Postgrad Partners

The Morning After

Tori and Jade, still totally red in the face, started to race from the bed to grab any clothes they could in a rush to get dressed; not caring anymore that Tara was the audience to their state of undress.

"How did you get in the apartment?! We locked it as soon as we got home last night!"

"Found your spare key in the gnome by the door."

"How did you get in this room?! We locked..."

"Oh, this room wasn't locked; probably for the same reason Jade is in this room, too, right~?"

"So you just sat there like a creep instead of waking us up?!"

"I'll admit, it surprised me to see you both in Tori's room—let alone in her bed...but then again, it wasn't so surprising, all things considered; and you both looked so peaceful, I didn't want to ruin that...right away~"

"Wait!" Tori suddenly halted as she threw on a clean t-shirt, "How long ago did they drop you off?"

"A half-hour ago," Tara looked at her phone to confirm the time, "Oh, and they just texted that they're pulling back up now!"

"Chiz!" Jade, still wearing just her undergarments—as her clothes last night were still scattered and no clothes of Tori's fit her—dashed past Tara, out of the room, and into her own with a slam of the door.

With a heavy sigh, Tori finished pulling up a pair of pajama pants and walked up to Tara, "Look, I...I'm sorry you had to see that, Tara. As you might imagine, last night was really...impromptu, but we'd appreciate it if you didn't tell Jade's mom!" She clapped her hands together, trying to put on a smile as Tara got up before her.

"Hey, I get it," she chuckled, "Honestly, I'm happy for you both. You both did a really great job at the showcase, and you wanted to celebrate it. Besides, you're both 18 and in love and all that, so..." Tara cleared her throat—and the awkwardness—and turned back toward the door, "Come on, we should at least help them get the table set when they come in." She almost reached the door when something grabbed her wrist suddenly and turned her back around. Tara was about to react with a shout, but the feeling of Tori's sudden hug stopped her in her tracks.

"Hey," Tori whispered in Tara's ear before backing up and patting her on the shoulder, "You did a really great job, too, Tara. I couldn't have had a better back-up singer than you back there with me, so this celebration brunch is for all of us, okay?"

Tara simply nodded with a slight blush. With a smile across both their faces, they emerged from Tori's room just in time to see Jade burst out of her room in a hastily thrown together outfit of a black long-sleeved shirt barely covering over her light, blue shorts.

She looked at both of them with a brief glare that silently said, "Not a word," as the front door opened to Piper and Nora, both holding up bags from the diner. The three girls greeted them with smiles and hugs as they gathered around the table to set up their celebration...

Once the table was set with their diner-bought brunch, everyone ate in a relatively calm and peaceful manner. Piper was sharing a few clips of the showcase with Tori for another article she planned to write, Tara was treating herself to one of every entrée, to everyone's surprise except for Jade and Nora, who were locked in an awkward staring contest with each other and not eating anything in front of them. Jade tried to glance in any other direction, hoping her mother wouldn't be looking straight at her anymore, but every attempt ended back with her still fixed to those steely eyes as if they were judging her.

Tori, finally noticing the tension between them, put her utensils down and looked at both of them, "Jade? Ms. West? Is something wrong with your food or...?"