song to 'Blow,' put it on loop, and scurry off." Trina made a shooing motion. Tori did as she was told and blasted the volume.

When Tori returned to the dining table this time, she was beaming. "Time to eat some ice cream."

Tori was glad the heatwave was ramping up that week, but not hot enough to make ice cream sold out everywhere. Once Tori confirmed with Andre at school that they'd be officially starting the ice cream hunt together after school, Cat overheard, which led to Robbie getting involved (probably to apologize or something), and then, Andre realized they might as well get all the help they could get. So even Beck and Jade were recruited to join the cause.

Tori managed to negotiate with Trina some off-time from being her assistant for a few hours after school. Without wasting any of Tori's precious free time, Beck loaded up his car full of as much Lichter's he could buy from the nearest store, and soon, the six of them were scooping ice cream out into large plastic tubs Tori had dragged out of the garage and hosed down in the driveway.

Every couple seconds, one of them would call out the letter they found.

So far, it was a lot of A's and K's.

"We're never gonna spell Ke$ha," Jade stated flatly as she flicked another cardboard disc free of ice cream and glanced at the letter. It was another K.

"Why are there so many K's and A's?" Robbie asked, digging out the newest cardboard disc from his pint.

"I dunno," Tori sighed, scraping a fresh carton free of ice cream, "but we'd be doing great if we were trying to win a private concert from 'Akakakak.'"

No one laughed at Tori's attempt to lighten the mood. She frowned and dug more furiously into her carton.

"I guess they gotta make some of the letters hard to find," Andre reasoned from the kitchen, "or everyone could win."

Everyone hummed in agreement.

"I'm sick of this," Jade suddenly exploded. "Ice cream reminds me of my childhood." She plopped another full spoonful of ice cream into her large tub.

"You didn't have a happy childhood?" Tori asked. Jade's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, as if realizing what she said out loud. But she recovered quickly, very quickly, and her face was a mask of scowling indifference as she returned to her task.

"My favorite toy was a hammer. You finish the puzzle."

Tori really did try to finish the puzzle, with all the pieces she had collected so far. She remembered Jade did seem rather good with a hammer when they were building the cupcake float. Precise blows. Strong blows. Ones that specifically made enough noise to ward off anybody approaching, but without damaging any of the wood.

Tori wondered what could've happened in Jade's childhood that ice cream was associated so negatively with it—alongside hammers. She briefly imagined a little baby Jade, angry and scowling, wielding a plastic toy hammer as she knocked down a pile of wooden blocks stacked up to make a house. Tori had to suppress a grin, and it faded all by itself when she felt Jade's piercing stare on her, and she looked up to meet it.

Tori looked away, catching Cat's gaze on her as well. Cat seemed to be studying Tori carefully, and her wide brown eyes flickered between Jade and Tori a few times before dipping back down to her ice cream carton.

Tori didn't know what to make of that interaction.

"Y'know," Beck finally broke the silence, "you don't have to help."

"Don't push me," Jade gritted out.

Beck sputtered and Jade muttered responses until Beck dropped the subject altogether with his hands raised.

"But," Tori stepped in as the bickering died down, "the deal is, if we win, and Ke$ha does do the private concert here, only the people who helped find the five letters get to come. Right, Andre?" Tori licked her spoon.

"Right," Andre nodded.

"Only the people who help find the letters get to come!" Jade cried out in her ridiculous southern belle accent she reserved only for Tori.

"I don't talk like that!" Tori snapped.

Jade flashed Tori a sour smile and flung another spoonful of ice cream into her tub.

Silent concentration settled over the group again, and the silence was only occasionally broken by the letters each person found at the bottom of the pint.

Tori licked the cardboard disc clean and yelled, "Aah!" She proudly held up the letter she just uncovered and announced, "E! I got an E!"

The five cheered as Tori stood up to stick it to their makeshift pinboard. The E joined the K and the A, leaving two blank spots in between.

"Yeah!" Tori cheered and turned to give Andre a high-ten, but both realized halfway through how sticky and gross their hands were.

"Actually…"

"Yeah, no, no…"

They compromised by bumping elbows.

"Ice cream hands…"

"All sticky…"

Robbie slowly walked past Tori and Andre, heaving a very full tub of melted ice cream toward the door.

"Hey, where're you goin'?" Tori asked.

"Well, I don't think we should waste all this ice cream," Robbie shrugged. "So, I'm gonna take it down to that playground down the corner and give it to some little kids."

"Uh," Beck hesitated, "I don't know how the kids' mother's are gonna feel about a strange guy handing out ice cream—"

"Let him do it," Jade enunciated slowly and forcefully.

Beck turned to face Jade. "Y'know what, you… you are a terrible influence," Beck muttered as Jade protested quietly and snippily.

"Just let him do it. Just let him do it!" Jade finally yelled.

"Good luck!" Beck raised his hands in surrender and watched Robbie head out the door with a smile.

"Okay, people, we find us an S and an H, and we got us a private Ke$ha concert," Andre reminded everyone, beaming with newfound hope.

"And my freedom from Trina!" Tori added.

Cheers erupted, all except from Jade, who contributed a dry, "Whatever."

Tori rolled her eyes. She wasn't going to let Jade's indifference bring her down. They were so close now.

Hours later, deep into the night, most of them were out of ice cream to dig through, and Beck had stepped out to go get some more.

Andre, Cat, and Tori dug out the last of their pints. All they found were more A's and K's.

"Okay, this is actually causing me pain," Jade declared from her perch near the kitchen countertop. "And not the good kind," she added, almost as an afterthought.

Tori knit her eyebrows together. "There's a good kind?"

Jade met Tori's confused gaze with a mischievous one and bounced her pierced eyebrow so quickly that Tori, for a moment, believed she imagined the movement. But Jade's smirk, as a blush crept across Tori's cheeks, told her otherwise. That was definitely another comment custom-tailored to make Tori blush. What the heck?!

"All we need is an S and an H," Andre sighed. "Is that so much to ask?!" He suddenly shouted to the ceiling.

"I'm out of ice cream," Cat declared softly.

"Me too." Tori set down her last empty pint and wiped her sticky hands on a dish towel.

"Beck'll be back with more soon," Jade said, voice uncharacteristically soft.

Before Tori got a chance to turn around and see what kind of expression Jade was wearing with the unusually quiet statement, the front door slowly clicked open, and a battered and bruised Robbie, sporting a tear in his shirt on the shoulder, slowly trudged in.

He looked about as beaten up and shaken as Andre and Beck did the night they were all stuck in the cupcake float.

"Robbie, what happened?" Tori asked, though she had a pretty good idea of what happened already.

"I went to the playground," Robbie began. "I got off my bike, and I yelled, 'Hey, kids, who wants some free ice cream?'" He slowly circled around the back of the half-sofa Andre claimed and sighed. His voice quivered as he recounted the next part of his story. "And then their mothers chased me into an alley… and beat me with sticks!"

"Sticks?" Cat parroted, confused.

Tori was equally confused. In her experience, it was usually a slipper or a spatula, though she suspected the latter wasn't exactly as readily available at a local playground.

Robbie collapsed into the half-sofa next to Tori with a whine. "One big mom socked me right in the gut," he added.

Jade chuckled soft and low. "You gotta love big moms," she mused.

Tori stared at Jade. Jade merely stared back evenly, her pierced eyebrow arched in a dare. Tori shook her head and broke eye contact to gently rub Robbie's shoulder comfortingly.

"Hey," Beck greeted the group flatly as he entered the house next.

"Where's the ice cream?" Andre asked, perking up at Beck's empty hands.

"Yeah," Tori got to her feet. "Didn't you get some more?"

"Nope," Beck shook his head and tossed his keys into the other hand before pocketing them. "Check Ke$ha's last update." He waved his phone.

Tori dove for her own and fumbled to bring up Ke$ha's Splashface profile. "Congrats to the dude in Northridge," Tori read aloud, heart sinking further and further with each word, "who found all the letters and spelled out Ke$ha. Thanks for playing. Ke$ha later."

She locked her phone and collapsed into the half-sofa.

"Contest over," Andre said glumly.

"Great!" Jade declared loudly and sarcastically. "I spent 9 hours of my life violating pints of ice cream for nothing."

"While I got stick-beat by vicious mothers!" Robbie cried out.

"I hate everything," Tori bemoaned.

"Don't be sad," Cat attempted to cheer the group up.

"I am sad!" Tori declared, getting up to her feet to turn around and face Cat, who had snuck up on Tori from behind. "Because I didn't marry a handsome prince, and I don't live in a magic sugar castle, and now, we can't win the Ke$ha concert, which means that I gotta keep being Trina's stupid assistant for 28 more days!" Tori finally took a breath and ran a hand through her hair.

"Okay, well, that is sad," Cat murmured.

"Maybe…" Andre sighed. "Maybe Trina will just forget about it."

Tori snorted loud and incredulous. "You've met Trina. She'll never let this go, not until the very last day."

Cat patted Tori's head as she collapsed back onto the half-sofa.

"Well," Jade declared, "as fun as all this has been," she turned a sour smile dripping with sarcasm to Tori, "I'm going home because I can't stand another minute of all your whining." As she passed by Andre, Jade offered, "It sucks, bro." She patted his shoulder lightly in some gesture of comfort and then swept out the door.

Beck sighed too. "Sorry, Andre, Tori. I wish I wasn't the bearer of bad news."

"S'all good, bro. Thanks for helping out."

"Yeah, thanks, Beck."

One by one, everyone filtered out as the last of the tubs were hosed down clean of ice cream.

Tori had just finished stacking the tubs back in the garage when Trina came down the stairs asking if everyone was gone.

Glumly, Tori nodded.

"Good, it's time for my bath," Trina said, clapping.

Tori sighed and rolled her eyes but trudged up the stairs.

She really wanted this month to be over.

The next morning, Tori dragged herself to her locker, aching all over. Who knew being a full-time masseuse to a person was a full-body workout? Tori groaned as she rolled her arm and massaged her shoulder before slamming her locker shut.

"Ooh," a familiar voice gloated, "you don't look happy." Jade grinned, clutching a cup of Jet Brew and clinging to Beck's side.

Tori mustered a half-hearted glare and retorted, "I'm not."

"Yay," Jade cheered quietly as she peered down at her Jet Brew cup, evidently to hide the obvious glee on her face. Jade took a big gulp of her Jet Brew as Beck sighed.

"Trina giving you a hard time?" Beck offered more sympathetically.

"Yes," Tori sighed. "I mean I love her, but I didn't know she'd be this drunk on power. Today, she demanded breakfast in bed, and it was like feeding Goldilocks! If it was too hot—"

Tori's storytime was cut short by Trina screeching Tori's name from down the hall. Trina came sprinting toward the three of them, holding her phone away from her gingerly like she was holding a dirty sock.

It was ringing.

Tori eyed Trina's state with unamusement.

"Answer my phone," Trina said quickly, thrusting the orange device into Tori's hands.

"I don't wanna!" Tori protested.

"You're her assistant," Jade pointed out with a smirk. "So do what she says."

Trina grasped Jade by the elbow and exclaimed, "Thank you, Jade."

"Never touch me," Jade hissed, and Trina immediately retracted her hand.

Tori frowned. Strange. She remembered her own hand having been in exactly the same position, and yet Jade's reaction was nowhere near as immediate or viscerally repellent as that.

"Just answer the phone!" Trina insisted.

"Why can't you answer your own phone?" Tori huffed.

"It's that guy, Lendle, from last weekend. He won't stop calling me. Just answer it!" Trina repeated for a third time as the orange phone vibrated to life in Tori's hand.

Tori sighed and answered the call. This was, after all, the mess that Tori had gotten Trina into. It seemed only fair that she at least attempted to get her sister out of it. Maybe she could even negotiate a shortened sentence after this.

"Hello?"

Lendle sounded hopeful as he inquired if he dialed the right number. He was looking for Trina. Was this her?

"No, I'm sorry. Trina's…" Tori looked to her sister for a cue.

"Dead!" Trina whispered. Then immediately backtracked. "U-uh, no. Say I moved to Canada."

"Uh… she moved to Canada. Then died." Tori winced. She was definitely not the most convincing liar.

Lendle sounded taken aback by the sudden somber news and asked whom he was speaking to.

"Yeah, um, this is her sister, Tori."

He brightened at the sound of that, and he immediately asked if she would be willing to go out on a date with him. Unbeknownst to him, that was actually the original plan his father had in mind for him.

"No, I will not go out with you!" Tori snapped, glaring at Jade's stifled snicker. "What is—"

Trina grasped loudly and demanded, "Gimme my phone!" She wrestled the phone out of Tori's grip and yelled, "Hey! I'm dead for ten seconds, and you're already hitting on my sister?!" She paused for a beat, then indignantly shouted, "Uh, no! No!" She stormed away, screaming into her phone, "It doesn't matter I'm not actually dead—"

Tori sighed and gestured toward Trina's figure disappearing down the hall. "That's my life now."

Jade shrugged and smiled.

"So, I might as well—"

"Hey, Tori!" Cat called out from across the hallway. A small group of students were gathered around her and Sinjin, which was an intriguing sight all on its own. Cat beckoned for Tori to come over. "Come see this!"

"What?" she asked, exhausted from this week's events already. She barely heard Beck and Jade's shuffling footsteps follow behind her as she approached.

"Play it again," she requested Sinjin.

"Kay kay," Sinjin agreed. It was weird, and strange, to hear him so lightheartedly imitate Cat's catchphrase.

Regardless, Tori turned her attention to the Splashface video Sinjin reloaded to the beginning. He hit play, and Ke$ha on screen, clutching a bottle of what Tori recognized to be Blue Dog Soda, declared in slurred words, "So, turns out that dude from Northridge who said he won the Lichter's ice cream challenge—he faked it." She paused like she knew to wait for Tori's wide-eyed gasp of shock to escape her gaping mouth, even as she covered it. "Yeah. The guy's a loser," Ke$ha stated flatly. "Anyways," she grinned, taking a swig of the blue soda, "contest back on. Get it. Ke$ha," she made a peace sign at the camera, "out."

"I can still win the contest," Tori breathed.

"Run for it, Tori. Run straight home, and don't stop until you get there!" Sinjin encouraged her.

"Right!" Tori raced out of the main entrance and sprinted home. Her favorite necklace, the one she bought at the mall during Trina's retail therapy sister shopping trip, bounced against her chest with each leap. Halfway there, she had to slow to a stop. There was a stitch in her side. Wow, she really wasn't as in shape as she thought she was. A blast from a car horn sounded, making Tori jump and scream in surprise.

"Need a ride?" Beck grinned from the driver's seat. Jade wore something close to a grin through the rolled down window.

"Yes," Tori panted and moved to tug the back seat door open. She slid into the car and welcomed the AC breeze with a moan of satisfaction.

Beck chuckled as he shifted the car into gear.

The ice cream scooping factory was back in full gear within the hour. Everyone had skipped school to come support Andre and Tori in their efforts: Beck, for his best friend, Jade, to support her boyfriend, Cat, to support everyone, and Robbie to reclaim his lost dignity from the playground debacle.

Trina had agreed to cover for Tori in case their parents asked about the missed attendance, but Tori had a sneaking suspicion that the discussion wouldn't come up. Not like they were ever home anyway.

Like the majority of the effort, the first hour passed with nothing more than A's and K's.

"A," Tori announced, licking her fingers to catch some stray droplets of melted ice cream.

"H," Cat shared.

"K," Robbie supplied next, dumping the ice cream into his tub.

"Wait, Cat, what did you say?"

"Oh!" Cat realized belatedly. "I said H! I got an H!" She held up the letter and giggled as everyone crowded around to congratulate her and cheer. "Oh, I feel so loved!" Cat proudly stepped up to add it to their growing list.

"Kee-ha!" Andre shouted like a war cry, pumping his fists into the air.

"Kee-ha!" The rest of the group answered with equal enthusiasm.

"Let's find that S before somebody else does!" Tori clapped her hands, and everyone agreed and returned to their stations.

"A."

"A."

"K."

"K."

"A."

And on and on it continued.

Deep into the evening, with nearly as many empty cartons as the night before, the group had long lost their new surge of enthusiasm and were back to low energy levels as ice cream was scooped and poured out into the tubs.

"E," Jade shared, setting aside that carton.

"A," Robbie grumbled.

"H." Cat scooped the ice cream out with a plop.

"K," Beck sighed.

But Tori wasn't paying any mind to her friends' defeated mumbles.

Her brain was on overdrive. She frantically scooped the ice cream out, like the bottom of each pint held the promise of salvation and water in the desert of her misery. She wouldn't allow it. She wouldn't. She couldn't. Not after all this time. After all this ice cream.

She wasn't sure she would ever be able to see ice cream the same way again.

Tubs and tubs of liquified brown and cream swirls, occasionally dotted with the chunks of toppings mixed in. It was unnerving to see such a simple dessert so… deconstructed.

Tori was like a madwoman. She muttered to herself, scraping already-empty cartons in hopes that she overlooked a letter in one of them. The mountain of discarded ice cream pints was staggering as it piled up by the back patio doors.

"Tori?" Andre said gently. She hadn't even heard him approach. But no matter. This was no time to focus on that. She needed—she needed—to find that S. "Tori," Andre tried again. "Hey, uh—"

He jumped back in surprise as Tori screamed, "What, what, what?! I gotta find the S!" She wielded the spatula like Jade wielded her scissors, even though Tori's weapon was much blunter and less threatening. Was this the kind of anxiety Jade had felt on opening night for Well Wishes? Perhaps Tori could relate a little to how wound up Jade had been.

And oh, she had splattered ice cream across Andre's face and shirt. A few drops had landed in his eyes, apparently. He rubbed his eyes clean.

Tori was a rambling mess. Her breathing was shallow. Her attention was jumpy and short. She knew what she looked like. A complete mess. This was how she felt on the inside whenever she was nervous, like for most of her first month at Hollywood Arts, and like when she was pushed onto the stage for the first time at the Big Showcase. But her friends had never seen this side of her before.

Tori would've cared more if her neurons weren't firing at their wit's end. She couldn't bear to think of another day being stuck as Trina's assistant. Couldn't they see? Couldn't they see?!

Instead, Andre gently pried the spatula out of Tori's grip and suggested, "Why don't you take a break?" He patted her shoulder and steered her to the nearest chair at the dining table, already piled high with empty cartons.

"No," she resisted Andre. "No, I gotta find the S!"

Andre stared at Tori.

Tori could feel the hysterics coming on, and she had no idea how to stop it.

"I don't wanna be Trina's assistant anymore. I-I just need the S to spell Ke$ha." Her voice was coming out breathless and whiny, and she hated it, but she didn't know how to stop. She grasped Andre by his shirt front and demanded, "Where," she buried her head into Andre's chest, "is the S?" she sobbed. Moments later, she felt Andre hesitantly pat the back of her head. She sobbed harder.

"I don't know, baby," he crooned softly. "I just don't know."

It was a nice moment. Tori could feel herself relax with each soothing pat Andre granted her. His steady heartbeat (though slightly elevated) was much more evenly paced than Tori's racing one. After another moment or so, she finally unclenched her fists from balling up Andre's shirt front, and she rested her hands flat against his chest.

"Hey guys?" Robbie suddenly said.

"What's up?" Andre replied as Tori's head popped up like a jack-in-the-box.

"What? What?" Tori repeated in rapid succession. Though Tori was reluctant to leave this moment shared with Andre, her panic was back from Robbie's indecipherable tone.

Robbie was holding his massive PearPadMax. "The letter that we found the most of is K, right?"

Everyone in the room confirmed this with nods and agreements.

"And what ice cream flavor have we searched the most?" Robbie asked next.

"Uh…" Tori searched the dining table for the notepad where they were tracking all the ice cream purchases to divvy up the grand total later. She snatched it up and read off the list, "Looks like… Beach Bunny Blitz, Blueberry Pecan, and Creamy Cowboy Crunch."

"Ah!" Robbie grinned triumphantly as he tapped away on the massive screen, "Which, according to the Lichter's website, are their three most popular flavors."

"So," Jade mused aloud, "if they put the easiest to find letters in the most popular ice cream flavors…"

"Then they probably put the hardest to find letters—"

Tori gasped and slapped Andre's chest insistently crying out, "The S! The S!"

Andre winced and grabbed hold of Tori's wrists. He nodded gently and acknowledged Tori's input, "The S."

"In their least popular flavors," Beck concluded for Andre.

Tori wrenched her hands free from Andre's grasp and pounded over toward the living room, nearly slipping on a puddle of ice cream as she went. "What's the least popular flavor of Lichter's ice cream?" she demanded, catching herself on the back of the half-sofa.

"Uh," Robbie gingerly rubbed his ear. "I don't like being hollered at," he replied indignantly.

Tori let out an animalistic growl and suddenly, there were two pairs of hands holding her back as she reared up to vault over the half-sofa she was gripping, ready to lunge at Robbie.

"Relax, relax!"

"Chill! Chill."

Beck and Andre's voices brought Tori back down to earth, and she found herself entangled in their arms.

Andre firmly requested, "Just tap your PearPad and tell us their least popular flavor."

Tori finally relaxed and swatted away the boys' arms. She straightened her outfit out and blew some errant strands of hair out of her face as she crossed her arms.

"Alright, alright!" Robbie relented. "It's, um…" He conferred with his PearPad. "Funky Nut Blast?"

Everyone glanced at each other with confused looks. All but Cat.

"I've never even heard of that," Beck declared.

"Me either," Andre agreed quietly.

"Well, it has to exist somewhere."

"Oh, it does." Everyone's eyes snapped to Cat, who was sitting on the stairs, playing with her hair. She stood up with a grin. "It's my brother's favorite, so my mom buys it for him and puts his special medicine in it."

"Well, where do we buy the Funky Nut Blast?" Tori demanded, rushing at Cat.

Cat let out a surprised squeal, and Tori took a half-step back. Cat's voice was a little shaky when she answered. "We get it at the Handy Quick in Calabasas."

Tori immediately turned to Andre. "Drive me there?"

"Let's go!" Andre nodded quickly.

"I'm going," Jade declared to no one in particular.

"Can I come?" Cat asked.

"I don't care!" Tori replied as she rushed past Cat and made a beeline for the front door.

Tori felt like a live wire during the entire car ride there. She was positively bouncing in her seat. Surprisingly, Jade didn't comment on it, for once. Tori didn't have the mental space to fully appreciate it though. All that ran through her head was, Please let us find the S. Please let us find the S. Please—

Andre swerved into a spot, and Tori was already jumping out the door by the time the car was put into park. Cat and Jade weren't too far behind.

They fell into the small convenience store with a clamor, nearly tripping over each other as they raced to the freezer in the back of the store. They read each useless label before tossing the undesired carton to the side.

Finally, Tori cried out, "Funky Nut Blast!" and held up the carton in question.

They cheered, and Tori sent Cat to go pay for the ice cream before tearing off the lid and flipping it over to shake the solid chunk of frozen dairy out.

It was so much easier to pry out as a solid than scooping it out as a gooey, melted mess. But it still took Tori several vigorous shakes, reminiscent of Sikowitz shaking that jar of cream into butter, to coax the ice cream out. Tori squeezed the carton and even kicked a leg up into the air to give herself some extra leverage, even if it was just in her mind. Just as she was about to give up, it slid out as a whole chunk and landed on the floor with a dull thump.

"I got it!" she cried out and she bent down to pick up the red disc stuck to the peak of the solid dessert, still molded in the shape of the carton.

"You see the S?" Andre asked.

Tori flipped the disc over and over in her fingers. No. No, no, no, no, no. "No. It's just a dumb H." Tori threw the stupid disc to the ground.

This couldn't be happening.

"Well, maybe there's another pint," Andre said hopefully.

"No, there's not," Jade reported. Her voice lacked its usual gloating undertone. It was simply… disappointed. "That was the only Funky Nut Blast."

Tori felt herself stumble backward until her back collided with the edge of the freezer door. With a near-silent whimper reminiscent of a dolphin squeal, Tori slid down slowly into a crouch.

"Tori…" But Tori barely registered hearing her name, much less the uncharacteristically soft voice that called her name. Her first name.

"What're you doing, Tori?" Andre chided softly. "We're in public."

Tori instead buried her head into her lap, still whimpering softly.

"C'mon, please?" Andre pleaded.

"Hey," Cat said quietly. In a stronger, more confident voice, she repeated, "Hey. That boy over there is eating Funky Nut Blast."

Tori's head perked up faster than a Whack-a-mole mole.

The four raced over toward the boy, crowding him. He looked slightly terrified as he lightly sucked on his latest spoonful of ice cream. He regarded each of the teenagers surrounding him carefully and tentatively.

"Hi," Andre greeted the boy, like they hadn't just cornered him like a pack of hyenas.

"Hello." Tori donned on her brightest megawatt smile.

"Hey," the boy responded carefully.

"Uh, whatcha eatin' there?" Tori asked sweetly.

"Funky Nut Blast, why?" He eyed Tori suspiciously.

The group chorused a fake wave of "ohh"s like they totally didn't know that was what he was eating.

"Can we have it?" Tori asked next.

"Get outta here," the boy shook his head sassily.

Tori was taken aback by his sudden confident demeanor.

"We'll give you 30 bucks for it," Jade offered flatly. Tori glanced at Jade, eyebrow raised. Jade half-shrugged, and it was like, for a moment, Tori heard exactly what Jade was conveying with that look: Sometimes, the best way to deal with a kid is to bribe 'em. Tori's mind flashed back to when she herself had come to relatively the same conclusion, back when she bribed daughter Daisy to keep her mouth shut about the whole fake celebrity ruse to delay Mrs. Lee from making it to opening night of Well Wishes. Then again, that hadn't ended too well. Tori got swindled out of 20 bucks anyway (and banned from the restaurant) but something told Tori that Jade wasn't the type to get so easily duped.

The kid regarded Jade carefully. A beat passed as he thought about it. Then, "Deal." He nodded.

"Yay!" The group cheered. Jade slapped the bills into the kid's outstretched hand but didn't let go until he handed over the carton to Tori.

Tori grabbed it out of his hand and used the spoon he had left in it to scoop the remainder of the ice cream out into the nearest trash can.

"Yes! Yesss!!!" Tori held up the red cardboard disc that bore the proud curvy letter Tori had prayed to see at the bottom of the carton.

"Yay!" Cat cheered. "Now we can win the contest and meet Ke$ha!"

"Woohoo! Private concert, here we come!" Andre whooped.

Tori watched Jade bend down and meet the kid in the eye as she said in a low voice, "Sorry, kid. Next time, know what your chips are worth."

She relinquished her grip on the boy's hand and the bills and joined the rest of them as they headed back to Andre's car.

Suffice it to say, the ride back was far more energetic than the drive there, and that was saying a lot, given how tense Tori alone had been.

Andre gave Tori the honor of sending in the picture, especially since they had agreed to host the concert at the Vega house anyway, and Tori needed the confirmation the minute they got it so that she could tell Trina the good news.

Tori rubbed it into Trina's face only a little bit, but Trina couldn't care less that she was losing an assistant who would serve her hand and foot for another 26 days. She was over the moon that she was still invited to the concert at all.

"Of course you're invited, Treen. You live here. And I specifically asked Andre's permission, since technically he was the one who got us all started on this crazy competition. And he made us all promise that if you want to attend the concert, you have to help."

Trina cooed and clutched her heart, tears lining her eyes.

"Consider this my resignation letter as your assistant," Tori grinned.

"Resignation accepted," Trina nodded, tackling Tori into yet another bear hug.

"Okay, just… promise you won't be weird to Ke$ha?"

"I'll be on my best behavior. Hey, do you think she'll sign my boobs?"

"Treen!" Tori swatted her sister's shoulder, who burst out cackling.

"Kidding, Tor, kidding. Pretty sure she'd sign yours instead. They're flatter, like paper."

"Treen!" Tori repeated, aghast. But she couldn't keep her smile from cracking through her mask of horror. "You're the worst," she muttered into yet another hug.

"You're the best."

"I know," Tori chuckled.

In the end, they all got autographs, on normal papers, not any body parts. Ke$ha gifted them all a bunch of merch, like sold-out concert tees and other knick knacks, as well as massive posters, all with her signature already on them.

She was a gracious celebrity, and, as promised, Trina was mostly on her best behavior. At least, she didn't jump on Ke$ha like she did that one manager from the record label that had once offered to sign Andre during the Diddly-Bops era. Tori smiled fondly at that memory.

"Hey," Jade approached Tori where she was standing, observing the small party. Ke$ha really went all out with the performance and had blasted glitter all over the room, just like her song.

"Oh, hey," Tori greeted Jade as she turned to stand shoulder to shoulder with Tori and similarly looked out upon the gathering.

"You… aren't cool, yet," Jade said slowly. "But…" she stared at her punch cup for a long moment before concluding, "you're not not cool." She took a sip to occupy her mouth.

Tori smiled. "Thanks, Jade."

"Whatever, Sweet Sally Peaches. This changes nothing between us."

"Sure, Jade. Sure."

Jade looked at Tori for the first time since approaching her. Curiously, it wasn't a glare that was directed at Tori, but rather a quizzical stare.

"Whatever," Jade grumbled, but it lacked the usual amount of snark. Without another word, Jade walked away to rejoin the party and immediately fell into the embrace of Beck's arms, swaying slowly as her own arms wrapped around his neck.

Tori forced her grin to grow wider. She needed to deal with these feelings. And soon. She gripped her punch cup tightly and gulped down the rest before stalking off to refill.

“You look like you got something to say,” Andre said teasingly as he joined Tori at the punch bowl.

“Maybe,” Tori shrugged.

“Good thing you still owe me a song then,” Andre grinned.

Tori groaned. She had forgotten about that part of the deal.

“Relax, chica,” Andre said gently. “I’ll help you through it, don’t worry.”

“Do I have to?” Tori pulled on her best pouting face, but Andre stayed firm.

“Nope, you’re not pouting your way out of this. C’mon. I know you got words to get off your chest. It’ll help. Promise.”

Tori sighed. “Fine.”

“We’ll start Monday after school. Can’t wait.”

“Yeah,” Tori muttered to herself. She stared down at her punch cup. “Can’t wait.”

Jade's POV

Tori was acting weird. Vega was acting weird. Jade couldn't allow herself to think of her rival on a first-name basis. That just wouldn't be right.

Jade had overheard Cat and Tori whispering conspiratorially in the library one time, falling dead silent when Jade walked by, even though they looked like they were pretending to work on math homework together.

Jade didn't question it though. They could have their secrets. Besides, if Jade really cared, which she didn't, she could easily wheedle a little secret out of Cat at a later time.

But that didn't really seem to be related to why Vega was acting weird.

And that invisible boyfriend of hers seemed all the more distant. He had visited for only a day the weekend after Sikowitz's latest one-act play with the whole Rex disaster (and subsequent, ugh, "revival"). And even then, Tori didn't seem very recovered after the weekend, when normally she was all sunshine and brightness the Monday morning following his visits.

Jade narrowed her eyes at her reflection in the mirror. She was supposed to be doing makeup to get ready to go out on a romantic date with Beck. And she was sure as hell she had chased away these annoying, pervasive thoughts about Tori—Vega, damn it—after she finally sat down and talked with Beck.

With refocused determination, Jade finished the last bit of eyeliner and took a step back to admire her handiwork.

She looked hot.

She had reclaimed her natural brown hair after washing out the black dye, and she was back to her typical blue and pink stripes. She briefly wondered if Tori had caught onto the meaning behind the pink stripe, then she quickly shoved that thought away. If Vega was curious, she'd figure it out or toughen up and ask Jade to her face. Jade touched up her hair and was finally satisfied.

It was a look that made her feel powerful and confident, which were two feelings she hadn't felt in a long time, especially since returning from Yerba. Slowly, she had been reclaiming it, though. Slowly, but surely. Man, Yerba had really thrown her off-balance.

She glanced at the clock. Beck was due to pick her up in about 15 minutes. She put on some finishing touches and pulled on some accessories before fluffing her hair on the way to the door.

"Where are you headed?" Nora West's voice stopped Jade in her tracks. She hadn't known her mom was home.

"Out," Jade replied back curtly. Belatedly, she realized that picking a fight by being snippy right now would probably entangle her in a longer discussion, or worse, an explosive argument, which would only make her late and in a bad mood. So she added, "With Beck. I have a date."

Nora nodded slowly. "Have fun, be safe, and be back before midnight." The older woman returned to scrolling through her tablet.

Jade would've scoffed if she felt she had the time to drag out an argument with the woman. As it were, she did not, and she already heard the telltale sound of Beck's Pontiac's engine purring at the curbside outside.

"I'll try," she replied before breezing out the door. She flipped her house key out from her key ring almost automatically, then paused. Her mom was home. Right. She didn't need to lock the door. She dropped her keys back into her purse and strode out to Beck's waiting car.

As she approached, Beck opened the car door and offered a hand. "M'lady," he grinned.

Jade rolled her eyes but allowed herself to enjoy the small bits of traditional courting Beck decided to exhibit. It was the first time in a while they had gone out on a proper date, and Jade was excited. Most of the time, it was usually just takeout dinner and a movie at either Beck's trailer or Jade's basement room. But Beck insisted it was long past due, and, for once, Jade saw no reason to argue.

Chapter Text

Tori’s POV

Dang it, Andre was right, Tori realized. She did feel a lot better having written the song. Luckily, she managed to convince Andre out of making her perform it anywhere. The lyrics were too personal. Besides, she only agreed to write the song, not come up with a whole melody and record a full demo of it. (She already had a bit of a melody in mind though.)

Still, with that deal now closed and with her newfound independence from being Trina’s assistant, Tori relished in freedom once more.

Steven then dropped a bomb on Tori. The 100-day kiss. Apparently, it was a thing, and Tori had no idea about it. Suddenly, Tori found herself racking her brain and overanalyzing every detail of every kiss she had ever had with Steven, and she began to panic.

She confided in the only person she felt she could: Cat.

When Tori first met Cat, she would’ve never imagined the level-headed girl who now sat next to her. Her first day at Hollywood Arts, Cat seemed… scattered, and distracted. As wild and unpredictable as a bouncing football. And yet, now…

Cat was seated next to Tori, wide brown eyes staring with deep concentration at Tori as she fumbled through her conundrum.

“So… you want to practice kissing?”

“Yeah,” Tori nodded. “I think I need to. I mean, I don’t even know if he’s been into my kissing, and this seems like a big deal to him, and I don’t wanna mess anything up.”

“Tori, relax,” Cat giggled, reaching over to cover Tori’s hand with her own. “I can help you.”

“Y-you can?” Tori gulped. She hadn't considered practicing with Cat. She still didn’t know where she fell on the spectrum, and she wasn’t ready to unpack all that right this second. (Maybe ever.) “H-how?”

“I know a guy.” Oh. Tori felt all the air rush out of her at once as relief swept into its place. “Mark McCallen,” Cat continued, not noticing Tori’s change in demeanor. “He’s like… a kissing tutor.”

“A kissing tutor?”

“Yeah, there’s a couple girls who have asked him to help teach them how to kiss boys better. And he’s gay, so who better to practice with than a guy who knows what guys like?” Cat winked. Tori felt her cheeks blossom with warmth. Strange how that kept happening these days. But just like before, Cat brushed past the little moment without skipping a beat. “I’ll give him your number, and I'll give you his, and you two can set up a time for your ‘lesson.’” Cat bounced air quotes around the word like it was code for something else.

Tori rolled her eyes and smiled. “It really is a lesson. You don’t have to make it seem like it’s not.”

Cat giggled and nudged Tori’s shoulder.

“Alright, alright,” Tori chuckled. “Just, uh… do me a favor, and don’t tell anyone about this?”

“Why?”

“Well, I mean… it’s a little embarrassing. And I know Jade would definitely have a field day with this.”

Cat pursed her lips and looked like she was contemplating saying something for a moment. She apparently decided against it because she soon bobbed her head in agreement with a perky, “Kay kay.” And she dropped the subject altogether.

Speak of the devil herself, Jade happened to walk past just then, and Tori dropped her focus to her math textbook in front of her. She dared not look up, even when she felt Jade’s gaze on her, until she heard the library doors swing shut, and those telltale boot stomps weren’t within earshot anymore.

Tori let the tension out of her shoulders (when had her muscles even stiffened?), and she glanced at Cat. “So, math homework?”

Wednesday afternoon, Tori had just come out of the shower and was toweling her hair dry as she came down the stairs (she could’ve sworn she heard Trina yell her name a couple minutes ago), when she noticed Trina was on the phone with someone. On Tori’s phone.

“Yeah, I love glow-in-the-dark minigolf,” Trina was saying. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know the place.”

Tori descended the rest of the steps and made her way to her sister’s side.

“Okay, see you there,” Trina said before hanging up with a beaming smile on her face. She turned around to come face to face with a displeased Tori. She screamed just a little too loud to be innocent.

Tori narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Why were you on my phone?”

“I wasn’t,” Trina lied, casually tossing the phone in her hand to the half-sofa without breaking eye contact.

“Do you think I didn’t just see you toss my phone on the couch?”

“W-well, why is your hair wet?”

“Because I just took a shower and washed it.” Tori sidestepped Trina and grabbed her phone off the couch. She scrolled through Recent Calls and…

Trina sucked in a sharp inhale as she anticipated Tori reading the most recent call.

“Mark McCallen called me?”

“Did he?” Trina feigned ignorance.

Tori’s mind was racing. “Oh my god,” she gulped. “Cat said he was gonna call me, but I didn’t think he was actually gonna call me. He called me?!” Her panic was reaching new heights. She didn’t expect to have her… lesson so soon. He really didn’t keep a girl waiting. “Well, what did he say?” she asked Trina.

“Well, he wanted to know if you could go play glow-in-the-dark minigolf with him on Friday night. So, I told him you were busy…” Tori’s excited grin fell into a scowl. “But don’t worry,” Trina raised her hands placatingly, “I’m going.” Like that made everything alright.

“I have no plans Friday night,” Tori stated blankly.

“Well, now you can make some!” Trina grimaced.

“Trina! You can’t just steal my date!” Not that it was really supposed to be a date.

“Don’t you have Steven anyway?”

“Yes, but—” Tori sighed and ran her fingers through her damp hair. In a hushed whisper, Tori confessed, “He’s supposed to be my kissing tutor. To help me practice for Steven and my 100-day kiss.”

“Ew, what’s a 100-day kiss?” Trina wrinkled her face in disgust.

“It’s a kiss in a special place to celebrate being together for 100 days. Kinda like an anniversary. I don’t know,” Tori shrugged. “Steven said it’s a special thing.”

“Kinda sounds like he just wants to get to second base.”

“Ew, gross.”

“I don’t know, Tor,” Trina sighed, patting her younger sister on the shoulder sagely and sympathetically. “I’m still going out with Mark on Friday night.”

“Oh, no, you aren’t. Cat helped me set this up. You are not gonna ruin this for me. Who knows when Mark is gonna be free again?!”

“Hey, I answered his call fair and square.”

“Trina—” Tori raised her fist.

“Girls! Hey! Whoa, whoa, whoa,” David Vega appeared to separate the two girls. “What’s goin’ on?”

“Tori was about to hit me!” Trina blurted out.

“Tori, we both know that Trina could put you on the floor in ten seconds flat if she wanted to. Why’re you picking a fight with her?”

“Hey, I took boxing lessons too! I can hold my own! Besides, Trina stole the boy I was gonna hang out with on Friday night, Mark McCallen!”

“The kisser?” David suddenly perked in attention.

“I-I thought you had plans on Friday night!”

“No, you didn’t. You jacked my date!”

“Date?” David scratched his head.

“Hangout. But Trina made it into a date.”

“I did not!”

Tori and Trina continued to scream back and forth until David finally stepped between the two girls again and yelled, “Whoa, whoa, whoa!”

Both sisters, with heaving breaths, stared expectantly at their father, keeping one eye on each other.

“You’re not going anywhere Friday night,” David said calmly to Trina.

“Ha!” Tori cried out. Then paused. “Wait, why isn’t she?”

“Because she’s getting her wisdom teeth out on Friday afternoon.”

“Aw, I forgot.” Trina stamped her foot.

Tori sneered. It wasn’t her best moment, but man, it felt good to finally get one up on her sister, who always seemed to get her way with their parents. “Ha ha, you have to get your teeth ripped out,” she sang.

“It’s not that big a deal,” Trina shot back.

“Uh, yeah, it is,” David countered.

“Wh-what d’you mean?” Trina suddenly paled.

“It’s mouth surgery. I mean, you’re gonna be in some serious pain for the next couple days.”

“Well, you and mom are gonna take care of me, right?” Trina’s voice sounded timid all of a sudden.

“We would, but we’re gonna be in Santa Barbara. Your mom has that convention to go to, remember?”

“Looks like you won’t be jacking my hangout after all,” Tori continued to gloat.

“You’re not going anywhere Friday night either, young lady.” David turned to Tori.

“Wait what?”

“You’re gonna be taking care of her.”

“Wh—I just got out of the assistant contract!”

“Ha ha, Tori’s gotta take care of me,” Trina sang in the same mocking tune.

“I’m gonna be dropping both of you off at the dentist’s office after school Friday, but you’re gonna have to figure out a ride back. I can leave money for a rideshare.”

Tori crossed her arms and scowled. Eventually, she nodded.

At school, Tori managed to track down Mark and apologize for the miscommunication. She explained Trina hijacked her phone while she was in the bathroom, and, as it turns out, neither of them were free to hang out or go out on Friday.

Mark understood, and he counter-offered that they meet up early the following week.

Tori grinned. “You’d really do that?”

“Yeah, why not? You did help my crush get a role in a Jade West play.”

“I… I did?”

Mark nodded. “He was Ariel’s dad in Well Wishes. He thought he blew his audition, but you stood up to Jade and convinced her to give him a second chance.”

“Oh my gosh, I remember that! I had no idea he was your crush.”

“That’s kind of the point of a crush?” He smiled kindly. “Anyway, you unknowingly helped me get his number, so I wanted to repay you.”

Tori smiled. “Thank you. I really appreciate this.”

“Hey, no problem. Happy to return the favor.” He bowed a little with his arms spread wide as the bell rang.

Tori decided not to correct him and let out a sigh as she watched him go. That was one thing off her plate. Now, she just needed to survive this weekend.

On Friday, Sikowitz decided to have class in the Black Box Theater to leverage the set of a new play that was going to be in production soon. He had in mind a very particular scene he wanted to challenge his students to use in an improv skit.

“Ow, ow,” Cat whimpered, leaned up against some prop rocks, holding one eye open. “I’m so scared.”

“Shhh! If that spider bites your eyeball, you could die in minutes," Andre warned Cat gravely in a Jamaican accent.

“Oh man,” Cat moaned. “Please get it off my eye.”

“I’m going to try,” Andre nodded, grabbing hold of some tweezers from the open first aid kit in front of them. “Now, shhh. Don’t. Move. And don’t make a sound.”

In the tense silence, not a soul breathed. Not in the audience. Not on stage.

Then…

Tori’s phone rang loudly.

Cat screamed and swatted away Andre’s arm. Tori herself nearly jumped out of her skin. And Sikowitz began to swat at his ear, exclaiming, “Oh, man, the ringing is back!” Tori had a strong suspicion now that the old man’s hearing was really not the same since Yerba. Tori clicked the ringer off as quietly as possible and slipped the phone into her bag.

“Sikowitz, hey! Sikowitz!” Beck and Jade called out to the old man. “Sikowitz!”

“Yes?” He finally paused his small mental breakdown long enough to answer his students’ shouts.

“That was a phone,” Robbie explained patiently.

Sikowitz looked much relieved, and his panic soon morphed into suspicion. “Whose?” he asked slowly.

“Mine’s…” Tori confessed quietly and meekly.

“Tori…”

“I swear, I thought I had it on vibrate!”

“Class is no place for swearing or vibrating.”

“Maybe we should start the scene over,” Andre suggested, still in his character’s accent.

“Can we?” Cat asked.

“No, Cat,” Sikowitz said with finality. “It’s too late. By now, that spider would have bitten your character’s eyeball, and you’d be dying a spastic and painful death.” He waved them back to their seats.

“Thanks a lot, Tori,” Cat bit out bitterly.

Tori raised an eyebrow. Cat looked really bummed her character was dead. Apparently by a horribly painful and gruesome death, no less.

Tori shrank into her seat.

“Well,” Sikowitz checked his watch. “We have about four minutes left. Why don’t we all chat about our weekend plans? Robbie, I assume you have none,” Sikowitz said breezily without skipping a beat.

Robbie gaped and stuttered for a few moments before mumbling, “I don’t.”

“Rex?” Sikowitz nodded to the mostly recovered puppet. Tori frowned. It still didn’t sit right that Robbie and everyone around him continued to pretend that Rex was his own being. But Tori couldn’t really think of any other way to rectify her hasty backpedaling than to just shut her mouth and accept it as is.

“I’m gonna party with a couple of girls from Northridge.”

“Northridge girls,” Sikowitz repeated, amused. “That should be an adventure.”

Rex chuckled. “What can I say?”

“Cat?” Sikowitz prompted next.

“Jade and I are gonna be going to this new place in Los Feliz. It’s called Karaoke Dokie,” Cat giggled. “They have singing competitions on the weekends, so Jade and I are gonna do a song.”

“I’m picking the song,” Jade asserted.

“Jade’s picking the song,” Cat nodded.

“Can Rex and I come?” Robbie piped up.

“Sure!”

“I told you, man,” Rex sighed (wait, he sighed?), “I got the Northridge girls!”

“They can come watch,” Robbie countered.

“Nah, man, then they’re gonna want us to buy ‘em food and beverages.”

“So?”

“They’re from Northridge. I don’t wanna spend money on ‘em.”

Tori moaned. “I wish I could go to Karaoke Dokie.”

“Why can’t you?” Beck asked.

Before Tori could answer, Jade snapped, “Who cares why she can’t?”

Beck sighed before turning to Jade to respond. “I was just wondering why she—”

“What, you need Tori around to have a good time? Is that your point?”

“Dude…”

“What?”

“Jade!” Sikowitz suddenly thundered. “You’re lucky to have Beck. Don’t be such a gank.” He smiled.

“So why can’t you come?” Cat asked in Beck’s stead.

“Trina’s getting her dumb wisdom teeth out today, and I gotta take care of her.”

“Why can’t your parents take care of her?” Andre asked, finally breaking character.

“‘Cause they’re gonna be in Santa Barbara.”

“What for?”

“So they don’t have to take care of Trina.” Tori sighed. “Well, my mom said she has some convention to go to, and my dad is tagging along too. But I'm pretty sure it's just an excuse."

“Can’t blame ‘em,” Beck offered.

“Shucks to be you,” Jade added faux-sweetly.

“Gank,” Tori fired back.

Jade raised her pierced eyebrow. Tori always braced herself for it, yet somehow, it still always caught her off guard. Tori broke eye contact as the bell rang.

“Alright, now who’s phone was that?” Sikowitz demanded.

“That’s… the bell,” Andre said.

“Oh.” Sikowitz suddenly grinned wide. “Bye!” He scurried out of the Black Box Theater eagerly, leaving the rest of the students to shuffle out at their own pace.

Two hours later, Tori had a wailing, mumbling Trina still gassed up on painkillers and loopy from anesthesia leaning on her shoulder and drooling a bit from the gauze in her mouth.

Tori thanked the driver and somehow managed to coax Trina out of the car. She supported Trina’s staggering dead weight by looping Trina’s arm over her shoulder and half-dragging her sister’s unwilling body up the driveway.

She struggled to grab her key out of the lock as the door swung open while still balancing Trina’s unwieldy, wobbly frame on her own. “C’mon, Trina, you gotta give me some help here,” Tori pleaded as she tried to move them toward the couch.

“No!” Trina pouted. “I gotta ge' mah withdom teeth outh!”

Tori sighed and tried to take a few steps toward the stairs. “Your wisdom teeth are already out,” Tori reminded her. “Now, can you please at least get to the couch?”

“No, I wan’ mah bed!”

“Your bed,” Tori panted, “is upstairs.” She managed to get Trina to sit on the back of the nearest half-sofa. Only, now, Trina’s entire head was leaning heavily on Tori’s chest, and her fingers were curled into tight fists, balling up Tori’s purple flannel in her grip.

“Ta’e me to mah bed!” Trina wailed, shaking Tori with every other word.

Tori briefly weighed the pros and cons of this. Pro: Trina would stop wailing and complaining here, where Tori could barely even get the front door shut. Con: Tori would have to make multiple trips up and down the stairs whenever Trina needed meds or ice packs or really anything.

Tori sighed. “Okay, come on.” She slung Trina’s arm over her shoulders again after setting her purse down and nudging the front door shut. “Here we go.” She helped Trina to her feet and walked toward the stairs. “Going to your bed. Stairs,” she warned. “One, two. And we’re clear.”

That was relatively painless. Now for the actual stairs, not just the raised platform where the piano sat.

Tori groaned. This was going to be a long Friday night.

Jade’s POV

Karaoke Dokie was a decent place. It was clean, had a nice vibe. Robbie and Rex volunteered to go up early, since apparently Rex wanted to impress the Northridge girls they had brought. Jade banned them from joining the table where Beck, Andre, and Cat sat with her.

Robbie did a decent job, if a bit flat on a few notes. But overall, not bad. They sang “Forever Baby” by Michael Corcoran (probably some tribute to Rex’s death and revival), and the two surprisingly didn’t miss a single beat.

Rex brought the song to a close by sustaining the last “baby,” and the crowd applauded for them. Cat seemed particularly proud, and Jade grudgingly clapped too. Like she said, he didn’t do too bad.

“That was for my two ladies from Northridge,” Rex nodded to a table on the far side of the room from where the Hollywood Arts gang sat. “Christie and Bella. Give ‘em some love.”

The crowd cheered in response. Robbie thanked the crowd one last time and stepped off the stage.

“I’m gonna get a soda,” Jade declared, finding her glass empty.

“Get me one?” Andre asked.

“No,” Jade replied without glancing back. She made a mental note to remember Andre’s order.

“Okay,” the deejay announced from his booth, “how ‘bout Robbie and Rex, huh?” The crowd clapped and cheered lightly. “One of the most amazing ventriloquist acts I’ve ever seen!”

Jade smirked on her way to the bar. She could already imagine the indignation Robbie would channel through the puppet.

“Hey,” Jade hailed down a waiter tending the bar. “Refill on this, Cherry Blast Wahoo Punch, and another Pepsi.”

“You got it,” the waiter nodded. He quickly returned with the requested drinks. Jade offered him a half-smile and turned to get back to the table. And boy, the sight that greeted Jade made her see red brighter than her refilled soda.

Some brunette was stroking Beck’s hand, and Cat kept glancing over frantically toward Jade. They finally locked eyes, and between Cat’s panicked look and Beck’s obvious discomfort, whoever this skunkbag was, Jade was about to unleash hell on her.

“He has a girlfriend,” Cat commented loudly as Jade approached the table.

“I don’t see her,” the brunette remarked coyly. Beck gingerly picked up her wandering fingertips by two dainty fingers and gently moved the hand away so that it covered her other hand. He gave it a tentative pat to keep it there, and he smiled tightly.

“Turn around,” Jade demanded sharply.

The brunette turned in the seat and looked Jade up and down disinterestedly.

“Now you see her.”

The girl’s face morphed into a sympathetic simper. “I don’t see much,” she retorted.

Jade ground her jaw to keep her smirk intact and not let it slip into a fuming scowl. Better to keep them on their toes. Don’t let them see the mask is cracking. Jade had had a lot of practice scaring away ganks like this, and this girl was barely a challenge.

The girl stood up to meet Jade eye to eye. Before long, the entire table was up on their feet, including some blonde girl Jade had never seen before. Her guess was the blonde was this brunette’s lackey. Cat was by Jade’s side in a flash.

“Is that my soda?” Andre asked loudly. Jade thrust it toward Andre’s outstretched hand without breaking steady eye contact with the brunette. Jade still had the height advantage, but only barely, she realized, and only because her heeled boots gave her a few inches.

Jade’s left hand came to a rest on her waistband, and Beck eyed it cautiously. He elbowed Andre, who interjected with another desperate attempt to break the tension. “Did you know that karaoke comes to us from the Japanese?”

“Yeah,” Beck added in a strained voice, “how great is Japan, right?”

“Good people,” Andre nodded.

The blonde made her way around the table and sidled up to Andre’s side. “Hey,” she grinned, “check out dude’s jacket.” She pointed to the red letters adorning Andre’s jacket. The brunette turned and chuckled.

“Oh, Hollywood Arts!” She crossed her arms and turned back to meet Jade’s glare head-on. “The school for… wannabes.”

Jade maintained her sour smile. “Y’know you might wannabe shuttin’ your face there.” She took a slow sip of her soda.

The brunette gaped and dropped her arms. “Really?”

“Really,” Jade retorted without skipping a beat.

“Hey,” Andre tried one last desperate attempt to diffuse the situation, especially since the brunette had stepped up closer into Jade’s personal space. Jade wasn’t about to back down and glared fiercely down at the brunette who dared. “Look what they got on the menu! Buffalo nuggets! Well, that’s good news,” he chuckled nervously. “Not for the buffalo,” he added in an undertone.

“So, Hollywood Arts,” the brunette sneered, “you girls gonna sing tonight?”

“Well,” Jade drawled, “we didn’t come for the buffalo nuggets.” She tilted her head and carefully studied the brunette. Jade could already sense the girl’s entitlement. It practically radiated off of her in waves.

“But, we are gonna get some, right?” Beck suddenly leaned into the conversation.

Jade was thrown off her game, and she glared at Beck. “I don’t care,” she snapped. She returned her attention to the defiant brunette standing in front of her. It was like staring at a shorter Vega who was all bark and no bite. “And yeah, we’re singing tonight.”

“Awesome,” the blonde chimed in, practically hanging off of Andre’s arm.

“So are we,” the brunette declared with a challenging bounce of her eyebrows.

“I look forward to destroying you on stage,” Jade threatened darkly, taking a bold step forward and leaning closer toward the brunette until they were almost nose to nose. To Jade’s surprise, though she saw the evident fear in the girl’s dark eyes, the girl didn’t back away nearly as much as Jade expected her to.

“Dyke,” the girl whispered under her breath so low that only Jade could hear it.

Jade’s fingers flexed, and she knew exactly how long it would take before those shining silver blades slipped free from her waistband and jab into the yielding skin under that brunette girl’s jawline, but a firm hand gripped Jade’s wrist and prevented it from pulling her trusty scissors free. Jade snapped her eyes to her side and found Cat’s pleading eyes blown wide open. Cat shook her head ever so slightly, and Jade reluctantly relaxed her grip. She backed away and scoffed. “Good luck, Northridge.” She pushed past the girl and reclaimed her seat.

“Won’t need it,” the brunette sneered before stalking off.

It took about another hour before all the last-minute signups had finished their songs.

“I like your purse,” Cat noted, trying to distract Jade from throwing murderous glares across the room at the blonde and the brunette. “What is this?” She held up the long, silky soft fur extending from it.

“Monkey fur,” Jade replied easily before returning her glare back to her original targets.

“Alright, peepers,” the deejay announced. His lame voice was grating on Jade’s ears, but she gritted her teeth through it. She may have come tonight for Cat, but she was staying because those ganks had made things personal. “We have a singing contest goin’ on here, and next up are a couple of Karaoke Dokie regulars, Hayley Ferguson and Tara Ganz!”

The crowd welcomed them up to the stage. The brunette (Jade still had no idea which was which) stopped by the table on the way up long enough to say, “Enjoy us.”

“Enjoy my monkey fur,” Jade snapped back, shaking her purse. As intended, it confused the hell out of the girl, and she walked away with nothing more than a wordless, confused frown.

“Okay, girls,” the deejay said after handing them their mics. “Choose your poison.”

They conferred with each other for a quiet moment before the brunette declared, “We’re gonna sing ‘Number One.’”

“Ooh, the hit by Ginger Fox,” the deejay nodded. “Alright, here it comes.” He hit a button, and the poppy track sounded over the speakers. Jade rolled her eyes but settled in for the show.

As soon as the brunette sang the opening lines, despite the deejay trying to pump up the crowd, Jade smirked wide. Oh, this was going to be too easy.

The blonde had some potential, Jade had to admit, and much better energy than whatever “seductive” catty look the brunette was attempting. Whatever it was, Jade could clearly tell the place was dead quiet except for the bouncing beat from the speakers. Hell, even Robbie’s performance had more feedback. Not to mention that this particular pop song wasn’t even that hard to get right. And somehow, these two stuck-up kids from Northridge couldn't even meet that low bar.

It was almost painful by the time the girls got to the bridge and the lingering outro.

“My world,” they sang together, and they struck a pose to finish out the performance.

Applause rang out (even Cat reluctantly clapped), and Jade couldn’t help but to shout out, “Yeah, we’re clapping because it’s over!”

Cat burst out laughing, but Beck shushed Jade loudly and glanced around like they might get kicked out at any second. Hayley and Tara turned around to glare at Jade as they returned the mics, but their weak glares only served to widen Jade’s smirk.

“Alright, alright,” the deejay continued on smoothly, “next up in this singin’ competition, we got Jade West and Cat Valentine!”

Jade took one last sip of her soda and followed Cat up to the stage. On her way, she shot a sour smile at the two girls, who shot one right back (well, the blonde did, but the brunette just scoffed silently and rolled her eyes).

Cat collected their microphones from the deejay booth and handed one to Jade.

“Okay, girls, whatchu gonna throw down?”

“We wanna sing…” Cat looked to Jade, and Jade nodded. “‘Give It Up.’”

“Alright! A little R&B action toni-i-ight!”

“Yeah!” Jade said sharply into her microphone so her voice was even more amplified. “Just play it,” she requested curtly.

She took her spot as Cat did too. Jade started with her back to the audience, while Cat faced the front. Side by side, they stood on the stage, waiting for the intro beat to kick up.

“Someday, I’ll let you in,” Jade spun around as she began to sing. “Treat you right. Drive you outta your mind! Oh…”

“You never met a chick like me,” Cat followed up. Her strong vocals reverberated nicely, barely needing the mic to amplify her voice as it carried around the room. “Burn so bright I’m gonna make you blind,” her voice dropped low.

Together, they dove into the rapid-fire pre-chorus. “Always want what you can’t have, is it so bad if you don’t get what you wanted? Make it feel good as I whip you into shape, yeah boy, let’s get it started!”

They bounced and turned to face each other as they belted out the chorus. “Give it up. You can’t win. ‘Cause I know. Where you’ve been. Such a shame. You don’t put up a fight…” Their voices dipped and swooned in perfect sync together. They stomped confidently to opposite ends of the front of the stage and continued, “It’s the same ol’ story, but you never get it right, give it up!”

Jade and Cat spun to face each other and crept step by step toward each other to meet in the middle of the end of the little runway stage. “Come a little closer, come a little closer, baby, baby,” they practically murmured into the microphones. “Come a little closer, come a little closer, baby, baby!”

“So stop tryin’, to walk away,” Jade started out the second verse strong. “No, you won’t ever leave me behind!”

“You better believe that I’m here to stay,” Cat followed up next.

“That’s right,” Jade added in the background.

“‘Cause you’re the shade, and I’m the sunshine! Ooh,” Cat sustained the last note.

The pre-chorus came back around, and Jade glanced at Cat. They were both having fun with the performance. It had been a long, long time since she performed with her best friend like this, and it felt really good to let loose on stage again. Especially this song. After all, this was the song that had brought them back together after that messy breakup in seventh grade. And they hadn’t stopped singing it together since. They’d mastered the arrangement so long ago that singing it was as easy as breathing air. Before Jade had time to blink, the pre-chorus had passed them by, and the chorus kicked up again. But Jade knew she didn’t miss a single beat.

“Give it up, you can’t win…” they sang as they stomped around the stage. “Such a shame you don’t put up a fight.” They slid down into a crouch, back to back as the notes dropped with them. “That’s a game that we play at the end of the night! It’s the same ol’ story, but you never get it right! Give it up!”

They faced each other again, strutting further up the runway as they murmured the bridge, “Come a little closer, come a little closer, baby, baby…”

After a few repetitions, Cat stole it away as she let out in one breath, “Yeah, you are my baby, and I’ll make you crazy tonight!”

One more round through the pre-chorus and chorus, and the final note swooped down low before Cat and Jade brought it back up together. “Yeah!” they concluded, beaming wide.

The entire place was up on their feet, wild with applause.

Cat and Jade returned to their table with smug smirks planted firmly on their faces. Jade offered Cat a subtle low open palm, and Cat slapped it in a low-key hi-five. Jade hadn’t felt the adrenaline of performing like that in a while, and boy, did she miss it.

“You did amazing, babe,” Beck murmured in Jade’s ear before planting a kiss on her cheek.

“Thanks,” Jade smiled. They interlocked fingers over the table, and though the rest of the performances were okay, Jade didn’t pay much attention.

At last, the deejay emerged from his station at his booth and took center stage. “So now, to announce tonight’s Karaoke Dokie winner, here’s the owner of the joint—the man who signs my checks—Joey Ferguson!”

Jade felt something itch in the back of her mind, but she ignored it and clapped politely. “Thanks, everyone,” a balding man took the microphone and addressed the crowd. “Lotta great singers here tonight, huh?” The crowd whooped and cheered. “But I think two girls really stood out.” Jade smirked. She set down her soda glass in anticipation. “So, tonight’s winners are… Hayley and Tara!”

Jade’s smirk dropped into a disbelieving scowl faster than a boulder getting pushed off a steep cliff. Which was, coincidentally, exactly what she wanted to do to those two girls who strutted up to the stage to accept the crystalline trophy.

No one, absolutely no one, clapped or cheered. There might as well have been a symphony of crickets chirping as the two girls hugged each other. Jade didn't even notice when she or Cat had leapt to their feet.

“Are you wazzin’ me?!” Rex called out loudly.

“Rex,” Robbie whispered forcefully.

But the puppet wasn’t done. Apparently, coming back from the dead gave the puppet twice the nerve. “Those scrunges can’t sing!”

“Come on, man!” Beck stood up.

Andre stood up with him. “These girls got 10 times the applause as them!”

“Just sit down!” the brunette snapped, grabbing the microphone from the man’s hand.

“I’ll sit you down!” Andre retorted hotly.