Jade loves Tori, Tori loves Cat, and Cat loves Jade. Things are complicated and messy, but one simple agreement can sure simplify things. Rated T. Jori. One-Shot. Tumblr Request.
"Would you just look at her?" Tori frowns with a heavy sigh, leaning against her locker as she stares lustfully after Cat. I scowl at the red head across the hall talking with Beck, spinning her hair around her finger. What is it about the ruby haired girl that had Tori so infatuated?
I watched Tori's face as she stared at Cat across the hall. Tori's brown eyes were wide, her mouth open slightly. Her lips were glossed over with a shiny pink color and her cheeks had the slightest hint of blush. Her eyelashes were done extra thick and her eye shadow was purple to match her top and her nails were painted lavender. I only noticed because they were digging nervously into her arm.
"I'm going to tell her today." She suddenly said, straightening, and then she slumped back against her locker, "No I'm not."
"I don't understand what you see in her. sure she's nice and all, but dating Cat would be like dating a child." As I said this she laughed loudly, Tori seemed to swoon against her locker.
"Just because you can't appreciate Cat's oddness doesn't mean the rest of us can't, Jade. You could use some carefree cheer in your life, you're like a black hole of despair." I hide the hurt on my face with practiced anger, clenching my hands into fists.
"Fuck you, Vega. If you opened your eyes maybe you wouldn't be chasing after a girl who wasn't interested in you." And maybe neither would I. "Maybe I should go out with her and finally end your misery." And I stormed away to my locker, spinning the combination violently and jerking it open. It slammed into the locker behind mine; a pair of scissors fell off.
I could feel her watching me as I grabbed my books for class, slamming it closed directly after, losing another pair of scissors. I stormed off toward Sikowitz's class, taking a seat in the back with angry tears burning my eyes. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck!
"Jade?" I blinked up at Andre and scowled down at my lap, wiping at my cheeks with my hands.
"Why can't Cat just like her back? Why can't she like me back? Why can't I like Cat back? Everything would be so much fucking simpler if there weren't so many damn feelings involved." I swipe at my cheeks again, biting down on my lip.
He rests his hand on my knee and massages it, "You could always just tell her, get it out in the open. Maybe you'll feel better about it."
"Yeah, what's gunna happen? I'm going to confess my love to her and she's going to suddenly realize she's not in love with Cat, but with me, and we'll skip off into the sunset? Nothing good will happen, Andre." Behind us the door drops shut, I spin in my chair so fast I almost tip over.
Tori is standing in the doorway, staring between Andre an I, mouth hanging open, "you're crying…" is all she manages to say before she spins and runs back out of the room. I turn to Andre.
"Told you so." I snatch my bag from the floor and storm out of the room. Usually I wouldn't skip school, or at least not Sikowitz's class, but I couldn't face Tori not after she'd run out like that.
At home I find myself unsurprisingly alone. The house is dark and cold downstairs, but I don't bother turning anything on. I lock the door and go up to my room, throwing my bag on the floor. I pull the curtains back over my window, the maid my mom refused to fire kept opening them every day.
Once they were closed I peeled off my sweater tossing it at, and missing, my hamper. I kicked off my shoes as I peeled off my t-shirt. I scowled at my reflection as I passed by it, shimmying out of my jeans at the door to my room before going across the hall into my bathroom.
I spun the knobs on my tub to hot and brushed my hair out while it filled up. I turned on my pearpod, spinning the volume to low, and grabbed a makeup wipe. A few minutes later and most of the makeup was gone from my face, a smear of red remained on my lips and my eyes were still rimmed thick with eyeliner. A new makeup cloth got rid of that and then the tub was filled.
I unhooked my bra, swaying my hips gently in time to the beat on the song, humming. I peeled off my socks and then my underwear. I sunk into the tub with a pathetic sigh, sinking down until my head was swallowed by the water. My heart beat around my head, getting faster as it became harder for me to breathe.
When I knew I couldn't take it anymore I jerked upright, water splashing out of the tub as I gasped for breath. My throat burned and my heart was practically bursting from my chest. Taking slow breaths I got myself under control and relaxed with my head resting against the tub.
Stupid, fucking, Tori. Maybe I really should just date Cat, I mean the girl liked me and I didn't exactly hate her, maybe I could just see what its like. Just try, something, anything. Or maybe I could just avoid Tori for the rest of my life. Then I won't have to hear anything about her huge giant crush on Cat or face the embarrassment of knowing she'd heard that I loved her.
I pressed my palms against my face; of course I could be that stupid. Vega could never like me like that. I could understand that I am the biggest bitch in the world to her, who could like someone like that? Like me? I draw my knees up to my chest and semi float across the tub until I plant my feet once more and lean back again.
"I hate everything." I said to the room, slamming my foot in frustration against the other end of the tub. It reverberated up my ankle and into my knee, causing a minor ache to throb through it. I rubbed my leg from instinct, frowning at how long my leg hair had gotten.
It's not like I have anything better to do… I thought, hauling myself out of the tub. I put one foot on the shag rug and leaned from the tub to the counter where I grabbed my razor and then grabbed my shaving cream. Perching awkwardly on the edge of the tub with my back to the mirror I started shaving, singing along to the song. I paused my shaving and turned up the song.
"I used to think one day we'd tell the story of us, how we met and the sparks flew instantly.." I tapped the foot of the leg I was shaving on the edge of the tub, dragging the razor slowly up my calf, "now I'm standing alone in a crowded room and we're not speaking and I'm dying to know is it killing you like it's killing me yeah."
I stopped singing and hummed along, finishing up my leg and rinsing it before moving onto the other, tapping the already shaved leg to the beat. Once I finished that leg I drained the tub, stepped into the shower and washed my body and my hair until I felt squeaky clean.
When I shut the water off I could hear the song playing through the bathroom clearly, "there she goes, there she goes again. Pulsing through my veins…" I let my head drop against the tile of the shower wall, "why can't you just leave me alone, Vega?" I pushed open the door and grabbed my towel, drying off and tossing it back over the shower.
I shut off the music, grabbed the player and walked into my bedroom again, grabbing my hair brush on my way past. Once inside my room I closed and locked the door, flicking the light switch on. I walked over and shut off my overhead light so that only the pale white Christmas lights shone through the room. I dragged my vanity stool out enough so I could sit down and grabbed my hair drier.
Once my hair was dry enough I shut the drier off and set it down on the vanity, staring at myself in the mirror. In my reflection my head at bat wings jutting from the sides because of the bat on the opposite wall that was part of a group that went toward the small fake window painted up their. In the painted window the sun was always shining. I stared at it for awhile; it was such a happy painting in this gloomy room.
The walls were dusk blue, with the exception of the wall occupied by huge windows. That wall, or what there was of it, was painted green, not obnoxious neon, but a dark green like the forest. It was the wall my bed was tucked up against. I turned to the bed; it was made neatly, pillows fluffed by that stupid nosy maid. I scowled and stood up, yanking the comforter off and rolling it into a ball before throwing it back on the bed and I beat on the pillows until they were flat, and then sunk to the ground with my forehead resting on my knees.
Stupid Tori Vega with her stupid smile, and her stupid beautiful laugh, and her stupid wonderful personality that just made me fall heels over head in love with her. And it wasn't like it was even recent. No, it went back so far as Beck and I breaking up the second time. She found me the next day at school and handed me a cup of coffee with a smile on her face. Not a pity smile either, and asked how I was and listened when I told her.
She was just so fucking nice, and wonderful and amazing. I was a pitiful bitchy mess. Somewhere in my room my phone buzzed frantically, I looked around, locating my bag on the floor by my vanity. I stood up with a heavy sigh and walked over, sitting down on the stool while I fished the phone out of my bag. Andre's name was on the caller ID.
"What do you want?"
"We're going to Nozu for Karaoke tonight. I'll pick you up at 7." He told me, in the background I could hear the telltale sounds of the hallway. It was almost fourth period judging by the clock on my wall, "and you have no choice. Beck, Robbie and I are dragging you there, regardless of what you throw at us."
Behind him Robbie protested, "I'll be ready at seven, Andre. Call me around 6 incase I'm asleep." I hang up the phone and toss it carelessly onto my vanity, standing and crossing to my dresser. I shimmy into a new pair of underwear and pull on a sports bra before I wander down to the kitchen, jerking the fridge door open and leaning against the wall to stare into the nearly empty fridge.
Clearly, I'm not eating anything from home. I grab the house phone and order Chinese food, it's the closest and cheapest thing to my house and I didn't really have that much cash lying around. I manage to scrounge up fifteen bucks before there's a knock on the door. I glanced at the wall. It only took ten minutes, which was some quick delivery.
I jogged back downstairs and pulled open the door, coming face to face with Vega. I took a nervous step back, "You're not the Chinese."
She raises an eyebrow at me, eyes moving down my body and back up quickly, "that's how you answer the door for Chinese?"
"Makes up for the lack of a tip." I joke dryly, "why are you here?"
"Getting the Chinese delivery mans tip." She steps into the house, forcing me to take a step back, "I didn't mean to make you cry earlier…" she says, sounding genuinely sorry. I step around her and close the door, flipping the lock.
"You can't seriously tell me you ditched school to come here and apologize." I stalked around her so I was standing inches away from her, staring up into her eyes. She swallowed hard and licked her lips.
"I have a free period fourth and lunch is an hour…" she mumbled.
"Why'd you really come here, Vega?"
She hesitates, and is about to open her mouth when the doorbell rings. I step around her, unlock the door and snatch my food, throwing the money at him before slamming the door closed, "Jade can we talk?"
"Yeah sure, come on." I head up the stairs, leaving her to choose if she really wants to follow me. Much to my delight she follows, I clear a space on my vanity for my food and face Vega, pointing to my bed with my chopsticks. She meekly walks over and sits down, looking around while twisting her bags strap between her fingers.
She licks her lips again, pulls the bottom one between her teeth and tears the skin off of it, not enough to bleed, but enough that I see it, "look. I know you like me…and while I've never exactly thought of you that way…"
"Spit it out Vega, my Chinese is getting cold."
"Look we're sort of friends right?" she says, I raise an eyebrow, "so maybe we could be…more than friends?"
I turn my head to the side, was she asking what I thought she was? Her cheeks are flaming, "are you asking to be my fuck buddy, Vega?" my stomach twists when she nods her head yes.
"How do you even know you'd want to fuck me?"
"You're pretty, and when I saw you today when I got here…" she trails over and then suddenly stands, crossing the room in three quick steps and she kisses me, hard, holding onto my shoulders with an iron grip. I can't deny that I was liking this offer.
She pulled away and stepped back a little, I stood up, Chinese food be damned, and grabbed her shoulders roughly, dragging her close and kissing her hard, moving us toward my bed. Her bag fell to the ground and she shoes came off before I completely pushed her down.
Maybe it was ideal, and maybe I'd promised myself I'd never be the second choice. But it was Vega, and it was sex with Vega, and it was this whole new side of Vega that was just mine. When we were there she was mine, her body was mine and we were just together. Only Andre knew, and that was because he called ahead and heard Tori ask where her bra was, can't really lie my way out of that one, even if I wanted to. Which I didn't.
We were at Nozu again. Cat was up on stage, singing her heart out, dancing by me, hoping to draw my attention, and possibly my affection, in her direction, but Vega's hand was moving up my thigh under my skirt and brushing against me. Eventually I pushed her hand away and got up, "I have to pee." I grunted, and walked away. Once down the back hallway near the restroom she found me, pushed me up against the wall and kissed my hard.
Our interactions weren't full of anything more than passion and need. Her hands were rough, her teeth bruising and her actions hurried. But it didn't bother me. This was our arrangement and I wouldn't give it up for the world. We ended up stumbling into the bathroom, into the handicapped stall.
Something changed, I'm not sure what it was, but as soon as she had her way and got what she wanted she fixed her clothes and walked out. When I rejoined the group she was sitting beside Cat, hanging all over her and smiling. Jealously tangled in my stomach, until Cat got up and ran for the door, throwing herself into some guys arms. Tori's heart broke in her eyes, I smirked. Served her right.
"Jade? Wanna go out?" she asked, everyone at the table turned to look at us, "we could catch a late movie and go back to your place. I'm sure there a few rooms begging to be christened." I didn't know how to reply, everyone was waiting for my reaction.
"Fuck the movie." I settled on, standing up and walking out beside her. She took my hand and pulled me to a stop near Cat, kissing me hard before dragging me out of Nozu. The look on Cat's face was heartbreaking, but the thought left my mind when Tori pushed me down in the back seat and kissed me hard.
And that's what we were now. Me getting the girl I loved and her getting someone to not give a shit about. I was the second choice, I always would be, and I didn't give two shits.