Ever get that feeling that everyone is watching you? That they're standing all around like vultures nearing a hurt animal, circling above, waiting for it to fall, to slip up and then they'll dive in and devour it.
Tori felt everyone's eyes on her as she walked into school. Normally it didn't bother her being the center of attention- she lived for it. Anyone who came to this school and didn't like attention had another thing coming to them.
But this attention, it felt different somehow. Like these people were not admiring her by looking down on her, like they didn't see her as an inspiration but rather an abomination. Something vile and vulgar.
She immediately sought out her friends, knowing she could always count on them to take a rainy day and make the sun shine for her. And as her luck would have it, they were nowhere to be seen as she made her way to their usual spot.
Now what?
As if to answer her question, the doors swung open and in walked Ryder Daniels.
Tori's stomach dropped. He looked cool as a cucumber, his dark hair perfect, his smirk infuriatingly endearing. She felt sick. Dirty. Cheap. His presence should have calmed her.
It only made it worse.
"Ryder!" She called, catching his attention. She was doing this to herself. But as she caught a glimpse of Beck and Jade turning the corner -the sight of them made her want to puke!- she didn't feel quite as bad looking at him.
The look on his face said it all. Guilty, scared, shocked. Now she knew why those vultures were circling above her. It didn't take a genius to figure it out. He pushed away the blonde hanging off of his arm.
Jade watched from her spot against Beck's locker as Tori's jaw dropped. Her eyes ticked over to Ryder who looked as if he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He put his hands up in defense. Right! As if Vega had the balls to actually hit him. Tori spun on her heel and stormed out of the hall. Ryder shrugged at all the questioning looks and continued on his merry way.
Beck raised a brow at the interaction, undecided if he wanted to follow his friend or steer clear of the drama. He had his own hands full with a very emotionally cutoff Jade.
"What was that about?" Jade asked, an innocent expression in place.
Beck frowned. "What did you do?"
"What?" She shouted, nearly toppling her coffee all over herself. She glared at her boyfriend, stepping out from under his arm. "You think I did something to Vega?"
"It wouldn't be the first time, Jade."
"Wha—I mean- you- How dare you? You're supposed to be on my side!" She sputtered, her voice rising. A few students caught wind of the commotion and stopped to stare. "And for your information, No, I didn't do anything! I'm offended!"
Beck shrugged, a lazy smirk on his lips. "You can't blame, babe, you're always messing with her."
"What's going on?" Andre asked.
Jade whirled. It was common knowledge- no one was safe from the fury of Jade West. "Tell Beck I didn't do anything to Vega!"
Andre pulled a face, raising his hands in surrender. "What happened to Tori?"
"What did Jade do this time?" Cat ventured, flashing her friends her patented ditzy smile.
"Agh!" Jade growled. Taking the lid off of her Starbucks -and she would cry for this later- she took a step back and tossed the warm, foamy liquid all over Beck's face. "Serves you right." She smirked at his mouth formed a wide O. Tossing the empty cup to the floor, she stormed off, hoping she could still find Tori before she disappeared. She was like a bunny in a magician's hat, popping up out of nowhere but leaving just as quick. Elusive...
She quickly combed the first floor. No sign of the Latina anywhere. She grumbled as she marched up the stairs and bumped right into Sinjin and Robbie. Today just wasn't her day. The two nerds gawked at her, terror shining clearly in their eyes. They were up to something.
"J-Jade!" Robbie stuttered, he obviously wasn't expecting her. And why should he? Not like she gave him any reason to . Tori might be the savior of all outcasts but she wasn't as forgiving. "What are you doing here?"
"Have you seen, Vega?"
"N-No."
She closed in on him. He backed into the wall. "What are you two rejects up to?"
Sinjin appeared over her shoulder, his curly blonde hair tickling the side of her face. She saw red for a second, so close to the worm she could smell his cheap body spray which he undoubtedly doused his clothes with. She resisted the urge to elbow him, if anyone knew something it was Sinjin and letting him see just how physical she was willing to get would be a good motivator.
Robbie trembled, backed into a corner like a gazelle. Jade was a furious, starving lion. He was dead meat!
"So, what do you know about Ryder Daniels?"
Sinjin sniffed her hair, a dreamy look on his face. "Senior, smart, hot."
Jade and Robbie exchanged looks. "I know all that. I mean, what do you really know?"
The creepy nerd sent Robbie a pleading look. Jade rolled her eyes and grabbed the collar of his shirt, prepared to drag him down to the janitor's closet and use some of her persuasive tools. Like the janitor's industrial scissors.
"Get lost if you know what's good for you, dweeb." She hollered to a shell shocked Robbie. "And fix your damn hair, you look like a fag!"
She glared at the staring students lined against the wall. There was no doubt in her mind that the rumors of her and Sinjin's "sex-escapade in the janitor's closet" would be circulating around the entire school by lunch time. She didn't care, roughly shoving the sputtering boy inside before slamming the door shut behind her.
"Start talking, Van- queef."
"It's Van-Cle-"
"Talk."
"Okay!" He said quickly. It was his dream to get locked inside a closet with Jade, the woman of his very very vivid dreams. His eyes widened. The Jade in his dreams didn't have a pair of sheers and a murderous glint in her eyes. "Ryder needs to get an A for his project if he wants to graduate!"
Jade took his words about as well as a blow to the gut. She'd known it all along, but some part of her had wished Ryder genuinely liked Vega. She shook those thoughts away. No matter. He was going to get what was coming to him. "If you hear anything else-"
Sinjin nodded eagerly, anything at a chance to be this close to his goddess. "He's telling everyone he and Tori had- well- you know..."
Jade visibly deflated. She couldn't even tease Sinjin about his virginity. If what he said was true, then Tori was in for a very rough day. Her fists clenched into tight white knuckled wrecking balls at her sides. She warned her, didn't she? She told her Ryder was no good for her! Why couldn't she just listen for once? Was it really that hard for her to believe that actually gave a damn?
Ugh!
She had to find Tori. Fast.
Flinging the door open, she charged out of the closet, her phone in her hands.
'We have big trouble.'
She shoved aside the cheerleaders surrounding the bathroom door, ignoring as they tried to apologize for getting in her way.
'I know.'
'Ryder's spreading rumors. Have you seen Tori?'
Vega wasn't in the bathroom. Jade snarled and punched the wall. Where the hell did she go? Tori didn't have a car, she would never make it home without getting picked up by the cops for skipping.
'They're not rumors, Jade... sorry.'
Jade stared at her phone, her eyes reading, her lips forming the words, but her brain refused to comprehend them.
They weren't rumors?...
"Fuck!" She howled, her fist drilling a whole in the wall. Within seconds the beige tiles were stained a deep red. Tori really wanted to hurt her this time. Why else would she do something so fucked up? To prove a point? "Fucking stupid, Vega, fucking stupid..."
'Is the plan a go ahead?'
Jade sucked in a deep breath and realized she was crying. Her fingertips ghosted across the hot, burning tears, anger and pain etched in her porcelain features. She couldn't let this get the best of her, it's exactly what Vega wanted.
'Yes.'
She pressed her cheek against the cool tiles, taking a few minutes to calm down.
Tori thought she didn't care. She couldn't be more wrong. She did care! More than the Latina would ever know. More than she cared to admit even to herself. She didn't want to see her get hurt- isn't that why she refused to dump Beck? Being a girlfriend came with responsibilities, expectations; what if she let her down, what if she wasn't what she expected her to be? What if she let her down? At least like this Tori knew what to expect of her.
Swiping her sleeve across her eyes, Jade ran the tap and placed her mangled fist beneath the water. The next time she decided to break her knuckles it would be on Ryder's face.
"... Deep in my head now it's like... I'm... dreaming..."
Tori belted out the final lyrics to her and Ryder's duet, his voice melding with hers to create a beautiful sound. He flashed her a heart stopping smile and just for a second she forgot about her problems.
Ryder was so handsome and talented. He could definitely be the one to take her mind off of Jade.
So why did she feel like trash? Why couldn't she even stick around long enough to look at her? So much for forgetting. Setting down her mic she messed with the keys on her laptop, intent on heading home. She wanted to leave a long time ago but her project got in the way of that. As much as she desperately wanted to disappear from here she knew a big chunk of her grade depended on this song.
Ryder set his microphone down climbing to his feet with a huge boyish grin on his face. "That was incredible. You're fantastic." The look in his eyes told Tori a million things, none of which she wanted to see.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" She leaned back, as far away from his as impossible without tripping over herself. "Were you about to kiss me?"
"Uh, yeah," he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Technically it was but what kind of decent, respecting guy would just assume she wanted him to kiss her like that? Not that she had much of a leg to stand on after last night. "What's wrong?" He asked, sounding impatient.
She sat down, wringing her hands as she felt his stare on her. "About last night..."
"Last night was amazing." He cooed, crouching down in front of her. He gently took her hand, tipping her chin up to meet his eyes. "You're amazing."
Tori gave him a pleading look. She wanted so desperately to forget Jade, to concentrate on him. "Are you playing me?"
His lips twitched. "I would never do that to you."
"Who was that girl I saw you with this morning?"
"A friend. We've been best friends since elementary. Sometimes she holds my arm. It's no big deal, really."
"...Okay..." Trina told her she was naive once. She didn't believe it then. She didn't believe it now. She wasn't naive, she was simply too drained to fight it.
She released the breath she'd been holding as his lips pressed against hers. She closed her eyes and let him pull her against his chest. She wanted to get lost in the moment, feel the group slip out beneath her feet, feel her heart thunder in her chest, her blood heat up like lava in her veins. She wanted- no, needed Ryder to make her feel like she was flying because she was tired of falling...
Tired of falling for Jade.
They broke apart, Ryder breathing heavy while she wiped her mouth with her sleeve. He stood up, dusting off his pants and jacket before tossing his back pack over his shoulder. "I'll see you at the moonlight Jam."
"Yeah..."
She waited twenty minutes, reluctant to go out into the swarm of students all charging for the exit. Oh, who was she kidding? She was hiding, too afraid to let Andre or Cat or Trina or Beck see her. Too afraid and ashamed to let Jade see her.
When she was certain the last of the students had left the building, she collected her supplies and made her way out of the building and to the parking lot. As expected, most everyone was gone. Everyone except her friends who were waiting by Trina's car. She froze, ready to make a run for the bathroom when Trina hollered at her to come over.
Tori face palmed, gritting her teeth as the rest of her friends began calling her over. She took a deep breath and set a smile on her face. "Hey guys, what's up?"
She should have known something was up. Even Sinjin was there, hidden partially behind Cat and Andre. She frowned at her friends' serious expressions, her smile slipping at once.
"Tor, we need to talk to you." Trina said evenly.
She stiffened, a grim expression working itself into place. "About?"
"Ryder Daniels." Sinjin answered.
Tori looked at each one of her friends, not sure if she was thankful or pissed. "What about him?"
"He's not a good guy, Tori." Andre sighed, giving Sinjin a nod.
"Did Jade put you up to this?" She snarled, feeling trapped. It was an ambush, her friends were cornering her.
Trina scoffed, disgusted with her little sister. "Jade isn't even here. And if she was, you would do well to listen to her."
She never thought she would see the day that Trina defended her sister... Trina HATED Jade!...
"Look, I really appreciate you guys looking out for me but-"
Sinjin patted her shoulder, his wide eyes urging her. "Just watch this."
Tori shot her sister a desperate look, pleading with her to take her away. Cat, Robbie, Andre, even Sinjin- they were all here. They all knew! She didn't want them to know the kind of girl she'd been. Hollywood Arts was her second chance, a new beginning, a place to start a new.
"Trina... please..."
Trina bit her lip. The urge to give in to her baby sister's tormented eyes was almost unbearable. "You have to watch this."
The singer sighed, defeated. No way they were letting her go. Some part of her was happy, the other not quite willing to accept the fact that every person she'd ever been interested in ended up using her or being an asshole. Every person except Jade. What did this mean exactly? That she was doomed to live a miserable life standing on the sidelines watching as Beck got to live his dream next to the woman of hers?
Her eyes narrowed as a clear picture of Ryder leaning against the lockers came into scoffed, incredulous as Sinjin gangster walked over to his side and struck up a conversation.
"So, I heard about you and Tori Vega. Right on."
Ryder shook his head, jamming his hands into his pockets.
"Whatever man. As soon as I get my A I'm out."
Sinjin laughed, a little too fake. His eyes widened at Ryder's expression. He cleared his throat.
"So you're using her to get an A. Pretty smart."
"Yeah," Ryder smirked, "that amongst other things. Her mouth's good for something other than singing if you know what I mean."
Sinjin grinned, high fiving the dark haired boy. "No. What do you mean?"
Ryder rolled his eyes pushing himself off the locker. "Later dweeb."
"That's what Jade calls me!" The awkward teen shouted after him.
Andre took the laptop and shut it, handing it to Robbie. He gave Tori's shoulders a friendly squeeze. "I'm sorry, Tor."
Cat up behind her and patted her back. "We really are sorry."
"Yeah... yeah..." She took very little comfort from their sympathy. She didn't want them to feel sorry for her. "So what do I do now?"
"You want me to kick his ass?" Cat offered, a fierce little pout in place. Tori chuckled, trust Cat to make her laugh when she felt lower than dirt. Jade was right... She wasn't trying to ruin anything for her, she was trying to help her and she acted like a bitch and now whatever they had was gone.
"Thanks Cat, but it's okay. I think I'm just gonna go home and lay down for a bit. Rest up for the Full Moon Jam." She turned to her friends, offering them a watery smile. "Thank you guys. You're the best."
Trina watched her sister climb into the passenger seat. The last time she saw Tori so defeated she got a restraining order put on her after she did some serious damage to the guy's car with a golf club. If she got her hands on Ryder, well, he was going to wish she went after his car instead.
Jade was seriously trying NOT to kill herself right now...
Goodbye my coney isle!
But she was just a stanza away from bashing her head in with a lawn chair. Who in their right mind would let four pathetic dweebs get on stage? Who! Give her a damn name, she would set them straight!
Fortunately Tori's number was up next.
"Hey, I'm gonna go to the bathroom," she told Beck, slipping from his grasp, "I'll be right back."
"Okay. Hurry back, Tori's up next."
"I know." She smiled sweetly at him.
She shoved a few girls aside, and almost broke some guys ukelele in her quest to find her target. "There you are." She spotted Ryder kicking back in a director's chair chatting it up with some girl while Tori sat at the far corner by herself looking like her grandmother had just died.
In just a few seconds that asshole would get everything he had coming to him.
She waited, biding her time until the teacher's voice came over the intercom.
"Okay! Up next, singing a duet, we have Tori Vega and Ryder Daniels!"
Show time!
Tori climbed to her feet, shaking herself off. "I can do this," she told herself, "I can do this." Singing was her forte, her release, she couldn't let Ryder take that away from her as well. "Come on, girl." Taking a deep breath she walked out onto the stage, Ryder following on her footsteps. He waved to the crowd, girly screaming rising. He ate it up. She felt sick to her stomach.
"Hey you guys!" She greeted, trying to keep her voice even.
"Hey." Ryder said coolly. His brows dipped, his hands fumbling with the headset. "My mic's not working."
Tori glared at him, eyes darting to Sinjin and Robbie. They shrugged, tampering with the sound system.
"You won't need a mic, pretty boy, trust me."
Tori frowned, "Jade?"
Jade smirked strutting out onto the stage. The crowd mumbled amongst themselves, growing both annoyed and surprised with her sudden appearance. She stopped in front of Ryder, glaring at him. She sized him up, and decided in that split second to hell with the plan, she wanted cold hard revengence!
"I told you I wasn't lying, Vega." She glanced at the eldest Vega, "Sorry, Trina!"
Tori started, stunned by the brunette's appearance. Jade did always have a way of stealing her thunder. She held everyone's attention just by standing there. She was incredible... And what did she mean by 'Sorry, Trina?'... "Jade-"
Ryder pushed himself between them and grabbed her arm, ready to manhandle the brunette threatening to ruin his performance off the stage. "Listen-" His head snapped back, his grip on her arm lost as he stumbled backwards and crashed into the band.
Jade trailed after him, the bandages on her knuckles already soaked. Damn that fucking hurt but it was so worth it so see his stupid, shocked face when she punched him. She shook her fist out, a burning pain radiating from all across her arm. There go the knuckles... but at least this time it was Ryder's face. She grinned to herself, towering over the sneering loser.
"What the fuck?" he howled, struggling to sit up.
"That was for messing with Vega," she said. She reeled her foot back, the tip of her boot digging into his stomach, "and that was for thinking you ever had a chance with a girl like her."
Tori gawked on in stunned silence as Jade kicked Ryder one last time before dusting her blouse off. The brunette turned and smiled at her, then promptly jumped off the stage just as Lane and the security guard reached for her. She was in so much shit!
Jade zig zagged her way through the crowd, evading teachers and students alike as they tried to stop her. Beck, Andre, Robbie, Cat, Trina, and Sinjin jumped out of their seats and followed but not before throwing her a thumbs up.
"That fucking bitch!" Ryder coughed, shoving away a student. He staggered to his feet and whirled on her, his face a dark mask of anger. "What the fuck was that? Do you know that bitch?"
Tori yanked her fist back and let it fly. She caught Ryder squarely on the nose. He fell to the ground like a sack of wet potatoes. "She's not a bitch, asshole." Shaking herself out of her stupor, she jumped into the crowd and started for the back gate where Jade had run off to. She just kicked Ryder's ass for her- the least she can do is say thank you.
Hey look I finally updated. At one in the morning. On a school night. I think that calls for some extra loving, don't you? Love me, love me now! Review if you ever want to see the end of this story!
