"I'm done talking about this!"
"But I'm not!" Tori called halfheartedly, watching as her girlfriend of just under a year walked away from her. With a groan, she slumped down against the lockers and dropped her backpack, not even looking up when she heard footsteps.
"How goes it, baby girl?" Andre asked, sounding a bit sympathetic. He took a spot on the floor next to Tori, one leg stretched out in front of him and his arm propped on the other.
"Jade's mad at me. Again," Tori bit out, looking over at her best friend. He nodded for her to go on, digging through his bag. "It's about that film shoot again."
A month ago Tori had auditioned for a short film that was about two young teenagers falling in love a week before they left for colleges on the opposite sides of the country. She had gone in to read for the role of the best friend, but much to her surprise she had landed the lead, and, even more surprising, the film had been given a bigger budget and therefore a longer running time.
The downside? They were filming on location in Boston, Massachusetts, just after graduation in May. Neither Jade nor Tori were pursuing higher education, instead throwing themselves wholeheartedly into their work and not wasting any time, but Jade was staying in Hollywood, where she had already been put in contact with some people interested in a few of her scripts.
The argument that kept coming up over and over again between the two of them was that Tori didn't exactly want to take the role and be away from Jade and her home for so long. Filming was estimated to take about six months, and that didn't include the rewrites and reshooting that would probably take place if the director managed to get his big box office opening that he was lusting after.
Jade was furious that Tori would ever think of giving up such an opportunity to stick around for her, and Tori couldn't imagine being so far from her girlfriend for so long, even if she was sarcastic and tough to deal with on her best days. Hence their near-daily fighting for the past few weeks.
"Ah, that. Tor, I know it's not really my place, but you really should think about that more carefully," Andre said, finally pulling a notebook out of his bag.
Tori threw up her hands, frustrated. "I know I should! But I haven't signed a contract or anything yet, and they can still recast Olivia, but I feel like I'm stuck. If I go and I do it, I'll be miserable being away from home and you guys and Jade, but if I don't take it and I stay here Jade will be pissed and I'll always wonder what-if. And, you know, I'm scared that so much time away will ruin our relationship." She glanced down at her hands, twisting a few of her rings around, waiting for Andre's reaction.
He was scribbling in his notebook, easily multi-tasking. It was one of his many talents. "Tori, you love Jade, right?" Her response was instant. "And Jade loves you?" Again, instantaneous. "Then it would work. I mean, yeah, the distance might be rough, but that's why they have phones and Skype and stuff. And Jade could visit. Who knows, filming could be shorter than you think, and getting out of your box could really help you."
Tori gazed at Andre for a few minutes until he looked up from his paper, feeling uncomfortable. "What? Do I got something on my face?"
"No. You're just kind of awesome," she said, leaning over to hug him around the neck.
x x x
Tori carefully walked up to Jade's locker, hoping that the dark haired girl had cooled down a little from their argument earlier. It was as though Jade could sense her coming because she slowly closed her locker door and placed a hand on her hip before cocking an eyebrow at Tori. "Vega."
Tori gulped. "Jade."
"And to what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Jade, stop it. You know we need to talk about this. Seriously. We need to sit down and be serious and - "
"Tori! There's no talking about it. You either take the job and go to Boston or you stay here and screw up your career because of me. I'm not going to let you do that." Jade's tone was sharp, leaving no room for argument, but Tori always found a way.
"Don't tell me what to do! Jade, look, I don't know if this is even what I want, okay? Jade - Jade, where are you going?"
"We're not doing this in the hallway," her girlfriend shot over her shoulder, marching out to the parking lot.
All throughout the car ride to Jade's, Tori could feel the anger radiating off of her girlfriend. She could see why Jade would be angry but at the same time it wasn't as though she was personally harming Jade with this decision. Still, Jade had a tendency to react to things with an unusual amount of emotion and this wasn't an exception.
When they reached the mansion that Jade called home (her parents were inattentive but loaded) she parked the car and got out without a second look at Tori. It wasn't until they were in Jade's room and Tori had set her things down that Jade did so much as glance in Tori's direction.
And that's when Tori saw it.
Nervousness. Fear. Guilt.
Everything clicked into place and she sat down on Jade's bed, letting out a breath. When she looked back up to see if she had truly witnessed that or if she was having some sort of hallucination, Jade was digging through her drawers to find her favorite scissors.
"Jade?"
"Vega."
"You want me to go to Boston because you love me, right?"
"I like you."
"Jade."
"Yes, I want you to go to Boston because I love you. Also because it's a great career move and you can't pass up an opportunity like this, Tori." Having found her scissors, Jade held them up triumphantly, found a sheet of black construction paper, and reclined on the bed next to Tori, making quick work of the paper as they spoke. Tori simply watched her, eyes roaming Jade's face - every detail from her eyebrows to the intense blue of her eyes to the bow of her lips fascinated Tori - and she finally hesitantly reached out and curled one of Jade's green extensions around her forefinger. Jade stopped her cutting but didn't look up.
"You don't want me to not go because you're worried if I stay then I'll hate you for it later." Not a question but a statement.
Jade's face remained completely neutral. "That's stupid, Vega. I don't even know where you come up with crap like that. Can we make out?" She tossed the scissors aside and sat up, raising her studded eyebrow upward. It was hard to say no to Jade when she said things like that because it seemed like her face and voice were permanently set on seduction and it wasn't long before Tori was pinned under Jade and had no idea what they had been talking about.
The next day she officially signed the contract to play one Olivia Caldwell in East Coast, West Coast, with shooting to start on June 1, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts.