Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to VicTORIous, only my OC Rachel.
Jade could stop the sigh that escaped her lips as she walked down the street, having gone for a walk so that she could clear her head. It had all started back at the end of their junior year at Hollywood Arts, the group going to a party to celebrate the end of the school year when her life took a sudden unexpected, and depressing, turn. After the party had come to a close, sometime around two in the morning if Jade could recall correctly, and the group had said their goodbyes before piling into their cars and left the house. Her longtime 'on again, off again' boyfriend Beck Oliver and just dropped her off at her house and kissed her cheek, something that she shrugged off but could help to smile at, and had left to head back to his RV for the night. Just as she was about to open the door to her house and get some sleep she heard the sound of a car screech and metal hitting metal making her look over to see what happen and causing her heart to stop. There, just down the street, was Beck's truck with a SUV coming out of the driver side. Running down the street her worse fears were confirmed as she noticed that neither of the two were moving and she quickly pulled out her cellphone and called an ambulance. Turned out that the driver of the SUV had just left a nearby bar and had gotten drunk after, not only finding out his wife was cheating on him, but also losing his job. After that Jade would only really confide with Tori, something that she had become use to doing after the two of them had become friends but still keep it secret since Jade had a reputation to keep.
This was only the worse of her problems, as she still wasn't quiet over Beck's sudden death, but a current situation with college had just popped up in her family. Now it wasn't that big of a situation, her parents merely wanting her to try to get some scholarships as to ease how much they would have to pay for her education. However, deadlines where coming up and she still hadn't really turned in any scholarship applications. With another heavy sigh she turned the corner and shoved her hands in her pocket, her shoulders hunched as she tried to tried to hold back her tears. Everything was just becoming too overwhelming for her and she didn't know what to do with it. There was of course going and talking to Tori but she wasn't ready to face the half Latina just yet so she instead chose to continue her walk for the time being, looking up to see that she had made her way to her favorite coffee shop. After grabbing a cup of her favorite coffee she continued down the street and towards a music store to pick up a new cd, maybe even a vinyl record for her collection when thoughts of college came back to the forefront of her mind again.
'Guess I better start looking for scholarships when I get home,' she thought, taking a sip of her coffee, 'at least my dad is finally accepting that I want to be a director, ever since he's accepted that our relationship has steadily gotten better.'
As she reached the music store about five minutes later she walked in and started to look for what she wanted, heading up to the cash register when she found them and paid for it when something caught her eyes, a flier requesting the help of two girls. Picking up the flier she looked it over as she grabbed her items and walked out the front door. The flier was simple enough to follow, two girls required, had to be at least eighteen to participate, with a reward of fifty thousand dollars or a full ride scholarship to a college of their choice. The last part was what really interested Jade the most, this giving her a chance to tell her parents that they wouldn't even have to pay for her to go to college if she were chosen to participate. However; as she reread the flier, she finally saw what, and why, they wanted to girls to participate in their experiment. The experiment was to try to create the first duo female pregnancy.
'Huh, this might cause a problem,' Jade thought, frowning at the paper, 'guess I should have looked to see what the experiment was before getting too excited.'
Groaning she shoved the paper in her pocket and started off towards home to continue with her previous plan of looking for different scholarships on the internet. As she walked down the street she started to think about who she would even want to have a kid with if she was to take part in the experiment. She didn't really have any female friends at the school besides Cat and Tori so that really narrowed down the list for her, this leading her to creating a list of pros and cons for each of them. She started with Cat since she knew her the longest, and in all honesty she was had been her closest friend. Pro, Cat was cute, she wasn't going to deny that, she had a certain innocent charm to her that Jade wouldn't mind her own offspring to have, and she was a good singer. Cons, well it was Cat, she was hyperactive, a bit childish a sometimes, strike that a lot of the time, but Jade figured that she would hopefully outgrow it when she got older. Okay so Cat was a good candidate but she still had Tori to consider as well. Pros for Tori, she was kind, definitely a motherly figure if she ever had kids, an amazing singer and decent actor, and could put up with Jade's crap. Plus, she was incredibly beautiful, with her long brown hair and chocolate brown eyes and…where was she going with this…why was she even thinking about this.
"Argh, damn it," Jade groaned as she pulled out the paper, "I blame you for this."
Looking over the flier one more time she pinched the bridge of her nose and shoved it back into her pocket and shook her head. She was beginning to wonder why she even picked up the flier in the first place, oh that was right she saw the words 'full ride scholarship'. Well she guessed if she had to choose anyone it would be the youngest Vega daughter and the opportunity to get a scholarship was too much a temptation. Besides she wasn't even sure if Tori would even agree to do this and she wasn't going to put Cat in a parental situation until she was at least a bit more mature, as much as she loved the girl she wasn't sure she was ready for a kid of her own. Pulling out her phone she dialed Tori's number and tapped her foot on the ground as the phone rang, Tori finally picking up after a few seconds.
"Jade?" she asked, sounding a little groggy.
"What's up Vega?" the thespian countered watching as a couple of cars drove by.
"N-not much," Tori replied with a yawn, "was just working on some homework and fell asleep."
"Huh, that's not like you," Jade commented as she thumbed the flier in her pocket.
"Yeah, just haven't gotten a good night sleep the past few nights, haven't been feeling too well," the half Latina explained, Jade hearing another yawn, "actually thought about not going to school today."
"Never hurts to miss one day Vega," Jade joked, smirking as she heard Tori laugh slightly.
"Yeah I guess not, but I still couldn't bring myself to do it if I'm not throwing up or running a fever," Tori replied, "So what's up why'd you call?"
"I uh…I have something I want to show you, but I'm not sure how well you'd take it," Jade explained running a hand through her hair.
"Um okay, should I be worried?" Tori asked, Jade shaking her head as she tried not to laugh.
"It's nothing bad just…out of the ordinary."
"Yes because the school we go to is so ordinary," Tori teased, and Jade was sure that she could sense a smirk.
"Watch it Vega," the West girl jokingly threatened before continuing, "it's just um…this is something I would have to show you to explain."
"Okay well um…my parents and Trina are out right now so if you want to come over you could explain," Tori offered, Jade's smirk returning.
"Yes cause your parents being there would have stopped me."
"Just come over, the front door's unlocked."
With that Jade ended the call and placed her cell phone back into the pocket of her skinny jeans before turning towards the direction of the Vega household. Thankfully the Vega house wasn't far from where she was and it took her all of ten minutes to get there and flop down on the couch as Tori walked down the stairs.
"So what's up?" Tori asked walking over to the fridge and getting herself a glass of juice and Jade a cup of coffee the way she liked it.
Jade bit her lower lip as she tried to think of the best way to go about what she was wanting to present. Seeing that Jade was thinking about something, Tori walked over and set the cup down in front of her before sitting down on the couch next to her and placing her hand over Jade's.
"Jade is everything okay?" she asked, concern lacing her voice.
"Yeah I'm fine it just…um…well I had a talk with my parents not too long ago about college," Jade muttered picking up the coffee and taking a large gulp out of it, happy to have another cup of coffee.
"Oh, and is that bad?" Tori asked, not really sure what to do.
"Nah, just them wanting me to try to find some scholarships to help lower the blow of when the bills came in," she explained, seeing the tension leave Tori's body, "guess I can kind of understand."
"Okay so what was this thing that you wanted to show me?" the singer asked sitting back in the couch.
Groaning, Jade figured that it would just be best to get it out there in the open and see where it went, pulling the flier out of her pocket and slamming it down on the table. Confused, Tori reached down and picked up the flier, her eyes scanning over the paper as she took in what it said word for word. Jade sat there, the silence of the room almost maddening as she waited for Tori to say something, anything really, about the piece of paper in her hand. Finally, Tori set down the flier back on to the table and took a deep breath, her hand twitching slightly as she closed her eyes.
"Jade…"
"Um, yes?" Jade replied, confused.
"Where did you even find this flier?" Tori asked as she finally opened her eyes and looked at her friend.
"I found it at the music store I normally go to, didn't even realize what it said until I picked it up and walked out the door," Jade explained, wondering why she was acting the way she was.
"And I'm going to take a shot in the dark here and guess that this has to do with the whole scholarship thing you were just telling me about," Tori continued with her eyebrow raised.
"Well the words full ride scholarship was a very big beacon yes," Jade replied with a nod.
"And my next question would be, why are you asking me?"
"Well I you and Cat are my only female friends," Jade answered with a shrug, "so I made a list of pros and cons in my head and well…"
"You chose me over Cat," Tori concluded shaking her head and smiling softly.
"Well no offense to Cat but I don't really think she's ready for motherhood," Jade said with a sigh, "look if you don't want to do this that's fine, I just thought I throw this out there as an option for us to get scholarships."
"I'm just trying to piece this together Jade," Tori said with an apologetic smile, "and don't you think that they might want a lesbian couple to do this instead of two random people?"
"Don't know, I mean all of the times that I looked over this paper on the way here I didn't see anything stating that, just that two girls are required," Jade muttered.
Tori chuckled and shook her head again, standing up and she picked up Jade's empty coffee cup, Jade watching her as she walked back into the kitchen and held up the pot of coffee. Seeing Jade nod her head, she poured another cup of coffee and walked back over to the couch, handing Jade the cup as she sat down. Picking the paper up again she reread the paper, wondering if there was something that she missed, Jade looking over at her as she tried to figure out what she was doing. True enough there was nothing saying that they required a lesbian couple, just two girls willing to participate in the experiments. Setting it back down Tori looked over at Jade and noticed that the thespian was waiting for her to say something, her greenish blue eyes trained on her.
"Okay, tell me this Jade," Tori said with a serious look, "why me instead of Cat, I get that you don't want to put Cat in a parental position until she's a bit more mature but I still want to know more about why you chose me."
"I…"
Jade was cut off when the front door opened up and Mrs. Vega walked in, grocery bags in her arms, as she noticed her daughter and Jade sitting there on the couch.
"Oh Tori, Jade, I'm glad you're here," Holly said, trying to keep the bags in her arms, "do you mind helping me get the rest of the groceries?"
"Su mama," Tori replied, switching fluently to Spanish.
The two girls got up and went to get the rest of the groceries, Tori's father pulling up as they grabbed some and helping by grabbing the last few. As the three walked inside, they placed the bags in the kitchen, neither of the girls noticing that Holly was now looking at the flier that they had set on the coffee table.
"Tori…" Holly said catching her attention.
"Yeah mom?" Tori asked turning to face her, her blood draining from her face as she saw what she was holding.
Jade noticed that Tori went silent and turned around to see what was going on when she noticed that Mrs. Vega was holding the flier that she brought, David frowning as he walked over and looked at it.
"Tori what is this?" David asked looking at his youngest daughter.
"It's um, I…"
"I brought it," Jade stepped in, not really sure why, "I saw that it was an opportunity to get a full ride scholarship and thought that Tori might be interested."
Neither of the two Vega parents said anything, both of them looking at each other for a second before looking back at the girls, both of whom were wondering what was going on in their heads. Finally, David cleared his throat and sat down in his recliner, run his hand through his hair as he licked his lips. Holly on the other hand stood there unassured of what she was suppose to do as she didn't even have a clue that her daughter was considering to do this.
"Some um…how long have you two been um…" David started, not sure how to put his thoughts into words.
"Have we what?" Tori asked, suddenly having a very bad feeling on where this was going.
"What I think your father is trying to say is um…how long have the two of you been…dating?" Holly asked biting her lower lip.
Tori's eyes widened in embarrassment and she noticed that Jade's had as well as they looked at each other. The two girls tripped over their words as they tried to explain what was going on, David and Holly looking at them confused before David held up his hand.
"One at a time girls," David stated with an amused smirk.
'Ah to be young and in love,' he thought shaking his head.
"W-we're not dating!" Tori said blushing bright red.
"Well don't say it like it's offensive Vega," Jade mumbled, feeling her mood souring a bit.
"What I mean is that Jade and I are just friends, and before you ask she just brought this to me today," the youngest Vega girl said, feeling more and more embarrassed.
"And were you going to participate in this experiment?" Mrs. Vega asked, placing her hand on her husband's shoulder.
"I…I don't know," their daughter replied looking at the ground, "I mean it would be a good way to get a full ride scholarship, but then that raises the question on what would we do if we actually had a child, would we give him or her up, or try to raise our child while going to college."
Jade placed her hand on Tori's shoulder and gave her a reassuring squeeze, catching the attention of not just the recipient of the squeeze but of the two Vega parents watching them.
"I'm not forcing you to do this Vega, if you don't want to that's fine I'll just head home and start searching for other scholarships," she said with her signature smirk.
"I…just give me some time to think about it okay Jade," Tori said making Jade's eyebrow raise slightly, "look the deadline is not until the end of the week, just give me a few days to think about it please."
Jade nodded and released Tori's shoulder before saying good bye and taking her leave, David offering to give her a ride since it was late. As the goth girl left Tori stood there and looked down at the flier that Jade had left on the table.
"Are you okay Tori?" Holly asked walking over to her.
"Yeah, just not how I figured my day would end," she replied with a smile.
"Tori I just want you to know that no matter what you chose that me and your father will be on your side," Mrs. Vega promised hugging her daughter.
"I know mama, I know," Tori said hugging her back, her eyes still on the flier.
