Jade's POV:
As soon as the final bell rings, I rush to my locker, ready to go home. Today wasn't half as bad as I had originally expected. Our friends seemed pretty okay with the fact that Vega and I are dating, and they didn't dwell on it too much, thankfully.
Vega's not that bad of an actress, I guess.
I slam my locker shut, ready to get outta this hell hole, until I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket.
Great. It's my mom.
I press answer, and put the phone up to my ear.
"What?" I snap.
"Hi sweetie" I hear her say and I roll my eyes at her terms of endearment.
Yup. Me and my mom have an interesting relationship.
"What do you want?" I ask her in my harsh tone.
"My meeting's running late so I need you to pick up your brother from school"
I groan and hang up the phone. I don't really have any other choice but to pick him up.. unless I want to be grounded for a week.
I start the car and I feel my phone vibrate again.
I swear that woman needs to get a life.
I angrily pick up my phone, but my face relaxes when I see that it's a text from Vega. She asked me if I wanted to go to Freezy Queen with her and the rest of the group.
I do have some homework to do.. but when have I ever cared about revolutions and shit?
I don't bother texting her back that I'm going, so I just turn the car and drive towards Tyler's school.
Tyler's my 10-year old brother, and I barely ever talk about him. He's really annoying and he's always getting into trouble. He used to be really sweet when he was younger, but I guess he spent more time with me so he started to become a lot more like me. Rude, ignorant and selfish.
When I reach his school, he hops in without even saying a hello. I couldn't care less. Thankfully, he's on his phone for the whole car ride home, meaning he doesn't irritate me like usual. When we finally arrive home, he gets out without a fucking thanks.
"Ungrateful twerp!" I shout at him as he runs upstairs, and he doesn't even look back when shooting me the middle finger.
I don't even bother telling him that I'm going out, because I know he wouldn't give a shit. I grab some coffee for myself, and drive to the ice cream parlour.
While I'm driving, I can't help but to think about Beck. I really miss him and he doesn't even seem that jealous of Vega and I. He mostly just looked upset and heartbroken today at lunch. Hell, he wouldn't even look at me all day. I just wish I knew what his problem is, and then we can go back to dating and I don't have to continue being nice to Vega. I've literally never been so nice for so long in my entire life! It's so hard. See the difference between Beck and Vega is that I never really had to try and be nice to Beck. He kinda just accepted me for the way I am. He would try to make me be nicer to other people, but I refused to let him or anyone change me.
But Vega on the other hand. She just seems so upset lately after I blackmailed her. I mean, I don't blame her. She's had a rough couple of days because of me and she still has to act as if she really likes me.
Huh. I can now see why she doesn't trust me so much. Oh well, I don't really care.
The thing is.. every time I got mad or upset, Beck would be the one apologising to me. But it's the other way round with Vega. I'm the one who has to apologise to her if I hurt her. She doesn't apologise for making me mad in the first place. Hopefully, Beck doesn't stay too mad and takes me back soon.
I round the corner of Freezy Queen and I spot Beck and Vega outside.. talking.. alone.
The fuck?
I quickly park the car and I see Vega smile at Beck and lean in for a hug. I decide to make my presence known by shouting at them, and shooting a very dirty look towards my girlfriend. Well.. fake girlfriend.
"What the fuck!?" I shout, causing them to break apart immediately with a panicked look on their faces.
Before either of them can speak, I grab Vega's wrist, leading her towards my car.
Seriously!? What part of 'no flirting' does this dumb chick not get. Even if she's with a friend.. only I can touch or hug her. She's gonna regret leaning in for that hug.
"Jade, calm down. Nothing was going on. Beck and I were just talking.." she tries to explain, as I'm dragging her to the parking lot.
"It didn't look like you two were fucking 'just' talking!!" I scream at her. It's a pretty empty parking lot, so no one can come to Vega's rescue.
Good thing I brought my favourite scissors with me today.
"Jade will you just listen to me for a second.." she tries, but I don't give her the chance. I roughly push her against my car, trapping her.
What makes me even more mad, is the fact that there isn't even a slight look of fear on Vega's stupid perfect face. She does, however tense up her body a little, as if she's about to embrace the pain.
I'll show her-
"Jade" she softly says, while cupping my cheek with her hand, and I instantly feel like pulling her close and kissing her.
Focus Jade. Vega was hugging Beck for God knows why. And she knows how I feel about Beck.
"You can't sweet talk your way outta this one Vega" I say, trying to sound harsh, but her touch is starting to affect me and I can't help but to glance down at her lips.
"Jade" she sighs.
I love the way she says my name with so much affection.
Jade! Focus!
I pull out my scissors and expect Vega to get scared, or at least remove her hand. That would make this a lot easier. But she doesn't. She keeps her hand on my cheek, and she keeps staring into my eyes without a trace of fear.
"I'm sorry I hurt you baby" she quietly says, and I literally feel my knees go weak when she says 'baby'. She usually doesn't look into my eyes when she speaks to me, and she's never called me any pet names before, unless we're around other people. But it always sounds so forced. Maybe not to everyone else, but I don't know.. it's like she's forcing herself to act caring towards me.
Hey, as long as other people buy it , I couldn't care less.
You gotta start focusing more Jade.
I look into Vega's pleading eyes for me to forgive her, or to let her go, because I'm probably crushing her against my car right now.
I let out a deep breath that I didn't know I was holding. "What were you two talking about? And why'd you hug him Vega?" My tone isn't soft, but it isn't harsh either. It mostly just sounds like a bored voice.
"He asked to speak to me, and he told me that he's cool with us dating. He said some really sweet stuff about you Jade, and I can tell he really misses you. He even said that he still has a few feelings left for you and that it hurts him sometimes when we hang out." she tells me, with a sincere look, and I can tell that she's not lying. But I can also tell that she's hiding a few things, which I should ask about later.
"And the hug?" I ask her.
I have no clue why, but it kinda bothers me that Vega hugged Beck. It also bothered me that she's really close with that Ryan guy. I don't know.. maybe it's just coz of my jealous nature towards my partners.
"I'll admit, I hugged Beck. But it was to say thanks for being so considerate, and not mad at me" She says while looking down at our feet.
I sigh, and put my scissors back in my waistband. I need to stop hurting her so much. It was just a friendly hug, right?
Vega's still looking down, but I can see that she's desperately trying to hide her smile. I should really take them out again.. just to scare her and wipe that smile off her face. But I don't. Instead, I lift her chin up with my index finger, and look into her eyes. She has beautiful chocolate-brown eyes, that almost brighten when she's happy.
Did I really just think that?
"Come on then. We should probably go back inside before everyone wonders where we are" I tell her in a soft voice. I let her go from my tight, crushing grip, ad she gives me a big smile.
And as soon as I see that smile of hers.. I know that I made the right choice about not hurting her. It made me want to never hurt Vega again..
Jade, what the fuck are you talking about?
I stand up straight, and try to wipe the smile off my own face.
What? It's contagious!
I step aside for her to walk first, and she does.. but not before kissing me on my left cheek first.
Yup, definitely worth not hurting her.
I'm pretty sure I was frozen for a few seconds after she kissed my cheek. It's not even that big of a deal, like she just gave me a peck on the cheek. Beck's done it loads of times before.
Then how come you've never reacted like that with him then?
I shake my head at the thoughts and slightly run, to catch up with Vega. When we walk into the parlour, I spot our friends pretty quickly, who all greet me with a bunch of heys, before going back to their ice creams.
"You gonna order Jade?" Cat asks me.
"Nah, I already had some coffee" I tell her, and she nods her head.
"Wanna share with me?" Vega asks, and I smile and nod at her. We all talk about general stuff that's going on in our lives, and Vega and I even tell them the story about when Vega first met my brother. It's obviously not true, since we've only been 'dating' for a day, but we made up a funny story yesterday, that we could tell our friends to make us sound more believable.
I try to slyly look at Beck to see how he reacts when Vega tells them the story. Beck and my brother never bonded. Tyler would constantly be pranking Beck, so much to the fact that Beck would barely come to my house afterwards. I remember once, Tyler put itching powder in Beck's collar after we.. you know.. and the next morning, Beck couldn't stop scratching the back of his neck. I'd love to see that happen to Vega actually.
And that gets me thinking.. what if Vega really does meet my brother one day. I wonder what her reaction would be when she finds out just how much of a trouble maker Tyler really is. Maybe I should invite her to my house, just to see their interaction. Tyler's never liked any of my friends, and he especially hated Beck. Basically, Tyler hates anyone I love.. and since I love Beck, the brat gave him a pretty hard time. I wonder what he'll do to Vega...
We finish our ice cream and keep talking, until the restaurant closes. Time really did fly, and I'm happy with the way things turned out today. I also made a mental note to invite Vega over for the weekend, to see her with Tyler. I'm excited just thinking about it. Vega will probably be running for the hills by the end of it.
I say goodbye to everyone, and I'm about to get into my car but am stopped when I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn around and it's Vega.
Is it possible that she looks even better in the moonlight?
"Good night babe" she tells me, as she leans in to kiss me on the cheek. I however don't want it to stop there, so I cup her cheeks and kiss her on the lips. At first, she's a bit surprised, but she responds pretty quickly and kisses back. I hear our friends 'aww-ing' at us, but I barely pay attention to them. As of right now, all I can think about is how good Vega is at kissing. However, as much as I want to keep kissing her, I know it's getting late and we should probably be getting home. We both pull back and I lean my forehead on hers.
"Good night baby" I tell her softly and sincerely, and she nods before hopping into her car and driving off with a subtle wave.
I drive home, and weirdly, all I can think about is Vega. She's a pretty good actress, even though I'll never admit it to her face. She really does hide her hatred for me well. All I can see when I look into her eyes is lust, and that's a pretty hard thing to do when you're with someone who's blackmailing you and physically harmed you. I must admit, it's a pretty low move on my part. But I'll definitely delete that screenshot as soon as I get Beck back. It's the least I could do for her.
When I arrive home, I don't even bother to greet any of my family. I never do so anyways. I go straight to my room and fall asleep. Oddly enough, the last thing I'm thinking about before falling asleep, is Vega, and that beautiful smile of hers.
Ugh. What the hell is happening to me?
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Tori's POV:
(Fast forward to Friday)
Wow. Time sure does fly past. I slightly smile as I'm putting my books into my locker, getting ready to go home. It's weird to think how so much has changed in a week's time. A week ago, all I was worrying about was a simple pop quiz and an essay. But now, the only thought that stays on my mind is Jade. My fake girlfriend. At first, I seriously despised the idea of being anywhere near Jade, let alone be her fake girlfriend. Like she's just so rude and arrogant. But I surprisingly don't mind being around her anymore. It's been a pretty busy week, so we didn't see each other much, unless it was at lunch or if we shared a class. There's no doubt that Jade's an amazing actress. She even makes me believe that she cares about me. But deep down I know it's just an act.
I suddenly feel arms wrap around my waist, and a head lay on my shoulder.
Speak of the devil.
I turn around and smile at her. She smiles back and pulls me close to kiss her. She does that a lot. I've never even seen her kiss Beck this much. But they probably have kissed a lot. A bunch of people stare at us and whistle at us, which gets pretty annoying, but we got used to it. There's actually a bunch of lesbian couples and gay couples in our school, which is pretty cool. You know, I actually would've expected Jade and I to be old news by now, but I guess it is pretty weird to see the two biggest rivals of the school make out in the corridors all of a sudden.
Jade pulls back and rests her forehead on mine, giving me a loving smile.
God, I love it when she does that.
"Hey, you free this weekend?" she asks suddenly.
"Yeah, why?" I ask her, while shutting my locker and zipping up my bag.
"Wanna stay over at mine?" she asks me, and I can't help but to grin at her. She never let me go to her house when we used to hate each other, so I'm pretty excited.
"Yeah!" I say, not even bothering to tone down my enthusiasm.
She just smirks at me and tells me her address, before walking off with a mischievous look and a 'cya there'
Hmm. That's a bit weird. Chiz. Is she gonna kidnap me or something? Nah, Jade wouldn't do that. I hope..
I shake my head at the thoughts and start walking towards my car. I drive home and take a quick shower, before changing into new clothes. I grab some clothes out of my wardrobe and put them in my bag, before heading towards Jade's house.
Turns out, Jade only lives about 15 minutes away from my house. When I reach the gate, my jaw drops.
This.. is her house!
I look up to see a huge house, with a beautiful porch and lovely flowers growing from each side.
There's no way Jade lives here. She hates flowers.
I double check the address and I sigh before getting up to knock on the door.
She probably gave me a random stranger's house address so that I embarrass myself when I ask for her.
My assumptions are quickly proved wrong when Jade opens the door and I'm left standing shocked.
How come she never lets anyone come to her house? It's beautiful!
"Are you gonna come in Vega? Or are you gonna keep staring at me?" she asks me with a smirk and I blush when I realise I had been caught staring.
"Woah. Your house is HUGE!" is the first thing I say when I walk in and see the beautiful designs and paintings on the walls.
She doesn't reply and instead leads me into her living room. We sit down on the couch and I continue looking around. When I look back at Jade, she's staring at me and I use the chance to tease her back.
"So are we gonna talk? Or are you gonna keep staring at me?" I ask her with a smirk, and she scowls at me.
"Yeah, I invited you here so that you could meet my brother.. for real this time." she shrugs, and I automatically get excited. Jade doesn't talk about her brother much, so I don't know much about him, but I'm hoping I can get along with him. I absolutely love kids.
"TYLER! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!" Jade screams, and I jump a little.
Just then, a young boy with dirty blonde hair comes downstairs. He's got a scowl on his face, which almost looks exactly like Jade's, and most importantly, he's got the same beautiful blue-ish, grey-ish, green-ish eyes that Jade has.
"What do you want?" He snaps at her, and I can tell that they don't get along very well.
"I wanna introduce you to my new girlfriend, Tori Vega" she says with that mischievous smirk.
What's that all about?
Suddenly, Tyler's scowl turns into a smirk too.
Am I missing something here?
"Hi Tyler, it's really nice to meet you" I tell him, while extending my arm for him to shake.
"And it's not nice to meet you" he says, while spitting on my hand.
Gross, much.
"So, what happened to the other guy? Did I finally scare him off?" he asks Jade, and he's obviously referring to Beck.
Wait, what does he mean "scare him off"?
"Shut up pre-turd" Jade says, before turning towards me. "So Vega, I'm gonna take a shower. Why don't you get to know Tyler a bit more?" she asks me, in a sweet tone, and I suddenly start to feel nervous because of her voice.
"Umm sure" I say, unsurely. I turn to see Tyler with the same mischievous smirk never leaving his face.
Jade winks at Tyler before running up to her room to take a shower. And then it's just Tyler and me left in the room. I don't exactly know what's so hard about getting to know him so I give him one of my friendly smiles.
"So Tyler, what do you like to do?" I ask him, hoping we can connect on something.
He studies my face for a while before answering. "Tormenting Jade's friends and partners" He says while giving me a dangerous smile.
Omg, he looks so much like Jade, but just soooo cute.
I smile back at him, ignoring what he said, which seems to make him pretty confused.
"Well, I like singing" I tell him, hoping he can connect with me instead.
He furrows his eyebrows. "Didn't you hear what I just said?" he asks, confused.
Agghhh. He's so freakin' cute!
"Yup, I did. It's understandable if you don't like me at first, but hopefully we can bond in the future." I tell him with a smile.
He studies my face some more. "I don't think you have any idea on what I'm capable of" he tells me. "I once cut off a piece of Jade's ex's hair" he tells me with a smirk.
"Well aren't you just a little dare-devil" I smile at him and ruffle his hair. He huffs and fixes it. "You know, I have an older sister who is the definition of crazy. Once, I caught her making out with a poster of her celeb crush in her room. I even took a picture of it" I tell him, while showing him the picture, and he bursts out laughing.
At least I got him to laugh.
"Oh, and that's not all. Once, she was trying to impress her crush and ended up farting in front of him. It was super quiet as well and she ended up running away from him" I tell him, and he laughs so much that he almost has tears in his eyes.
Wow. All I had to do, to make him laugh was to tell an embarrassing story about Trina. Ha!
"Your sister.. is a... weirdo" he says in between laughs and I nod at him with a smile. "And I thought I had a weird one" he says and I chuckle at him.
"Yup. Older sisters, am I right?" we laugh about it some more and he tells me a few stories about Jade and I can't help but to laugh. She's probably gonna kill him afterwards. We laugh so much that we're on the ground, laughing.
Speaking of older sisters, Jade walks in, towel-drying her wet hair.
Woah. She looks so good after the shower.
Tori, stop being a weirdo!
"You're still here, babe?" she asks as she comes up to peck me on the lips. I love it when she does those cute little things. It makes my heart flutter and my stomach turn.
"Yup. Tyler and I have been.. catching up. Right Ty?" I wink at him, and he smiles back at me while nodding his head.
Who knew we'd bond over the fact that we both have weird siblings.
Jade has a look of pure shock and confusion on her face, and I really wish I can take a picture of her right now. She narrows her eyes at me and I break into a laugh, and soon after Tyler joins in too. Jade rolls her eyes, before looking at me.
"Wanna watch a movie?" she asks and I nod, wiping away the tears of laughter.
Tyler begins to get up and walk out, but I stop him.
"Hey Ty, where you goin?" I ask him.
He turns around and shrugs. "To my room, where else would I be going?" He snaps.
"Well, I was thinking we watch a movie together." I tell him before looking at Jade.
Chiz. She's got the look. The look where she's gonna threaten me with her scissors.
"Really?" Tyler asks, getting very excited.
I turn to Jade, and silently beg her. She glares at me, but I give her a pout.
"NO!" she screams at me.
Time for the big guns.
I give her my puppy dog eyes, along with my pout. "Pleaasssee? I'll give you a kiss"
Suddenly, she grabs my face and pulls me into a kiss. I respond hesitantly, but she pulls away soon.
"You don't need to offer to kiss me Vega, I'll kiss you whenever I please" she says with a smug smirk.
Bossy!
"Ughh, please Jade!" I groan, frustrated.
She seems to think about it for a few seconds. "Beg me" she shrugs.
Seriously? All I asked was for Tyler to watch the movie with us!
"Please, Jade. Can you please let Tyler watch the movie with us. Pleaasse!" I shout. She's just making my life ten times harder than it needs to be.
She seems to think about it for a while.
Is this girl serious!? I'm never, ever begging her for anything again.
"Hmm.."
That's it. I can't take her stubbornness anymore! I burst. "Jade West! Just let your freaking brother watch a chizzin movie with us!! I'm sick of begging you for every single tiny little thing!" I scream at her. It's suddenly so quiet in this room. Jade blinks at me. She has a look of shock on her face, but it only lasts for a second, until she says, "I like it when you're feisty, baby" with a wink.
OMG! Unbelievable. After everything I've just said, that's what she replies.
I get up, with a nasty glare aimed at her. She just has to treat me like I'm her darn slave. Well that ends now!
"That is it! I'm going home Jade! You treat me like I'm a piece of chiz. I'm supposed to be your girlfriend, not your freakin slave!" I yell at her and grab my bag, ready to storm out. As I turn around, I see Tyler's shocked face.
Shoot. I forgot he was still here. Ugh. Way to go, Tori!
"Are you going already Tori? I thought you were gonna play football with me?" he asks me in a small voice, still shocked.
Oh yeah. When we were talking, he told me he liked football and that we could play together today.
I know I can't stay here for longer, or else Jade will definitely stab me with her scissors. It's weird that she hasn't done it yet.. but I don't wanna jinx my luck.
"Maybe another time Ty" I tell him, while patting his head. He looks sad, but he understands when he sees the look on my face. I quickly bid him goodbye, and rush to my car. I'm so scared she'll just pop up with her scissors and make multiple cuts on me. I try to start my car as quick as possible, and as I back away from the driveway.. I see Jade running towards my car, screaming my name.
Chiz. She really is gonna murder me. I get really nervous and try to back up quicker, but I notice how Jade's demeanour isn't very threatening anymore. She looks.. upset? That can't be right. I screamed in her face that I don't wanna be her slave anymore. She's obviously fuming. But she doesn't look like it.
Just let her talk Tori. Besides, Jade just came outta the shower.. she can't possibly have her scissors on her, right?
I sigh, and stop the car. I reluctantly drive back in and get out. I'm shaking and my breathing is a bit uneven, but I try to act like I'm brave, and not scared of her.
"Vega" she pants. At least she doesn't sound too mad. But she could just be acting. She is a great actress after all. I wait for her to catch her breath, and she stands up a little straighter. "I'm sorry, okay? Please.. just don't leave. I was just messing with you.. I didn't mean to offend you, babe" she says sincerely. I don't even smile at her. That's not the reason why I'm mad at her. She doesn't treat me like I'm her girlfriend. She looks down at me.. as if I'm some worn out heel. I decide to tell her how I really feel, but more calmly this time.
"Jade" I sigh. "I'm not mad at you for the whole movie thing.. I'm mad coz you don't treat me right. I don't wanna keep faking this relationship, in constant fear that you might harm me again. I don't wanna think before I say stuff to you. I want to be open with you. And I know that this isn't even real.. but.. I still want you to trust me when I tell you that I'm not going to break your heart or hurt you." I tell her, slowly taking a step closer. "I don't wanna be scared of my own girlfriend, Jade. I mean, I love it when you do those cute little things, like text me good morning, or kiss me goodnight.. but I'm always scared that if I say the wrong sentence.. or do the wrong thing.. you'll hurt me." I take her hands in mine, and stare deeply into her eyes. "I'm trying Jade. I really am.. I'm trying to make you happy.. I'm trying to be the best fake girlfriend I can be.. but I'd be lying to you if I said that I was truly happy inside, Jade. I'd be lying to you, if I told you that you make me feel safe. Because, lately, I can't tell anyone how I truly feel. And it's been eating me up from the inside.." I finish with tears in my eyes.
I've been wanting to tell her all of this for so long. But, I was always so scared. She had been treating me so nicely, the past week, and I was scared that she'd hurt me. Or she'd stop being so nice and loving. But, I just had to tell her today. She's the only person I can talk to about this. She's the only person that can understand.
She stays silent for a while. She just looks into my eyes. I don't try to act like I'm brave anymore. I let the tears fall freely, and before I know it, she pulls me into a tight hug. I sob into her neck for a few minutes, and I'm almost certain I hear Jade sniffle too.
Is she crying as well?
I pull away from her and look into her watery eyes. Yup, she was crying. We stare at each other for a few seconds, and then she finally speaks up..
"Tori.." she says quietly. "I'm fucked up.. I-I don't know how to trust people. My dad left me when I was really young.. and since then, I've reflected my anger on everyone else. I caught two of my exes cheating on me before.. and since then I've always been super jealous. I know that it's no excuse to what I've done to you. I practically bullied you since the first day you joined Hollywood Arts. I screamed at you, threatened you, blackmailed you.. and hurt you. But you still stayed Tori. You stayed, despite all that. And I'm really, really sorry. I don't know how, but I promise I will make it up to you." she cries, as she confesses her feelings. She looks so genuine and fragile. Something I would've never expected to see from Jade. "Will you please, please, come back inside?" she begs softly.
I can either turn around despite all of this, since I'm still really mad at her. Or, I can at least give her the chance to try and fix this. The only problem with the latter is.. giving her a chance to fix things, is also giving her the opportunity to hurt me again, even though she said she won't.
Ugghhh. Whaddo I do??
"Please babe. Please come back inside" she says, with a few more tears escaping her eyes. I sigh, and grab my bag again, before nodding. She gives me a small smile, and takes my hand, giving it a light squeeze.
We walk back inside, and Jade tells me to pick any movie I want, before she disappears off upstairs. I decide to have a little Disney throwback, and so I pick The Little Mermaid.
Hey, she did say pick anything.
I plop into the couch, and by the time Jade comes back downstairs, she's got Tyler beside her. I melt at the sight of it, and I give her a warm smile. Tyler happily runs up to me and sits on my lap. Jade then sits beside me, and takes my hand again with a loving smile. As the movie begins, I rest my head on Jade's shoulder.
Can I trust her? I really want to.. but I can't keep playing her little puppet anymore. Will she ever like me? Ughh.