Chapter 01: The Last Day of summer
Author's note: Hello to you who has taken the time to read this. My name is Katherine and I have some things to say to you before you read
I'm in high school, so I won't update too often
This is my second Victorious fan fiction, this story originated from an idea I had, and I just thought I'd write it and see what people think
Enjoy, and please review, follow, favorite this story or me (if you want)
CONSTRUCTIVE criticism only please
The first impression anyone ever has of me is that I'm a bad tempered bitch. And it's kind of true.
To anyone who doesn't know me, I can come across as a spawn of Satan, but that' not entirely true. Yeah, so I have one of those expressions that can make anyone run for the mountains, and a bad mouth, but I'm actually really nice.
I must admit though that until this year, I was always in a bad mood, I talked back to teachers and took my anger out on my friends. I changed. I figured that I wouldn't get anything out of that, and I would end up losing my friends with that attitude. Now, I'm not saying I'm always nice, I have my days, but now, even those don't even come close to the ones I used to have.
In freshman year, I met three new people that are a big part of my life now.
Cat Valentine is one of my best friends, I met her on the first day classes started at Hollywood Arts. We got to talking in Literature class or something, and frankly, I wanted to throw her out the window. The reason? She's catholic and all that stuff. Personally, I don't believe in God, and I don't judge religions, but closed minded-racist-homophobic religious freaks piss me off. But, with time, I realized that she is actually really nice, and not close minded at all. She's one of my best friends and I can't imagine my life without her.
Beck Oliver, ahh school hottie, and I don't mean that sarcastically, he is really hot. He's also an amazing actor! He can cry at command and make anyone think he's someone else. That comes in handy when he hooks up with girls at parties. If you've seen How I Met Your Mother, he's a Barney Stinson of sorts, and like him, a really nice person, deep, deep, down. Kidding, kidding, he too is one my best friends.
Robbie Shapiro, he's handsome, but not anything to drool over. He got into HA on a dance scholarship, he can dance anything from classical ballet to hip hop. I didn't know him in middle school, but rumor was that he used to be a nerdy, weirdo who carried a puppet around… Thank god he's changed, or I would've probably thrown it out of a moving car, or torn its limbs off.
These three people are big goofballs and awesome friends, they're there whenever I need them and I never thought I'd meet people like them. We're really close cause we all got into Hollywood Arts, a performing Arts school for really talented people (not to brag though… maybe just a little), at the beginning of freshman year. We were just a couple of lost 15 year olds trying to fit in this awesome, crazy school.
I wasn't alone when I got into HA, though, my best friend Tori Vega was with me. We've known each other for a really long time and it was nice not having to go without knowing someone.
We met in kindergarten and we've never been apart. We'd gone to the same school since we participated in this music festival and some scout invited us to go to a performing arts school. We spent a lot of weeks trying to figure out what we were gonna do, but in the end we decided to go.
Andre Harris, Tori's best friend and my good friend, also got into HA because of his crazy talents. There was no surprise there, the kid's a prodigy.
So all three of us decided to embark on this crazy journey together, and it was not an easy road. We all had to struggle with fitting in there and making new friends. The worst part though, was having to deal with the constant humiliation, challenges and exercises that the teachers gave us. Most of them were normal, like improvisation or performing a play.
What weren't normal though, were Sikowitz's challenges. He's one of our teachers, and he's a great one at that, his only flaw is that he's a complete crazy person! He is so weird that Tori gave him a couple of bucks when she thought he was a hobo sleeping on the streets. I guess it's all that coconut milk that he keeps drinking.
But anyways, even though last year was pretty crazy and unpredictable, it was really fun, and I feel that I've grown a lot because of that. That's one of the many reasons I decided to change my attitude. Since then, my life's been much better and I can tell all my friends appreciate it too, especially Tori, who has been putting up with me for the better part of 10 years. The best thing about her is even when I was at my worst and we fought a lot and I was a bitch to everyone, she still had my back and never once stopped being my friend.
I've had the best experiences of my life with her, like when she went with me to my driver's test or when I got my first dog, Mozart. She was also there when my baby brother, Mike, was born; we actually picked the name together, with my parents' approval of course; our first choice was James Bond, but that one was already taken.
She was also there for my bad experiences, like when I broke my arm falling of the swing at her house and when my grandpa died.
The point is that we've been friends for a really long time, and she's been a really big part of my life and I hope I made as much of a difference in her life.
Is was the last day of summer vacation before sophomore year started. I got dressed, grabbed my car keys and headed out to where my friends were waiting for me. The sun was already setting on the horizon and the sky was on fire; it was a mixture of orange, red, purple and pink. I grabbed my phone for a picture, but it didn't do it justice. I drove about 15 minutes before reaching my destination. I parked my car and got out regretting instantly the decision of wearing sneakers to the beach.
I walked over to the usual spot we had and saw that only Cat and Robbie were there.
"Hey guys, been here long?" I said sitting down beside Cat in the blanket laid down on the ground.
"No, just got here" Robbie said in an unusually low voice
"What the hell happened to your voice?" I said surprised
"That's what I said!" Cat exclaimed "I think puberty finally hit him" she laughed
"Ha ha ha" Robbie fake laughed "Shut up will ya?"
"Okay okay," I said swallowing my laughter "Where' the rest of the gang?"
"Beck texted me saying that he and Tori are getting here in a second" Cat said
"She still hasn't gotten her license?" I said "She has to be the worst driver I've ever seen
"Excuse me, not everyone can get their license right away" said a familiar voice behind me
I looked to Cat and Robbie who had been laughing for the past 15 seconds.
"Hey Tor" I said "Don't kill me"
"I don't have my knife right now, maybe later" she said laughing at the face I made instantly "Just joking, I'd never kill you"
I relaxed
"At least not on purpose" she said
I pushed her and she fell down beside me in the sand "That'll teach you not to mess with me"
"Honey, you've been trying for 10 years, I don't think it's working" she said playfully
"Where's Beck though?" Cat asked curiously
"He went to get the firewood, can't have a bonfire without it" Tori said "He'll be here soon"
"Hello amigos, long time no see" said Andre sitting down besides Robbie
He'd been travelling with his parents on the east coast, we hadn't seen him for at least 2 months
"Andre how was the trip?" asked Tori
"Pretty good, but not as cool as this side of the country" he sighed
"You do know that this side of the country has a major natural failure that can generate the biggest earthquake ever in USA history right? Cat said, the girl has brains
"Yeah that won't happen for a long time, I hope…" he said and everybody got quiet "Oh well what are we gonna do right? Hey where's Trina? I thought she was coming too".
"Nah, the poor kid's so excited for tomorrow that she wanted to stay at home and plan her entire day. She's been waiting for this day ever since I got in last year" Tori explains
"She was only 13! She couldn't get in HA till this year anyways" I said
"Yeah, but she's really excited, she hasn't shut up the entire summer, I wanted to kill her, but I love her too much" Tori said
"Remember our first day?" Cat said
I bet that little memory reminisce sound popped into everyone's head, and everybody thought about their first day at school; including me.
I was fifteen at the time, so my parents drove me there. Mike was holding my mom's hand cause he still couldn't walk completely on him own. We were waiting for Tori to arrive. When she got here, both her parents were with her, and her little sister was with them too. We said our hellos, but soon our parents had to go, and we were left alone, at the doors of this new school.
"Are you nervous Jade?" she asked me "I sure am, like really nervous, what it everything goes wrong and…"
I stopped her right there "Vega, calm down geez! Everything's gonna be fine. We just have to go in there, and everything will fall into place. We belong here. This is right, we made the right choice"
I grabbed her hand, gave it a squeeze and we walked in together. If I were to paint a picture of that place, I'd have to ask someone else to do it, cause I do not have the ability to draw anything. But, I can describe it very well. The walls were kind of orange near the ceiling, but when you look at the lockers, you can't see just one color. By the looks of it, every student decorated their locker as they pleased, and I thought that was pretty cool.
We saw Andre sitting on the grand staircase and went to say hi.
"Hey girls, is this place cool or what?" He said with a mesmerized look
"Very cool" Tori responded
We'd known Andre for a couple years now, he had moved in Tori's street when we were 12. Since he lived closer to Tori's place, they became closer friends, and he and I were good friends.
We all got our schedules and found that we only had homeroom together, with Sikowitz. Back then, we didn't know the man, and thought he only had the misfortune of having a name like that. In homeroom, we met the rest of our group of friends, we all bonded over being new to the school.
We started sitting down together at lunch, and soon we became good friends, and got to know each other. I formed a really strong bond with Cat over time, almost as the one I had with Tori.
I snapped out of my daze when Beck threatened to throw me into the ocean.
"I will cut off your dick!" I said "Let me go Beck, dammit"
"Dude you know she's scared of water" Robbie shouted
He dropped me "I'm not scared, I just don't particularly like to be in that deep dark place where anything can pull me under and kill me" I said in my defense, but failed miserably
"Sure you are honey" said Cat putting a comforting hand on my knee
"So can we get on with the bonfire, we don't have all night" Tori said, changing the subject
Just as it was getting darker we lit the fire. Cat had brought marshmallows and crackers, Robbie had brought chocolate, and Tori brought those long stick things so we could use them to make smores.
We talked for about 3 hours before it was time to start packing our stuff and leave.
"No, let's just stay a little bit longer" Beck begged
"But it's getting late" Robbie stated
"Yeah, but if we go now it means that summer is over" Andre depressingly said
"As much as I love Hollywood Arts, I don't wanna go back to school. It seems like summer only lasted 5 minutes" Cat said
"Think of it this way guys" Tori said, trying to cheer everyone up "We're just a little bit closer to graduation, and a little bit closer to reaching our dreams"
What she said seemed to have an effect on everyone, and soon, we'd cleaned up and were ready to go.
"So, see you guys tomorrow? At the usual spot?" Cat asked
"Yeah" everyone answered
I drove Cat home, Tori went with Andre, and Robbie went with Beck. It took me about ten minutes to get to Cat's place
"Bye Cat, see you tomorrow" I said waving as she closed the door
"Bye Jadey!" she screamed as she ran to her porch
I waited for her to go in and then drove off. My house wasn't far, soon I was at home. I parked in my spot in the driveway and entered my house. Mike was in the couch playing with his toys and watching cartoons on the TV. Mom and dad were making a late dinner.
"Hey honey, how was the beach?" my father, Edward, asked
"Fine, we needed that. It was a great goodbye for summer" I answered
"Don't be so dramatic Jade, you love Hollywood Arts" my mom, Isabella said rolling her eyes
"Yes, I do mother, but summer is, summer" I said nonchalantly "I'm going to my room now, good night"
"Night honey" my parents said at the same time
"Hey Mikey, good night okay" I said kissing his forehead
"Nighty Jade" he said, not looking up from what he was doing
I went upstairs to my room and dropped my bag on the floor. I stripped and got into the shower. I let the hot water wash away the tension I was feeling and just relaxed. Tomorrow was going to be a great day I just knew it, and this year was going to be much better than last year. I'd changed and maybe that's what I needed.
I dried my hair straighter than usual, but 5 minutes later the ends were curling up. The effect looked great with my blue and green streaks. I put on my pajamas and got into bed. It was only 9:30, so I decided to watch an episode of American Horror Story. I liked to watch scary stuff before I went to bed, somehow it relaxed me a bit. Tori always said I was weird for feeling that.
I turned off my bedside lamp, and closed my eyes. Sleep didn't come soon. I tossed and turned for half an hour. I was anxious about my first day as a sophomore. I told myself to relax and soon, I drifted off.
My alarm blared at 6:30 a.m., but that wasn't what woke me up; it was a small person jumping up and down on my bed.
"Jade wake up!" Mike roared
I pretended to still be sleeping, so when I felt him stop jumping, I flew on top of him and started to tickle him
"This is for waking me up like that you little rascal!" I said loudly over his laughter
"Stop! Please Jade, I can't breathe!" he managed to say
"Okay, but only if you give me a kiss"
"Ew, cooties" he said making a face
"Okay then" I said, tickling him again
"Okay, I'll do it!" he said "Close your eyes"
I did as he told me, but soon I felt a weight change in my bed and the sound of a door closing. I'd get him back for that later, but right now I needed to get dressed
I took a quick shower, put some eyeliner and mascara on, and put on matching bra and panties, because I spent some time thinking about what I should wear. After thinking about it for a couple of minutes, I decided to go with ripped jeans, a black army tee and combat boots. I put the stuff I'd need for school in my black school bag and headed downstairs.
My mom was already up and she'd made pancakes. I put some syrup on my pancakes and poured myself some coffee. I ate in silence, watching the morning news.
"Jade can you take your brother to pre-school?" my mom asked while getting ready for work, she's a lawyer;
"Okay, but he'd better not make me late" I said
"I know you love it" she said leaving the house
I finished breakfast and went to check on Mike. I poked my head in his room and saw that he was having trouble tying his shoelaces
"Hey there tiger, need some help" I said crouching down to his level
"This is stupid, I can't do it" he said frustrated
"No, it's easy, let me show you" I said grabbing one of his feet "The bunny goes over the pond and into the hole. Now you try"
He tried with his other foot, he mouthed the words and when he did it he started jumping up and down
"Thanks Jade" he said hugging my legs
"You're welcome, have you eaten yet?"
He shook his head no. I took his hand and we went to the kitchen. I fixed him some breakfast and soon we were ready to go. When I got to Mike's school, I got out of the car, got his backpack, walked him to class, forced him to kiss me goodbye, all that crap, and made my way to HA.
It was 8:15 when I finally found a parking space. I got out, sunglasses on my face, cause the sun was blindingly bright. I walked over to our gang's usual spot at school. Everyone was there, the only one missing was Beck, but he was always almost late.
I greeted everyone and sat next to Andre, at our table at the Asphalt Café.
"Beck's late as usual?" I asked and everyone nodded
"Hey Trina, are you nervous?" I teased the poor girl
"Yes, thanks for asking Jade" she spat at me
Everyone laughed at the table
"Relax, it's not as bad as you think, it's pretty cool in fact" Robbie reassured her
We talked until 5 minutes were left until the bell rang. Parting ways, everyone went to get their schedules. Not shockingly, we had Sikowitz for homeroom, and other six classes during the day.
Sikowitz class room was just as I remembered it. The chairs were all laid out in front of the mini stage and the windows were the only source of light in the room. As usual, the students were all in the classroom way before Sikowitz came in, through the window.
"Tori, Cat Andre, Michael and Toby. You are on a family trip to the Moon, go!" he shouted, before settling into his seat
Another one of Sikowitz's crazy improv exercises that would never actually happen in real life, but weirdly enough, they were very helpful in various situations. I feel like someday we will all thank Sikowitz for what he's been teaching, but right now, it just seems like he's a crazy homeless person that teaches nothing but madness.
Tori, Cat and Andre were very good as usual, and the other ones, well, no one ever knows their names, it's like they're never really there. It seems like there are only six people in this classroom, not counting the crazy coconut milk filled teacher.
The day progressed as normal as it would have last year, and by the time lunch came, we had all fallen back into the old routine. I got a salad and Wahoo punch from the Grub Truck and sat down at our table.
I sat next to Tori, who wasn't eating anything.
"Why aren't you eating something?" I asked poking my salad
"I forgot my wallet at home" she said sadly
I knew that the poor girl was starving, because she loves food and she's always hungry. And the funny thing is, she never puts on the weight she's supposed to have. The girl can eat everything she wants and never once gain a pound.
"Here doll, go buy yourself something pretty" I said with a 1920's accent, and flashed her a $20 dollar bill
"Oh thank you" she said hugging me briefly before running to the Grub Truck.
While she was in line to get food, the rest of the gang showed up, and we started talking about how our day went so far.
"Beck and I need to write a huge paper for Creative Writing" Cat said "Honestly, who gives homework on this first day of school?"
"Carmen Lucifer does" I said
Carmen Lucifer, or Carmen Lucy as she's actually known, is our Creative Writing teacher, and she's an unfair bitch. She gets pissed off at anything and treats us like we are 5 years olds that need to be shut up all the time.
"I know she's mean, but do you really have to call her that?" Trina asked sitting across from me
"Trina, listen, it's your first day, and she's showing her good side" I explained
"That's her good side?!" she exclaimed "I'm screwed"
"Language" I heard Tori say as she was sitting back down, now with a burger and fries
"Oh please Tori, first of all you say much worse stuff than that and second of all, mom doesn't even monitor my language, so why should you?" she defended herself
"Because I'm your big sister, and that's my job… I think" She says smiling
Tori and Trina aren't sisters, they're actually cousins, but not many people know that. Trina is actually Tori's younger cousin, her parents died in a car crash when she was very young. She knows of course, and even so decides to call Miranda and David Vega, her aunt and uncle, her mom and dad, because she didn't really get to know her parents. But, still, every year the family go to their grave and put flowers there. Tori confided in me not to tell anyone, and I've respected her wish. Though there's nothing to tell, sometimes I even forget about that and think she's Tori's little sister. I've known her since she was a kid, and honestly, I feel like I'm her big sister too.
We all eat our lunches, and when the bell rings, we part ways to our different classes. Since Cat and I have the same class next, I walk arm in arm with her. We're pretty close, Cat and I, at first I thought she'd be a pain in the ass cause she's catholic, but she's actually pretty cool with everything I'd expect her to be against. I find that I can talk to her about anything, and since last year, I feel like our bond has only grown stronger.
"So how are you Jade?" she asks as we walk to dance class
"I'm good Cat" I answer "Why do you ask?"
"No reason…"she said innocently "How are things in the dating department?"
"Who are you my aunt?" I said laughing at her question
"No, I'm just a concerned friend" she responds "But really, tell me"
"Nothing new Cat, you know how I feel about dating" I said looking anywhere but at her
"You got to get over that Jade, love isn't going to wait forever?" she said sadly
"I don't think love exists for me Cat" I respond
"You can't possibly think that can you?" she asked trying to get me to look at her
"Yes, I do" I answered her "But let's not talk about that, let's just go to dance class okay?"
"Okay, but you can't run from this forever" she puts a hand on my shoulder before entering the dancing studio and I follow behind her.
Author's note:
What is Jade running from?
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Thanks for reading
Xoxo Kat
