revamped! 20/11/2020 <3
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"How's your arm, Tori?" Andre asks, lifting a concerning brow to the sight of Tori jabbing her fork into her salad forcefully. Tori eyes the boy for a brief moment before gentling her grip on the plastic fork, taking a bite out of the mixture of vegetables in front of her.
"Better," Tori mutters inaudibly in reply with a mouthful of lettuce and tomato, wincing momentarily to the rushed taste in her mouth. She frowns slightly, rubning her arm lightly and quickly dismissing the pain with a faint smile on her face. "Doesn't hurt as much anymore, though I do get that burning feeling often."
"Sorry that I wasn't there to break you two apart, didn't think it'd go that far," Andre mutters apologetically as he caught a glance of Cat and Robbie making their way to the table, adjusting his position a bit farther away from the brunette. He releases a sigh, clasping his hands nervously together as his eyes roam around the large space of the outside as if trying to search or avoid something.
"It's fine, Andre, you don't need to apologise," Tori smiles at the dark-skinned boy. "It reminded me of the time where I whacked Jade in the face with a cane, remember that? Except that it was stage fightning."
Andre chuckles to the flashback, reminiscing over the interesting exchange that Tori and Jade had back in the day.
Tori and Jade were assigned to stage fight together; for Tori, she was required to play the role of a little and supposedly vulnerable old lady and Jade had to play the role of a robber who was trying to take her bag. When it was their turn to act, Tori had supposedly whacked Jade in the face with her cane, and Jade claimed she did and she got a black eye as a result, and then it turned into a complete uneccessary rollercoasters of frequent arguments.
And as a result, Tori received two weeks of after-school detention from Lane, and was forced to clean the remains of a food fight event that occurred in the Black Box Theatre for some fucking apparent reason.
And that was the day where Jade had confessed to lying, and it made Tori confused ever since then as to why the girl decided to lie in the first place.
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"I don't get it." The words from Jade's mouth caught Tori off-guard immediately, whom was aggressively scraping off the leftover food bits from the black walls of the Black Box Theatre. Tori cringed in frustration as she placed the metal scrape to her side to take in Jade's words from behind her.
Tori looked up the girl menacingly, "What?"
"I know Andre told you that I faked everything... the blood, the black eye. What is that Mac N' Cheese?" Jade noticed the food that Tori was scraping off the wall, lifting a what-the-fuck brow to the room around her, which she didn't even noticed was completely painted with the colours of yellow and orange dry food stains, along with the fluttering scent of the leftover food that still drifted in all directions of the room.
"Looks like it right?" a voice asked, which belonged to a security guard that Lane hired to watch Tori. His name was Derek.
Tori finally stood up, facing towards the girl, "Why are you even here?"
"Why are YOU here?" Jade asked back, shaking her head and not bothering to answer Tori's question first. She placed both of her hands to her hips firmly, keeping her gaze fixed hard on Tori. "Why didn't you tell on me?"
Tori remained frozen for a couple of moments to think. "We both go to school here and it's not going to be much fun for either one of us if we're fighting all the time." she admitted. It was true; they both fought so much and their fights were known all over Hollywood Arts: just the two of them, and Tori hated the fact that she was only known to be seen or be viewed as an enemy of Jade.
Tori walked over to the other side of the room and began scraping the crusty food off the walls again, muttering lowly to herself as if it was an attempt to ease the rising tension in the room; a type of tension that she couldn't bare to even explain. Her gaze left Jade's as she trailed away with the bucket in her hands.
"So, you're just going to let me get away with it?" Jade asked while following Tori blindly to the other side of the room. Tori glanced at her for a moment before continuing her task, biting at her bottom lip nervously. "You took detention 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 shrugged sheepishly, "Pretty much."
"Well, you can't be nice to me when I've been mean to you, that's not how it works!"
A low sigh left Tori's mouth."Well, then try being nice to me sometime. Maybe that'll work. Now go play I gotta scrape this onion dip off the wall..." she said back, defensively. She leaned in curiously to smell the food on the wall. "...or onion pus."
Jade attempted to keep the situation calm, having the urge inside of her to protest more to Tori, but she knew she couldn't. Tori was right. Jade felt the guilt wash over her knowing all the times she had been mean to Tori and not having once been nice to her. She wanted to pay that back. Was it because of her jealousy? Was she jealous on how Tori appeared to be so bright and perfect? Asking herself the question felt mentally painful, so she brushed it off with a miniature groan.
The slight frustration bubbled inside as Jade threw her black bag on the floor, walking over to grab an identical bucket and metal scraper similiar to what Tori had. She sauntered over to Tori's area, hesitating for a few moments before neatly scraping some of the food off the wall, letting it fall down in the bucket with a sound that made her internally cower.
Tori noticed the sound and looked back to Jade merely mischeviously smiling at her, which faded back to a solid expression in a moment. Tori turned back slowly towards the food-covered wall, a bit dazed to the girl's actions.
"So now you're just going to stay in here with me instead of enjoying your freedom?" Tori asked her curiously.
"Isn't it obvious, Vega?" Jade groaned as if it was quite obvious to the decision. "You're right. I need to try being more nicer, to you, to everyone else. It's just... it's just complicated, alright?"
Tori just nodded slowly.
Jade stopped her actions, plastering on an assuring look as her eyes stared to where the brunette sat in, back facing toward her with Jade's green eyes slowly scanning the girl up and down anxiously. She bites at her lip, finally building up her condolences.
"I'm sorry."
Both of their eyes met in an instant, Tori smiling graciously and her eyes melting into Jade's beautiful murky ones. Neither girl knew what to do as their eyes continued to linger into one another's for a moment too long.
"I'm sorry, too."
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"Yeah, I do remember that time," Andre mutters, looking up at the clear blue sky and grinning as if he was trying to reimagine it in his head. The way he has practically witnessed his own friends evolve over time really surprised the boy. "Good ol' times, amiga."
"Hi, guys!" Cat pops up suddenly, her high-pitched voice surprising the brunette who was deep in thought from the unusual lingering feelings that she felt from remembering the memory of her and Jade. Her head only wandered to the reason for Jade's actions, and now it stuck to her curiosities like gorilla glue. Robbie lingers slightly from behind, waving to the group in an awkward manner as he tried to balance out holding Rex on one hand and a tray of food in the other hand.
"Wow, you both seem to be hanging out with each other a lot," Tori says as Cat places herself in the seat next to her with Robbie sitting on the other side.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Cat asks defensively, scooting unusually close to Robbie, with the boy wincing from the girl's closeness.
Tori frowns, eyes shifting back and forth between both of her friends. "Well, Andre and I noticed that you both have been hanging out a lot. Anything going on between you too?"
A smile spreads on Tori and Andre's faces as they lean in curiously.
"No, nothing is going on!" Cat pouts, still arousing suspicion about them that Tori and Andre furrowed their eyebrows. Cat motions her hands towards both of them, practically waving her hands in front of their faces. "How about you?! Anything going on between you both?"
Both Tori and Andre exchang confused glances between each other before focusing back towards Cat, whose cheeks looked like they were on fire. They both shake their heads simultaneously, dismissing the question. However, as Tori thought about the question for a moment, she side-glancing Andre, whose expression seemed all of a sudden solemn. The sight gives her a strange feeling as she turns back towards Cat.
"No, Cat, we were just talking about some good ol' memories from a few years back," Tori explains, ploppping a french fry in her mouth from Andre's tray.
"Like the time I made you into a zombie?" Cat's face brightens in a flash as she started to laugh again, out of context. "I will never forget that time!"
Tori remembers that moment, smiling along with the thought of it. Cat had been responsible for Tori's makeup but it all ended up crashing through the earth. Somehow, Cat was fascinated by the cute little gorilla on some glue and used it, which permanently made the zombie mask stuck to Tori's face, turns out it was gorilla glue that she used. And it happened on the opening night of a musical that Tori starred in, along with Beck. Thankfully they saved her just before the play ended and the rest went smoothly. Oh, what a disastrous time.
Andre, Tori, Cat, and Robbie continue to share previous memories they had, including the ones that happened when Tori still wasn't at Hollywood Arts yet. As Tori listened, surprised by some of the stories that they shared, her conscious somehow felt out of place as she cowered slightly uncomfortable in her seat, mind and thoughts trying to travel somewhere elsewhere, like an unknown opening was forcing her head to work backwards.
"Wait, Robbie, so when you found out you made it into Hollywood Arts, you peed yourself on the first day of school?" Tori asks the curly-haired boy while dangling another french fry in between her fingers.
"Oh, yes, he did," Rex sneers teasingly, making Robbie glared at the puppet. "He had to skip his first two classes at school because it was so bad. It's like he could make a river!"
Robbie lightly thumps Rex on the forehead, "Rex!"
"What? I'm just stating the truth!" Rex declares back, and though his expression didn't change, they all could sense the sneaky smirk.
"When I first found out I was accepted into Hollywood Arts, my parents bought me my first keyboard for me to write my music with," Andre says, taking a long sip of his drink. "Believe me when I say I wrote about a thousand verses just with that keyboard in my lap and a chocolate beverage."
"Really? That's so amazing!" Tori beams at the dark-skinned boy.
"How about you, Cat?" Robbie asks the red-headed girl.
Cat lightens up in surprise before her face shifts into a vulnerable expression. "When I got accepted into Hollywood Arts, my brother wanted to shave my hair off and pretend to be me." Then for a moment, it seemed like Cat drifted off into another reality, staring up the sky.
Andre, Tori, and Robbie both stare at the red-head in dismay.
"So, what did he do?" Andre asks, motioning for Cat to continue.
Cat quickly snaps back to reality, "Oh, don't worry. My parents made sure he was secure so they tied him to his bed with duct tape and gorilla glue so he wouldn't be able to shave my head. Or at least go near anything sharp."
Tori only nods slowly, slightly disturbed about the story that Cat told. The thing is𑁋she has been used to these highly disturbing stories that Cat always told about her brother.
The group continues to talk for what seemed like hours, but then they were interrupted when they heard two familiar voices arguing back and forth towards each other. And just from the voices alone it made Tori shiver inside𑁋the sultry yet terrifying argumentative voice of Jade is the voice she recognised in an instant, and it took a few moments after to recognise the voice Beck as well.
Tori turns her head to see Beck and Jade attempting to make their way towards them. Well, more like Beck, who was pulling on Jade's arm to try to drag her towards the table. Tori's eyes widen in shock, as the bickering between the two seem to catch the attention of the other students around them. And before they knew it, most of the eyes surrounding the two of them were on them but they both didn't seem to notice at all.
"Stop pulling on my arm!" Jade hisses towards the boy, trying to reel out of Beck's grip.
The words only make Beck secure his grip harder on Jade's arm. "Come on, you're making this harder than it needs to be, Jade."
"I can't fucking do this right now!" Jade struggles to release his grip on her arm. "Leave me alone, kidnapper!"
As more heads spin in their direction, including everyone in the group, Beck and Jade finally notice and suddenly feel like they were the stars in a Blockbuster movie. However, Jade just groans and attempts to pull her arm back, though Beck's grip doesn't bust.
"He's a kidnapper!" Jade hollers towards the studets in the Asphalt Cafe who... weren't doing anyhting and only continued to watch.
"You need to talk to her!" Beck argues back.
"NO!"
Beck finally releases his grip on Jade's arm, who pulls back immediately and steps a few gigantic steps away from him. However, as Jade's chests heaves up and down, out of breath from the tormented arguing, she could see Tori at the corner of her eye whose eyes were widened in shock, directed mainly at her. It seemed as if their eyes only met for a split second. Jade could feel something inside of her melt, shaking her head and releasing a sigh as she grabs Beck by his shirt to pull him close for a whisper. Beck seemed surprised at first before listening, watching Jade walk away from the him and from everyone else to head back inside the school.
Releasing a sigh, Beck makes his way towards the group and places himself next to Andre, putting his black backpack besides him on the chair.
"What's the deal with Jade?" Tori asks, sealing off her salad.
"I've been trying to drag her here to come apologise to you," Beck explains the scene which was fairly obviously. The boy rubs a frustrating hand through his soft dark hair. "And with Jade being Jade, I can't force her to do anything, so I just let her walk away."
"Do you know where she's headed now?" Andre asks.
Beck only shrugs helplessly, "I have no idea."
Tori stands up suddenly and the group all spun their heads to face her.
"I think I know where she is."
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The bell rings loudly as everyone in Asphalt Cafe all dashed towards the school at once to get to their classes. The group𑁋mainly Beck, Cat, and Robbie𑁋all remain behind from the crowds of people before disappearing at once. Andre and Tori both lag behind together, as Tori's gaze fixed towards the ground with her shoes scraping along the concrete of the floor beneath her. They both wait until the crowd fades before heading inside together.
"So, you're really going to try to talk to Jade?" Andre asks as they stop in the middle of the main hallway.
Tori shrugs, unsure of what to say, "I'll try to. Maybe she'll listen to me."
"But what if she doesn't?"
Tori pauses, voice slightly wavering, "I-I don't know. I can't force her to talk to me. Just like you said, she hates opening up to people she doesn't trust."
"You still think she don't trust you?" Andre asks, cocking his head to the side and crossing his arms curiously.
"I honestly don't know at this point. It's like playing a game of tug-of-war." Tori says helplessly, making Andre sigh.
After a couple of moments of silence, though Tori's head was filling with scenarios that seemed to make everything around her louder. "Well, I better get to class. I need to get this essay in by tomorrow," he says, lightly tapping Tori's shoulder, bringing the brunette back into reality. "I'll see you tomorrow."
A scream in her head just wanted Andre to stay with her for the support, but Tori ends waving goodbye to Andre, watching as the boy smoothly makes his way up the stairs. as if in a rush, leaving Tori behind stranded on the bottom floor. Tori then fluffs her hair out for a moment before walking forwards towards a particular spot where all of her friends have been in for private conversations𑁋mostly her and Jade.
Yup, the janitor's closet.
Tori arrives at the front and immediately stops, her hand on the door handle with a sweaty grip. She takes in a deep breathe before relasing a long exhale, leaning forwards to to glances in through the slim window of the light brown door to see if she could see any sign of Jade inside.
And surprise, she does.
Tori could clearly see Jade on the floor of the janitor's closet in a sitting position. The dark-haired girl's arms were going crazy as Tori watches in revelation to the girl aggressively cutting up an entire of one of the janitor's large, black rubbish bins.
Rolling her eyes, she opens the door, making Jade jump up from the surprise, pointing her scissors in the direction of Tori's. But once she caught the first glance of Tori, she lowers the sharp, long scissors down to her side, still having a tightened and prepared grip on the object.
"What the hell are you doing here, Vega?" Jade asks angrily, releasing her grip on her shiny scissors and crossing her arms together.
"I came to talk to you." Tori says slowly, careful with her words as to not trigger any sudden reaction from Jade.
Jade rolls her eyes, reluctantly sitting back down onto the cold floor of the janitors' closet, continuing with her constant desire to cut up the entire rubbish bin. The sounds that emitted from the sounds of the rubbish bin being practically ripped open with a simple pair of scissors made Tori slightly lower herself in fear, cringing from the sounds to her ears.
After some time, Tori places herself on the floor and across from Jade, a significant distance between the door both of them before closing the door behind her. Jade scrunches up her face in frustration, watching Tori's shadow at the corner of her eye scoot itself a bit closer towards her. She finally settles in, raising her gaze towards the brunette.
"What is there to talk about, Vega?" Jade hisses. "I'm not here to talk about any girly shit you're into. Why can't you just leave me alone?"
Tori's eyes widen defensively. "Do you not realise that I care about you?"
"Do you not realise what I've done to you?!" Jade snaps back at the brunette, causing her to stiffen up.
"Yes, I have. And that's why I'm here to talk about it, to help you and𑁋"
"I don't need your fucking help!" Jade nearly yells out, however then realising her tone before attempting to steady the lengthening anger inside of herself. "Why do you care about me?"
"Isn't that what friends are for?" Tori asks, voice toning up higher in pitch, trying to lighten up the mood. "Friends care about each other."
"We are not friends." Jade mutters under her breath quietly.
Tori stands up and crosses her arms together, glaring down at the girl on the floor who only follows with her eyes. "Then how about that night at Nozu? I asked if we were friends and you know what you said?"
Jade just stays silent, feeling the vulnerability slowly creep out of her.
She can't find herself to be vulnerable in front of Tori Vega.
"You said, 'It's whatever you want it to be', and you know what that means to me?" Tori lashes, not bothering to wait for a response. Jade only continues to stay silent, playing with her fingers anxiously. "It means to me that we are friends, whether you like it or not. I care about you, Jade, you have no idea. So I want you to talk to me, please, even for just a single second. Tell me something."
Jade shakes her head, swallowing a lump in her throat, trying not to look at the brunette in front of her.
"Tell me what I did wrong so I could fix it." Tori finishes, her voice eerily quiet as if only above a whisper.
"I𑁋" Jade starts but quickly stops herself. Tori still remains in front of her, waiting patiently for a response, gazing into the girl's eyes to try to search for something in them.
"I can't." is all that comes out of Jade's mouth.
Tori's shoulder slump down at her words; unable to come with anything else that she could to get Jade to talk to her𑁋to even say something to her that she could fix.
"I can't right now." Jade murmurs and Tori could see the tears strolling down the raven-haired girl's cheek. She so badly wanted to wrap her hands around her body, shielding her from the darkness in the world and to wipe away those tears that seem to glisten with a kind of pain that she didn't know how to heal. But she knew she couldn't, because there was darkness inside her heart, inside Jade, and for some reason, all Tori could do was to help her rid of the darkness.
"Then I'll wait, as long as I can." Tori says to the girl, putting her hand hesitantly on the girl's shoulder.
"You'd really do that for me?" Jade asks, sniffling and attempting to create a small smile on her face, standing up in the meantime to be equal level with the brunette. She lifts her head up to meet eyes with her again, a low tug of heat creeping into her cheeks that very moment, not even realising the blush forming on her own face. Tori didn't know if her eyes were playing tricks on her, but Jade's face seemed to turn into a light pink hue and she wondered if it was from her.
"Of course, Jade," Tori responds, smiling and Jade could have sworn that the world became brighter in an instant. "I'm here for you, okay?"
Jade walks a few steps towards the door, shoulder brushing against Tori's. Her hand lands on the doorknob but she didn't twist it, instead looking back towards Tori.
"Tori," Jade calls out, making Tori shift all the attention she had inside just towards Jade. "I'll see you around, okay?"
Tori only barely nods in response, but the motion makes Jade lightly smile, eyes fluttering as she wiped away her dry tears from her soft cheeks. After a few moments, Jade twists the door handle and opens the door, shutting it behind her, leaving the brunette alone with her thoughts.
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