revamped! 25/11/2020
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Tori enters into the Asphalt Cafe, where all the students at Hollywood Arts go to have lunch. It was probably her second favourite time of the day, where she gets to see all of her friends there at lunch𑁋talking, laughing, and having fun, and it warms her heart to see her friend group like this... most of the time. As she looks upwards, the blazing sun seemed to have its way by peeking throughout the clouds, casting large shadows onto the earth.
She walks past countless tables of people and students she didn't even know or recognise, knowing how big the school is and knowing that she was only surrounded by her specific circle of friends that she never even knew these people existed. She clutches onto her cup of coffee with a tight grasp as her eyes scan for the table that contained her only friend group. And for some reason, she had this sudden boost of happiness to the thought of seeing her friends.
Once Tori finally makes her way towards the table, her eyes look around her group of friends𑁋everyone was there except for Beck and Jade, so Tori frowns momentarily before placing herself in her usual spot besides Andre with Cat next to him, except that Cat was sitting on top of Robbie's lap.
"Hey guys." Tori takes a brief sip of her coffee, looking up to greet her friends with eye smiles.
Andre greets first, grinning, "Hey, Toray."
"Toriiiii!" Cat gets up aggressively from Robbie's lap, enclosing the brunette with quick hug before heading back into Robbie's grasp. Tori couldn't help herself but watch with narrowed brows as Cat leans her head onto the boy's shoulder, who doesn't seem to mind at all, only continuing to eat the salad wrap in front of him with an arm securely around the red-head's waist.
Tori cocks her head to the side curiously, continuing to gaze into their direction. "So, what's going on with you two?"
Robbie perks up in an instant, nearly spitting out the contents in his mouth. "Nothing!"
Andre raises his eyebrows teasingly, coming to Tori's side. "Oh, come on y'all. There's clearly something between you both. Just saying, you both are pretty bad at hiding it."
The sentence causes Tori to chuckle.
"Man, I knew they would catch on, Robs." Rex mutters.
Robbie protests, "Fine, then how about this?"
Suddenly, Robbie leans down to place a longing kiss to Cat's lips, making the red-head jump from the action before settling in and smiling into the kiss, trying to hold in a laugh bubbling up in her system. She cups Robbie's cheeks and pulls the boy closer, nearly falling off his lap and onto the concrete floor, but Robbie keeps his arm properly secured around her.
The sight causes Tori and Andre's eyes to widen as they both just continue to sit there awkwardly, watching two of their friends literally making out in front of them. The brunette looks around momentarily to see if other people were watching𑁋luckily, there's wasn't.
Tori notices the wide smile on Cat's face as Robbie pulls back from her lips, both of their cheeks are radiating a deep red colour as Cat looks up to gaze into Robbie's eyes, hands cupped to her mouth in an attempt to hide the incoming laughter and grin on her face.
"Ahahah! That was so funny!" Cat exclaims, playfully punching Robbie's chest with her fists, who groans in response to her repeated actions.
"Congrats you two, I'm glad you both are together. I was scared that Robbie wouldn't find his match." Andre smiles towards both of them as the colours on their cheeks continue to grow brighter.
Robbie lightly smacked the dark-skinned boy on the arm. "Hey!"
"What? It's true?" Andre gapes, staring at the curly-haired boy.
"You know, this makes me wonder if I will ever find my match one day," Tori says suddenly, leaning her head on her arms in front of the table and running a hand through her chocolate strands. "That'd be nice, I guess."
"Don't worry, Tor, I'm sure you will find them one day," Andre gazes down at Tori, placing a comforted hand on the brunette, patting her back with his hand and rubbing up and down soothingly. The boy grits his teeth. "Who knows, they might just be here at this school."
Tori let out a warm sigh, burying her head deeper into her arms. "Do you really think that though? What if I finally find them 5, 10, or 20 years from now. What about never?"
"Tori, you don't know the right time yet," Andre says softly. "They might be around here too, you just don't know it yet. Plus, you have plenty of time in your life to find someone to settle down with."
Tori let out another long, exaggerated sigh as Beck and Jade finally make it towards their table, making the brunette's head spring up just from sensing their presence near. Tori gazes with her mouth slightly agape as the girl walks gracefully towards their table, sipping on her cup of coffee.
As Jade spots the brunette with bright eyes, she pushes her way in front of Beck to land on the spot next to Tori as Beck places himself on the other side of Jade, narrowing his brows at the sight and of Jade pushing him away to sit beside Tori of all people, which is something that has... rarely ever happened.
"Hey guys." Tori greets the pair, pulling back some wild pieces of hair behind her ear.
"Hey, Tori." they both say at the same time, with Jade shooting Tori a pleasant smile and a teasing lift of a brow, making the brunette shyly hide her face away with a nervous smile creeping into her face. Her cheeks felt the warm the moment her hands made contact with them𑁋Jade's teasing seemed to have increased its impact on her and she wasn't sure whether or not it was a good thing or not.
Andre saves her, thankfully, though he was unaware of Tori's complicated feelings towards the raven-haired girl. "Y'all won't believe what just happened today."
Jade continues to sip her coffee, not bothering to know more about the big news, and Beck switches his attention towards Andre immediately, who was lightly jumping up and down in his seat excitedly. Robbie just stares in Andre's direction, practically begging him with his eyes to shut up.
"So, what's the big news?" Beck asks curiously, raising an eyebrow.
"Well..." he clears his throat as Beck motions for him to continue. Andre glances curiously towards the couple𑁋to which Robbie was still shooting daggers towards him𑁋before letting it out.
"Robbie and Cat are together!" Andre announces, however quickly noticing how loudly he was as the other students around their table turned and stared in their direction with surprised looks on their faces.
Robbie and Cat exchange a brief glance towards each other before Cat lifts her arms up into the air, pumping her fists up and down and cheering proudly as all of the eyes in the Asphalt Cafe all turn in their direction, making Jade cringe internally from the feeling, even though they weren't on her.
"Surrrrrrrrrrprise!" she exclaims happily, locking her arms around Robbie's neck. Robbie just laughs it off, pecking a small kiss on her forehead and bringing the girl closer towards him.
After a few moments, Jade faintly smiles proudly to herself, seeing her best friend finally find her match. She had really expected it though, considering that Robbie had had the longest crush on Cat ever since the two of them met for the first time 3 years ago. It made her happy knowing that her ditzy best friend finally found someone that made her happy: the ditzy red-head and the awkward and funny ventriloquist. The smile quickly fades off her face though to the thought of finding someone who would be able to deal with all of her𑁋her attitude, her insecurities about herself, her internal problems, and worst of all, her thoughts.
The ironic thing is that she had always been convincing herself that it would be Beck all this time, but now she finally found it within her knowing that it's not him. But knowing how she is now, it just wasn't likely at all.
However, the more she thinks about it, her mind somehow lands on Tori's name, and it makes her completely freeze in place. She glances up from her gaze towards the ground, sneaking an eye in the direction of the brunette who seemed to be busy conversing with everyone else to even notice her. Her eyes look at the girl up and down, silently observing her features𑁋the way she would smile and her eyes would to, her cheekbones, but her physical appearance wasn't as important than what the girl can do on the inside: how she can handle a girl like Jade, how she never seemed to want to step down from a challenge that involved Jade.
It scared her to the more her mind would end with Tori's name, considering she's been thinking about it for a while now𑁋way more than she should. The thing is, though, is that Tori didn't deserve a person like Jade𑁋Tori deserves someone a lot less isolated than Jade, someone who likes to speak their mind, someone who equals her in strength to her happiness and personality. Jade is the completely opposite of that, like a hidden bomb waiting to explode and kill everything around it. She could only wait for the moment that she would finally explode out of her dark thoughts, hoping that it would bring her down in the process forever.
But now she seems to not be able to get the girl out of her head, eyes leaving the direction of Tori as the pounding of her heart becomes steadier. And though she hates admitting to herself that Tori is indeed... beautiful in a way that somehow drags Jade's consciousness more towards her. But she didn't stop herself from it because she didn't want to.
"Congratulations you two. I'm glad Robbie stopped being a little wuss and finally made his move on Cat, after like, three years of having a crush on her." Beck says with a chuckle, ringing a laugh from both Andre and Tori.
Robbie aggressively throws a French fry from one of the plates on the table at the Canadian boy. "Hey! Why are you guys so mean?"
Beck wiggles an obvious brow. "What? It's true."
Cat plays with the curly-haired boy's hair, twirling the strands around her fingers. "Awie, you had a crush on me for three years?"
"You have no idea." Robbie says, kissing her lightly on the cheek.
The group continues to chatter amongst themselves about everything on their minds, besides the fact that Tori and Jade had spent a whole weekend together without killing each other. And as much as Tori wanted to bring the topic up, Jade would give a stare that would make her sink down in her seat and made her heart melt, somehow being able to read her mind.
She didn't know why the girl didn't want to admit to them that they were becoming close friends.
Just then, the bell rings and the group got up together. Robbie swings his hand in Cat's as Rex was sticking out of his backpack. It seemed like Rex wasn't going to get as much attention as he did before Cat strolled along yet the puppet didn't seem to say anything.
Andre, Tori, Jade, and Beck all walk together before stopping in front of the doors to the inside of the school. They move to the side as students began to push and brush past them constantly, fighting to get into the school and getting stuck in the door in the meantime.
Andre faces the group, asking brightly, "So, see y'all after school?"
It takes a few moments of silence for someone to reply, so Tori steps up before clearing her throat, "Uh, yeah. See you."
Jade just nods, leaning over to throw her coffee cup in the rubbish bin next to her before pacing back to the group.
"Yeah, see you guys." Beck just says.
Andre nods, shooting a brief look towards Tori. Jade just watches as the two of them make their way inside the school together, leaving only her and Beck behind. She could feel the immediate anxiety rise inside of her as she takes a deep breath without even trying to look at Beck, who she could feel that his eyes were staring into her soul. Her heart quickens anxiously, in a way that was different then how it raced when she's with Tori.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Jade just attempts to shrug it off, marching her way past Beck and inside the school who was in the middle of opening his mouth to say something.
"Jade, can we talk𑁋" Beck starts but Jade makes no attempt to talk to him.
"Later!" she calls out loudly, continuing her way through the hallway.
Beck releases a sigh, trudging his way into the school.
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The chosen participants for Sikowitz's play were all located in the Black Box Theatre to prepare for the upcoming show, which wasn't that far away yet way too close to even be dealing with. How did Sikowitz expect for them to prepare in such a short amount of time, especially with everything going on in their lives? Especially for people like... Tori and Jade.
Tori puts on her fake mustache, moving her lips around awkwardly as the feeling of the fake hair against her skin was making her itch. Guess she had to get used to it.
She makes her way towards the entrance to the backstage as Jade, Beck, and Andre continue to rehearse. She listens to their lines and words carefully as her eyes scan the room, landing on Sikowitz who was sitting in the front row with his legs crossed and fingers stroking through his beard, watching the scene unravel before him with more than just his two eyes.
Of course, they were mainly rehearsing the part at which Tori and Jade always mess up in. How could she say a line such as "I love you" to Jade West? It seemed amazingly impossible to even do that, even though it's scripted. But nonetheless, words that are scripted onto a page are meant to give meaning, and saying "I love you" probably has the most meaning than the whole entire damn play.
Tori's eyes then land on the raven-haired girl as she let out her lines with raw fire, as if she had been piling up all the emotion inside of her before letting it out without any pauses or stuttering. Jade had always been extremely talented with her acting skills, along with singing and songwriting, and that is something that Tori heavily admired by her, and something she knew she couldn't compete with.
Sure, Jade didn't always do cheesy plays such as Sikowitz's plays as she mainly did horror, which was obviously her ideal genre type.
Tori finds herself to be subconsciously admiring the girl, as Jade sneaks a smirk in the directions of the brunette for a tiny moment before focusing back on saying her lines. The smirk causes the immediate heat to crawl back into Tori's cheek𑁋how was Jade able to create this sudden vulnerability in her?
Finally, it was her turn to go on the stage without even realising how far everyone had caught up. So Tori clutches the envelope in her hand tightly as she walked her way towards the trio.
"Nancy," Tori gazes at each of them. "Boys, I'm home."
Jade clears her throat, eyes landing on Tori. "Hi, honey."
Beck and Andre greet her with their desired lines.
"Hey, Car𑁋" Tori states before falling onto the leather couch behind, as assigned to do.
Jade brushes past the boys and loomed above Tori, leaning down close enough that she was just a few centimetres away from her face. She stands back up, facing the boys, "It's alright boys, it's alright. Honey! Honey, wake up." She begins to shake Tori to wake her up once again, however this time it was less aggressive than their last rehearsal, which Tori silently thanks to herself.
"I'm up! I'm up!" Tori jumps off and finds herself face-to-face with Jade. Their faces were so close that Tori could feel her breath on her own cheeks.
"Um..." Tori couldn't help but stare at the girl, nearly losing her lines in the process. After a moment, she finally regains herself as she clears her throat to face Beck. "So, Tommy, how was school today?"
Beck looks taken aback, "I'm Carter!"
"I'm Tommy." Andre corrects.
"Oh, what kind of a father am I? I'm so darn narcoleptic I can't even tell my own twin sons apart!" Tori faces back towards Jade, who hesitates for a moment before reaching over to rub her shoulders.
Jade motions towards the two boys, "It's not your fault, they're identical. Look at them!"
Beck and Andre exchange a glance between one another before smiling back towards Tori and Jade.
"Oh, Nancy. You're so𑁋" And again, before she knows it, Tori falls forwards onto Jade who caught her in her arms. Jade's eyes widen to the feeling of Tori nearly making her collapse onto the ground. Tori feels Jade wrap her arms around her back for a moment as if hugging before pulling her back up to stand on her feet.
"Sweetheart, darling!"
Tori opens her eyes up to the ceiling. "Blast off!"
Jade grabs her arm and squeezes lightly, and Tori was surprised by her action. "No, you were saying I'm so..." The raven-haired girl's voice becomes suddenly soft and gentle in a simple moment. It wavered slightly as well, as if she was about to cry.
"Right, uh," Tori clears her throat. "You're so good, gentle... How can you love a sleep loser like me?"
"You're no sleepy loser," Jade just shakes her head, stepping closer towards Tori. "You're... an astronaut."
Their eyes lock in an instant, never leaving each other's gaze as Tori's brown eyes melt into Jade's green eyes. Tori could've sworn she saw herself in the pupil of Jade's eyes, making her heart race. Jade's breath hitches from the closeness, noticing Tori's heavy breaths and her heaving chest. It took a lot of a strength in her to only focus on Tori's eyes, because her own seemed to be having a mind of its own, especially glancing down at the brunette's lips.
Tori places her hand on Jade's shoulder, giving a squeeze. "I-I love you."
Jade hesitates before placing her hand on top of Tori's that was on her shoulder which was cold, but Jade made them warm instantly.
She smiles at her, "I love you."
Then Tori leans it unexpectedly to capture Jade in a hug, their bodies heating up as they lean into each other's touch with passion. Tori squeezes Jade tightly and leans her head on her shoulder, smiling to herself. Jade could feel the brunette's heartbeat, feeling her own quickening the longer she stayed within Tori's grasp. A sense of comfort suddenly hit her, as if she could be in this position for a very long time.
"Wonderful, wonderful!" Sikowitz claps as Jade and Tori pull back from each other, leaving each other's gazes. "I could feel the emotions, the passion, and the intimacy! You both did wonderful, and I especially adored the way when Walter's voice wavers before saying 'I love you'. Perfect, absolutely perfect! That is how it should be done. I think that will be a wrap for today."
Jade and Tori exchange a smile as they both went to the backstage to give back their outfits and props. Beck and Andre follow follow closely behind them.
"You did great today." Tori compliments, feeling the timidity in her voice.
Jade takes off her kitchen apron and places it inside a box, smirking to herself to cover up the small blush on her face, "You did better."
Tori's flusters, eyes widening in surprise before declaring playfully, "No, you did better!"
"Fine, I am always better." Jade states at her as she grabs her school bag from the floor.
Andre raises an eyebrow towards the both of them but shrugs it off quickly, grabbing his bag next to Tori's on the floor. He turns towards Tori, feeling the words wanting to leave him before stopping himself, seeing her and her closeness towards Jade made him release a slight sigh out of his mouth.
"I'll see y'all later." he says, walking away and out the door before everyone had the opportunity to wave him goodbye.
Tori checks the time on her pearphone, eyes widening to how late it was. Were they really practising for that long? The time on her phone read 7:58 p.m.
"I'll head out too, I'll see you guys later!" Tori says, slinging her back over her shoulder and rushing out the door before saying goodbye to Beck and Jade.
Jade doesn't seem to mind though as she swings her bag over her shoulder before making her way out of the room. However, she stops as she felt Beck's hand grab her arm, pulling her back in the opposite direction. She releases a deep exhale, slowly turning back to look up towards the boy with her lips pursed into a thin line, waiting for him to say something with her impatience replicating on the floor with the tapping of her foot and her arms crossed together.
"Jade." Beck pleads, staring at her with dark eyes.
Jade attempts to shrug his grasp off her shoulder but the boy wouldn't let go, tightening his hands in the meantime. He continues to look at her with begging eyes.
"We need to talk." Beck says quietly.
He finally let go of her arm as they both walk into the theatre, sitting down in the large empty space in the front row of the seats. Jade fidgets nervously in her seat, having a feeling crawl up her body of what the boy was going to say to her.
Jade pulls back her dark strands and sighs, "What is there to talk about Beck?"
They both continue to sit there in a few long moments of silence as Beck continued to get lost in Jade's eyes, trying to read the expression on her face. However he couldn't get himself to, even surprising his own self as he used to be able to distinguish through the girl's moods quite easily, but now, he can't.
And it was hard breaking up with her, considering all of the constant arguments they both had. Reminiscing those moments made him sigh, as Jade watches the boy closely with her eyes. He knew what he did was right but he immediately regretted letting her go into the wild. Beck knew she couldn't survive without him... or so he thinks.
He wanted her back.
"I miss you." Beck mutters softly.
The only thing Jade could do was widen her eyes at the boy. And then she got lost in her head, seeing all the memories they both had together𑁋all of the times where Beck had understood her pain and dealt with her anger issues. However, they immediately become clouded to the thoughts of Tori that she had earlier, and it only continued to stick to her. However as she gazes into Beck's expression, her mind completely freezes.
So she just sat there, speechless, not knowing what to say.
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