Author notes: Okay guys, this chapter and story as whole is gonna contain smoking most likely. But yeah. This is my first time writing Jori, but i've honestly been so obsessed with them lately so I really hope you guys love this as much as I do!
Tori's PoV
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It was just after lunch at Hollywood Arts. I sat slumped in my chair toward the front of the familiar classroom that belonged to none other than my drama teacher, Sikowitz. To nobody's surprise, he was late to class. It was definitely far from the first time this had happened, so I was practically just staring off into space whilst waiting, my eyes pointed up into the direction of the stage ceiling. Why does he always do this shit? I mean, he could've just had another bad coconut milk experience, but regardless, I was actually sorta grateful for times like these. They meant I could just relax for five minutes.
I could hear indistinct chatter around me, but I was able to make out the voices of a few of the people I called my friends. Like, I could hear Cat's signature high pitched voice probably trailing off about some random shit her brother did, whilst Robbie and Andre listened, kinda disturbed. Times like these I'd just sorta get lost in my own thought, often too tired to actually speak to people. I wonder what Mom's cooking for dinner... type thoughts. But then, out of nowhere, I encountered an unexpected thought. A thought of the girl I know as Jade West. It wasn't that interesting though, just an image of her in my brain. But still it was weird. I try not to think of Jade whenever I can, mostly just because it actually really fucking hurts sometimes thinking of how I did pretty much everything I could to win over her friendship, only to get treated like shit over and over again. But before I could think too deep into this, I was quickly snapped back into reality by the sudden crash of the classroom door, and a low, yet energetic voice filling the atmosphere surrounding me.
"Good morning ye old mutants!" the voice called. I pretty much physically jumped when I heard it. Sikowitz had finally showed up to teach our class. Only about 5 minutes late though, which was definitely not the latest he'd ever been.
"Wait. But, its afternoon now?" I hear Cat call from the seat behind me, interrupting him. Everybody turned to look at her, before looking back at our teacher.
"It appears you are correct." Sikowitz responds, following with a few seconds of awkward silence, before continuing. "Anyways, not that it matters really. Let's get on with some actual classwork. I was thinking we could try an alphabetical acting challenge today." He finishes, scanning the classroom. I scan the class with him, turning round to look at the people surrounding me, when I noticed an empty seat where Jade normally would've been sitting, next to Cat. My brow furrowed a little in confusion as I turned back around to face the front, where I noticed my kind of crazy teacher staring directly at me, a wide smile pulling at his lips as I meet his eyes.
"Tori." He spoke quickly. "Could you please be the first student up on the stage today?" He asked, still smiling my way.
"Yeah, sure." I respond, quickly jumping up from my seat and making my way up the steps onto the stage. I face the rest of the class, smiling at my friends. From the stage, I finally get a full view of the class. My eyes scanned over the room, and it became noticeable that Jade West and her boyfriend Beck Oliver were missing from their seats. Shit, do I even wanna know what they're up to? Nah, who am I kidding. They're probably fighting again. They had been a lot recently, but I tried not to intrude too much. I didn't want Jade to literally rip me apart, after all. I noticed Sikowitz also scanning the room, probably looking for the next victim to throw up onto the stage to take part in a really high effort acting challenge first thing after lunch, right when all anybody can think of is going home. At this point, the door slammed open, causing me to jump back a little bit at the sudden noise. A familiar figure entered the room. Jade. It felt like she moved in slow motion. Her wavy raven hair had bluey-green strands streaked through, which stood out as her hair bounced with each step, which was heavy from the black combat boots she wore. She kinda terrified me, but intrigued me at the same time. I couldn't even imagine being as confident as her. But what stood out more than anything was the angry glare radiating off of her face.
"Ah, Jade. I was wondering where you were. Since you've decided to finally join us, why don't you join Tori up on the stage for some alphabetical acting." Sikowitz called from the bottom of the stage.
Shit.
Jade West terrified me as things were, but angry Jade West? A whole other type of terrifying. I noticed her face scrunch up with a sarcastic smirk, as she placed her bag down with so much force next to her seat that she may as well have just thrown it.
"Fine." She hissed, the anger in her voice apparent. For some reason, I was actually kinda worried. Beck was still nowhere to be seen, and she stormed up next to me on the stage faster than normal. When she reached the top of the steps, she took her position on the opposite side of the stage to me, looking down and fiddling with her fingers whilst she waited for directions. I found myself zoned out whilst I stared over at her. Did her and Beck fight again? Is she okay? Ugh. Stupid Tori. Why do I always find myself worrying about her. Wanting to be her friend. Even though every time I try, I always get hit with her backlash, I never become less intrigued by her. Suddenly though, I'm snapped back to reality again by the sight of Cat Valentine being ushered up onto the stage to join us for the acting challenge. God, what is it with me and zoning out today?
Cat made her way up onto the stage, where she finally took her position in between me and Jade, standing directly in the middle of the stage. She looked bubbly as always, a wide smile on her face.
"Okay. Tori, you will start with the letter A. I'm sure you know the rest of the drill by now, Jade will continue with B, Cat with C and blah blah blah, figure out the rest." Sikowitz quickly spoke, coconut now in hand. We all turned to look at each other on the stage, when my eyes met the raven-haired girl standing opposite me's eyes. She glared at me with her usual, terrifying look. I quickly broke the eye contact and took a few steps back. Out of fear or embarrassment, I don't even know. "Aaaand action-" Our crazy teacher continued, taking a sip from his coconut directly after.
Shit. Shit tori. Think. How am I gonna start this? Suddenly, my worry for Jade that I felt as she had entered the room returned, and hit me like a ton of bricks. My face quickly snapped up to meet Jade's, and before I could even think of stopping myself, the words flew out.
"Are you alright?" I asked, a concerned smile pulling at my lips as I continued to look straight at the girl, who was now frowning at me in confusion. My red haired friend remained looking back and forth between us, the same bubbly look as always still present.
"Bitch, why do you care?" Jade hastily replied, now stood firmly with her arms crossed over her chest, the same frown still staring directly back at me. I gulped a little, and looked over at the readhead, who's turn it now was.
"Calm down! She was only asking." Cat quickly came up with, looking quite proud of herself as she glanced over to me for approval, to which I quickly shot her a proud smile.
"Dude chill. I just wanted to know, that's all." I retort, now glancing at the girl opposite me in a way intending to come across as challenging. When I glared at her, I noticed her quickly break eye contact with me to look at the floor.
"Ew, you're always up in my business." She snapped, however, I couldn't help but notice her as she failed to look me in the eye.
"Guys, this is starting to feel personal-" Cat started before being instantly cut off by Sikowitz making a loud buzzer sound
"Valentine! You're out. The letter was F!" He called out, practically jumping as he did so. Cat shot me a disappointed look as she began to make her way back to her seat, to which I gave her a small smile as she left.
"Damn it, I forgot." She murmured as she walked off.
"Anyway, Tori, please continue this from F." Sikowitz continued, pointing directly at me, almost spilling his coconut milk. God. I really do wonder what is wrong with that man sometimes, even though he is my favourite teacher.
Fuck. I couldn't think again. Oh wait, Fuck. That's perfect!
"Fuck you." I blurted out, quickly trying to restart the game. Sikowitz shot me a disapproving look at my use of foul language, but remained silent to not disturb us. Jade's eyes instantly snapped back up to meet mine, and she looked angry, like, really angry. I started to feel my heart beating harder and harder as the terrifying silence between us grew longer. I literally thought she was going to rip me apart. I was going to literally die. Right there and then, on the stage at Hollywood Arts. But no, her lips simply parted with a simple response.
"Oh." she growled, in a low, annoyed tone. Before she could come over and murder me though, we were cut off by our teacher's loud buzzer sound.
"Jade, you're out, the letter was-" he started
"Yeah, I fucking know. It was G" Jade finished for him, her head finally turning to look at him instead, rather than me. Thank god for that, I felt like I could actually breathe again. She simply stared at him, her chest rising and falling noticeably as she breathed. Before she could actually destroy anything or anyone, though, a familiar ringing sound came along to save the day.
The bell.
Jade looked up at the clock above the door, before storming off of the stage and snatching her bag from the spot in which she had previously placed it, and sprinting toward the door, ripping it open, and leaving. All within seconds. The rest of the class, myself included, looked around at each other in shock.
Sikowitz finally placed down his coconut onto his desk, and walked up the stairs to join me on the stage. The room was mostly silent, but I could hear murmurs in the background from the quiet kids, probably about what just happened.
"Class dismissed!" He calmly called, raising his arms as if nothing had just happened. Everyone quietly looked round at each other, before grabbing their items and beginning to leave. I quickly followed them, not wanting to hang around in that room much longer.
What the fuck just happened? Is she literally gonna kill me next time we see each other?
****
Finally. I was at home, on the couch, watching TV. School today was literally a train wreck, and I now live in fear of Jade, more so than before. Fun! Not. But hey, nothing's better than watching random reality shows for hours on end to hide from my friends, and my fear. A few hours of watching pointless girl fights on the TV passed when I felt my eyelids begin to feel heavy, and my grip on the remote loosen as I fought to stay conscious ready for my sister, Trina, to return home. Fuck, I needed to sleep. I literally swore at Jade. On the first day I met her, she literally poured coffee over my head. And ever since then, I was careful around her. I tried being nice, but of course it didn't work. But for some reason, I'm like 99.9% sure that being mean and swearing at her whilst she clearly is going through some shit probably won't help either. If she can pour coffee on someone for pissing her off, I don't even wanna know what she could do to me for insulting her. Although, just because she could, would she? Maybe somewhere in her dark and twisted mind she could have some hint of niceness. That's what intrigued me about her so much. Nobody's all darkness. Every time we interact, its like there's way more about her than what I see, and for some reason, I've always been desperate to find out.
Suddenly, my eyes flew open once I'd realised that yet again, I was thinking about Jade. I groaned a little, as it hit me that I'd been drifting off. I dropped the TV remote, and pulled my tired body up from its seat. Once I was standing again, I brushed my hair out of my face and began making my way to the kitchen to get some soda. I made my way through the house, walking toward the kitchen, and as I did so, I pulled out my phone. Shit. It had been on silent from school, and I noticed that I'd missed some texts once I saw my home screen.
2 missed calls - Trina
*New message*-Trina
What could she possibly have wanted?
Trina: Sis. Why arent u answering? Its seriously annoyyyinggg. UGh. I wont be home for dinner today, sorry i bailed. Idk if mom and dad will be home or not but im gonna be out with friends tonight. see u laterrrr
Fuck. Now I had to figure out my own dinner plans, too.
****
Jade's PoV
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School today was literally horrific. Me and Beck had this massive fucking argument after lunch about some stupid shit to do with him letting other girls flirt with him. Honestly, it annoys me so much when he does that. And then Vega just had to go and embarrass me in front of the whole class. But then again, it's Vega. I hate her. Why should I care what she makes me look like. I guess it was kinda nice that she asked if I was okay, but I hate her. That's how its meant to be. That's how it has to stay. Me and Beck eventually made up after school, when I realised how much I seriously did not want to go home, and we both just apologised and made up with our usual 'you love me again' as always.
We went back to his RV, and there I laid in his arms. Something about it was just so comforting. Even though we were always at each other's throats, I did love him. I loved him a lot. I loved the way he never gave up on me, and fought for me to open up to him. But that kinda scared me too. He knew way too much about me. I gave up so much of myself to him, that even in our hardest moments, it felt impossible to ever think of leaving. If I left, it would just mean that I'd be alone. And that scared me even more. As much as I hate to admit fear, that shit was scary. I listened to the way his heart beat as I laid on his chest. The way his fingers ran through my hair felt safe, but something had felt so wrong for a while. It was so comforting to be with him, but it physically hurt my chest sometimes. The way we'd argue every day. The way he'd look at other girls when they flirted with him, instead of defending me. But a really fucking small part of me kinda understood. It's like we were both relying on each other for happiness, but at the same time we both kinda knew there was bigger and better things out there. I just had no clue what those things were for me. And it scared me that he seemed to have some idea, so I just decided it was best left unspoken. I didn't plan on breaking up with him anytime soon, so the most I could do was just desperately cling onto what was left of our relationship.
"Babe, it's not even dark out yet, maybe we should do something." he whispered to me. It interrupted my train of thought, but I was kinda glad considering my thoughts were starting to upset me. I looked up at him, whilst still lying on his chest.
"We could smoke?" I responded, in a calm and quiet tone, much different to the one I had used earlier in class. A small, but genuine smile pulled at the corners of my mouth as I looked at him.
"No way, I gotta drive you home at some point, and I can't drive if I'm high." Beck responded, still stroking my hair gently. This response said enough to me that he already had something planned anyway, just wanted to let me know gently. I waited for him to keep talking. "Honestly, Jade, I think we should ask the others to hang out." And there it is. What he wanted to do the whole time. It's not that I was against hanging out with our friends, because for the most part, I did actually enjoy it. It's just that I'm pretty sure most of them didn't wanna see me after my outburst in class earlier, and Vega was probably gonna be invited. The idea of seeing her after earlier honestly made my stomach tighten. I'm pretty sure Beck could see by the sudden shift of the look on my face that I didn't seem to keen on his idea, but fuck was he a persistent guy.
"Babe, come on. Don't give me that look." He sighed, before planting a small kiss on my forehead, causing me to smile slightly at him. I finally built up the courage to speak.
"It's just. Vega's probably gonna come and I really don't know if I can see her after earlier." I groaned, pouting slightly at him, hoping he'd agree with me and just forget the entire idea. I felt his grip on me loosen slightly after I spoke, and a disappointed look form on his face.
"Jade. I don't see why you hate Tori so much. Just give her a chance. From what you told me, she was genuinely just worried about you. I know you've been afraid and shit like that, but she is so nice to you and maybe its time you try showing some of that back." He blurted out. I was actually kind of shocked at how little he held back compared to normal. I looked up at him silently, which caused him to add on to his statement, probably out of fear that I'd react badly to what he said or some shit. "Or at least try to act like you're okay with her and leave her alone instead of treating her like she's a piece of shit."
As much as I hate to admit it, he was kinda right. Vega seriously never gave up on me, and it didn't go unnoticed either. I didn't even have to be nice to her. Just. Put up with her. And considering I'd been doing that already ever since she ever even joined Hollywood Arts, all I had to do was just cut out some of the meanness for a couple nights to keep Beck happy. And at least I'd get to see Cat. She was the only other girl in the group, and the only girl I didn't view as a threat. Therefore, she was the person I guess I kinda would consider my best friend? We just didn't do all of the shit best friends were supposed to do. Because I never put in that effort. And Andre is chill enough to be around for hours on end. And as much as Robbie did sorta annoy me, it wasn't so bad that I couldn't stand to be around him for a little while tonight, so I found my mind shifting to agree with Beck's plan.
"Fine. Text the groupchat and ask about it." I finally responded, quiet, a little embarrassed to admit to Beck that I was wrong. I finally noticed a smile form on his face, and he held me tighter again, which in turn made me smile at him too, as I settled back into my original, comfortable position.
Beck: Guys.
I felt my phone buzz as my boyfriend began to text the groupchat.
Andre: What's up?
Cat: HIIIIIII!
Robbie: Hey.
Tori: Everything okay?
Beck: I was just wondering if we could maybe all hang out tonight? I'm with Jade and she's down too.
Tori: Uhhh. I'll have to sit this one out
Beck: Come on Tori. I spoke to Jade and she seriously isn't that mad about earlier. Promise
Tori: Umm. Okay then. I'll come.
Andre: Where are we going?
Cat: Why dont we just go to Tori's place like always!!!
Tori: Why do we always have to go to mine? Ugh. Screw it. Nobody's home for me tonight anyway so you guys might as well.
Robbie: Sounds all good.
Beck: Alright. I say everyone be at Tori's at like 6:30pm. Its like 4:30 now so we still have time to get ready and shit.
Welp. Guess It's sorted. Now I have to go to Vega's fucking house after earlier, although, it could be worse. At least everyone else will be there too. And at least me and Beck weren't fighting.
"Well. We still have a while until we've gotta head to Tori's, so. You got anything else we can do in the meantime?" He asked me. I smirked slightly, before changing our position so that I was straddling him.
"Well, I guess I can think of one thing." I chuckled slightly, in the most seductive tone I could manage to come up with as he put his hands on my waist. Normally when we did this, it was actually pretty good. But something felt kind of wrong when he put his hands on me today. Maybe it was the realisation that I'm clinging onto something that can't be fixed I'd had earlier. Meh, fuck it. We still had to pass the time, so I just brushed it off as nothing, before pressing my lips to his. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer to him as he deepened the kiss. Even this felt weird after what I'd been thinking earlier, and that fight. But hey, maybe that just happens sometimes. So yet again, I brushed it off. It wasn't the first time we'd done this, no shit, so nothing to worry about I guess.
****
A couple of hours had passed now, and I found myself perched in the passenger seat of Beck's car. My seat was a little reclined, and I had my elbow resting on the window, loud music blasting. My eyes moved over to take a look at my boyfriend, where I observed him. He was leant back in his seat, one hand on the wheel, one on his chin as he drove. We were headed to Vega's place. The ride was pretty chilled out for the most part, and I spent most of it just looking out of the window, watching as we passed by traffic. Every now and then, he'd turn a little sharp or brake a little hard, causing me to shoot him a pissed off look.
"Jesus Christ dude, watch it.!" I snapped one of the times he braked a little too hard for my liking, quickly turning my head away from the scenery and to him as I did so. He laughed a little at my reaction, and turned to look at me as we'd stopped at a traffic light. I couldn't help but feel a smile forming on my lips. After a few moments, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and started rolling down the window of his car.
"Babe, pass me your lighter." I murmured, fiddling with the packet to get myself one out. I swiftly placed it in my mouth, watching Beck as he fumbled around with the pockets of his jeans to find his lighter. After what felt like an eternity, he tossed it over to me.
"I don't see why you don't just wait until we get to Tori's place, babe." he mutters, eyes now focused on the road ahead as the light turned green and we pulled away. I sparked the lighter, and took a long drag from the cigarette, feeling the smoke fill my lungs before I exhaled out the remains. I took it out of my mouth and held it by the window.
"Because." I groaned, "you know how they are with that shit. Especially Vega." I added, making sure to put extra emphasis on Vega's opinion. He shot me a questioning look.
"And since when do you give a fuck what Tori thinks?" He questioned, before quickly looking back at the road ahead to not cause an accident.
Fuck. He's right again. Since when have I ever given a fuck about Vega advising me to stop smoking? I took another long drag from my cigarette, ashing it out of the window this time.
"I don't!" I quickly retorted. "I just think its annoying when she won't shut up about it." I added, now unaware of if that was even true, or if I genuinely did secretly kind of care about her concern for me. Beck gave me a 'if you say so' look, before turning left onto Vega's street. I sat back in my seat, finishing my cigarette as fast as I could before we pulled up outside her house.
Once we arrived, I couldn't help but lay my eyes upon her house. It was big, and looked expensive. I honestly wondered how she even afforded a place like this, like, isn't her dad literally a cop or something? In Hollywood, too. But regardless, I actually liked her place. It was weirdly one of my favourite places to go, which sometimes made it kinda hard to hate her like I was supposed to. We always had such great times there as a friend group, like the times we'd all go there to play cards and order food. I even found myself going there that one time me and Beck had broken up around a year ago. I guess I just found her house kind of comforting. No bad vibes there, just chatting shit and laughing. And we literally always went to hers. It genuinely made me happy thinking of all the times our friends had spent laughing and talking on that stupid fucking red couch. Maybe Vega wasn't so bad... Afterall, she did help me when I came crying to her that one time. And she literally always opened her door to anybody who needed it. God, in a way I hated that about her. Why hadn't she just given up on me? But at the same time, it intrigued me. Like, I actually found it kind of fun to see how much she could take. Wait.. That sounds kinda sick and twisted when I say it like that. Oh well, I'm literally Jade West.
But either way, I did tell Beck I'd try be nicer to her, so I guess I just had to hold off. Especially after earlier. I'd be lying if I said it didn't actually hurt a little bit when she'd said that to me.
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