"Delay is the deadliest form of denial." ~C. Northcote Parkinson
Jade West looks at her face in the mirror. She knows that in a matter of hours it will completely change. The people who were working with her were nice enough, only instructing how she was going to act on stage and her choreography. Trina Vega may be crazy but she was surely right on one thing. People don't care for music. They want to see that flashy person, the girl or guy with the guts to wear a sleeveless dress made entirely of cotton swabs to Church.
In a matter of hours they will cake all sorts of things on her face, give her a dress of something that would keep the press talking for days. She wouldn't be recognizable after the ordeal was over. She doesn't understand why Cat and Oliver were searching for ruffled skirts of multiple colors. She would be dressed in something totally different by the end of it all.
She was waiting for Cat and Oliver when she heard a very familiar voice. Too familiar of a voice. Sometimes it's real and sometimes it's not, just a fabrication in her mind. She turns her head, realizing it's real. Wasn't Cat just talking on the webcam? That must be why it's on.
She moves closer, seeing that it was directly pointed at the Vega couch. How come in almost every TV show there is some kind of memorable sofa? It's ironic since Jade's world isn't a TV show. As far as she knows.
Suddenly she realizes that it wasn't just the voice's owner who was there. The skinnier, the prettier, the over-all-better-than-Jade girl was sitting right beside the boy who Jade promised to destroy. For a moment her gaze is fixated on him. Black hair with streaks of brown, dark eyes, tan-skin. She remembers him telling her about how he wanted to audition for Fang in the Maximum Ride movie. But that's when Jade would tell him how gay Maximum Ride was, and how the movie would simply be the next Twilight. And it will be, you watch. Movies change books all the time.
Oh, and how Jade hated that girl. That girl had anything and everything. There was something about her that always got Jade nervous. Jade West wasn't a fan of people who were actual threats. Robbie and Andre never bothered her. Cat was pretty but she had the mentality of a pet. Bark.
But that girl was different. Tori Vega always made Jade worry. Always.
Like right now, this moment. This very moment.
Jade watches as Beck Oliver exchanges with Tori some joke about meat hats. Something about how meat is always there whenever you need it, right on your hat, into your mouth. Jade rolls her eyes. Such stupid jokes.
She hates the idea of Tori and Beck alone. It's not cool. Out of all the people she thought Beck would love besides her, it was always Tori. She remembers the Northridge sluts who would flock at his door, vying for a chance to be in his pants. She would get extremely jealous over those, too. So jealous that if she was in a five mile radius they would be running. Does she blame them? Never.
But Tori? She was jealous of her the minute she met her. She remembered watching that damned girl rub Coffee of his jacket. Actually, the second she saw him they weren't even attempting to remove the coffee, they were just staring into each other's eyes. Jade tried scaring her off, dumping coffee on her (to show her how it felt) but Tori showed that she could hold her own, kissing Beck right in front of her. Ever since, the routine was easy to follow.
Tori must be destroyed, Tori must be destroyed, Tori must be destroyed, Tori must be destroyed, Tori must be destroyed, Tori must be destroyed, Tori must be destroyed, Tori must be destroyed.
Tori is the threat. Tori is the enemy. She always has been. Especially now that—
Her thoughts are interrupted when Beck begins to inch forward. Slowly but surely. At first Jade doesn't know what he's doing, and soon in a matter of milliseconds that is replaced by denial. Jade is there, standing helplessly, in front of a screen, seeing something she shouldn't be watching. Her eyes widen. The inner voice inside of her is screaming, shouting, trying to be heard, but she is frozen. She couldn't open her mouth if she tried. She's glued to the spot, watching…watching…
Her ex-boyfriend kiss her worst enemy?
Tori begins to slowly move away, moving until her back is pressed on the other end of the couch. Beck pulls back, obviously dejected. But there's something else on his face. On a bad day she would reject his advances, when they were dating of course, and he would just bounce back and keep trying. But this was entirely different. This was actual rejection, something Beck Oliver doesn't receive often, if not never.
"Oh…you." Tori says awkwardly, touching with a shaky hand.
"I'm…I'm sorry." Beck says, the tension tight in the empty, silent air.
"No, no, it's not you…" Tori rushes to say, and Jade wonders how this conversation would go if she wasn't watching. But then she remembers that she's the spy here, the one who shouldn't be listening.
"Then why can't we kiss?" It's as if Beck doesn't understand the rejection here. Suddenly through the numbness and the emotion storm that hasn't hit her fully yet, she hears her own voice in her head: See, this is why you never trusted Tori Vega around him!
"Because…" Tori's next words shock Jade out of her mind. "Because of Jade."
What?
"Jade and I broke up." Beck says matter-of-factly, as if this was new news.
"Kissing your friend's ex boyfriend—" Tori begins to say.
"Wait, since when were you and Jade friends?" Beck scoffs.
He begins to go on a rant of the things Jade has done to Tori…in the past week. If Beck were to tell Tori every account then they would be there until they were seventy, their hair gray and their faces creased. Maybe longer. Jade gives a little shrug of hey, he's got a point when Beck tells the tale of how Jade rubbed her food against her bare foot. She remembers that day, it was only a week ago. Andre had made this scoffing, disgusted noise and Beck told her to stop. Did she listen? Of course not. She hasn't listened to a word that boy has said after their break-up; in fact, she does the opposite. Of course she said "absolutely" to match his "no way" for the Platinum Music Awards.
"I guess me and Jade aren't the best of friends…" Tori mumbles out. "But we're kind of friends. And…and kissing your friend's ex boyfriend…" Tori looks up at Beck, her eyes saying everything. "I can't do that to a friend."
Jade knows she has seen enough. She turns off the webcam, and steps back. The delayed reaction is inside of her, wanting to surface but it simply can't. She stares into space until Cat and Oliver approach with a beautiful ruffled blue skirt highlighted in gold. She stands there, wanting to respond, but all of the words have been sucked out of her. A response couldn't come if it tried.
Jade West looks at her face in the mirror once again. Her prediction had come true. She is utterly unrecognizable. Her head has become a fluff cloud of pink curls with silver horn-things sticking out of it, her make-up dark, smeared over her eyelids and darkening her lips, her dress made of pink feathers, silver material squeezing her waist. Her nails are far too long to function in normal life and are painted a beautiful silver color. She uses these nails to toy with the pink curls, wondering just how much of an ass she will look like tonight on stage.
She didn't hear the girl approach but she saw the reflection in the mirror. Andre and Robbie had shown up, Cat was already there, and Andre told her that Beck was on his way. She hadn't anticipated this girl coming though.
"Wow, you look great." Tori Vega says with almost real sounding sincerity. There's a reason they are all actors.
What can she say? There's so much she wants to say but nothing will come out. Nothing to do with the subject, that is. "I look like an idiot." She says emptily.
"A pretty pink idiot." Tori tries. Her humor has always been dry, and tonight is no exception. "With a thing on her head."
Well, there is certainly something on top of her head, she will admit. Jade can't think of a legitimate response, so she simply says, "Thanks."
Tori shrugs and smiles. "Everyone else was coming to cheer you on…so I thought I would too."
Because that's what friends do, right?
The reaction is still delayed, her feelings still bottled up, but something surfaces in her. The right, kinder side of her. There is one, even if it's shocking.
"This isn't right."
Tori glances at her, blinking and responds to her words, "Yeah, it does look kind of tight around the waist…"
"No!" Jade shakes her head. "This. Me."
She moves, trying to clear her head, but something else has taken over, something better than her. She hated that side.
"I…I don't…" Tori looks uncertain.
"This was supposed to be your night." Jade says. "This was supposed to be your big chance. And for me to go out there…" Jade's voice almost cracks.
Tori looks at her, confused. Finally Jade West has her opinion crystallized of that girl. Tori Vega was better than her, and although Tori would deny it Jade knew it was true. And now Beck's heart belonged to that girl. She was so wrong to blame Tori for that; it was never her fault. She didn't go for Beck. She left Beck to Jade, but now Jade's questioning the question of Bade.
"I can't do that to a friend." Jade says hauntingly.
Tori's face beams up and Jade realizes the entire thing is too suspicious. They cannot know that she heard everything. Not yet, anyway.
"Or even to you." She saves herself, destroying Tori's smile. But Jade gives her own smile. Maybe she can be friends with this girl. But probably not.
Jade West has removed her wig and put on comfortable clothes. Well, her style of comfortable. The tight black leather and tights she's accustomed to wearing would scare off others. But she still likes the style, it gives the Jade vibe that is entirely her own and also other emo scene girls'.
Jade sits down, waiting for Tori to show up. Her "friend" would be great and Jade will get her chance someday. She's not conceited but her voice is to die for. She knows that.
She sits down and realizes that Beck Oliver is next to her. She glances over and sees Beck glance at her and give her that smile, the smile that once belonged to her. It's Tori's now, even if she doesn't want it.
For months Jade has been trying to crystallize her opinion on this boy. The boy that left her on the other side of the door, forgot about her, dated and slept around with other girls weeks after they split. It was so expected, why hadn't she known? He was always a playar, and he always will be.
She remembers her bitter jealously of Beck, guarding him like a prisoner. Sure, it wasn't right. It was never right. But it was so true; she had to be jealous, all the girls have stared at him at least once. He had screamed at her that day they broke up, in the janitors' closet, about how he hates how jealous she gets. Well, now she has a reason to be jealous! What if they hadn't broken up? Would the sexual tension between Beck and Tori have grown so much that Beck would have cheated on her? Oh, she knew it. She always knew it.
But Jade West smiles back because she knows the truth. That's right. No longer will she have to wonder about him, trying to figure out when he walks in the room whether or not she wants to kiss him or kill him. Now she knows the truth. Jade West is no longer in love with Beck Oliver. Well, until further notice.
(A/N: Holy shuzzu. Tori Goes Platinum was fantastic! That episode kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I started freaking out when I saw that the webcam was still on. Dan Schneider, that was excellent on your part. I'm so glad I don't care for Bade or Bori, or that episode would have pissed me off.)