The thing about Hollywood Arts was that it was a small school. At least small in the sense of its classroom sizes which of course was the point. Talent needed to be nurtured and the best way to do that was allowing the educators to focus on students directly. So it shouldn't have been a surprise when Tori once again found she was paired up with Jade on a project. Since to some extent, Tori helped her with her play production, most of the animosity between them had cooled. However that didn't mean they were friends necessarily. Fortunately this time it wasn't a project which would risk Tori getting punched in the face – although having already experience that thanks to Cat, the idea wasn't as daunting as before.
The assignment required putting together a short film based on a novel that hadn't yet been butchered by Hollywood and thrown onto the silver screen. Nothing fancy, this was made only to test their understanding of proper narrative. The problem started when Jade said nothing to her during class even though most of the other partners were exchanging ideas. Tori wasn't exactly eager to get started either and regardless of it not being very productive, she was somewhat hoping they could put off having to talk about it at all other until the next day.
But then the bell rang and Jade was standing in front of her desk while she put her books away.
"Hey . . .partner," Tori said cautiously.
Jade's expression was always stony even when she was in a good mood so it was tricky for Tori to be able tell what was going on through her head.
"Be at my house at six."
Bad enough that they would have to spend time together alone, the idea that this time would be spent in Jade's house, Jade's territory, was too much.
"What! Why do we have to meet at your house?" Tori hated that she sounded like she was whining and that her discomfort was very much obvious to Jade. Jade smiled.
"Because your house smells like mediocrity," she said and left the class.
Beck watched her leave and then approached Tori, swinging his bag over his shoulder.
"What she means is she has an amazing editing studio at her house."
"Aww! Beck switch with me. Please!" Tori begged standing up.
"No can do. Andre and I have our book already picked out."
"That's right. We're doing Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa. It's about samurais," Andre said coming up behind Beck. The two of them then proceeded to make absurd karate yells and even more ridiculous kicks towards each other.
"It's going to be epic," Beck said to her, barely avoiding Andre's foot which brushed by his nose.
"Uh-huh," Tori responded, feeling more miserable than ever.
After texting Jade numerous times to get the address, Tori gave up and asked Beck instead. Then she had to suffer through one of Trina's melodramatic speeches about her time being valuable and how she was sure none of the other world famous singers had to drive their younger sisters around. They wasted another twenty minutes because Trina refused to get into the car without her Persian leather driving gloves.
In the end they found Jade's house with no trouble despite Trina's conviction that they would become lost and have to spend the night driving ceaselessly around L.A.
"You know if it wasn't for you and your diva-ness, this could have taken ten minutes," Tori told her getting out of the car.
"Just for that, you're walking home!"
"Oh please, like you were going to pick me up. You've probably got a eucalyptus bath soaking or something scheduled for tonight."
Trina pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. "The doctor told me they were important if I wanted to continue having this beautifully radiant skin."
"Estaban isn't a doctor! He's a beautician. You can get a certificate for that online," Tori said leaning into the car.
"Enjoy being stranded sis!" Trina called out and hit the gas hard enough for the tires to squeal. The car lurched ahead and Tori jumped back to avoid getting hit by the swinging door which slammed shut from the motion. Tori following the car until it disappeared around a bend then tried to will her legs to go up to the door.
This shouldn't have been difficult. It wasn't like she was afraid of Jade. Jade had a sharp tongue and it frustrated her that she couldn't always think of clever comebacks quickly enough. It more than frustrated her actually - it rightly pissed her off.
Finally she began feeling foolish standing there and went for the front door. The neighborhood was reasonably affluent and Jade's monster of a house matched the other giants standing on the street. Her family, similarly to most of the other students at Hollywood Arts, was perceptibly well off. Probably more than well off, Tori thought noticing that this particular home stood elevated on a slight hill. The view from the north side was doubtlessly spectacular.
She rang the doorbell and waited. Then waited longer. Tori pushed the little, white button again suddenly nervous, wondering if Jade would be cruel enough to not be home. She was about to press it a third time when the door swung open. Her hand was smacked away from the bell.
"Yup, my door bell works," Jade said annoyed. She didn't move nor did she invite Tori inside.
"So can I come in?" Tori asked.
Still Jade didn't move and only studied her with those pale, green eyes. Then as if she silently made up her mind about something, Jade stepped aside.
Tori promised herself she wouldn't gawk at the interior of Jade's home but it soon proved to be difficult. The furnishing was sparse and outnumbered by sculptures and paintings giving the space a sense of grandeur. Tori felt like she was in a museum rather than someone's home.
"Don't touch anything," Jade snapped as Tori followed her up a light wood and silver spiral staircase.
"I wasn't going to," she shot back, tearing her eyes away from the sights of the bottom floor.
Tori wasn't sure what she was anticipating Jade's room to look like. Okay, that was a lie. She totally pictured black walls, black curtains and things made out of faux bones. But because that image was far too clichéd, Tori had simply dismissed it. Still she was not expecting this. Just as the rest of the house, Jade's room was moderately furnished with her bed, a desk with a large workspace and one set of shelves. There was also an austere couch facing a widescreen tucked away in the corner of the room. The only difference was that while the home's interior was painted in soft pastels, Jade's room had a darker pallet. There were in fact many things in black but it was done in tasteful accents which offset a fern green paint job.
The north side of the house, the one which faced away from the street, was on Tori's left and the wall on that side was overtaken almost entirely by a long window. It curved to an end where Jade's canopy bed stood on a spacious raised platform and let in a brilliant streak of the sun.
"Wow, we should hang out at your place more often," Tori said.
"Keep dreaming." Jade went past her to the desk.
Tori and followed her. "So you want to get started?"
"I didn't invite you over for coffee and conversation," Jade answered seemingly not letting up on the attitude.
"Oh you didn't," Tori said mockingly. "Well my evening is ruined."
"Watch it Vega. You're in my house. We've got sound proof walls."
Tori made a face at her and sat down at the desk while Jade switched her desktop on. She hoped that they could at least efficiently work together to get this done as quickly as possible.