I'm By Your Side Chapter 1, a victorious fanfic

I'm By Your Side. Chapter 1

"One, two, three, four, and five…" My name's Jade West. "Six, seven, eight, ni- ah shit!" I cursed, tripping over the jump rope I was using. "I told you, you got to be more careful." Beck commented, that cocky smirk evident on his face. "Ugh…" I rolled over onto my back, still lying on the ground. The sidewalk was hot and slightly burning my pale skin, but I didn't mind. It was the good kind of pain. "Can I just lay here in my failure forever?" I asked dramatically, shading my eyes with my hand to see the fluffy-haired boy standing above me. Beck chuckled at me, reaching out a hand to help me up. "Nope. Even if you are my ex, you're still my best friend and I don't think your girlfriend would like that of me." I took his hand, getting on my feet before shoving the tan boy. "She is not my girlfriend." I blushed furiously, turning away to pick up the jump rope. "Yet. I know you got the hots for her." Beck said all knowingly. God, why do I tell this boy so much?

"Whatever. Doesn't mean anything's going to happen. She's probably not even interested." I muttered as we started our way back to my house. "Don't be such a pessimistic, Jade. I'm sure she's interested." He smiled at me, setting his arm over my shoulders. I looked up at him, cocking an eyebrow. "What makes you so sure of that?" He laughed lightly; shaking his head like it was obvious. "For one thing, she thought we were dating that one time." "And?" "And she seemed jealous." I rolled my eyes. "You are pretty attractive, you know that?" I opened my front door. "Tori, doesn't even know me." Beck walked in and I followed. "She talks to you every day. Practically every minute I should say." He smirked, pushing open my kitchen door. I went over to the cabinets, pulling out two glasses. "That is not true," I scoffed, filling our two glasses with lemonade. My cellphone rang, just to prove me wrong. Beck and I looked at each other. I glared at him coldly, and he held an amused expression.

"Better go answer that, Jade. Don't want your girlfriend to get upset." I narrowed my eyes at him, watching him take a sip of his drink before carrying the pitcher towards the fridge. Once our eyes left each other, I left the room, following the sound of my cell phone.

I finally found the offending object sitting on my couch, and picking it up it indeed confirmed my best friend's assumptions. 'Tori', was splayed across the screen in black font, and my lips tweaked up into a slight smile. I took a deep breath, calming my slight nerves as I answered the phone.

"Hey, Tori," I tried to sound calm and collected, not like I was totally into this girl. "What's cooking good looking?" She asked in that silly tone of voice, and I laughed lightly. "Not much, really. Beckett's over." Tori chuckled from the use of Beck's real name. "Oh, are you busy? I'm sorry; I can let you go if you are." She sounded a little disappointed. "Nononono! It's okay! He won't mind. We just got back from jump roping." I answered maybe a bit too quickly. "Oh, okay! Getting' your work on, huh? Who ya trying to impress?" She giggled from her own words and I smiled a bit. Not that I wasn't already. I walked myself down to my bedroom in the basement as I spoke. "Not anyone in particular…" That was a total lie. And Tori caught it.

"Pfft. C'mon! You so are trying to get someone's attention. Who's the lucky girl?" She teased through the phone. I rolled my eyes even though she couldn't see it. "What if I'm trying to impress you? What would you say to that?" I teased right back, lying down on my bed. "Hmm… I would say that you don't need to try and impress me." I raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh, really? And why's that?" I was genuinely curious. And hoping she wasn't just messing with me. "Because you're you. You've already impressed me." I felt myself blush a bit. "….Are you hitting on me, Vega?" A short silence. "Would you be okay with it if I was?" The answer was obvious. "Yes." More than okay, actually. "Good then." "Good?" "Good." I practically snorted. "You're such a dork, Vega." I rolled over onto my side, facing my wall.

"Thanks, it's my specialty." She giggled and I smiled while rolling my eyes. There was a short pause in our conversation, and I collected my thoughts. "When are you going to be back here in L.A.?" I asked quietly, hoping that the news would be good. I hadn't seen Tori for about a month. Her parents are divorced, her father lives here in L.A. while her mother is back in Nevada with Tori and her older sister, Trina. Tori goes to Hollywood Arts while here in L.A., and another performing arts school in Nevada.

It's usually not planned as to whose house she'll be staying at when it's with her parents. I think they kind of just wing it sometimes. Neither of them seems to want to be stuck with Tori or Trina. Trina's something special, I'll tell you that. I swear she is stuck in her own world that revolves around herself. I hate people like that.

But I have to tolerate her. Why? Because if I went off on her, Tori would get upset with me. I can say some PRETTY rude things.

"Mom says soon, but you know, we're never really quite sure." She sounded a little sad by how she spoke and my smile wavered. I'll be honest, I really like Tori. Like, really, like. I hate having her sound so distressed. "Guess what?" I needed to cheer her up somehow. "Hm?"

"I graduate in a couple of weeks."

"And…? So do I."

"That means, I'll be moving out soon. This also means, I'll be getting my own place."

"Still not sure what you're hinting at."

"We should be roommates." I practically dropped the bomb on her, but I had to say it somehow.

"Hm… it depends."

"On what?"

"You aren't going to make our apartment look all creepy, are you?" I chuckled; she knew me too well.

"Only on Halloween, I promise."

She laughed, "I guess if you say so…"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

I fell asleep that night talking to her. I was actually pretty exhausted from a long day from both school and from working out. After Beck went home and I made myself dinner, I ended up calling Tori back. "I can't sleep." I complained, pulling the blankets and sheets around me closer. "Me neither." Tori sighed into the phone. "Can you sing to me?" I asked softly, the sound of my mother watching T.V. downstairs playing in the background. "Why? I thought you wanted to sleep?" She chuckled. "Yeah, I do… Your singing is soothing." I yawned and heard Tori's giggle, causing me to smile. "I'm not that good at singing, though." She sighed. "That's a total lie. You're going to a performing arts school because of your singing. You're amazing at it, Tori, don't say that you aren't." I heard her pause. "Thank you, Jade… That was really sweet." I chuckled, feeling myself blush, "It was nothing… Now can you sing to me?" I yawned once again. "Yeah, sure. What song?" "Uhm…. I don't know… Any song." "Okay." I heard her take a deep breath like she was calming herself down and I smiled.

"Hey there Delilah what's it like in New York City

I'm a thousand miles away

But girl tonight you look so pretty, yes you do

Times Square can't shine as bright as you, I swear it's true"

I grinned at the familiar song, closing my eyes and getting more comfortable in my bed as Tori continued to sing.

"Hey there Delilah don't you worry about the distance

I'm right there if you get lonely give this song another listen

Close your eyes, listen to my voice it's my disguise

I'm by your side

Oh it's what you do to me

What you do to me."

I felt myself grow drowsier and drowsier by the second. The sound of Tori's lovely voice filling my head with peace as I succumbed to slumber.