This story was inspired by a prompt from our friend, smardiculous. Started out as a short story but I couldn't cram everything I wanted to do in something so short, so here is a longer fic for you.

In this alternate universe, there is no Hollywood Arts. In fact, Tori and Jade don't officially meet each other until a couple years into college. That being said, we will have some familiar faces popping up here as well but with different histories.

"Your love is like a tidal wave
Spinning over my head
Drownin' me in your promises
Better left unsaid"

- Pat Benatar (Heartbreaker)

The quad was abuzz with the colors and sounds of spring. Flowers blossomed and birds chirped amidst the twenty-somethings practicing their instruments, chatting, or playing ultimate Frisbee. Now that was business as usual but today was extra special. Today was the annual barbecue.

The upperclassmen would put on a barbecue for all of the undergrads below them as a way of taking the edge off before spring break. There was a stage where a local band performed, contests and lots of good food. But one thing that made it a blast for the students was the seniors would chip in to get a clunker from the junkyard. They would then park it in the middle of the quad, just outside the student center, and everybody could just wail on it. They even provided baseball bats and golf clubs. Smash it, dent it, stomp on it; go nuts.

This year, they lucked out and got the old car from a senior who upgraded to a yellow sports car. So here was a white Cutlass Sierra in almost immaculate condition because the former owner took good care of it. The student body would take care of that in a hurry.

Sufficient to say, it was a rather boisterous time around the campus. So much so that it made it hard for some to study.

Tori Vega, sophomore, was just such a person.

She was a little introverted but didn't mind gatherings. However, she was really having a difficult time cramming for her economics exam coming up with all of the noise. Tori couldn't figure out how something as intricate as economics could be legal to teach at eight in the morning. But others in her class didn't seem to have this problem so why complain about it?

Tori didn't have luck finding a quiet place to study. She tried her go-to: the library. But it was being fumigated and closed off to all students and staff. She then thought of the sciences building, which was usually quiet this time of day because of the free period. Unfortunately, because of the festivities, they turned the big lecture hall into a makeshift movie theater where they were showing some action movie from France that caught the interest of students who weren't even taking French.

Her options were running out. She then tried the lower level of the student center, which was underground. As Tori descended the stairs, the sounds of outside began to drown out. The most action this side of the college gets is from the computer lab with so many terminals you can feel the heat generating from these machines all working at once.

A little further away from the computer lab, Tori spotted a dimly-lit rather smallish luncheon. It had a couple of vending machines and about eight tables with chairs. Not another soul was in here, so the half-Latina breathed a sigh of relief and threw her bag on one of the tables. She plopped down and proceeded to take out her books when a squeaking sound grabbed her attention.

In the doorway was a raven-haired beauty, her pale fingers clutching the wall. Her expression and slumped posture made it look like she had just broken a potential fall. Before Tori could ask if she was alright, the girl locked eyes with her and sneered.

"What are you staring at?"

Tori shook her head nervously "I wasn't..." Considering how she was both surprised and concerned, she was obviously lying here.

Once the mysterious girl righted herself up, Tori could see that her combat boots were the culprit for making that squeaky sound. Definitely different than the retro-style high tops Tori often wore.

After admonishing Tori just a few seconds ago for staring, the girl tilted her head as she studied her and the books around her.

"You're studying?" she asked.

"Yes," Tori responded rather mousy.

The girl looked back at the door, indicating the cavalcade of fun just outside, and then back to Tori.

"Why?"

Tori made a face and sighed, holding up her economics textbook.

The Goth's face fell. "Oh no, Professor Charme?"

The book slammed down onto the table, making a nice sound for effect. "Yup."

"Ugh," she said folding her arms and looking disgusted. "Had him last year. Good-fucking-riddance."

Tori laid her elbow on the table and propped her arm, making her hand the perfect level to catch her sad face.

"His class was full when I was a freshman. I really wish he was out of the way so I could move on."

Surprisingly to her, the girl sat down across from her. "What's your major?"

"Teaching but I have all these requirements before my electives, of course."

"Oh I know about that. I had to take physics. I'm an English major and with a performing arts minor and they want me to become a scientist, too."

Tori chuckled, "Maybe you should take chemistry. If you become famous and make a fragrance you'd be the very first celebrity to have actually made their perfume in the lab."

The girl smirked, leaning back on her chair and putting up one of her black army boots. "You're giving me way too much credit. I suck at science."

"I dunno," Tori shrugged. "You looked like you had a handle on inertia back there."

The girl looked at the door and back at Tori with a grimace.

"All I did was trip and break my fall. Inertia is the resistance of any physical object to any change in its state of motion including changes to its speed..." she gave Tori a glare for almost ten seconds but it melted into a laugh. "You just tricked me, didn't you?"

"Oh, I'll never tell" Tori beamed, proud of herself.

"Got a name bookworm?"

"Tori...Tori Vega."

The girl made a face, "Not bad but could you do it more Sean Connery?"

"What?"

She shook her head "Never mind." Then the girl extended her hand "Jade."

"Wow, that's a pretty girl...pretty NAME! I said name. Did I say name?" Tori's face blushed in total embarrassment.

Jade giggled, "You did but not before proving Freud was right."

Indeed. Tori had to admit to herself that this pale skin Goth with piercing blue-green eyes was the most gorgeous girl she had ever seen on campus. How did 2 years go past and this one go completely unnoticed to her? Perhaps she had been buried in her studies a little too much. The funny thing was that her confidence was coming in these abrupt waves followed immediately by feelings of wanting to run and hide. Its like she's of two minds; she really wants to impress this girl while the other half wishes she would leave and find somebody more interesting.

Now she was panicking because her little slip of the tongue has a been hanging out there for too long.

"I didn't mean what I said," Tori said really fast, nervous.

"You mean I don't have a pretty...name?"

"No," Tori shook her head. "I meant that. I just..."

"Some would say Tori is a beautiful name, too."

Tori looked like a deer in headlights "Oh, really?" She rubbed the collar of her shirt, wondering who just turned up the heat in this room.

"Hey, Tori?"

"Y-Y-es?" she stammered.

"Remember when you took my hand when I told you my name?"

Tori nodded.

"DO you remember letting it go?"

They both looked down and sure enough, Tori's hand was still touching hers. Not in the form of a handshake, mind you.

Jade tilted her head "I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume you are a member of Ellen's Army."

"I don't follow..."

"Chicks! You like chicks?"

Tori pulled her hand away and was even more out of sorts that before. She looked around the room, looking very apprehensive. She got up to go, unconsciously leaving her stuff behind, when Jade cut her off holding onto her wrists.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa" she said. "Where are you going, Vega?"

"I just," she gulped, her face beginning to grow intense like she was about to cry. "Nobody...knows."

"Hey, hey, its alright" Jade's voice lowered to a soothing tone. "Please sit down."

Jade led Tori back to the table, only this time Jade picked up her chair to sit next to her.

"Tori, listen to me. There is absolutely nothing wrong with whatever you're feeling okay? You got that?"

The half-Latina just looked at her, still frenzied.

"How long have you known?"

"Um, since " she sighed. "High school I guess."

Jade took Tori's hand once more. "Sorry that I didn't know you then. I mean it must have been horrible keeping that all inside."

"I've gotten used to it," Tori shrugged.

"Well you shouldn't," Jade narrowed her eyes. "That's no way to live. It's not even living. You pretty much go out into the world as this avatar that you hope the world perceives as normal. But you will be much happier if you were yourself instead."

Tori looked long and hard at this Jade girl that she had only met moments ago. In this short time, this young woman had shook her to the core. She reached Tori in a way that people she had known her whole life wasn't able to do. Nobody had said such a thing to her. Maybe if she came out during high school, the guidance counselor would have said something similar. But that was his job; to be encouraging.

But here with Jade, holding her hand and looking her dead in the eye, it felt a thousand times more genuine.

"May I also assume the position that you are speaking from experience?" Tori asked.

Jade rubbed the inside of her mouth with her tongue. "You could say that."

Tori took a deep breath and made a very slow blink, gathering up the courage.

"I know it sounds a little cliché but would you like to go get some coffee?"

Somehow Tori's brown eyes made the word coffee electrifying.

"I. Love. Coffee." Jade responded. "Come on, I know a place."

She got up to start heading out, with Tori still holding hands. Jade looked back and reminded her "Your stuff?"

"Oh, right" Tori whipped around, quickly threw her books into her messenger bag and rejoined Jade. "What?"

Jade realizing she was just looking at Tori, saying nothing, quickly shook her head.

"Nothing," she replied. "Let's go."