Disclaimer: Victorious and its characters are the property of Schneider's Bakery and Nickelodeon. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. No profit is intended or wanted for this story.
Note: Scene with verbal abuse and potentially offensive dialogue. Please do not read if that offends or upsets you.
Tori walked down the main hall, having just left her Music History class. At her locker, she switched books for the next class, College Lit. It was one of several college prep courses at Hollywood Arts - classes that helped her take care of some prerequisites before she even started college.
Behind her, she heard a commotion and turned, looking down a side corridor. There was a locker with a Tiffany pattern she often admired. A young girl with a scarf was leaning up against it. She thought the girl was a freshman but Tori didn't know her. In front of the girl were trio of upper classmen, all girls.
Should be upper classwomen. Or maybe upper classpeople? Tori thought idly. Even as that thought passed through her head, she realized the girl was crying and the subject of abuse from the other girls. Then she recognized the redhead in front of the other girls.
Cheryl Budd! With her little minions again. God, that girl is such a bitch… Tori stated to make her way to the small group, muttering, "No, not today…"
The young girl, a Latina like Tori, had a red-patterned scarf tied around her head. The leader of the bullies scoffed at her, accusing her of being a rag head and a camel jockey. The bully reached out and grabbed the scarf even as the victim reached up to try to hold it in place.
Her bald pate was exposed and the bullies started to laugh even louder. Jokes about Mrs. Clean, Cue Ball and bald dykes, among other much harsher comments, were hurled at the stricken girl.
Tori got here a split second later and stepped between the bullies and the girl.
"What the hell is your problem Vega?"
"Right now? You!"
"Walk away Songbird, before I break your beak."
"Oh, that's clever. And oh-so scary…" Tori sneered at the other girl, "You forget that I'm friends with Jade West? She's a helluva lot scarier than you on her worst day! Or best day… Whatever!
"Give me that scarf!" Tori demanded, grabbing for the red material. Cheryl tossed it back to one of her crew, Tara or Sara or whoever.
"You! Give me the scarf!" The blonde girl snickered and tossed it to the other minion as Tori advanced on her. Turning to her, Tori slowly stated, "Give. Me. That. Scarf. NOW!"
The brunette seemed to quaver for a moment until Cheryl turned and glared at her. The blonde took it back, holding it loosely as she waited to see what happened next.
"We can keep this up all day, Vega," Cheryl taunted as she turned back to Tori.
"Screw it!" Tori snarled as she dug in her giant purse, pulling out a blue patterned scarf. She handed it to the crying girl even as Cheryl moved in.
Turning back to the tormenters, Tori pointed at Cheryl's face as she snarled again, "Don't! Just don't!"
"Aw, Vega's sweet on the Ay-rab!" Cheryl taunted, emphasizing the slur.
"Hey, Idiot Girl! She's not an…Ay-rab!" Tori sneered before she turned to the girl, "Where are you from?"
"Eag…Eagle Rock… M-my dad works at J-JPL… He's an engineer…"
"Your family from the Middle East?" Tori asked, already knowing the answer.
"N-no, my grandfather's from B-brazil…"
"See? Not an Arab! Or, as you so eloquently, hatefully put it, an Ay-rab!" Tori said directly to Cheryl. Then she practically spat out, "Idiot!"
"Then why is she wearing an Arab head-thingie?" Cheryl demanded. "A…a kefah?
"First, the 'head-thingie' is called a keffiyeh! Second, that's not how a keffiyeh is worn. Third, Idiot Girl, this is not a keffiyeh. It's just a scarf, dumbass! Women used to wear them all the time in the 1940s and '50s. Even since the '60s. God, you're such an idiot!" Tori partly turned to the girl again, "Was your…lack of…um…hair the reason you're wearing the scarf, sweetie?"
Loosely holding the blue scarf, the girl sniffed and fresh tears welled up in her eyes. "I-I ha-have leukemia and the chemo made m-my hair f-fall out."
"Oh, I'm so sorry, sweetie," Tori said, hugging the girl with one arm as she still faced the three.
Still holding the crying girl in her left arm, she turned her full attention back to the others, growling, "Feels good, does it? Picking on a poor girl who's suffering from something far worse than you could ever inflict on her? And far worse than you or I ever had? Does it make you feel big? Important? Or just craven little bitches?"
The two minions looked devastated at the sudden slap of truth and were staring at the floor even as they backed up a step. Cheryl, on the other hand, stepped up. Tori surprised herself by thwacking Cheryl in the forehead with her forefinger, then she gently pushed her new friend to the side as Cheryl snarled, "Vega, I'm going to make you sorry you were even born!"
"I was. The day I met you…"
Actually growling at the insult, Cheryl tried to swing on Tori who stepped inside the punch and swept her right foot between the other girl's legs and kicked forward on Cheryl's left leg, causing the bully to fall back. With no minions to support her, she fell on her butt and yelled in anger.
Leaping up, Cheryl threw another punch which Tori ducked, causing the redhead to punch into the Tiffany locker. The tinted plastic cracked at the impact.
At that moment, Lane came up and inserted himself between the two girls. "Alright! That's enough! Both of you to my office!" Neither one made a move, they just stood there glaring at each other. Lane yelled, "NOW!"
Seeing the swelling in Cheryl's hand, he changed his mind and said, "No, to the school nurse. While you get your hand looked at, Cheryl, I'll find out what happened."
They slowly made their way up the stairs. Lane asked, "Sandra, you alright?"
The girl nodded and whispered to Lane as she tied Tori's scarf around her head. He nodded, whispered to her and followed the other two up to the nurse.
Meanwhile, off to the side…
"Give it to me," a low voice ordered. The blonde, Sara or Tara or whoever, handed over the red scarf.
Jade walked up to the younger girl, "Here. I think this belongs to you."
"Th-thank you. I… Your friend is really brave."
Jade gazed up the stairs and nodded, "Yeah, she is. She really is." Then, as if an afterthought, she quietly added, "She's not my friend."
Tori walked out of Lane's office an hour later, holding a note for her missed class and a letter for her parents. She was still fuming that the bitch got off with suspension, followed by detention and just the threat of expulsion. Basically a slap on the wrist!
Then, remembering Cheryl's broken middle finger, she had a wicked thought, Bet that hurts like a bitch now though!
As she walked to her locker, she missed the girl staring at her from across the entry hall. As she angrily twirled her combination, she also missed the girl's approach.
"VEGA!"
The shout seemingly pushed Tori into her locker. She pushed back and yelled, "JADE!"
Taking a breath, she glared at the Goth, "Why the hell do you have to do that? Jesus Christ, I almost had a heart attack! Again!"
"Don't exaggerate, Vega. I've scared you far worse." Jade had a snide smile on her face which turned to a more quizzical look. "But cursing… That's new. You seem… Look, I saw you with Budd earlier. I have to say, I was…impressed."
"You were?"
"Yeah, you stood up to her. She was being a real bitch to that girl and you faced off with her. Pretty damned impressive, Vega. Guess my work has paid off…"
"Your work? What work? Being a bitch when I only wanted to be friends? And since when do you care about some underclassman? Underclasswoman? Whatever! You love to terrorize them! Even the poor victims in our class…"
"Vega…" Jade paused, looking into Tori's eyes. "I have never bullied anyone who…didn't deserve it, or… Alright, that's not completely true. But, I never abused anyone who was sick or…" Jade shook her head and started to walk away. "Whatever!"
"Jade. Please wait."
The black-haired girl stopped but didn't turn. "What?"
"I'm sorry. I'm just… You're right. I've never seen you pick on anyone who…"
"Who what?"
"I…dunno. Has cancer, I guess. Sorry, I started to say that before but I had no way to finish that didn't sound bad. And I don't want that." Tori paused then added, "I've never seen you pick on anyone who was…suffering."
"Okay. Fine. Actually, when you put it together in a sentence, it's not so bad. Limiting but… Jeez! Anyway, what happened in Lane's office?" By this point, Jade had turned back to face Tori and took a couple of steps closer to get the low-down on the not-quite fight.
"Um… Really? Okay. Well, Sandra told him what had happened. By then, we were still in the nurse's office as she wrapped the…Cheryl's hand. There were cuts - which I hope get infected - but she broke her finger." Tori smiled wickedly as she said that before going on, "Now, whenever she waves at someone, she'll be flipping them off!"
Jade couldn't help but bark out a laugh. Tori joined her, finally laughing about the aluminum splint that would hold Cheryl's broken middle finger out from her hand.
"Vega, you're full of surprises today. So then what happened?"
"He ripped into us for fighting in school anyway. But then he focused on that cu… On Cheryl."
"Vega, did you almost use the C word?" Jade asked with a big smile.
Tori had to chuckle as she nodded. "Yeah, I almost did… But, as the one of the Blues Brothers said, 'If the shit fits, wear it!'"
"Wow, Vega, two for two. Maybe two and a half for the finger thing. I must be rubbing off…"
"Remind me to take a shower…" Tori scoffed but with a friendly smile, which Jade returned. "Anyway, she got her punishment and was released to her parents – actually her maid. I ended up back in his hippy-dippy office as Lane tore me a new one. I tried to tell him I didn't really fight her, just thwacked her, tripped her when she threw a punch and then I ducked. Guess tripping an opponent – self-defense - isn't cool for school."
"That was some fancy footwork," Jade acknowledged.
Feeling a thrill at Jade's compliment, Tori replied, "Trina's not the only one who's taken some martial arts training. I just didn't keep it up beyond defense."
"Whatever! What happened? You're still here. What about Miss Head-Up-Her-Ass of 2014?"
"Shouldn't it be Ms. Head…? Whatever… She's suspended for a week, then after-school detention for a month, including all-day on Saturdays with Dickers, then probation until the end of the semester! That sucks on so many levels! She was brutalizing that girl and… I wish I'd put her lights out!"
"Whoa! Down, champ! You want to be tossed out?"
"No. But I'd bet you'd love it!"
Rather than a snide reply, Jade shook her head as she admitted, "No, not really. I may or may not like you but you do present a challenge and I love that.
"I have to admit, you all mad and antagonistic is a new side of you. I kinda like it."
Before Tori could frame a reply, Sandra came up "T-Tori? Um, Ms. Vega?"
Tori turned to her and smiled widely, "Tori is fine. Ms. Vega is a realtor and… Never mind. How are you?"
"I'm okay. I just… Thank you," she said, handing the blue bandana to Tori. Her red one was back on her head.
"You can keep it if you want, Sandra," Tori offered.
The young girl smiled shyly, "Thank you. I'll keep it then. It'll remind me of you and how you stood up for me. And that it's okay to stand up for people."
Tori beamed even wider and nodded.
"And you, Ms. West, thank you."
"You're welcome. And I like that Ms. West bit. Maybe some others should follow this wise one's example, Vega."
"I don't think so, Jaaade…" Then Tori turned back to Sandra, "What did Jade do?"
As she heard the short explanation, the older Latina turned and beamed at the Goth. "Jade, you softy…"
"Shut it Vega! I have a rep!"