Jade West hates many things, most of which are completely random and seemingly irrational. Most. Not all. Come to think of it, the thing she hates most is probably the most rational of them all. While it's something that would sound a bit weird and out of place in one of her "Stuff I Hate" videos, it makes sense: Jade West hates being alone. Not for the normal reasons of loneliness, or missing someone, but because she never really is alone. As crazy as it sounds, she is followed everywhere she goes. Literally, everywhere. Even that one place that you certainly thought of as you read that. Yes, even there.
Surely, at one point in your life, you've had that feeling of being watched. Or maybe it felt more like being followed. But you get the point. Imagine feeling this constantly, 100% of the time. This is how Jade has been living for the past few weeks. Besides this feeling, sometimes she'll see or hear things. Jade will see things out of her peripheral vision, but when she looks over to focus on the thing, it's gone. And when she lays in bed at night, sometimes she hears things fall over. Not like pieces of paper or anything, but books, picture frames, or even cups of water tipping over. She didn't think anyone else had noticed these little things. At least, not until earlier today.
"Jade, did you see that?!" Tori Vega (her… frenemy, I suppose) asked in a whisper. Jade was confused for a second, until she saw that Tori was pointing in the direction of that thing… or where it had been, only seconds ago. Jade nodded vigorously, relieved to find out that she wasn't crazy, that someone else witnessed it. The thing had followed Jade to school, and was now in Mr. Sikowitz's classroom. Possibly. God only knew where it was now, or how far it had moved in the split second it would've taken to focus on it. Thankfully, the bell rang right then, and the two girls rushed to what appeared to be their favorite place: the janitor's closet.
Most of the time, the girls acted as if they hated each other, and to be fair, maybe they thought they did. However, even a blind, drunk squirrel could feel the sexual tension between the two. It was more than a bit obvious. And if nothing else already had, seeing the pair run to the janitor's closet definitely would've made you ship them. If you'd been there.
"Vega, I see that thing every flippin' day! And yet, I never really see it. It follows me EVERYWHERE I go. Oh man, I'm so glad someone else finally saw it… but why did it have to be you?" Jade had asked, her expression quickly changing from excited relief to forced and insincere irritation. Tori rolled her eyes.
"Oh, come on, Jade! Don't pretend you don't love me," Tori started, giving Jade something to think about. Whether or not she thought about it right then, I do not know. By her blush, I'd say she at least briefly considered it. "But what is that thing? And how long have you been seeing it for?"
Jade shrugged. "I dunno, three weeks?" Tori frowned, her little brain seeming to struggle with this bit of information.
"Well… why didn't you say anything?" the nosy brunette asked. Jade sighed.
"I would've sounded completely crazy. Y'know, the way you sounded when that Ponnie freak was stalking you," she said, looking down at her black combat boots.
Tori cocked her head a bit, pondering whether or not she'd have believed Jade. Deciding that she wouldn't have, she gave Jade a slight nod. Seeing that the girl looked to be near tears, the younger Vega moved down from her seat atop the cabinet to put her arms around the goth girl's neck. Jade froze momentarily before slowly moving her arms around Tori's waist.
They stood there like this until remembering that they were supposed to be at lunch. Upon this realization, they awkwardly separated and left the closet… but not like that. They had both hoped and prayed that nobody would ask where they'd been.
Now, at 9:30 PM, Jade is relieved (albeit mystified) to find that she's no longer being followed. Tori, however, is being followed. She can't seem to shake the paranoid feeling. She begins to pace around anxiously, calling out to her unwanted visitor.
"He-ey, um, if anybody's in here, could you please, um, go? See, you're- you're kinda, um, scaring me a little. Plus, I gotta… I have to pee, and I'd prefer that you weren't, um, watching me. Heh," Tori stutters nervously as she paces through her kitchen. Tori realizes then that, as soon as Trina leaves for Lindsay's house, she'll be alone. Her parents won't be home for two more hours after that; they never were on Fridays.
What if this thing is a serial killer, a psychopathic murderer? Why is it targeting me? And Jade? I can't be alone with that! I'll die! One can tell from the dumb girl's facial expression that all of these thoughts hit her in under a second. She reaches quickly for her fruit-shaped cellphone and calls Jade.
"H-hi. Jade? I'm… really scared. I feel like, like it's following me now. …Yeah. Could I maybe, I dunno… st-stay with you tonight? If it's not too much to ask, of course." A smile creeps across Tori's face, and she runs upstairs with the phone still pressed to her ear. She returns a few minutes later with a few bags, and stops briefly to put her phone into her pocket.
Jade looks to be quite relieved to see Tori, a strange occurrence for these two. They run upstairs and sit down on Jade's bed, pulling the covers around themselves and snuggling together. While they would both usually find the simple idea of this to be repulsive, it was quite the opposite now, given the circumstances.
"J-Jade…? I think the thing followed me," the whiny girl states. Jade nods, and pulls Tori closer. Tori and her perfect little face taunt me as she moves to put her head on Jade's shoulder. Geez, if only I could just kill her now and get it over with.
And who am I, you ask?
Why, none other than Fawn Liebowitz.