Chapter Text
Tori and Andre were walking down the hallway towards Tori’s locker, laughing loudly. "I swear I told Trina those pants were too tight for her!" Tori exclaimed, gesturing with her hands. "But she just wore them to dinner anyway!"
Andre grinned, leaning in. "And then right in the middle of dinner?"
"They exploded," Tori deadpanned, making them both burst into another round of laughter.
As they kept walking, they almost ran right into Beck, who was leaning against Tori’s locker. "Hey!" he greeted them.
"Oh, hey Beck," Tori said, catching her breath from laughing.
"So, Sikowitz wants to know if you guys are going to sing at the Full Moon Jam this year," Beck said.
Tori immediately rubbed her neck awkwardly. "Oh, I can’t. I have this throat thing going on."
"And I’m thinking I’m just gonna MC this year," Andre added.
Beck nodded with a slight smirk. "MC and a throat thing, got it."
Right then, Andre’s phone started ringing in his pocket. He checked the screen and excused himself, walking away around the corner to answer it.
As Tori watched Andre disappear from view, her attention was suddenly caught by Jade walking past them. Jade was moving with a really fast pace towards her own locker. Tori completely zoned out, blocking out Beck's voice entirely as her eyes stayed glued to Jade. She only snapped back to reality when another girl suddenly appeared right in front of them.
"Hey Tori," the girl said, nodding at her before turning to Beck with a huge smile. "Hey Beck."
"Oh, hey Meredith!" Tori said, still a little distracted.
"What’s up?" Beck asked.
Meredith started twirling a piece of her hair nervously. "Oh nothing, just getting ready for the Full Moon Jam... so Beck, if you want, I was thinking that maybe we could hang out later tonight?"
Tori looked back and forth between Beck and Meredith. It was so obvious that Meredith was completely fixated on him. Sensing the awkward tension, Tori took it as her cue to step away for a moment. As she watched from a couple feet away, Beck continuously made up one excuse after another to avoid hanging out with her.
The second Meredith walked away disappointed, Tori stepped right back in and started questioning him. "Why didn’t you say yes?"
"Listen, I can’t hang out with Meredith. Ok?" Beck said, his tone becoming very serious all of a sudden.
"Why not? She’s cute! And she totally likes you!—"
"Shh!" Beck interrupted, looking around nervously.
Tori frowned. "Why do I have to—"
"Shhh!" Beck hissed again.
Tori followed his gaze over her shoulder and saw Jade standing further down the hall, looking absolutely furious. Before Tori could even react, Beck hastily grabbed her by the wrist and forcefully dragged her into the nearby janitor’s closet, slamming the door behind them.
"So grabby!" Tori exclaimed. As Beck clicked the door shut, Tori frowned at him with big eyes, gently rubbing the arm he had grabbed so forcefully.
Beck sighed and finally went on. "I get that Meredith likes me, and maybe I could like her, but, you know..." He hesitated, the name clearly stressing him out. "Jade."
Tori sighed in annoyance and rolled her eyes. "You and Jade broke up months ago."
"Yeah, but when we were dating, one summer Meredith and I were in a play together, and it made Jade like... crazy jealous."
Tori nodded as the pieces came together. "Oooh... okay, and if she found out that you were snoodling with Meredith now!—"
"Jade would explode like Trina’s too tight pants," Beck deadpanned.
"So your plan for the rest of your life is just being permanently scared of Jade?" Tori asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, that’s not my only plan," Beck said proudly. "Some day I’d like to plant a vegetable garden."
A sudden idea flashed through Tori's mind. "You know what would make Jade not care if you dated somebody else? If she was also dating somebody else!"
Beck shook his head. "None of the guys at this school ask her out."
"Why not?"
"Because Jade is terrifying!"
"What about the girls?" Tori asked.
"The girls?"
"Yeah!"
Beck thought about it for a second. "I suppose the same? From what I know, she handles girls gentler. Always has."
"Hm, has she ever been asked out by a girl before?" Tori wondered.
"A handful of times and, like I said, definitely a calmer reaction than if a guy asked her out."
Tori’s face lit up. "Maybe I could get someone to ask her out...?"
"Maybe," Beck shrugged.
Tori kept thinking about the idea as she made her way outside to the Asphalt Cafe. She spotted Andre sitting at their usual table, but before she walked up to him, she noticed Jade up on the stage doing a soundcheck. Tori didn’t even know Jade was going to perform this year. Cool, she thought. For some reason, seeing her up there made Tori feel a little nervous, though she couldn't explain why. Shaking the feeling off, she drowned out the sound of Sinjin and his weird buddies screaming in the background as she walked past.
She sat down next to Andre and immediately started explaining the plan that was forming in her head.
"C’mon!" Tori pleaded.
"No no no no no to the no!" Andre replied, waving his hands.
"So you’ll do it!?"
"I am not going to ask Jade out on a date!" Andre said, looking at her like she was crazy.
"If you ask Jade out on a date, that will show other people that she CAN be dated! And then more people will start asking her out! And then Beck won’t feel so bad about going out with Meredith!"
"How about I just ask out Meredith?"
"No, c’mon! Jade can be so much fun!" Tori desperately tried to drown out Jade’s angry yelling from the stage as she said that.
Andre stared at her. "This is hopeless," Tori sighed.
"The only way to get someone to ask out Jade, is if you pay 'em," Andre points out.
"With money?"
"A lot of money."
The school bel rang, and Tori frantically started scraping her last remaining dollars from the very bottom of her bag. She had been forced to give most of her allowance to Trina because of a stupid bet, so here she was, handing her last couple of bucks to a random guy just so he would compliment Jade and hopefully succeed in asking her out. She had never felt this hopeless before.
After class, Tori and Andre rounded the corner back to Tori’s locker, but she stopped dead in her tracks. The guy she paid was standing right there, about to go and ask Jade out! She watched the situation unfold in pure anticipation.
The guy awkwardly said hey, literally shaking on his feet. Right then, all of Tori’s hope completely left the building.
Jade closed her locker with extra force, the loud slam making the guy’s bottom lip quiver. He tried to stammer out a compliment, but Jade immediately retorted with a barrage of mean comments. Tori felt so bad for the guy, but in all fairness, she had paid him a lot of money, and if he wasn’t going to succeed, she was definitely going to need that cash back.
The guy insecurely kept stepping backward while Jade kept stepping forward with a mountain of confidence. He stuttered and stammered, trying to explain himself until he finally cracked.
"Forget it! I’m not asking her out, you can keep your goddamn money!" he yelled in panic, throwing the cash on the floor and sprinting away.
As he ran off, Jade’s eyes locked directly onto Tori.
Tori quickly reached behind her to grab Andre for support, but her hand just hit empty air. He had already run away in fear. What a total coward, just like the guy whose name she had already forgotten. Tori forced an incredibly awkward smile onto her face as Jade walked up to her.
"You paid a guy to ask me out?.." Jade said sternly, her voice dangerously quiet.
Tori’s mind raced. Her best option was probably to run for her life so she didn't end up cut into several pieces. After running what felt like six full circles around the school, she darted into the janitor’s closet to hide. While she was desperately catching her breath, the door suddenly swung open.
"AAH— oh, Beck, it’s you. I thought you were Jade."
"You want me to go and get her?" Beck asked dryly.
"NO!"
Right at that exact second, the door burst open. Jade marched in.
"Yeah, I should’ve told you, this is a bad place to hide from Jade," Beck almost snorted.
Jade aggressively grabbed a roll of toilet paper from the shelf and held it up. "I ought to take this and KILL you with it."
Tori looked at it, completely bewildered. "How could you kill me with... toilet paper?"
Beck stepped in, looking at Jade. "Put it down. Put. It. Down."
"Please, Jade?" Tori added weakly.
With a glare, Jade finally slammed the roll back onto the shelf.
"What are you all wazzed off about?" Beck asked, trying to calm things down.
"This asshole here paid a guy to ask me out on a date," Jade said, staring down Tori with pure hatred.
"I was trying to help!" Tori defended herself.
"Why do I need your help!?" Jade yelled at her.
"Cause guys are scared to ask you out!!" Tori yelled right back.
"That’s how I like it!"
"Why?!"
Jade let out a sharp sigh. Her angry posture dropped slightly, looking unexpectedly exhausted. "Because, I haven’t really been into guys for the last couple of months."
Tori blinked, looking completely oblivious. "Huh?"
Jade slammed her hands over her face in utter frustration. "Jesus Christ— Tori, I like women."
Tori’s mouth dropped open. "Oh... oh, that makes sense."
"Does it now!?" Jade snapped, getting pissed all over again.
"Look! I just thought if you got asked out by a guy, you’d be more okay if Beck asked out a girl!"
"Oh my god, how many times do I have to say this! I don’t care! We broke up. Ask out anyone you want," Jade said, completely done with the conversation. She turned her back on them and stormed right out of the closet.
The second Jade left the room, Tori’s eyes lit up again. "I have a plan!" she immediately exclaimed.
Beck let out a heavy sigh and rubbed his forehead, clearly having zero hope left for this so-called plan. "You do?"
"As far as I know, barely any girls at this school are interested in women, and to be very fair, I don’t have any money anymore so—"
"You still want to pay someone to ask out Jade? After the conversation we just had?" Beck asked, interrupting her with an amused but disbelieving look.
"No... no! I will ask her out!"
Beck’s jaw dropped slightly. "You?" He looked completely unimpressed and a bit shocked. "I really appreciate your help, but I’m—" He tried to say that he was perfectly fine just asking Meredith out normally, but Tori kept cutting him off in her own excitement.
"Yes! I’ll get her those thorny flowers that resemble death, and a coffee with it, and—" Tori kept rambling on until the loud school bell rang, signaling that their next class started in just a couple of minutes. "And you can date whoever!" she cheered, stepping out of the closet and waving with a huge smile.
The plan was officially set! She was going to lay it all out tonight and wait for Jade by her locker— no, not tomorrow, that was way too obvious. The day after tomorrow should be fine. That means she does have exactly forty-eight hours to figure out how to ask out the scariest girl in school without getting murdered.
As soon as Tori got home, she immediately started her intense ‘research’ on Jade, and the deep dive went on far past her bedtime. To her absolute shock, she discovered that Jade used to do gymnastics when she was younger! Tori had managed to find this out through Jade’s mother’s Facebook profile, which felt like a massive victory. How fun, Tori thought to herself, a grin spreading across her face.
She spent the next few hours meticulously looking through all of Jade’s posts on The Slap and digging through every single one of her other social media accounts to figure out what she liked and didn't like. Tori even attempted to watch a handful of horror movies that night to prepare for the date. Well, in reality, it was only one half of a single horror movie because she completely chickened out and couldn't handle the gore. She turned off the TV, breathing heavily. Maybe when she actually goes out with Jade, she will manage to watch The Scissoring with her then.
Lying in the dark, Tori’s thoughts started to drift, and a sudden wave of panic hit her. What if Jade didn’t even want to go out with her? She had just been blindly assuming that Jade would say yes, but what if she gave her a brutal, soul-crushing no? Tori’s mind started spiraling out of control, imagining every worst-case scenario until she finally decided that this was her cue to stop thinking and go to sleep.
Because of her late-night research, Tori completely slept through her alarm the next morning. She arrived at Sikowitz’s class a full fifteen minutes late (which was a lot for Tori, who is almost always exactly on time), looking completely disheveled and a total mess. Her hair was all over the place, and her clothes looked rushed.
"Wow, what happened to you?" Jade smirked, instantly commenting on Tori's terrible appearance.
Tori noticed that everyone was already seated in their usual spots. Exhausted, she dragged her feet over to her seat and slumped heavily into her chair. "The first twenty minutes of The Scissoring... I couldn’t sleep because of it—"
"YOU watched THE SCISSORING?" Jade asked, her eyes widening so much she almost stood up from her chair in pure shock.
"I couldn’t handle it, honestly. You have my full respect, Jade," Tori admitted, rubbing her tired eyes.
"That’s my favorite movie of all time," Jade said, her voice a mix of pride and confusion.
"I know," Tori mumbled sleepily. "Why do you think I watched it?"
Jade blinked, caught off guard. "What?"
"Nothing..." Tori yawned, resting her chin in her hand.
"Anyway, nothing even happens in that movie until the thirty-minute mark," Jade noted, her tone surprisingly conversational now.
"The whole idea of the movie just already terrified me," Tori muttered, shivering slightly at the memory of the opening scenes.
Before they could continue, Sikowitz clapped his hands to gain everyone’s attention, and Tori reluctantly moved on from the conversation to focus on the lesson.
However, the interaction got completely stuck in Jade’s head. Surprisingly, she couldn't stop thinking about it. Deep down, she felt a strange, rare warmth of appreciation. Beck had never watched the horror stuff she liked, and he certainly never talked about her hobbies with her. Not that Tori was comparable to Beck in any way... but still, the gesture lingered in Jade's mind for the rest of the morning.
Later that day, everyone was hanging out at the Asphalt Cafe. The lunch area was loud, with Cat, Robbie, Andre, and Beck all talking over each other and just having a time. Tori, however, just sat quietly at the table doing absolutely nothing while everyone else happily ate their food.
Robbie noticed her empty hands. "Where's your food at, Tori?"
"I spent my last bit of money yesterday, so I’m officially broke," Tori sighed, resting her elbows on the table.
Jade hesitated for a fraction of a second, but then, with her usual overbearing confidence, she reached into her bag. "You can borrow some of my money to get lunch, Vega," she said, her voice sharp but the offer surprisingly genuine.
"That’s okay," Tori declined politely. "Next week I get my allowance anyway."
Jade frowned, looking annoyed by the rejection. "You’re just gonna survive the rest of the week without eating lunch?"
"Well... we have some crackers at home," Tori offered weakly. "I’ll just take those with me."
"Jesus Christ, just—" Jade rolled her eyes aggressively and forcefully slapped a twenty-dollar bill onto the table right in front of Tori.
Tori stared at the cash. "Oh, that’s too much! It’s only three dollars for a sandwich—"
Jade’s eyes widened to their full, terrifying capacity as a silent, dangerous warning to shut up and take the money.
Tori suppressed a grateful smile, picking up the bill as she stood up to head over to the food truck.
As she stood in line by the truck, her eyes scanned the drink display and landed on the Capri-Suns. Tori had never noticed they sold them here before, but seeing the shiny pouches instantly rang a bell in her mind. She vividly remembered from her late-night stalking session that in almost every single picture of Jade as a little kid, there was a Capri-Sun somewhere nearby. It was hilarious to think about because now, she would never be able to picture the gothic, scary Jade within a kilometer range of a colorful juice pouch. Laughing quietly to herself, Tori bought two of them—one for herself and one for Jade, so it wouldn't look too strange.
When Tori sat back down at the table next to Jade, she slid one of the Capri-Suns across the table, keeping her hand above it. She casually unpacked her own pouch, pushing the straw in and taking a sip. She nodded toward the other one in front of Jade, giving her a knowing look to take it.
"I know you want to—" Tori teased softly.
"What do you know!?" Jade snapped aggressively. But instead of throwing it at Tori's head, she snatched the pouch up, stabbed the straw into it with force, and started drinking.
A few minutes later, the loud school bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Everyone packed up their things and went their separate ways to their respective afternoon classes.
The rest of the school day went by in a total blur. Tori couldn’t focus on a single assignment because her mind was completely occupied with brainstorming how to ask Jade out. By the time she finally got home, she felt an intense, almost giddy wave of nervousness washing over her. She practically bolted up the stairs to her bedroom, completely ignoring Trina’s loud, rampaging singing echoing through the house.
Later that evening, she was supposed to go to Nozu with Cat, Jade, and Robbie, but she texted them a quick lie, claiming she was just too tired to join. In all fairness, she really was exhausted from the lack of sleep the night before, but it wasn't the complete truth. She still had to figure out how to get Jade flowers before school the next morning.
Staring at her bedroom ceiling, Tori started overthinking it. Would Jade even like flowers? Maybe another Capri-Sun would be better, something small and subtle. But no, it couldn't be just a juice pouch—it had to be a statement. It had to be something. Tori pulled out her phone and searched for flowers that represented death. The search results immediately pulled up Chrysanthemums, but they were only available in bright, cheerful colors. That definitely didn't fit Jade's aesthetic. But then, a stroke of genius hit her. Maybe she could decorate them? She could paint them black or something! That was it. She would buy a small bouquet and work on them overnight. But first, she desperately needed a nap to catch up on sleep before her big mission.
Right before the flower shop down the street closed for the night, Tori ran inside, panting, and quickly purchased the chrysanthemums. She stayed up late into the night, carefully decorating the petals until they were a stark, uniform black. Finally, she collapsed into bed, her brain running in circles as she tried to properly word how she was going to ask Jade on a date. The word "date" still felt incredibly foreign and bizarre to Tori, especially when attached to Jade.
In the morning, Tori made sure to wake up significantly earlier than usual. She checked on the flowers first thing, and they were completely black. Perfect. Instead of letting Trina drive her to school, Tori decided to take the public bus. She knew she wouldn't be able to handle her sister's constant, annoying nagging about why she was suddenly buying coffee for someone else. After a short walk from the bus stop to the nearest coffee shop, Tori ordered a black iced coffee with extra shots of espresso.
As she stood by the counter waiting for her order, she noticed a display of Capri-Suns sitting right behind the cash register. "Hey, can I get one of those too?" she asked the kind lady behind the counter. The woman smiled, nodded, and handed it over.
Once she had everything, Tori rushed back to the bus station and caught the fastest route to Hollywood Arts. If her timing was right, Jade shouldn't even be there yet. Tori was going to wait right in front of Jade's locker and surprise her.
When Tori arrived at school, the hallways were practically empty. There was barely anyone there yet, which was exactly what she wanted. Over the last few months, Tori had strangely picked up on Jade's schedule—Jade was always either extremely early or extremely late, never in between. Tori shoved her books into her own locker, then walked over and sat down on the floor right in front of Jade's locker to wait. She opened her bag to double-check that the flowers were safe and not getting squished. The Capri-Sun was tucked safely inside too, and she set the iced coffee carefully on the floor right next to her.
Now, all she had to do was wait. Right. Just... wait. No stress. Not at all.
Because Jade will—oh, right. What if she doesn't even want to go out with Tori? She had spiraled about this last night, but surely the flowers and the coffee would win her over, right? And Tori had her amazing, cute puppy eyes that she had completely mastered—oh no, wait. Jade probably loathes puppy eyes.
Tori was so deeply lost in her own frantic thoughts, biting the inside of her cheeks in sheer anxiety, that she didn't even notice a dark shadow falling over her. She blinked, realizing Jade was already standing right in front of her.
"Vega," Jade said, frowning down at her.
"Jade!" Tori gasped, scrambling to stand up. As she bolted to her feet, her foot caught on the plastic cup, almost knocking the beverage completely over. "Oh—chiz!"
She quickly grabbed the cup, steadying it just in time, and stood directly in front of Jade. They were face-to-face now. Okay. Come on, Tori. Just say it.
"Get out of my way—" Jade grumbled, reaching for her locker.
"C-coffee!" Tori stammered out.
Jade blinked. "What?"
"I bought you... coffee. Iced! Iced coffee," Tori gulped, her heart hammering against her ribs as she stressedfully held out the cup with both hands.
Jade eyed the cup suspiciously. "Thanks...? Is it from the trash or something? Why did you get me coffee?"
"Well, I—... uh—" God, Tori did not imagine it was going to be this incredibly difficult to speak.
"Well?" Jade prompted, crossing her arms.
"I just thought I'd do something nice for you," Tori managed to squeak out.
Jade just looked at Tori questioningly for a long moment before finally grabbing the cup from Tori's hands. "Right..." She took a slow sip, her expression shifting slightly. "Extra espresso... thanks. How'd you know?"
"Just... figured," Tori shrugged, trying to act casual.
"Can you get out of my way now—" Jade's tone started becoming aggressive again as she stepped closer to her locker.
"Wait! One more—thing.. uhm," Tori interrupted hastily. She unzipped her bag, reaching inside to grab the black flowers and the Capri-Sun. Her breathing was getting shallow; she was obviously on the verge of hyperventilating. "I have these for you."
Jade stared at her hands. "I hate flowers." But without a second thought, she snatched the Capri-Sun out of Tori's hand and gently tossed it into her own bag.
"They're chrysanthemums," Tori explained quickly.
"So?"
"They represent death... I thought you might like that. I even decorated them black, it took me all night—"
Jade stopped her, her dark eyes locking onto Tori's. "Tori, do you need something from me? Why are you doing all this?"
"Well, I wanted to—uhm.. I—.. I wanted to ask.. you.. uhm," Tori rambled, her eyes darting around.
Jade tapped her foot, waiting impatiently. "I'm waiting."
"I wanted to..."
"Jesus, Tori, spit it out or I'm just walking away—"
"NO! No, no, I... god, this is hard," Tori groaned.
She looked past Jade's shoulder and spotted Beck further down the hallway. He was completely unaware of them, his back turned the other way. I have to do this, Tori reminded herself. I have to do this for Beck. Yeah. For Beck, of course.
"Do you want to go—uhm—do you..—" Tori stuttered.
"Tori," Jade warned, her voice dropping an octave.
"—Do you want to hang out tonight!?" Tori blurted out. Fuck. That wasn't what she meant to say at all.
Jade blinked, looking at Tori like she had grown a second head. "Sure? You bought me flowers and shit just to ask me that?"
For a split second, Jade sounded almost disappointed, though Tori figured she must have just imagined it.
"Yep!" Tori cheered with a forced, high-pitched smile, internally screaming at herself for chickening out.
Tori spent the rest of her morning classes in a state of complete paranoia. When the lunch bell finally rang, she felt a massive wave of relief, though she knew the day was far from over. Sitting at their usual table in the Asphalt Cafe, she quietly ate the lunch she had bought using fifteen of the twenty dollars Jade had forcefully handed her the day before. Tori was awfully quiet again, barely touching her food. Beck tried to catch her attention and ask her a question about it, but she just shrugged it off awkwardly. The entire time, she actively pretended not to notice Jade's intense dark eyes fixed on her from across the table.
As soon as the next bell rang, Beck and Tori walked together toward the afternoon class they shared.
Beck nudged her shoulder. "Okay, seriously, what is up with you?"
"I can't say," Tori muttered, staring straight ahead.
"Just tell me. It can't be that bad—"
Before he could even finish his sentence, Tori gave in to the pressure. She grabbed him by the sleeve and aggressively dragged him into the nearest janitor's closet, slamming the door shut.
"I couldn't do it!" Tori burst out.
Beck blinked in the cramped space. "Do what?!"
"ASK OUT JADE!" Tori hissed, throwing her hands in the air.
Beck sighed softly, his tense shoulders dropping. "Tori, that's fine. No one is forcing you to do this—"
Tori completely ignored him, pacing the small width of the closet. "I did all these things for her! I prepared myself all night, and then the exact moment happened and I just, like—froze! It was so embarrassing! I panicked and just asked her to hang out instead... chiz. Maybe I can ask her tonight? It'll at least give me some more time to get ready mentally, you know."
"Tori. Calm down," Beck said gently, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Look, I can just ask out Meredith normally. It's totally fine. I don't need your help anymore, it's okay."
Tori stopped pacing, looking up at him. "What? Are you sure? I really don't mind!"
"I'm sure," Beck chuckled, offering a reassuring smile.
"Well... I already gave her the flowers and whatnot," Tori mumbled, her anxiety spiking again. "What if I gave her the wrong impression?"
Beck waved it off dismissively. "I'm sure she already forgot about it. That's just how Jade is."
"Is it?" Tori asked, a heavy pit forming in her stomach.
"It is," Beck nodded confidently.
Well, Tori wasn't so sure about that. She knew she was probably being incredibly paranoid, but she swore on everything that every single time she had looked up from her notebook or her food today, Jade was right there, staring directly at her. She was absolutely positive.
When the school day finally ended, Tori walked out to the parking lot and spotted Jade leaning against her car, clearly waiting for her. Tori walked up awkwardly, offering a weak, tense wave. "Hi."
"Hey," Jade replied, tossing her keys in her hand. "What do you wanna do?"
"Uhm—" Ah, shoot. Tori hadn't even spared the afternoon a single thought. "We could... go to Nozu or something? Or maybe Karaoke Dokie?"
Jade frowned, looking bored. "Do you maybe wanna switch it up? I've been to both of those places like ten times this week already."
"Oh, sure! Uhm..." Tori took a deep breath, her mind racing for an alternative. As she threw her bag into the backseat of Jade's car, she climbed into the passenger seat, and Jade slid into the driver's side next to her. "We could just go to my place? I still have to finish The Scissoring."
Jade’s eyes instantly lit up. "Sure! Yeah... yeah, let's do that." Tori didn't miss the sudden hint of genuine excitement in Jade's voice, even though Jade quickly tried to cover it up by clearing her throat and staring out the windshield.
They drove back to Tori’s house, and luckily for Tori, the place was completely empty. They made their way up the stairs to Tori’s bedroom. Tori immediately laid down on her stomach in the middle of her bed, kicking her feet up into the air as she opened her laptop. She navigated to the sketchy, illegal pirating site she had been using the night before and patted the empty space right next to her, signaling for Jade to lie down.
Jade climbed onto the mattress and frowned deeply at the screen. "What is this horrible quality?"
"It's just this random pirating site," Tori defended, resting her chin on her hands. "My parents don't pay for any premium streaming stuff."
"Next time I'm bringing my DVD," Jade grumbled, propping herself up on her elbows. "This looks like absolute buns. No wonder you couldn't sleep."
"Hey!" Tori complained, playfully swatting Jade's arm. Jade didn't even flinch, just settling down right next to Tori on her stomach, leaving only Tori’s sock-covered feet swaying in the air.
They started the movie from the very beginning. The second the film progressed past the exact spot where Tori had turned it off the night before, Tori took a painfully obvious, sharp breath, letting out a miserable groan right after.
"I'm literally not gonna be able to sleep again tonight," she groaned into the blankets.
Jade didn't look away from the screen. "Oh, poor you. Just watch the damn movie, Vega. It's worth it."
"Is it?.." Tori muttered silently, burying her face flat into the mattress.
Jade snapped her head over. "Excuse me?"
"Nothing!" Tori squeaked, quickly popping her head back up.
They continued watching, and Tori tried her absolute best not to yelp, scream, or look away for Jade's sake. But honestly, it wasn't even her fault! The movie was just, objectively, incredibly disturbing and terrifying. By the time the credits finally started rolling, Tori let out a massive breath.
"I don't get it," Tori sighed.
Jade looked at her, offended. "What don't you get!?"
"That this is your favorite movie! It's absolutely terrifying!"
Jade rolled her eyes aggressively. "Wow, Vega. You're never gonna guess WHY it's my favorite movie."
"Because it's terrifying?.." Tori guessed blankly.
"YES!" Jade snapped angrily, though there was a slight smirk playing at the edge of her lips.
They stayed on the bed, just talking and chatting for a while, the atmosphere surprisingly relaxed. Eventually, Jade checked the time on her phone and sighed. "It's getting late. I better go home."
"Right," Tori nodded awkwardly. It felt weird to admit it to herself, but she felt like they had genuinely been having a really good time together.
Tori walked Jade down the stairs to the front door. She had heard Trina and her mom come home a little while ago, so she quietly stepped outside onto the porch with Jade, closing the front door firmly behind her. This is it, Tori thought, her heart doing a nervous flip. I can ask her now. The anxiety had been eating at her all day.
"I had fun tonight," Tori said softly, leaning against the doorframe.
"Sure," Jade replied casually, heading down the porch steps.
"Uhm..."
Jade stopped and turned around, crossing her arms impatiently. "Okay, Vega, just spit it out. Are you gonna start stuttering like a total geek again like you did this morning?"
"No! No—ugh, I'm just—"
"You're doing it right now—"
"Shh!" Tori cut her off.
Jade’s jaw dropped in pure disbelief. "Excuse me!? Did you just shush me!?"
"Shhh!!! Just let me—"
"Tori Vega! Do not shush me!—"
They both started loudly talking over each other, the chaotic bickering escalating so quickly that Tori barely even realized the words were leaving her mouth.
"DO YOU WANT TO GO OUT WITH ME!?" Tori yelled.
Jade froze instantly, the words dying in her throat. "Tori fucking Vega, I—... what?"
Tori completely froze, her breath catching in her throat. Please say yes, please say yes, please. A small part of her brain wondered why it even bothered her so much what Jade wanted anyway, but she didn't have time to process it.
"Okay," Jade said bluntly.
Tori blinked. "What?"
"Okay."
"Huh?"
"I SAID OKAY! Are you fucking deaf!?" Jade yelled, her cheeks flushing a light shade of pink.
Tori’s eyes went wide. "You do?"
Jade lightly rolled her eyes and let out a dramatic, heavy sigh. "Honestly, I was wondering how long it was gonna take you."
Tori walked Jade the remaining five steps to her car in absolute silence. Her mind was completely, utterly blank. They exchanged a brief, awkward goodnight, and Tori was left standing completely alone in the cool air of her empty driveway as Jade's car pulled away.
What in the world did Jade mean by that? How long it was going to take her? It had literally only been two days since Tori even had this idea in her head! She wasn't even—whatever. It didn't matter. Jade had said yes. That was the only thing that mattered. Smiling to herself, Tori pulled out her phone to text Beck that the plan was officially working, making a mental note to remember to buy an extra Capri-Sun first thing tomorrow morning.