AN: Hello, my fellow lesbian shippers! I know, I know; 'Welcome back from the dead, BunBun. How have ya been?' Well, I'll tell you! I've been shit! :D Being an English major means writing fanfiction may as well be as mythical as the Three-Toed Yeti, but alas, I have returned with some Jori goodness because it warms my heart to imagine some of my favorite women in... predicaments.
As such, this is actually a birthday gift for our resident Jori ship captain, StakeTheHeart! I am but a mere deckhand hoping to brighten anyone who reads this' day, as well as spread the lesbian agenda, of course. I hope you all enjoy yourselves, and once again, happy birthday, my friend.
PS: A couple things of note: every chapter title is actually a song name. I'm not going to be putting the artist's name in the title itself, but they will show up somewhere in the chapter. Allusions are funny that way. Lastly, none of these characters, songs, or companies (real or otherwise) belong to me, unfortunately. We know how everything would end up if they were.
Chapter 1: The Passenger
"I can't believe you picked her up; I was hoping for some creepy trucker to find her or she'd call her daddy—anything but you."
Tori snorted when she glanced at the phone on the dashboard, her best friend's goofy version of a 'suave' expression on the screen only embellishing the story he was telling her. She was driving out of campus when she called to talk about last night. He texted her when it happened, of course, but he knew she was on the clock and would be in class all day today, so he was okay with waiting.
"It's your fault for leaving her at the only gas station in my area," she told him as brown eyes flickered to the green light.
"I wouldn't have had to if she wasn't such a gank. I know my grandma isn't the easiest to deal with, but you cross a line when you come into her home, accept her hospitality, and have the nerve to trash talk the food and tell her to 'keep the crazy at a safe distance'. Her royal Gankness can't say I didn't take her advice when I left her over 40 miles from my house," he ranted on through the speakers in her car.
Her laughter rang through the small space. "Andre, your grandma is crazy."
"Yeah, but we can say that. I feel sorta bad, but man, I've never met such an ugly human being!"
A short ping cut through the air as her alarm notified her it was time to clock in. "Well, safe to say neither of us will ever see her again. Just stop picking up trashy girls, dude, you're better than that."
"I know, I know, but they're just so fu-"
"Okay- I gotta go Andre, I'll talk to you later, bye!" she hurriedly got out when his picture was cut in half by a random number on the screen. She shook her head before reaching over to tap the 'answer' option. "Hi, this is Tori," she answered in her usual peppy tone, aiming for another five star ride.
The voice on the other end made her smile falter for a second because of how pained it sounded. "Is this the Lyft driver?" she asked, the thick swallow that followed only audible because of Tori's incredible sound system - a thank you gift once Andre's record deal was signed with her featured vocals.
"Y-Yeah, where should I get you?"
"At the location I sent you, obviously," she snapped. Tori flinched and stared at her phone as the little pink car icon got closer to its destination. "Ever heard of the global positioning system, commonly known as GPS?"
Tori chuckled uneasily. "Funny. Well, I'm about three minutes away, I just wanted to-"
"Uh huh," the voice interrupted before two solid beeps accompanied it.
"She hung up on me," Tori muttered in disbelief.
After letting out a scoff, she slowed to a stop as yellow lights turned red. She kept glancing over at the car icon moving closer to its objective. She's dealt with obnoxious passengers before so this wouldn't be anything new. There was no backing out anyway; the penalty for canceling a ride cost too much to let a snippy customer get to her.
It didn't stop Tori from grumbling for the next two and a half minutes.
Several streetlamps flickered on as she passed them, almost as if she was bringing the night with her. She turned into a residential area, the smooth pavement turning into a rocky road. The houses were almost all identical aside from the adornments that littered the yards; even the trucks were identical. She came to an intersection as she glanced at her phone to see how much further she had to go. Some of the residents were out and about, likely enjoying the cool breeze that came with the moon. It was that same moment that she received a text from her soon-to-be passenger.
'Stay at the intersection.'
Tori shrugged and put her car in park. After dismissing the text, she set the timer on her phone for one minute. If a passenger failed to make it to her car in that time, she'd be legally required to move on to the next. She usually had no problem doing so, but lately her pick-ups have been so far and in between that she wouldn't mind staying a couple minutes after if she had to. Having this job was convenient for her since she had classes all morning and studied until after dinner. If she was lucky, she would even sneak in a nap after cleaning up. Driving at night paid the most, especially in the odd hours despite the odd people she'd meet, so she always tried to be well rested. Her optimism was enough to buffer any feelings of ill intent but sometimes she would get so bored waiting that it would drive her mad.
She chuckled under her breath at her unintended pun when someone opened her passenger door and startled her out of her thoughts. Passengers usually took the backseat, so this slightly unnerved Tori; growing up with a cop dad gave her a natural sense of paranoia. She gasped when her eyes landed on her passenger, her initial alarm creating a different distress signal in her brain when she caught sight of the slender pale legs that stepped into her vehicle.
"I'm Jade," she said with a roll of her eyes. "And don't drool, it's gross."
Tori snapped back to reality and wiped her mouth in shock while gripping the steering wheel.
"It's nice to meet you, Jade. I'm Tori."
"I don't care."
Tori blinked, but shook it away to say, "Seatbelt, please," which only earned her a glare. It was a solid five seconds before she finally obliged, her icy blue eyes never leaving Tori's. That earned a quick gulp. The anxiety that seeded itself in Tori made her miss the smeared eye shadow above those icy daggers.
"Well, drive then."
Tori nodded and quickly tapped on her phone, setting out to her next destination.
"That dress looks great on you," she tried as casually as she could, the awkward silence so palpable she couldn't stand it. She was hoping her passenger didn't catch the way her voice cracked at the end of her sentence.
"I know," Jade quipped, crossing her legs as she glared out of the window. Her clipped tone made Tori glance over, which she immediately regretted when her eyes caught the way Jade's dress had a slit riding up her thigh. It was a form fitting black dress, the strapless design making her well-endowed chest a truly scintillating sight. The black heels she wore had gold trimming that clashed well with her pale skin. The outfit in its entirety was well out of place in the trailer park neighborhood she was in, which led Tori to a line of thinking that did not settle well in the pit of her stomach.
She cleared her throat much harder than she meant to, making Jade sigh agitatedly as she peered over just in time to see Tori open up one of her music apps—an upbeat pop song started halfway in, more than likely paused when she was talking to Andre.
"No!" Jade shrieked, causing Tori to yelp and swerve for a second. Her hand was swatted away to the wheel when Jade took control of the phone, swiping this way and that with a look of mild contempt. Once she straightened out, Tori looked over with a piece of her mind intending to jump out of her mouth, but the words were caught in her throat when her eyes landed on the valley of Jade's chest that seemed to deepen with the way she reached forward.
"You didn't have to yell," she squeaked, her initial complaint dying out as her eyes settled back on the road ahead.
"You didn't have to have awful taste in music, but I guess we're both going to be disappointed."
"Hey!"
As Tori opened her mouth to go on the defensive, Jade turned the volume on the radio up to drown her out. A guitar began to reverberate in the small space, so she decided to grumble to herself instead. When a man's smooth voice joined in, Tori glanced at her phone's screen out of curiosity. She let a small smile quirk her lip up when she read the song's title, even going as far as looking over at her companion to see her crossed leg bouncing slightly in time with the music. Jade's eyes were closed but her lips were moving, which only made Tori smile more. Even when the song began to pick up and filled the cabin with louder music than she was accustomed to, Tori could have sworn she heard Jade's voice singing along.
"This is a good song!" she raised her voice over the music, unsure if she was heard because Jade merely kept singing. "Is Iggy Pop your favorite artist?" she tried again. Jade sang louder. "I personally prefer Bowie!" It was then that Jade groaned loudly and uncrossed her legs.
"I get it; you're peppy and want to hear your own voice, or maybe you just think you can make nice with everyone, but do us both a favor and shut the hell up," Jade snaps, rummaging through her gold purse as she does so.
"Sorry," is Tori's immediate response, her heart plummeting at how upset she's made the passenger. She internally berated herself when she caught a peripheral view of the headphones Jade fished out. "I'm sorry-"
"Whatever."
It was clear to Tori that any chance at conversation was dead. It was a shame, considering they still had another 25 minutes until they reached their destination, and Tori really did hate the tension that settled as the song came to an end. She frowned and turned the volume down, allowing the next song to fill the silence. She sighed when Bowie's voice followed.
"Goddammit," muttered a soft voice. Tori looked over to see Jade cursing at her PearPhone as the screen went black.
"Need a charger?" Tori asked as gently as she could.
"Obviously."
They were still a couple of minutes away from their destination, and at this point even Tori wanted the girl out of her car. She was usually very tolerant of rude and standoffish people, and while there weren't many words exchanged, something about the porcelain skinned beauty next to her bothered her more than usual. She huffed as she passed her the charging cable.
"Well, that's not a pretty face," Jade commented in slight amusement as she eyed the driver's deep frown that creased her forehead.
"Yeah, that's what happens when I experience a not-so-pretty attitude," she automatically responded, a deep blush creeping up her neck when she realized she potentially insulted her passenger. She looked over, an apology ready on her lips until she saw a smirk painted in a deep crimson. She could only raise an eyebrow back before shaking her head and turning right.
"The world isn't as pretty as you'd like to think," Jade quipped back as she turned her body slightly to lean against the car door. She couldn't see the way blue eyes inspected her, but the tone alone made Tori feel violated.
"How would you know what I think?" Tori fired back, now visibly uncomfortable.
"You listen to Ace of Base and David Bowie," she commented without missing a beat, "Your lip gloss screams 'Sally Sweetheart', the car smells like peaches and cream, your phone has a pink glittered case, and judging by the perfect five star rating, you try to appease every person who gets in your car."
"That's all superficial, you don't know anything about me," she countered defensively. As she slowed down near a two-story house in the suburbs, she looked over at Jade as she turns her phone back on and secures her purse over her arm.
"Maybe, but I'm positive that I know at least two things about you."
"And what would that be?"
Jade didn't answer, focusing instead on tapping on her phone. As she steps out of the car, a ding cuts through the air from Tori's phone. When she looked, a notification told her that the ride was over and she received a one star rating. She scoffed in disbelief as she snapped her head to the closed door's window. She rolled it down to yell, "What the hell?"
"You have mediocre taste in music and getting a bad review pisses you off," Jade says matter-of-factly over her shoulder, the way her hips swayed and her calf muscles flexed with each step eliciting a frustrated noise from Tori.
"What the hell?" she repeated to herself once Jade closed the front door. Even as she sat there, fuming over the uncomfortable half hour she just had, she couldn't help but fill in the three pink stars for Jade's passenger rating. "Bowie's not mediocre," she added to herself as she put the car back in gear.