Chapter II

'—so, she jumped out of the window as a good West and came here anyway—'

Tori didn't realize when it was that her head went all foggy, but she thought it had been sometime before her first drink was over, for that was the last thing she could remember without putting too much effort.

'—she's now hoping her dad won't wake up early and check on her—'

After that, most of what had occurred was uncertain in many levels. It appeared either out of its right chronological order, or so full of senselessness that Tori could only hope it was her own imagination working.

'—now that I think about it, it's highly unlikely of him to suddenly change his—'

Beck in and out of sight always with a different girl? Andre throwing himself into the pool fully-clothed? That was still believable. A very drunk-looking Robbie disappearing behind some bedroom-door dragged by a mysterious girl? An abnormally straight-headed Cat smoking weed with a bunch of unknown guys? That was just unbelievable.

'—out of a never-before-found impulse to check on his "disappointing little girl"—'

But then again, this night probably carried lots of surprises for Tori ever since it began. That crossed her mind just as a frowning Jade shoved softly on her shoulder, opening her brown eyes and taking her back from the stupor in which she had been drowning.

'As I was saying, his little girl, who's never shown any interest in his business—'

Jade kept her chant going as Tori slowly checked on her surroundings, finding Andre on the floor, and Cat squeezed into a cat-ball next to her. Robbie was seemingly still lost and Beck never came back after claiming he would go for a drink some time ago. As Tori looked around she noticed how empty the room was and wondered if everybody was gone already or if the party had moved into a different room of the gigantic house. There were some unfamiliar faces on the other couches, most of them asleep, and some other voices over Jade's that came from the opposite corner of the room.

'—reciprocating his own lack of interest in whatever unimportant busyness she has ever had—'

How much had she drank already? She remembered Andre refilling her cup to the brim with another Vodka-cocktail, and Cat also doing the same at some point. She recalled Jade telling her to leave the drink for a moment to take her to the bathroom to 'let it all out'. 'Trust me,' she had said, 'you won't want to throw it all out on yourself.' Tori believed her and then thanked her when she witnessed one of the most disgusting party-climaxes of the night, starring a girl who ended up crying in the back of her parents' car.

'—likes to think of herself as the best daughter they could ever have, even if they don't—'

Sitting up straight, Tori looked ahead at the coffee table in which her plastic cup was resting. To evaluate her situation a bit better, she reached for the drink and found it a sip away from being empty, leaving her in the last place her memory provided: the room was that in which she found Jade when she first arrived, and they had gotten here right after Tori helped Jade get a crazed Cat inside the house for a very-needed nap.

'—just waiting for him to let his guard down so that she can surprise him and shush him up—'

So, all things considered, this had been a hell of a night for Tori so far, and was promising to startle her even more.

'—then he will regret it and let her be, just as he has always been supposed to!' finished Jade with a firm voice. Tori looked at her doubtfully, for she didn't think Jade intended to let out her frustration when she first started the sad tale. Her pale face went from determination to understanding and a blush filled her cheeks as she returned Tori's questioning stare. They contemplated one another for a second before Jade decided to divert the subject and pointed a finger at Tori's plastic cup, still between her hands. 'You gonna have that? I was about to go for a drink myself.'

Tori lifted her cup and closed her eyes as the beverage made its way across her throat. Her mind went slow for a moment and when her eyes opened she was walking behind Jade towards the kitchen, feeling her throat a bit hotter than before. 'Jade, I think I need to go to the bathroom,' she said, and realized her voice sounded kind of strained, as if she had been screaming for a long time.

'No,' answered Jade without turning her head. 'Believe me, you don't. Just stay put for a second and let it go through.' With that she stopped them in the middle of a hallway and turned to look at Tori. Light fell on them sideways from a room a few feet away, so that Tori could contemplate Jade's profile lined out in yellow. Her floating face trembled slightly as her lips parted and let out a small amount of air. The sight relaxed Tori beyond her own expectations, and she found her breathing calming along with her heart, even as her attention switched from a half-outlined mouth to a single outlined left eye. They both breathed deeply and slowly, Jade guiding Tori, and the half-latina felt herself calm back down. 'See?'

Tori nodded. As they flew once again up the hall Tori noticed that the house really looked emptier than as it had been a while ago and the time issued itself in her mind. 'Jade,' she called, already liking to begin her sentences pronouncing that name; which she had been doing for a while now, ever since she arrived. When Jade's name appeared in her head she realized it sounded pretty nice, even though she had never thought it to be a possible name until she met Jade; not like the lone fact of knowing her meant Jade could be a complete name, but it did make it a possibility… as a name, a complete name.

'What?'

Jade's response stopped her mind for a second, for it had completely let the trail of what she wanted to ask loose and it had flown away. Tori realized her head was feeling lighter than usual and knew the short lapse of consciousness she had had was coming to an end. What had she been thinking about? Walking down the hall… walking down an empty hall…an empty hall that hadn't been as empty a short while ago… a short while ago. 'What time is it, Jade?'

'I don't know, Tor— Vega! I don't know, Vega. Sometime after midnight. Why? You feelin' sleepy?' Tori was either too distracted or too light-headed to notice Jade's momentary hesitation; and even more so to notice the way she looked at her before reassuming their parade for the beloved prize.

When they entered the kitchen there were a couple guys lined up for the few drinks that were still left. Jade moved them all sideways and took a random bottle from the table, went to the freezer, took a big bottle filled with Coke — after a quick check on what she had picked from the island — and ran for the door, taking the same path as they had used when Tori had just arrived. In and out Jade went, all the while with Tori's warm wrist in-between her fingers. And all the while had Tori felt the kitchen tremble and twist around her: the moment the cold white light entered her eyes, her head went all fuzzy and she had to focus completely on where her feet were placed on the floor.

Jade carried them over the known path and towards the garden. She stopped at the door, though, and checked on what she had picked. Half a Johnnie Walker and a big Coke. Tori stared at Jade's concentrated expression, her slight frown, the purse that appeared on her lips, and the intelligent spark that shone in her eyes. Jade said something and retreated a few steps, motioning for Tori to enter a dark room that stood at their left. Her feet walked her in and Jade closed the door from outside after switching on the lights.

'I guess we'll go to the bathroom.'

The words replayed in Tori's head when she realized she had been pushed into a small room with a toilet and a round sink. Without thinking too much Tori started doing her things as a cloud of fatigue descended on her. She realized she was feeling very sleepy and tired. Though she couldn't remember all she had done, she could assure it had been a crazy night. She remembered herself and her group going into the house after a while in the garden. She remembered staying indoors for a long while, listening to the loud music, and dancing to it amid a deep crowd of people. She remembered going back outside, by Jade's advice, to 'take some air'. She remembered Cat going away into a smoky cloud and Andre throwing himself into the swimming pool as soon as they were out.

In a blink, she remembered, Jade and herself had become the ones taking care of the others. First, they picked Andre out of the pool, helped by some unknown guys; they took him inside the house and threw him to the floor. Then they returned to get Cat inside as well and found her laughing her ass off in the grass, circled by people, and with a glass tube in her hand. 'She's been smoking again,' Jade said as they carried her back in. She took the glass tube from Cat's hands and showed it to Tori. 'Bet you hadn't seen one of these.' The instrument consisted of a long tube with a glass bubble at the base, filled with water; from it parted another thinner tube, tipped by a small funnel-like ceramic figure that spread a strange scent. 'Weed.' Jade took it from Tori's hands and gave it back to the sleeping Cat on the couch, who hugged it as if it was a teddy bear.

Tori looked at her reflection through the square mirror that hung from the wall. She blinked for a moment in surprise, for she didn't remember standing up. Surrounded by silence, she felt her head clear once again as her hands washed themselves clean.

Quite a night had she had so far, not at all what she had expected. A little chuckle escaped her mouth as the memory of Beck passed through her head. Silly Tori had seen him making moves on her, not knowing how little attention she would actually attract from him. Had somebody told her Jade would be hovering over her the whole party instead of her ex-boyfriend, Tori would have laughed very hard. Now, however, she didn't know if she was freaked out or glad for it. Over-protective Jade was also almost-nice Jade, and she had remained true to her word of protecting Tori farther than any of her other friends.

She saw her eyes close in the mirror, but they opened to the sight of a dark wall. Light fell on the floor through the narrow crack beneath the bathroom door, and Tori guessed Jade was inside now.

Good company had Jade turned out to be. So good, in fact, that their conversations had been pretty constant since they greeted each other. Although they were mostly nonsense, Tori had never heard Jade say so many things in a single session, let alone to her. But she had felt a good chemistry going on between them, and it made her feel almost scared. It wasn't the first time she and Jade had gotten along so well, and still their relationship had remained frenemy-ish.

But Tori understood perfectly that a relationship between them had to be like that. She discovered it some time ago, while chewing on one of Jade's latest bullying remarks. She discovered their relationship needed to stay as it was, in order for Jade not to go crazy. Because both Jade and Tori knew they would be the best of friends if the chance was given. That fact had been implied in their relationship for as long as they had known each other. Maybe it was because they were very similar, or maybe because they were very different…

'Come on, Vega.' Jade came out of the bathroom and started their trip to the garden again; this time her hand took Tori's. Tori was now fully aware of what was going on and walked side by side with Jade, outwards to the garden.

...and it wasn't as if neither wanted it. Tori did, she was sure of it. But Jade didn't, Tori was also sure of it. She had the suspicion that Jade would want it, if her past wasn't the one she possessed, the one through which she had had to live. The one that caused her fearful reaction to the mere prospect of befriending Tori Vega. For the kind of fear that invaded Jade, Tori thought, was the fear for change, the fear of opening up to a person who wasn't Beck. And it wasn't just a guess about Beck, she was sure, because she knew no one else with whom Jade opened up as she did with him. Back to Jade's life, Tori had no idea what it hid, but she was really interested to know more about what had molded the Jade West she knew.

Jade and Tori walked out the door, round the swimming pool, and to an old-looking hammock hanging between two tall trees on the opposite side of the garden. Jade rolled the hammock with strength and from it fell heavily a bulky guy. With a harsh 'Leave' from Jade, he stood up and ran back inside the house with an unsteady step. Tori noticed a thick bush to their right — where they had found Cat some time ago — that spit a thin trail of whitish grey smoke, and knew then that they weren't the only ones still alive. All their inside-outside tour had been decorated by people lying on the floor, most of them passed out; but Tori had been too intoxicated to notice all the sounds inside the house, most of them R-rated and all of them from above.

Jade sat down on the hammock, struggling for a second and trying not to fall down, before inviting Tori over to sit next to her. 'I've set us a goal, Tori,' she told her. 'We gotta be done with this thing in two hours.' A Johnnie Walker bottle danced in front of Tori's face. 'Whatcha say to that?'

'Let's go for it.' Tori realized she was still drunk—at least a little-single-tiny bit—, for she hadn't even thought of saying no to Jade's offer.

'That's what I'm talking abo—'

The black-labelled Johnnie Walker lost its cap as soon as the words were spoken, and the last of them were said to the mouth of the squared bottle as Jade took a long shot. Tori drank herself another a moment later, not hesitating at Jade's loud groan. Twice more went the bottle up before two plastic cups were pulled out of nowhere and Mr. Whisky started to be poured in them. Jade carefully filled each glass to just below its middle, giving one to Tori. She took another couple of swigs and passed the last of their still-bottled drink with a whispered 'Have it, have it.'

Tori coughed a bit before looking at her friend and whispering 'You like Mr. Whisky, huh?'

'It's one of my crushes,' chuckled Jade.

'One out of how many?'

'Several,' said Jade seriously.

After giving color to their drinks the rest of the Coke moistened the dirt and grass of the ground. Jade gave her cup a big swig, but Tori only dared giving hers a respectably-long sip, swallowing the tasty — though considerably sweeter — liquid with a wince. Silence filled the air that surrounded them for a minute before Jade's voice replaced it with a confidential tone.

'I could show you some of them. I mean,' she added, 'If you want.' Tori blinked mutely. 'Weed isn't so bad, for instance. Way more elegant than drinking.'

Tori took another little sip distractedly, digesting Jade's comment impressed. Tonight Jade had really made unannounced improvements to their relationship. And it was obvious how much effort it was taking her. When the night started Jade's behavior had been almost naturally nicer, but as the party advanced — along with the booze — the niceness started to come out rather forced. Tori, though, still appreciated it, because it never stopped. She was seeing Jade with a new light and she liked its undertones a lot.

'You have no idea'-Tori noticed Jade was looking out at the pool as she talked-'how much I wish you aren't asleep to listen to what I just said.' A trembling sigh escaped both Jade and Tori in that moment. 'And it's terrifying.'

Tori took Jade's left hand in her right and their gazes crossed. Tori's face held a wide smile, while Jade's was contorted in a strange expression, halfway between surprise and relief, her eyebrows pulled up and her lips slightly parted. She swallowed some drink out of her cup and curled her smile rightwards at Tori.

'Is the next step.' Their shoulders touched between them, and Jade leaned into Tori's side discreetly, shifting herself closer.

'Yes it is,' whispered Jade. Tori heard Jade gulp and realized how weird it was for her to hear such a thing, then she noticed how close their faces were and blinked uncomfortable, not knowing how to react. Was Jade making a move on her? Or was she just really drunk? A deep blush reddened her cheeks as Jade's smile reached the left side of her pink lips. 'Though…' she hesitated teasingly, 'the night is not over yet.' Their faces were now almost touching, and Tori's body was leaning away from Jade, dangerously out of the hammock. 'Is it?'

Tori leapt in surprise when Jade's words caressed her lips, falling down on her ass. Fortunately, Jade had stretched her right arm to Tori's left and had held the red cup as the hammock rolled backwards and left them sitting on the air. Knowing what would come, Jade had remained standing with her knees half-bent, and had kept the drinks from spilling all over the fallen girl. Tori looked up in surprise and was indignant to find Jade smiling the biggest smile she had ever smiled.

There was a very certain thing about what followed: Jade had never—ever, ever—laughed as hard as she did then. For a short moment Tori thought she was going mad, because seeing so much unknown Jade in a single night was just out of her humble, human imagination. And yet, there she was, her body arched at an amazing angle backwards, her mouth wide open, her eyes turned into a wet, narrow line, and her neck stretched tall into the sky as her face looked up, laughing the most amazing laugh that Jade's lips could ever produce. Tori couldn't help herself and started laughing too, though not quite sure why, for the last few swigs of Mr. Whisky were starting to affect her and she was feeling tipsy again. Their laugh awakened the night for a couple of minutes, until Tori felt her stomach threat with throwing back out all that it had consumed in the last half hour; Jade's laugh faded a moment later, descending to a quiet chuckle before becoming a breath-catching attempt.

'Have the drink, Tori,' said Jade, motioning for the tanned girl to take her glass. 'That's not tipsy enough for my plans, but we still got time.' Tori took her cup and drank from it, opening her throat as she had done earlier with Mrs. Vodka, not giving half a thought to what Jade had said.

After a couple of swigs Tori laid on the cold grass, placing her cup next to her. Jade joined her shortly afterwards, her own drink already finished. Tori's tipsiness loosened her tongue, and soon she was babbling almost incoherently.

'You know, Sh-ade? You bein' re-eal nice to me t'night… Wh-hy's 'at? Are, are you dru-unk?' Jade laughed and Tori's mind swam once again in the sound. She was completely lost in the booze now, and she kept quiet as her head rolled on the grass.

'I think you're the drunk one, Vega,' said Jade. Her arm stretched over Tori to get her cup. 'C'mon, you're almost done. Just a sip away from…' She whispered the last word and let the sentence fade out. Tori raised her upper body on her elbows and took a last long gulp out of the plastic cup, throwing it to the ground a moment later. Her eyelids narrowed to the sight of a smiling Jade.

Tori struggled to get her mind as straight as she could before she lost the grasp of non-drunkenness. 'HI'm bein' serious, Jade,' she managed slowly. 'Why's that?' Jade chuckled silently, and Tori thought she felt some air being breathed into her lips. A weird warmness pressed on her belly, over her shirt, but she was too out of herself to even notice it.

'You're about to find out why…'