AN: Hey! I'm happy that people liked the idea of the story! :D I remember the first time I saw the episode I was like, oh man... this has so much JORI potential! X_X
Well, I'm updating this early in the day 'cause I'm gonna add the third chapter later on tonight since this one is kinda short, so keep an eye out for that later today! Or tomorrow for some of you? I live in Los Angeles so that's my time zone (I actually drive by the Nickelodeon studios where they film Victorious every day on my way to work! (Yes. Be jealous.) I can't tell you how many times I've almost caused multiple car collisions for distractedly gazing at it while driving... ^.^ I bet people just think I'm trying to pick between the many hookers that roam Sunset Blvd O_o
Anywhore... I probably just lost half of the story's followers due to my rambling -_- So lets get on with it! :D
Tori
"Trina!" I hiss. "You're getting your smelly lotion all over my pants!" I push her lotion-covered feet off my lap and wipe my jeans off with a tissue.
"Tori, look what you've done!" She whines as some of the lotion is smeared off her feet when I push them off. "I have to keep my feet up for fifteen minutes for the lotion to work and rid me of all foot wrinkles!"
"And why must you put them up on my lap?" I demand.
"We're on a plane, silly!" she says in a condescending tone. "There's not exactly a lot of places for me to stretch out."
"Why couldn't you just wait 'til we got to Yerba?"
"Because I want my feet to be wrinkle-free by the time we get there so I can show them off at the beach!" She explains while reapplying lotion on the parts it smeared off. "And in order for that to happen I have to apply it every thirty minutes. Now, quit being such a rotten little sister and massage the lotion into my feet!" With that she throws her feet onto my lap again and wiggles her toes.
I let out a hopeless sigh and begin rubbing her feet, my hands making squishy noises as they push the brown gooey substance through her toes. I shudder and turn away to at least keep my mind distracted from my hand's activities. How I'm supposed to survive the 16 hour flight with Trina sitting by me, I have no idea. I'm beginning to question if the new car my parents promised to buy me if I brought her along is even worth it.
I look around the fairly small and simple passenger plane we're on. There are only two seats per row as opposed to three. The aisle is very narrow and there are only two lavatories situated in the back of the plane. No TV's, no radios, no free Wi-Fi service. I'm trying to put off using my Pear Pod as long as I can in order to save the battery life but Trina is already driving me insane and we've only been in the air forty-five minutes. I glance at the seats next to us to see Robbie and Rex listening attentively to one of Sikowitz's coconut milk vision stories. I turn my head slightly towards the two seats in front of them and see Andre telling Beck about some girl from Northridge he had taken out to dinner only to realize at the end of the date that she had stolen his wallet, watch and socks. Beck and Jade had gotten into a fight earlier at the airport when Jade accused Beck of shamelessly flirting with the lady checking in our baggage just because he said 'bless you' when she sneezed, so they aren't sitting together. I turn my head to the back of the plane where I can only hear Cat's incessant chatter. Since Beck and Jade's tickets were purchased after everyone else's, the seats assigned to them aren't close to the rest of the group's.
"-and then this other time, my brother went to the aquarium but he broke into one of the habitats and did inappropriate things with the dolphins so now he has to keep a distance of at least 50 yards from aquatic mammals at all times. Hehe. Aquatic. That's a funny word. Ahh-quahh-hehe-tehhhc. My favorite part is the 'quah'. Look how my mouth looks when I say it! Aquaaaaa-" Suddenly Cat's voice is muffled by something. "-buh am nof hungy-!" she stutters in-between gasps.
"Eat the yummy pretzels." I hear Jade's irritated voice coax. "That's it, open your mouth."
I roll my eyes as I imagine Jade stuffing the salted snacks into Cat's mouth to keep her quiet.
"But Jade!" Cat says between coughs. "Pretzels make me thirsty and the lady with the mole said they're not passing with the drink cart for another hour, I'll die of thirst! ...One time, my brother thought he had died-"
"Argghhhh!" Jade's unmistakable growl echoes through the cabin. I quickly push Trina's feet off my lap again, ignoring her protests, and hurry towards the back where Jade and Cat are sitting. Jade is slumped in her seat holding the bridge of her nose in-between two fingers, eyes closed tight, while Cat happily dangles her feet in her seat like a child, her face and lap still covered in pretzel crumbs as she continues talking.
"-he fell through the roof into a cotton factory, so he thought they were clouds and- oh, hi Tori!" She stops and looks at me with her adorable smile.
"Hey Cat!" I say glancing at Jade who still won't open her eyes. Cat's gaze suddenly turns to my hands.
"Hehe. Why are your hands covered in brown goo?" she asks as she tentatively touches the nasty lotion covering my fingers, before taking her own up to her nose. "Ew! And why does the goo smell like Robbie's Grandma's house?" she cries as she scrunches up her face in disgust.
"Oh, um, Trina was making me give her a foot massage and-"
"Oooh I love massages! And foots!" Cat shrieks getting up and skipping over to my seat, but not before turning around and whispering back to us, "They're like weirdly shaped, tiny-fingered hands, hehe." She then plops down next to Trina, who without hesitation throws her feet on her lap and goes over the massaging instructions.
"Don't even think you're gonna sit here with that disgusting thing all over your hands." Jade states, making me turn my attention back to her. She keeps her eyes closed as she reclines her head against the headrest of the seat.
"Oh, right." I quickly make my way to the lavatories to wash my hands when suddenly, realization strikes.
I'm gonna sit with Jade.
My head snaps up and I stare at my reflection in the tiny mirror. Maybe Cat will demand her seat in a few hours when she gets tired of Trina. Or maybe Trina will send Cat over when she tires of her. Perhaps Beck and Jade will make up and Jade will kick me out of the seat so he may take it. But as of now, I'm stuck with her.
I groan and bang my head against the mirror. Why'd I have to come over and make sure Jade didn't send Cat flying out the emergency door? I curse at myself. Now I may very well end in that predicament myself. Reluctantly, I squeeze out the tiny door and make my way to the seat.
This is gonna be a long flight...
Jade
The seat next to me shifts and I know Vega is back from the bathroom but I keep my eyes closed and my head reclined. The plane suddenly does another dip when it hits a patch of turbulence and my hand grips the armrest tighter. It's been doing it for the past half hour but since it has been nothing major almost nobody seems to mind much. A little turbulence is to be expected in every flight I suppose. And yet I can't help the way my stomach will clench and my heart will race every time there's a little bump.
Yes, Jade West is afraid of flying, whoop de doo. It's not my fault I have constant dreams that involve fiery plane crashes. Sure at the time they're cool and entertaining but now… not so much. That's one of the reasons I didn't object when Cat left, I can tolerate that girl on a good day, but now I'm just too anxious, and her constant blabber about that damn brother of hers was putting me on edge. I'd much rather have Vega here. I can at least torture her for a while… that always seems to brighten my mood.
"Jade?" she whispers, like she's afraid to talk too loud. "Jade, are you okay?"
The plane dips again and my grip on the armrest tightens even more. I squeeze my eyes shut and take a deep, shaky breath. Suddenly I feel a warm hand cover my own. My eyes snap open and I look down to see Vega's hand gripping mine. I slowly bring my gaze up to meet her's and she gives me a weak unassertive smile. I'm about to question what the hell she thinks she's doing when the damn plane dips again and before I realize what I'm doing I let go of the armrest and turn my palm upward, intertwining our fingers together and squeezing her hand. I shut my eyes tight again as I try to will my stomach and heart to settle down.
"Jesus Christ, who the fuck do they have piloting this plane? A blind monkey?" I mutter through clenched teeth and press my head against the headrest.
"Here, maybe this will help." I open my eyes and see Vega holding up her Pear Pod with her free hand and motioning it towards me. That makes me realize I'm still clutching her other hand so I let go immediately. She doesn't seem to notice my slight awkwardness and if she does, she pretends not to. I clear my throat and grab the Pear Pod browsing through her music.
"Wow, Vega. I'm impressed." I say with a smirk. I see her lips flick into a tiny smile at my words. "I expected nothing but Spice Girls, Nsync, and Disney tunes but you actually- oh I spoke too soon." She peers over me trying to see what made me stop.
"Hey!" She cries. "The Lion King is a classic! I bet even you loved it and knew every single song!"
"Yea… When I was five." I snort. "I can't believe you have the entire soundtrack." I add chuckling as I continue scrolling. She huffs and folds her arms across her chest. "Oh relax, Vega. I think it's kinda cute."
…What?
"...What?" she asks disbelievingly. And I can totally hear the stupid smile in her words. I don't even bother sending her a glare because she'll see right through my blush. The words were out before I could stop them, I don't even know where the fuck they came from! I never voice my thoughts on Vega. Unless, of course, they're negative or insulting. Like I always say: If you only have something nice to say, then don't say anything at all. So on the not so rare occasion when I don't hate her singing, or don't feel like throwing up at her performance, or think she doesn't look that gross, I never say anything. Those are all thoughts I keep to myself, for I know that if I were to voice them she'd get the wrong idea and think I don't actually hate her. Which, I mean, I don't hate her, hate her… but I don't like her either. I can't. It'd throw the balance off and ruin us both.
"Did you just call me cute?" she giggles. She fucking giggles. See? This is one of the reasons we can't be friends. I let out an exasperated groan and turn to her.
"No, Vega. I did not call you cute." I say, sounding disgusted by the word. "I said I thought the fact you had the soundtrack was kinda cute." She just shrugs and turns forward but keeps that stupid, knowing grin plastered on her face. I turn back to the music device and settle on The Beatles. Most people think I'm only into hard, dark, sometimes demonic stuff, but I'm actually a big sucker for the classics. I'm surprised Vega has their entire discography. So I put it on and press shuffle before shoving the ear buds into my ears and leaning back. My eyes flutter shut just as the music begins.
I'm off my game. I need to regain control of the situation with Vega. The little 'hand holding', and 'cute' incident are the ones that threw me off. To make matters worse, I realize I didn't mind them as much as I though I would. I had felt calmer when she put her hand on mine. It didn't hurt or make me feel sick. She didn't tease me about it or laugh in my face when she saw that I, Jade West, was afraid of a little turbulence. On the contrary, her eyes reflected genuine concern and understanding. And so what if she does have the soundtrack to The Lion King? It is a great movie. And yea, she is a 16 year old girl, but so what? Sikowitz still has his baby blanket draped on his chair at school because he says it gives him a sense of love and togetherness… (Apparently his mother gave birth to him in a kiddie pool in the middle of their apartment building's community room surrounded by their close friends and neighbors… Yea. Don't ask.) Fuck. These thoughts are all jumbling my mind. I clearly don't have such a big dislike for Vega. So why the hell do I try to convince her and everyone else otherwise? Why am I such a bitch to everyone that tries to reach out and be nice to me? Beck brought it up once.
"Why do you hate Tori so much?" he had asked while playing with my hair as I lay on his bed with my head on his lap looking up at the ceiling. We were hanging out in his trailer talking about nothing, enjoying each other's presence.
I thought about it for a while. In all honesty I didn't know. It was just my natural reaction to be a bitch to people who were nice to me. And well, Tori was definitely one of those. The only difference was that when others realized what and how I was, they'd stop trying and just let me be. Whereas Tori never stopped. I guess that's why she got more hate than others. For her stubbornness and determination.
"Because she's too nice." I answered simply.
"'Because she's too nice'?" He repeated. "How is that motive to hate someone? Shouldn't we like nice people?"
"Niceness is just a façade people hide behind. It's never genuine, never heartfelt. As soon as they don't have anything to gain with their niceness they throw it off to the side and their true colors show." I said, and I couldn't help but note a hint of bitterness in my voice. "Opening up to people like that just sets you up for disappointment."
"Hmm." Was all he responded and didn't bring it up again.
I sigh and shift so that my back is resting more at an angle and I'm facing the aisle. I open my eyes and look over at Vega sitting next to me. She has her eyes are closed and head leaned back on the headrest, tapping some sort of beat on her legs with her hands and I'm sure that if I took out the headphones I'd hear her humming some cheesy tune. I can't help but grin at the sight. I pull one of the ear buds out and to my surprise she's humming the song that's currently playing on the Pear Pod, 'Something' by The Beatles. I wonder if the volume is really so loud that she can hear it. Without much thinking, I grab the ear bud I had taken out and swiftly stick it in her ear. Her eyes snap open and she shoots me a surprised glance. I simply straighten up in my seat so that there won't be such a long distance between our ears and the headphones will remain in place.
Vega still seems taken aback. I smirk as I imagine the thoughts that must been going through her head. Questioning my motives. Wondering if this seemingly innocent gesture would turn into some sort of prank. Man, how much of a bitch have I been to this girl for her to get so nervous over such a simple thing? Maybe I should lay off just a bit. Be a little less of a gank. Enough to show her I'm interested in keeping whatever this… 'frenemiship' thing is we have. But not too much that she gets comfortable and feels like she can stop trying to win me.
Wow. Maybe I do have issues.
Oh well, it is what it is.
We continue listening to music for a while and eventually, Vega relaxes once she realizes I'm not planning on biting off her ears the moment she lets her guard down. The Pear Pod makes a beeping noise indicating the battery life is low. I yank out the ear buds from both our ears and wrap it around the device after powering it down.
"Battery's low." I explain when Vega sends me a questioning look. I put the device on her lap and mutter a small 'thanks'. Again, I can tell that it catches her off guard, as her eyes widen when she stutters out a 'you're welcome'. I smile to myself as I think of how torturing Vega with pleasantness is just as amusing as torturing her with hostility.
This is gonna be a fun flight…
AN: There ya go! :) Chapter 3 coming up!