I'm baaaack! (haha!) I literally just got home less than thirty minutes ago. My dad and I took a road trip to Branson, MO and considering we live in Texas, it was a long drive! But it was a lot of fun and I'm glad we went! Excited to go back next time! :)
Anyway, here is the next chapter to this story! I hope you guys like it!
P.S. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and subscribed to this story! It means a lot to me! :)
Tori's POV
I had a very hard time trying to fall asleep that night. My arm was aching in pain (after an hour, an unmistakable handprint bruise formed) and so was my stomach. My stomach was hurting because of all the fighting between me and my parents. Well, more like me and my dad. My mom had a few things to say, but it was mainly my dad that I was fighting with. I wasn't too happy with my mom, but I wasn't as angry with her as I was with my dad, not even close.
When my clock read 2:23, an idea popped into my head. I knew it was late and I knew that Andre was asleep right now, but I didn't care. The only thing that would relax me would be if I visited him. I knew where he lived by heart, so that wasn't a problem, but getting his attention would be a problem. Since I didn't have my phone, I couldn't just call or text him. But that still wasn't going to stop me. I was going to get his attention if it was the last thing I do.
Trying to be as quiet as a mouse, I snuck through the house. I quietly grabbed the keys to the car Trina and I share (thank goodness her friend had picked her up), grabbed my hoodie and purse, and snuck out the door, locking it behind me. I ran to the car, got in, and started it up. I pulled out of the driveway and drove off to Andre's house.
I parked my car next to the curb in front of his house and then jumped out and ran to the front porch. I stood there for a minute, trying to think of what I could do. I decided to check to see if the door was unlocked, because who knows…maybe his parents forgot to lock it that night.
They didn't. It was locked tight.
I sighed heavily and stepped back and looked up. Andre had a two-story house and his room was on the second floor. From where I was standing, I could see the window to his room. Then suddenly, I got another idea. I searched around in the garden and found exactly what I was looking for: rocks. I got lucky, because there was a pile of rocks and they were all pretty good sized. I grabbed a handful of them and stood back.
I sighed heavily, grabbed one, and threw it at hard as I could against the window. It didn't make a loud enough sound as I was hoping for. "Andre!" I said in a loud whisper. "Andre, it's me! Open up!" I grabbed another rock and threw it. It hit the window in the same place.
I knew that calling out his name wouldn't do any good, so I just spent my time throwing the rocks and with each throw, I was getting more and more frustrated. By the time the last rock was thrown, I had tears rolling down my cheeks. The window still hadn't opened. Dang, Andre must be a heavy sleeper.
I screamed in frustration and then ran to grab another handful of rocks. But as I was bending over, I heard something above my head. It sounded like a window opening. "Hello?" It was Andre. His voice was scratchy. "Who's out here?"
"Andre!" I screamed and got to where he could see me. "Oh, thank God you finally noticed me!"
"Tori?" he said and rubbed his eye. "What are you doing here? It's almost three in the morning."
"I have to talk to you!" I exclaimed. "Will you please come down here?"
"Why didn't you just call me?" he asked. "I'm not complaining, but I hate that you had to drive all the way out to my house at this time of night."
"My dad took my phone away," I told him. "I had no other choice,"
"What, why?"
I let out a sob. "Will you please just come down here?"
"Wait…are you crying?"
"Yes!" I exclaimed. "Please come down here! I need you!"
He nodded and then closed the window. I saw him turn around and run. I sighed and crossed my arms. A breeze blew past me, which made me shiver. It can get pretty chilly in LA at night and wearing only pajama pants, a tank top, and a hoodie wasn't cutting it.
Less than a minute later, the porch light came on and then the door opened and Andre came rushing out. Without saying a word, he wrapped his arms around me and I did the same to him. I buried my head in his shoulder and cried. Andre had a way that made me feel really safe and secure. He was also warming me up from the inside out.
After a long couple minutes, Andre pulled away so he could look in my eyes. But I was staring at the ground. He put his hand under my chin, which made me look at him. "Hey, it's okay." he said gently and wiped away my tears. Then he leaned in and kissed me. After the kiss, he said, "You're okay."
I softly smiled. "I am now." I whispered.
"What do you mean?"
I sighed and backed away and sat on the porch step. "I told my parents…about us."
"Really?" he asked getting excited. "What did they say?"
"Don't get too excited," I mumbled.
"Huh?"
"Nothing," I cleared my throat. "You know…I didn't know what their reaction would be. I didn't know if they would say congratulations or even say anything. But…I was certainly not expecting what I got."
He nodded but he had a confused expression on his face. He slowly walked up to me and sat down. "Could you be a little more specific?"
I slowly looked at him. "They don't want me to date you."
"What?" he exclaimed. "Why not?"
I sighed nervously and then stood up. "Andre, this is so hard. I never knew my parents were like this. I mean…they shouldn't be telling me to do something when they've already done it themselves. It's not fair!" I turned to him. "They don't understand how much I like you!"
"Could you just tell me?" he asked gently and stood up. He grabbed my hands. "I can handle it."
"Basically…" I sighed heavily. "They don't want us to date, because…you're…"
He squeezed my hands. "Because I'm what?"
I looked at him directly in his eyes. "Because…we're not…the same,"
He raised his eyebrows. "Not the same?" He looked off into space and his expression was gentle. After a moment, it looked angry. He looked back at me. "I think I understand. It's because I'm black, right?"
I bit my lip and nodded. "I'm sorry." I said quietly and shakily.
Andre sighed and backed away from me. He turned around and ran his fingers through his dreads. He stood there with his back to me for a moment before turning to his side. When he finally looked at me, he looked more hurt than I'd ever seen before in my life. "When I first asked you out and…we began to date…I never thought of you as being different than me." He paused. "I thought of you as…Tori Vega. You were the girl I knew I wanted to be with the moment I met you. Sure, I dated a bunch of other girls before I finally got the nerve to ask you out, but…it was always you. You were always on my mind." He paused again. "And now…I don't know what's happened. I've had to deal with prejudice in my life, but…nothing compares to this." My eyes filled with tears. It hurt me to think that Andre has dealt with that kind of pain in his life. No one deserves to go through that. Skin color is skin color. It doesn't matter. "When someone is forcing me to be away from the girl that I love, that's when I draw the line!"
I smiled wide through my tears. I could feel my heart beating out of my chest. "I love you, too." I said with no hesitation.
Andre was about to say something else, but suddenly, he looked at me with a serious expression. "You do?"
"Yeah," I said with a smile. "I've loved you…since the very first day I met you." I walked right up to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. "I don't know about you, but…for me…it was love at first sight."
He wrapped his arms around my waist. He gave me a passionate kiss and then said, "I feel the same way."
I smiled and wrapped my arms around him. He tightly put his arms around me. When we let go, I said, "I don't care what anyone says. I'm going to be with you. My parents can ground me all they want, but they can't keep me away you, no matter how much they say they can. They just can't."
He rubbed his hands up along my waist and then said, "You said your dad took your phone away…why?"
"I wouldn't give it to him." I told him. "But…he sort of forced it out of me."
"How could he force it out of you?"
I sighed and then got out of his hold. I pushed the sleeve back from my left arm and held it up. "He has the power to do this."
"Oh, my God," he said and gently grabbed my wrist and looked all around at the handprint bruise on my arm. It was an obvious handprint. Anyone could see it. I knew I would be wearing nothing but jackets or long-sleeved shirts for at least a week. "Your dad did this to you?"
"Yep," I said. "I wouldn't give him my phone and when I went to run up the stairs, he grabbed me by the arm and…yelled at me until I gave him my phone. Then I ran to my room and cried."
"He made you cry?"
I nodded. "I've been crying for hours, Andre."
"Okay, you know what…this is just crap!" He stepped away and began to pace back and forth. "I can't believe your dad would do this! And I can't believe your parents would think that way! There's nothing wrong with people of two different races getting together! The color of someone's skin has nothing to do with love. It's about what's on the inside that matters."
"That's what I tried to tell my parents." I said.
He sighed and put his hands on his hips. "So…what are we supposed to do? I would love for your parents to approve of us, but…it doesn't look like that's going to happen."
"So just so we're clear, even if they never approve of us being together, you won't break up with me?"
"Oh, goodness, Tori, no!" he said and walked up to me. He put his hands on my cheeks. "The stakes are high…the waters rough, but this love is ours." He leaned in and gave me a gentle kiss. "And no one…not even your parents can take that away from us."
