Author's Note: Okay, so before this weekend started, I was all, "I'm gonna update each of my stories and start a few others," Obviously…that didn't happen. My ideas are still nagging me and all my unfinished stories stayed just that way. So…yeah.
Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious. If I did, Liz and Ariana would sing more often.
Used To It
I took one last look in the mirror, fixing my hair and checking my teeth, before answering the door. I think it's some kind of girly reflex I have. Obviously, I have no chance. Ever since he and Jade got back together, they've been closer than ever. But despite knowing all that, I couldn't help it. I had to look my best for him. I opened the door and smiled an all-too-real smile. It was almost impossible to suppress my happiness, especially when his wide grin stood out on his face. His all-too-friendly and completely unromantic grin. The only kind of grin he had around me, besides his making-fun-of-Tori, girls-are-hitting-on-me-because-I'm-a-stud, and wow-this-burger-is-awesome grins.
"Hey, Beck," I greeted him, trying but ultimately failing at being casual.
"Sup, Tori," he replied, walking through the door and sitting on the couch, "Ready to practice?"
"Yeah. I typed up a script," I informed him, "There are two copies on the coffee table. Read it over and make sure it's okay. I'll get a snack," I walked to the kitchen and grabbed a large green plastic bowl and filled it with pretzels. I heard a few chuckles from Beck and I took that as a good sign. I wrote a comedic scene as opposed to a drama. The skit was supposed to be about a crazy old man who runs a chocolate factory, so people were going to laugh anyway, so I decided I might as well have fun with it.
"I hope you like pretzels," I commented as I walked to the sofa and sat about a foot away from him. I didn't want to get too close, afraid that he would be freaked out. But being too far away would have been weirder.
"Actually, I hate pretzels," he scoffed. My eyes widened. How could I have been so stupid? I should have known he didn't like pretzels! I opened my mouth to apologize, but he saw my expression and interrupted, "I'm just kidding. Don't worry. I love pretzels," he assured me, popping one into his mouth. I sighed in relief.
"Good. Because if you didn't like pretzels, I would have to question your sanity," I advised him. He smiled, amused.
"So should we get started?" he questioned.
"Sure," I agreed, standing up, "Here are your props," I gave him the items I had gathered for the skit before he arrived, "You are the crazy old man, so you start,"
"But I wanted to be the factory worker," he protested. I started apologizing again, but he just laughed.
"I'm still joking! Relax! You get so worked up over the littlest things. I swear, if you keep worrying like this, you're gonna have a heart attack before you're thirty-five," he told me.
"Or maybe heart confarctions," I added. He chuckled, remembering that unusual night at Wok Star that he had told us all about.
"If that does happen, can I have your coffee maker? Mine is broken and Jade is a handful without her morning joe," Beck joked.
"I'll be sure to write that into my will," I reassured him, "Wait…who calls coffee joe?"
"My Canadian cousins do!" he justified.
"Of course. Always blaming the Canadians," We both laughed, "Now let's start the scene," Beck took a deep breath and bowed his head, overdramatically getting into character. I giggled.
"Attention!" he suddenly shouted vociferously to an imaginary crowd, catching me off guard, "I called this meaning to discuss the secret products that you guys have been waiting to hear about. Well guess what?"
"What?" I asked excitedly.
"That was a rhetorical question, Garfield!" he yelled.
"My name is Florence!" I cried.
"I don't care, Rigby. Now go stand in the corner and cry," he commanded. I sighed before sadly walking over to the corner near the stairs.
"Now, as I was saying, the wait…is…over! I am about to unveil our brand new candies,"
"Yay!" I cheered, before quickly covering my mouth.
"Was that you, Wyatt?" Beck accused.
"Florence!" I defended myself.
"Whatever! Just shut your face!" he screamed. He took a deep breath, pretending to calm himself, "Now, where was I? Oh, yes! The new candy line. I present to you…" he reached into his pocket and pulled out a dead leaf, a stick, and a rock, "Our scrumptious all-natural candies!" He gestured theatrically, and I stared at him silently.
"Stanley, this is the part where you're supposed to cheer," he told my character through gritted teeth.
"I don't want to cheer. This is a terrible idea," I explained.
"What are you talking about? Organic stuff is all the rage now!" he protested.
"Exactly! Natural, not inedible!" I cried.
"Everything in my hand is eatable, even I'm eatable! But that is called 'cannibalism,' my dear Georgina, and is in fact frowned upon in most societies," I rolled my eyes as Beck then plucked the leaf out of his hand and stuck it in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully before pretending to swallow, "Although we may need to modify to flavor just a smidge,"
"A smidge? Come on, children aren't going to eat this!" I reminded him.
"Well it's a good thing our core demographic is cows then, now isn't it?" he reasoned. I stared at him, shocked.
"Cows?" I asked in disbelief. He nodded, "You've been selling all our candy to cows?" He moved his head up and down again. I smacked my palm to my forehead, "Do you realize what you've done? Who knows how cows react to chocolate?"
"Oh, I know how they react," Beck informed me. I raised my eyebrows, "They die,"
"They what?" I shouted, infuriated.
"They run around like crazy for a few hours, and then they suddenly drop dead. It's quite amusing to watch," he stated calmly.
"Oh my god. The company's ruined. We're going to go to jail," I began panicking.
"It's quite possible. The American Bovine Association, or ABA for short, is suing us for over one billion dollars," he said simply.
"Tori!" Trina shrieked from upstairs, interrupting me before I could deliver my next line of dialogue.
"What?" I yelled back exasperatedly.
"Where are my special tweezers?" she screamed.
"I don't know! Use the regular ones! They're in the bathroom!" I called.
"No! You know I need my special ones!" she dissented.
"Well then find them!" I told her.
"Help me!" she whined.
"No!" I opposed.
"Help me or I'll tell Beck why you need that ointment!" she threatened. I blushed.
"Fine! I'll help you!" I groaned, "I'm sorry. This will only take a few seconds, I promise," I reassured him.
"It better, I'm timing you," he remarked. This time he was clearly joking. I ran upstairs to help Trina find her tweezers, which happened to be in my room despite the fact that I had never used them. I sprinted downstairs as quickly as I could. I hated to keep Beck waiting. He laughed when he saw me.
"Well that was fun," I remarked sarcastically.
"Does that kind of stuff bother you? You know, Trina being…" he began.
"Trina?" I finished for him. He nodded, "I mean, it's annoying sometimes, but I've gotten used to it,"
"I see. So do you wanna get back to the…" he was interrupted by his ringtone, which happened to be "Five Fingaz to the Face", "Sorry, can I just see this for a second?" I nodded. He pulled out his phone, "It's a text from Jade,"
"Well what does it say?" I asked, curious.
"It says, 'Hey babe,'" he started, using a high-pitched voice, "'I need you to go with me to the mall now,'" Just then, the phone rang again and he opened the other message, "'Please,'"
"Well, at least she said 'Please'." I tried. We sat there awkwardly in silence for a few seconds, "You can go if you want," I sighed.
"No, we gotta work on this," he protested.
"It's fine. We don't have to present it until Friday. Go have fun with Jade," I allowed.
"Are you sure?" he solicited.
"Yeah. Besides, you'll probably get an earful if you keep her waiting," I explained.
"Thank you so much, Tori," he told me as he got up and walked to the door, "You're the best,"
"Wait," I stopped him .
"Yeah?" he turned toward me.
"Can I ask you something?" I requested.
"I think you just did," I rolled my eyes and he smiled brilliantly.
"Is it annoying when Jade…umm…" I initiated.
"Is being Jade?" he ended.
"Yeah," I concurred.
"Well, it's like you said about Trina. I'm used to it. I deal with her…sometimes…obnoxious behavior…because I love her," Those words cut my heart like a knife, but I didn't let it show. Or at least I hoped it didn't show.
"I get it. Now go have fun. Make sure she doesn't start a riot," I joked halfheartedly.
"Will do. See ya," he saluted me as he closed the door behind him.
"See ya," I murmured quietly as I sank down into the couch and sighed. Why couldn't I just be happy for Beck and Jade? Why won't these stupid feelings go away? Why can't I just let go of that little sliver of hope I have left? All it does is hurt me in the end.
"Tori!" Trina shouted again as she ran downstairs. She spotted me on the couch and sprinted over to me, "Tori!" she noticed my expression, and her face fell, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," I lied, forcing a slight smile.
"You don't look fine. Where's Beck?" she questioned.
"Having fun at the mall with Jade," I mumbled.
"I thought you guys were working on a scene together," she stated, confused.
"We were," I confirmed.
"So he just left you to go play with Jade?" she inquired incredulously.
"Yup," I verified.
"Well, doesn't that get on your nerves?" she asked. That was the understatement of the century.
"Nah," I heaved a sigh, eyeing the door, "I'm used to it,"
And maybe one day I would be able to say that without lying.
Author's Note: So…I'm not too sure how I feel about this one. I tried to make it serious like "Just Acting", but I'm not good at being serious. If you want to, you can review and tell me your thoughts. I can't see you and I don't know you personally, but I just wanted to tell you that I love you…What, am I moving too fast? I am? Then never mind. :D