Chapter one: Reunion
Tori Vega was always in a constant state of rush, never stopping nor slowing down until she reached her destination and fulfilled what she wanted. Even when she had no where to go and nothing to do, she was still running around, trying to find the next place she needed to be, the next person she needed to talk to, or the next thing she needed to do. It was as though someone had pressed the fast forward button on the VCR that was her life and the button got stuck. For someone who had a reputation for being beautiful, level-headed, and stuck-up, she did an awful lot of worrying that she was missing something in a place she wasn't at, and she had to find that place and get to it pronto. Her oldest friend Jade often told her to, "Slow down and smell the goddamn roses, they might be covered in thorns, but their beauty is worth it," but more often than not, Tori was too busy hurrying to get somewhere else to even pay attention to her.
That was why it was not unusual for her to be seen scurrying down the cream colored carpet of the corridors of Hollywood Arts Academy, a couple of her favorite monogrammed Louis Vuitton suitcases trailing behind her as she pulled them, the wheels making no noise as they turned quickly. Likewise, the strappy black heels on her size ten feet were silent on the thick carpet as well, and as she passed numerous students milling around the dormitory halls, they didn't even stop to stare at her, unless they were freshmen who weren't used to the greatness that was Tori. They were far too used to seeing her dash around in high heels that she should have stumbled and snapped her neck in years ago, but somehow her grace just didn't allow her to trip and fall. The only students who did stare at her were of the male gender, and one couldn't blame them. The way her sheet of long, shimmering brown hair fanned out from her chiseled face and her deep-set blue eyes sparkled were enough to turn any male with a pulse into a pile of goo. It was curious, however, how Tori never even considered using her incredible looks to catch a boyfriend. Quite the contrary, she never so much as even flirted with any guy at Hollywood Arts as far back as anyone could remember. Perhaps the rumors really were true and she was secretly dating Beck Oliver. But if that was true, his remarkable number of confirmed, notorious infidelities were enough to make any girl with half a brain send him packing, despite how gorgeous he was.
Tori finally came to a halt in front of the gleaming silver doors of the elevator and used a long, French tipped nail to hit the up button impatiently a few times. As she for the cable to pull the cab of the elevator to the first floor, she didn't inspect her appearance in the reflective doors, as every other girl would have. No, Tori had the kind of classic, timeless beauty that didn't need to be checked up on every few minutes. And she was very well aware of this fact. Instead, she glanced at the other students milling around, many of them appearing to be freshmen and looking very confused. She laughed inwardly at their ignorance. She hated freshmen, as she failed to see their, "pathetic, annoying cuteness," as Cat had dubbed it. To her, they were just a bunch of snot-nosed brats who thought they were cool now that they were finally in high school.
Well news flash. They weren't going to think they were cool for long if Tori had anything to say about it.
With a bright ding, the doors slid open, and Tori eagerly hauled her suitcases into the elevator. A few of bumbling girls, probably sophomores, followed her, gossiping loudly. They each cast Tori a look—it was hard not to, she was a legend around Fletcher-Gordon—but pretty much remained immersed in their own world, sharing stories of summer flings and parties and hook ups as the doors closed and they began rising into the air.
It was with the gentlest of smirks that Tori pondered just as to what they would say if she were to reveal what her summer fling had been like. She almost laughed out loud at the absurdity of her thought. Puh-lease. Those girls wouldn't know what had hit them, and it would have been all over by dinnertime. No, it was better to simply keep her eyes flicking back and forth between the numbers near the door of the elevator, as she watched the floors fly by quickly, and her Rolex watch, as she tried to determine just how much time she was wasting by standing here, losing IQ points from listening to these girls.
"So then I said to Josh, 'But like, I so saw you kiss her!' And he was all, 'Babe, I love you, I wouldn't do that to you.' It felt completely like that episode of, "Laguna Beach," where like, L.C. finds Jason kissing Jessica, you know?" a very loud, very annoying girl with bleach blond hair was saying to her two friends. She gave her hair an impressive toss and waited for comments, tapping her foot expectantly.
"Oh, totally," friend number one agreed.
"That's like, the perfect metaphor," the second stated, clearly in awe of her friend's brilliance.
Tori snorted, then quickly and successfully passed it off as a cough. Brilliance. Right.
Luckily, as they reached the third floor, the elevator came to a halt and the doors exited, still chatting animatedly and acting like they owned the world. There were two things about the whole situation that pissed Tori off. Number one, she owned the world. Number two, these girls were sophomores. It was an unspoken rule at Hollywood Arts that sophomores had the first floor of the dorms, sophomores the second, juniors the third, and seniors the forth. So what the hell were they doing on the junior floor?
She didn't have to wait long for her answer, as obnoxious girl number one gave a loud squeal of, "Dave!" and threw herself on a guy who Tori vaguely remembered as the guy she had accidentally-on-purpose thrown a basketball into the face to he previous year. He was a junior. Ah, so it made sense. Those three were whores-in-training. Lovely.
The doors closed before she could make any more assumptions, and the journey to the next floor was a short one. When she finally reached the fourth floor, a beautiful smile blossomed over her face. She was here. She was home. Reaching a hand into her matching Louis Vuitton purse, she searched around for her room key she had retrieved from the office just twenty-one minutes before. A new record. Just as her slender fingers retrieved it, the elevator once again reached its destination and opened its doors. As not to waste any time, she hurriedly snatched her things and exited. Her lovely brown head flew back and forth, examining her surroundings, before heading determinedly to her left. She met no other person on her journey down the long hall, but finally, reached door D19. It would be her home for the next nine months of her life. Sliding the gleaming silver key into the matching lock, she gave it a quick turn, and with a soft, nearly silent, click, the knob turned easily, and she eased the door open.
The room was spacious with cream colored carpet that matched that in the hallway and three windows adorned the longest pale pink painted wall, all looking out to the mountainous Colorado landscape. It smelled of fresh paint and wood polisher, and a huge pile of boxes in the center of the room instantly made her cringe. They were going to have a hard time getting through all that by Monday. Three single beds, all with plain white sheets atop them, littered the room, one immediately to her right and next to the door, another across from it on the opposite wall, and the last next to the closet, it's headboard underneath a window. First come, first serve, as Tori wheeled her suitcases around the end of the bed nearest her and tossed her purse onto the springy mattress. Weaving around boxes, she moved towards the closet door, sliding it open, before poking her head into the adjoining bathroom and flicking on the light. Once she surveyed it for any imperfections, and apparently there were none, she padded across the thick carpet to the middle window. They needed curtains badly, and she made a mental note to send for some as soon as possible. After a moment of wrestling with the latches, she slid the window up easily, and let the fresh, pine-scented breeze blow into the room, a contented smile on her face at the complete silence and serenity of the moment. This was why she always tried to beat her roommates here, for moments like these. Moments of peace where she could immerse herself in her own thoughts. Only problem was that her thoughts always ended up going back to the same thing. Or person, for that matter.
She heaved a huge sigh, her bright blue eyes dimming slightly. Weren't summer flings supposed to be meaningless? Wasn't she supposed to forget all about them and focus on finding a new fling at school? Because she couldn't. She couldn't forget how incredible she had felt the first time she laid eyes on the person she would spend the rest of her summer with. How incredible it felt to kiss them. How amazing it was to hear them whisper, "Te quiero," in her ear. An ache filled her chest, as she fiddled carelessly with her diamond necklace. What was she supposed to do when her friends asked her if she had hooked up with anyone during the summer? She couldn't tell them the truth. They'd hate her. They'd disown her. They'd never talk to her again.
And she couldn't deal with that.
Eventually she moved away from the window and it's breathtaking view and began sorting out boxes. She placed Jade's next to the bed that was opposite hers, and Cat's next to the bed near the closet. It took her exactly thirteen minutes to complete her task, and she felt proud when she surveyed the room, dusting off her hands. Whoever thought she was too stuck-up or stupid to do menial labor obviously didn't know what they were talking about.
With a long, square nail, she carefully slit the tape on the box marked, "Desk things, organization stuff, and papers." It took her a few times to get through the thick packing tape, but in the end, she managed, and laughed a soft, reminiscent smile at the bright yellow paper that lay on top of the stack.
Hollywood Arts Rules
Written by: Headmaster Coates and edited by Jadelyn West, Victoria Vega, and The Cattster.
Every year, the first class of the first day, teachers never failed to pass out the list of mandatory, completely ignored rules. Their sophomore year, Jade had started ranting about how no one followed them, so they should be changed. History was born as Cat grabbed a pen and started marking up the yellow paper, and Tori, the queen of organization, had managed to bribe the student office attendee to laminate it for her. She tacked it up on her bulletin board every year.
1. Students are required to wear school uniforms during class hours. Casual wear is permitted after hours, as long as it follows the school dress code. For dress code, see Student Handbook, page 48, paragraph 7. Translation: you're forced to wear ugly, itchy polyester shit in ugly colors, but on your own time, as long as you're covered by at least one square inch of cloth, they won't do anything about it. Mr. Phillips is the only one who ever busts out the measuring tape to, "make sure outfits are adequate," but we all know he's just doing it to feel us all up, as he's obviously a creepy, underground pervert when he's not teaching math.
2. Students are required to be in their dorm rooms by nine PM every night, no acceptations. The sign out sheet for trips during the weekend is located in the office. Weekend pleasure outings can be executed anywhere between the hours of 8 AM and 8 PM. Students who fail to comply with curfew will be severely punished. Am I the only one who thinks the whole, 'pleasure,' part is unnecessary and some sort of sexual innuendo? Besides, it's not like they check our rooms to see if we've made curfew, and if you're stupid enough to get caught, that's your fault. I hope that, 'severe punishment,' is a hanging by your toes from a wall with vicious, rabid rats crawling around underneath you. Love, Kitty.
Kitty, stop messing around. This is serious business.
3. Detentions will be served the day they are given, no acceptations. Ignore this rule if your name is not Jade West.
4. After the tardy bell rings, students who arrive in class will be counted as tardy. If you reach four tardies, Saturday school is required. Everyone other than Tori Vega will serve Saturday school at least once.
5. PDA's are punishable by detention, suspension, and even expulsion. Keep it clean, please, for the sake of our fine school's reputation. Translation: "We're going to lock you in a school with a bunch of gorgeous, hormonally charged boys and expect you not to touch them. If you do, we'll do soak cotton balls in gasoline, glue them to the roof of your mouth, and light them on fire." Note: Unless your name is Jade West, please disregard this rule.
6. Alcohol, drugs, and narcotics of any type are strictly forbidden at Hollywood Arts under expulsion. Yeah, right.
7. Please take your schoolwork seriously; it is the beginning to the rest of your life. Not necessarily. What kind of education does a prostitute meet? I've never met a prostitute who has a master's degree in Science. And what if I want to be a prostitute, damn it? I'm going to be the best damn prostitute this school has ever seen!
Lay off the dramatics, Kitty.
8. Please respect your teachers, the buildings, and your peers. No, no, and double no. What good have my peers ever done for me? These buildings need to be demolished anyway, and they could build like, Saks and Barneys and shit. Teachers? Puh-lease. Gag me.
Maybe that's why you've been in the principal's office more times than I can count in the past year, Jay.
You always did suck at math, Cat.
These rules are copyrighted and deemed property of Caterina Valentine, Jadelyn West, and Victoria Vega. All rights reserved. What rights, you might ask? Wouldn't you like to know?
Kitty Koo! Jadey Joo! And Tori Too!
Tori rolled her eyes at the last line, but laughed all the same. Cat had come up with that little line their sophomore year, and maybe it was funny when they were fifteen, but as she neared her adulthood, Tori found it more and more annoying. Cat was just too immature sometimes, and Jade, of course, as always, just thought it was hilarious. Everything Cat did was hilarious to Jade. Tori used to feel the same. But she really didn't anymore.
Digging around in the box, she pulled out her new corkboard and a pack of brass thumbtacks. Extracting one from the plastic container, she pushed it through the hole in the rules sheet and into the cork, right in the middle, where it always resided. Pictures of the six of them would surround it, she knew. They always did. Everything about Tori's life was very orderly, very familiar, very routine, very closely guarded.
Which was also why her summer fling had been so shocking.
Grabbing one of the box's flaps, Tori tugged it towards the massive, cherry wood desk that sat in between two wardrobes. They were placed in between her bed and the bed she had deemed Jade's, the other wardrobe was on the opposite side of the closet door. Atop the desk sat a sleek desktop computer, a little red light on the underside of the cordless mouse glowing slightly. With a light smirk, Tori pushed the monitor back as far as she could without upsetting it, and then pulled out the rolling board the keyboard was placed on. Unplugging it from the monitor, she shoved it underneath the desk. Her laptop would go there nicely instead. From her box, she pulled out all her desk necessities—pens, pencils, paper, notebooks, a dictionary, a thesaurus, folders, and a few random knickknacks that she could not study without. A huge conch shell she found on the beaches of St. Bart's when she was vacationing there with Jade in seventh grade, a miniscule statue of a girl holding a flower, and her most recent addition, a framed photograph of herself hugging a girl that was so beautiful she rivaled even Tori. Long, curling dark hair framed her tanned, oval face, and bright green eyes stood out shockingly. Her thin, equally tanned arms were curled tightly around Tori, and their heads were touching at the temples. Tori stared into her own face. God, she looked happy. Glowing, even. The beautiful little town she had been staying in in Spain showed in the background, including her favorite coffee shop, where she had in fact met Eva. Setting the picture down slowly next to the conch shell, she frowned. She missed Eva. A lot.
The door flew open just then, and in all her prosperity stood Jade West, a short boy appearing to perhaps be a freshman or sophomore trailing after her, pulling a suitcase after him. Tori smiled. It was so like Jade to con a boy into doing her biding.
Upon seeing Tori, the boy stopped short and stared, taken aback by her stunning beauty. Tori didn't even blink. She was far too used to creating this reaction around the male species. Jade, however, apparently wasn't, for she cleared her throat rather loudly and tapped her white and lavender Lacoste sneaker impatiently. Finally, when Random Boy turned to look at her, she flashed him a sweet smile, snatched her suitcase from his hand, and swooped down, kissing him on the cheek.
"Thanks, Roger," she cooed, before stepping into the room and all but shutting the door in his face. Turning to look at Tori, she sniggered. "His name was Robert. I think."
Tori laughed, stood up, and rushed towards Jade, embracing her tightly. The familiar scent of coconuts hit her nose, and she closed her eyes, inhaling the welcome smell. This was familiar. This was routine. This she actually liked. When they finally released each other, Jade took a step back and for the first time Tori took a good look at her friend. Her perfect eyebrows nearly hit her hairline as she surveyed her in disbelief. "Wow."
While Tori was stunningly, classically beautiful, Jade was sultry. She was, as she always replied upon inquiry to her nationality, "Half Polish and half bitch." Her father, a Polish man but had bloodlines running back to Cherokee and Sioux tribes, had married her mother, a coldhearted bitch. So, in short, she was telling the truth. "High-maintenance," was never a word used to describe Jade. Her dark hair was almost constantly pulled back into a messy ponytail she had perfected, unless, of course, she was trying to impress a guy, and then she let it hang loose and free, which brought attention to her big blue eyes that were so mysterious they nearly matched her persona. Her father, a well-known plastic surgeon, has personally fixed the bump in her nose and enhanced her lips with collagen, much to her mother's displeasure. Her curves were God-given, however, and were much more generous in form than Tori's. Tori had always been slightly jealous of Jade's luscious curves, while Jade was jealous of Tori's…well...everything.
As Tori stared at the girl she had called her best friend since the tender age of two, however, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of…something. Something strange. "You look awesome," she acknowledged, trying to keep the bitterness at a low.
Her skin was naturally tanner than most as it was, but having just flown in from a long, luxurious stay at St. Bart's the previous week, Tori looked especially dark and exotic. Her 7 for mankind jeans hugged her curvy hips and filled-out backside perfectly, and to Tori's surprise, didn't make her look the least bit pudgy. While Jade always had curves, they weren't always in the right places. Just the previous year she had what Cat dubbed, "a baby belly," which protruded through clothes if she wasn't careful. Now, however, her Tory Burch white embellished tank hung loosely around her stomach and clung to her breasts tightly.
She looked…well…hot.
And she seemed to know it, as she looped one side of her long, side swept bangs behind her ear, a grin playing over her face. "Thanks, Tiff. Of course, you always upstage me though, and as usual, I'm beyond used to it."
Not true.
She glanced around at her surroundings carelessly, before asking curiously, "You claim a bed?" When Tori pointed to the one that, yes, was hers, Jade immediately headed for the bed opposite of it. She glanced at her stack of neatly piled boxes and offered a, "Thanks," without even specifying what it was for, because she really didn't need to. She laid her suitcase down, and, without further ado, unzipped it and pulled out a neatly wrapped box. She chucked it over her shoulder to Tori, and Tori wasn't surprised when it came directly towards her and she caught it in her perfectly manicured hands. Jade was an absolute athletic pro. There wasn't a single sport she had ever discovered that she didn't love and excel at. The only thing Tori had ever been able to beat her at was running, but that was due to her long, long legs. "Open it," Jade commanded, grabbing out another wrapped parcel. She rested it vacantly on a hip, placing her other hand on the other hip. "Go on."
Tori never did get to do as she was ordered, for at that moment, the door burst open yet again, and in marched Caterina Valentine, all drama and bright colors. Everything Cat did oozed of bright colors and drama. A bright orange duffle bag was slung over one shoulder, and pet carriers in both hands. Her hair was tugged up into two pigtails, and was dyed a brilliant shade of red with two small blonde streaks hanging down in her eyes. Dressed in the most awkward combination of clothes anyone had ever seen, a pair of cutoff yellow and pink polka dotted overalls, a black t-shirt with so many holes it looked as though it would disintegrate any moment, and a pair of actual point ballet slippers, Cat was almost offensive to the eyes. She had twenty/twenty vision, and yet a pair of rimless square glasses was perched on her nose. When her brown, glass-covered eyes locked onto her two roommates, she emitted a high-pitched shriek, dropped everything in her arms, and launched herself across the room at Jade, nearly tackling her onto the bed.
"Jadey Joo!" she exclaimed, hugging Jade tightly to the point where she could hardly breathe.
However, Jade managed a strangled laugh and to force out, "Kitty Koo!"
Before she could comprehend what was happening, Cat's hand shot out and grabbed Tori's forearm, tugging her into to hug. "And Tori Too!" she all but yelled, tightening her grip on her two best friends. "I've missed you guys so much!"
A loud meow from one of her pet carriers was the first response she got, carefully followed by a loud scuffling from the other.
They stood there, hugging. Tori's face was contorted into a slight frown of annoyance at Cat's loudness. Jade was smiling serenely, though her mind was somewhere else. On someone else, more precisely. And Cat? She began doing a little Irish jig, and one of her legs came in contact with Tori's knees that just so happened to be locked, causing Tori to fall backwards. Of course, Jade tumbled down after her, and Cat fell somewhere on top of both of them.
Everyone, even Tori, had to crack up as they lay in a tangled mass of hair, limbs, and confusion. "I love you guys," Jade finally got out, clutching her sides from laughter.
For now, anyway.